The Bill Simmons Podcast - A Resurgent Rodgers, Million-Dollar Picks, Hottest Takes, and Fantasy Surprises With Joe House, Steven Ruiz, and Craig Horlbeck

Episode Date: September 20, 2024

The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Joe House to discuss the Jets destroying the Patriots on 'TNF' (2:46) before running through the Week 3 slate (9:45) and making the Million-Dollar Picks for NFL Week 3 (46:03). Then Bill talks with Steven Ruiz to take a victory lap about his Bryce Young prediction before giving his five favorite hot takes after NFL Week 2 (52:46). Finally, Bill is joined by Craig Horlbeck to discuss his five favorite observations from the fantasy football season (1:27:37). Host: Bill Simmons Guests: Joe House, Steven Ruiz, and Craig Horlbeck Producer: Kyle Crichton The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Coming up, I got a lot of football for you, including a Pat's Jets reaction next. This episode is brought to you by Prime Video. You know me, I can't go a day without sports. I really can't. And now Monday nights are all about hockey. That's right. There's a new exclusive home

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we launched a new podcast this week. The Ringer WNBA show hosted by Syrit Sohi. We tried out a couple episodes on the Ringer NBA show and now the playoffs coming up. We said, fuck it. Let's launch it as its own feed. It's a really good podcast. And if you like the WNBA and if it's been growing on you, you've been a longtime fan, whatever, I think there's something for everybody. But, uh, playoffs are coming up this weekend, four games on Sunday. All the higher seed are at home. And then the third game, if it's a decider, the do or die game is actually at the lower seeds place. So there's a chance Caitlin Clark in Indiana could potentially be playing at home in the do or die game, but pretty interesting. A lot of good matchups, a lot of possible ways it can go and Sarah's going to be covering all of it.

So check that podcast out. Please subscribe. And there you go. Coming up on this podcast, we're going to talk to Joe House. We're putting him at the top today because we're going to react to Pat's Jets and then we're going to do Billion Dollar Picks. And as you know, it's late night house.

All bets are off. There might've been a couple of beers. He's going to be Million Dollar Picks. And as you know, it's late night house. All bets are off. There might've been a couple of beers. He's going to be a little groggy. We decided not to go live on YouTube with late night house because it might also double his drunk house. But anyway, he's coming out. We're going to do Million Dollar Picks. And then playing five favorites after that

with Steven Ruiz, five hottest takes after two weeks. He has an absolute doozy about a certain coach. I don't want to spoil it, but man, was it good. And then Craig Horlbeck, our friend who produces the Rewatchables podcast for me, is on the Ringer Fantasy Football Show, and he's going to do his five favorite fantasy subplots after two

weeks. So that's the podcast. Let's bring in our friends from Pro Jam. All right, we are taping this a little after 8 o'clock Pacific time. Just watched the Patriots get absolutely annihilated by the Jets. Joe House is here. We're going to do million-dollar picks, but let's talk Pats Jets first. The big takeaway for me, House, Rodgers looked kind of like Rodgers. Like, there was stuff he was doing in this game that was just different than the first two games.

The way he was moving around, the quick throws, the timing. I just thought he looked really, really good. Didn't you think? I did. And this is the version of the Jets that had some of us investing in Jets futures this preseason. Jets as potential AFC East division winners. Is this late night house or drunk house? Or both?

Two bourbons, you tell me. Two bourbons. What's that? What's that count? I'm not slurring yet. I'm not slurring my words, but a couple bourbons in. I should have promo drunk house better. Anyway, your point being we believed in the Jets. I had them with Drunk House better. Anyway, your point being we believed

in the Jets. I had them with the AFC. So did you, right? Yeah. This is the version that we kind of imagined, right? This is what our minds eyes saw. It was the combination of an effective and efficient offense with multiplicity, right?

Tight end. Conklin plays. Brees Hall plays. nobody knew that Braylon Allen was going to be this good but he's he is this good Garrett Wilson got his touches Aaron Rodgers moving out of the pocket Aaron Rodgers on the run super efficient on the run Aaron Rodgers and then on the defensive side just a complete shutdown of a one-dimensional offense. I didn't know we had a dimension. The Patriots actually ran the ball pretty good. What was the one dimension? The running, I guess? The Patriots ran the ball pretty good.

I mean, Ramondre had over 20 carries in both of the first two games. Of course, I lost by over 16.5 carries prop for tonight because the Patriots had to move off way from the run basically after the first series. The Pats did not get to 20 minutes time of possession in this game. They can't

block. This was the Patriots team that I thought I was getting in August when I had all the unders and I was making them one of my locks. It didn't seem like they were going to be able to block. Tonight, they couldn't block. Brissette can't throw the ball more than six yards. The Jets, for some reason, the Bengals and Seahawks didn't fully realize this.

And the Jets were like, we're moving everybody up. We might be sending blitzes. We might not. We're not afraid of you throwing over the top against us because you won't. Everything's going to be short, and we're just to like completely collapse your line, which they did. And this Drake May question that the Pats have, he came in for the last drive. I was as nervous as I've been since I was watching my kids play on like jungle gym equipment. It was like, they're going to hand the ball off with the right, no, no, he's just taking big hits.

And the question is, do you play him? When do you play him? Is there like a Bryce Young situation where you throw him in too soon and the guy loses his confidence? Because the spot to play him would be after San Francisco week four. Then they play Miami week five. And there's a little stretch where you could say that's the spot. But if they can't block for him, i don't think you can play him so here's the grain of salt that must be applied to tonight and why i would recommend like not using tonight as a referendum on on what's to come it

was a game that you don't want to overreact to after an overtime game on Sunday, like one of the worst spots. I think now the number is two and 16 against the spread and equally abysmal straight up for teams coming off of a overtime game on a Sunday into a Thursday night game. And then you layer on top of that, Jared Mayo, rookie head coach, another trend that is just brutal it was a terrible

spot for the for New England so this was kind of I mean Raheem on East Coast bias that ran Thursday on FanDuel TV said this could be a smash spot for the Jets and it was a smash spot for the Jets I thought the Pats were going to either win by three or lose by 20. And the 20 seemed more realistic. After the first two drives. You can't overreact after a Thursday night game. You can't overreact after Agent Wojnarowski retires either, like Adam Schefter did. He wanted his life back.

He didn't want to have to work on holidays. He didn't want to have to be away from more family gatherings. I will say this. He didn't want to take a shower with your phone family gatherings i will say this he didn't want to take a shower with your phone up against the shower door so you could see a text that's coming in or take your phone with you to the urinal and hold it in one hand while you take care of your business and the other that's the life we live this is the thing adam schefter said on television what is is was he an er doctor during that during uh covid i i i wasn't sure the phone

in the shower could go a lot of different ways i mean oh my god the charlotte jams texted me i gotta hold this piss what what happened yesterday what was that uh i'll just say this whenever you kick me off this podcast i will say i take great take great comfort in the idea that I can retire and then I'll be the GM of the Holy Cross basketball team. You should do that right now. Is that job available? I don't want you to fire me. I don't want to get fired. No, if you were the GM of the Holy Cross basketball team, I'd be excited.

I don't know if it's a good tradeoff. I like this. This is better. I can have two bourbons and talk to you. It's kind of, you know, it feels like less pressure. Other highlights from tonight, Pat's Jets. Rodgers kind of had a weird moment with Salah on the sidelines after a touchdown that it seemed like Salah was going in for a hug and Rodgers kind of shoved him and then people were trying to read his lips. what happened on that no that was you know two highly awkward men doing a machismo thing that's all yeah like that was their version

of whatever i'm a badass no you're a badass we're badasses that's what i think it was do you think it's aaron rogers because he sleeps three nights three night? Or is that Adrian Rodgers asking? We cannot talk about anybody. Three hours a night? Was he sleeping three hours a night in mid-August when there were no NBA transactions? Or is he like a bear? That's when he was getting more sleep after that.

The longest pass by the Patriots to a wide receiver this year in three games, what do you think the number is? I mean, it's definitely under 20, isn't it? Is it 15? A 22 yarder once. A 22, okay. Yeah. There you go.

The Pats are one of those teams. If they're down 10, it's a wrap. If you have them on the multi-view, take them off. We're done. Million dollar picks week three. Last week, didn't do that great. We argued about some stuff. You had some good instincts on watch out for week two, watch out for all the underdogs, be careful. Your advice was good for the most part, except for Pittsburgh. We're going to try

to align a little bit better in week three. But are you looking for with with uh week three trends so week three i'm still swimming in some dirty water i try to look up the lyrics for for dirty water i thought i might sing tonight but i'm not up for it um the oh and two teams that are underdogs in week three tend to have some value and the reason for that is because you know the inflation of the market in looking at the teams saying, Oh, these are the teams that really suck. And there's a,

you know, layered in some adverse pricing on them. So there's a handful of teams I'm looking at. I, I really like Tennessee this week. Now they're a favorite. They don't fit that trend, but I like that.

I like Tennessee. So did you read about Tennessee? Tell me about Tennessee. Will Levis, his number got out, his cell phone number, and people were being mean to him, and he had to change his cell phone number. And his coach was also mean to him. I'm worried about the Will Levis mojo

slash what's his confidence going to look like? I don't think he's Mr. Popularity in Tennessee right now. And that's also a home game. What if things go sideways? Are the boot birds going to be out? Do you think we could get Vandal to write a prop

for how many times will Brian Callahan ask Will Levis, what the fuck are you doing? It's like set it at 0.5 and let us jump in on that market. I think that would be the best part of being an NFL coach. It might be the last job where you can scream at somebody that works for you,

what the fuck are you doing? While you're being filmed by cameras all over the place. Hey, before we get to million dollar picks, actually, I, for the first time ever, I'm going to be diving into WNBA playoff bets. Hey now. Yeah. I've been following it just enough. We just launched the ringer WNBA show with Sear it. Um, and there's four games on Sunday. We like gambling on basketball. We're not allowed to, to bet on the NBA until the season starts on October 22nd. We're just not allowed to bet on preseason at all because it's stupid.

But WNBA, they have the series prices house. Would you like to hear them? Yes. I'm very interested in this. Okay. I'm glad you asked. Indiana is going to be playing the Connecticut sun, a sneaky stealth. Don't be surprised if some shit happens with them team.

Which one? The sun, the fever, every, you know, the fever, the most public team probably in the history of, of women's or men's basketball, where they probably had to juice the line a certain way, knowing all the Caitlin action was coming in. But what do you think that line is? Sun versus fever. You mean for the series? Is there a series price?

Games one and two in Connecticut. And if it's game three, it's do or die. It would be in Indiana because they have this weird rule with that. So what do you think it is? Connecticut is the tiniest favorite. Like a teeny tiny favorite. Connecticut minus 178.

Wow! That's a giant number. That's way more than I would have guessed. They've been really good the last few weeks. So you got that. Do we really think, do we really think that the WNBA in this first season at the tip-top marketplace that the WNBA in this first season at the tip-top marketplace

that the fever occupy is going to countenance Kaitlyn Clark getting knocked out in the first round? Do we really think that? Well, here's the question. Commissioner Kathy, I don't know if she's got David Stern in her, but the question is, what would DJ

S do? Listen, I'm getting into a game three no matter what happens you have to go 1999 lj four point shot level officiating yeah how many kids did bennett salvatore have and what are they doing right now and are any of them eligible to be a wnba ref that's my only question. So you have that. The Lynx are minus 900 over Phoenix, which could be Taurasi's last stand. The Aces, minus 460 over the Storm.

That seems like a layup. And then the Liberty are heavily favored against Atlanta. So the smart parlay house would be Minnesota, Connecticut, and Las Vegas plus 111 on FanDuel. Oh, I like that. Now, why is that the smart parlay? It's the smart. It's the thinking man's parlay.

The problem is you're betting against Caitlin Clark, which means you're betting against fun. I'm not doing that. Yeah. I don't doing that. Yeah. I don't, I don't want to do that. That would be my recommendation. And I've, I've,

I don't want to root against Caitlin Clark. Yeah. Like all of America. She's been super fun. She turned that team around with that said, I think that's the thinking man smart. Okay. All right.

Let's talk about some stay aways for week three NFL. Let's hear it. Bears Colts to me is just a complete cross it off. I want no part of that game. I don't know if the Bears can block. The Colts have the worst defense in the league. I don't want to bet on Anthony Richardson. I don't want to bet on the Bears.

I don't want to bet on Matt Eberflus. I want no part of the game. I kind of like the Colts. I understand your perspective. The danger for the Colts is that the Bears defense, I think, is sneaky. It's a little frisky. Very good. I mean, what they did to C.J. Stroud.

Now, for Houston, we just watched it was an island game, right? We got to see the full game, both of those teams. When Joe Mixon went out, it really changed what they were trying to do. And there are a couple teams now that really could use a running back. Houston is one. Kansas City is the other that comes to mind immediately. They ought to be out there quietly. You mean Kansas City's starting an undrafted white guy?

