KSR - NFL Cover Zero: Dart Start, Injury impact, and the best games of Week 4!

Episode Date: September 25, 2025

Matt Jones and Drew Franklin open with Matt's continued adventure in South Africa and asking everyone he meets to subscribe to the podcast!  Matt has concern for the Ravens at 1-2 and headed to Kansas City.  The Giants will start Jaxson Dart and Drew wonders if the move is out of complete desperation. Injuries are starting to pile up and Matt wonders which one is the most impactful.  Looking at QB rankings, is Justin Herbert at #4 and Jalen Hurts at #5 a surprise?  The Titans are changing some duties and Drew thinks even more should be done. How much of the 'Manningcast' do Matt and Drew watch?  The Vikings are playing in London on Sunday and Matt is amazed by the logistics of making the game happen.  Looking at the Pro Football Hall of Fame nominees, Matt reveals who he thinks are the 'slam dunks'. Rams WR Puka Nacua leading the NFL in receiving yards is the most amazing stat of the early season.  Micah Parsons returns to Dallas as the Packers visit the Cowboys.  Does Dak Prescott get sacked by Parsons? Would 464 pound player Desmond Watson make a difference against the Eagles' Tush Push?  Matt thinks Travis Kelce has to stop his feuding with Andy Reid.  Drew wouldn't be surprised to see the Colts move to 4-0, but it'll be tough against the Rams.  Matt and Drew are divided over what happens between Eagles/Bucs.   We wrap up with Survivor and Touchdown League picks for NFL Week 4!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. NFL Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin is a production of the NFL and I-Heart podcast. It is NFL Cover Zero, the Wednesday episode between week three and four. I'm Matt Jones still in Cape Town, South Africa, although I leave tomorrow for a safari in Kruger National Park. It is Heritage Day here in South Africa. Africa, which is like the day everyone celebrates wherever they're from. So all across the city, people are dressed up and like their native garb and there's food

on the streets and it's a big party. And I said, you know what, though? The people of the NFL still need their football talked about. So I'm in my hotel room to do it with you, Drew and Billy. Drew, nice to see you, man. You as well. I'm wondering with all this you have going on down there, do you just like politely dismiss yourself so you can go up to your hotel room and do an NFL?

show. Are you in like these big environments and have to step away? So people who don't know, I'm on a, I was on a fellowship. Now I'm on a group solo tour. So everybody on there doesn't know each other with eight women. It's eight women, me and our guide, who's a guy named Lee, who has listened, Drew, to every episode of this show. Oh, nice. Shout out Lee. He has to drive, he has to drive back and forth every day from his house to the hotel to meet us, and he listens, and then he comments on all of our jokes. So like, first of all, everywhere I go and Drew in South Africa, I tell people to listen to this show.

So today, I got the guy who gave us our tour at the winery. I got him to subscribe. I got my taxi driver tonight to subscribe. I got the dude who's trying to fix my cell phone and not succeeding. He is subscribing. I'd like to say hi to all of those folks, Kyle, Lee, Jason and Pekunga, thank you all very much for listening probably right now, Drew. We have at least four South African listeners.

There's a lot of good NFL shows out there with great hosts, but how many put feet to dirt and get out there internationally and try to expand the reach of their own show like you're doing right now? That's right. I don't know. I think all of them were willing except maybe the taxi driver, who I was just like, no, do you want a five-star rating? Then you need to subscribe. also my cell phone still does not work it's not going to work for the rest of the trip it is i don't know what happened i mean and cell phones here literally costs i think i said this last week thirty five hundred dollars so i can't make myself do it um but it has been weird like just

being completely disconnected from the world i mean disconnected i have access to a computer when i'm in my hotel room but otherwise drew no ability to know what's happening including no ability to get a car, which means I have to plan like it's 1985 everywhere I go to make sure I have a way to get back. Well, it did look like you posted a picture of an animal. Did you borrow someone's phone and log in? Or did you get a camera and actually take it to the hotel and scan it and upload it through the hotel computer to your Instagram? So I took other, I said, I need to have a couple things. Like, I can't come home from Africa with not one picture. It's true. Like, that's what, that's basically what we are. I've seen some of the most.

beautiful things in the world. And Drew, I don't have any pictures of any of them. Like, we're going to go on this safari and I'm going to see like lions and drafts and Elfitz. And you're not, Drew, you're not going to see one picture. Just taking a lot of mental notes out there. It's all just going to be up here in my mind. So a couple of times I've asked people if I can use their camera, take the picture and text it to me just so I act like I have some remembrance of me being here. Well, I'm sure there is a good part of being disconnected there. It probably helps you enjoy it a little bit more.

It's good for you. A phone detox. A 75-year-old tortoise today, which was nice. I saw, I've, like, stood on mountains where it's very windy. I saw penguins. It's been, it's been very exciting. And Drew, I do seriously, I highly recommend South Africa. Without question, the most beautiful views I've ever seen in my life.

part here. Well, I'm drawing pictures of the views in my mind based on your description, so since you can't actually show me. How do you find out the tortoise is 75 years old? Is that just something people know? Is there a conversation? Well, actually, that's a good point. The guy who led the bike tour just told me, but he could have said any age, because how am I going to argue with him? And I don't even know how he knows. He looked to be only like 27, so I'm not sure how he certainly hasn't been around for his whole life. So that's a good question. That may be completely made up. Well, I mean, at least you're having fun. I did want to know.

I don't know how that comes about. You and the tortoise there. It looked like, was there a penguin? There's lots of penguins. Yeah, I felt like you posted a penguin or something. They call them jackass penguins. Because they, no, that's true. Push each other in shopping carts.

Yes, that's exactly. They hit each other in the private. No, they're called jackass penguins because they got a really annoying, like, that's my penguin. But they yell apparently when they're mating. season. It's really, really loud. I don't think they were in it right now. But I will say this. The people in my group really like penguins. If they see a penguin, they just scream and shriek and they get really excited. I don't have anything that moves me like the penguins move, at least one or two of the

women in my group. But it's nice to see people happy about stuff. Yeah. And how's your eye? You're carrying that stuff animal around? Still got that with you? Still got that thing. It's very deep in the suitcase. Yeah, it's good. Don't want to lose that. Still got that. And, well, and last thing, today, you know me pretty well. And like, so today they said we're going to ride e-bikes all around vineyards and drink wine. And that's a sentence that has no words in it that I enjoy. All right.

So, I mean, I don't really like wine. Vineyards to me look like just fields. and I hadn't been on an e-bike ever, like ever in my life. I've been on bikes, but this whole e-bike revolution just passed me by. And I kind of loved it, though, the e-bikes. I think you're going to start, I think I'm going to start being e-bike guy. Because you can go really fast and not have to work very hard. And like, you get the wind in your hair.

And I think you're going to have to start referring to me as Matt E-Bike. You're going to come back being an E-Bike. biker gang around town wearing all the gear rolling your pants leg up on the left side like they do on their way to work do they have e-bikes they have an e-bike tour de France if so i'm in are you going to come back and also be into wine too you're going to be bouncing around the local okay so just the bike part of this all these people they do the thing where they swirl the glass and they smell it you know what i mean and they're like uh and i don't know what any of that is i just go do you have a coke zero And can I pour it in my pocket?

