The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - Jets win a game, Fugazi Friday, Stuckey joins the pod

Episode Date: November 1, 2024

John is BACK reacting to a Halloween night matchup between Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets versus CJ Stroud’s Houston Texans in a second-half fire fight on Thursday Night Football. John explains why even though the New York Jets got a big win, with Davante Adams scoring a touchdown, it doesn’t mean much after a lackluster first half. Middlekauff goes in on why Rex Ryan is going to be the next Head Coach of the New York Jets, and breaks down the good, bad and ugly after a late-game thriller in Houston, TX. Then, John tees off on the perception of the NFL’s “quarterback development problem” and debunks the myth that young QBs aren’t living up to expectations in an ever-changing NFL. Next, John’s Halloween philosophy. Finally, another electric edition of Fugazi Friday. Lastly, John is joined by the Action Network gambling guru, Stuckey. 3:06 - Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams TURN IT ON vs. Texans in big W 9:44 - John Salutes the Jets Stout Pass Rush vs. CJ Stroud 13:10 - Is Davante Adams BACK?! 16:33 - Next up for the New York Jets… 17:52 - CJ Stroud, Houston Texans Offense in TROUBLE?! 22:46 - Debunking the myth of the NFL’s QB developmental “problem” 30:06 - John’s Halloween Philosophy 38:33 - Stuckey Interview Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel,

help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it.

Listen to The Clifford show on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 is big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it.

With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild. I mean, it was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.

Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. The volume. What is going on, everybody? Happy Fugazi Friday. Hopefully you had a good Halloween. The New York Jet. Let me say this. out loud.

The New York Jets have won a football game. Aaron Rogers, the Jets, DeVante, Gara Wilson, almost said they're champions. It felt like they're champions because they needed to win, scored 21 points in the second half, win a game at home, and they're champions. We'll just call them champions.

They were once favored to win the NFC or the AFC East, currently 3 and 6, but, you know, 3 and 6 better than 2 and 7. The Texans, they got some issues. Their path blocking is a problem, which is leading to CJ getting crushed and then not playing very well. So Domingo's a stud defensive coach. I think they got good defensive players, but obviously you've got some offensive wide receiver issues. You can't block.

You got no shot in this league. And right now he is getting crushed. So we'll dive into some numbers there. I want to talk a little bit about the development of quarterbacks because it's been such a polarizing topic with Richardson getting benched and all these other guys getting benched and traded and do have to hit on a

almost a Thanksgiving Halloween Fugazi which is whenever I hear stories about this I don't have kids yet so I'm not out trick or treating but someone mentioned this to me the other day and just made me sick. It really did and Stucky joins us as he does every Friday so we talk I mean we just end up talking for like an hour We're just talking ball, talking games, talking gambling.

Stucky knows his shit. So enjoy Stucky from the Action Network. Go give him a follow. He's got podcasts as well, big bets on campus. Love that guy. Other than that, yeah, make sure you subscribe to the podcast. If we're not on Collins feed, some days, some of you guys are listening. You subscribe to the Three and Out feed.

We're doing podcasts every single day. Make sure you subscribe as well as the YouTube channel. All the stuff is on the Three and Out feed and the Three and Out YouTube. channel. So go check that out. We're going to do some more golf. I got a bunch of equipment delivered. So over this fall, you know, it's 80 degrees where I live. So I'm going to play some golf with some people. We're going to have some more YouTube content. So go check that out. But before we dive in, I mean, hell, if you're a Jets fan, maybe your team goes on a little winning streak. Hey, if you live out in Scottsdale, I just check their next game at Arizona, which if Arizona beats the Bears, it'll be a pretty

big game. So I would imagine there'll be a lot of Jets fans there if you want to go to any game. College pro, any football game, the NBA is off and running. College basketball has to be right around the corner if it hasn't started already. You got the NHL off and running. Concerts. Every day on Instagram. I see someone at a concert having a good time. Well, you know, my friends, my partners, the official ticketing app of this podcast, Game Time, download that app because I'm telling you it's so easy to search. Price points are for, for any of your needs. You want to sit high,

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Download the GameTime app today, last-minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed. Let's, let's give the Jets a standing ovation. Come on. They won a game. The Jets won Aaron Rogers, Woody Johnson, Devante Adams scored a touchdown.