And they just signed Kareem Hunt, who was running a 5-2-40 last year? So this is what, yeah. So I expect to see Houston. I mean, maybe Mixon could be back. It sounds like it's possible for this weekend. I don't know. The Chiefs are like,

yeah, we've brought back Kareem Hunt. The guy you waved after that video, well, that was six years ago. He's a different guy now. We need a running back. We're back. We have worse things than this team. I like the Colts and that Colts-Bears matchup. That's all.

I don't like either of them. Broncos-Bucks. It's Broncos plus six and a half against the Bucks. And I actually kind of like the Broncos, but I wouldn't bet on it. I was really impressed by them in the second half of the Pittsburgh game. I thought that kind of controlled the

second half. They just didn't make a couple plays. They have a rookie QB, but they played really of the Pittsburgh game. I thought that kind of controlled the second half. They just didn't make a couple plays. They have a rookie QB, but they played really hard in that game. I think your instincts are right. I am into the Broncos in this game. It's too many points. Too many points. Two one-score games for

Denver. Really, the only thing holding them back is their rookie quarterback. The defense is not horrendous. That's a tease-buster game. That's one of those, oh, I'll put Tampa in a tease. They're good. I'm not putting Tampa in a tease. Not me. Packers-Titans, you mentioned that.

I'm out both ways on that. Plus, there's some Jordan Love possibilities. That line's moved because now they're thinking he might come back for that. Giants- Browns was one I stared at for a second because I just don't think the Browns should be six and a half over anybody, but I can't get there with the Giants because they stink. I thought that line was too high too. It's too high. Both the Giants and Denver fit the trend and it's a 60% hit rate, and there are at least five teams.

So three of these five teams are, if you believe in the math over the last 25 years, going to cover. So both the Giants and Denver are eligible. 0-2 teams against the spread is underdogs in week three. 60% hit rate. Brian Dayball should do the just randomly retire and be like, he wanted his life life back he didn't want to have

to diagram plays for Daniel Jones anymore in the shower staying up at night thinking of ways to roll Daniel Jones out when he can't throw a complete pass diagramming Danny Dimes runs Raiders Panthers

a complete stay away I would probably lean toward the Panthers but I'm not betting on them it is the Panthers Raiders Panthers a complete stay away I want I would probably lean toward the Panthers but I'm not betting on them it is the Panthers is the only side to play there yeah and then Bengals your team Washington your team has that late garbage time it's Bengals seven and a half your team has that late kind of garbage nobody's watching anymore and Daniels is just lighting it up in the fourth quarter of a meaningless game but I'm not betting on that either well those that game is interesting for a couple of reasons there's a couple angles I want to just sort of observe out loud in the first place Washington very quietly

by some advanced metrics has a really efficient offense yeah they are running the ball and they understand that there's an advantage to running the ball early in the season now unfortunately quite a bit of those runs are coming from the quarterback and he is not built for running i mean at least i had one text exchange on sunday like oh that's it we're not going to see him now for another two months he took one shot in the ribs like oh he just broke four ribs so there are going to be at least one of those hits a game. I really like Cincinnati in a teaser capacity in this game. And I also have to, I cannot, I cannot, I cannot emphasize this enough for all the betting buddies out there, Washington against a top receiver. This is the third straight week. You must look at Jamar Chase Deez Nuts

overs. Jamar Chase Deez Nuts over receptions and over receiving yards. Look at Malik Neighbors. Look at who they played week one. Both Godwin and Evans. Evans had, you know, one of his career games.

Jamar Chase Deez Nuts overs. Gotta do it. Wasn't that, that was Chris Berman's nickname for him, right? He did it. Three of the fastest three minutes in football, yes. Jamar chased these nuts. 49ers Rams

is just a stay away. Jawan Jennings looks like he might be the number one 49ers receiver. I don't know who the number one Rams receiver is. No, thank you. Good luck to anyone trying to figure that game out. I like the Falcons against the Chiefs plus three and a half, but I'm not betting it because that seems like a classic.

Oh, I liked how they looked on Monday night, but then you think about it, the Eagles just should have won the game outright, and I don't want to bet against the Chiefs. Let's just stick a tiny bit longer on that game. It is worth observing that the Chiefs have not been very super impressive. Now, they did have games against Baltimore

and Cincinnati, two of their all-time conference foes. They were crucial games. Both of those games were 50-50 games. The Chiefs could easily be 0-2. And the Chiefs as favorites of over three points, Mahomes in his career, not that great of a record, not that impressive. Well, plus they're not going to be able to run the ball, the lead, because they have Carson Steele and washed up Kareem Hunt.

But I don't want to bet on Kirk Cousins. And you don't want to bet on Kirk Cousins. Let's not bet on Kirk Cousins. Here's the big one I want to talk out. And I think we're going to land on, let's stay away from this, but Seahawks minus 4. Here's the big one I want to talk out and I think we're going to land on let's stay away from this, but Seahawks minus four and a half against the Dolphins. That line's moved down toward the Dolphins and there's, you know,

the Seahawks can't really block. They barely beat a Patriots team that as we just saw tonight is borderline abhorrent. Kenneth Walker's out. Charbonnet wasn't great replacing him. You could argue little Ewing theory possibility

with Skyler Thompson. I was looking at Seattle first half, Seattle game minus 120, which is a bet that's been good to us last year and this year too. The question is Skyler Thompson. I heard you on the Rer gambling show. You guys were mentioning like he played well in that Buffalo game. And I was like, I don't remember that that

way. And I went back and researched it. So they lost that Buffalo playoff game with Skylar Thompson 34 to 31. It's like, wow, he put up 31 points. That's great. He was 18 for 45 for 220 yards. He had two picks. The game, it was 17-0 Buffalo. Josh Allen had two interceptions and a fumble touchdown that went to Miami. So that was seven of the points. So really they had 24. And they kept turning the ball over.

Miami got a 50-yard kick return. Miami had field position on Buffalo's 48, Buffalo's 27, Buffalo's 18, and they got the fumble TD. And then when they actually had a chance to win it late, Thompson couldn't make a play. So if you're going to use that game, I would actually go back and look at the details. And if you look at the rest of Skylar Thompson's games, not great. I think we've swung too far with the Tua thing where it's like, yeah, somebody else could go in and do that. And I don't

think that's the case. So I'm looking at that Seattle defense wondering if they just take a lead and put the game away. But anyway, first half game minus 120. What are your thoughts? So I absolutely prefer that to messing with the spread. No doubt about it. My hesitation with Seattle is the tough spot.

Like we just watched New England coming off of that overtime game into the Jets game. Now there's a huge difference between coming off of that for New England a short week into a Thursday night road game. But Seattle off of that for New England, a short week into a Thursday night road game, but Seattle off of that overtime game, having to come all the way back across country. And you say, well, Miami has to go across country too. Yes, that's true.

It's a long flight, but they had all the 10 day rests, right? Because they played Thursday night last week and they've had that extra time with McDaniel to scheme Skyler. for sure the numbers are abysmal they're not Malik Willis abysmal for Skyler Thompson but there's a noticeable material difference in the output of both Tyreek Hill and Jalen Waddle and especially Waddle with Skyler at quarterback. I don't think we have to bet it, but if we did have to bet it,

I would do what your instinct is, which is Seattle first half and Seattle to win the game. All right, we're going to take a break and then we're going to hit the games that we're targeting here. Football is back. There's no better place to get in on the nfl action than fan duel america's number one sportsbook right now all customers give up five dollars get a three-week free trial of nfl sunday ticket from youtube and youtube tv and then you'll be able to watch every

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in current form of payment. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. This episode is brought to you by Movember. The mustache is back with a vengeance. Look at Travis Kelsey. Before he rocked that Super Bowl ring, he rocked that super soup strainer. Grow a mustache for Movember. You'll do great things too. You won't win the Super Bowl, but your fundraising will support mental health, suicide prevention, and prostate and testicular

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in no particular order. First of all, feel free. Is there a way for you to hurt me through the Zoom screen? Can you electroshock me somehow? Feel free because I like the Jaguars again. I'm back. The dumbest team in the league. I fucking hate their guts.

And yet they're getting four and a half in Buffalo. And I'm seduced yet again. I hate myself. I'm seduced yet again. I hate myself. I'm with you there. And the reason is because the Jaguars have won the box score in both of those first two games. It is, you know, they have absolutely snatched defeat from the jaws of victory twice.

They should, at an absolute bare minimum have one win and it's really taken a series of a folly series of follies for them to be in this position that they're in it's a tough spot it's a Monday night game by the way we should mention all we're asking for is the

version that they've shown us in these first two weeks and then just don't make the stupid plays don't do the is the version that they've shown us in these first two weeks. And then just don't make the stupid plays. Don't do the bonehead thing. Don't have the turnover in the red zone. So four and a half is the line right now, right? It's too many points.

Basically, this is their entire season. Yeah. Right? They're playing at Houston next week. Then they have home Indianapolis, home Chicago, home Pats. There's a world where if they could just win this game, if they can split the next two, they're four and three after week seven. And we're like, Oh, I remember when Jacksonville fucked up those first two weeks. I watched both of those games and I just couldn't believe they didn't beat Miami. And I couldn't believe the Cleveland game. I just couldn't believe they didn't beat Miami. And I couldn't believe the Cleveland game.

I just couldn't understand what they were doing. Buffalo's had, they lost Terrell Bernard, who they lost them against, neither him or Milano. They also lost Johnson, their slot cornerback. So they're missing three good starters now. They still have a pass rush, but the back half, the secondary

just isn't there. And if this was ever a game for Lawrence to get his shit going, this is the game. I don't know why they don't throw to Brian Thomas Jr. more. By the way, you're going to hear this before Monday night. You're going to hear it in the pregame and you're going to hear it during the game. Trevor Lawrence has lost seven straight games.

I feel like this is a kitchen sink game for them. They have to win this game. This is it. You're pulling all the tricks. You're opening the trunk of your car and fucking going hunting in the back for anything. I think they hang around. I like their cheap touchdown potential too,

even if they're down 10. I'm with you 100%. Okay, so we're in on Jags. I endorse this. Plus four and a half. I hate myself. Let's run it back a third time. I'm going to make a joke that Rudy

and Kyle are going to have to edit, but I just want to get it off because I was thinking it the whole time. We're coming back. We have to start this part again because late night house just crossed a couple lines, but we're back. I'm probably maroon on the YouTube. All right.

Next one. Steelers Chargers. I heard you say in Ringer and Gambling Show, this is Steelers minus one and a half and you like the Chargers on a tease. On a tease. I love it. I still love it. I'm not changing my mind.

Which I'm not against. Yeah. Pittsburgh's defense. Top three in red zone. First downs allowed. Third down percentage. Turnovers. points allowed. They've been awesome.

Awesome. And we're just, when you think about what they did to Atlanta versus what Philly didn't do to Atlanta a week later, they've been really good. The Chargers, run, run, run, run, run. Herbert's banged up. It's easy to do when you have the lead. This, to me, feels like a whoever gets the lead first. I just, I like the Steelers team. I think

this is a tough spot for the chargers on the road with receivers. They don't really trust, not really able to throw the ball one dimensional against, I think the best defense in either conference. And I think this is just defense, field goals, Tomlin. Fields makes a couple plays. And I go into this eyes wide open that I know Justin Fields has a pick in him, a fumbled snap in him, a fumble trying to do too much. I will never at any play feel safe with him. But I like that. I honestly think the line should be three.

I think there's I think you're getting a point and a half here. So I'll confess that my single biggest regret for million dollar picks last week was not listening to you and joining you in the Steelers minus two and a half against Bo Nix. But your instincts were right on the other

one. You tried to talk about Cleveland? Coach Tomlin against a rookie quarterback. i was a little bit concerned about you know the steelers as a favorite and it was a tough spot for them two consecutive road games the altitude i just talked myself i'll let myself get spooked by real reasons though they had two consecutive road games altitude and by the way they barely hung on they didn't do anything i mean that that that's right um not going to make that mistake this get this week and here's the reason why more uh prominent than anything else if justin herbert is compromised in any way shape or form and it seems like he's probably going to be

compromised even if he does indeed play this is a super tough spot because the thing that Pittsburgh will do is take away the run. Yeah. The Chargers have been extraordinary at the run, but that is their one dimension. And Pittsburgh, I think, has the right defense to take that dimension away. So if Herbert has to face a pass rush and he's immobile in the way that it seems like he might be, this is a bad spot for the Chargers. So I really like this Steelers lean. Everyone was afraid of the

Steelers because of their week 11 through 17 schedule. Properly. If they get through this game, if they win this game, they're at Indy next week against Richardson, who the ball is just flying around. You have no idea where it's going.

Home Dallas on a Sunday night, week five. At Vegas, week six. And then home for the Jets, home for the Giants, bye week. They win this game. That could be like seven and one, six and two range. And I think their defense is good enough. I really think they're deep. You could argue the Saints might have the best offense in either league right now, regular season version.

And you could argue the Steelers have the best defense. So we both like Steelers minus one and a half. That's two. Lions minus three in Arizona against our beloved Cardinals who have covered both weeks, who we should have taken. I actually, I thought we agreed last week to take them. And then I forgot to do it when I actually did the picks. Yeah. I went back and I was like, wait, I don't, I don't think I actually said Cardinals, but I, I just fucked it up. So that's our fault. But, um, a couple of things

with this game and Raheem hit on the angle that I had planned for this for in the ringer game. We show that the Lions, you're just, you're just getting good value on this because they only scored 16 points last week against Tampa. But if you actually watch that game, they dominated. Their game plan was, was super wonky. They threw 55 times because Tampa's secondary was banged up. They should just run the ball. I think this is like, hey, let's get our offense going. Let's get back to who we are. Let's pound the ball. Arizona can't stop the run. Let's fucking pound the ball. Let's run it down their throats. A little play action.

Let's get our guys going. It's indoors. And let's just get back to who we are. If you believe in the Lions as a Super Bowl contender, they have to win this game. The Cards house money. They won last week. This was probably the hardest game and the hardest home game in their schedule.

If they hang around, it's a bonus. I don't know. I just think the Lions should win. It's a perfect number. The look ahead for this game was Detroit by four and a half and it's moved a full point and a half from you know just at the end of the summer up to this moment because of you know the the curious um inability of of detroit to score any points they They had 20 points over the course of the regular stretch

of the game against the Rams. It took them overtime to get to 26 points against a Rams defense that's supposed to be in transition. And then a Tampa defense that all of the handicapping going into week two was all the injuries that are decimating the Tampa secondary that this Detroit team couldn't take advantage of. And,

and you know, some miraculously Clint Kubiak has jumped right over Ben Johnson as the sexiest assistant in, in the NFL. Maybe Ben Johnson's rattled. We need, we need like, I thought I was the sexy OC.

I'm not the sexy OC anymore. I'm going to have Jared Goff throw 55 times. Ben Johnson better put the Johnson on the table. It's time to rush the effing football. Run it down there. That's it. By the way, they did that in the overtime in the Rams game. He was like, oh, you know what we should do?

Run the ball. Oh, really, Doc? You think so? So the other element to this that I love that matches up with the way that we're scripting this thing out is the under. 51 and a half is a crazy number if we think that what Detroit is going to do is just ball control, own the game with the best offensive line in football, which is what they have, and just take care of business. Come on, Detroit.

I'm not messing with that because of Kyler's end of the game and the half stuff. I get it. That guy can put up seven points in like five seconds. So Lions minus three, we're marking that down. I can't believe how much

I like this next one. I'm just going to admit defeat on the Saints. I thought they were going to be terrible. They've been completely reinvigorated by the new coach. And I wonder, like, maybe there's like 16, 17 teams that are all basically the same team.

And then if you give them a really good coach or somebody who's innovative, that team can just jump. Because this Saints team was dog shit last year. Now all of a sudden, it was kind of shocking to watch how fast they were, um, how creative they were. And I think it's sustainable. And a lot of the stats from those first two weeks, we talk about it later in the podcast too, but a lot of the stats from the

first two weeks really forebode future, at least regular season dominance. We're old enough to forebode or foretold. Forebode. We're old enough to remember. Foretold. Listen, it's late. I just watched Drake May get thrown down nine times. I'm the one who had the bourbon.

I've only slept three hours. We're old enough to remember the 99 Rams. That came out of nowhere. Nobody believed it for weeks. Weeks. We were like, what is this? Kurt Warner, arena football? What's happening?

Whoa, they look fast. Ah, I watched the Rams again. They put up more points. What is this? I'm not saying the Saints are that, but after the 99 Rams, I'm prepared saying the Saints are that, but after the 999 Rams, I'm prepared for anything in an NFL season. And that team is speed,

and they're well coached, and they're playing this Eagles team that's bottom eight right now in passing. The defense, passing, rush, third down. They're 31st in yards per play. They hit Kirk Cousins twice in the entire fucking game after he got annihilated in week one. And I just think the Saints are going to be too fast for them.

And how about this? Maybe the Eagles aren't good. So here's the caution. The look ahead for this game was Eagles by three or by three and a half. And when you have a line movement of you know six six points in some instances i mean there are some markets saints is two and a half on fan duel but i saw some saints by three out there like that don't you think it gets to three it probably will yes i mean because everybody just saw the eagles basically forfeit a mother effing football game

on Monday night football. Not, I mean, kill teases, kill money line parlays, kill it all. Um, and it was just a complete self inflicted wound,

uh, by Sirianni Mensa Sirianni. Um, and here's the thing that really to me though kind of pushes it in the direction that we want to go the AJ Brown thing cannot be understated or overstated

they just had no explosiveness at all right none and they can and will run the ball Saquon's been amazing amazing thus far this season. But, you know, without that threat, that vertical threat, Atlanta did a damn good job against this Eagles team, I thought,

on Monday Night Football. Their defense seems slow. I'm not sure their defense can play for three hours at that kind of speed. And I like the spot for the Saints. I just... I don't think Dallas is very good, but I thought what the Saints did to them was pretty crazy. And they scored six touchdowns in a row.

So the one thing, the only thing I'll observe, and our good pal Raheem made this point on East Coast Bias, the Ringer Gambling feed. If you like the Saints in this moment, then get them for the NFC to win the NFC conference and

get a Super Bowl number now because those markets don't reflect them being in the same category as the Eagles and they're favored over the Eagles this week. You know what's funny about that? Since he said that,

the Saints went to 12, they're 12 to 1 now in the NFC and they're 30 to 1 for the Super Bowl. When he had that, it was like 15 to 1. So I think some people are thinking that way. But they're still behind a bunch of teams. They're still behind the Eagles. They're behind Dallas. Their coach is behind the Eagles. They're behind Dallas.

Their coach is Dennis Allen. That would be. That's a true fact. That would be the. That's a fair rebuttal. That's the zag. Their quarterback is Derek Carr. Another zag.

But I think they win this game. Okay. Ravens Cowboys. The only thing that worries me about this is it looks a little too easy. The Ravens are in Dallas and they're laying a point and a half. The Ravens lose.

They'll be on three to say it's a big game would be an understatement. I don't think an own three team is ever on the Superbowl Dallas. I don't think they can stop the run. Me either. I, they have one wide receiver target CD lamb and. Lamb and he's hurt Ferguson might play might not talk about one dimensional they have the worst running backs in the league

and they look good in week one because they played a shit team they got killed last week and I just think the speed and power of the Ravens you know I don't love the Ravens defense and I'm sure Dak can can throw the ball on them especially if they're behind maybe

he gets some cheap but I just think the speed and power they're rushing the Lamar Derrick Henry combo that should be enough in this game they're just better than Dallas it I share this view with you and we're asking for so little what's the line now is it minus one

and a half they can't win by fucking a fucking field goal. Right. I mean, it's almost worth the money line is probably equally fine. Just playing Baltimore on the money line rather than the one and a half. And even messing with the one and a half. Yeah. Like, you know, it can't be that expensive to play Baltimore on the money line there. But we'll see what's Fandando might have something to say about that house let's find out uh oh yeah you're right it's minus 112 to play the money line so there we go that's

the play that's the play the baltimore money line um at the end of the day we could do all the x's and o's baltimore's been really bad uh one the right side of their offensive line, Falale, they're trying to figure stuff out. But I prefer Coach Harbaugh and Lamar to Coach McCarthy and Dak and that's my handicap.

I'm with you. So, we can do double your winnings on a money line bet. so we can do double your winnings, um, on a money line bet. Okay. According to FanDuel.

All right. We did it last week and it hit. We can do it again this week and we can put it on Ravens minus one 12. Let's do that. And basically bet one 12, 112,000 and win a hundred K, but then double that to 200 K. Okay. Because this is all make-believe money and I can do whatever I want. Um, but that's what we're probably going to do with that one. Okay. Good. Texans Vikings, Texans minus two and a half at Minnesota.

And this is a fun one because my instinct when I saw it was like, oh yeah, come on, Houston. Gonna do that. And then I really dug into the stats. There's some bad offensive line stats with Houston. Yes. They're 24th in sacks. This is their offense. 24th in sacks, 27th in hurrieds,

22nd in their quarterback getting hit. Minnesota in those categories, first, first, and first. They're going to be coming the whole game, right? So if you're betting on Minnesota, you worry about, is Jefferson,

is he going to be healthy? Is Addison going to be healthy? But they've been running the ball pretty well. I have a same game parlay for you. I know we haven't done a same game parlay. I just want to throw it at you. All right.

I'm listening. Bikes up to plus eight and a half. Love that. That's one of my favorite teaser legs this week. The over under all the way up to under 51 and a half. Fine. Good.

52 points to beat us. Yep. Stroud throws for 200 plus yards, which is minus 700. He's done it in his last nine full games. He's thrown for at least 200. You put those three together, that's plus 120.

Look at that. That's not even asking very much. That's a three-legger. Yeah. It fits a script where you're really not pushing down too hard on any aspect outcome. Give yourself a lot of outs with that, right? Eight and a half. That's two scores for Minnesota.

Who's been one of the best coached teams in the NFL through the first two weeks. The Stroud 200 yards. Right. So the concern with Houston is Mixon. Mixon being out. What are they doing with play action? What does that do to CJ Stroud? They're burning up Cam

Akers. That gives you... Oh my God. Cam Akers. Lord. But that also feeds into a nice underplay. I think we're on to something here, BS. I like what you've done. So you like that one? Okay, good. I do. And then the last one

was that Seahawks, which I'm happy to dump. Seahawks first half, Seahawks game against Skyler Thompson. Let's stay away from it. So we're dumping that one. Okay.

All right. Wow. So we have one, two, three. We have six six bets for the million dollar do we have an argue pick this week did we argue on any of those we might have had more i think that's a good sign if we're aligned more agreement than than arguing i guess our argue pick we could make but i didn't really

feel strongly about bears colts could we argue on no we didn't guess our argue pick we could make, but I didn't really feel strongly about Bears Colts. Could we argue on? No, we didn't have an argue pick. Can't force the argue pick. Let's not force it. Yeah, let's not force it. All right. So last week we lost $240,000.

We are still up $124,000 on the year. Good. When straight up we're five and three and we've split the argue pick so far. The million dollar picks for week three. Steelers going against their Spider-Man meme rival, the chargers, whoever,

whoever goes up three, nothing wins the game. Steelers minus one and a half. We're going to put $200,000 on that. I finally sucked you in with the Steelers. Well, it's happened. No, what do you mean? Finally, you in with the Steelers. It's happened. No, what do you mean finally? That was one of our favorite bets of week one. And it went exactly according to script. That's why you kept me around. That's why I didn't have to retire.

I don't want to hear facts. I don't want to hear facts. That's why I didn't have to retire and go be the GM of Holy Cross. Steelers, suddenly, I want you to be the GM of Holy Cross. That's going to be unbelievable. Let's throw your hat in the ring. Steelers minus one to have $200,000. Detroit coming off a dumb loss last week. Is Detroit really going to lose two in a row? Are the Cardinals really just going to clean up an awesome team at home

with a crap defense? And Campbell, eight-no against a spread off a loss. Lions minus 3. You said the look-ahead line was what? A couple weeks ago? 4.5? We're grabbing Lions minus 3 in Arizona. 200,000 on that. We're going to ignore the look-ahead line.

What happened with Saints-Eagles? Saints minus 2.5 against an Eagles team that, let's just be honest, was probably overrated heading into the season, and that's where we landed. No AJ Brown, probably a Saints offense that I think what they did those first two weeks, I took seriously their home Saints minus two and a half, $200,000. Next one, Baltimore going to Dallas, Jerry world, possibly in shambles. They've got one receiver. They've got no running backs. Their defense looked glacier-like last week.

Ravens coming in desperate, trying to fight off 0-3. Speed of Lamar. Power of Derrick Henry. We're taking the money line on this, minus 112, and we're taking advantage of a little FanDuel gimmick. Double your winnings on any Moneyline bet.

Now, they have limits when you do it on FanDuel. We don't have limits on million-dollar picks because this is fake money. We're going to double our winnings if we hit this bet. Ravens, minus 112. We're doing that for 100K,

and if we win, we win 200. And then we have a little same-game parlay in FanDuel's honor. Vikings, plus 8. half at home against Houston. The under 51 and a half. When I told you this one, honestly, I thought you were going to take your pants off. Stroud. I only do that when I have to look at my phone in the shower.

Stroud, 200 plus yards. That same game parlay is plus 120. Now, we could take that under up to 54.5 and get that at minus 110. No. All right, so you want the 51.5. Okay. Yeah. Vikings plus 8.5, under 51.5. Stroud, 200 plus yards.

That is plus 120. We're going to put 200K on that. And then last but not least, the dumbass Jaguars. They're getting four and a half in Buffalo on a Monday night. Buffalo's defense is impossibly banged up. The Jaguars need

a win. They're about to go on three if they don't win this game. They have lost two of the stupidest games of the year. I vowed not to bet against them or on them or anything with them on Sunday. And now five days later, we're here. I think they keep it close. I think they could potentially win. There's cheap touchdown potential.