And as long as I get my wine bottle, too. And can I pour it on my phone? No, they have a... And by the way, vineyards, I don't think they think it's very high class when you ask for a Coke Zero at the vineyard. They don't look at that too kindly. I'll be honest. It's good you're branching out, even if it's just an e-bike. Well, but I am a huge fan of this place.

And then when we do this show Sunday, I will have maybe seen... big safari wildlife. Now, well, I've been gone. A lot of stuff has happened, obviously, in the NFL. We went off the air before the Monday night game between the Ravens and the Lions. I couldn't sleep very well that night. So I woke up at 5 a.m. and I thought, wait a minute, I bet that football game is still going on. So I watched the end of it.

And the Ravens, my pick to potentially win the Super Bowl, they can't stop anymore. via the past. Their secondary is awful. And now a big loss, two big loss in a row, and you got the Chiefs this week. What has happened to Baltimore? Yeah, and I got to eat some crow here on this podcast after that loss of the bills.

I believe I even raised my voice a little that Derek Henry doesn't fumble. That was a one-off, won't happen again. Three games in a row. Three games in a row. That is so uncharacteristic of him. I've watched him his whole career in Tennessee. I think he had 15 fumbles in eight seasons.

I'm lowering that, actually. And then he gets to Baltimore to contender here. And not just it's been one in each week for three weeks. They've been at huge points in the game. They were down four driving against Detroit to potentially take the lead there. And to see him do it again, it's got me scratching my head. Like, oh, no, King Henry has he got a case of the fumbles that might linger even longer? Well, I mean, he also said that he's like, analyzed the tape.

So that he, but he's in his head. He doesn't know why it's happening. Now, that's bad when you get in your head on. stuff, right? Like if you're trying to, you know, hit a note when you're singing or like if you're missing five footers in golf, it makes you do it more. Do you think if he's in his head, he fumbles the ball even more? You can. I mean, you can get the yips in anything. It doesn't just have to be athletics. Something could be mental like that. And to see him lose his cool on the sideline where he smashed his helmet, that just all of that is so uncharacteristic of Derek Henry,

who had been so good last season for them. And he's still great, obviously. But this is, this is a a new side of him we haven't really seen before. Yeah, well, that game, we'll talk about it when we're previewing the week, but that Ravens Chiefs game is a massive game for both teams. And Dan Campbell, you know, week one, they look terrible. Everybody writes off the lions. And I think at this point, if you looked at their schedule and who they were playing, the fact that they were playing the Packers, the Bears, and the Ravens,

and you had told them at the beginning, you'll get through that, you'll be two and one. A couple of the wins will be very impressive. I think they would have taken it, Drew. So ultimately, week one, every year there's an overreaction. Maybe it'll be the Lions' bad performance against the backers. I think it will. One of they scored like 80 points in the two games since then. So they've really figured it out.

And he's just, I'm not a Lions guy. They're fine, but Dan Campbell is fun to watch. And they're going forward on fourth down. And that character... Didn't they go for it from like the 15 or something? Absolutely. I mean, they are a fun team. And the NFL is better when they're good.

So I'm glad that looks to be a one-off game in week one when they lost so bad. I love dudes that go for it on their own 15. I mean, that is insanity. And I think Dan Campbell, I've said for a long time, he reminds me of the gym teacher on Beavis and Butthead. He's got that energy. And I think, you know, I can see why guys really like him. Now, some other sort of headlines from the week,

Jackson Dart, we wondered when this would happen, named the starter for the Giants. And not only named the starter Drew, he, Brian Dayball says, we'll start all season. I don't know if Brian Dayball will be there to make that decision all season, but do you agree with the decision to start him? And then if you are, do you just say,

well, he's got a, we're going to let him go through the year. It's tough. It seems like a desperation move. I mean, Dave all's putting his job on the line. Maybe the GM2 handed it to him. And, you know, if it doesn't work out, then you go back, you go out and you make a new hire and that guy wants his own quarterback, and it's kind of the never-ending cycle. Your bears have done a little bit of that over the years.

Yeah. But at the same time, Russell Wilson, just doesn't look like he's got it. I know they weren't ever really in it last week. But even down in the red zone, he's throwing it off the upright. He threw one in the tunnel. He had the great game against the Cowboys. But I think that's it.

I didn't see it. He threw one in the tunnel. He was throwing it all over the place. He had the good game against the Cowboys. I think that says a lot more about the Cowboys than Russell Wilson. And even though it's desperate going to dart, I think you have to do it. Russell's time's gone and gone. And I think if you're going to go to him, you have to let him go the whole year.

I mean, because he's good. I mean, every rookie outside of one of one of the, or two has bad moments and they're not going to make the playoff. So you might as well have him go. The worst scenario you could do is be two and seven and then bench him and then he loses his confidence and you're not doing anything. I think day ball, I actually think it was a pretty mature decision to say he'll play the rest of the year because again, the incentive for dayball would be to try to win some games. And if he's playing really bad, I mean, at this point, Dayball and the GM, Joe Shane, their time in New York is going to depend on Jackson Dart being good, right?

I mean, it's like Mr. Ole Miss Pratt Party, your whole career is going to be based on how he does. It's just how it is. And it's looking like it's not going to work out in any, whoever it is. But would you rather go out watching Russell Wilson at the end of his career and your career is attached to that? Or at least hand it off to the kid with some swagger where the fans will at least get into it a little bit. whatever he proves to be on the field. Wilson's just so uninspiring right now. And you at least have a shiny new toy that go out there and see what he has and hope for the best.

Do we think Jackson Dart dates a pop star or celebrity before the end of the season? I mean, it's kind of becoming the thing. And he's got that. He's in New York. He's got the locks. He's got the arm. Which pop stars he date? Now, what's the one?

Tate McCray. I'm putting my mom. I'm putting my money on tape McCray. That's a person, right? Did you see he asked for Eli's help getting in a reservation at a popular restaurant in New York? And Eli said, I'll help you with football. I'm not helping you there until you've made it. You get your own reservations.

So Darts. Oh, really? Yeah, Darts. It's called for Charles. It's a very popular restaurant. And even the now starting quarterback of the Giants couldn't get in. So maybe he hadn't up to that A-List girlfriend just yet if he still needs help getting into it. Wait a minute.

What's the name of the restaurant? Four Charles. four Charles the number four what makes that restaurant so good it's one of the I've tried to get it like you you cannot

you tried to get in wait a minute you couldn't no no I mean they release like every day they release a certain amount that morning and I've gotten on and tried to be one of the people to get it there's just no getting in there unless you know somebody it's impossible like I've gotten on 30 days in what I want you to do

since this restaurant since Jackson Dart can't get in Andrew Franklin can't get in I need to know what's so good about it So, Bill, you get some information on For Charles. I have to learn about why this place everybody needs to get in so much. But in New York, they've made it illegal. They've made it illegal now, I think, to do secondary reservations.

Like, you used to be able to, you could get them and then sell them on a third party website. And now that's illegal. That's how much people want the reservation process to have integrity. We nerd out on restaurant. We plan trips on if we can get a. reservation. So I'm battling. I've never gotten one of any of these places, but I'm in the crowd battling and looking at the secondary. It's ridiculous. Do you think those places are that good, though? Like, are you, do you, is it just you want to be there because it's the place to be?

I've genuinely think the food is worth doing. The one time I made it into one, it was spectacular. It was like the best meal I've ever had. But it was to win in the lottery to get into it. I had to get up in the morning. It's like getting concert tickets to get into a restaurant to overpay for their food. It is out of hand. Yeah. I did that one time of some friends. We were in Porto, Portugal, and they got one of those places. And it just felt like a lot.

Like people were coming up to me and they were like wiping my face off in between courses, giving me massages. And I was like, I don't know, man. I feel like if I had a really good chicken sandwich, this would be the same. Oh, you know, we're both good with halal at the streetcarts our favorite. Oh, I do. Look, take me to New York, 52nd Street street car. What is it? Some guys, three guys, other guys?

Yeah, 53rd and 6, right outside the Hilton. Hala guys. Yeah, just, halao guys. That's all I want. I don't need four Charles. Chef's kiss. Billy, what do we know about it? The food is really good, and there's a part of it.

Thank you. That was good news. Thank you, Billy, for that information. I'm not done. And part of it is that it's hard to get a reservation. There's a wow factor to actually getting a reservation there. And that's all I got. So good food and hard to get a reservation.

so far. All right. Nice job, Billy. You really brought a lot to the conversation. All right. There are four injuries that are important in the NFL this week. You tell me which of these is going to make more, have a bigger impact. Nick Bosa out for the year for the 49ers.

Najee Harris, out for a significant amount of time for the Chargers. James Connor. out for the year for Arizona and then C.D. Lamb is going to be out for six weeks for the Cowboys. Those are four big names. Those are four names that have all at various points in their career been, you know, contended for offensive player of the year. When in Bosa's case, was defensive player of the year, who's the biggest loss? I kind of want to say Harris, just because I think of the bunch, they're the biggest contenders. I mean, the others are going to run a lot. Really? Not Bosa.

We've both shared our feelings of what we think that team ultimately is. I mean, if it's truly what they mean to their team, yeah, that is the biggest. But I think the one that could actually impact, you know, a team making a run would be the Chargers, even though he's in the name of Bosa. But I just don't know that the 49ers are going to be as good with or without him. And I know, you know, Najee Harris isn't the biggest name on that list, but I think the Chargers are the best team on that list. So I think them have a – So you think the Chargers are a real content?

I really do. I don't think that Brazil game was a fluke. Herbert seems to take it a big step forward and losing anything on that offense could hold them back a little bit. There was an NFL, maybe it was on the athletic or is either NFL.com where they are every week polling NFL coaches and asking to rank the quarterbacks in football, which feels like not a week-to-week thing. It feels like the list shouldn't change that much. But I have to tell you, here's what I found very surprising. The top three are Alan Lamar Mahomes,

and they've been the top three for a long time. Number four on the list this week was Justin Herbert. Do you think that's – I mean, that feels very high to me, but do you think that's right? It's hard to argue against it with what he's already done this year, and he's always had that potential and getting him with Harbaugh and then the start that they're off to. I wouldn't bet against him at this point.

I still think that that conference is going to. going to be Bill's, Ravens, and probably not even dropping the Chiefs down. But I think the Chargers are knocking on joining that conversation right now and could by the end of the year be in that mix. The other thing that shocked me is, okay, so that was four. Jalen Hertz was five. Take a guess who number six was. I want you to think about who do NFL coaches believe is the sixth best quarterback.

And by the way, I'm going to give you a hand. Was not Joe Burrow because he's hurt? He's on the list, but I guess he had dropped because of that. So who do you think is the sixth? the best quarterback. Are we doing just what they've done for three weeks to say? This is the ranking of they said who are the best quarterbacks in the NFL? How they do it, I guess you'd have to ask the coaches.

But what do you think it is? All right, let me cover who we've said again already. Just real quick. Alan Lamar, Mahomes, Herbert, Jay one herx. Jordan Love? Jordan Love was like eight. Okay. Maker.

Yeah, Baker Mayfield. Baker Mayfield was sixth. Wow. Can you believe we live in a world where this is not fans. This is NFL coaches are ranking Baker Mayfield 6. That really shocked me. Yeah, we mentioned this on our last podcast, a guy that's career was gone. And this week, I wouldn't have had him that high.

It's surprising. But he's calling out the coordinator that fired him after games. We've got the moment with Gardner Johnson, who just got cut, where he's getting a guy's face. I mean, he has found absolute new life and has been looking good for them. Yeah, I guess it does make sense, even though I didn't have that guess. By the way, if I were to ask Billy for more information on that, he would have told me that Justin Herbert plays for the Chargers, and Baker Mayfield is ranked 6th.

But did you get any more on the restaurant? Oh, no, we've moved on from that. Okay. I was on to NFL talk. Well, you pretty much, like, completed it. Yeah, I think you got the just. Completed it all. I'm going to give me my stat of the week, Drew.

All right. My stad of the week. The Buffalo Bill. have either won or tied on the turnover margin in the game. So whether they've either had more takeaways or they've tied for 25 straight games. That's an NFL record. 25 straight times. They have either produced more, like they've either taken away more turnovers or they've had the same as their opponent.

That is an unbelievable statistic. and is one that, you know, sometimes turnover margin changes, especially fumbles, like year to year. There's a regression to the mean. 25 straight is absolutely crazy. I would have guessed that the highest streak would be like 10 games, 11 games, maybe 12 games. Me too.

Doubling that because, as you said, you could have the best defense of all time or the best offense of protecting the ball, but eventually there's just a little bit of luck involved as how. You would think. At some point, at some point that would get broken up. to the league. When he came to the league, he was kind of known as like a gunslinger who would make dumb decisions. 25 straight. It passed the record last game. But I'm with you. If you had told me to guess what the all-time record was, I would have said 12 or something like that.

25 is ridiculous. And it's probably a big reason why they've been so good. Do you think, though, there is a potential regression to the mean there at some point? The fact that I'm so shocked that it's high, I would think so. And they play in so many meaningful games. And you're in those games because you're not turning it over. But that just seems like a ridiculous stat. It does to me. That was one. That was a wow. A wow of, I know Drew's going to be happy when he hears this. Your Titans coach, Callahan, has given his play calling duties to the quarterback coach. He says he needs to be more focused during games on the overall big picture of the game. Do you agree with that decision?

I agree that he needs to be a lot more focused on the overall big picture. My next question is just, who is taking over the basic level in-game management responsibilities now? Because he has proven he can't do that either. I'm ready for him to give all of his duties to all the other people, and then he can go sit in the crowd with his fans because he has no business being our head coach. But I am glad of this development. Do you think the quarterback coach will be better? No, absolutely not.

The whole operation. I don't even know his name. The whole operation is a joke. Just yesterday we trade one of the few bright spots on defense, a cornerback. Second year guy, Brownlee Jr., he's from Louisville. Even I like him, he's from Louisville. Trade him for a six-round pick where you would try to use that pick to get a guy like him. It's like one of the few players out there trying.