Jeff Ulbrick, Todd Downing, Hackett. I didn't even think I saw him the night. Fireman Ed, Halloween night, the Jets win a game. Gotta be honest, the first half I was jealous of everyone with children who are out and about trick-or-treating, not being forced to watch the Jets, not score a point, and you went,

are we, I don't know if I can do this again, just come on, be really negative. The Jets are dead, this franchise sucks, who are they going to hire? I keep texting everyone I know. Rex Ryan, like, I'm not jumping off that bandwagon. Rex Ryan is going to be the next head coach of the Jets. That's a strong, educated guess.

I do believe that. But right now, and has Herb Street now, like, they're not dead. It's like, guys, let's pump the brakes. They won a game. Let's just go the good, bad, and the ugly. I think the good if you're the Jets. Aaron Rogers is 40 years old, thoroughly outplayed C.J. Stroud. If you're just watching that game and you did nothing about football and you're just watching the two quarterbacks play,

clearly the best quarterback played for the Jets. He threw three second half touchdowns. And two of them, the Devante won and the second Garrett Wilson one. Second Garrett Wilson was I think 3 and 19 or 3 and 18, or 3 and 18. A little bit of a lollipop throw, incredible pass. But, you know, Aaron Trust's guy.

The touchdown to Devante, I mean, looked a little old school Packers. Third and three, just get the corner, Devante, give him a little stutter step, goes right around him, easy touchdown. Hit Garrett Wilson on just, to me, the one where Garrett makes the incredible play in the back of the end zone. I mean, Rogers gave him a chance,

but that is, like, on the pie chart of, like, quarterback, wide receiver credit. Like, I'm getting like 90% to Garrett Wilson. The first touchdown on the crosser, when Aaron's about to get smoked, that's just a high-level play. I mean, Garrett Wilson has two touchdowns tonight, and he didn't use his left hand. So great plays by him. You get Devante. He looked like he was ca-oed. It comes back in the game.

So an offense that I Googled it at halftime, they were 25th in the NFL coming into this week. in scoring, averaging like 18 points a game. They average like 10 points a game in the first half, which is like 18th. They didn't score a touchdown a night. So after the first half, you're like, I don't know if I could do it. And then Aaron Gaines a little life. I do think the overhyping of Breece Hall is an all-time like football nerd moment this offseason. When everyone was telling me you had to draft him number one in fantasy, he's going to be one of the best running.

He's a good player. but I think the best running back in this game was on the other team. But they get both those guys going. It takes a little pressure off them. Here's the one thing you'd say about Devante. A couple times when Aaron checks out of that run and hits them on those quick screens and they just get an easy 7, 8, 10 yards. Because Devante did have a bad drop early in the game.

And you just think to yourself, is it the jerseys? Is it the Jets jerseys doing it to these guys? And then he gets a little life in the second half. Garrett Wilson was just a man amongst boys with those two plays. And you're just like, okay, this is just, they played like a real team, at least offensively for moments. Now, like, is this a sustainable thing? I don't know. I mean, I think it's just reiterated when you watch him play, his movement ability.

The one thing, you know, CJ played a shitty game, but CJ can really move, especially in the West Coast, you know, Kyle Shanahan offense, a lot of play action getting him all. He's a really good athlete. Obviously, he's young and healthy. Well, I don't know for how long if he keeps getting hit like that. Every time Rogers takes a couple steps, he ain't going anywhere. So he's got to take you, take advantage in the pocket. He really needs the two wide receivers.

Luckily, as we saw tonight, I mean, Garrett Wilson's a pretty special talent. I mean, his second touchdown catch is they start showing the Beckham. That is an incredible catch. I mean, when the season is done, there can't be three or four better catches in that. And there's a chance that goes down as like one of the best catches, if not the best catch of the season. You got the two running backs. It is hard to play offensive football. When you have four offensive tackles on your offensive line, now it's not their fault. They got injuries. You're forced to put guys up there. Obviously, Barrett Tucker's out. You have your rookie starting or playing

a lot of left guard. He's a left tackle, which I give him a lot of credit for even trying, but I don't know if that's necessarily a winning formula over the course of games, especially depending on a matchup if you play a good team with two good defensive interior pass rushers. But the Texans, once Will Anderson got hurt, couldn't quite take advantage and get to Rogers. And even when they got close, he got rid of the ball quick. Like overall, especially the second half, that's Rogers' crowning achievement so far as a New York jet. By a country mile, to be honest with you. I mean, that half, if you're a Jets fan, was like, God, we've been waiting until Halloween for that.