This is a game that should be a three-point game one way or the other. Jags plus four and a half. Are you good with this? I'm good with this. We're not going to argue with it. I endorse it. Any last thoughts for Trevor Lawrence?

Best of luck. Get a haircut. Those are your million-dollar picks for week three. And you can see us this weekend on YouTube TV and on FanDuel on the ringer Sunday pregame, a fantastic show. No else is popping on that show. Me.

You coming on for the last like 15 minutes. I'm going to take Sal spot. So Sal can pull out his little Hunter Biden sheet and write more bets on it. Uh, so yeah, that's going to be at, uh, 11 o'clock ET on Sunday. We'll be going over all these games. What do you think the biggest line move's going to be at, 11 o'clock ET on Sunday.

We'll be going over all these games. What do you think the biggest line move is going to be by Sunday? I think the saints is going to go to three or three and a half. That would be one of my predictions. It depends on if there's more news about Herbert. Herbert would, would really alter that Pittsburgh, uh,

chargers game. Right. All right, house. I know you need your three hours sleep. It was great to see you. Uh, and I'll see you need your three hours sleep. It was great to see you. And I'll see you next week for Billion Dollar Picks.

Now it's time for a special part of today's episode sponsored by NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday Ticket has awesome features to help you stay on top of all the action. Like MultiView, my buddy, where you can watch up to four games at once or layer on stats and fantasy views or track your favorite teams and players. And by the way, when you bundle NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV, you get access to every game every Sunday. That's the most live NFL games all in one place,

local and national games on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday Ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital-only games, device, and content restrictions. Apply. All right, so what are we looking for this Sunday? We're going to talk with Craig Horlbeck in a little bit about some of the fantasy stuff. The biggest thing is the Saints. Is this real? If it is real, do you have some of the guys on this team? Is their offense going to keep putting up big points? I think that's an important one. Steelers, Chargers, one of those defenses is probably going to win that game. Which one's

it going to be? Ravens, Cowboys is another one. What's going to happen on that one? Are the Ravens really going to not win a game for the first three games of the season? Who's going to be the better quarterback? So just some good subplots. I really like the week three slate actually. So can't wait to multi-view it and go nuts. Thanks again to our friends at NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. Don't miss a moment, a minute, a second of the action. Watch every game every Sunday when you bundle NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV. Sign up today, youtube.com slash BS, my initials. Local and national games on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday Ticket for out-of-market games excludes digital-only

games. Device and content restrictions apply. Y'all afraid of ghosts? How about ghost peppers? It's the moment you've been waiting for. The ghost pepper sandwich is back at Popeye's. A buttermilk-battered chicken breast served on a brioche bun with barrel-cured pickles. And here's the best part. It's topped with a sauce made from ghost peppers and ancho chilies. If that doesn't send a chill of anticipation down your spine, nothing will. Get your ghost pepper sandwich today at Popeye's before it ghosts you for another year. Chicken from Popeye's before it ghosts you for another year.

All right. We're taping this part of the podcast on Thursday afternoon. The take master is here, Steven Ruiz. He came on last month. I asked him for his five hottest takes heading into the NFL season. His number one hottest take was that Bryce Young would be benched. Now, do you get demerits because you didn't say he would be benched in September? I feel like that would have been the elite take, right? I think that's fair. I do think that's fair. I should have seen that coming as a Panthers fan. As someone who watched this guy play for 17 games

or 16 games last year, I should have known better. But I'm sorry, I'll be better this time. I'll have hotter takes this time. What if it's not the players? What if it's the Panthers in the city? Because I saw there was a picture circulating on Twitter of Sam Darnold next to Baker Mayfield

in Panthers jerseys, which brought me back to a couple years ago when I think I lost week to week more money on the Panthers than maybe any other team. And they almost still made the playoffs. Baker flamed out. Darnold came in, actually did pretty well. He flamed out down the stretch. But maybe it's what is there more something sinister going on here? Is it like a horror movie? I don't think so. Cam Newton seemed

to do fine. I think Andy Dalton did fine when he when he stepped in for Bryce Young last year. I don't think that's it. I think it's I think it's David Tepper. I think he's the horror. He's the he's the villain. He's the horror movie. Yeah, he's the horror movie. I't think that's it. I think it's David Tepper. I think he's the villain of the horror movie. Yeah, he's the horror movie. I do think that's fair. But this is more like, I guess, like a financial movie where he's gone to Wall Street, maybe. So it's like the big short. Yeah, yeah. It's like that. He's definitely to blame. I don't think Bryce Young really had a chance. I was low on him before the draft. He watched him play. I honestly don't give myself too much credit for calling him getting benched because for me

that was the take I felt strongest about going into that last pod we did. Just because when you have a historic outlier like him, you're 5'10", 180 pounds, those guys don't get drafted in the top five. I think it's like you either have it or you don't. You could tell right away. With him, if you

weren't holding on to hope that he would become the Panthers' savior as a Panthers tell right away. And with him, if you weren't, like, holding on to hope that he would become the Panthers' savior as a Panthers fan, I think it was very easy to watch him and be like, this guy doesn't have it. It's not viable. And then this year, we just seen it get worse. Yeah. And once you lose your confidence as a quarterback,

you might as well just go hide in the hyperbaric chamber. Has one good thing happened with Tepper since he bought the team? Has there been one positive? No, no. Maybe taking down the old owner's statue is the best thing. Oh, I got one. They switched from having the NFL logo at midfield to having a Panthers logo at midfield.

That's literally the best thing that's happened for fans. I would say it's the best thing probably for the other teams in the area. For the basketball team, Tepper's amazing because the basketball team just got new owners. They actually seem like they know what they're doing. And then Tepper's over here and they, they just look, I mean, there's also this alternate universe where he got the Panthers over Michael Rubin, the guy who owns Fanatics. And I don't know what that would have looked like, whether that would have been better, but I don't think it would have been worse. Yeah, I think it would have been better because his problem, it's not the Dan Snyder problem. Like I grew up in Washington. I grew

up around Washington fans. I was like alive during the entire Dan Snyder period. Dan Snyder's problem was like, he was a Washington fan who happened to own the team. And he acted like a fan who owned the team. That's not the problem with David Tepper. David Tepper is a finance guy who thinks all of the lessons he learned in finance apply to the NFL. And you could just hear it in his press conferences. Every press conference, there's a reference to his career or his other business ventures. And it's just not the same.

And I think that's the problem is that he wants to get things right, but he wants to get things right on his own terms where he kind of gets credit for doing it a different way. Yeah, it's weird that the owners don't come into the league and study the successful ownership groups that have worked and how they've worked. And in the NFL, especially every time it's collaboration, it's multiple people. A lot of times you don't even totally know

who the owner was. And I know Kraft tried to change some of that history after the fact that the documentary he did. But let's be honest. One of the reasons he was a good owner was he stayed out of the way and let Belichick do whatever. So the Panthers, I think the over-under for them

heading into the year was six and a half. And a lot of people were like, watch out. We had people, a couple of people were like, watch out. Like we had people, a couple of people on our ringer gambling show, Dabundo, Raheem, these guys who know stuff trying to talk themselves

into a division title possibility. And it turns out it was the Saints. Yeah. You just got to bring me on at that point and I'll just go, the quarterback's 5'8". Okay?

He's 5'8". Like that's, I feel like I was taking crazy pills in the run-up to the draft how this guy was not only, like, the consensus QB1. It's like, why are we questioning that he's even a top-five pick to me?

Like, I wrote about this on the site. I compared him to mini Joe Burrow, and I don't think people realize how derogatory that comp was supposed to be. Because think about Joe Burrow. He's like a pocket passer. If you made Joe Burrow 5'8", it wouldn't work. He doesn't have the top-level arm.

He's athletic and can move around, but he's not Lamar Jackson. He's not Anthony Richardson. He's not like a game-changer in the run game. There's no fantastic traits, no exceptional standout traits. Even a player like Kyler Murray, who's 5'10", and I don't even think Kyler Murray's 5'10". He seems to

shrink every time I watch him play. But he has the arm, and he has the Russell Wilson, you can't sack me no matter what, and I can throw on the run just as well as I throw stationary kind of thing. Bryce didn't have any of that. He didn't have any of that in college, and he didn't have any of that over his first season in the pros.

Well, they always talked about poise. That was his best trait. Kyler has the pros. Well, they always talked about poise. That was his best trait. Kyler has the escapability and, you know, he always has a knack for extending plays that I think I just didn't see with Bryce. I remember the ringer draft coverage that year, Danny Kelly, who I think is the most even-keeled member of our football, extended football staff. And even he was like,

ah, this would basically be a historical outlier. Bryce Young was good, but wasn't against it. But he was like, just so everybody knows, like this kind of doesn't happen in the NFL. Yeah. The one thing is like the confidence in the pick, the confidence to trade up, the confidence to like, if you read the accounts, my favorite to do after like a a coach hiring or a draft it goes bad is to go and look at the team website and what they wrote about it it's like this like 4 000 word write-up about like the pre-draft process and in hindsight it's

one of the funniest things you'll ever read but oh my god at one point at one point they're like oh yeah at the dinner uh bryce young he, he ordered scallops and a salad. So you know he wasn't worried about being perceived as a small guy. And just the tea leaf reading that we do during the draft. I have no idea. I like scallops. I'm six foot and a half. I know. If he ordered a big steak, they'd have been like, oh God, this guy's compensating for something. Yeah, he's got small man's complex. So on Fando, the Panthers, under two and a half wins is plus 220.

Under one and a half wins is plus 520. So if you think the Panthers are going to go 0-17 or 1-16, that's plus 520. Is there any evidence that this team can put together a couple wins? Dalton comes in as the quarterback and the line immediately moves almost two points, which was another bad sign for Bryson. Yeah, that's a very bad sign. That's a big wins. Dalton comes in as the quarterback, and the line immediately moves almost two points, which was another bad sign for Bryce Young. Yeah, that's a very bad sign. That's big movement. Yeah, I think they're a decent team. You watch the Chargers game. The pockets are clean,

receivers are open, the defense is whatever. But in terms of offensive environment, a decent quarterback can get the most out of this. We haven't seen much of Andy Dalton over the last two years, but when we've seen him play, he's performed well. The stats are good. PFF graded him as a top 10 quarterback two years ago when he was playing in New Orleans. I don't necessarily agree with that, but it just shows that he's competent. And I think we're going to see that. We're going to be like, oh, this was worse than we thought in terms of Bryce. And this situation isn't nearly as bad as we thought. Well, have you noticed, and you're part of this, but the 2024, it's late Monday morning, early Monday afternoon, Pacific time. And all these different people I'm following on Twitter

or people who are retweeting other stuff and just these video breakdowns now are instantaneous. So when Bryce Young is bad on a Sunday, by Monday, I'm watching a 10 play compilation that somebody made of like, watch all these open guys that he missed over here. Watch how he makes the completely wrong decision on this play. And I just, I guess I'm just happy for Mac Jones that we didn't have this stuff in the same way last year, because I think it wouldn't have been great for him. Yeah. I wonder like how we would have thought of quarterbacks if this sort of media, social media environment would have been around in the late 90s, early 2000s. Like in the 1970s?

Yeah, when people were throwing 30 interceptions in a season. There has to be some guys back then that we all take for granted as being a great, all-time great player. But if we viewed them through our lens right now, that we would be like, oh, they were a system quarterback. They were propped up.

Oh my God. There were so many, the guys in the 70s who we thought were the great quarterbacks they were a system quarterback. They were like, you know, propped up. Oh my God. There were so many, the guys in the 70s who we thought were the great quarterbacks and you go back and look at their stats and it's hilarious.

Now, granted, they're going back to pass. Guys are diving at their legs. Guys are clothesline them after they throw. They're throwing over the middle. Guys are getting clotheslined. Guys are getting headhunted.

So it was way harder to throw the ball, but it's still kind of funny. All right. So you're here for your five hottest takes two weeks into this season. We're going to go in reverse order. We're playing five favorites.

Your five favorite takes. Number five is what? I'm going to go Jalen Hurts isn't a top 10 quarterback. Dot, dot, dot in the NFC. I don't think he's a top 10 quarterback in the NFC. Now I am. I will say oneC. I don't think he's a top 10 quarterback in the NFC. Now I am. I will say one thing. I am reaching a little bit here because the 10th guy,

I don't really know if he's better than Jalen Hurts, but I'm like 85% confident in this take that he's not a top 10 quarterback. Wow. So who did you have against him for the 10th spot that was on the bubble? Baker Mayfield. I'll throw Kirk in there too, because I don't know. We don't know what Kirk is. We still don't know what Kirk's going to be coming back on the bubble. Baker Mayfield. I'll throw Kirk in there too, because I don't know, we don't know what Kirk is. We still don't know what Kirk's going to be coming back from the injury. But I think if like Kirk gets back to 95% of what he was last year before the injury,

I think he's definitely better than Jalen Hurts at this point. But Baker is the one that I kind of, I have a hard time putting him over Hurts and only because Hurts provides as a runner. And we saw that on Monday, like when the offense was totally neutered, he couldn't do anything in the pocket. He couldn't do anything in the passing game, but he could scramble. So he always has that like trump card he can go to. I don't think Baker has that.

And I think when Baker tries to play that trump card, that's when you see the worst of Baker when he tries to do too much. But all these other guys, like I'm confident in saying that they're better than him. Every quarterback in the NFC West, I would take over him right now. And I'm not a Brock Purdy guy, as everyone knows.

Not a Brock Purdy guy, but I think he allows you to run a certain style of offense that Hurts just doesn't allow you to run at this point. And I'm trying to think of the other guys where I kind of, you know, it's 50-50 for me. Like, Jared Goff, I feel like is definitely better than him. Jordan Love, definitely better. Dak, definitely better.

Derek Carr, I think it's easier to say now after the first two weeks, but I probably would have thought about it before. Come on. Well, let me say this. What does he do better than Derek Carr? That's my one thing. I don't think he's a better thrower than him. I think Jalen Hurts is one of the more overrated throwers.

Because he's so good at running the football, we assume that he's also good at throwing on the run but when you like look at his stats and you watch the tape he's one of the worst throwers on the run that like in the league he's very stiff as a as a he's almost like an action figure where his joints can only move in certain directions and i think you need some like hip flexibility to to be able to throw on the run and and he doesn't have it. The short yardage stuff with him is great. Two years ago, I thought he was good enough

that my 2023 fantasy strategy was just to try to get as many eagles as possible. And then watched him all last year, and it just seemed like he was off. And it's like, well, he must have been hurt. Yeah. And then you watch this week,

and it's like, all right, he's moving a little better, but it doesn't explain some of the pocket stuff. And then you pull out one weapon and they were just struggling to do anything down the field. I mean, they, I,

it's a team that I certainly am excited to think about going against this week. The cousins thing is interesting because the Eagles never touched him. And I still don't know if it's, there's two Kirk cousins. It's like Kirk cousins with protection, Kirk cousins under duress and I still don't know if it's there's two Kirk Cousins it's like Kirk Cousins with protection Kirk Cousins under duress I still Kirk Cousins under duress I would have below hurts no I agree with that but I think like Jalen Hurts puts himself under duress more often than Kirk

Cousins puts himself on under like Kirk Cousins is going to stay in the pocket for two seconds and if there's if there's no pressure before that the ball is going to come out Jalen Hurts is going to stay in the pocket for two seconds look at at one read, and then start to look around and see where he can exit the pocket. And then he runs into pressure. You don't have to worry about that with Kirk, but there's also like a downside to that. He's not going to create anything out of structure. He's not going to scramble. He's not going to throw on the run outside of structure. So it's really a matter of taste for me. Who would you take for fist pumps? Cousins had a great one on Monday night.

When they got the go-ahead touchdown or the close, whatever, the late touchdown. And he does the stare at the sidelines. He's a contrived leader. I'll say that. I think he's the only quarterback that pre-writes his pre-game speeches. You know how the quarterbacks do the pre-game high-speed?

He performs them in the mirror. I think his wife lets him know what's working, what's not working, what he has to switch out. Yeah, take that second graph out. I just think you just go from the first graph to the third graph. That's funny. I think Kirk does that. I know for a fact that Russell Wilson does that.

Like I don't have any inside information, but I know he does. He uses chatbot, whatever, chatGBT. He's in uniform when he practices it too. So, I mean,, these are hottest takes. I find it hard to push back against this Hurts thing unless he starts playing better because they've given him... This year, the line isn't as good as it was last

year, but he's always had a good line. He's always had weapons. He's got Barkley this year who's, I still think, one of the five best running backs. Just seems like a team that should be able to score points. And Atlanta had them pretty flum got Barkley this year, who's, I still think, one of the five best running backs. Just seems like a team that should be able to score points. And Atlanta had them pretty flummoxed. Anyway, all right, what's number four? All right, number four. I'm going to have to explain this one

because it's going to sound crazy off the top. Andy Reid is no longer a top five play caller in the league right now. I think that's what he's known for. I still think he's an elite head coach. Okay, let's hear it. They're 12th in EPA since last year. They have not figured out how to throw the deep ball,

even though they have one of the most talented quarterbacks we've ever seen at throwing the deep ball over the last three years. I think it went away Tyreek's final year, and now we're on year two without Tyreek, and they still don't have a reliable, explosive passing game. Yeah.

The run game is up and down. The screen game is up and down. And then one thing that I think he's lost that I don't know if anyone's caught up to it yet is, you remember when he would, Andy Reid off the bye was always like the scariest thing. Andy Reid, oh, he never loses off the bye. They always, you know, put up a bunch of points off the bye.

The last three years, they've won two of the games. But one of those games, they went to overtime against Malik Willis' Titans and scored 22 points. And then the other game, they scored 20 points against Teddy Bridgewater's Broncos and barely won that game. Those were two struggle wins. And then last year, they scored 17 to Philly. I watch the tape and I'm never thinking like, oh, he's making Patrick Mahomes' job easier. Like, oh, he created that wide open guy running down the seam.

Oh, he created that wide open guy running down the seam. Oh, he created that wide open crosser running down the seam. It's usually Mahomes kind of overcoming the weaknesses of the personnel around him. They haven't had two good offensive tackles in years. They haven't had like a strong receiving core in a couple of years. Kelsey has been good, but I don't think he, I think he's been kind of washed the last couple of years. I think it's all Mahomes right now, but I will say this. I think Andy Reid is still a top five coach, but it's more about the program, the CEO situation. Yeah, like the ramp up to the season.

They played their guys in preseason. They're never cold to start the year. They get off to a hot start and that kind of gives them a buffer. And then also the other thing is the freedom he gives Mahomes and Kelsey and those receivers to kind of improv him a buffer. And then also the other thing is like the freedom he gives Mahomes and Kelsey and those receivers to kind of improvise in between plays and like take ownership of the offense. I think it's like the opposite of Kyle Shanahan on the other side of the spectrum of Kyle Shanahan.

And I think that kind of makes the Chiefs offense as good as it is, despite the lack of structure we've seen the last couple of years. So I do give him credit for that. I'm taking guys like Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan, Ben Johnson, Shane Steichen even, in terms of just like play calling. Who's the guy on the headset sending in the play to the quarterback?

I'm taking all those guys ahead of him. I think Reed's kind of lost it in that area. Can I zag on your take? Yeah. Maybe regular season Andy Reed is not a top five play caller anymore, but I still feel like he saves stuff for the playoffs because he knows they're going to be there.

And it's almost like a stand-up comic who's going to the comedy store and he's doing his bit, but he knows the Netflix special's coming and that's going to be his best hour. So I feel like he's more in workshop mode. They know they're going to win 12 or 13 games. Right, right. I have a take off your take about play calling. So I've noticed this with offensive coordinators

that have a lot of smoke blowing up their asses like Ben Johnson did last year. That week two performance, which House and I talked about earlier, a million dollar picks with the, with throwing 55 times with Jared Goff. And it was almost like, oh, look at all those injuries on Tampa. Oh, I'm going to do this instead. And I actually thought that was a

really badly called game because all they had to do was just run the ball. And I don't think Tampa would have stopped them. And sometimes the Lions are built to run the ball, run the ball, run the ball, play action. And that's who they are. I don't know what would make you think you should throw the ball 55 times. It was like Tampa Jedi mind trick them to do that. And then they did it and they lost. So I don't know. Ben Johnson's on my watch list. I think that's fair for him to be on your watch list. I think anytime you are an up and coming OC and it's only been two years since you've been considered like a great one. I'm still trying to show it. Yeah.

The best. Yeah. I think that's part of it. And I think the best ones are the ones that like, they start out good. They hit a wall and then they bounce back. They find an adjustment. Like we've seen that with Sean McVay.

I think we've seen it with Kyle Shanahan to a certain extent. You don't really know about a play caller until that second act, until they have to adjust until they get beaten down and they come back. Like, of course, the play calling is going to be good two years in a row. He's working with the same personnel. Like, he still has that offensive line. That's always a funny thing to me is like,

like even a guy like Purdy, and I'm not trying to shit on Purdy right now, but he's just the best example. Like, people are like, all right, if Purdy does it again, like he's proven he's the guy. Well, he's still in that offense and he still has those superstars around him and he still has Kyle Stranahan calling the

play. Like he's not really proving anything differently than he did. Like I expect him to have a big year again. So I think you could say the same thing about Ben Johnson, who is working with the best offensive line in the NFL, which I think like if I'm an offensive coordinator outside of quarterback, that's the first thing I want is like the offensive line that allows you to do anything. I think one thing that bothers me with play cars want. It's like the offensive line that allows you to do anything. I think one thing that bothers me with play cars, and you saw this the other night, the Eagles lose that game because they run what seemed to be the perfect screen pass to Barkley

and then he drops it. And it's like, well, the play was there. The play was the right play. And it's like, eh, was it? Because you were running the ball really for whatever you wanted. You're throwing to Barkley in the flat. And if you talk to literally any Giants fan,

they'd be like, he used to drop that pass all the time. As great as he is, and he's an awesome running back. But it's not. There's three things that can go wrong in that pass, right? It can get tipped. The quarterback can fuck up the throw. Barkley can drop it. So there's real variables.

Even if the guy's open, there's still variables. But running the ball twice on third and three where you know you have the tush push too, which they haven't stopped all night and you're keeping the clock going. I think that's...

On top of like a drop screen pass stopped the clock. So there's... That actually was a horrible call. Yeah. And I couldn't believe people were debating it the next day.

No, no. It was actually the right call. He was open. No, he wasn't. I agree with you. The result was ultimately good. Saquon Barkley wide So no, he wasn't. I agree with you. Like the product, the result was ultimately good. Like Saquon Barkley wide open. If he catches it, it's a first down, but like the process

going into it, I agree with you. It was not like the sharpest process. And like, if the defense at the Falcons have a guy in the flat there, then what happens? That plate looks a lot worse. And then we're questioning like, why the hell would he give Jalen Hurts the opportunity to hold on the ball and take another sack? And, you know, I just don't? I just don't want any scenario where the clock might stop

when there's a minute 40 left. The other team doesn't have many timeouts, and I'm already up three. I'm not taking any chance to stop the clock. Honestly, they don't lean into the tush-push thing enough. I'd be running it on 33. I agree. Three yards a play. Why not?

33, I'd run it. I don't understand that. What do you got for number three? All right. The Randy Reid one was... There's going to be some angry Chiefs fans, but that's the whole point of Hottest Take. I don't mind.

All right, this one's going to get a fan base angry. Geno Smith is better than Joe Burrow right now. I mean, his late game stuff speaks for itself. Has any quarterback been better in the fourth quarter of games in the last year plus two games? And I'll take it a step further. Like, Geno Smith is the quarterback that people want you to believe Joe Burrow is, like, stylistically.

And you watch them back-to-back. You're a Patriots fan. You watch them back-to-back. You watch Joe Burrow and Geno Smith. They're running the same style of offense, which is like, get in the gun, spread things out. We're not going to call play action. We're not going to run the ball. You just got to read things out like you're like prime Drew Brees or 2007 Tom Brady. It's not working in Cincinnati and hasn't been working for the last

year. It's working really well in Seattle right now. And you watch those two games back to back. I think like the environment is the same in terms of protection, in you watch those two games back-to-back, I think the environment is the same in terms of protection, in terms of receivers getting open. The difference is Geno Smith is making throws into tight windows, downfield, anticipating throws, and being the quarterback,

the field general, quote-unquote, that you want to see, whereas Joe Burrow is kind of checking down early. He's not holding onto the ball. I think he's making bad reads that we didn't see him make before. I think he's kind of pressing and trying to be this guy that he's been built up to be.

And it's not working without the support, without T. Higgins out there. Meanwhile, Geno Smith has been placed in that same situation and I think he's thriving. No weapons for the Bengals other than Chase. They had T. Higgins last year. No, I'm just saying for these first couple games. I agree on the Burrow part. They had the ball with ains last year. No, I'm just saying for these first couple games. Yeah, no.

I agree on the Borough part. They had the ball with a chance to just close out KC in the fourth quarter of that game, right? And they didn't get a first down. They had to give back to him. He hasn't jumped off the screen like he did a couple years ago. But my thing is, he took a team to the Super Bowl. He's won huge games in places like Arrowhead. And I'm not willing to panic yet,

but he has had a couple injuries at this point. And that's the part that makes you think like, eh. It's definitely, like, it's a concern, especially when, like, you came into the league without, like, these, like, great physical gifts. Like, I don't think his, you know, athleticism was bad, his arm was bad. But, like, you talk to GMs,

and maybe this is old school thinking, but the reason why they love big quarterbacks, they compare it to, likeism was bad. His arm was bad, but like you talk to GMs and maybe this is old school thinking, but the reason why they love big quarterbacks, they compare it to like car insurance. Like you get a big car, a big SUV, like the insurance isn't as expensive. You get a small, sleek sports car. You have to pay a lot of insurance. It's the same thing with quarterbacks. Some of these quarterbacks, they take a hit and it affects them for five years. A guy like Josh Allen, like, you know, he takes a hit and he's fine. He continues to play. He gives the hit.

Yeah. We saw just a calf injury, what it did to Joe Burrow last year. It turned him into 40-year-old Ben Roethlisberger. And I don't mean that as a compliment. I think TV12 diet might be in his future. Yeah. That might be the next step for him. Yeah.

And Tom Brady is the guy that you look to if you're one of these like lesser athletes. Because Tom Brady got better as an athlete as his career went on. He needs to witch doctor Alex Guerrero. Maybe he needs to hire him. Bring Alex Guerrero in in Cincinnati. I don't think Mike Brown would pay for that though.

I actually liked coming out of that. I talked about this Sunday night. Even though they're 0 owing to i like their situation a little more than the ravens because i like that they talk shit all week i think they still carry themselves like they're good yeah um they still have good pieces the higgins thing like when he comes back all of a sudden the team looks different but uh i agree that Burrow doesn't seem exactly the same. What's your number two? My number two is Bill Belichick is going to be coaching the Jaguars next season and we'll know it by New Year's.

It won't be official, but it will be the worst kept secret in the NFL that Bill Belichick is going to be the next coach of the Jaguars. The Jaguars? Without a doubt in my mind. Okay. Why? Well, first of all, I know some beat reporters down in Jacksonville and I think, you know, there's already whispers there. I'll start with that, but I'm not going to, I'll go somewhere else with, to prove it. I think like the way Shad Khan is kind of ramping up his coaching hirings, like starts with the no-name

defensive coordinator in Gus Bradley. That doesn't work out. The no-talent defensive coordinator in Gus Bradley. One of the worst head coaches of all time. He goes with Doug Marone. He goes the other side, another assistant. He goes for the splash hire. He goes with

Urban Meyer, the guy who's won, but he hasn't won at this level. Then he goes to Doug Peterson. That guy splashed Urban Meyer, the guy who's won, but he hasn't won at this level. Yeah. Then he goes to Doug Peterson. That guy who's- That was a body overboard being thrown off a boat splash. Yeah, that was awful.

And then the next one is Doug Peterson, the guy that's won at this level, but hasn't done it consistently. The one who hasn't like done it again. I think next to line is Bill Belichick. And then my, the real reason why I believe this is because like we talked about earlier,

like ShotKhan is a hands-off owner. I don't think he's going to get spooked like Atlanta did when Bill Belichick comes in and goes, I want to run the organization like this. I want to have GM powers. I want to be able to hire my own coordinators. I want to be able to decide the direction of this franchise. I don't think he's going to get spooked by that. I think he's going to like that.

I think he's going to want it. And then if Belichick comes in and he throws those rings on the table, I think that's enough. I think Shad Khan needs a proven winner, someone where he can't get blamed for hiring the coach, where it doesn't fall back on him. If you hire Belichick, it doesn't work out. It's like, yeah, he's the greatest coach ever. It's his fault. Yeah. Nobody's mad that you hired Bill Belichick. So first of all, I forgot how many coaches the Jaguars have had. That was a pretty great list. Second, they're a bottom three worst coach team of the first two weeks.

It's just stunning that they lost both of those games and how stupid they were over and over again. It really made me mad. Third, Belichick taking a job from Doug Peterson. There's a poetic justice to that since Doug Peterson sold a Super Bowl. And fourth, old guy moving to Florida. It adds up.

It's perfect. That's what Brady did. Old people go to Florida. So Belichick just goes there. I had him go to the Giants, though. I thought that one in my head made the most sense because that's, you know,

that's where he made his bones. He won his first Super Bowl. The history of the Giants. Very personal to him. Yeah, great franchise. He's always talked fondly of them. Lawrence Taylor, Phil Simms,

the whole thing. Yeah, when he goes back there, I think there was like an NFL films thing like following him throughout the season. He went back there,

he's like getting emotional and tearing up and crying. he loves the Giants. And it feels like that's going to be a complete reboot, rehaul after this year. If you have Trevor Lawrence in place, you have the quarterback there. You just have to develop him and make sure he's not

surrounded by just terrible coaching. Then you compare that to the Giants quarterback situation, which is like, what do we do? We're drafting Shador Sanders? Are we drafting Carson Beck? I think that is the deciding factor. I don't know if this is the week to say they have Trevor Lawrence in place.

And I have the most Trevor Lawrence stock right now. I have bets on him on 4,000 yards. I have him on two fantasy teams. I bet on him two straight weeks. I have a lot of concerns. I thought this was going to be the breakout year, and it's been the opposite my face is breaking out from betting on him

I know I'm going to be the tape guy they'll take my word for it, you gotta watch the tape it's terrible for him he's actually playing well I don't know what to say, I watch him it's not his fault, no one's open and when they're open, they drop the pass and when they do get open

the pass rush gets there it's just a poorly coached team i think it's a really constructed team too like trent balky i i don't i don't know how he survived the urban meyer situation that's insane to me he's he's like the cockroach of the nfl you'll be happy to know a million dollar picks we took the jaguars for the third straight week we after after we had rants on sunday night i'm ranting about how stupid they are i hate myself i'm never taking them again and took the Jaguars for the third straight week. After we had rants on Sunday night, I'm ranting about how stupid they are. I hate myself. I'm never taking them again.

And now the line in Buffalo is just too high. I had them in my survivor pool last week. So I'm with you. Oh, Jesus. All right. Your number one hottest take is? This isn't my hottest take, but it's something like everyone's been talking about.

I don't know if you saw Mel Kiper talking about banning too high or whatever because the scoring down. But I think the most obvious explanation for why the scoring gap, the scoring is down is because all the good offenses are being wasted on mediocre to average quarterbacks and all the good quarterbacks are stuck in mediocre to average offenses. I think that's the biggest explanation. We have Jalen Hurts wasting Philadelphia's supporting cast. We have Baker Mayfield in Tampa Bay where he has Mike Evans and Chris Godwin

and one of the better play callers to start the season. We have Goff wasting that offensive line sometimes. We have Brock Purdy who I think, like he's playing well, but if you put Patrick Mahomes in that offense, they're scoring 50 points a game and scoring's right back up. We have Tua in Miami.

Darnold is in Minnesota with that supporting cast. And then you look at the other side, look at the top of the league. Like Josh Allen is throwing to Khalil Shakir. He's his best receiver. Patrick Mahomes' best receiver is like a 38-year-old

tight end and his second best receiver is facing eight felony charges. Justin Herbert doesn't. They just signed Kareem Hunt to help out

with the running game. Great sign. Who has been dead for three years. Yeah, their great hope is Hollywood Brown coming back. Yeah.

Justin Herbert, another bad situation. Trevor Lawrence, we Yeah. Justin Herbert, another bad situation. Trevor Lawrence, we just talked about it. Another bad situation. Burrow's got one receiver. Burrow's got one receiver and he's hurt all the time. Dak Prescott. Mike McCarthy, I can't believe he's getting away with this

for a second straight year. Especially as the play caller. Now that he's the play caller and we can evaluate what he's bringing to the table, I'm surprised Jerry Jones didn't move on from last offseason. But Dak Prescott, he's been put caller and we can like evaluate what he's bringing to the table i'm surprised jerry jones didn't move on from last uh last offseason but dac prescott he's been put in a bad situation so we have like these top quarterbacks kind of overcoming their their environment isn't that a cause and effect though ruiz because like you're paying so much for your quarterback it's not like you can then get 70 weapons for him you know you, the biggest, most expensive quarterbacks,

they're 40 or 50 million bucks a year. So now you have to like try to patch it together and grab Curtis Samuel and Shakir and that's, those are your receivers. And hope you get lucky with James Cook. I do think that's part of it,

but a lot of these guys just signed their deal so it hasn't really taken effect. And like a lot, and some of the other guys, like Goff is making 50 million. Two is making 50 billion. Baker Mayfield is making making 35 million like these other guys are getting paid too like derrick carr's making 30 million and he's benefiting from a great supporting cast right now so i think that's really the issue and i think there's other issues that obviously factor into

it i think the o-line thing like the o-lines aren't good anymore i think that has to do with it i i do think like playing more too high coverages and not selling out to stop the run that also helps but like that's been a thing for the entire nfl like the 70s steelers were the original cover two team but the thing that the thing that's changed the most is the preseason and the practice time which just doesn't exist anymore like i i couldn't believe this because i don't follow the preseason they nobody plays but that bryce young really only because I don't follow the preseason. Nobody plays. But that Bryce Young really only played like one series in the preseason.

It's like, how do you not have that dude out there for three quarters a game trying to build his confidence up against four stringers? You're just saving him for the season? He hasn't done anything. Well, it turns out he's a four stringer too, but it's like Michael Pendick's not playing.

It's just mind boggling. But that seemed more sinister though. I think they didn't want a situation where he was awesome in preseason. They'd obviously seen Kirk at that point and that he couldn't really move. And I think that was like, let's leave Kaitlyn Clark off

the Olympic team because everybody's going to be talking about her the whole time, even though she probably belonged. I think that's the biggest reason. I don't think it has to do with this too high coverage thing, because people have been playing those coverages forever. Tommy Dungy was playing it. Levy Smith was playing it. That's not what it is.

I do think the post-2011 CBA is a different league than it was beforehand. No question. You can feel it when you watch all the games. The timing just seems off constantly like constantly in every game you're watching it's like oh that guy fucked that up oh that seemed off

oh false start oh that guy jumped too soon and it just feels choppy and look at the talent at the quarterback position we have like I don't I don't know if just name a random I don't know if Dak Prescott is better than whoever was the fifth best quarterback in 1995.

But the quarterbacks didn't have this well-rounded skill set. Even the top guys. Peyton Manning wasn't doing what Lamar Jackson is doing for his team. He couldn't be the run game. He couldn't scramble. The thing on Brady was if you get pressure up the middle, he's cooked. You can't step up in the pocket. He's no longer.

You get pressure up the middle on Patrick Mahomes, it doesn can't step up in the pocket. He's no longer, you get, you get pressure up the middle on Patrick Mahomes. It doesn't matter. He just, you know, he rolls out and he finds an open guy anyway. And I think that's more common now. And we don't see as much as like the limited skillset, like even Brock Purdy. I'm going to give Brock Purdy some credit. The reason why he's better than Jimmy G is he's not a statue. Like he's willing to make a play and he makes plays out of structure all the time.

If Jimmy G was in that Lions-NFC title game, they'd lose that game. Well, that's why I can't wait when the Pats finally unleash the Drake May Monster in week five, which I'm hoping. His ability to escape a pass rush, create extra time. I don't know if we've had that as a Patriots fan.

I don't know if I've ever had it. Cause even like Bledsoe, he couldn't really move around. Brady could buy time in the pocket, but he wasn't a rollout. I'm going to do that. I've just never rooted for somebody who could do that. So he,

yeah, Brady actually hated that stuff. There's like a coaching clinic. He didn't want to get hit. Bill O'Brien was like, yeah, we, we,

we could have done this stuff, but Brady was like, I don't want to do this. So we, you know, you, you catered Tom Brady's Tom Brady, but yeah, that's, don't want to do this. You catered to Tom Brady. He's Tom Brady. It just wasn't a thing back in the day.

You didn't have these guys that could be so much of your offense. Maybe that's part of it too. We're putting so much on these quarterbacks and expecting them to patch up all this other stuff. That's why we're paying them so much money. It's just hard. It's a 53-man roster. It's a 22-man sport.

It's really hard. Ruiz, great job as always. I'm sorry about the Panthers. I'm glad you have a little bit of hope with Andy Dalton. But always fun to hear your takes. Good to see you. Thanks for having me. T.D.'s small business account managers have in-depth business banking expertise, so they can give you the advice and resources you need to make your day-to-day easier.

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And that very same day, 2 steady hands. From innovation to action, Sunnybrook is special. Learn more at sunnybrook.ca slash special. When your celebration of life is prepaid in advance, it becomes a gift from you to your family later later because no one should have to plan for a loss while they're experiencing one. Paying in advance protects your loved ones and gives you the peace of mind you deserve. Let us help you plan every detail with professionalism and compassion. We are your local Dignity Memorial provider. Find us at DignityMemorial.ca. All right, our friend Craig Horlbeck is here. He is the producer of the Rewatchables.

You can hear him on the very excellent Ringer Fantasy Football Show. He helps out with the town with Matt Bellin as well as a busy guy. Are fantasy quarterbacks dead, Craig? They look like it right now. It's a mess right now out there. I mean, passing in general is just in a massive decline through two weeks. There's been 69 touchdowns, which is the lowest in a decade. It was 105 five years ago. Now it's 69.

What happened to us? Passing yards are the lowest they've been in like 10 years. Teams are averaging 193 passing yards a game. Like, I know Sal was complaining about it on Sunday night. Like, it's just not fun to watch. Mahomes is averaging

220 yards a game. Aaron Rodgers, 170. Justin Herbert's averaging 130 yards a game. So are we back to net 2025 draft? Quarterbacks are now $1 again and maybe kickers are the new inefficiency. I guess we back to net 2025 draft quarterbacks are now $1 again, and maybe kickers are the new inefficiency. I guess you got to spend like $9 on Brandon Aubrey.

Yeah. I mean the whole, the kicking boom, I, we might have to add kickers back to fantasy. I booted them out of all my leagues cause I thought they were irrelevant, but now I love kickers. Kickers are the best. Now they're like kind of sneaky. Like genuinely, if you have a good kicker, it's like the third most important player in your offense. Because now you get the ball at the 30 and guys are hitting 67 yarders. You only got to move the ball 20 yards to be able to hit a field goal. You need two first downs to kick a field goal now.

I did nothing right in fantasy this year except in all three leagues I have Dicker the kicker and in all three leagues the Steelers defense. And I prioritized them. I got them early. I threw both of them out in auctions when people aren't ready to really think about the Steelers defense. And I prioritized them. I got them early. I threw both of them out in auctions when people aren't ready to really think about defensive kickers yet.

Did the $2 on each. Just like, give me those two. I'm ready to go. The Steelers defense is, that has to be the number one defense, right? I don't know if they are by fantasy scoring. But just who you'd want. Yeah, I would say so.

The only problem is their schedule the second half of the season is brutal. But right now they look great. All right. I asked you to come on and do five favorites about the fantasy season so far. We're only two weeks in, but this is also the most fun part of fantasy. We've already had devastating injuries. Christian McCaffrey, which, by the way, if you've fucking read anything online or read anything,

there was a lot of arrows pointing to him not being healthy at the start of the season, but it's even worse than we thought. Yeah, it was also, you know, it was a calf injury in the offseason, and then the second the season started, oh, it's actually an Achilles injury. Yeah, and by the way, you know this because you're a Warriors fan. A lot of times those two go hand-in in hand, the calf and the Achilles. You had to do it.

The calf's the gateway drug to a worse injury with the Achilles. Yeah, Durant, it was the Raptors finals year when he hurt the calf, missed like half the playoffs, rushed it back, popped the Achilles. Yeah, that was Porzingis last year. All right, what do you got? My number one favorite thing, I mean, it's got to be the Saints, man. The Saints boom is like the most improbable NFL storyline in years.

Derek Carr, number two quarterback in fantasy. Kamara, number one running back in fantasy. Rashid Shahid, number eight wide receiver in fantasy. And that doesn't even mention that the actual probable best player on their offense is Chris Alave, who I think is going to pop really soon. And their kicker?

All of a sudden their kicker is getting picked up? Yeah, it's weird because you, I, we have the same strategy, I think, where sometimes you want to go in and just grab an offense that you like. Nobody would have had the Saints offense. That would not have been a combo. And it's this Clint Kubiak thing. The Shanahan thing, the coaching tree is getting so ridiculous where it's like literally everybody who comes from under him and McVay to a degree is just so good. Did you know that there's a second Kubiak who's

the passing game specialist on the Niners? What? Yeah. How are there this many Kubiaks? That's Clay Kubiak. And then I found out like the Hemsworths, there's a third Kubiak whose name is Klein Kubiak and he's a scout for the Cow Hemsworths, there's a third Kubiak whose name is Klein Kubiak. And he's a scout for the Cowboys. He'll definitely be the head coach of that team in like two years. So they did, he did the thing where he named all his kids with vaguely similar first names. Yeah,

all Ks. Hopefully the middle names are not Ks. Yeah, that would be a bad look. A bad look. But yeah. Do you think the Saints thing is real? What's the take of the fantasy show? Are you buying?

We're buying. All the history of putting up that many points in the first two games of the season is really favorable. I am buying it. I think the Kubiak thing is real. The joke we were making on the fantasy show is like, man, how bad was Pete Carmichael, the former OC of the Saints? Like, that guy just must have been the worst.

And if you look at the numbers, it's kind of true. The Saints last year were dead last in play action and motion. They're first in both this year. So you're like, all right. I mean, the Saints haven't even been tested. Derek Carr has the least amount of pass attempts in the league. He's averaging 19 pass attempts a game, and he's the number two quarterback in fantasy.

I mean, this is a joke. I thought they were going to be horrible. So did everybody. I didn't understand how prehistoric their offense was. I just thought Carr sucked. I didn't realize, like, they, Sean, there was some good articles about it this week that Sean Payton, when he left,

he just kind of left his offense behind, and then the people that took over were like, oh, this is how we do stuff. And it was super complicated and dated. And then the people that took over were like, oh, this is how we do stuff. And it was super complicated and dated. And then Kubiak came in and just was like, hey, we're going to move some stuff around. But they have speed.

Because I didn't watch the game Sunday, but I ended up watching it after. And it was striking how fast they were. They feel like they're the fastest team in the league. It was a little 99 Rams-ish. Yeah, and they're like getting the ball to these guys in space now. Camara looks like old Kamara. Chris Alavi's getting the ball in space. Shahid is super fast. And I think the big thing everybody was worried about was that the offensive line was going to be a mess. And the offensive line isn't good, but Kubiak is scheming it up, so it's not really

a problem. I believe their offense. I'm not sure if I believe them. It's my biggest loss of all my preseason stuff because I was out on the Saints. I was out on the NFC South, but they're definitely going to score points and be heard from, it feels like. Yeah. You look at somebody like Brock Purdy who can thrive in this Niner system because the Shanahan offense

is so advantageous. It makes it work. Derek Carr is a guy who's perfectly capable of making all those throws. He has the tools. What actor is Derek Carr is like a guy who's perfectly capable of making all those throws. He has the tools and he has the brain. What actor is Derek Carr? Wow. He was never quite good enough to be the lead of a movie, but he's been in some really good movies.

But then when he got his chance to have his own movie, it was terrible, but he's still kind of lingering. It's got to be somebody who was always good. Basically, when they were in a movie with a good director, they really popped. And you were like, wow. When they're're in the right system they can really work i don't know if it's like putting an actor in a tarantino movie and they just come off the screen i gotta workshop that one i gotta think about that all right so you're in on the saints what's your next one um the the like old school fantasy is kind of back and the running back renaissance is here.

Because of all the passing slump stuff, running back is back and they're playing all three downs again because these offenses don't want defenses to know what they're doing. If you have a guy who's just like your third down guy, you know you're passing. So all these guys,

Saquon, Brees Hall, Bijon, Ramondre, Etienne, Kyron Williams, they're all just playing a ton now. And it's great. This is what I grew up playing fantasy with. It was like you needed to get LaDainian Tomlinson because he never came off the field. And right now, every position is struggling except running back. They're once

again the only thing that matters in fantasy. It's like the cable bundle. It's coming back. Bundling is back. Running backs are back. I just want to say, I really appreciate you throwing Romandre in with all those other awesome running backs. He's doing well.

Jordan Mason. Yeah. There's been a lot of them. Yeah. I do feel like we're back to like the early 90s. Because now thinking back to five, six years ago, that stretch when all of a sudden Mahomes was going for like 24 bucks and you kind of felt like you had to have one of the best quarterbacks

or you had no chance of winning your fantasy league. And now I think that's over. Yeah, now it's like it used to be a lot of running back by committees. Now this year, there's 12 running backs playing 80% of the snaps. Last year, we were at seven. That's crazy. Well, right now, Kamara has the most fantasy. Our leaders for fantasy points right now, at least in my knockout league,

Alvin Kamara, Baker Mayfield, Derek Carr, and Kyler Murray is our top four. I wonder what that quadfecto would have paid in Vegas if you predicted that after week two. Here's our top four. Alvin Kamara, I remember a year ago, you guys were doing the research about how his legs were different sizes and they were all excited

that they had gotten them close to the same size. Maybe they finally figured out his legs. They did, I think. He says his legs are now the same weight. It was the muscles in his legs were imbalanced. Christian Watson, the receiver on the Packers, had the same issue. That's why he kept getting hurt.

He fixed it. He didn't miss a single day of practice in the offseason, and he's been healthy so far. So I kind of believe in that stuff. He's been healthy so far running wind sprints, as Malik Willis just hands the ball off. Yeah, not great if you drafted a Packers wide receiver like I did.

Yeah. All right, what's your number three? J.K. Dobbins. He'sins he's back yeah i mean every year there's kind of a guy or two in fantasy that will like define the season there's always a waiver wire guy you know last year it was raheem mostard who went for like three bucks and then led the league in touchdowns and swung a bunch of leagues and now you know it's like there's years where you pick up like philip lindsey off waivers i remember when I was in high school, I think DeMarco Murray, I grabbed him like week four on the Cowboys and he like won my season. J.K. Dobbins looks like

that guy this year. He leads the league in rushing despite being 21st in carries. Chargers are just running the shit out of the ball. Gus Edwards, the other guy looks old and you know, the Harbaugh energy, Dobbins loves harbaugh i think comeback player of the years and play for him i mean again we talked about achilles tears tore his he tore his knee and like in eight different ways three years ago and then tore his achilles last year right now he's back he's only 25 years old but this is this is ridiculous all right so the top top five running backs right now in fantasy through two weeks are Kamara, Barkley, Dobbins, A-Chain, and James Cook.

Yeah. And then Brees is down. Brees will be hurt. We're taping this before the Pats-Jets game. The two that I feel like will really be heard from are Brees and Derrick Henry. I'm not sure about Bijan as spectacular as he is just because I don't have a feel for that team yet. Can I make the case for James

Cook potentially being RB1 at the end of the year? It just feels like he's the most integral of all of these dudes on a good team week after week after week for how they're going to move the ball. I mean, obviously, it's Josh Allen on his team, but the explosiveness week for how they're going to move the ball. I mean, obviously,

it's Josh Allen on his team, but the explosiveness, I think he's going to get touchdowns. He catches the ball on the backfield. He's already at almost 19 points a game, but he's really jumped out to me the first two weeks.

I didn't know if last year was going to continue with him, and it feels like it has, right? Yeah, he was just that guy that always got, like, vultured by Josh Allen in the red zone. He was good. Maybe that'll happen again. He got you to the 10, but and it feels like it has, right? Yeah, he was just that guy that always got like vultured by Josh Allen in the red zone. He was good.

He got you to the 10, but now it seems like they're easing up on Josh Allen. Brandon Bean, the GM of the Bills, is like, we don't want Josh

to run all the time. We want to preserve Josh a little bit. Good for James Cook. Yeah, and it's actually, it's working. We'll see. I think when the game

is on the line, Josh will, you know, stick his head down and run into anything. But right now, yeah. So who do you have as your top three RBs right now, like if you're starting over in fantasy? I still think Brees Hall is probably the number one guy I would take.

Brees is still right there, and I think the Jets are going to get better. Again, we're taping this for the Jets game tonight, but I don't like how Braylon Allen is kind of already running a cottage on Brees Hall's corner. Yeah. And I kind of ruined my Sunday. Yeah. It's weird.

Cause he's good. He is good. They used Brees on a decoy once and gave it to Braylon Allen. I'd still think my top three, it's, it's Saquon, it's Brees Hall and it's, and it's 8chan,

I think. Oh, the veal chop. Which he's my next, if you want me to do my next guy, it's, it's the number, this is number four. Yeah. It's do my next guy. Is this number four?

Yeah, it's the 8chan guy. Is Skylar Thompson era is going to unleash 8chan? They'll be fine. The 8chan thing is paying off. Yeah, we were talking about how he's the veal chop. It's like the item on the menu that you weren't sure is worth the risk. It's an $80 item that you're not sure whether you should get it or not. David Chang, incredibly upset about that take, by the way.

Why? He thinks the veal chop's great, whether you should get it or not. David Chang, incredibly upset about that take, by the way. Why? He thinks the veal chop's great and I'm disparaging the veal chop and he's against it. You know what's funny? I don't even think I've ever had a veal chop. How is a veal chop different than, like, what is the difference

between a veal chop and a steak? Sometimes it can be super fatty. They undercook it a lot. Like, it's really hard to get the temperature perfect on it. You have to be at the right restaurant. And there's just a lot of ways it can go wrong. But Chang's like, you're wrong. You're just going to the wrong restaurants. The veal chop's great.

So it's just like more, it's a more temperamental steak. It's just because it's a baby cow, right? Yeah. Yeah. You're eating a baby cow. That's lovely. You don't think about that part. Sorry, I guess calf. We say calf, so you don't have to say the word baby. So A-Chan, you feel like this is legit. He's going to have

at least a couple of those like 35-point games, crazy games. I think so. We're fine. He's the third best guy in fantasy right now at running back.

And, you know, you pair a guy who's like the fastest player in the league with McDaniel's offense, which is a massive cheat code, and it's kind of the perfect combination. He just needs to stay healthy.

What's lucky for him is Raheem Mostert's already hurt. He's on IR, and they're starting to throw to A-Chan a lot more. Skylar Thompson, although that's going to be probably pretty tough in general for Dolphins fans, he checks down a ton. And A-Chan caught a ton of passes in Week 1. I think he's going to get the ball 25 times a game. Maybe he should sell high because he weighs 175 pounds and he'll probably get hurt.

Have one good game and then trade him. Yeah, so maybe that's the case. But for right now, I think you're riding really, really hot with him. And it paid off. We had him in his own tier when we ranked our guys because he was so unique. Who's your fifth guy? This is a favorite because i think it's hilarious but i just think it's it's awesome that all the tight ends suck again the port is beyond sucking i think he's he might be dead

where is he uh yeah they're all bad and i feel like this was the year when we finally decided that tight ends finally good. It was like, oh, this is great. You know, and there's not even like a clear number one. It used to be Kelsey, then a little bit of like Mark Andrews, and then the rest of it was crap. And you would spend $30 on Travis Kelsey and that was it. This year it was like, oh, everything's fine.

You got Kelsey. Laporte is now the new guy. Mark Andrews is still there. You have Trey McBride. Laporte is the new Kelsey. Yeah. Trey McBride Laporte is the new Kelsey yeah Trey McBride in Arizona is frisky

Dalton Kincaid this is the big leap year Kyle Pitts finally has a good quarterback Brock Bowers and now they're all terrible you know Travis Kelsey

had one catch last week he's the 28th best tight end in fantasy and just like across the board if you look at all the numbers I was reading a lot of stuff online

I mean tight ends have 8 touchdowns through two weeks. That number has never been lower than 16 since 2014. Like, we're just in a horrific spot again with fantasy tight ends. It's how it should be. It's like 2012 again. You just got to draft a running back. You don't give a shit about tight ends. And everyone's hurt. There's one tight end I love. Can you guess? Brock Bowers? I think Brock Bowers is going to be the dominant tight end this year for fantasy stuff. They threw to him all the time. He catches everything.

You can't cover him and I think they finally figured that out in the second half. I have him in one league. I'm so fired up. I just feel like he's going to be the second half. And I'm just expect, I have them in one league. I'm just, I I'm so fired up. I just feel like he's going to be the best guy. McBride's weird because he was putting up some of those stats last year before they had Harrison. Yeah.

So they have Harrison, you know, they, they have other good receivers. They got Connor and I, I just don't know if he's going to get the touches. And then you mentioned Kelsey, like they,

you know, he's just, he's just on ice until January. It's so obvious. People were spending big bucks on him in drafts. I didn't get it. Yeah, he's been kind of replaced by Rasheed Rice as the over-the-middle guy. And yeah, you don't need to play him. I think we should load management dudes like that. I mean, the Chiefs do not need Travis Kelsey

to play 17 games. What about your guy? Who? Friar Moose. To be honest, they don't use him that much. Arthur Smith is doing like, he has like two, three tight ends out there

every play now. So he's all right. You know, the Steelers don't score a lot of points, unfortunately. Because at some point they're going to have to figure out

is there a second person on the team other than George Pickens that they can throw a pass to? I know they tried to steal the first two games on the road, not have Fields make any mistakes, but now playing the Chargers this week,

I just feel like that's not going to work. They've scored 31 points in two games. I know. Arthur Smith, I think, has been doing a really good job with Pittsburgh because he's putting Fields in positions to kind of succeed. Fields is basically just like, is my first read there? No. Is the second read there? No.

Then I'll run. I mean, the Steel, is my first read there? No. Is the second read there? No. Then I'll run. I mean, the Steelers haven't been down really that much. When they're down 14 in the third quarter, then I kind of think we'll see a little bit of the old Fields. And yeah, outside of Pickens, we have the worst receivers in the league. I wanted IU so badly.

Is there, before you go, are there two people that we should be trying to trade for specifically me, because we're taping this well before the podcast goes up to people out there that are like kind of declining stocks that you feel like you should just swoop in and grab. Yeah. If you want, I mean, quarterback, I think you should absolutely go after golf. Golf right now is the, I think he's the 29th best quarterback in fantasy,

but there's a metric out there called expected points and he's second in that. Yeah, because they were one in seven in the red zone last week. Yeah, I mean,

he's still throwing the most. He has like the second most yards. He's playing all of his games indoors. He has like great weapons. I think if anybody's getting sour on him, you should definitely trade for him. I also think that, you know,

Garrett Wilson and Olave are two awesome number ones on their team with good systems and good quarterbacks. I think they'll pop. I'm trying to think of who else. I actually love... My guy is Khalil Shakir on the Bills. I think he's really good.

I just think every time he catches the ball, he's great. I'm in two leagues and he's great. The one I was thinking, and I have him unfortunately on every team is I do feel like there's going to be a DJ Moore moment because Caleb looks so fish out of water the first couple weeks but DJ

Moore was open a few times there were stories this week about how his body language was bad on the sidelines because he was getting so frustrated he's like yeah you're right I got to work on that but he's getting open and they're's like, yeah, you're right. I got to work on that. But he's getting open and they're going to eventually figure out how to get the ball to him would be my guess.

I agree. We mentioned them on our Wednesday fantasy show. We did Bilos and we had the honestly the whole Bears receiving room. But it is nice. I will say George Pickens is no longer the least happy receiver in the league, body language wise. So that's good. Pickens and Fields are kind of friends. Yeah, because Pickens knows now

he's going to have his one catch a game that gets called back because of holding. There's going to be another play where he's pass-interfered for 50 yards. It doesn't count in his fantasy, but he created the drive. And then he'll make one awesome play. Yeah, he's the best out-of-bounds receiver in the league.

His highlights of plays that were just out-of-bounds is better than anybody in the history of football. That catch he made last week where it didn't even seem clear on the TV how he caught the ball where he was just running

and the ball, it was like somebody just dropped the ball. It was like CGI or Forrest Gump or something. He has a good connection with Fields.

He honestly does. You can admit that you like Fields. Go ahead. I do. It's fun right now. This is good. But again, we played the Broncos and it hasn't really honestly does. Yeah. You can admit that you like fields. Go ahead. I do. It's fun right now. This is good. But again, we

were in like the, we played the Broncos and you know, it hasn't really exactly been that tough. We're winning games like 16 to 10. Um, but yeah, I like him. He's playing like a, an

adult, you know, we'll see if he, if, if like he gets triggered and then reverts back to his old ways. But right now Smith kind of has him in a nice little, a nice zone. Am I the only person you know who picked

the Steelers to make the playoffs? Yeah. You think they will? I actually do. I think their defense is that good. And I think their defense can actually go up a level. You know, they're playing teams, like they're playing Denver last week, and Denver's just

trying not to have Bo Nix really do anything. And Chargers this week, same thing. They're just going to try to run the ball in the first half. You're not going to be able to run the ball in the Steelers. But when they start playing some of these better teams, I think their defense is going to rise to the occasion. I think they're really good. Yeah, I don't know.

Would you rather have Fields or Russ then if you're trying to get into the playoffs? I like what Fields does. I think they've figured out how to get Fields to gravitate toward the stuff that he's good at and maybe not try. But he's still like he's done it a couple times already in the first two games.

Like he'll snap the shotgun and he's looking over the tight end. He'll like hit him in the mask. He'll fumble a snap. He's going to put the ball on the ground at least once a game. You just have to know that going in. But they've been really careful about not put the ball on the ground at least once a game. You just have to know that going in. But they've been really careful about not throwing the ball over the middle with him,

which was his big error zone. I like how he's playing. I think his teammates like him, too. I think Pickens likes him. Definitely. On the sidelines, they kind of have a thing together. I think Fields is a real locker room guy. DJ Moore loves him.

He was upset that he left. He was getting angry at reporters who were saying that Fields wasn't good. I think people really like a real locker room guy. DJ Moore loves him. He was upset that he left. He was like, you know, he was getting angry at reporters who were saying that Fields wasn't good. I think people really, really like him. And yeah, they're just like... That's the thing. If you have a coach and a quarterback that the team likes,

it's a good start. You got a good defense, great start. They have a home field advantage they haven't even used yet. They haven't had a home game. I know. Yeah, they're doing a good job.

And then they're in a division that... Do you like anybody else in that division? I know. It's tough. The Raven good job. And then they're in a division that, do you like anybody else in that division? I know. It's tough. The Ravens might be 0-3 on Sunday night. This is probably going to be a 9-8,

10-6 division. Whoever wins. And you have an awesome kicker, which is a weird experience. Yeah, Boswell has quietly been the best offensive player in the Steelers in the 2020s.

I like the Steelers. Yeah, I think the AFC has hit this point. Just put the Chiefs in the 2020s? I like the Steelers. I think the AFC has hit this point. Just put the Chiefs on the side. Where if you start going through who are the other best teams, everybody has one unit that does something really well and then holes.

The Bills have Josh Allen. Then you go to Baltimore. They got Lamar. They can't block. You can go to Baltimore. It's like, they got Lamar. It's like, they can't block. You can throw on them. Everybody's got something. So Pittsburgh's things are like, yeah, they're not explosive.

Okay. Yeah, I don't know. They're kind of built to win in December and January with what they have. I like their team. I can't explain it. I've seen this too many times.

They're going to go 9-8. I know you have. They're going to go 9-8 and lose by 30 in the playoffs. You're the healthiest you've been heading into late September, though. Knock on wood.

True. Yeah. That's fair. Usually, yeah, TJ Watt didn't get hurt. Cam Hayward's playing. Yeah, things are all right right now.

Knock on wood. The other thing is you can trade for another receiver. Can we? Who? You can just get Kendrick Bourne in mid-October and at least

have somebody who can get open on a third down. We definitely need to do that because Calvin Austin and Van Jefferson. I can't name your second receiver. Yeah, it's Calvin Austin, Van Jefferson, and a rookie, Roman Wilson, out of Michigan. I've watched both of your games and I don't remember any of those guys involved

really at all. Jefferson had a couple plays, I guess. Yeah, they just get called for holdings because they weigh 160 pounds. Jefferson had a couple plays, I guess, but... Yeah, they just get called for holdings because they weigh 160 pounds. I like the Steelers. I think they should be more bullish. Craig Koralbeck,

what was the rewatchable movie you hated the most this year? Purple Rain? I didn't love Purple Rain. I respected Prince's performance, but the movie, come on. It was not a good date movie, it turned out.

Purple Rain. No, Liz didn't love that one. What was the most popular date movie that we've done on the rewatchables this year? Oh, this year? Yeah. I got to say, whenever I pitch them to Liz, I'm like, hey, it's called Night Shift. Henry Winkler, 1980. Michael Keaton.

82. She's like, I'm good. Shut up. Shut up. Yeah, it's these guys. They're going to run a brothel out of a morgue. 82. She's like, I'm good. How about, yeah, it's these guys. They're going to run a brothel out of a morgue. Yeah. No bites.

She likes Twister. We both hadn't seen Twister, so that was a good one. That's a good one. But we got Blair Witch coming at some point. We just recorded that. I don't know when it's coming, but did you watch that one with her? Absolutely not. She had no interest in doing it.

Oh, she's not. You're not a horror family. No, we're not. We're doing Horror Month, right? In October? I think we might do Horror Month, yeah. See, now we're spilling rewatchables beans. That's fine. Do you want to tell people what Monday's going to be? No. Okay. I don't.

It's too important. You haven't seen it yet, though. No. I don't think anybody who too important. You haven't seen it yet, though. No. I don't think anybody who's my age has seen that movie. Okay. But that doesn't mean it's not an incredible, awesome movie. I can't wait. Every time you give me a movie in this kind of category, I end up loving it. So I'm very excited. What was your favorite of that category, without spoiling the movie?

Does The Running Man count? Yeah. Oh, yeah. The Running Man was good. I love that movie. They're remaking it with Glenn Powell. Did you see that? You love Toy...

Yeah, I did see that. You love Toy Soldiers. I did love Toy Soldiers. Boarding school terrorist attack is like the most elite idea. You love some of the Seagal. Yeah. Under Siege was my favorite there.

Yeah. I can't believe who I'm becoming. You like the Van Damme? You like some of that? Sudden Death. The hockey one is good. The hockey one? He has to play goalie?

Yeah, that's good. Yeah, there's a lot out there. I really liked War of the Roses. I know I'm switching gears, but yeah, look, you're putting me onto a lot of movies that I would have never, ever, ever watched. I'm glad.

That's part of our job in the rewatch. All right, Craig, we're all back. You can listen to him on The Ringer, fantasy football show, an excellent show. Craig, good to see you. All right, that's it for the podcast. Thanks to Craig

and thanks to Ruiz and thanks to House and thanks to Kyle Creighton and Steve Cerruti for producing as well. Don't forget, all of the videos and clips from this podcast are available on the Bill Simmons YouTube channel. Have a great weekend. Don't forget to subscribe to our Ringer WNBA show because it's good.

And we're going to be reacting all through the playoffs and having a good time with that. And I will see you on this feed with the Cuzz live on YouTube on Sunday night. Until then. On the wayside, I'm a person never lost. I don't have to be alone. Must be 21 plus and president in select states. For Kansas, an affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and president in D.C. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com.

Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY in New York.