The Bill Simmons Podcast - Jets Coaching Hilarity, Mets Magic, Watson’s Nadir, and Week 6 Picks With Peter Schrager and Sean Fennessey

Episode Date: October 11, 2024

The Ringer's Bill Simmons is joined by Sean Fennessey and Peter Schrager to discuss the Jets firing HC Robert Saleh five weeks into the season (1:09), then look back on the history of Jets head coaches and talk a little Mets postseason bliss (28:15). Then Bill asks Peter some burning NFL questions, like "Why won't the Browns bench Deshaun Watson?" and "Why didn't the Patriots start Drake Maye last week?" (58:21). Finally, they run through the weekend's slate of games (1:27:39) and make their Million Dollar Picks for NFL Week 6 (1:45:12). Host: Bill Simmons Guests: Peter Schrager and Sean Fennessey 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 football live from New York with our old friend Schrags next. It's the Bill Simmons podcast presented by Fandule. Football is in full action. Fandule's highest rated sports book is the best place to bet at all. We've been doing pretty well. A million dollar picks this year. I love the first month of the season because you have to go into the season thinking, I think Pittsburgh is going to be good.

I think the Chargers are going to be good. I think Seattle is going to be good. I think the chargers are going to be good. I think Seattle's going to be good. And then trying to back what you think in those first few weeks and then zag the other way, if you were wrong, you could be on new and fun markets on Fandual like to catch a pass, same game parlays, highest scoring game across the Sunday slate, offensive TDs, the next drive, they have so much stuff. It's crazy. The app is safe and secure and easy to use.

And when you win, you'll get paid instantly. Plus, look out for FanDuel Squares this season. Here's what you have to do. Visit fanduel.com slash BS to download America's number one sports book. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and help lines available,

and listen to the end of the episode for additional details. You must be 21 plus and present in select states. Gambling problem called Win 100 Gambler or visit RG-help.com. This episode is brought to you by my old friend, Miller Lite. I've been a big fan of Miller Lite, man, since college days when I was allowed to have beer. I think nephew Kyle is a fan too.

Miller Lite keeps it simple for us. Undebatable quality, great taste. Picture this. It's game day. All the gangs here. You're tailgating outside the stadium. It's a great time for beer. Or how about when you're standing at the grill and the smell of sizzling burgers is in the

air? Moments like that are when you want a light beer that tastes like beer, that's delicious. You don't want to load up on those heavier beers and then you only have two of them, then you feel tired, your stomach feels full. Miller Lite, it's your friend. It just accompanies whatever else you're doing. You're super happy with it. Opening an ice cold Miller Lite can signal the beginning of Miller time. Miller Lite is the light beer with all the great beer tastes we like. 90 calories per 355 mil can. So why not grab some Miller Lites today?

Your game time tastes like Miller Time. Must be legal drinking age. We're also brought to you by the Ringer Podcast Network. Hope you heard the new rewatchables we put up on Monday. Van Lathan and I did Poltergeist. You can watch that on the Ringer movies YouTube channel as well. I've been in New York all week. Sorry, we didn't have a podcast on Tuesday, but the good news about being in New York is I am live in the studio. Peter Schragers here with me. And then

we're gonna bring in Sean Fantasy to talk about, uh, another Jets coach fired the history of Jets coach fired, the history of Jets coaches, and then positive, the Mets and the playoffs. I mean a roller coaster ride for everyone in New York. And then Shragg stayed. We talked about burning questions in the NFL and then he did Million Dollar Picks with me and it is an action packed podcast. And I had a great time.

It's all next. First our friends from Pearl Jam. ["The New York City Show"] All right, I'm taping this. It's four o'clock Eastern time, New York City. I am in the World Trade Center, Spotify studio with Peter Schrager. This is incredible. Good to see you. And if this wasn't fancy enough, Sean Fantasy is on Zoom.

He's got a Mets hat and he's got a Starbucks and a big ass smile on his face. What a week for Sean Fantasy. Let's go. We'll go sad first and then we'll give him Mets time at the end. And then Sean's gonna leave and Shregs and I are gonna talk a lot of football. The Jets, they have gone through yet another coach.

So what year were you born? 1982. 1982, all right, that was the last year of Walt Michaels. Walt Michaels, Joe Walt, and Bruce Coslet. We're going to go through all the Jets coaches. But Robert Sala gets fired after five games, which was something that probably should have happened in January or February, would have been my guess. I know you were a little more of a pro-Sala side, but if you're going to do this, do this when Mike Vrabel and Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll and all these other guys are available. Sean, I think you said this,

you were the most pessimistic Jets fan I knew, other than Larry David, who actually quit the Jets, doesn't root for them anymore. Why now, why not eight months ago? What's your take? Well, let me just say, as always, I follow in Larry David's footsteps. Wherever he goes, I go.

I've been tracing his career for four decades and I'm proud to follow along with him. I just was not sold on the infrastructure of the team. My bigger concern was more that they had not replenished their defensive line and that Nathaniel Hackett was calling offensive plays for the team. Both of those things have been problematic at times. I think Robert Sala got scapegoated here in a big way to be honest with you. Wow! A scapegoat defense!

I don't think he was the greatest coach in team history, but he won seven games in two consecutive seasons with Zach Wilson as his primary quarterback, and Zach Wilson stinks. So are we sure Robert Sala was the problem with this team? Are we sure? Well, he was, by the metrics, the most successful Jets coach of the last 10 years. What was it, 20 and 46? 20 and 36. 20 and 36. Shriggs has a lot of info.

Yeah, I'll empty the bag, is that what you're saying? You don't have to give us like 12 minutes, but you can give us like a good three. Okay, so it's always been an interesting dynamic between Robert Sala and Ambassador Woody Johnson. That was in the press release. Ambassador Woody Johnson. Oh, I forgot. It's always been an interesting dynamic because Christopher, who's the younger brother by about 15 years, he's the one who hired Robert Sala and he did so when Ambassador Johnson was over in

London serving under President Trump. So he comes back... But Sala was a hot hire, right? Oh, yeah. No, look, Sala had... Sean was, like, semi-excited. Sure. I saw him running up and down the sideline in San Francisco. He seemed very cool. Detroit native, and they went with Dan Campbell instead.

He interviewed with Philly, and they ended up hiring Nick Sirianni. Instead, it was that year where it was like, okay, is it Mike McDaniel? And they ended up hiring Robert Sullen. Jeff's fans were fine with it. Woody comes back and it's this pressure of like, okay, we've got to perform. Now Rogers, they all go out to Malibu last year, the whole crew, they all pitch Rogers, they get Rogers in the house and then Rogers goes down. So it's like almost like a mulligan.

Rogers, they get Rogers in the house, and then Rogers goes down. So it's almost like a mulligan. This year, there was so much optimism after the Thursday night win against them. I'm in the building, I'm on the sidelines for the game, Rogers is in a great mood, Sala's in a great mood, and no less than two weeks later, one of them's out of a job completely. And I will tell you, there was so much frustration after the Denver loss, and then to lose the way they did in London.

And Rodgers is, like, taking blame, and I understand that he threw three interceptions, but to fall in that hole early and to not be able to bring it in that first half, and to, again, fall behind early, that was a great frustration of ownership. So here's the timeline. Monday, they all get in there,

and, like, there's a tension after this flight that, like, something's gonna go down. Like, they all know in there and like, there's a tension after this flight that like something's gonna go down. Like they all know something's gonna go down. Oh, so it's like a grim, what is that, six hour flight? Yeah, it's about an eight hour flight. But like an hour and a half to get to the airport. But New York, it's not easy. Yeah, yeah. So everybody's pissed. Monday morning you walk in and from what I gather,

it was like you could hear a pin drop, like what's gonna go down, what's gonna go down? They ended up like, all right, let's. So people think it's gonna be Hackett. Yes, something major. Hackett will be the scapegoat. Something major is happening. Brice Hall's career is over. Everyone's looking over their shoulders.

Garrett Wilson and 22 targets for 80 yards. Everyone's looking over their shoulders and they start game planning and it's like, okay, is nothing gonna happen? So then Sala decides, and I don't know if this is breaking news and we could put it on your butt, there was a conversation with Hackett that, moving forward, Todd Downing is gonna be calling the place.

So he tells Hackett that on Monday? Hackett was made aware that this was gonna go down, and that this is the conversation. Plot thickens. And Hackett says to him, dude, all good. Like, all good. I'm hurt. I'm heart. Like, it sucks that this went down this way,

but like, whatever it takes for the team to get out of this rut, like, we're in this together. He's not losing his job. He's like, I'm all right. Like, let's do this. There were conversations Wednesday. They leave the building. Wednesday night, or Monday, I'm sorry, Monday night. Now, Roger sat on McAvee. He spoke to Johnson, but it was more about, like, his ankle and all that stuff. I'm sure they talked about the team, but I will tell you, there was no code red.

And as juicy as that is that like Rogers like on the phone with the owner. So he talked to the owner on Monday night after it was decided that his handpicked guy, Nathaniel Hackett, would no longer be calling the place. Yes. Or at least for this week. Okay. Nothing to see there. Thank you for expressing some concern about that fact, Bill. I appreciate it. We are dubious in Jets Nation, Peter, I will say. Yeah. Okay. So, okay, Tuesday morning, Salah comes in. He's told, you know, just come and sit down. And Joe Douglas

isn't the one calling him in. It's both Johnson brothers and maybe a couple other people on the highest of levels. And it literally took 10 minutes, maybe even less, and it was, thanks for your service here, we need to spark. We don't like the way the team's playing. You're done. And there'll be no contract extension, which was the hope that if they'd won, he would get a contract extension going into this year. And you are no longer the head coach.

And Jeff Ulbrich, who ironically also is a defensive coach, is going to take over. And the reason that was given to Salah and the reason that's been said publicly, they just needed a spark. And that Ulbric is one of these, rally around the guys, galvanize, you know, whole thing. So Ulbric talks to Hackett on Tuesdays, like, look, this all just fell in my lap. Like, I didn't expect this to happen either.

No one was manipulating this behind the scenes. I think we're gonna go with Todd, as was the plan to call plays Hackett again. And it sounds like he's some noble guy. I know the memes are hilarious of him as like the office space dude or whatever it is. Like, what does he do as the offensive coordinator who's not calling plays? But Hack is just like, whatever you guys need, I'm here. I just, let's, let's... He's not like an offensive designer.

Like he designs the plays, he just doesn't call them. He's like, hey, I've designed a run sweep. Suggestions welcome, right? So, hey, I was thinking about wide receiver passes. I laid out a couple options. That's it. So Hackett, who's been the ire of Jets fans for multiple years, takes a back seat. Todd Downing is inserted. Now, Downing was an OC in Tennessee.

He made a major mistake, lost his job in Tennessee. What was his major mistake? He had a DUI after the flight. Oh, that kind of major mistake. I thought you were gonna say he ran Derek 48 times or something. But he paid for that, and he has been very open and apologetic about that situation.

And he's now the offensive coordinator. And what's amazing... Can we go backwards or do you have more on this? Just really quickly, like... And I would love Sean's thoughts. Like, it went from... After the Denver game, everyone wanted Hackett fired. They actually... I mean, not Hackett. Yeah, Hackett and Salah.

Salah actually gets fired and fans are like, What a circus! The Mets suck! The Jets suck! We're such a circus! And then now, like, 48 hours later, I talk to Jets fans, they're like, all right, we made the changes, I like this Ulbric, he's kind of cool, okay, new play caller, all right, and Roger's ankle is actually better than we thought, all right, and if we win on Monday,

we're three and three, like, they're optimistic again! Like, it's totally tilted! Yeah, I think it's half full, and it's like, there were necessary changes made, whether or not we love Sala we don't but like the Rogers piece I'm told he was as shocked as anyone I know that's gonna be read with rolled eyes and maybe I'm carrying water if you think from what I know from my reporting Everyone was knocked on their ass by this and a lot of the players were actually very upset that that Sala was let go You want the floor Sean? Well, I'll just say, I think honestly, this just seemed like it happened one week earlier

than expected. Most people who follow the team closely felt like if they lost against Buffalo with this opportunity to move into first place on a Monday night. Despite these two sad, yeah, experiences in another national game for the team, if Salah is on the sideline once again, crossing his arms, staring into the black abyss of nothingness,

and got fired, no one would be surprised. It just felt one week early. Um, he's not been successful as a head coach. He seems like a wonderful guy, and you hear that all around. Same is true for your boy Nat Hackett. He seems like a nice guy. I got nothing against him personally. But both he and his father have been terrible play callers

for the New York Jets in my lifetime, and it's been very painful to deal with that. I'm glad Hackett is not calling plays. I feel bad for Salah, but he had a long stretch of time here to turn it around and he was not able to do it. I think what you said is right, Peter, which is that honestly, if they win and Ulbrich fires them up and we've seen the new coach bump, Antonio Pierce is coaching on a new contract because of the new coach bump, then that would be

fantastic. They have a good enough roster to be a playoff team. Everybody knows it. And that's gonna crush Sala. Like I know the guy. Like he is fully convinced that this team is a playoff team and can still do it and who cares about Sala? I understand like we move on in this world,

but like it's, I think they're gonna win Monday night against the Bills. They're gonna be three and three. They play the fourth easiest schedule from here on out. 10 of their games are on the Eastern Seaboard moving forward. And their first four games, the schedule was insane. They started off Monday night, then had a short week playing in Tennessee. They had three and 11 days, right?

Yeah, three and 11 days. And then that Denver game was a horrible weather game, and then they went to London. And, you know, the offense, Rogers... But the big question for me is, like, Breece Hall and Wilson were considered two of the biggest fantasy assets heading into the season. Especially Brice Hall, who was just a complete zero.