You know, and it's, I will keep hammering this home. It is not what it used to be. Once Devante caught that ball, and that's like their 69th, I think, touchdown together, and they threw it back to 2021 the last time he threw a touchdown pass at Devante with the Packers. Like, that's a different player right there in 2021. but if they could just get more halves like that, like I just think at least you would have a chance in games. Because you've been watching some of these games, you're like, I don't know, man, this is just,

this is such smoke and mirrors. Even against the Patriots, I know they had a late lead, but I mean, the Patriots are one of the worst teams in the league. Short week, get a win, especially with all the bad juju there. They do have a bunch of injuries. I mean, sauce, it feels like goes down like every two or three series. and he hasn't really had a great season. But another bright spot tonight was, I mean, that pass rush was flying around. So one thing, like, their defense isn't as good.

You can run the ball on them with ease. I mean, any good running back is going for 100 on these guys. But if I can get you in passing situations, the thing we've heard, you know, the last couple years, even with their shitty quarterback play, is the Jets have a fantastic pass rush, not as good this year because they've lost depth and up until two weeks ago they hadn't had Redick and he was basically replacing Huff, who was an 11-sac guy.

But tonight, like, all their players were flying around and they sack CJ eight times, which we'll get into here in a minute, but that's not normally going to happen. But if they can consistently get pressure, like, yeah, they can be a lot more competitive because stopping the run is not going to be something they're going to be able to do.

I mean, I don't know if Will McDonald and Nissan Reddick are great run players. And beside Quinn and Williams, like, I will run the ball right at Kinlaw. And, you know, their D.Bs, I wouldn't exactly call, you know, Steve Atwater and John Lynch back there. But past defense is something the last couple of years they felt very confident about because they would get after your ass up front. And that was a point of differentiation for the franchise. Even when their offense was an embarrassment with the quarterback situation.

It was the pass rush with smother quarterbacks and their D.Bs can all cover. Obviously, Sauce, when he's healthy and playing. Well, it's high-end player. DJ Reed, excellent player. And so you got multiple high-end corners, which most teams have one good corner maybe. So if you can get back to that, I still think when you can't slow down the run, like, that is just a problem. And that's why you're going to, the other opponent, whether it's a good team,

the Texans or a bad team like the Patriots are going to be in games. I mean, in 10 days, they play Arizona. Well, what does Arizona have? They have James Connor, who is just like Joe Mixing. And they also have a quarterback who is way faster in CJ. And you saw a couple times CJ got to the edge, but his ankle's been banged up, but he's probably not quite as fast as if he was healthy. I mean, one time he was running, it looked like he was going to have an easy first down.

He was like a yard short. I think they ended up getting it the next play. but like if that's Kyler Murray, you know, that's an easy first down. So that's still a pretty big concern. Like, I'm not going to pound my chest if I'm a Jets fan and like you'd be crazy. Now, listen, New York people, I would imagine tend to be a little more pessimistic with this stuff. But yeah, and to me, like, this is up until the last 10 minutes when the Jets scored a couple touchdowns. It was the most Jets game of all time.

I mean, it really was. They had number 14 drop the touchdown when he's walking in the end zone. I literally was sitting on the couch watching it. He scores. I get up, I think, to like grab a water or take a leak or something, kind of screw around with something. I just expect the extra point, come back. I kind of have it timed out in my head. I got a pretty good idea.

I've been watching a lot of football in my life. And I come back and I see it's zero zero. Like, and the Texas doesn't have the ball at the 20-yard line. Like, what happened? And they roughed a punter. They roughed a snapper. They had a million other penalties, but hey, you know, you can overcome penalties, you can overcome turnovers when you score touchdowns.

And for a stretch in the second half, they scored touchdowns. And they were relatively potent on offense compared to what they have been before. So the Jets are in a position where they are going to, you know, apologize for anything as they should not. A win's a win. You saw life out of Devante, which is big. I mean, I think one question mark with him is like, is he still the same guy? Like, is this guy, like, what's going on there?

And he had a move, I think, against is it Lasseter, the kid from Georgia, the rookie, who's actually a pretty good player, smoked him on a route. That was the one where they thought he got the concussion. But like, Devante's never been a speed demon. And at this point in time of his career, he's probably like a 4-8 guy. But guess what? You can be an outstanding player even if you're slow if you're an elite route runner. and you have elite feet.

You can have great feet and not be super fast. Keenan Allen, DeAndre Hopkins, and that's how you separate as a route runner, especially your release, and that's always something Devante has hung his hat on. So to me, if Devante can bring what he brought tonight and Garrett Wilson can play at an all-star level because he's clearly an all-star talent,

and they can just keep Rogers somewhat upright and just get, you know, some momentum. Like, their offense shouldn't just suck even if he can't run. And he can't. Like, so the boots and everything, like, he's just got to be a pocket quarterback. But, yeah, props to the Jets. I mean, what a crazy moment. It's cool. Like, the one thing I do relate to, haven't been, you know, fired, relieved of my duties,

not having my contract renewed in the NFL. That's a tough spot to be. You know, the players are used to kind of be in mercenaries in the NFL because you get cut all the time. Your contracts aren't guaranteed. You're kind of playing. Like, the majority of guys aren't Aaron Rogers or Quinn and Williams or, you know, C.J. Stroud. Like, you're not exactly on scholarship in the NFL, so players are used to that. But coaches, like, you get somewhere, all of a sudden the guy gets fired, you pretty much know, like, I'm not going to be here at the end of the year.

And you talk about, you tell your players this all the time, be a pro, Stay focused, be a pro, stay locked in, cut out the outside noise. Like, that's hard. You know, it's why players struggled to do it. Well, coaches are no different. You look at that entire staff. Like, they know, they got two more months living in New York before they are handed their pink slips and the Jets hire Rex Ryan. And it's just, you just got to keep grinding, you got to keep working.

It's probably easier on a Thursday night game. You don't even get any time to think. You basically have two and a half days, you know, to get ready for the game. You're exhausted from the previous week's game, right? You're traveling on Sunday. You get home. You probably go right to the office. Got to be exhausted.

They got to have an incredible, like, Red Bull, Adderall cocktails for the last 48 hours. But it's a tough position to be in. Now, these guys, majority of these guys on that staff, highly compensated. So it's not like I, they're not going to, these guys aren't going to be on the street not being able to pay for groceries. I mean, tight-end coaches are making $450,000, let alone. the coordinator's making seven figures. I mean, Oldbrook's probably making $2.5 million. So listen, these guys are making a lot of money,

but you're still a human being about to lose your job and have to uproot your family. I get it. It's the life you chose, but it's got to be a shitty situation. And on the flip side, I looked right before I hopped on here as the game was the last couple minutes of the game when it was clear the Texans were going to lose. Coming into this week, so it doesn't count this game. The Cleveland Browns had their quarterback,

which the majority of it was obviously Deshawn Watts. I didn't look last week how many times James was sacked. But their quarterback had been sacked 37 times, which was leading the league by 10 sacks. So the next group, which wait for the teams, the Patriots, the Giants, the Raiders, and the Bears. The Bears are the only functional team of that group, but their offensive line, like that other group, are terrible.

We're all at like 27, 26. And coming into this week, the Texans were 23. So they weren't that far behind. The Browns were kind of an outlier. And the Texans were near the top of the league in terms of getting their CJ Stroud hit and sacked. Well, tonight they had eight. So as we sit here today, beside the Browns, and I get it, they've played an extra game.

Now, some of these, you know, depending on your buy week, they're already, they're 31 sacks. So you watch them, and every single week, you know, depending on their matchup, you know, Like last week, I had him on a smaller TV. Every time I'd look up, it's like, this guy's just getting crushed. He gets hit constantly. And I get it. They missed on the left guard, and he gets injured, and they bring in the other guy, and he's getting smoked. But it feels like he is getting pressured when you just watch them play at a higher rate than 90% of the league.

And then you look at the numbers, it's like, yeah, well, he is. And then you watch it and play when he does have some time. It's like, he does not look that good. I mean, there was a play on third down where they called a play action, classic Shanahan route, easy layup throw for these guys, especially someone of C.J. