KSR - NFL Cover Zero: NFL Parity, Vrabel revenge, and Mayfield MVP

Episode Date: October 16, 2025

Matt Jones and Drew Franklin kick off with some excitement around the Titans with a new head coach and Mike Vrabel coming back to Tennessee.  Caleb Williams and the Bears make a statement,  while the Falcons shocked the Bills.  Is there concern over the Eagles and Bills losing to the Giants and Falcons?   Matt points out the parity this season and re-ranks their Top 5.     A rare fight after the Lions loss, Drew explains what happened.  The Chiefs have rebounded and are back to being a contender.  Drew expects Vrabel to want revenge against the Titans and the crowd could cheer their former head coach.  Matt has been amazed at how big the NFL has gotten and how ratings are so much bigger than the playoffs of other sports.  Is Baker Mayfield the new favorite for MVP? The Browns play the Dolphins this week and Shedeur Sanders is the backup, could he play in this game?  Will the Jets win a game this season?  Matt thinks the team should roll the dice on a QB rather than play Justin Fields.  Matt and Drew pick their favorite 3 games in NFL Week 7.  Drew is close to sounding the alarm on the Eagles if they don't find their offense this week. We wrap up with Survivor picks and TD parlays plus picking all the NFL games this weekend. 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. Matt Jones, Drew Franklin, back with you for a little midweek. Getting into week seven, Drew, I see that Titans gear over there. We're going to talk about you. You got a new coach.

You got some new swagger walking in. How's it going on? I'm still proudly wearing my top. Titans gear, but they were big in the news this week, and they have a big game on Sunday that I've got my eyes on. What is it, the Patriots? Is that right? Vrabbles coming home. That's good. Well, we will get to all of that.

I want to thank everybody who's been listening here on NFL Covers Zero. Our listeners continue to grow every week. Make sure you tell your friends about it or, you know, just people that you meet around the way. It's a Wednesday, so one of the things I like to do when we start the midweek show is talk about what happened on Monday, night football because we didn't get to talk about it. Two games. I think we got to start with My Chicago Bears. Okay, folks, that I said going into last week, Drew, this is the game that this is a big

night for Caleb Williams and he comes through. Gets a field goal. They win at the buzzer. Are you now, like, did Caleb make the statement he needed to make? I think you did. I said going into it, if you can win that game, that's a big breakthrough, prime time win against a team that haunted you last year. What is that?

Three in a row now. Three in a row? Just one week one. You should be four in one right now. But it was a fun game to watch. Neutral Observer here, but just a nice dramatic finish. Commanders obviously had it, let it slip. And you get the big Phil goal in the middle of the weather.

So it was fun to watch, but I know you were excited. A North Easter hit towards the end of the game, which, as I have learned in the last few days, just means when from the Northeast. It feels like it shouldn't get its own name. but it does, but they kicked the field goal. Jake Moody, who had been sent away by the 49ers, kicks it. I knew he was excited because in the post-game interview, he didn't even take his helmet off.

That was one of my favorite parts of the whole night. It's, you know, just yapping right through the face-max. Why didn't he take his helmet off? Did he not want to be seen? Has he never been interviewed in a football game before? He was like, I'm sorry, helmet on the entire time. Moody played hero at the end, but there was a stretch there in the second half

where DeAndre Swift was going wherever he wanted to. He was the real star of the night. nice to have for the bears or running back like that. But I think it was huge for Caleb Williams. We talked about that. That was where the Hail Mary was last year that kind of changed the fortunes of each of those teams. Troy Aitman just was harsh on Caleb all night. Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson both said they went back and watched the game footage

to see how much Troy Aitman had criticized them. And they both were like, what's up, Troy? What do you think you're doing? Did you think as watching it that Troy Eggman was too harsh on Caleb Williams throughout the game? I noticed a couple times because he's on the road on Monday night football in his second year. In the rain. In the rain. I don't know what you're expecting of him.

I just saw today, actually, he's on pace for 4,000 non-passing yards. Yeah. The bears have never had anyone throw for 4,000 yards. So I don't know, Troy. He's kind of on a decent pace chasing history too. Why do you think Troy was so harsh to him? I mean, they showed some moment like a he threw a pass and it like, for those of you watching at home,

the receiver caught it right in front of his face, but he dropped it. So it hit right in front of his face, and Troy was like, can't throw it there. In my mind, I was like, that's exactly where you throw it.

Right here, he was like, can't throw it there. It did feel like Troy, you think Caleb beat him at Warcraft or something? He was being grumpy. He was being grumpy. He didn't have a turnover either, did he?

And he didn't blame Jaden Daniels when he fumbled. When he fumbled, he was like, It's raining. Things happen. And he had a pick also. I think it was zero turnovers to two turnovers in that second year QB battle. Now, do you think it's weird, though,

that Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams got up the next morning to listen to the commentary to see how mean he was to him? Nah, they're both young, new in their positions. They have their doubters, whatever fire you need.

Somebody probably tipped them off. Like, hey, they're being a little harsh on the broadcast. And you want that. But the story was that Ben Johnson said he came down to get cereal the next morning. and his kid was listening to the Troy Aikman commentary. That doesn't strike me as...

How old is this kid? I don't know. I mean, the kid was like, I need to see half their disrespecting Caleb. So I didn't know if I bought that. Just to own up, you wanted to see what he said. Yeah, well, it doesn't shock me. It does shock me that his child was in there playing with toys saying, come listen to his dad.

But the fact that he would take that personally and want to hear it, I saw his post-game speech in the locker room after. So what was that about? He's passionate. He is. Yeah, he's yelling, don't blink. And it was about two and a half minutes long. I mean, you've been Johnson, new guy, had the playbook with the Lions forever, but didn't

know a lot about his personality. He showed some passion. We're getting more of these post-game locker room speeches. Like, I remember you used to, you'd hear it like once a year. You'd hear, how about them galboys? And now every week, we are seeing what the coaches say. Do you like it? Yeah, one more thing I just thought of that popped to my head.

I think they have like 11 takeaways in the last three weeks. weeks and he's like, don't let anybody tell you takeaways are lucky. They're not lucky. Let's go get more of them. So you are fired up on your turnovers too. They're a little lucky. They're a little lucky. I don't want him to know I said that after hearing how he said the locker. The commander's fumble at the end was lucky. But do you like these speeches in the locker? Yeah, I like all the access we're getting now. Players miced up in

practice and in games. But do you think the coaches are now knowing it's going to be there? They're coming in feeling like they have to, they got to perform. some theatrics. Also, it's not lost on me that they cut these up. What are we cutting out? I want to hear that part. I do too.

We don't see the losing ones a lot. Maybe some language, some salty language. I would like to have seen Mike McDaniels last week. We don't get to see the losing ones, unfortunately. But as a Bears fan, I'm very excited. You know, I've been a Bears fan my entire life. I started as a little kid in 1985. And since then, it just hasn't been good.

This is the quarterback. back we've been looking for since the punky QB known as McMahon. And I believe in him. I believed in him before yes, before Monday. But now I'm in. I'm not being delusional, am I? No, and it's not just that it's him. He's got a great young coach, offensive-minded, and Swift's got a little age on him.

But a lot of pieces around that he's building chemistry with. You can see it, you can see it forming right now. Yeah, your guy, your guy, for Missouri, Luther Burden, got a big catch as well. So that was one. Yes. No, he's right. So that was one money game. The other money game, which I didn't watch any of, was the Bills and the Falcons.

And the Falcons kind of dominated that game from start to finish. They were up early, held the lead. You know, Josh Allen loses to Michael Pennix, Jr. Are you, like the Bills are my Super Bowl pick. The Bills and the Eagles, both have taken losses to have two losses, surprisingly. They were the definitive favorites. Are you worried about them? I am, and I'm shocked they dropped that one, having a lost one before it.

Robinson for the Falcons was just unstoppable. I think he set a record for yards from scrimmage in a single game. He also had a nasty block on Ed Oliver. We were talking earlier in our season here on Cover Zero about how running backs can't win MVP, but he's putting up an MVP-like performance for them. So it was Donovan Taylor. Yeah, he was a star of the game there. But a shocking result, I didn't think there was any way the bills would lose that one.

I'm kind of shocked by the NFL as a whole, and this game showcased it about how wide open things are. I mean, it does it, it does not feel like there is any team that is definitively even close to the favorite, right? I mean, when you have the bills and the Eagles losing two straight weeks and not just losing two straight weeks, the Eagles lose to the Giants, the bills lose to the Falcons, if there was ever a year that a random team could sneak up and win a title, isn't this the one? Definitely. It's kind of twofold of the teams we thought were elite are losing. And then some teams like the Colts are five and one and then the odds up there with the Super Bowl favorites now. So a lot of this has just been flipped upside down. Just look at if you were to say, okay, when the season started, most people believe there were maybe five teams that could win a title. Right? You would go Bill's, Ravens, Chiefs, then maybe Eagles' Lions.

Okay, bills and Eagles, back-to-back losses. But for both teams, Ravens are one in five. the Lions were kind of not really competitive for much of the game against the Chiefs. And the Chiefs lost their first two games. They've won three straight. I can't remember a year ever that the favorites have struggled as much as they have this year. Well, think if we were just talking Ravens Colts before the year, and I said two teams. One will be one in five. The other will be a five and one.

What would the odds be on the Colts being the five and one? Like no one would even believe a scenario where that can happen. And who would have believed that if you had the playoffs right now, the one seeds would be Tampa Bay in Indianapolis. Exactly. But that's what you have. I like it, though. I mean, this is the NFL's dream.

I mean, I know that because we work for the NFL. So, like, I talk to them all the time. All the various people at the NFL, like, what's that Bob? But this is what they want. They want paired. They want it to where every team that's not the Titans or the Jets feels like they can win in a given week. And they have that right now. I was watching Good Morning Football this morning.

And one of the segments was redoing their power rankings. You know, there have four or five panelists up there. What made it interesting is, like, their rankings weren't even close to each other. I mean, there were teams that were in some top fives that probably weren't in other top 10. So who would be your top five right? I think somebody had the Seahawks in their top five, which isn't crazy, but it just shows how the parody you mentioned.

Well, let's just do our top five. Okay. Who would be your top five right now? I can't believe I'm doing this. Well, here, I'll do it since I put you on the spot. Let me give you my one because I'm ready. I can't believe, but I'm putting the chiefs back. We got to quit running from it.

The chiefs are still the chiefs. They get Rishi Rice back this week. We saw what happened when they got Worthy back. They're back to my one. I actually really like that pick. I think for me today, if you said the game was going to be tomorrow, who would you take?

I'm putting the Chiefs. So I was going to go Chiefs one, and then I was going to go Bucks 2 for me. I'm going to go Lions 3 because they lost at the Chiefs, but otherwise had looked really good. Maybe I'm silly, but I'm then still going to go

Eagles 4, Bills 5. I know, though, that I'm leaving out the Colts and I'm leaving out the Packers and other teams. But I'm going to go, so I will go Chiefs, Bucks, Lions, Eagles, Bills, but I don't feel great about any of those. What are yours? Chiefs 1. I agree with you on, I'm torn between Bucks and Lions 2, 3, and that's our Monday 9 football game this week. So that will answer itself here in a few days. I think it four.

You're not going to take the Eagles? I'm going Colts. Colts. They've been tested. They keep answering. When they play a bad team, they pummel them. I had Colts ranked dead last beginning of the year. It wasn't me being a hater. I really thought the Colts were going to be terrible with Daniel Jones. Who didn't think they'd be terrible? I got to give them credit. Because when they play a bad team, they destroy them. They could be undefeated right now if you don't have that fumble at the go line. So I have to put them there. I'll go bills, but I'm leaning, I'm limping into putting the bills. So it's not even in your top five. Which is nuts. It is interesting, though. That's a hard list because you're right. You're leaving out the Seahawks. I left out the Colts.

Then you throw in the Packers, although they've taken a couple losses. It is a, I can't remember a year that this has been harder. There are some other things here. We mentioned the Chiefs and the Lions. We taped our podcast the other night and did not get into the fight. What do you think of the fight after the end of the game? Branch is suspended for one game. Did you feel like that was fair?

Yeah, crazy fight. Really the craziest thing is that photo that came. out of it where uh juju's helmet is off and branch's fists is just a few inches from locking on that nose that i guess got busted open but you know a lot of times you see guys pull on helmets and the wrestling it's rare you get a fight to that extent where you actually had a fist to face why was he mad it looked like mahomes just tried to shake his hand and then he didn't want to shake it and then juju's like i think sir that you should have accepted the congratulatory like

Why do you think he was so mad? There was a block early in the game where Juju, it's not that in the back or illegal, but he did get him a good pop when he wasn't looking. So you don't think Mahomes had anything to do? No, I don't think so. Juju even said in the post game that I could fill throughout the game, Brantam mad about the block. He was getting a little cheap.

He can't punch people in the face. Yeah, and he said, I want to keep it between the whistles and the horn. I didn't think he was going to blow over like it did. But it seems to stem with Juju hit him pretty good. Dan Campbell seemed pretty mad about it. He said, we don't do that. That's not, I like Dan Campbell standing up and saying that. But I don't know.

I feel like punched to the face. Well, he's on the ground. Yeah. I don't know. I might have gone two games. Yeah. And being, I guess it shouldn't matter the scene, but you're on the big stage. Yes, that matters.

Playing the Chiefs, you represent the NFL right there with all the eyes on you. No, I mean, that matters. I often think the suspensions for these things, it's inherent. It'll be worse if everyone's watch. you know it's just it's just natural like when everyone's watching like when two on that one thursday night game when he got hurt and we were all sitting there watching i think the demar ham one thing was on monday night football i think it's just natural people tend to gravitate it more if the whole country is watching that moment yeah like if the you know titans were playing the jets and she brought that up earlier and this happens probably yeah no one's not even a word yeah i think even the people in the stadium are not watching at that point being the chiefs in that moment my homes being the one they doesn't shake his hand Man, there's a lot to it. So you're like me now. We both have the chiefs at number one.

They're back. Yep. Right? She writes back this week. Like, they're back. And they've already said, like, we're not going to ease him in. He's a big part of our workload. So they're going right to him.

And Travis Kelsey looks like Travis Kelsey again. Xavier Worthy doesn't. I mean, they're three and two. They should be four in one, right? They could be five and oh. I mean, they could have won that game against the Chargers down in Brazil. I mean, they are, I think they're back again. Well, once we, what we've seen of worthy since he's been back,

I think if Kelsey doesn't run into him, they really could be undefeated. He's a big part of what they do. And even though Rice only played like four games last year, he had good stats last year, so they have high hopes for him. Yeah. All right. I give you the floor again.

Your Titans fired Brian Callahan. I know that that was something you thought should happen. Were you happy? No, they managed to even mess this up. Oh, really? I wanted to watch Vrable beat him by 50 on Sunday. But these cowards wouldn't even let Vrable bend him over and spank him in Nashville and stuff him in a locker. So you all know it's going to happen.

You wanted one more embarrassing moment for you. I wanted Vrable. We already know that letting Vrable go was a dumb move. Callahan wasn't the right move. It's not like, you know, can they compete? But I just wanted to see it. I wanted Vrable to have his moment. He never should have been fired.

Vrable's played it nice in the media all week. He said nothing but good things. I can't wait to get to Nashville, but I know between his ears, he's thinking, I want to pummel them, and I wanted Callahan just have to sit there and take it. Other than that, though, this needed to happen. He was not it. And who did, was it Riley? Is that who they picked to be the interview? Mike McCoy.

McCoy, who was hired as an analyst earlier this year. I always get Mike Riley and Mike McCoy confused. First of all, is there a person named Mike Riley? How do I know that name? I don't know who that is. No, wait a minute. Hang on just a second. Mike Riley was just called up by my Carolina Hurricanes last night,

and he had an assist against the sharks. Why did I confuse him of Mike McCoy? Oh, you think he's better than... He could coach better than Brian Callahan. So you're saying the backup third string defenseman from the Carolina Hurricanes last night, veteran Mike Riley, is better than Brian Callahan. Brian Callahan was 4 and 19 against the spread. Wow.

And they were mostly underdogs. Like, you couldn't even get close. It was 419 against the spread. Yes. They just lost to the Raiders. An anonymous Raiders coach said that is the worst football team I've seen in 25 years. There have been teams that have not won games. There have been teams that can't tie their shoes.

There was an anonymous Raiders coach that said that? Who did he say it to? Is this a sources tell cover zero? I think it was like a CBS story. Okay. But said they do not have a single player on their roster that makes a difference except for Jeffrey Simmons, our big defensive lineman. worst team in 25 years he's ever seen.

But you won a game. It took nine troubles and them tripping over themselves. I mean, I would argue that makes the Jets worse if they haven't won a game. So do you believe in Mike McCoy? Well, I had to Google him. Former Chargers coached the Chargers. And played for Carolina Hurricanes. Yeah.

I think he's been in the league like 27 years as a journeyman coordinator. We hired him in March just to be like, hey, were you coming here and look at some of this tape? I didn't even have a real coaching position. and now he's coaching the team. I mean, whatever, anything's better than Brian Callahan. I was really ready to go to just let the players coach themselves. He was that bad.

Are you, would you now like to see them lose every game and get the number one pick? Or do you feel like we have our quarterback, so we might as well have the number two pick? I wanted them to lose to Arizona. We've already messed up tanking. We fired Callahan right before we wanted to see him get his butt-wipped on Sunday. This Sunday, Braybill is going to get, that whole stadium is going to cheer the opposing team. That's got to, get ready for that. You think that'll happen.

Absolutely. Titans fans love Rable. He's going to get a large applause. And if it had been Callahan instead, we would have gotten the booze. I don't know if they'll boo Mike McCoy. Interesting. The timing on this just adds to it. All right.

So, Bill, you were telling me that the NFL, the viewership numbers, right? Yes. So we're through six weeks of the season, basically through a third of the season. The viewership numbers for the NFL are like crazy, right? The highest viewership at this point of the season in 15 years. NFL games are drawing on average 18.5 million viewers per game. And the Bucks 49ers game last week was the highest. It averaged 27 million viewers on CBS.

27 million viewers are in that Bucks 49ers game. Wow. So they've changed the way they do these ratings now. It's something called Big Data. What are you laughing at? I'm not a conspiracy theorist Big Data. It's not like Big Data. It's not like big pharma.

It's big data. And I think the reason they're now including sports bars, and they're trying to include, like, every way people watch it. So all the numbers in a lot of sports are bumped up a little bit because of what they call big data. But still, it's kind of amazing how much bigger the NFL is than everything else, right? Like, it's, I mean, when you talk about it. But 27 million people watching a game. That is crazy.

I mean, there's, what, 8,000 watching these playoff baseball games? It's kind of unbelievable. Yeah. I mean, they're picking whatever day they want and they're dominating the viewership, whatever network. They're on Netflix now. They're going to other countries. It was London.

Now it's Mexico City, Ireland. They'll sell out anywhere they want to go. Madrid, I think, next week. Yeah. It really is. The way they've separated themselves in the last. couple decades from the other leagues. They're winning across the board.

But it also doesn't feel like, and I know we're going to sound like company shills here, but it also doesn't feel like that it's, like people don't think there's too much of it. No. You don't hear anyone, yeah, you don't hear anybody saying, well, because like, I like hockey. There's too many games. I like basketball. There's too many games. I like baseball.

There's too many games. But nobody thinks that about the NFL, right? No. I want more of it. And, you know, if you're attached. a team. You're never going to once a week is all you're going to get. So you're not going to get overloaded of your own team. It's

to the point. Other leagues are changing their schedules because they know if the NFL puts a day, a game on their day. It's over. NFL's getting the attention. Yes. No, they are. They're changing. I mean, the NHL debuted their season at 5 o'clock in the afternoon one day so that they wouldn't have to

go against the NFL. Those numbers are nuts. My question for you, though, is do you like including the sports bars and the data. Do you like Big Data? I guess it should matter. Big data is a wrestler that's really good on the minor circuit. Big data.

You got to watch it out. Here comes Big Data. Big data, cool. Yeah, it needs to be factored in somehow because I've wondered when they're talking about ratings and you're at a sports bar. There's hundreds of people in there. Do you count them? That needs to be factored in.

They're more excited about what's going on in a lot of cases than the people watching at home. Yeah. One of the teams you mentioned that got such great ratings was the Bucks. Yes. I love this story. So first of all, for people who don't know, Billy is a Bucks fan. The Bucks had their game last way.

And Tess Johnson, who's a rookie, caught a touchdown pass. And when the game was over, he said in the locker room that Tampa fans were chanting MVP during the game. And Tess Johnson said he thought they were chanting for him. as the MVP and he was very happy and then he realized it was for Baker Mayfield. This was great. He's a rookie. What do you make of that? He genuinely thought the crowd after his first touchdown pass of his career

thought he was the MVP of the league. Do you like that level of confidence? Yes, this is one of those we're talking about we're getting the mic to up now. There's a clip of him sitting on the bench with Sterling Shepard. And he's just so confused while they're chaining MVP. He's like, but I haven't even done anything yet. I'm a rookie. And then Sterling Shepherd's like, wait a minute.

You think this is for you? And then he runs and tells the other receivers. But it's hilarious. It was a great touchdown. I think he's like a 45-yard touchdown pass. But that is pretty much all he's done this season. And he's like, wow, they're cheering for me. It's very genuine.

He definitely thought it was him that they were chanting for. That's sweet. But wouldn't you like to live your life with a level of delusion where you would believe after one touchdown, everyone's chanting for you for MVP. Like there's got to be some, you know, the people say like you're the center of your own story. That is the definition of being the center of your own story

where you're like, well, everyone's chanting. It has to be for me. Who else could it be? Seventh round pick rookie, he has six catches this season and he thinks the stadium is chanting MVP. So what are the odds I can get for Ted Johnson MVP right now? Let Ted has have his moment. Let him dream.

Yeah. But it was Baker Mayfield. I've been saying for three weeks on this show, Baker Mayfield is the MVP. He is now the second choice in the betting market behind Mahomes. It's Mahomes and then Mayfield. Now, I'm the biggest Mahomes guy in the world, but I would pick Mayfield over Mahomes right now, wouldn't you?

I would too. Got one interception, like 12 or 13 touchdowns. You've got the comebacks. You got the swagger. It's not going to be Lamar. No. And as of now, it's not going to be Josh Allen. I mean, that could change, but for right now, it wouldn't be Josh Allen.

So to me, if it's Baker or Mahomes, Mahomes has won a couple, maybe three in the past. I think Baker should be the favorite. Yeah, I would vote for him right now after last week when he did that with just a depleted roster. He didn't have his running back, his receivers. You got a guy named Tess Johnson coming in there making plays for him. Where would Daniel Jones be on your list? He's in, I mean, he's got to be in the top five. I was going to say, I have him top five.

Baker until he cools off it has to be his. I'm thinking like last week, there's like a third and 14. He gets that 15-yard run. I actually saw Todd Bowles today. He was yelling, get out,

you're going to get yourself killed. And then he gets the first down. I think that was one play before the Tess Johnson touchdown. He's just so fun to watch. Do you think the only reason he's second in the odds is because people think he's like going to not play that well all year? Because I think up to now he would win.

Yeah. And people probably wonder if the. Bucks will level out a little bit with their record in Mahomes is only going to keep winning. Yeah, to that point, Baker has more passing yards, touchdowns, and less interceptions than Mahomes. But Patrick's getting Rishi Rice back and it's got maybe an easier schedule. I don't know. I liked Baker had a good quote this week. He was like, I've been doing this exact same thing with this same attitude since Cleveland.

But in Cleveland, I was cocky and arrogant. And now I'm a dog and I play with swagger. Like, this is just what I've always done. Cleveland was just really bad at using and evaluating me and threw me away for Deshawn Watson. It's got to frustrate it's got to frustrate Cleveland fans

that this is happening. Right, this was the guy you had. And not just Cleveland, I mean, the Rams had him, the Panthers had him, but still, I think it's got to frustrate Cleveland people the most, right? Well, it went from Baker to well, we should go get to Sean Watson.

And that move alone is like, what are we doing? And then now we're doing MVP talks while they're on their 42nd quarterback since Tim Couch. It's got to be killing him inside. That was their draft pick. It has to be. And it has to be very, very, well, it's just sad. I mean, they get the number one pick. They think he's the guy.

They know, I got crap. Another bus, not our guy. And now he could go win the MVP at another team. Well, I think he's going to win it. I don't see any reason. Now, their schedule, I believe, gets, is it a little bit harder or a little bit easier? I can't. Remember the division.

They saw the Saints twice, the Falts. The Falcons twice and the Panthers twice. And they haven't played any of those games. They beat the Falcons. So they have still Saints twice. Well, I mean, he's going to win it. What's what are the, it's like plus 380 or something, right? For Baker as MbP?

I'm not sure the number. I think it's plus 380. To me, that's a really good bet right now. Because I mean, who are the, Lamar is out. Alan is close to Al. Mahomes is Mahomes. Matt Stafford's having a pretty special year. if they go on a big run.

I will note, I was telling people to bet it when it was like plus 1,200 two weeks ago. Of course, I didn't bet it. It's Mahomes plus 175, Baker and Josh Allen at plus 300. And then Drake May is tied for third after that. He's having a good year. Although their schedule is so easy. We went over it last week. Like, their schedule is insanely easy.

Now, Dylan Gabriel. Did you see his quote? What do you say this week? I want to pull it up because, you know, I don't know. When you were a kid, did you ever, did your grandmother ever spank you? Not specifically your grandmother. No, not my grandma, but yes, I did get spanking because it wasn't grandmother doing it. Well, because Dylan Gabriel had a, had a quote.

I want to read this to him. They asked him what it was like to get hit so much by the Steelers last week. And he said, quote, my mom used to beat my blank when I was a kid. So I don't think anything will be as bad as that. Wow. Now, I don't know. First of all, if I'm his mom, I'm like, hey. You want another one?

I'm just kidding. Mom's got to be like, come on. Those were out of love. Yes, this is not the same as T.J. Watt. He's trying to rip your head off. I was just giving you a love tab. That was discipline. But he didn't say spank.

He used stronger words. I don't know. What do you think about that? He's a rookie, still getting used to the microphone. I've seen his mom. She looks like a sweet person. I think we need an apology. I think he should.

I think mom should have to go, look. It was just meant to be nice. He should have done the mime thing on that question in the Cleveland locker room. Yeah. Now, Shador was named the backup. Okay, that's big. So do you expect, I mean, Deli Gabriel did not look good. He's got, this week they play the Dolphins.

If he's ever going to have his, hey, give me a chance game, a little bit of a breakout, this is an opportunity. They're at home, dolphins, not good. Their defense is, eh. If the Browns beat them, does Mike McDaniel get fired? I was still watching the news. wire right now, even though we're going to win today. He's up against it already. I think even though they're probably a show-go underdog at Cleveland, but yeah, if you can't

beat the Browns, are you going to beat? Now, the Brown's former quarterback, Joe Flacco, is taking the Bengals. They're playing Thursday night football against Aaron Rogers and the Steelers. It is being called the icy hot bowl since both quarterbacks are over 40. It is the second oldest meeting of quarterbacks ever. Both guys say that they would like the game to be called the icy hot bowl. So I'm going to go ahead and say it. Do you like seeing two men over the age of 40 years old playing quarterback?

They say sports is a young man's game, apparently not. When you present it that way, I would normally be like, no, I have no interest in that. But I kind of want to see another run of flaco with some pieces around him. He got better as that game went on. Jamar Chase helped him. I know, but like, ultimately, Jamar Chase is good. So the goal is just to be able to get him the ball. That's what I mean.

He finally has weapons around him. In Cleveland, he didn't have any weapons. Yeah, and in the first half, I mean, he'd only been on the team for four days. So, you know, he probably didn't even know the playbook. He's probably drawn it up in his hand. You go left and then take a right. That's a flight, by the way. It's like Thanksgiving.

Yeah, you go left. Yeah, draw a third. Go left, then take a right. They're baffled. He draws that up And then by the end of the game He was playing really, really well Yeah, I saw in the Bengals press conference today

You know, I'm just watching random team press conferences Do you do that a lot? I did this week I've known you a long time I never knew you as a guy watching random NFL press conference I watched a couple of them But they asked Joe Flacco They were like, what, you know, you're still figuring this out

You're new, what if Jamar Chase comes up to you I was like, I know this is the play But I'm going to do this instead And Flacco's like, I'm going to say, yeah man, sure, let's do that Like, I'm just, he's the star. I'm here to get him the ball. If Chase says he's doing something, I'm going with it. I always wonder, Jamar Chase gave a quote that was like,

it's been nice to have someone who can put the ball in my hands. He said something like that. Implying that Jake Browning could not put the ball in his hands. I always wonder what it's like when you say something like that, when then you see Jake Browning. Because he's still in the locker. presumably Jake has his phone number. I mean, might sit next to it.

Do you just go, hey man, like, have to say that? Right here. Like Jake said, like, dude, that was pretty close to your hands a few of those times. Like, I'm trying. I'm doing the best I can. Well, remember, Jake Browning was the guy who did the press conference here. He's like, I'm trying, man. I want to be good.

Every night, I look at the mirror and I tell you to go left. right. Doing my best. But here comes Joe Flacco. And if you're Jake Browning, it's got to be a humbling thing. You've been playing football your whole life. You've been the backup on this team for a while. Joe Flacco comes from an AARP meeting and watching Matlock to come on the field and be better than you. That's got to make you a little sad. Joe's got the gray hair. Gray, not great. Gray hair. It's good hair, too. I mean, he's just kind of a statue right there. You know he's taking Tylenol at every turn. He's just old feeling. it and you're Browning.

Browning has a little swagger about him. He did until losing the last few games. It looks like he's losing his swag. He's got the model girlfriend that goes viral. He's young. He thinks he's just going to step in and be Burrow 2.0. What if Lacko takes his woman. Flacco can't do that.

Then he's looking at Flacco. Flacco's own kids are wearing rival teams, jerseys, and the players on it, and that's the guy. That would be tough. If Flacco takes, I mean, she already likes backup quarterbacks. Flacco is the, Flacco and Gardner Minshoe. Like that's in Cooper Rush, that's, that's her type. This has to be one of those moments for Browning where it's like, you know, this, I thought I was going to, this was my moment.

I think I'm learning maybe it's time to seek some. Honey, do you winter grad school applications? We might see that. The Jacksonville Jaguars offense coordinator says they will work during this off week to give Travis Hunter a greater role on offense. for a team that's good and Jacksonville's pretty good don't you feel like they worry too much about what Travis Hunt like

is it I mean I feel like we hear specific Travis Hunter things every week they're good why do they do this yeah I guess they traded to get him and he's your big asset but you're what four and two four and two got a lot of good things going for you

seems they are focusing on that a lot he's made a few big catches but then there's some other gains where he's disappointing it seems like he'd just be like any other Who's more disappointed? Him or Brani? Are you saying this because Brony's biggest fan is in the room? Yeah, Mario, who's sitting over here.

Shaking his head. Oh, loves Brom. Did you see, just a little side dope in a preseason game last night. Brony was minus 14 plus minus in a game the Lakers led by 20. Oh, no. He was 34 points worse. I know it's a preseason game. but I'm just saying

I take Travis Hunter there you take Travis Hunter over Brondy yeah they got sold Skip Bayless went on some rant I think Travis Hunter got baptized before the game he did did that make Skip Bayless

Mattes Matt well Skip Bayless has like a 30 minute video talking about him getting baptized I think it's positive but he like does a whole show on the baptism or something I saw it online earlier what's there to say

I don't know that's why I can't commit 30 minutes Skip Billis Skip Bayless has ran here but he felt very strongly about it very good on Travis Hunter. He had the moment last week where he brought the woman he met on the plane as his guest. Yeah, that was nice.

Seems like a great kid. But the baptism was like, was it the morning of the game? Morning of the team's home game. Bayliss called Travis Hunter checked out mentally. Because he got baptized. It wasn't possible. I couldn't give it 30 minutes. He was deciding to get baptized the morning of a team game.

Farmed for me for me to suggest that there are things more important than the Bucks Seahawks game in the regular season. But I don't think that would mean he was mentally. checked out. I do however think that there's too much Travis Hunter distraction. I mean, he had a big drop at the end of that game against the Seahawks. Like they were, the Jaguars were driving

and it went off his hands. This continues my belief that he should have just picked one side of the ball and played. I think there's way too much focus on getting him involved rather than just winning games. Yeah, and there's the physical angle which you can control a little bit with his snaps. But he also

has to memorize what he has to do at two different positions and that's got to take a lot out of him also in addition to having to play both ways. So it's too much to ask of an NFL player. It's neat that they're trying it. I enjoy watching it, but I don't think it's going to be best for him long term. And ultimately, they probably should not have traded up to get him. That was a little silly at the time. Even if he does turn out and play both ways.

Although that trade, if the Jaguar stay good, they won't lose as high pick. you know, the Browns, the Jaguars are bad, the Browns could have gotten like a top five pick. It'll probably be a little bit lower. Speaking of teams that are not great, will the Jets win a game? I asked that last week, and you said yes, but now you got Garrett Wilson's out for a little while.

Oh, they're fighting with his coach. I saw Justin Field as like some of the worst stats in many years. Their schedule helps them. I'll say they get one, but I think they're going to end up. taking the number one pick from my Titans. Justin Fields is just awful. And it's not totally his fault.

His offensive line has been bad. But I watched him a lot of years in Chicago. And he seems like a nice fella. Which, by the way, anytime you start a sentence with, he seems like a nice fellow. Whatever comes next is not good. You know, nobody ever... So it's not like people say about Michael Jordan.

He's a nice fella. But then you just go ahead and talk about something good. When he says he's a nice fellow that what's next is not going to be good. But I think there's no reason to play Justin Fields. They should put someone young, someone with potentially a future there, or you just lose every game and say, we're going to get the number one picked in a year where it's not clear who the best quarterback is. Yeah, I think Justin Fields was supposed to be their move or like,

let's try this young guy and see what he has, even though it didn't work in Chicago. How long did you get to be young? Maybe a reset. Yeah. What is he, like 25, 26 now? No, I think he's older than that. Justin Fields is like 20. How is Tyron Taylor still there?

Tyron Taylor has been there. Tyron Taylor has been with the Jets for 50 years. Justin Fields is 26, 1999. Man, I thought he was older than that. Yeah, I mean, he was your future just a couple years ago. Yeah, well, longer than that. This was like four or five years ago. What do you mean, the Bears?

Yeah. Oh, I thought you were talking about something else. No, I'm saying that he was the young. Because like four or five years ago Was not that long ago No this is like four or five years ago I met a woman And and like

We were talking And I said to her You know how you'll go be like Oh when's your last relationship And I was like and she was like I was like oh yeah When's your last race? She goes well I went out on some dates

With Tyrod Taylor And I was like Well you and I'll probably have a lot in common Because I mean Tyrod and I Very similar, right? Well, if I think about his career history, you both like to travel. He's played out everywhere. You like to see new cities.

He likes new cities. Yeah, and she at the time was like 10 years older than him. So Tyrod, he'd be my quarterback, actually, if I was the Jets. Why not? I just don't see any reason to keep throwing Justin Fields out there. Yeah, well, he's wanting to go young. If he's the only backup, I don't think that's going young. He's got to be up there pushing the flaco, Aaron Rogers,

range as long as he's been in the league. I think they are on alert for not winning any games. I'm going to go ahead and say, I think they are on alert. Now, we have a new segment. Would you like to know the new segment? I'm excited about it. So we have a new segment. We continue to add advertisers and excitement here to NFL Cover Zero.

This is known as the Victory Bundle presented by Liberty Mutual. It is time. So every show, I will get to say. say this. Are you ready? You get to privilege. It's time for the victory bundle presented by Liberty Mutual. And the victory bundle is you and I

will pick three games and we'll pick who wins. And we will give you our victory bundle. Now we're trying, we're going to try to pick things where we agree so that we can be like, we can bundle together. Are you ready?

So I'm just going to pick three games randomly and then we'll pick the winners. In London, 9.30 a.m. Rams, Jaguars, two four and two teams. Maybe the best game London's gotten in a long time as part of the Liberty Mutual Victory bundle. Who do we take in London? This is a tough one because this is the Jaguars home field at Wembley.

Was it 13 straight years they've played there? Yes. But Billy, unless there's been recent news, has there anything on Puka Nakua right now? Because he could be out. Questionable. So I'm leaning Jacksonville depending on Puka. Did not practice today.

All right. I'll go with you. The Rams are a three and a half point favorite, though. So we'll take it against the spread. There we go. Our victory bundle against the spread is, if you want victory, take the Jags on their home field in there. I think this one's at Wembley.

I'm going to take the Jags. That's part one of the victory bundled. Now, I like this one a lot. The Panthers and the Jets. Panthers on the road to the Jets. What are you laughing at it? Just the fact that this is a matchup. Panthers and the Jets.

Panthers are only a one and a half point favorite against the Jets. I'm taking the Panthers as part of my victory bundle. Are you with me? Absolutely. We just talked about the train wreck the Jets are right now. They're star receivers out. Panthers have they won two in a row? Yeah, they won two in a row.

Just beat the Cowboys. Just keep riding this wave. All right, so you're going to ride on the victory bundle. And then finally, I really like it's the Eagles at the Vikings the Eagles only a one and a half point favorite and we don't even know for sure who's going to play quarterback for Minnesota I love the Eagles here

I'm going to take the Eagles on or only get one and a half if you set this spread two weeks ago it's going to be six and a half so give me the Eagles to join I like that here too I will say though if their offense doesn't click here in a little bit I'm going to start selling the Eagles I'm going to give them a little longer but I think they are to

going to have some serious concerns if they don't fix that soon. Their run game, and half as dominant was a year ago. We got A.J. Brown Pouten. This could be a long-term issue if it doesn't get cleaned up soon. So we're going all animals for our victory bundle. It is the animal victory bundle. Give us the Jaguars, the Panthers, and the Eagles. That is your victory bundle presented by Liberty Mutual.

You can start your quote at Liberty Mutual.com. All right. Now, time for our survivor. league and our well first of all our Survivor League and our touchdown picks now Drew is not in the Survivor League because he did not survive. I did not survive.

So it's me and you Billy. It looks like do I get to pick first this week on the Survivor League? I think I do. Yeah, go ahead. So it is the I have taken the Packers, the Broncos, the Ravens and the Lions. So Packers, Broncos, Ravens, and Lions.

And so to try, I've sitting here looking this week. And, you know, there's a couple of different choices. The biggest spread is Chiefs Raiders, but I've kind of learned over the years, don't pick that game, right? I mean, the Chiefs and the Raiders have won that game surprisingly quite a bit. So if you don't take that one, it becomes a little difficult. I'm going to take the New England Patriots to beat your Titans on the road. What a lock. So I am going with the Patriots. They will join the That is my pick for the week in the Survivor League. I'll take the Patriots.

Now, Bill, you've taken the Jaguars, the Cardinals, the Bills, and the Colts. Who would you like this week? Well, first of all, I love your pick of the Patriots. That's a home game for them in Tennessee with Brable coming back. I've flipped on this pick a couple times, and you mentioned it. I'm taking the Chiefs versus the Raiders. I know there's that stat of, I guess, Las Vegas now, not Oakland. Playing Kansas City close in the past, it just seems like Kansas City has hit their stride

with Rashie coming back. Give me Kansas City in this. So we've now hit five straight weeks. We have a chance to hit five weeks. I will take the Patriots on the road against the Titans, and you will take the Chiefs at home against the Raiders. We have a chance to go to week six here of the Survivor League. Drew, you unfortunately don't get to participate.

Now, it's time for the touchdowns. Last week, I got one with Daniel Jones. and then no one else did. So Drew went first last week. So he will not go this week. So, Billy, you get to go first. Who is your... Or no, wait a minute.

Yes, you do. You get to go first. Who would you like? I am picking a guy that is taking the league by Storm. Give me Cam Scadabo to score a touchdown against the Broncos. I mean, how many touchdowns did he score in the last game? Was it three? Against Sequin.

Against the East. Eagles. I know Denver may have a decent run defense, but Cam is going to do it very well for only a few years. He's going to do it very well. So you're taking the running back, Scatibo. Okay. Which means I can take, I'm next. I can take either a quarterback or a wide receiver. I've taken three quarterbacks. So I think I'm going to have to lay off the quarterback. So I'm going to take a wide receiver. I'm going to take Xavier Worth, against with your chiefs, against the Raiders. I think he gets a touchdown. So I will go with Xavier Worby. That means, Drew, you have to pick a quarterback. You have not picked a quarterback all year. I have them all available.

So you can have any of them you want. Who would you like? Down to Hertz, Alan. I'll go with Hertz. They got to get that offense on track. And when they're playing their best, they're tush pushing and running. So I'll say Jalen Hertz gets one in Minnesota. All right.

So Billy, who all year has taken weird picks but is still tied for the lead, He scataboes it up against the Broncos. I'm going to go with Xavier Worthy with my wide receivers. And Drew goes with Jalen Hertz. I forgot the rule. Could I have picked a tight end or is it tight end slash? No, it's tight ends wide receivers. I got my eyes on Harold Fannie Jr. from Bowling Green this week.

And Joe Coos hurt. Dylan Gabriel against the dolphins. You picked the joke. Why do you want Brown's tight in so much? There's all I said the time I've done it. Yeah, but this is only week five of us picking and you've picked it. You want to pick Brown's tight-ins twice? I wouldn't know.

He's like four to one. I'm only 0-1 on my Browns bets. One loss. And I told you all in week one, Harold Fanon is the future of that position in Cleveland. Now in Joe Coo's hurt. You got Dylan Gabriel trying to make a statement against Miami. I'm just saying keep an eye on Harold Fanon Jr.

From Bowling. Run over some other games we haven't mentioned yet. In the icy hot bowl, does Aaron Rogers go to five and one against Joe Flacco? I think he does. Saul Rogers has either the fifth or six best quarterback rating of his career right now. I don't like that. I wanted this to be a miserable failure.

I did too. And I think four out of the five he won MVP when he had it better. Unfortunately, next thing you know, he's going to be like the surgeon general because of how he's playing right now. It helps that he has D.K. Metcalfe, who's also killing it with Pittsburgh. Yeah, I mean, both those guys consider washed up. I think they win too, but I would just say Thursday night foot, this feels like a game. that could surprise. Flacco, on the road,

an old rivalry in the AFC North. It's always as close games. If you're the Bengals, if you can find a way to win this game, okay, get to three and four, then all of a sudden, you've got the Jets next week, Bears, Steelers, Patriots,

Ravens. Like, you can make some movements here, but I think if you look at the Bengals to make the playoffs, I kind of think they need to win this one. Oh, yeah, this is a desperation game because the Steelers would just further their lead. They're already up a couple games on you as it is.

And this is your home. Yeah, you can't. I mean, you're pretty much mathematically. You're not mathematically eliminated, but you're pretty much eliminated. If you like Steelers get another one on you in a head-to-head. Another battle of terrible Dolphins Browns. I'm going to fade the dolphins. Neither one of these teams I want to say I have confidence in, but it's in Cleveland.

You like Dylan Gabriel here? It's more of the Brown's defense. is the only elite part of any of this. So I'll trust their defense. And hopefully Gabriel can find the end zone once or twice. I'm telling you what I'm worried about in Chicago, 1 o'clock Bears Saints. This feels like a letdown.

You go win on Monday night. You go win against the commanders. Then you come home against a bad Saints team. And you think, well, of course, we're going to win this one to go four and two. I would stay away from this game as a gambler. I kind of am a little worried about the Saints here. You don't think four.

great wins for Chicago? I don't know. Saints are plus 200. The Bears lose a game like this every year. Short rest. And short rest. I am worried about it. I'm not, I'm going to take. Saints have played well the last few weeks, even though they've lost.

They have. I'm going to take the Bears. I think you're just being a fan. You've got to keep your guard up as a fan. It's not my team so I can look at it objectively. So you'll be all right. I hope you're right. Colts go to the Chargers.

You don't have to worry about road atmosphere in L.A. Colts could go to six. and won. However, if the Chargers win, they would be on pace to be the one seat in the AFC. So this is a game that could swing. I don't think people think Colton's Chargers is a huge game for the playoffs,

but it might be. Yeah, this game on paper a month ago looks silly. And just add to it, I don't know if you all sell, the Chargers are wearing like all yellow color rush uniforms. I want to see those. I think they're called Charger Power. Just imagine as much yellow.

As much yellow as you could on your person. That's what they're going for for this game. I want to see this. Charger power. That is yellow. A lot of yellow. A lot of yellow. Okay. Whoa! So they're fired up. They want the yellow going. Wow. They've been disappointing lately. They need to win. I know you said they're in good

standing in the playoff race, but they took some losses they shouldn't have. Whoa, that is yellow. It looks like a banana. It does look like Herbert's going to be out there in a banana suit. Yeah, but I kind of like it. Do you think they have hoodies? What? Yellow is just not, like it doesn't motivate me if I'm a football player. I'm not going to be walking around wearing yellow.

I kind of like it. I think the Chargers, their thing, because they're so boring, should just have the ugliest, brightest colors. They're doing like a retro field. What does that mean? Retro field. Like they're painting it yellow and the old bolt and like they're going back in time. The field is going to be all of it. But the end zones, they're going.

It's a throwback. game. Throwback to win. When they're extra yellow, I don't know. Did they used to be really yellow? They're going to have the old logo in the end zone. They'll probably have Antonio Gates out there flipping a coin. Ladani and Tomlinson flyover.

They're just all the throwback chargers you can get. You should bring all those people. Famous charger, you know, you get Mike McCoy, bring him back. Once the Titans are down 30, McCoy can get in a jet and be in San Diego in no time. That's exactly right. Let's make it a fun yellow day. The commanders are playing the Cowboys. This is kind of an important bounceback game for both team.

Cowboys lost the Panthers. Commanders lost at home. This is a big game. This will be a huge audience. Who do you like? Commanders. Dax's been awesome. Their offense is awesome.

But they have a bad loss to the Giants. A tie. And then that loss to the Panthers. Your boy, your Bears got, Iber Fluse, he's the defensive coordinator. Why are they? People are very happy with him right now. even when I want to have a bad sign. This is how I knew it was a bad sign. I saw, who was it? Jerry Jones, I think, said, you want to be in the foxhole with Matt Eber Fluse. When someone says they want to be

in a foxhole with you, I'm worried about you. Billy Gillespie said that to his players. Foxhole, first of all, people who the first thing they think of as a foxhole, they're probably probably a little too into war analogies for me for football. But the moment, I don't know. I don't know. I I don't want to be in a foxhole with Iber flus. I was for three years in a football foxhole with Iber flus and it was never pleasant. Well, they have the worst defense in the NFL in like several categories. They're 32nd. Jerry might even call them out a little bit.

It's like we're fine. The defense just has to improve, like putting some pressure on him. So I'm going to take the commanders. Cowboys are a wreck on that side of the ball. Falcons go to the 49ers Sunday night football. Kind of an odd game on Sunday night football. Michael Pinnix versus Mac Jones. This might be one Sunday where we can type a little early.

Guess we want to get dinner after the show on Sunday night? I'm just kidding. Who do you like in this one? This will be one of those where I have to see who is not in street clothes for the 49ers. But I lean San Francisco, regardless of their health, just because of Falcons getting a big win a week ago and then having to travel out to San Francisco. Yeah, I'm going to take San Francisco, but. don't bet on the

what did I say? Bet on the bills last week but then what did I say? Never pick a Falcons game. I feel that way again. So I'm going to take San Francisco, which means Atlanta will win. And we have no idea who will be on that injury report for San Francisco.

They could lose four more players before Sunday at the rate. I think Kittle is trending on returning. Okay. What do you mean you think? Sources to cover zero say that. Oh, you have some 49ers this week? Who have you been talking to? I can't reveal it.

my sources that would defeat the purpose. I need an N-Rapaport tweet from Billy from Cover Zero reports. Billy Rappaport. Yeah. So are you willing to stake your credibility on George Kittle? Yeah, Kittle coming back, but not purdy. And I haven't heard enough about him yet. Billy R. Sports reports is part of his victory bundle.

Then George Kettle is returning. Monday Night Football, we got two games again. First game's a great one. Bucks Lions for the fourth straight week, the Bucks are playing for playoff seating against the Lions in Detroit. I think the Bucks luck falls here and we get a Detroit victory. What are you about you? I agree. The spread's five and a half.

I might take the Bucs to cover that. This seems a little high for two teams that have played so well. But the Bucs are going to have to take some losses somewhere. And at Detroit, seems like the place to do it. What do you think? Yeah, they're struggling. I mean, Abuka is going to miss some time. Mike Evans.

in the right direction, but... You won't break that scoop? No, I don't. No guarantee. He'll be back. Can I do a Billy Parlay? Kittle and Evans play. The injury parley.

They both play. That would be a good parley. But I agree. Road game. Detroit is a formidable foe. But if Baker wins this one, I'm ready to crown him in week seven. A formidable foe.

You are a formidable foe. That fits. If Baker... General Campbell, I will meet you on the battlefields. Field is a formidable foe. Bill, are you a foxhole guy? But really, if Baker goes and wins this and doesn't have an interception, it has like

three touchdowns or something, this is going to be an unbelievable season for him. There's a 10 o'clock Monday night football game. At least they're offsetting him a little better. I like that. Who you got? I'm going to go with Seahawks. The Darnold Smith & Jigba connection has been insane this year. He's leading the league.

He's been better than Pooka Nukua, and he's got the... think he's got a pretty big lead on him in receiving yards. So I'm going to trust them to be able to throw on the Texans. I think I forgot the Texans were a team this year. They started really bad. Think about it. We've gone. How many shows has it been since we talked about the Texans?

Well, they were on a buy last week. They're on a buy. They played the Titans, which is like a buy before that. Yeah, I just, I don't think I've thought about the Texans this year. Give me the Texans highlight this season. On long rest, Monday night night game or late games. Seriously, give me one thing that's happened with the Texans this year. They shut off the Titans.

Okay, but that, can you think of a moment? C.J. Strav has there been a headline? They lost their first two games. So people were questioned and then, maybe three games. I can't think of one thing that's happened with the Texans. Yeah, they lost their first three games and then beat the Titans and the Ravens before they're by. Yeah, I'd say shutting out the Titans. Wow.

So they played both of your two. teams, which is why you two know. Yeah. I don't know. I don't think I know anything about them. Well, the Seahawks are going to win Drew at home. I'm really racking my brain for like a Texan's memory from the first six weeks. I watched an entire game that they played.

I don't say this to be rude. But I can't think of a lot of Texan memories from my lifetime. They always play the first playoff game Saturday and noon. Against Cincinnati. Against Cincinnati or the Dolphins. The Texans always play at noon. It's the game. You're like, what channel is it on?

And there are announcers that you've never seen before. That's the Texans every single year. Yeah. This year, I keep focusing on the Titans. It's the Texans game when Cam Ward said, if I'm keeping a buck, we, bleep, I won't say it, Billy, said it more work to do. But other than that, I don't know what they've done. I do have one final thing since we were talking about the Texans.

Spiro, Detus said he's one of the guys who does a national. and always gets assigned an AFC South or NFC South game. He said that he knows his assignment so often that his group chat for his broadcast crew is called NFC South Boys. At least he knows his role, leaning into it. I've decided I like him. If you know exactly where you're going to get assigned, I'm going to get the Panthers this week. you have to give him credit. And just that it's that conference adds to the joke.

That's the name of his group chat. Does he have beef with your boy Chris Myers, who also likes in. Well, he might be in the group chat. He's just all them rotating. Are you New Orleans? I just looked up Spiro's name on Twitter. And the first thing that came up is a tweet that goes, Nothing says a new saint season like Spiro Detus and Adam Archiletta.

I like Archiletta. Good rim. There you go. Well, thank you folks very much for listening. We will be back Sunday night following the 49ers and Falcons. Enjoy your week. And tell your friends, this is NFL Cover Zero. 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.