Like, that alone, it's like somebody's gotta pay... The backup was playing more than Brice Hall was. I say this as somebody who has Brice Hall, I think, on two of my three teams. It's painful. It hurt my feelings. Well, and a lot of people thought that Braylon Allen should have gotten more touches two weeks ago, and then he got more touches last week, and I wouldn't say it was significantly better than Breeze.

The issue is an offensive line issue. They have an, I don't know what it is, but the scheming in the run game is weak right now, predictable. I thought Dan Arlovski did a really nice job identifying some of the issues on fourth down on Twitter this week. The play calling's been bad. It's been really bad. Will a new play caller just make Breeze look better? I don't know. Maybe he will. You get Morgan Moses back, who was really good those first few weeks, and they were worried at the Patriots game, they lost them. And then he and Vera Tucker are two the best at what they do, and the thought is maybe we can get the run game kickstarted again behind them.

But all the Jets fans are accurate in that this has been a great disappointment through five games. I had them as the number one seed in the AFC and Rodgers is my MVP. Based on being there this summer and doing a preseason game. And this goes back to our discussion before week one when we were like, is being there good or bad? 100%. 100%. I can't watch the scheme in the rain and against Denver when it's August on a beautiful day. I can't see them trying to stop Bo Nicks. So Sal and went 20 and 36.

He was 22 and 34 against the spread, which I thought was incredible. Sean, I'm a results guy. I look at Adam, Adam Driver's last six movies. How dare you. Last Duel. Brooklyn guy, Sean. House of Gucci. White Noise. Yep.

65. Ferrari. Megalopolis. Say that again. Megalopolis? I love that word. The trailer was great. Sean, is he the Robert Sala of A List Actors?

What would you say? Does Sala have a girl? I like four of those six movies to be perfectly honest with you. Which two did you like? I think they're bold choices in his career and I admire Adam Driver. Adam Driver is an artist. Robert Sala is a coach. He's a manager and we need results as managers. I'm a manager, Bill. You know that. But Adam Driver, you know, he does something a little bit different and I will not compare him what yeah far as good is it

is it planes yeah I was thinking that's a perfect plane movie like a perfect plane movie if you want to sleep on a cross-country flight so slow he's support the cinemas you know go to the theater I'm begging you 100% I will I want to see the the Pharrell Williams Lego movie in the theater with my kid I will see that by piece that's this yes I will see that. Piece by piece. I will see that. Peter, do you believe in the new coach theory? I do. I think in the NFL, there is a definite bump. The question is, can you sustain it over this length of time?

What's interesting is no coach has been fired this early in the season since Matt Ruhl was and Steve Wilkes in 2022 filled in and they went 500 the rest of the way. But I think if you hire a coach with, like, four weeks left in the season, they can often go three-and-one and finish the season. They still have so much football left to play. And you had all summer of Robert Sala and so on.

Can Ulbricht just come in and fire up the guys? Like, I've known Jepp for a while. Like, he is a fiery coach. He is everything you thought Sala was gonna be when he was running up and down the sidelines at San Francisco. That's this guy in the building. Does that translate as the head coach

over the course of three months? We'll have to see. I had the data and I think I accidentally deleted it from my iPad. So that's just an old guy moment for me. But, Jeff Saturday, that was the most famous one. New coach, I mean that was his only good one. But last year we had Brandon Staley got fired.

New guy came in for the Chargers. And they I think were plus 12. Okay. Against maybe it was the Bills and they ended up losing by two. Yeah, they were down about 56 nothing against the Raiders. Carolina, they covered the first week. Yep. So anyway, in my research it was the last four. Have all covered the first week. Yep. So anyway, in my research, it was the last four.

Have all covered the spread. Covered or won. Antonio Pierce was another one. The last one that didn't was when Matt Ruhl got fired after week five. So it was Wilkes. The week six game. The Rams beat them.

But then they got better with Wilkes. Yeah, they went 500. As the year went along. So there's some new coach blood. I've always believed this, but I could see, the Jets are getting two and a half against Buffalo. That spoiler alert is gonna be a million dollar pick for me. Because that just seems like a classic.

We've responded. Oh my God, Breeze Hall had 20 carries for 138 yards. No doubt. It's just because we fired the Coast. I'll go to this game and I'll tell you. Yeah, I'll go to this game and I will tell you that like if they hadn't fired Sala or demoted hack it and Sean you know this the Second there was a three and out it would be boo birds. I think the vibe has changed

It's like alright, they made the changes now. Let's root for the team I think that's how Jets fans feel going into this weekend, but Sean, you were the most down on the team of anyone I knew. You even have a tweet that you happily reposted. You're a reposter if you're right about something. I am. You were super skeptical. You didn't understand. I had the Jets win in the division. He had Rodgers MVP. And you were completely out. So what's changed?

Well, Aaron Rodgers is... The Mets have changed. Maybe it's optimism? The Mets is spilling over? I'm not optimistic about the season. I mean, I think they have the talent on the roster to be a playoff team. I think they've put themselves now in a very difficult position by being under 500

and losing, in particular, the Broncos game, I think is gonna come back to haunt them in a big way. That's not a game you wanna lose and it's not a game that they should have lost. So that feels terrible. You mean when they made history by losing a game or the other QB through for... Less yards than any win than Eli Manning in 2007? That was incredible. If Zerline makes that field goal, they win.

That's the thing. If Zerline makes the field goal, Salah probably has a job. Here's the... The other thing about the firing Salah that is interesting is the Jets defense has given up two touchdowns total in the last three games. Right. They're still doing what they always do. They bend sometimes, but they never broke under Salah. And that's why I say I think he was scapegoated here. Now obviously Ulbricht is the person calling the plays for the defense. But man, they put together a good unit. They developed a lot of good players. Quincy Williams is like a top 10 linebacker in the NFL now. He was a cast off at the beginning of their administration.

He's a really good defensive coach. So we will see what happens. I'm skeptical because I think there were a couple of choices that they had to make to bring in Hasan Reddick that just totally backfired on them. And I feel like they're very weak. Johnson made a plea on the conference call. He's like, please, Hasan, the owner, come doors are open. And I feel like they're very weak. And you saw the plea. Johnson made a plea on the conference call. He's like, please, Hassan, the owner, come. Doors are open. Let's talk.

Let's get here. Hassan Reddick's like, yeah, pay me more. If Reddick signs, it's a different thing to me. If Reddick signs, I think they're actually a different team. I think they're a much scarier team. A lot of Jets fans are looking back in hindsight and saying, we drafted a sixth offensive lineman in Olu at a Penn State when Brock Bowers was on the board.

Where do you stand on that? Would you have wanted Bowers or the offensive line? Because everyone says, well, the offensive line sucks. They got an offensive lineman, but he's kind of a swing tackle in his rookie year. Yeah. Well, Tyron Smith looks a little old right now, so I don't feel so bad about that pick.

If Olu is going to be the long-term left tackle, I feel okay with it. He's a rookie. What can you expect? He got thrown into this. I don't feel too bad about that. Brock Bowers does look nasty, and I've got him on two fantasy teams. Yeah. He's a rookie. What can you expect? He got thrown into this I don't feel too bad about that Brock Bowers does look nasty and I've got him on two fantasy teams Yeah, he's pretty good Jets defense first and yards per play second against the pass seventh and first downs fifth scoring Sixth red zone like they've been really good for years

And that's kind of Salah's calling card was the defense was always good and always overachieving, but nothing else seemed to work. But he's not the defensive coordinator, he's the head coach. Someone needed to take the fall. Unfortunately, he's the one whose blood is shed. But here's the thing. If that stupid running into the kicker thing didn't get called when it was 17-0, Rodgers is limping toward the blue 10, it looks like Rodgers is like, I think I'm out.

I'll see you guys back in America. And then all of a sudden they had a first down He's like I'm back in and then he's he's running back in I'll say this about Rogers. I'm happy to go on the record There's no way they didn't tell him what was happening with the coach. There's a lot of there's a lot of few good men I'm so tired of parallels here Kyle turned the camera on that Warburg yeah when the star of the team always knows what's going on period end of story I don't care if it's bad like Yanis. Oh my god. I had no idea the drew holiday trade was happening I just don't believe it ever because you'd have to be a fucking idiot if you own a sports team and you're paying somebody

50 55 million or in Roger's case you've built this whole team around him and you're just not gonna tell him you fired somebody That's insane. I disagree. I nobody would do I disagree I think they honestly had a conversation. They slept on it overnight and the owner's like I'm not gonna put this on Rogers That's his you know, he and he and solid have a good relationship all that stuff. There's so many interpersonal relationships I think Woody Johnson is a 77 year old owner who's like I don't want to watch this anymore. I need a spark I'm making a move counter What's the upside what else are you gonna say? who's like, I don't want to watch this anymore. I need a spark. I'm making a move. Counter. What's the upside? What else are you going to say?

Like, yeah, we talked to Aaron. He knew. Like, you can't. You're just going to fall on the sword every time for the star. That's what the NBA teams, this has been, like, you think about people like LeBron. Like, you think for the last 15 years of his career,

they weren't running every move by LeBron? It's think for the last 15 years of his career, they weren't running every move by LeBron. It's like, yeah, we got to trade Russell Westbrook. Let's not tell LeBron. Like they're fucking telling him. I mean, the irony of all of this, and Bill, I tend to lean more in your direction on this one, is that Aaron Rodgers wasn't good on Sunday. I don't know if he was exactly the reason that they lost, but he had never thrown two picks in the first quarter of a game in his entire career. One of the reasons why they fell behind so badly is because they were turning the ball over. In the fourth quarter, if he hits that throw to Garrett Wilson along the sideline, they're walking

off and winning that game. So Mike Williams won the next time we're through the pick. Yeah, and he's not moving the same either. He hurt his ankle significantly. He was banged, and I think the Jets fans are surprised he's actually as good as he is right now. But I hear you guys, I'm not dumb. Like, I know how any company works, and they all flew out to Malibu and sat in his house and begged him to come there and explain.

Like, I get it, I'm not dumb. At some point, you reach the consultancy stage of stardom with a team. And I think he's there, would be my guess. But, like, Mahomes is, like, if the Chiefs did anything in there, and Mahomes is like, yeah, no idea. Like, I'm sorry, I'm just never believing that. There's no way they're not running stuff. Yeah, we traded Travis Kelsey.

You're putting me in a tussle, because I sound idiotic saying that he did. I think there is a reality where they talked about, you know, just the game, whatever. And then Woody says on his own, you know what? Like, Rogers doesn't seem thrilled. We're not thrilled watching this. I need to make a change. He at least asked him, like, whether he told him he was doing that. That's a tough spot to put on Rogers, I think.

Yeah, like, Woody, how's the coaching been? I don't think the owners... I don't think they would put that on him in that responsibility. I don't think they want him that on him in that responsibility. I don't think they want him to put him in that position. You're putting anything past Woody Johnson as a maniac. Do you think he's rational? Sort of in Peter's defense for what he's saying, I think what is happening right now is obviously

Johnson when he was the ambassador to the UK was away from the team for a few years and things really went downhill when he was away from the team. I suppose when he was really involved, it was going so great. It wasn't, it wasn't, but there was a time when he was the owner in the recs period where things looked good. And it seemed like that was going to be a good ownership group. And they are now mired in the longest playoff drought in North American sports. Yes.

So I think there's a case to be made that Woody is like, I got legacy stuff on the line here. Like aside from my family business, this is something I will be remembered for if I turn out to be a world-class bad sports owner in New York. That's not something you want to be. So he's James Dahlins, I cold my beer. But look, that's another team that were a guy backed away. And all of a sudden there are very interesting proposition in the city. And also honestly, the Mets and the Yankees

and the Knicks all being exciting and the Jets being a tire fire is terrible. And that's something you feel when you live in New York. So I wonder if some of that is contributing to him. He's never fired a coach this early into the season like this. This is something he's never done before. So I'm sure he's feeling it.

It's a rare thing in general. It is, it is. This is something he's never done before. So I'm sure he's feeling it. It's a pretty rare thing in general. It is. It's like a once a year maybe. And I honestly think the fact that he did not hire Robert Sala, it's like this is not my handpicked guy. This team is built to win right now with this quarterback right now. If this can salvage the season, this is my sign to the fans that I'm actually doubling down on this team and saying,

I know we're not winning a Super Bowl as it is right now. I know we're not winning Super Bowl with Salah as our head coach. I'm going to do this. Could have told you that in January. I'm going to do this, and I will create this atmosphere that, okay, same old Jets, we're idiots. But if that's what it takes to salvage this thing, I don't just want to watch the season go down the tubes with a guy that I didn't pick that I don't think is going to win us a Super Bowl. So explain to me, pro football,

why they couldn't just get Mike Vrabel 10 hours after they fire Salah. You can. Vrabel's under contract technically with Cleveland. Because people are like, oh, it's so hard for a coach to come in during this. I'm like, is it? Is it that hard?

I actually had conversations about this because I didn't think Vrabel. I thought Belichick. Like, is it possible? Now obviously, he hates the Jets. He hates the Jets. I don't think he'll I'll ever do I was just thinking hypothetically. Yeah, and the only Situation that that's been done off the couch not a coach not with the team Midseason was Saturday and that was because that's Earth's a guy and he did Saturday was on ESPN

He's like midway through this season having never coached before in the NFL this season, having never coached before in the NFL. You're gonna be... It's still crazy. They beat the Raiders. They beat the Raiders. It's still crazy that they did that. Then I was thinking, watching Belichick, he's following the game as close as anybody. And the Jets, he despises the Jets

and doesn't like the Johnson family, so he wouldn't go there. But hypothetically, if another coach was fired in the season, could a Belichick come over? Now, Vrebel's consulting... Or a P. Carroll. Just come in and have a great, have a lot of energy. Another coach with a lot of Jets history. Yeah, P. Carroll, sure.

Right, fired after a year. They could, technically, they could. It's just, you don't know those coaches, you don't know that offense, you don't know that defense. It'd be more than anything, just a rah rah guy, usually, and just, hey, I'm here to change the box. I would've gotten Vrebel five minutes later. I think that guy's like a top-set coach. And he would have to, I mean, hey, I'm here to change the box. I would have gotten variable five minutes later. I think that guy's like a top center coach.

And he would have to, I mean, obviously Tennessee, Tennessee's paying him a ton already. Cleveland has him on staff. I'm sure Cleveland would let him leave to go be a head coach. I guess the tough thing would be taking over another coaching staff. Cause I know Doc, Doc even talked about that publicly. You're inheriting all these people.

And it turns into Game of Thrones with all the assistants. jets are plus 310 on Fandul to win the division right now the all win total for the jets on Fandul is over nine and a half is plus 235 and then eight and a half is the over. Do you have, okay. Do the Jets go nine and eight? I think that they can. I don't know if they will. I will say historically this division is usually a bloodbath and the Jets are typically at the bottom. So if we're in a year where the Jets are like a nine, 10.

You think the Pats are awful and Miami's awful. Exactly. That's my point. You haven't even played the Pats yet. Yes and the Bills have. I don't know how they don't get the right game. They beat the Pats week three. Oh yeah haven't even played the Pats yet. Yes, and the Bills have won 10. They beat the Pats. They beat the Pats week three. Oh yeah. Have they played the Dolphins?

They have not played the Dolphins. That's what it is. Yeah, they have three games left against those two. Yeah, they're plus one, ten, over eight and a half. Which is more of a reason, I think, that there was an urgency to get this done. We're going to take a break, and then I want to go through the last 50 years of Jets coaches and see if Sean tries to stab himself with that Starbucks cup. You ready for some coat tight talk? It's right after this.

Get ready to tackle the NFL action with Fandl, America's number one sportsbook. Right now, customers get a profit boost every single NFL game day. That means you can pump your gridiron winnings up multiple times a week. Fandl, tons of ways you can get in on the NFL action. You can bet on money lines, spreads, players, props, whatever you want. You can tail our million dollar picks which are on this podcast. And we actually found a couple that we really liked. Plus, with super simple live betting, lightning fast bet settlement and instant withdrawals, Fandl makes betting on the NFL easier than ever. All you have to do is visit Fandl.com slash BS

to download Fandl today. You must be 21 plus in President-elect states or 18 plus in President DC. Opt-in required, bonus issued as non-retributable profit boost tokens, restrictions apply, including token expiration. See terms for both offers at sportsbook.fandl.com. Gambly problem call, when and under gambler,

visit rg-help.com. For more information on the mustache for November, 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 cancer research. And if you don't want to grow a mustache, you can still walk or run 60 kilometers, host an event, or set your own goal and mow your own way. Do great things this November. Sign up now. Just search Movember.

All right, so the Jets have been in my life really since I started watching football. Jim Plunkett, 1974, a little kid, pretended I was Randy Bataha in the backyard. And then the Pats were good in 76, 77, 78. And the Jets were kind of parallel. They actually had a couple good moments too. And then we kind of both settled into just being

the black sheep of the AFC simultaneously. But I can start to really remember football around the mid 70s. Lou Holtz was the Jets coach in 76. Coached 13 games and then got fired or quit, three and 10. But then they brought in Walt Michaels. And Walt Michaels presided over, I think, the 82 Jets, which made the, they lost to Miami, 14-nothing.

So I started researching this. Walt Michaels, that was his last game. They lost the AFC title game, 14-nothing. And this is in the research. The day after that game, Michaels did not show up for the Jets final team meeting. 17 days later, retired, saying he needed a break. The New York Times reported that during Michaels' last meeting with Leon Hess, the Jets owner,

he was told to resign, given a $400,000 financial package, and encouraged to seek treatment for alcohol abuse. He accepted the terms and then coached in the USFL three years later, and that was it. He was replaced by the one and only Joe Walton. USFL three years later and that was it. He was replaced by the one and only Joe Walton. Joe Walton I was gonna say. So my high school buddy Jim Grady, diehard Jets fan. Okay. And we got to know each other in the mid 80s

and Joe Walton was our favorite because the camera would always catch him picking his nose on the sidelines. The insight you come for. He would just be like, kind of like one knuckle deep every time they showed him but we thought it was the sidelines. The insight you come for. He would just be like, kind of like one knuckle deep every time they showed him, but we thought it was the funniest thing. He uh... There were some good jet tears.

There was. They had the sack exchange. The Richard Todd year, the sack exchange, and then Kenny O'Brien had some years where they would actually win games. They were favored in the Pats playoff game when the Pats won the Super Bowl. Anyway, he lasted through the 80s. I looked up his New York Times obit, and the headline of it was Joe Walton, in the Pats on the Super Bowl. Anyway, he lasted through the 80s. I looked up his New York Times obit, and the headline of it was Joe Walton, giant star who found futility as Jets coach,

dies at 85. That was the headline. That's some dig. The headline of an obituary. Who found futility? The guy's dead. I'm doing, give him a little bit of flowers here. So then next was the immortal Bruce Coslet.

Is that the first coach you remember or no? It is. I was telling you earlier, Bill, that one of my first sports memories, probably my first football memory, because I was a baseball fan, and I remember the Mets being good in 88. But in 90 when Coslet came in, my father despised Bruce Coslet.

You didn't like him? Bull haircut and really bolder glasses. Starter jacket. He looked like an SNL character. That like orangey hair color. He was a very stoic figure, but he coached eight NFL seasons in full and never had a winning season. So he was kind of Robert Sala before Robert Sala.

He was wildly unsuccessful. Was it Bengals first and then Jets? It was Jets then Bengals. Jets then Bengals. I remember him at both. Four years. No winning seasons for the Jets. Replaced by Pete Carroll. One year.

One year and done. And then I forgot because I was researching this. It was the fake spike. No, it was 94. It was the famous year. They're like six and five. I watched that game when it happened. Marino does the fake spike.

I was there. Oh, you went there? I was there. There was my friend Matt Name, a friend Josh Levin. We all went and they were like six and four maybe at the time? Six and five, yeah. Six and five, they were hot and they lost every game the rest of the season.

Yeah, and it was like, I guess he had to go. And that was Mark Ingram's dad. Mark Ingram's dad had four touchdowns that game or three touchdowns for the Dolphins. So they bring in Rich Cotite. From the Eagles. Who was four and 28 in two years. It's unbelievable.

And then had, there's a whole, I didn't get fired, I quit. And he was like, well, we were about to fire you and you quit. That was when they got Neil O'Donnell. This is my favorite version of the Jets. They signed Neil O'Donnell from the Steelers and he had the press conference. And I was living with my buddy, Jeff Gow at the time.

And Neil came in. Vikings fan? Yeah. I'm a listener. Neil came in, he's like, I was brought here to win games. He talked like? Yeah. I'm a listener. Neil came in, he's like, I was brought in to win games. He talked like Francesa. I'm a winner.

The Jets are winners. And we were like, this is amazing. The Jets definitely aren't winners. And he was terrible. Replaced by Bill Parcells. That was fun. Great little run. It was a great time.

That's the best Jets coach you ever had, right? By far. Three years of Bill Parcells. And Belichick on staff. Well, there Purcells. And Belichick on staff. Well, there's a very painful test of already injury that colors this period. Because otherwise, this could have been a great team. You know, I think I bet on them in the AFC title game. Against the Broncos, they were up 10-0 in that game.

At halftime, it felt like they were going to win. They were up. Keith Byers. A bunch of weird shit happened. Alright, so replaced by Al Groh. Brief, right? Went nine and seven and then resigned and coached at the University of Virginia. Went to college. Really weird.

So Al Groh, during this season, bear in mind I'm a diehard Jets fan in college, or in high school at this time, one of my close friends in high school starts dating Al Groh's son the year he starts as the coach. Wow. And when I met his son, who was a really nice guy, I was like, brother, there's a lot riding on this hire. Your dad better not fuck this up.

And he bailed in like 12 weeks. He did. Went back and went to UVA. You know, I knew his brother, Wayne Groh, who, um... He was, he was, he was working with the crew, and things went wrong. And, uh, getting shot in a hotel room. So then there was the Belichick never actually hired.

Crazy. Herm Edwards. Yeah. Good years. So I'm writing my column at that point and people like Herm Edwards just are just gold minds. Just one of the worst game management people who ever lived just seemed completely confused. He, like if they had all the stuff they had now of the analytics, whether you should punt or got...

Herm Edwards would have like broken the nerds. He would like punt from the 34 yard line. First year though of Herm, did they not go to the playoffs? I think they might have. But then he jumped to Kansas City. Well, he went like four and 12. Yeah, they were going have. But then he jumped to Kansas City. Well, he went like four and 12. Yeah, they were going to fire him. He jumped to Kansas City. So he's gone.

And you hire the man genius. You hire Belichick's protege, whose really only legacy was he starts Spygate. Blows the whistle on Belichick. Starts his Belichick blood feud that now is paying off against you because Belichick probably would have taken over the Jets if that never happened. But Sean hates Belichick blood feud that now is paying off against you, because Belichick probably would have taken over the Jets if that never happened. But Sean hates Belichick, so he's fine.

Yeah, Belichick's like 300 years old. It's all right. I... Man, Genie... I remember being really happy during that period, and I feel like he got kind of short shrift. And I don't really fully understand what happened there. There were some good moments there, and then, of course, the brush off of the handshake

with Belichick is legendary. And then I know this sounds so wringer and probably like... The soprano scene was a huge deal. It was a huge deal. And Artie Buca was like, the man genius, the internet. It was like a crossover event. Like, oh my God.

And everyone was like, oh, we hate that coach. They're like, we love that guy. After one year, he was awesome with the Jets. And then, as it goes. So why... So he never worked again? No, he went to Cleveland. He was the head coach with the Browns after. Oh, that's right. I had him on the podcast,

and I was still kind of pissed about Spygate. We talked it out. I was about as a... I'm not never adversarial with a podcast guest. That one, I was like, I had to... Yeah, and how do you handle it? It was good He actually was a pretty good about it openly because I know he's on FS one a bunch

I see him on like first thing ten years ago, but he still talks about it I think we talked about yeah, okay bill wait I have a question for you have you reconciled the fact that your six Super Bowl rings are built on a pile of lies And then you cheat it you know what they change the rules and no seven and Belichick forgot And it was just one game of cheating and you know We paid the price first round pick. What about the air pressure in those balls? Was that an issue? I seem to recall there was another controversy. That all the evidence is that they were full shit on that one. Okay. I have a question Sean

I know you're the movie guy But I'm sure you've seen the clips and Bill of course any thoughts on the clips that have gone viral from the Aaron Hernandez television show of some of these acting bits of the Bronca? They're real. It's real. So Ryan Murphy's just never seen a football game before? It doesn't appear to be the case. He seems to be really comfortable with serial murderers and portraying them. Dommer he's on!

For whatever reason football players not working. Wait a couple more coaches. Rex Rines, your second best. That worked out great. Some great times. Then Foot Fetish scandal, and then it just kind of went sideways. And he saved his job with a win, the final game against Miami.

He brought back one more year after the, and then that year was like done. Went into Belichick's house and beat him, and talked all kinds of shit. No doubt. That was a real thing. Probably the greatest Jeff moment. Coach Buffalo, after Wraith.

Oh yeah, he went to Buffalo. Todd Bowles. Went 10-6 in 2015. Missed the playoffs with Ryan Fitzpatrick as quarterback, and they just missed the playoffs. Jets have been victims of this a few times. They were 11-5... Yeah.

The Castle year, where I think the Dolphins... Yeah, the Pats and the Jets, yeah. They all went 11 and five. And then this year they went 10 and six and it's like they couldn't do anything in the postseason. So he was 10 and six and 15 and then the wheels came off just for the Jets in general. You're like 43 and 93 cents, but he was nine and 23.

I remember in Jets Nation, and we knew each other by then, people felt like the team, like he wasn't that bad. It was just the quarterback situation was such a disaster. The GM, the Cagnen was like the great ire. Everyone had some, they both lost their jobs. The Jets fans weren't like, God, get this guy out of here though. Were they? I don't remember that.

I think by the end they were, but that first season was the year when it was a Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker were on the outside as their receivers. And they were incredible. That was the most exciting offensive team that they had. They had an overtime win over the Patriots where Decker has a touchdown and Fitzpatrick hits him and it was like, alright, like this could work. Then Adam Gase. Who I don't even think is coaching anymore, right?

Gase was... I think he went to go coach high school. Living down in Alabama for a while. I'm not sure what he's up to now. He's on the 33rd team? He's like an advisor? He's not even coaching high school? He was making money from both the Dolphins and the Jets for many many years. I think those contracts have probably expired, but at one point he was double-dipping with both teams having been fired by both teams with years left on both contracts. And he's the worst of all of these coaches, right? Have you had a worst coach than Adam Gase?

He was wildly inept, but he also was at a time when those rosters were really bad too. And that was the tail end of the McHaggenon era. It was right before Joe Douglas came in for his last season. You know, we haven't said the... Have we even said the name Joe Douglas to this point? You know, he's been there about four years. Yeah. If you look at his record, his record is actually a lot worse than Robert Salas, though he did inherit an absolute disaster

in that first gay season. But it just, honestly, I don't... I'm not passing judgment. It just seemed like there was something wrong with Adam Gase. Like, it was impossible to tell what convinced Christopher Johnson to hire him in the first place. Because he was, you know, had that famous press conference It was impossible to tell what convinced Christopher Johnson to hire him in the first place. Because he was, you know, had that famous press conference where he just seemed loopy. And he was a disaster from the very beginning.