We just dealt him for on down the road. The fire sale is about to start. I'm going to watch them, but it is a horrendous operation that is even worse. than I even imagine they could have been this year. We're going to get a little later to our Survivor League picks. And I nearly picked the Texans against the Titans just because I believe so little in the Titans. I didn't because it's a conference game or division game.

But yeah, they're awful. I do think going down to the quarterback coach, though, that's usually just some dude. You know, sometimes it's future offensive coordinators, but sometimes it's just a quarterback. I feel like, I guess, do you not have an OC? Was he the OC as well? He must have been.

You don't skip over the O.C. Well, Brian Callahan, it goes back to the, when we hired Brian Callahan, everyone was like, wait, he didn't even really call plays for the Bengals. Like, what are we doing here? Like, he kind of lucked into a system that guys. Taylor calls the plays. And then he had Joe Burrow. I mean, what an easy job where you're not calling plays and Joe Burroughs your quarterback.

So I didn't even know how we ended up with Callahan in the first place. But I'm shocked he made it four weeks that it is. the play caller. Bo Hardegree is the quarterback's coach, by the way. Who? Bo Hardegree. I don't know. That's not a person. You made that name up. Listen, who is Bo Harderick? At this point, I'm ready. I'll give Billy a chance to redeem himself. Because his thing about the restaurant was not the best. Billy, as we do this next story, I want you to give me good information about Bo Hardingree. Can you do that? We are on it. All right. While he's doing that, you know,

I don't have a phone, so I don't have access to my text machine. But I do have access to Instagram. It's the only form of communication with the outside world that I have. And I got a question on there, and I wanted to read it. And by the way, we'll start taking more questions on the text machine. Somebody wrote and asked Matt, do you, I know you like the Manning cast. Does Drew like the Manning cast? I love it.

My wife thinks they talk too much. I mean, ultimately, if the cast is the two of them talking, they do need to talk. Are you a fan of the Manning Caff? You know, I was when it first came out. I would pick it over the regular broadcast, and I enjoyed it. But I kind of just over time leaned gradually with each Monday night into the regular broadcast. And now I almost don't even check on it at all. You went back to Buck and Aigman.

Just kind of, or naturally, though, it's not like I'm like, I don't enjoy the Manning cast. I just kind of, that's just when I turn it on, I'm an ESPN. there. But I do enjoy the clips. Like the other day, I guess, I don't even know why he was saying the number 67, but Eli did the TikTok 6-7 thing. Still don't really know what that means because I'm 40. I don't know what that means either.

But, you know, I turn and show it to my wife, and then she's talking about it. So, I mean, they still see, even though I don't know what that means, they're still, you know, trying to be hip and got us talking about other things. But I just naturally kind of go towards the original. I really like it. But sometimes I think I'm the only person watching it.

Like the only person. I sometimes think it's me and Archie are the only two people watching it because something will happen on it. Like one time they talked through like two plays. And so I took to Twitter with outrage. This was during week one ago, I love you, Mannings, but show the game and no one responded. Like no one, it was like no one else.

Or maybe I got my own broadcast, but no one, no one responded. And I thought, and then I went and look, the numbers for the. the ratings are actually really not very good. But I don't understand why people don't like it. I learn a lot from watching them. And now that you mentioned, and I did enjoy it, I haven't even watched it all this year. My favorite thing, and I hope they still do it, is when Peyton Manning gets so mad that they're not doing what he thinks they should do or a guy misses a throw.

You can just hear him scoff under his breath and knowing a great one's, like, frustrated. That's my favorite part of the Manning broadcast. He's also like my mom, because he roots for everyone. like Peyton wants every quarterback to complete every pass and he ends up being like my mom when she watches a game where she cheers for both teams hoping everyone succeeds that's kind of how Peyton is during those games

I wasn't planning to bring this up but my favorite kind of secondary thing that we've seen this season and we should have mentioned on Sunday was the CBS flashback to the 70s last Sunday was pretty awesome on their morning shows I didn't get to see it was it good? Yeah I mean the whole set it looked like we went back time. You know, they're wearing the big collars and the bell bottoms and half the crew's

bald, but you know, they got the big wigs on. Even the sideline reporters, the actual games were wearing 70s outfits. They did. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. I mean, JJ White had big old glasses on. So that was one of the cooler things I've seen from around the NFL lately. And I, you know, I wish I could have seen it. The Mannycast is good too. But I did, I love the NFL today last Sunday with their flashback. Were any of the old people on it? Like, did they bring back Brett Busberger? Or they brought bread back. Bram back. Brough was on the set. He was a surprise on on the morning. So it was 50th anniversary, but that was one of the cooler things I've seen of all the, you know, secondary entertainment stuff. A woman on this trip, her last name is O'Brien. And she was saying to me, she was talking about her dad. And she was like, my dad, Pat O'Brien. And I was like, and I go, oh, like the sports announcer. And she just looked at me. No, well, excuse me, first of all, she says my dad, Pat O'Brien. I go, oh. And she goes, I've heard it all.

And I was like, oh, like the sports announcer. And she goes, I don't know what that means. I didn't realize that apparently in Ireland, every bar is like called Pat O'Brien's. But I was bringing up mustache Pat O'Brien from CBS. Her dad's name is Pat O'Brien, Drew, and she had never heard of the sportscaster Pat O'Brien. That made me feel sad for Pat O'Brien, the sportscaster. You got a man who shares your name and his daughter's still doesn't know you exist.

And he did all the sport. What are he? Like Final Four, NFL legend. Here, you thought you were walking. I think he also hosted, did he host Access Hollywood? One of those, yeah, inside something or other. One of those gossip shows. But yeah, you think you're walking right into her knowing what that is.

No, just a bar in Ireland. No, she just knew there were bars in Ireland named Pat O'Brien. So I really was like, are we to the point, like, in 30 years, are people going to be like, John Madden? You mean the guy that makes shoes and purses? Like, is that what it's going to be? I think that's Steve. But yeah, yeah, they could get to that.

I know, that's what I'm saying. Like, they won't even know. That'll be sad. Is there bars called Terry Bradshaw's out there? Yeah, we're all going to be forgotten. It's just a matter of win. Okay, now, let's see if Billy can redeem himself. Tell me about the quarterback coach.

Yeah, meet Bo Hardegree. He was a quarterback at the University of Tennessee from 2003 to 2006, only appeared in one game until he quit the team. to switch to play tennis from the University of Tennessee. That's my play caller. That's my play caller. No, he didn't. He quit the team to play tennis.

He only played in one game as a quarterback at UT. Tidding up. Then joined as a student assistant as a coach, as coach for 12 years since then. Yes. Was the quarterback's coach for the Raiders two years ago. He was asked what his philosophy as a play caller is. He said, protect the ball and score points. That's a good philosophy.

So they hired him, I believe, Drew, because Michael Chang was not available. Jim Currier was busy, so they were faux-hardegre. I was hoping they'd go a little younger and get some John Isner from the SEC, but no, not him either. Billy, I didn't know that fact, but you just made my Titans fandom get even lower. I keep saying the bottom can't be any lower and we keep making it. You redeemed yourself. You redeemed yourself for the rest of it. We're going to take you to Fort Charles to celebrate.

that was that was that was great now on sunday we have our first europe game which is really good for me because that will be a game i can actually watch because i'm on that that's a time frame that works for me uh it's in dublin and it's the vikings and the steelers and i got to give a shout out to the athletic that had a great story today about the logistics of the vikings going to dublin and i want to give you some facts here so the vikings are playing two straight games in London. Did you know that? They're playing one in Dublin, and then next Sunday they're playing in London. So they're basically doing the whole island. Let me give you something. They are bringing 37,000 pounds of gear. 37,000 pounds of gear. They had to send some of the gear

by cargo ship and put it on the ship two and a half months ago. And they only, found out today that it had gotten to port. I was just going to ask, sure. They were not sure. I was just going to ask you, do they have to use a literal ship to get, I mean, you can't throw that in a cargo plane, so they did ship it. It's the uniforms. The uniforms and some of the other stuff was on plane, but I guess I don't know what all you

need to have a football practice like, I don't know, machines and all that. All those things they had to send by cargo ship. They sent it two and a half months ago, and they said had the, I think the quote in One of the articles was, had the waters been choppy, it might not have gotten there in time for the game. But thankfully, the seas were calm and they were able to get there. Seas were looking out for the NFL. You know, the biggest sport, imagine if they did get over there and they're looking around just, well, the ship didn't make it. So we're just going to go with what we have.

Yeah, so they got the cargo ship. They also had to plan for the course of this trip. You know, you can't just go over there and eat fish and chips, right? you got to have, they are taking a lot of their meals. 7,000 meals for 195 people. So they have to find a way to get 7,000 meals for 195 people. That's got to be a hard thing, right? Yeah, and I heard a football player that's played in this game in the past talk about

because Irish, even their beef is different. It's like grass fed. So you're not just bringing over the things you like. I mean, they're bringing over everything. They're not trusting to get any of it over there because they don't want to mess with their diet and what they've been on for so long. Isn't grass-fed beef, though, better? Like, why would you bring our nasty process beef? I guess when you're a professional athlete and you've got these diets you're on, they're following it to an exact science.

So they're bringing over everything you can think of and not even trust in what's local. Think about how hard the logistics have to be for those meals, though. Like today on our wine bike tour, the logistics were. a little off. They had the woman sitting next to me and out. We just had to share a plate. They just brought a plate. They set it between us and said, you two do this. Like a lady in the train. It had enough food. It had enough food for two people, but rather than put it on two different plates, they're just like here. And you all have to eat it to get. So do you think Aaron Rogers and D.K. Meck. Do you think Aaron Rogers and D.K. Metcalf are sharing a

plate Sunday morning before the game? They have to share a plate. They have to share one cup of tea between the two of them for the game. And this one I also thought was interesting. You see, you don't think about these logistics. When you land in an airport,

what's the first thing you have to do when you get to a foreign country? Go through customs. You have to go through customs. But think about how long that could take. And what if there's a long line? So they have a special arrangement with the Irish government. where they have a locked box of 195 passports that the moment they load off the plane will be taken by box,

unlocked and unsealed, and all passports will be checked by the time the players get there, they will all be able to go through as a group. The 195 passport locked box. I don't like that. I think, listen, I've been to Ireland. You obviously travel a lot. Part of the experience is waiting that long line. I love the NFL and I'm excited about this game, but they can wait with everyone else.

It's part of the experience. That's my question for you. Do you think the Minnesota Vikings and their traveling secretaries and trainers should be able to bypass customs that you and me average Joe have to go through? That seems like favoritism by the Irish government. I think so too. I'm glad they're hosting this game. I'll be up ready to watch it at 925, but they can get in the back of the line. and go through and they can go rent a car that they thought would be automatic and it turns out to be manual

just like I did. They can pull out in front of Enterprise and almost get T-bone because you're not used to look in the right way. Dude, that's tough. Oh, I did it. The moment I landed, they're waving at me at Enterprise as I turned into the wrong lane and almost got T-bone. So I think the Steelers should have to go through that entire process just like everyone else. It's the experience. Carson Wince is no better than me.

He should have to do the exact same things that I do. I really, I love this article because I love thinking about logistics. I don't know if you saw, you know, the United Nations is meeting in New York. And this is not to get political. It's logistics. I guess because it's in New York, the American president, you know, it shuts down whenever he goes anywhere. But the French president was on the street, Macron, where it got shut down. And there's video if he got out of the car and he's like, can I go?

And they're like, no, the president's going. And he looks at the officer and he's like, I'm the French president. And the officer looks at him like, whatever, buddy. Sure you are, pal. Just shut up and get your pizza, a manual. It's an away game. I agree with it. That's exactly right.

It's an away game. And that makes it difficult. So anyway, I like those facts. Before we get to the games this week, I always like when Billy, he gives us some news that maybe we didn't cover in the headlines. It's Billy's quick hitters. Billy, what's first? Yeah, the NFL today announced the 128 modern era players that are nominated for the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. There are 13 first year eligibility players.

I'm going to run through this list. They have to pick three to five modern era players for the class. You tell me which one of these first year eligibility guys might make that list. list. We are three quarterbacks, Drew Breeze, Philip Rivers, and Alex Smith. There is wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald, Greg Olson, the tight end, Jason Whitten as well, running back Frank Gorin, Lashon McCoy, offensive lineman David DeCastrow and Marquise Pouncey, defensive lineman, Gino Atkins, and Jarrell Casey, and linebacker Thomas Davis. There's a lot of guys on that list that I can see getting in. All right, let's do the slam ducks. So you said Drew Breeze.

Yes. He's in. Larry Fitzgerald is in. Absolutely in. Philip Rivers is in eventually and probably first team, but he'll be in. Who is after? Greg Olson. What about Greg Olson?

Well, he had Jason Whitten. Jason Witten's ahead of Greg Olson to me. Jason Wittins in before Greg Olson. And then you had one more, I hate to make you go over it again. It was a running back. Frank Gore and LaShawn McCoy. Frank Gore. Frank Gore's numbers.

Yeah, Frank Gore's numbers are like through the roof. So you're saying Frank Gore, Jason Whitten, Drew Bruce, Drew Breeze, and Larry Fitzgerald, definitely. Philip Rivers and Greg Olson, if not this year at some point. And then I don't know about the other guys. I'd have to, I'm sure one of them makes perfect sense, but I don't know their stats well enough. I hope they put Lashon McCoy in because my friends rudely interrupted him at dinner one time and asked him for a photo. And it was awkward. It still haunts me about it.

It's like, don't do that. Man's eaten. So I hope he gets in. Equal payback is the Hall of Fame. Yeah. That still haunts me. You know how sometimes things happen. They're not that important.

No one else thinks about them again, but it lives in your head. That's one of them for me, a little shady there. He's got a good case, though. Yeah. There's nothing worse than coming up to some celebrity that you want to talk to and realizing you're annoying them. That's a low feeling, especially if you, really like look up to the person, that's a tough feeling.

One of them is wearing an Eagles jersey and one was wearing a Bill's jersey, so it was somewhat appropriate. It was at a sports bar, but it was still awkward to do. But I think he's a close, he's second tier, but he's close to the first tier for me. All right. What's next? Another stat for you here. How about some NFL stats through three weeks, the passing, rushing, and receiving leaders,

along with the Super Bowl favorite on gambling sites. I will give you that now. Justin Herbert at 860 passing yards so far. Jonathan Taylor leads the league in rushing with 338 yards. And Puka Nakuwa with 33 receiving yards, Jonathan Taylor and Puka Nakuwa will play each other this week as it's Colts versus Ramps. And the Bills are the plus 400 Super Bowl favorite after starting 3 and O. Yeah, I would definitely put the Bills as the favorite. Puka Nakua baffles me.

I mean, Jonathan Taylor is a physical, like, freak of nature. but Puka Nakuua looks like you, Drew, and yet is still able to lead the NFL in receiving. It is one of the more, first of all, I give a lot of that credit to the coach, right? To, what's it? McVeigh. My name is Ben-Mibbe.

Sean McVe. He is brilliant when it comes to this stuff. And like he did it with Cooper Cup, and now he does it with Puka Nakua. But Jonathan Taylor, to me, is the epitome of what a running back should be. and then Puka Nakuua is just a guy, and yet those are the two leaders. Yeah, Taylor's not that surprising, especially since he's already played the Titans, had those stats a little bit, but Pooka Nakuua was a late draft pick.

What is he out of, BYU? BYU. Not a guy at the combine that's just, you know, shattering records, but as you throw it anywhere near him, those hands are catching it. And what is he? The beginning of his third year, and he's doing this. He's been a huge piece for them and a huge surprise, too. I think most people are being honest.

They had never heard of him until he had his brain. weekout season a couple years ago. Yeah. Well, I like that information, Billy. What's next? We've been talking about the return of Micah Parsons to Dallas. He gave a quote to reporters the other day saying it would be painful to sack Deck Prescott in his return to Dallas.

He went on to say, that's my guy. He was always like a good mentor to me. But you know how it is. He always told me if I ever faced him that it'll be a great matchup. So I'm excited to see what Sunday brings itself. I don't think it'll be that painful. I mean, I think he'll just sack him. I feel like the Packers are going to win this game by 45 points.

I mean, they're going to want to do it for Michael Parsons. If he gets a sack, the place is going to be absolutely electric. And the game is in Dallas, right? So it's a return. Do you think he gets, if you were a Dallas Cowboys fan, we've talked about this over the years. Would you give him a round of applause? If I'm a fan, yes, because I'm upset.

But I saw Jerry said they're not going to do anything to recognize him. No videos. no welcome backs, no Pat's on the back. He's baby. That's poor form. It's tough. He wasn't there to be like a true legend. He wasn't there that long, even though it was the best defensive player in the NFL. I honestly lean a little bit on Jerry's side here,

but I know the fans are going to give him a roar, and I certainly would too. Jerry's still, he still lost that chess match, at least in PR, so I can see why he's not going to lean in and recognize him. But the fans are going to erupt. I think I would not give it to him. He wasn't there that long. He's still in the prime of his career.

But you should one day, even though he only played there a few years. If you're the fans, I think you have to. Because it's not his fault he left, right? I mean, it's kind of his fault, but it's not. I put more of it on Jerry Jones. But do you think he will get around? Yeah, they love him. They're still upset.

He's gone. I think he'll get a round of applause. I think that might cheer when he sacks deck. He's definitely sacking deck. That's happening. Oh, if he sacks Dack and cheer, that's a round. That's a low moment for cowboys, like ownership, etc. If he gets a cheer for sacking, Dak, that's tough.

I feel bad for Dak. He's actually having a good year. He leads the NFL in completions. You know, there's always been questions. Mark's about him since he had that contract, but he's finally looking good. And that defense is so bad. The Cowboys aren't going anywhere. But Dak actually isn't the problem this year, but that won't be talked about much

because I don't think they're going to be very good, especially CDs banged up. but DAC has answered the bell so far on his end. What's next, Billy? Last one. All right, one more, and this comes from my Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They signed a 449-pound defensive tackle. Desmond Watson to their practice squad this week. They take on the Philadelphia Eagles, known for the Tush Push.

Maybe this could be the secret sauce to stopping that. This is somebody that was on their practice squad for a while, but he could not lose weight. He was over 465 pounds. He is now down to 449, and the bucks have resigned him. A svelte 449. I like the idea of bringing in a player to stop one play. You basically sign a guy with the notion of there'll be one game that we might need to play you one play.

My question is, do you think it will matter? Like, would it matter if you just put a dude that's that big to try to stop it? I don't think so. And, you know, he was in some other training camps, or at least one. this season, just the word around him was just too big and was not putting in anywhere. I just couldn't do anything. I guess it's a reach. They're going to try it, but I just don't know that this guy's cut out for the NFL.

I don't know if you remember being Kentucky guys. He played at Florida. They made a bunch of him when Kentucky played him. I mean, he truly is gigantic when you see him out. He is massive. I mean, but just I don't think he's capable of. You can be massive, though, and still be really, really athletic. Like, what was the guy on Green Bay, the defensive tackle that was so good?

He ran that fumble back once. J. Raji. There you go. BJ Raji. But then you also have dudes that are just huge. So, like, I'm a wrestling guy. Vader, Big Van Vader. He was huge, but also very athletic.

But then there was a dude like Bastion Bugger, who was just huge and didn't add anything to the mix. A little off topic. Good Vader. fact, did you know, Vader would not wash his singlet so that he would sort of, he would initiate new wrestlers by wrestling them and not washing his singlet. And thus, they would have to, his finishing move was he would fall on you and sit on your, on your chest.

And he would do that as a way to sort of say, welcome to the big league. That's, that's foul. I can even, I'm getting a sense. That's just in this room of Billy that I don't want. You got to look out for your phone. Do you know what his outfit was? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

I remember Vader back in the day. For those of you, they're listening, Google Big Van Vader. Look at that outfit and think they said he would like not wash it for weeks to save it up for the moment. That's disgusting. I know there's little tricks like that. Heck, people probably do stuff in football that's out of bounds. But you wash your damn clothes, Vader. Yeah.

Ryan Lemon does that on our show and nod as a way. Not as a way of initiating anybody. All right, let's talk for a second about some big games this week. I'm going to give you the five that stick out to me. You mentioned the Packers and the Cowboys. That's Sunday Night Football. I think we hit that. The Ravens and the Chiefs, both teams are one and two.

Is this a loser-leaves-town game or are both okay even if they lose? I think the Ravens are more okay with a loss than the Chiefs. Chiefs, but neither one of them are in a great spot being one and three, and that's even hard to comprehend if you had told me that a month ago. On the Ravens end, we've already mentioned my boy Derek Henry can't hang on to the ball, but also Lamar got sacked seven times on Monday night football. It's not just their defense giving up points. And then with the Chiefs, we had another Kelsey, Andy Reed, chest bump.

This time, Andy got a little more leverage, and I think it was Andy. What did you think about that? What did you think about that one? And this is two weeks in a row. And, you know, Travis Kelsey, he needs to be good. good for the team, but he also needs to worry about his image. I mean, he is marrying America's sweetheart. You cannot keep fighting with your coach.

After the game, they're like, oh, we're good. But then Travis wasn't in the locker room. He left. I mean, that's two weeks in a row. That starts to be a thing, right? Yeah, and when they did it before, they were fine. And I'm sure they are good. That's just their competitive nature.

It happens on sidelines all the time. But on top of him not running his route deep enough and getting his teammate hurt in the first game. or the bad turnover two weeks ago. And now you're arguing, I mean, it's only week four. And we have several examples of, we can ask, like, is the Chief's Kingdom crumbling here a little bit? It just doesn't seem like this smooth operation and everything going like it had been for many years when one of your star players and the best tight ends ever seems to be part of the issues that have happened so far. It's interesting, both these dudes, Andy Reed and Travis Kelsey, both come off as like really nice guys.

people like. But they're also both really fiery. They get really angry, both of them. It's just an interesting dichotomy to me. I think they'll probably be fine. I'm kind of with you. I think both these teams can be okay if they lose, but to me it's a bigger game for the Chiefs, right? You're playing, you're playing at home. You lost to the Eagles at home. You had those games, you know, basically two out of three weeks. I think you got to get one of them. You got to prove to people that you are an actual contender. I think they've got to win this one. We'll see if they do.

Colts and Rams. Colts are 3 and O. Playing in L.A. Any chance they go 4 and O? Listen, I'm done. I made fun of the Colts in our preseason predictions. I've gotten all of my Colts jokes off. I'm done.

Not doing anymore. They've shut me up week after week. I would think the Rams win this, but as far as being the least bit surprised if the Colts pulled off, not at all. Consider me a Daniel Jones believer, and I can't believe I'm saying that out loud. They have looked so good, even if, you know, last week it was against Tennessee.

The fact that they didn't even punt till the second quarter of week three is insane. So, of course, they're going to be in this game. But I think being at home for the Rams, they'll win, but the Colts will be in it for sure. Without having a phone or being in a country where it's legal to bed, it's going to be hard for me to place a wager on this game. But if I could, I'd bet a whole lot of. on the Rams. I think this is the Colts come to Jesus moment. I think they're still going to be good the rest of the year,

but I think they're going to get a beat down in L.A. I don't know what the spread is. Probably, I'm going to guess it's like, is it four? You're about to go. See, I would, I was going to say six and a half. I would load up, either one of those spreads. I would load up on the ramps. By the way, when I went for the second time today to try to get my phone fixed, the guy goes, So first, I went, I went Monday. And they said to me, the iPhone place was like, we cannot use official technology to fix this. And I was like, what do you mean?

They're like, Apple will not let us try to fix this with official technology. And then the guy goes, but there are people out there who will use unofficial technology. Sounds safe. I don't really know what that means. And I said, well, hypothetically, where are these people? and he was like downstairs. So I walked downstairs. Look at the guy.

He looks at the phone. He was like, can't fix this with Apple. But I have things I can fix it with. And I was like, all right, how much are those things? And he said something that was basically like $350,

US dollars. But that's like $2,500 or whatever. You know, it's like a huge amount. Not $2,500, but it's a huge amount. rant. So I come in today for him to do it.

I hand him the phone and he says, and he hands it to the guy and he goes, go work on it. And the guy goes in the parking lot. He goes in the parking lot. Like, we're in a store. He leaves the store and he goes to the parking lot. Can't have that on camera. There's a part of me. It's like, I'm never going to see this man again.

You know what I mean? Like, this guy's gone and I'm starting to think, all right, how do I cancel everything that I have? Comes back an hour later, hands me the phone. He said, unofficial technology does not fix this. And so it's not going to work. But I think it is amazing. They say in South Africa, they're like, there's the economy and then there's the economy. Apparently, some of the economy takes place in the mall parking lot because he went in his car.

And he started working on. After what we know about your trip so far from these shows, I have an image of him going to his van and there's just a bunch of baboons sitting in the back with screwdrivers. And that's how they fix things in South Africa. I like the U.S. trusted them with whatever. I mean, they could have taken your information. Well, okay. So I thought about that. And I was, most of my information would require other things than what they had, right?

They just had a knife. All they had was a pocket knife. Yeah, but he, I just, I looked at him. And when he said he was going in the parking lot, he looked at me like, this is where this occurs is in the parking lot. We don't do these repairs in public spaces. It kind of reminds me of like the early 90s when the cable guy would come over and be like, you know, we have a package that's off the books.

If you want me to. You just give him $50 and you're like, yes, you can get those channels that are blurred out. There is a whole different angle to this business I'm running. It kind of seems like the same thing. We'll keep our secret between us. All right. So he's not able to get it to work. And when it's over, he goes, I'm sorry, man.

And this guy had been nice to me to do that was the thing. He said, is there anything else I can do for you? I said, well, I can't get home. Because I don't have an Uber, right? And they kind of tell you, like, be careful with the cabs. like get an Uber. And he goes, and he looks at me, he goes, well, I can order you an Uber. And I said, well, how will I pay?

And they have a thing here. I don't think we do this in America where you can order an Uber online, but then pay with cash. Can we do that in America? I don't think so. I don't think we can't. I've never seen that. So he orders it. He gives me the look, which I've learned is the universal South African look for tip me.

Like that's a universal. There's a look. There's a look. No, you don't even have to put your hand out. There's just a look like, all right, here we go. So I tip it. Go up and meet the car. Get in the car.

Guy goes, where are you going? I tell you where I'm going. He immediately cancels the Uber ride. And it just tells me to pay him in cash. Well, you know, he didn't want to be on the hook for whatever you were doing. I mean, he got the car there at that point. But then you realize when the car pulls off, there's now no record I'm in this car. Right?

I was on the cell phone guy's account, and now this guy's canceled the ride. He brought me here. But there was a moment where I was like, this is the moment I disappeared. And there's not going to be a whole lot I can do about it. You're living dangerously down there. You're going to come back with a bad boy image of just down there taking all these risks. Well, it is interesting because it's a different, like it's a different thing. You know, I mean, they just tell you.

They're just like, don't go out at it. without getting in a car. And so last, you know, two nights ago, I went to dinner. I had to walk two blocks and there were people everywhere. But there was a part of me and be like, they said not to go out without a car. I'm not getting a car for two blocks. I'm going to do it. But I'm walking around like, all right.

Watch out. So, I mean, it's just a different place. Finally, the only matchup of three and O teams this week, Eagles, Bucks. I feel like we've said this about Eagles games for the last few weeks. This could be a game where playoff seating matters. Who you got in Tampa Bay. I'm not just doing this because Billy's here, but if the Eagles are going to lose,

this is one of where can happen. There are not a lot of games left on their schedule where they can lose. I mean, they can't run the table. They got to lose somewhere. So I'm going to go bucks here. Bucks, even though both teams have needed some miraculous comebacks to even be undefeated, Bucks especially in all three games, but even the Cowboys were beating up on the Eagles early in week one. But I'm going to side with Baker Mayfield at home here.

Rookie wide receiver has been amazing. Baker has just been shrugging things off early in games. When he gets that fourth quarter, he's locking in and getting the win. I know it's an upset pick here. Eagles are like a four-point favorite, but give me the bucks to pull this off at home because the Eagles have to lose somewhere. Yeah, I mean, this is, this is one. where I like the Eagles. I'd say the, what are the Eagles like? Three and a half, four. Is that what you said? I think it was right at four. Yeah. So I like the Eagles to cover that. But, you know, this can be a, Baker Mayfield's the sixth best quarterback in the NFL, apparently. Here's a chance for

him to show it. All right. So now in our contest, time to do our Survivor League. Right now, you know, obviously we didn't get to do, we didn't get to pick it last week because of, because of the circumstances. So. And we've done the biggest one of all time probably. Yeah, well, somebody would be out. For sure. There's no doubt that at least one person would have been out. Hang on just a second, Billy.

Let me find the sheet that's got the... I have it, if you knew it. I got it. Okay, here we go. So, Drew, I have taken the Broncos and the Ravens. You have taken the commanders and the Cowboys. That Cowboys pick looks pretty good to have that one out of the way. Billy's taking the Jaguars and the Cardinals.

pretty good spots. Now, Billy, you get to go first. What is going to be, what is going to be your pick? I'll go with the lock of the week. It'll be Buffalo at home versus the Saints. I don't even have to think about it. See, I mean, that's, you're going to win. I want to save the bills for another time, like, pick another team when they play the Saints. But, I mean, you're guaranteeing to win because there is absolutely no way, Drew that the bills are going to lose to the worst team in football.

So that's, yeah, there's no way that could possibly happen. Absolutely no way that could happen. Yeah. No, it's not happening. That's a good one.

So now it's my turn. I'm going to take the lions over the Browns. The lions, I think, are hitting their stride. Browns got a big upset last week. I don't think they do it two weeks in a row. They're on the road.

So I'm going to take the lions. So that means, Drew, you can't pick the commanders, the Cowboys, the Lions, or the Bills. Who would you like to take? I had pre-ranked my teams before the show, and I had the Lions as my pick. So good call there. I really liked that one. Plus, they're going to get into some divisional games where you're not going to want to pick them.

So I'm going to pivot, and my number two is the Chargers versus the Giants. Chargers are on the road, but Jackson Dart getting his first start, Giants being 0 and 3, and 0. I'll roll the dice with the road team there. I mean, I think that's the obvious pick. What worries me about that one for you is the Chargers are basically, they play all road games. And then what if there's some Jackson Dart first game magic? That happens sometimes.

The crowd's probably going to be big because people are going to want to be at the first Jackson Dart game. So that's, Drew, my only worry. Chargers are a lot better. But the Giants, you know, their defense has been competitive. So does that worry you at all? A little bit. I love the Lions pick. I'm with you. I didn't want to touch the bills to keep them.

So, you know, I'm down to my second option. My other that I was considering is a tighter spread, but Patriots at home against the Panthers, Panthers coming off a 30 and O shutout, I know it would be rolling the dice. But of the Patriots versus the Chargers, those are the two I was considering, and I'm going Chargers. You were thinking about taking the Patriots in that one. Against the Panthers at home. I love home teams in this, but I'm going road. I think that would have been a very, very gutsy.

No Denver. Denver's in the mix Those are the big spreads though After that you're mostly three and four point spreads Across the board so those are the obvious ones But I'm gonna trust Herbert versus Dart in his rookie debut All right so now

It goes for our player This is for our touchdown league I have one, all three of us have one point We've each gotten one you all Last week both got yours You got Jonathan Taylor and Jabbar Chase I did not get Lamar So I did not get a point

but it's one to one. I get to go first. And these, I'm trying to get teams that are going to score a lot of points and try to take a player that has a good chance of doing it. So I'm going to take, I'm going to go with the Bill Saints. I'm going to take James Cook as the running back is going to, what? Why are you laughing? Again, I power ranked my picks.

He was my number one pick. So you had my game and my touchdown score. But no, good pick. Keep going. I'm going to take James Cook as my running back. Now, that means, Drew, you can't take Najoku or Jamar Chase. you have taken. You could take anyone else you like, but you've got to get either a quarterback or a wide receiver.

I'm absolutely prepared. I'm going wide receiver. Nico Collins. It's very simple for me. Nico Collins, they play the Titans. And if you want to find the end zone, play the Titans. So give me Nico Collins with the Texas. You're taking Nico Collins.

That's an interesting pick. Well, I mean, you know my thought. You can't see. Our listeners can't see it, but I'm rocking Titans gear. I've seen this movie before. So give me a good. Now, Billy, you've picked McCaffrey and Jonathan Taylor, but you have to pick a quarterback. So what quarterback are you taking?

Right. So we're looking for a rushing touchdown here. The guy was included in rushing packages before he was just named the starter. Give me Jackson Dart to run one in against the Chargers. You're not going to take Josh Allen, Lamar, Jalen Hurts. You're going to take Jackson Dart? I think it's going to be not. This is the worst pick-off.

Not a tush push situation, but this guy is going to be handling the rock. Tyrone Tracy's out for four weeks. Jalen Hertz, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson are maybe the three best rushing touchdown, quarterbacks of all time, and you're going to skip all three of them and go with Jackson. I only do things a little different here on cover zero. I've got to look up the odds. It's got to be some good odds. I'm pulling it up now.

I can't believe you're doing that. There you go, Bill. I like it. Plus 265 for a little darn. I bet that myself, actually. I'm not, but I'll root for you. I mean, seriously, that's the worst pick I've ever seen. You're picking Jackson.

Why not, just out of curiosity, why not pick Josh Allen against the saint? He may be out of there by the time, halftime rolls around. But to get out of there by halftime, you've got to be about 40s, and that usually takes scoring a lot of touchdowns from your starters. Well, we want James Cook to get in there, so it's not like. But there is an argument, I guess there is an argument that why would you risk running Josh Allen in a game like that. And you've already picked Cook.

Cook's going to get three himself. So if he's looking that way. All right. All right. Fair enough. I will... Plus 265. I will accept you.

I'm parlaying these. I'm doing it. So you want to do Jackson, Dart, Niko Collins, James Cook? Yeah. And there is a little bit of... Because Dart ran in college. There is a little bit of...

I'm overwhelmed. I'm going to do what I know to do. I'm going to tuck and run here. That's true. That's a really good point. Maybe you want to give him confidence at the one or two-yard line getting my touchdown.

Talking me into it over there, Bill. No, Tyrone Tracy. All right. Well, there you go. All right. Well, thank you all very much. Let me give a big shout out to my South African listeners. Lee, you're doing a great job as a tour guide. I don't know if any of the eight women on my trip or listen, if they don't.

If they did, I'm sure they didn't get to the end. But I hope you all had fun at the Heritage Festival tonight. And then to my guy, Kyle, who led the bike tour today, and has given me a love of e-bikes, do your thing. I told him that we're going to make him a podcast host sometime on wine in South Africa. We'll keep spreading the word of cover zero to internationally for us while you're out there. On Sunday, I will be at Kruger National Park in the middle of a safari. The chances of me getting good internet there are probably not the greatest,

but cross your fingers that we will be back for week four tomorrow night. Tell your friends, subscribe, like, write reviews. We'll see you later. NFL cover zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin is a production of the NFL and IHeart podcast. For more podcasts from IHeart Radio, visit the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.