And then Sala and then Ulbricht. The Sala one is interesting because of that year and the way the coaches were all being interviewed. And I remember talking to you and I I believe it was House at the time, and you guys were all like, Sala to Detroit, right? And I remember saying, like, maybe he's a local guy there, but I know he's gonna have other opportunities. And they hired Dan Campbell even before that. And everyone's like, Dan Campbell. And the irony is, here's Dan Campbell.

Of all that crew, I wish we had the whole list, but I think it was like Mike McDaniel, Robert Sala, you know. And then I remember Kingsbury interviewed with the Jets, but Michael Bidwell had a plane waiting for him out there right afterwards. And it was like, if he gets on that plane, he's going to Arizona. And Cliff went and took the Arizona job and had to get out of USC. But like, that was a crazy year of, you know, who's going where. And Sala, I think a lot of Jets fans were happy with it.

Here's a all business, tough nose defensive coach. And I think, you know, four years later, it's over. So, top three. -♪ PANTING, CHUCKLING, more consistently. I mean, Rex wins the two consecutive AFC championships. And beat Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in playoff games. Parcells change the culture of the team. Parcells went and got Curtis Martin from the Pats. Like, he... The Jets were a laughing stock, and it felt like he fixed it. Those Parcells teams were awesome.

Like, Richie Anderson, Keith Byers, Ken Moai. They definitely had an identity. Yeah, a lot of old school. So who's the third best Jets coach of your lifetime then? This is sad. Is it Algro? For one year? I mean, he's the only one with a winning record, right? He went on in seven. The Al Groh name means nothing to any Jet fan. It's like one year. Is he the only one with a winning record

aside from Parcells and Rex? Uh, yeah. So it's gotta be Al Groh. Can I ask you, you as a Jet fan, because already fans, all my Jet fan fans are texting me, and it's like, do you want to go Vrabel Belichick style, or would you want young, hot shot,

Ben Johnson, Cliff Kingsbury, or hot shot college coach? Like, where's your head now coming off the Sala era? Well, this is complete wish casting, but I saw somebody pitch the idea of Mike Vrabel as head coach and Kevin Stefanski getting fired and coming in as the OC. Now that is something I would love. If Stefanski was available, I would put him on the Vrabel level. By the way, the Stefanski thing, we're going to talk about it after Sean lose, but it's a little similar to Salah with Zach Wilson last year. Where you're playing the guy.

You're playing the guy that they told you to play. Yeah, like he clearly didn't have a choice. He didn't want to keep playing Zach Wilson. I'm a big Kevin Stefanski fan as far as knowing how he operates in that building and how the players respond and what he did in Minnesota. And he's a two-time coach of the year. I'd be shocked if they fired him at the end of this season.

All right, we'll talk Mets quick and then we'll let Sean go. So 40 minutes on the Jets being horrible, and quick talk about one of the most exciting sports things that's ever happened to me? Yeah. I think Winker could play for the Jets. That guy, he's got that, you know, they could use him right now. So it could be Mets, we're taping this before the Game 5. Could be Mets Dodgers, could be Mets Padres.

If it's Mets Dodgers and the Yankees make it. And the two scenarios for the World Series are Yankees Mets or Yankees Dodgers. That's fucking amazing. It's amazing. And I don't even know, we had Yankees Mets already. I would assume Yankees Ohtani is the all time. Although I know obviously ratings wise Dodgers

like the Padres, like they peacock and they're loud and those fans are nuts. Like that's even a good scenario Yeah, that's fun, too When did did you did you see any sign that this Mets team was gonna make it to the Final Four ever? I don't I would never would have guessed they would have gotten to the NLCS But I did say on the record to Chris Ryan in July when they were in the midst of turning the season around You know what?

This reminds me of Chris is this reminds me of the 2022 Phillies. And this is the team you don't want to see in the playoffs because something happened where the switch flipped in June and they started to play incredibly competent baseball, where it was like every part of their game was rock solid. Their rotation tightened up, their defense was great and Lindor started hitting. And as soon as that started happening, I was like, oh shit, this is like the Dbacks last year, this is like the Phillies in 22. This is a, this is the common thing now that happens with this new format and MLB

where it's like you run into this team and it is hot for a couple of months and you're in trouble, look at the tigers right now, whatever's happening is crazy. So I, I did sense that there was something special. And then if you've watched the team at all in the last 50 or 60 days, they got juice, man. Like they just, they believe they are fearless. They have a guy who now is like Lindor is now very quietly climbing. And that's ladder and all century ladder. Like, and how bad ass was that reaction to the grand slam?

Like doesn't even flint. Like it's like no big deal. Just the reverse pimp. That's what I'm calling it. It was so crazy. Yeah. There was no no fist pump. Just like whatever Yeah, cuz it seems the baseball reactions now, which I've really enjoyed Cuz they either are now like all-time crazy aggro where SNL could do a sketch of a guy hits a homer And it just starts taking off all his clothes and whipping him down and doing like the Chris Farley Chippendale sketch basically.

Or it's like the Lindor reaction. It's just, I'm too cool to react to this. Can I add something? I'm trying to compare, because I've lived in this market obviously, and all my friends are Mets fans. The ownership change feels like it matters too. And I cover the NFL and it's like in Washington,

you feel that. As a Mets fan, what's the wife's name? Because she's involved too. It's Steve Cohen and Alex Cohen. They're like in the locker room celebrating and they're fun and they're young and he's like, how about this Lindor? Like, how many? I feel like that matters too, that it's like this veil of ownership change and now there's

this fresh blood and it's like, we like this guy. We're rooting for our owner. So I'll tell you this. this is a very sad admission, but I will make it here publicly on the biggest sports podcast in the universe. In the ninth inning of game three of the Wild Card series, before Pete Alonso came to bat, I had a tweet prepared, a tweet fired up.

Oh, you had a tweet draft? I had a tweet draft, here's the tweet draft. It was right above your tweet of don't give up on Adam Driver yet. The eighth movie is gonna be the charm. This was sort of the inverse of my belief in Adam Driver. The tweet was going to say something along the lines of in four years of ownership and over 1.1 billion dollars spent on player salary, Steve Cohen has two playoff wins to show. And then Pete Alonso stepped up and hit an incredible three run home run. After months of being terrible and just changed and turned everything around for like the 10th time this season for the Mets.

And so Peter, deep down, I really want Steve Cohen to be our George Steinbrenner. You know, the guy who comes in and spends and changes. Goods. Yes. But the truth is, I think what happened is, is that four years ago, when he bought the team, everybody knew David Stearns wanted to be the general manager of the Mets, Steve Cohen wanted him to be the general manager, and they had to wait out his Brewers contract, and they did, and they brought him in. And almost everything that David Stearns did for this team worked.

And all of it in the offseason looked like it wasn't gonna work. I was like, what is this off season? This is like a reset year. No one has high expectations, but I now I'm like, wow, we have a baseball wizard, the richest owner in the sport and we're built around Lindor. Like this are we're in an amazing spot right now. Yeah. Well, it's a good example of like the Celtics, that wholesale process is

going to happen in the next six weeks. Right. And if you're, I've talked about this before, but if you're like a super duper rich guy, you're just a super duper rich guy and you hang out with other super duper rich guys and you know, nobody knows who you are. But now Steve Cohen, who I know he was a name, but I didn't know who he was. I didn't know what he looked like. And now this guy is going to New York. People are congratulating him. People are thanking him. Every restaurant he's in, people are coming up to him. Like little eight year old kids, like,

this is my son Johnny. All he's wanted was a good medicine. I assure you, Steve and Alex Cohen have been going to the Hamptons for 30 years in the summers and no one pays two cents to them. And then next summer, they're gonna be the toast of the town. Yeah, and this is why the Celtics are worth like high fours and we'll probably go for six. No doubt.

Because if you own that team and that start, like who knew who Wic Groesbeck was? Who knew who Joe Lakeb was? Totally. And then on the flip side, who knew who Woody Johnson was? But now we know who he is, unfortunately. But it's, that's the seesaw. So you got Woody Johnson over here and you got Steve Cohn over here Who's now like if if they beat the Yankees in the World Series? Oh, that guy is Yankee medicine cured cancer. Yeah. Yeah, forget it His great-great-great-great-great grandchildren will be legends in New York, right?

This is also like deep-cut baseball, but the five o'clock Eastern start for all these Mets playoff games All my friends got to go, they went after work, they are home at a normal hour, they brought their kids. There was a really cool piece to this. Those games at Citi Field have all been daytime games for the most part, and it's like generationally acceptable. And, you know, for us who cover the NFL and cover basketball, you don't get a five o'clock start anymore.

And that was really cool to watch this in the fall in New York. The flip side is, it's not eternal. Like John Henry could have sold the Red Sox in 2019, not traded Mookie Betts. And he would have been beloved, you know, he would have been Paul Revere. And now people are like, get this fucking guy out of here. Don't bid on the Celtics motherfucker. But I would take those titles in a minute, Bill.

I know those World Series that you got, man, I would. would yeah, I know that's how I should be thinking about it But then I watch Mookie in a playoff game, and I'm just like motherfucker. Where were you when Kenny Rogers walked Andrew Jones? Where were you for that one? Oh Jesus? I don't even remember I mean, I'm sure I was in my living room at the time okay. I have memories of all the Mets losses You know Adam Wainwright getting Beltran I mean all of these games so hard hard for Wayno to be calling this Bill and the Mets series too. It's just like sticking it in my chest.

Tell your Alonzo home run story. Let me hear it. Where were you? I was in New York because we were doing a live rewatchables and I was at the New York Film Festival and I was thrilled to be in New York and I am too afraid to watch a game like that in public. And so I sat alone in my hotel room,

and I screamed so loud that I had someone next door knock on my door after the home run and say, please pipe down. And I honestly, I cried. I'm not afraid to say it. I had tears in my eyes. I was like, this is so fucking special, man. This is so, this is exact.

My wife is like, why do you watch sports? Cause my life is so miserable as a sports fan. And as soon as that happened, I texted her, this is so this is exact my wife is like why do you watch sports because I my life is so miserable as a sports fan and as soon as that happened I texted her this is why I watch sports because it can make you feel that way it was amazing you know it's funny so beautiful I love that the Mets are responsible for the worst loss I ever had game 6 1986 like the darkest moment I've ever had in sports basically and And now it's been so many years. I actually kind of like, I have a lot of Mets fans in my life too, but I've actually found myself

rooting for them. Like it's, plus we won four World Series, but it just seems like a kajillion years ago. The Calvin Charaldi and Bob Stanley and Mookie, all that shit. That's the last time it felt like they had magic too. I mean that is really the last time you could point to and it's almost 40 years ago now.

And so that, you know, I don't know if it's gonna continue. I think- It was before your time, but the Dodgers playoff game in 88. Yeah, in the world. Mike Sosha hit the home run. And from that point on, it was really only, only that one time right out,

right around when Grantland got canned, they made the World Series that year. Yeah, against the Royals. Which was a great year, but is a very painful memory because they were ahead, I think, in three out of those five games after the seventh inning. And so it's a very painful memory to think about.

But that playoff run was really great. I went to Dodgers Mets games that year, and they were fantastic. But something is different this year. I think we're the same age. Sean, I think, did you tell me you had this? I had a VHS tape about the 86 Mets, and they would show Davey Johnson with the rabbit

and the magic number, and the soundtrack was amazing, and it was like, wow, boys, wow, boys! And it was like Wally Backman and Lenny Dykstra, and it was, and that's my memories of like the Mets. Wally Backman, the guy coming in with Fan Man coming down, you know, into the stands, like the whole, and that was the team that beat your stand. That's been, I mean, that's a long, long time ago.

This Mets team does have, when you look at Jesse Winker, when you look at Jose Iglesias, when you look at Alonso, there's a lot of dudes on this team who have a lot of personality, who have a lot of bits. This is a team full of gimmicks, all the grimace stuff. The OMG stuff. The OMG. There's just like a lot of lore that is building.

Historically in baseball, if there's a lot of lore, it tends to carry on. I have no idea. If they run into the Padres, I'm pretty nervous. The Padres are loaded. But if it's the Dodgers, all of a sudden you start fantasizing, you know? We had it happen in 2013 with that team. Yeah, everyone thinks of the O3, O4. Yeah, that was the team that came out of nowhere. Shane Victorino.

Poppy was like large as a knife. I think the difference with this Mets team, and I'm only saying this from afar, versus that 2015 team is the Lindor piece. Because you need that guy in offense that you feel like is a superhero. And you didn't have that guy in 2015, but like in 13 it was like We just got to get Ortiz up. He's gonna he'll do something and you just like you have so much superhero trust I mean, I'm watching I'm watching these games and I'm a Fox employee and I respect you know A-Rod and Jeter and those guys I'm putting on SNY afterwards just to get the local flavor and to get like the SNY guy

And that's kind of how that the Red Sox you put on this thing like you want to see flavor and to get like the SNY guy. And that's kind of how the Red Sox, you put on Ness. Like, you want to see what's going on and what they're saying. Like, that... But did the Yankees have that in the same way with this team? I don't know. The Yes crew is different. Like, the Mets thing is like...

Does Judge have that superhero factor? Yes. He hasn't performed in the playoffs historically. Yeah. Yes, and I think... It's almost like Stanton becomes the superhero in the playoffs. He has been, yeah. He has been.

And that's the thing, I was like, the Mets are this like feel-good, amazing, and like the Yankees, it's almost like, in this city at least, that's the standard. But the Mets are going through a gauntlet, and the Yankees are like, this fucking ridiculous Tigers team, the Guardians, and then they're playing the Royals. I'm in an AO keeper league,

like those guys are being passed around in the auction wire. There's closers materializing with six weeks left in the season. It just feels like it's just set up for the Yankees to cruise in. Yeah. Yeah, you're kind of... Yeah, there's love for New York. It's great.

Well, I don't like... You would hate the Yankees winning this one. I like the Yankees only winning one World Series in the century. So if it's Yankees Dodgers, Yankees Mets, Yankees Pies, you know, whoever it is, you know where Bill Simmons will be standing on the opposite side. For baseball purposes, Judge Otani is box office. But for my purposes, Lindor judge would be,

well, honestly what I want is Lindor versus, I don't know, the Guardians. Like that would probably be- Yeah, the Tigers. What about MJ Melendez versus Tatties? Not the same? Honestly, what I want is Lindor versus, I don't know, The Guardians. Like that would probably be. The Tigers. What about MJ Melendez versus Tatis? Not the same? Coming up next.

All right, Sean Fantasy, what a run for you. What was the best movie you saw at the New York Film Festival? Probably The Shrouds, which is David Cronenberg's sad movie about what happens when your wife dies and then you get super horny. So check that out in a theater near you in 2025. Wow.

Did you go to Toronto? Were you at the Toronto Film Festival? I didn't, I went to Telluride this year. Okay, cause apparently this Paul Rudd, Tim Robinson movie is just bat shit crazy and I cannot wait for this. So a friend of mine produced it and he told me one year ago, this is gonna be the funniest movie of the last 10 years.

Wow. So they'll mark that. Not high stakes because the funniest movie of the last 10 years. So they'll mark that. Not high stakes because I was there for the last 10 years, but that still sounds great. They did say they're trying to get back to where we were earlier in this century with comedies. Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd is called friendship. It's basically Paul Rudd plays a local weatherman and Tim Robinson just thinks he's really fucking cool

and wants to get to know him and just like hangs with round him and follows him to his local remote hits. I'm in. That sounds great. That's it. Well, we, Sean and I are on Silence of the Lambs live rewatchables next Monday, which included... I'm not gonna apologize for a lot of James Gunn content.

Just a lot. Too much? Was it too much James Gunn content? I thought it was a lot of fun Gunn content. Just a lot. Too much? Was it too much James Gunn content? I thought it was a lot of fun and a great show. And Bill, as I said to people at the bar afterwards, I was like, BS still the best in the business. Knows how to set people up. No doubt. Knows how to bring the heat.

You were great. I loved, I had so much fun. Well, and we're gonna be doing a hereditary later this month. Oh, very exciting. Yeah, which is for some reason, a super popular film in the Simmons family.

They love it, I mean it's horrifying. My daughter, my son and my wife, they'll just crank it on them. Like, wanna watch Hereditary? I'm like, you guys are insane. I only wanna see this movie twice. Anyway, all right, fantasy, good luck with the Mets. Thanks guys, see you later, Shrakes.

Welcome to Who's Delivering, presented by Uber Eats, where we break down the NFL players who have delivered so far this season. From household names to out of nowhere surprises, Peter Schragers with me. Who's your favorite out of nowhere surprise? Tyrone Tracy of the New York Giants. Saturday night gets the call up. Devin Singletary's not gonna go. We're gonna give Tyrone Tracy a day three pick the Rock and in his first game with everyone picking him up on waivers delivers for everyone

129 yards in a tug in his first big NFL game I would have to go with Kareem hunt who I thought his career was over 29 carries I thought his was done and he was on the waiver wire in fantasy and people were like, oh, it's Kareem hunt Forgot he was still in the league. Yep. And then Carson Steele fumbles. And that's it.

All of a sudden Kareem Hunt is Kareem Hunt back again. Here's another one, though. Who we got? This Packers tight end, Tucker Craft. Oh, god. Do you know his story? What's his story? He's from a town of 500 people called Timberlake, South Dakota.

And he played at this tiny, tiny school. And they took Musgrave early as a tight end. They took him later in the draft as a tight end last year, started picking it up, and now is like the most beloved guy in the locker room, awesome player, two touchdowns, angry, stiff arms, the whole thing. I have him on all three teams.

He's great. Is he like one of the top, like I have him and Laporta on a team, I'm like, I don't know who to start. Go with Tucker Craft. I don't know what to do. Poor Luke Musgrave, who I thought was gonna Laporta on a team. I'm like, I don't know who to start. Go with Tucker Craft. I don't know what to do. Poor Luke Musgrave, who I thought was gonna be this. I know.

Yeah, Tucker Craft. That's another good one. All right, that was Who's Delivering, presented by Uber Eats. You know, who's that wide receiver who might get the Raiders' number one job of Devante? Trey Turner? I'm gonna put him on Uber Eats watch.

Okay, on watch. Like two, three weeks from now. That's something I like about him. I like the Packer safety, Evan Williams. You watch them at all? Evan, 10 tackles last week. Everyone loves Xavier McKinney, big name. Evan Williams, rookie. That's my other guy. That was Who's Delivery presented by Uber Eats,

where you can get the best deals on game day food all season long. Uber Eats, the official on-demand delivery partner of the NFL. Order now. All right, we're gonna do some burning questions on the NFL season that don't have to do with the New York Jets. First one, Sal and I talked about this Sunday.

Still don't have an answer on Thursday. Why won't the Browns bench Deshaun Watson? They are 18.2% on third down this year, which I didn't even think was possible. Like one out of every five third downs converting, they can't even do that. Think about third down, you have like third and one, third and two, third and four, 18.2%, it's like impossible.

They don't think they're at that point yet. They don't think it's Deshaun Watson's fault, Third and two, third and four, 18.2%. It's like impossible. They don't think they're at that point yet. They don't think it's the Sean Watson's fault. And they think that if the couple of balls bounce differently the first few weeks, they'd be three and one going into last week. Last week was the first game where they just got absolutely blown out.

And you look at that game and there's no juice. There's no signs of the dynamic, you know, play with his feet that he used to have. It doesn't seem like he has the same zip in his arm either. He honestly doesn't... If you go back on YouTube and you watch, like, 2019 Houston, it looks like a different player. No, he was amazing.

Yeah. He kind of looks like, like, Jaden Daniels-ish now. Like, just moving around. He started the third week of his rookie season. They had Tom Savage the first two weeks. They put him in at halftime against the Bengals, and he was outstanding. And then he almost beat the Patriots the next week in New England. Like, he had an incredible start to his pro career.

Playoff games, the whole thing. Even last year when he gets back, he had one really good game. They played the Ravens in Baltimore. He was outstanding. But he got hurt. And that's when Flacco came in, and it was like, all right, that's what we're getting when we get him back. He was outstanding. But he got hurt. And that's when Flacco came in. And it was like, all right, that's what we're getting when we get him back. He just hasn't been that this year.

But they haven't gone to Jameis. And the thought there, and I've spoken, you know, when we discussed the Browns, I heard you in Southdome, the thought is, Chubb's coming back. We still have some, you know, players that we're still getting used to. I have Chubb on every fantasy game. He's gonna be all right, dude. Chubb's a beast. I've been watching the... They have videos like, watch Chubb dance side by side.

That was a smart pick. Chubb's a beast. Forget about Chubb. He's been out for a long time. Yeah. And the hope is that like, instead of pulling the plug, it's the opposite of the Jets. Instead of pulling the plug and throwing the grenade and saying, alright, we're just gonna go to Jameis Winston, that we can still win with Deshaun Watson.

What we see in practice is that he's the best way we can win. And you honestly believe that? No, I don't. I'm here for pull the plug and put in Jameis if the same... Like, let's see a spark, something. Jameis at least can rally the team and get them energized. Like, I don't know. Chubb is like Derek Henry, where you just kind of forget, and then you watch him just bowling over people. That guy's amazing.

And you're like, oh yeah, there's nobody like that guy. Coming off serious injury, but the hope is that when he gets gets back and maybe Deshaun Watson can come to life again I don't know. Is he this week? No, there's no I don't actually we're doing this on Thursday He's practicing there's like yet the yellow news update and the red flag is next time. So I don't know what's on PUP. It's yeah Here's the here's the thing with Deshaun that I don was a really good case, like Lombardi made, about lottery winners. Sometimes when people just make a lot of money, it changes their perspective on stuff. They lose incentive.

And I was like, that's interesting because when I watch him, I don't see a guy who's competitive like the guy in Houston. Other people have made the case that all the off-the-field shit that happened to him and being villainized and rightly so with some of the charges, that that kind of changed something in him and he lost the joy. But this is, I think Shannon Sharp was the one who mentioned the Ben Simmons analogy. I thought that was an injury and that was like he's in his own head with the free throw shooting and it kind of like broke his brain.

But it feels like there's this new era of a player can just have their brain broken by some sort of outside force. You don't know what it is. I watch him in these games and he just doesn't seem competitive. Yeah. And it doesn't seem like they're gonna win when he takes the field and obviously... I don't think they're like his teammates think. I don't know. And that's the thing, I don't know.

They're... Publicly, they're all behind him and publicly, Stefanski's behind him and the Haslams are behind him and they have shown that by giving him this opportunity. But if you really want to look at it, he hasn't been himself over a course of a stretch of game since 2020. Seventeen Cleveland starts. Hasn't thrown for 300 yards yet.

Oh. And Stefanski is a great coach. Right. That's... And they've got Judy and Cooper, two stud wide receivers. Right. Guys that can do it. And Joku, when he's healthy, is a good tight end. So if you're making the case against them, it's no chub. A lot of offensive line injuries. They haven't been able to run the ball at all. I think they're 30 seconds running the ball. And it's like,ub, a lot of offensive line injuries. They haven't been

able to run the ball at all. I think they're 30 seconds running the ball. And it's like, well, they can't run the ball. Everybody knows they're going to throw. Still no excuse for this. No, yeah. I'm just, if you're making the case. And if you look at the different games, they've had opportunities late in four of them and couldn't put it away. But I'm not making the case for them. I didn't pick them to go to the playoffs. I didn't, I didn't, I mean, I have nothing to cape for him on this one. I don't pick them to go to the playoffs. I didn't, I didn't, I mean, I have nothing to cape for them on this one. I don't see it.

Well that leads to my next question, which is, are they one of the four worst NFL teams right now? Yes. Yeah. Because I think you could say, I think Carolina has to be in there. Oh, absolutely. I think the Patriots have to be in there. Yeah.

And then the next two spots are Cleveland, Miami, Tennessee, and Las Vegas. I would say Las Vegas. So I had Las Vegas third worst. And then that last spot was Cleveland, Miami, or Tennessee. And I think I would have Cleveland there. Yeah. I think that's fair. But I think if they were healthy, probably not.

Tennessee, at least there's some good defensive metrics with them. In Tennessee, Tennessee looked good the last time we saw them. They blew out the Dolphins on the road. And I think Miami is actually awful. Oh, I think they're in real trouble. Yeah. And they lost Jalen Phillips, who might be their best defensive player. They're in trouble.

Well, that leads to my next question. And I vented about this on a walk and talk on the streets of New York City. I didn't see this. I'm sorry. I didn't see it. No, I did a one minute walk and talk. Why didn't the Patriots start Drake Bayne last week? I know. What the f— This is the Patriots start Drake May last week? I know. What the f— This is the stupidest fucking franchise. I know.

I know. The spot was last week. I think they were afraid because of the offensive line, but in my opinion, if you don't start him last week, then he's got to sit for the first three months of the season. But it really seems like Brissette was bad in that game. It was another winnable game, And they were like, you know what? We just need better quarterback play. Let's throw in Drake Mays.

So now they're throwing him in against the Texans, who have really good edgebrushers, who have a better coach, the whole thing. And I just... I think the Pats are just rudderless. Oh, I think there's hope. I think this coach is still... Wederless. Oh, I think there's hope. I think this coach is still...

We've got time and things to figure out, but I do think there's hope. I'm talking about ownership front office coach. Interesting. It's new. The alliance of those three things, dating back to when they decided to take Drake May, which they knew they had the third pick the whole time, right? I think Drake May is still the right pick. I think so too.

Yeah. Did they beef up the offensive line like Washington did or like Carolina did? Sure. They did not. So they tried out, this is the, I mean, they have 50 million in cap space still that I guess they're just going to roll over to next year. They know they have this guy coming in. They bring in Berset. They know how limited Berset is, right?

The guy can't fucking move. But then they watch brissette for three games They would have beaten Niners with the decent quarter. They were in that game. They were in that game I know what the final score was and People are saying like well brissette's under siege. That's gonna be Drake man I'm like actually don't know if that's true because the defenses are so far moved up Because brissette can't throw the ball over the top. They're just like going in every play. And once you have Drake and he can run around

and throw deep, it's gonna open up. But last week was the week. And the fact that they didn't do it just makes me think they're fucking stupid. Well, you watch the same games that I have and you're saying, well, Berset's the veteran and he's gonna let him take the lick. Berset was making the same mistakes

that a young quarterback would make the last few years. I don't think anyone's watching Dolphins Patriots. I was. Kyle and I were watching all those Patsy hits. It was one of the single worst games played by a quarterback, but he was also bad the week before. So even on performance alone, you're like, who's this number two? I don't care if it's a rookie or not.

He hasn't thrown for 150 yards. He played, what, five games? And here's the thing. I talked to folks who are in it, and they've been like, just wait, Drake Mays, he's been getting better and better. Like lighting it up on scout team, and then really good this week in practice, to the point where they're like, all right, he's ready,

but to your point, why not roll him out last week? What's the difference of seven days? Perfect game, Larry. It would have been perfect. This Miami team that's about to roll over for the season, it looks like, who has lost a bunch of dudes on defense. It's the spot to put him so that he can be ready for this Houston game. I think this, and now we're going to London the week after.

I just, it just makes me think they don't know what they're doing. His whole, because I asked folks in New England, like, so tell me about Drake May. They're like, all right, not the loudest guy, but like one of those just the dudes everyone loves. Everyone loves. Comes from a sports family. When he signed his contract with the Patriots, he flew in all three of his brothers.

They all were there. And his girlfriend from the seventh grade. From seventh grade was there, which is cool. Like, and he's like, this is my team. This is my crew. He's 21 years old. I love him. And like, they love him.

I think they didn't want to rush it, but then in the same breath, all right, so Bo Nicks lost a couple games early on. Bo Nicks is then in the same breath. All right So bone next lost a couple games early on bone X is set. He's good All right, so Caleb looked a little rusty the first two weeks Caleb looks great Well, what are the rookie quarterbacks are like eight and one last two weeks? Yeah last three weeks and it's all right So take your bruises. You're not winning the Super Bowl So there's this argument and I would go back and find everyone on all the morning shows ours first take whatever else and all the pods after two weeks.

Like, you know, why do we... These quarterbacks need time to develop and they need time. Like, they shouldn't be thrown in. That's why Caleb's struggling. And it's like two weeks later, like, no, they're good. They're fine. Like, they figured it out. Like, it's okay. That's what the standard is now. Yes, it's ideal to have Patrick Mahomes behind Alex Smith. But no one's thinking, wow, if only Jaden Daniels

could have backed up Marcus Mariota a few games. How much better would he be? Throw him into the fire. Well, he's also, what, two and a half, three years older than Drake May? Yes, and he played 55 games in college. Right. Caleb, so that's a situation thing,

which brings me back to how stupid it was not to play Drake against Miami, which I was calling for all week. Caleb's going against the Rams, who were super banged up. Totally, at home. And then Carolina, the week after, who probably has, if it's not the worst defense in the league, it's one of the three worst.

And then Jacksonville and London. Right. That's three possible wins. Let's go pick those up. But Carolina, I think, had the worst pass rush pressure. All the stats were the worst in the league. And he threw for 300 yards, first time a Bears quarterback done that.

If you watch Caleb the first two weeks, he was under siege. No doubt. And rolling out, making mistakes, but now he has his sea legs. And I just feel like Drake would have had that last week. I didn't think Miami was good in that game. But it was just because Brissette's so limited. So that's it. I mean, Brissette's been bad for two, three years.

And now Drake May's in, and you see what happens. And Drake May's in a week late, and most of it happens. And guess what? But here's what I would also argue, and this is no offense to, you name the program. Like, every, okay, so fine, if he doesn't play against the Texans

because we're so scared of, you know, well, they've got Daniel Hunter, and they've got this great pass rush, and how are we gonna put him out there to get eaten alive by that? D'Amico Ryan's even the next week whoever it is. They've got this guy and they've got Jeffrey Simmons on Tennessee Yeah, there's no cupcakes in the NFL like you're gonna get fed to the wolves no matter what might as well throw them out You think so? I do. Okay. I think they're really bad. It was the perfect time to play him

I may oh has been bad as a game management, like, decision coach. He's been not good. Yeah. Yeah. Like, you look back, they easily could've won the Seattle game. Yeah. And part of it was strategy stuff

in fourth quarter and overtime. The Niners game was sitting there. The Niners are dying to give away every game to anybody. Especially in the late in the fourth quarter. And then the Miami game was ridiculous. Even going for it on fourth and 15, it was under two minutes, but they weren't going to make a fourth and 15 with Percet. There's zero chance.

Kick a field goal, you have three timeouts, get a stop. But if that touchdown is called a touchdown, and the guys feed her. You know why it was a touchdown? Because he threw it too high. Because he threw up your Percet. That was a great play by Polk. That was great. I do think Polk is the guy that I think is gonna be unleashed.

He's pretty good, man. He's, you know, the other team, all he can do is just run outs with Brissette. Like little nine yard outs or little slants. Now he can actually. Look, May's gonna throw a couple interceptions that are gonna be like, whoa, where was he even thinking? But that guy has a cannon.

Well, he's gonna run around too. And he can move. Now they're gonna be able to move. When your quarterback can't move, it's the fucking worst. And he... Brady couldn't move, but he could move. But Brady was great in the pocket. He could step around if he had to run six yards, he could. All right, last question.

Oh, you wanna do a Washington thing. Is Washington for real for you? I think so, yes. So you're in. Yes. The vibes there are so much the opposite of what you would consider in San Francisco before the season or in New England before the season. Even though it was positive, it was like, these guys, like, cliffing it.

You know I love the vibes report. This is my jam right there. I'm a vibes guy. I took it from you. I love the teammate quotes are my all-time favorite. Terry McLaurin was raving about this guy in May when he was on with Scott Van Pelt. Like, this guy's unbelievable.

That was in May. Yeah. Look, Cliff and I talk all the time and he can pump up his guy if he wants. He doesn't have to. He had Caleb last year. He liked Caleb. They don't even think Jaden Daniels has scratched the surface.

That he is that much of a leader and has an arm like no one expected and can move in the pocket. And I remember I talked to Andy Reid, and this is a tough comparison for anyone to go, but it was when Alex Smith was starting and I asked Andy Reid in a production meeting for Fox and I was like, well, what about Mahomes?

He's like, well, Mahomes, you know, I've had Vic, I've had Alex Smith, I've had McNabb. You lay it all out. He's like, I think Mahomes, you know, I've had Vic, I've had Alex Smith, I've had McNabb, you lay it all out. He's like, I think Mahomes might have a photographic memory. He sees things and it just, I don't need to drill it into him. He just sees the board and he gets it. And so I'm excited. I think there's an opportunity that he's gonna absolutely run with this thing

when the torch is passed. That's what Jaden Daniels, cerebrally, like, it mentally gets it. So the IQ is there, the ability is there. And then you've got the building that they built with Dan Quinn, who is the ultimate. And that might burn fat. Like, some guys might wear with that stuff. The Pete Carroll, Dan Quinn, always be competing, bringing in the Navy Seals, we're gonna shoot foul shots,

and the winner's gonna get a celebration. Like, Dan Quinn, every other word is a curse word. Everything is like, let's go, you know, beat the shit out of the other team. They had that one video in the locker room. He had like nine F-bots. He just had to basically believe everything he said. And it's great.

Like, that stuff is working. So you've got the right head coach. Cliff isn't like a great place right now. What I loved about Cliff was... Well, Cliff's your guy. He's my guy. I mean, this is like the perfect quarterback for him. It's unbelievable for him.

But also last year, he was in this year of, could have been a year of oblivion, as I reported when it happened on Fox, and it was legit. He took a one-way ticket to Thailand when he got fired by the Cardinals, and he's like, I'm gonna take some time. So last year, Lincoln Riley and him have a relationship. Lincoln Riley's like, will you come and work for us? You have an opportunity to work for USC. He says, yes, on the premise that

I don't want to make a big salary from you, because I want the Cardinals to keep on paying me. I want to make a big salary from you because I want the Cardinals to keep on paying me. I want to make them feel that. Great. And also because I don't want to do a single recruiting trip. I don't want to deal with NIL. I don't want to have to talk to any of the parents. Like, I just want to be in the lab and work with this kid, Caleb Williams, and drop ball. So he spent the year, it was almost like a year of sabbatical,

but also coaching Caleb, drawing up plays, watching film, and to not have the responsibilities of, all right, I got to convince this kid to come here. So he got his QB Coach mojo back. No doubt. And then he gets this kid Jayden, and it's like, originally, their plan, and Adam Peters is the man, who's their new GM, came from San Francisco, but was with Denver, New England.

Their plan was, let's get one of the rookie quarterbacks. Ideally, it's gonna be Jaden. If it's not, maybe Drake may beat him out in the draft process, fine. Jaden was the guy. And let's surround him with, like, really good veteran dudes. So, Zach Ertz. Yeah. Austin Eckler.

Bobby Wagner. Frankie Luvo. And then, they wanted Darnold at first. I know they entertained Darnold to be the... Then Darnold got paid a ton of money to come to the Vikings. So it's like, all right, Mariota's a great dude. And he was the number two overall pick. And he was a Heisman winner.

And he's been through everything. Let's have him in the building. So like, it's this amazing quarterback, this young guy, but surrounding him with the right veteran leaders and the right voices and the right coaching staff, everything has clicked. And I think they're not even... They haven't even unleashed Jaden

to do what he can do athletically yet. But nobody doubted the talent. It was a durability thing with him. That was what I was worried. Fair, and that's still my- As you know, I threw myself into that draft and it was like, he clearly has talent, he's older. No doubt.

And I'm really worried he's gonna get hurt. And when I watch him, even now, lighting it up, I'm still worried. He was going against, you know, some shit defenses. Yeah, this is the first big test. Yeah, they put up 114 points against Cincy Arizona in Cleveland. I don't think Myles Garrett was in that game, right? Or if he was, he was hurt.

I think he was there. Or he was limping around. Maybe. I don't know. I think he played. But their offense, their third down, his first four games in his career. ...completion percentage, his first... He's insane. ...first down is their second. Like, the ball doesn't really touch the field with him.

No, and they throw it with, you know, it's the snap count, and then they go snap, and then it's two seconds out of his hands. And it's all just this fast stuff. Now, here's the crazy thing. His first four games as a pro, completion percentage, were better than any four-game span that Drew Brees, Tom Brady, or Peyton Manning had in their entire careers. His first four games out of the game. But it's not like he's dinking Duncan.

No, no, no. He takes shots. He's going down, he'll go down field. Yeah, he's just accurate. And he's had moments. That Cincinnati game. It's a big victory lap for Van Lathan. He's been calling this for a year.

He has. He's been big on LCU. He's been on Brian Thomas too. He was like, this guy's fucking amazing. Yeah, he was like, both these guys are going to be amazing. They're playing a- Baltimore, amazing game. They're playing Baltimore,

and Baltimore is 29th against the pass, and it just feels like a nice spot for them. They're not gonna be able to run the ball in Baltimore anyway, probably. No, Burrow just threw for 392 and five touchdowns. Those guys were open the whole game, and they were just touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown.

All right, we'll get back to that, because I'm keeping you for million dollar picks. Last question. The five best teams in the league right now. Ooh, power rankings. We know it's KC is one. They have to be. Even with fucking Jujusha Schuster,

the Pats wave them like August 9th. They're like, this guy's watching. Seven catches on eight targets. KC has to be one. I think Detroit has to be two. Fair. Because of how good their offense is. Well, we just saw the offense for the first time last week.

Like that's the offense we wanted to see. But the thing is, they hadn't done anything the first four weeks. Their last game was when they exploded and it was like, all right, that's the team. But they were kind of showing us the, I mean, they ran like 155 plays. No doubt. They just, something wasn't, And then finally they figured it out. Yeah. But I always believed in the infrastructure.

So they have to be two. Is Minnesota three? Vikings fans are very sensitive because they're not getting their flowers. They still think... Well, they've had two games in a row where they built up a lead and then held on. And Darnold, who I don't know if he got hurt in the first quarter, but he was genuinely bad for the last two hours. I think he got hurt. Jets game, yeah, yeah.

Even so, like the- Announcements didn't bring it up. You have thoughts of Sam Darnold in his previous stops and it's like hard for you as a mentally capable fan watching football to be like, yep, Sam Darnold is great. Like you've seen Sam Darnold do the dip. So everyone's just kind of waiting and seeing. They get the bottom of this.

When a guy's rolling around and being helped off and then comes back in and his sailing passes, my instinct is he might be hurt. But did not come up during the broadcast. I have them three, at a respect to the five and they're in the defense. And the fact that they built big leads in, I think every game.

I think they've been up double digits in every game they've played. Baltimore, I don't feel awesome about it, but I think they have to be four, even though I think you can throw on them, and it's gonna be a real problem for them at some point. The Baltimore we saw against Buffalo is the best team in all of football right now,

both sides of the ball. Unfortunately, they haven't put that together in all of football right now. Both sides of the ball. Unfortunately, they haven't put that together in any of these games. Like, the offense wasn't clicking in the first half. That's a good point. That game they played, so that game they played was probably the best game anyone played this season. 100%. Yeah, I agree with that.

On prime time, and it was unstoppable with Derek Henry from an 87 yard run to the start to the rest. And then last week, the offense didn't stop, but then all of a sudden, Zach Gore, 32 year old defensive coordinator, there's questions and now they're bringing in Dean Pease, who's been with the Patriots and with their like a little help here because it can't be our Achilles heel.

This is the Ravens. We can't be giving up that many yards on offense. Well, my question is, maybe if you have two good receivers, they're just not gonna be able to cover them. So do you go and get Devonte Adams? If you're who? If you're the Baltimore Ravens.

If you think you're good and your offense is going to score a lot of points, but your defense might not. I would get a D back. I don't think they need a receiver. Because that's the take. It's like they're playing great offense. Can I give a take? I don't know if I've given my Devonte Adams take.

I'll go with that camera. Let's go. He's washed. A take. He's washed. Ooh. A take. He's washed. I think he's also... I don't think he had opened anymore. Where are the plays of him wide open?

He hasn't played. He's got the hamstring injury. He wasn't... There was like two plays last year where he was opening. The Netflix thing was like, I'm so tired of this. They had this amazing win two weeks ago, and everyone in the building is feeling good. They're two and two.

He comes in on Monday, and he sits down with Antonio Pearson. He's like, I want to be traded to a contender. And it's like, what? Yeah, we're two and two. We're paying you a ton of money. What? So I think in his head,

maybe his agent's head and all the media that covers it, like there was going to be a line 40 deep for his services. Well then the reports were 24 to 48 hours into this week. He'll be traded to the Jets. Well, that hasn't happened. We're now on Thursday. It's like a fourth round pick for him, right? Cause you got to take the money.

Well, I think they want a second round if you're going to even get it. There's no way. No one's trading a second round pick for a 32 year old receiver. You have to pay $13 million the rest of the way. I it's weird. We don't think of football like in basketball. We're always using the history as a track record. Yeah And in football, it's like once a receiver is about to hit their that 33 to 36 range. I'm out

It's really like prove to me. You can still be good at that point You know, it's like point guards in the NBA when they hit like 35 It's like I'm year to year with you from this point out. We have no track record. No doubt you look at like Julio Jones is bouncing around the last four years of his career. He's still one of the greatest ever. Julio Jones is a good example. But, like, I don't think Adams is at that point yet. I think he still has a couple years of great football

and would be a top-ten wide receiver. Great top-ten wide receiver. At that number, no, yeah. I don't see that at all. He's been good. I mean, he even had 113 yards or something against the Ravens back then. I always thought he was, like, he was never totally open, but always just enough and could catch anything.

Well, the excuse was, Jimmy G couldn't hit him, and then Aiden O'Connell's another guy, so he still hasn't had that opportunity with whoever the quarterback is. No, but are you comparing him with somebody like Nikko Collins? Like, that dude's fucking wide open four times a game. No doubt, no doubt.

Although now he's hurt. All right, so Baltimore four. I think they need to get a cornerback. I don't know, what's the trade deadline? Week eight, week nine? Yeah, a couple weeks. After Halloween, I think. So for the fifth spot, the nominees are,

I'll go, I'll scatter it around. You could talk me into Washington. You could talk me into Buffalo. I wouldn't be happy about it. You could talk me into the two and three Niners Talk me into Green Bay or Houston. Okay, and I have a team that I have in the five spot But that that's how I would say Houston. So I have Houston is my number five complete all three facets They had one bad loss to a Viking team that came in and just it was red hot whatever They had one bad loss to a Vikings team that came in and just it was red hot whatever

But when you say complete they can't block no, but they've been Mixing hurt right and mixing so can't acres is not gonna say they're not the Houston team that maybe they're gonna be in week 11 and I was skeptical on the Texans this year I thought that they would take a step back at the book was out on them and a little bit of it was Alright, you bring in digs and Hunter and the whole deal, we're gonna do flips. And they have proven me wrong. I think they're very good. So I was not skeptical.

And I'm over committed on Texans futures. Stroud's been amazing. He's unbelievable. Stroud was so good last week. And I don't even think like they can't block. Collins got hurt with like two hours left in that game the other day. But Stroud has over and over again been able to make a play when they need to.

Fourth quarter. And he's like Landoor. He doesn't even celebrate. He's been the best quarterback in the league, right? So this is a good debate. I mean, Daniel as you could say, but I want to see him against a really good team. As an avid listener, no one loves doing MVP talk in October more than you. I don't want to do the MVP talk. I'm just saying like... But quarterback Lamar has been unbelievable. Mahomes has been very good.

Lamar has been really good. You're right. Daniels and Stroud. Those are your four. Daniels has been so good. Yeah, it's probably Lamar 1A, Stroud 1B. I just feel like Stroud's doing more with less. He's had no running game at all. Yeah, I know.

He got what? He didn't have Collins for the last two hours of the last game. And then dig stepped up last week. He did. Catches 80 yards. Everyone's like, what's it going to be? Dangerous spot with the Pats this week. The let down game. It's there. There's seven point favorites.

Yeah. Right. That's been the seven and up has been the death number for every favorite this year. Drake, May 1st game, the Pats fans who were like for every favorite this year. Drake May first game. The Pats fans who were like, completely out on this team. Now there's like Drake May buzz that beyond the way... Nothing to lose. Yeah. Like if I tell Kyle, you're not invited for Drake May's first game,

I honestly think that would be it. I don't know if he'd ever talk to me again. Yeah. Okay. But instead I'm gonna tell him, Joe House is gonna be there and I'm making my mom cook, Kyle. You'll be back? Yeah, my mom's cooking for Drake May's first game. So we have Houston fifth, but I don't feel great about it.

I think Green Bay. I was at that game last week. That was a gritty win for them. Green Bay's. Lots of Rams, Packers. I could see them stealing a spot at some point, but at the same time, I don't know why that game was so hard to win.

It was a hard fought, tough win. They threw the game away with the pick six, and someone was like, well, actually a good play by Love. I don't know. That was a bad loss. If they had lost that, they found a way to win. I think that's important. Like, find a way to win. That's good. And the Rams might be done. They're one and four. I don't know.

That goose might be cooked. They should be on five. That was a crazy win against San Francisco. If that fake punt doesn't work, they're on five. Yeah. Sometimes it's not your year. You know, when you have a team built around two star receivers and neither of them play, it might not be your year.

I know. You don't think there's, oh, every time you get aggregated, every time you have a Rams opinion. I think- There's no Stafford trade possibilities, are there? I don't think so. No. I, bye week. Let's see. They come out of this thing, but staff. When is the bye week? Right now. This week. Oh yeah. You're right. Stafford and cup are two names

that you keep coming up and seeing. I think McVeigh is committed to both of those guys for this season. We'll see if the, if the winds of change occur, if there's more losses on the docket. Well, Stafford also like... They won a Super Bowl. They did it. So when you win a Super Bowl, that makes all of these decisions a lot easier.

And I look at the cup thing, because I said it on somewhere. I said, you know, when the Chiefs were looking for a seer, I'm like, you should call about cups. Everyone thought I was like McVeigh's voice box saying, someone ask about cup. I'm just looking you should call about Cupps. Everyone thought I was like, McVeigh's voice box saying, someone ask about Cupp. I'm just looking at the money that Cooper Cupp is making. The guy can still play.

And if there's so many teams that are wide receiver hungry, whether it be the Kansas City Chiefs, who are relying on Juju and Justin Watson right now, or the Buffalo Bills, who look at themselves as a Super Bowl contender, but have Kion Coleman and, you know, Mack Hollins. I kind of like Kion Coleman. I do too, but he's a rookie.

It falls apart when it's Mac Collins running 40 yard. No doubt, and it's like, if you're Washington, and you're like, wait, we're better than we thought, but it's Terry McLaurin and Dianne Brown, Cooper Cup fills a lot of holes. I was thinking about Washington for Cooper Cup. It'd be great. Yeah.

So, Cooper Cup, they're not, he's not on the trade block by any means, but like, I'm just thinking as a- You can't rule out Dallas as a weight. What did Dallas do? No doubt. No doubt. You know?

Would you rather Devontae Adams or Cooper Cup right now? 100% Cooper Cup. It's not even close. Yeah. If you're the Steelers and you wanted Brandon Iuke, but you couldn't land Brandon Iuke at the end of the day, like, is Cooper Cup midseason for a second round pick not a great offer? I'm glad you brought them up,

because that's the team that needs a receiver. No doubt. You watch that offense. Because Pickens took last week off. And by the way, I pick them every week, a billion dollar picks, not picking them this week, because I was horrified by Pickens. And his locker room stuff is like, well, that's the game plan.

He's not like a thrilled guy. No. That's your number one? Yeah, but as Craig Korolek said, Tomlin just doesn't like nice things. He can't even feel until he's near 500. He's gotta get back to the mean. Yeah, he's gotta get back to the mean.

There are too many games above 500. We had to, yeah. All right, we're gonna take one more break and then do million dollar picks. Let's do it. All right, we're then do million dollar picks. Let's do it. All right. We're gonna do million dollar picks for week six. We actually got kind of worked last week. We lost $595,000 and I still feel good about all the picks.

I gotta be honest. Down 398 for the season. That's not why House isn't on this week. I'm in New York City. It's just easier to do this all at once. But yeah, we had the Packers over 26 and a half. I wanted to take the Packers just to win. They somehow only scored 24 against the Rams, but they won.

We had the Steelers. All they have to do is just stop Dallas on the last drive of the game. Somehow Dallas goes 15. So I kinda like the picks, but. By the way, I wanna give you credit. You and Sal, that was amazing that you guys stayed up to the last snap on that game. Somehow Dallas goes 15. So I kind of like the picks, but... By the way, I want to give you credit. You and Sal, that was amazing that you guys stayed up to the last stop on that one. Oh my God.

I had to get up early the next day to take the Acela. I was like, how is he doing this? I'm like, how? I was like, how am I doing this? Heroic. I'm old. So Million Dollar Picks, I actually kind of like this week. I want to go through some of the games.

And I'll give you veto power if something horrifies you. The first one is the Bears in London. And this would violate a don't bet on the London game. You've always said that. We did win the vikes. We won the vikes last week though. Okay. Against the Jets had to sweat it out, but the Bears are only one and a half in

London against the Jags favorites. So the thing- I'll give you a little wrinkle here. Well, the things that worry me about the Jags, they might've found something with Bigsby. Oh, Tank is good. And ETN's hurt, and I don't know if he's playing or not, but Bigsby's like, I know he's a big Kyle Bran, angry runs guy, but.

So the fear of going against them is that he's given them an identity, Lawrence is three and one in London. I'm willing to just punt on this, but what do you think about this game? Little stuff that may play into a point spread change or whatever. The bears got out there yesterday. They're settled. They're ready to go.

They're going to play. They've got all their fans there. Peanut Tillman's there doing a fan rally, the whole thing. Jaguars were supposed to fly out today. It's like delayed several hours because of the hurricane, all sorts of travel issues, and they've got to be there for two straight weeks. So I don't know how that plays into it,

but all they do is talk about body rhythm and everything needs to be set hour to hour on these London trips, and it's been, you know, sleep science experts, and they had a nice little curveball to start their two-week saunder to London. So I don't know if that helps Jaguars at all. Well, the question for me is, the Jags have the Pats next week.

Could the Jags be three and four leaving London, and we're all back in on the Jags? It's possible. Could the Jags be one and six leaving London? And it's like... And guess who's not getting on the plane with the Jags? Doug Peterson. I just don't know what to expect.

Here's the thing with the Bears. Defense has been like shockingly good. They've got good players on defense. Have you heard about this thing called Havoc Rate? No, what is Havoc Rate? Havoc Rate is the- I shouldn't laugh at it. I know it's probably being used by the teams and I sound like a dismissive Havoc Rate.

So as you know- Whose thing is it? As you know, there's some, I'm not a win probability guy. There's some stupid ones. This is Warren Sharpe had this actually. Shout out to Warren. Did he create it or he takes it from someone else? I just saw it on his Twitter feed. But rate of plays for sacks, forced fumbles, interceptions, TFLs and PBUs.

So it's opportunistic to capitalize on the opportunities. Yeah. Good defensive things. Yeah good defensive things Additive defensive. Okay, our top five is the Giants. All right, the Browns which shocked me. Okay Vikings 49ers bears. Okay number five and that kind of backs up what I'm watching with the eye test Like they're better in the second half than the first half I think they're like plus 31 in the second half. And it feels like they're getting a little bit better each week. I don't know if that's competition or not, but, um, I, one of the things I love about this for them is the Jags defense.

32nd against the pass. Yeah. I mean, they just 31st yards per play. 24 straight. 31st turnovers. They're 30th on third down. It's like another nice Caleb spot. So I wonder if this is like one more awesome Caleb week

followed by... The NFC North schedule coming up. Yeah. Yeah. So you like Bears minus one half. Let's do it. Okay. Jaguars are historically good in London

with Trevor Lawrence though. That's the only thing, but I don't know, man. Be fun to root for. Let's go, Bears. So there's one other one that I kind of like for this. The Jaguars first half, Chicago for the game is plus 750. Oh wow, so Jaguars are leading and then the Bears come back. And then the Bears come back.

I'm not gonna do it, but that jumped out to me. All right, next one, Lions minus three in Dallas. Okay, Lions have not won in Dallas since 2011. Seven straight Cowboys wins. And the Lions are a little bit public. No Lawrence. Yep. Parsons maybe.

Iffy. Even if they have him, he's... Dallas, this is a weird one. Dallas is second passing, 31st running. Detroit's 27th against the pass, fourth against the run. So you could say that's good for Dallas or that's terrible for Dallas. I just think they're gonna throw the whole time.

That guy, Jalen Tolbert, got picked up in every fancy league. He was really good. By the way, that touchdown catch he made was a great catch. Fourth down. Detroit sixth running. Dallas' defense is 24th against the run. Here's where I've landed on this one.

So Dallas gave up 72 to New Orleans and Baltimore. It was nuts. And then they gave up 49 to Cleveland, New Orleans or Cleveland, Pittsburgh and the Giants. Yeah. Those are bad offenses. I think if you have a good offense, you could move the ball up and down all day on Dallas. Yeah. Mike Zimmer, after like four weeks, we're like, what the hell is this? And then they put the clamps on the Giants and the Steelers in their buildings.

I like the fact they did it in the road. But you're right. There's so many injuries. You're banking on guys that we're not familiar with. Even Sal was like, I don't know who half these dudes are. So they go against the Steelers who, Najee Harrison, that's it. They have the fourth string guy is getting reps for them. Pickens and that's it. Fryermuth over the middle, that's it.

There's a two hour lightning delay or whatever. It was a fluky game. And I think this line should be higher. I think the Lions played an awesome game the last time we saw them. Yeah. And it's like, this is what they expected to be. Their offense was pouring it on and they got the buy.

They got healthy. I like the Lions. They can probably top three or four offensive line. No doubt. Probably top three or four weapons. 100%. It's indoors. I really like the Lions. I just think this line should be like Lions by four and a half.

The only thing that scares me is it's too obvious. Maybe Dak keeps the Cowboys around. Maybe he's just flinging the ball. He was great on Sunday night. He was. When it mattered. He did have turnovers in the fumble and the whole thing. True.

Good point. Washington is plus six and a half. Is this the game of the week or do you go Dallas, Detroit? What game are you more excited for? Baltimore, Washington? I'm more excited for Washington Ravens, because I think it could be... And it's funny, the over is over 50, which is always a red flag. That means everyone's assuming it's going to be 37, 34,

and it probably won't be. I had an interesting conversation with Scott Van Pelt of ESPN, because he's like this DC man. I said, is this a rivalry game or not? And I'd love to hear House's thoughts. Like, it's not at all a rivalry. It should be a rivalry. It's not at all a rivalry.

The two franchises have only played seven times. Yeah, they've never really been good at the same time. And like, cults fans from the Baltimore years of the cults, like, maybe had issues with the Reds. That's from the 80s and the 70s. So like, this whole battle of the belt way, like, maybe had issues with the Reds. That's from the 80s and the 70s. So, like, this whole battle of the Beltway, yeah, sure. But it's not like this, like, rich rivalry between the two franchises.

Right. Well, Baltimore's defense gave up 90 against Mahomes, Dack, and Burrow. I know. But then you could say, well, they only give up 10 to Josh Allen. That was a weird game. And I'm not sure the Bills are meant to play from behind

like that with the receivers They have that again. That's the best I've seen any team play on something. They just blew them out Do they bring that version or are they the version that Joe burrow and Jamar chase are going for 200? Ravens defense Wofl 31st against the pass. They've given up 25.2 points a game bottom eight in the red zone. Good against the run. I'm not sure that matters with Washington.

So the question for me is, could Washington win the game? I think they could. Yes. If Washington's down double figures in the second half, could they get a garbage time touchdown? Yes. I don't know why this line's six and a half. Is it six and a half? I think it's just the experience and the lack of competition against Washington

No one's seen the commanders haven't played a powerhouse team yet. So the flip side is it's like the Casey New Orleans game on Monday night We're like that's too many points. I'm taking New Orleans and then Casey's like we're just gonna Yes, Casey the shit out of this thing. They're playing amazing, right? Yeah So could they be up 10 they have the ball and they have an eight minute drive to close the game? Sure. But I think Washington could win the game, and I think it's too many points. I think it's gonna be a fun game.

I think it's gonna be close. Feels like a three point game. I think it's gonna be close. Next one is Chargers Broncos. This is in Denver. We should mention you love Champagne. I said it before the season on this podcast. I said, I don't know how,

I don't know where it's coming from, they're a playoff team. I got mocked after they were 0-2. They look horrible against the Jets on offense. So I didn't realize that Vance Joseph's defense was gonna be like the 76 Steelers. They're the best defense in football right now. And Sir Tan and this Riley Moss

might be the best cornerback duo. They're unbelievable. And however they make it work, they figure it out. Denver, they're legit. Opponents third yards per play. That's how good Denver's been. Yeah. Their offense scored 15 points against Pittsburgh in the Jets combined. I know. But it's getting bad. I mean, any rookie quarterback getting better?

Harbaugh off a bye. Okay. I mean, any rookie quarterback getting better? Harbaugh off a bye. Chargers team that in week four just had a shitload of injuries. Missing both tackles. James was suspended. Herbert was hurt. It had a shot. I was at that game too. And they hung around. Fourth quarter they go for it.

The fourth down, which it was 10-10. They didn't need to. And then the Chief snuck one out of there. So the Chargers are favored by two and a half in this game. And the instinct would be like, Denver's, I gotta take the home dog. I really like the Chargers. Do you?

I do. Here's why. Herbert, best player in the field. It's gonna be ugly, 10-10, 10-7, 13-10. But I'm willing to be talked out of it. Yeah, I just think that defense is outstanding right now, and Knicks is getting better every week, and I feel like there's a good vibe and good juice with the Broncos,

and they're playing at home. Right. Yeah. So you would stay away. I would stay away. But what do I know? You know what's interesting? That's not for my analysis.

No, but you know what's interesting about this one? The defense is so good. And like, Lad McConkey had one of the great touchdown catches of the year against the Chiefs in the back of the end. And then they totally forgot to go to him. And it's like, I don't know if they're utilizing Herbert even in a way that's beneficial because he hasn't had this, I thought with Harbaugh, it was going to be this way. Well, Palmer was hurt.

Palmer was hurt. Now Palmer's back. Sure. Yeah. I don't know. I'm waiting to see this Greg Roman Harbaugh offense that everyone's marveling about. Down. Down on that. Down on the Chargers. Can I give you the LA defensive stats?

Yes. They've allowed 50 points total this season. They're very good. Against Vegas, Carolina, Pittsburgh, and KC. So why is Denver going to move the ball on them at all? They might not. They might not. I think their defense is very opportunistic and they'll do what they've done all season.

I like it at minus two and a half, I don't like it at minus three. And I think this Denver team, if we're just gonna go backwards, the Jets game was absolutely stupid. The weather was awful, and they played like shit, and if the Jets just make a field goal, they lose. And last week they're down 10-nothing to the Raiders early,

and then Sertan gets the pick six. And Minshew throws just a field goal, they lose. And last week they're down 10-nothing to the Raiders early and then Sertan gets the pick six. And Minshew throws just a horrible pat, running to his left, just wings it, loses his job. So now I have to be excited about Denver. Maybe this is the week they come back to the, yeah, sure. I might do it, I might not listen to you. Sean Payton I trust.

I know you try. Dan's Joseph I trust. I have the Broncos over, I'm also in on Sean Payton, but they were over five and a half wins. How great do those uniforms look? Great. Love those old school unis. It was funny when everyone misidentified the 70s Broncos thing as a John Elway. It's like, come on, guys.

I know I'm old, but come on, guys. You're right. It was a 77 team they were on and everyone's like, oh, see that water. I'm like, no, let's see that water, guys. Let's do better. Just quickly, see that water. I'm like, no, I'm gonna see that water, guys. Let's do better. Just quickly, Colts Titans. Colts favorites still, one and a half in Tennessee. Stay away. It's a stay away.

I have a UFC South, I have no idea. How about both Souths are stay away? So stay away, all of them. This line didn't add up to me, though. What's the Saints, Spencer Rattler, what do we got with that one? Well, that's coming. But Pittman's out. Yeah.

Flacco. They came back. They did what they do. They come all the way back, but they won that game, and then they didn't. That didn't make sense. They were almost going to win that game, but they couldn't put it away. You're not going to believe I like this one, but Giants plus three and a half against Sensi.

Bengals. Yeah. The Giants start out. They half against Cincy. The Bengals, yeah. The Giants start out, they lose 28-6 to Minnesota. They lose by three to Washington, a game that they probably went with a field goal kicker. And you look back and you're like, pretty good game. Graham Gano gets hurt on a kickoff. They beat the Browns 21-15, but it was really 28-15. Singletary was going in for a touchdown and fell down. So that was a blowout.

That was the neighbors game. He went nuts. They lose to Dallas, 20-15 on a Thursday night in a game they usually could have won. Neighbors gets concussed right at the end. And they played fucking awesome. They were so good against the Adelaide. Against the Seahawks.

So good. And now they're playing the Cincy team that, remember the Havoc rate from before? Tell me what- 30 seconds. They suck at havoc. Terrible havoc rate. Terrible at havoc.

And then, you know, Giants defense. Yeah, the Tibbado stuff is concerning. Neighbors are not sure what he's going to do. But Dexter Lawrence is playing as good as any defensive player in football this year. They're in the top half of the league. Shane Bowen, that's the offensive coordinator. Scoring third down, first down, passing yards. He's not getting buzz yet as a head coach.

Shane Bowen, the defense for the Giants has been outstanding this year. The Bengals defense, literally to everything, is bottom three. It's so confounding. It's a lot of the same guys. Luan Arumbo is a great defensive coach. Like, it doesn't make sense. And they cannot stop anything. They have no players. So 30th rushing, 30th against Rush.

I feel like the Giants, I don't know. Tyrone Tracy. This line feels a point too high to me and I like the Giants. It's funny. It's like we freak out. They lost 28-6 at home. They got booed in their home opener. And it turned out Minnesota, we had them number three in our list. And Minnesota's 5-0 and like a very good team. And Van Ginkle's doing pick sixes against the Jets also.

And if the Giants come out of this thing and they're three wins and four losses, it's like, all right, they're a good team. They're fine. And Dimes. Looked good the last two weeks. It's been pretty consistent. Dimes is back. I'm buying Dimes stock.

I'm happy for Dimes. I have one more that I like, but we're staying away from Steelers, Raiders, Texans, Pats, the NFC South, the two Falcons, Panthers, Bucks, Saints. I'm out. Yeah. Did you see Carter Rattler swung the line by six points? Seemed aggressive. It seemed like a lot.

Are we sure he, Carr is worth six points to a spread? No doubt. Yeah, I was surprised. Bucks minus three and a half in New Orleans, that's a fucking stay away. But the Bucks have been there since Monday. Bucks flew out because of the hurricane. I talked to my friend who works for the Bucks, I'm like, is your house all right in Tampa? He's like, I think so.

He's like, I'm currently at Davin Buster's for the third straight day with my kids in New Orleans. Like that's like a full camping trip they're on. Eagles minus eight and a half. For now, it's up to nine and a half against Cleveland. I'm staying away. Philly should not be favored by that many against anything. Do they rally?

I don't know. And Packers Cardinals. That's a fun game. It's in the Vegas zone. It's five and a half a mile. I don't, I don't know and Packers Cardinals. That's a fun game. It's in the Vegas own. It's five and a half a man Yeah, I don't I don't trust either team. So then the last game we we started the podcast with bills jets jets plus two and a half Are you around Monday? Come with me to that. Let's go to that. I'm long gone The only thing that scares me about this is What scares me about this is, well really nothing. New coach theory, but the Buffalo's defense, they suck against the run and the Jets are

last against the run. But that makes me think, for the Jets, this is the week they get the run game running. And Downing's coming in, he's going to make a statement. It's going to be, we're going to show you that we still have a great running game. And like, I have these two running backs, we're going to use them. So would you go plus two and a half or would you just do Jets money line plus 120? I'll do the latter. I think the Jets are gonna win.

Okay. I might add that. Again, narrative guy. I really like the plus two. It's not my money. Plus two and a half though, I'm getting two extra points. Last thing before we do million dollar picks, just gonna throw this at you.

They have a little 30% profit boost token for a touchdown. All right. Anytime touchdown in a game. Terry McLaurin plus 170. What are your thoughts? I like it. Who would you go for a touchdown if not him? Anyone in the league?

Yeah. Tucker Kraft. Tucker Kraft? Against the Cardinals. Let's look up our guy. Jordan Love's guy. Let's look up our guy, Tucker Kraft. Jordan Love went to him in every big moment last week. Tucker Kraft.

Only two to one. Everyone thinks there's been terrible odds. There's been terrible odds. Action. All right, back to McLaurin. All right, McLaurin. So we'll throw a little on him plus 170. All right.

Filling in for Joe House this week, because we're in New York City. Our guy Peter Schrager. Let's go. So much success over the years. We have six million dollar picks. We are down $398,000 for the season. We're about to change that. Let's go.

We're putting $200,000 on the following. Bears minus one and a half in London against the Jags. You're believing in Caleb Williams. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I like it. You like the Bears? I like it. I also like Jags, weird travel stuff.

I don't like that. Okay. The C-Words getting six and a half against Baltimore. We think this is a three point game. They might win it outright. And even if it goes badly, cheap touchdown time. No doubt. Washington plus six and a half

This is the only one you didn't like so we'll see if you were right or wrong Chargers minus two and a half in Denver Here's my case. I just think Denver's offense will not be able to move the ball at all against the Chargers Harbaugh Payton coaches cancel out and I got Bo Nicks against Justin Herbert, and I think the Chargers need Harbaugh-Payton, coaches cancel out, and I got Bo Nicks against Justin Herbert. And I think the Chargers need the game. It's fair. Also, Broncos beat the Jets by one, and they win that stupid game last year. They played well.

Their defense is amazing. Gardner-Menschen was just whipping it to the other team. Lions-Cowboys, Lions minus three in Dallas. Sorry, Sal. I think this line's going to be four and a half by game time. We're grabbing it now. Lions off a bye. And then we're taking both New York teams because it's the week in New York sports.

No, it's also your week in New York. It's my week in New York, the Mets, the Yankees. The Liberty. The Liberty. It's going to be game one. The Knicks. Just great stuff happening. Giants plus three and a half against a Sensei defense that is potentially historically bad.

Which is shocking. And then Jets, we'll just take the points, the plus two and a half. Monday night against Buffalo. How does it feel to have a perfect slate? It feels incredible. Let's win 200,000 on all of those. Then last but not least, little fan duel profit boost token, 30%. Terry McLaurin.

Plus $170,000 to score in that crazy Baltimore-Washington game that we feel like, if it doesn't have a lot of points, we'll have fireworks. Yeah, it'll be fun. Yeah. Not a rivalry game. Those are the million dollar picks for week six. Peter Schrager. Man, that was fun. Man, we just did almost two hours.

It was great. And you did TV in the morning, didn't you? Yeah. How tired are you? Great, I love this. I'm energized. Do you feel the energy in New York though? Like I'm having, it's pretty great.

Not only the energy in New York, but the energy when we're face to face. I love this. This is so much fun. In person, it's so good. I feel like I'm on the Good Morning Football, which you've never invited me on. You wanna come on?

I was here all week. I coulda come on. You wanna come on? I coulda come on. I woulda worn a tank top for Kyle. I said exactly. Done a quick couple pushups and got it in there. It's good.

I don't know if you heard over the top, but some people were saying it for me and Kyle. It was probably our best bad movie that we've done. A lot of positive, a lot of bull hurly love. A lot of bull hurly love. That's fair. All right, Shregs, great to see you. Man, thank you for having me. Itly love. That's fair. All right, Shraggs, great to see you.

Man, thank you for having me. It was great. That's it for the podcast. Thanks to Peter Schrager. Thanks to Sean Fantasy. Thanks to Kyle Creighton and Steve Cerruti as well. I will see you on this podcast on Sunday. Don't forget about the rewatch.

We'll pull two guys up Monday night. Enjoy the weekend. See you on Sunday. Don't forget about the rewatchable's Poltergeist coming up Monday night. Enjoy the weekend. See you on Sunday. Must be 21 plus and president select states for Kansas and affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and president DC gambling problem. Call 100 gambler or visit rg-help.com call Call 1-887-897777 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here, visit Gambling Help Line, ma.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7 support in Massachusetts

or call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPENY in New York.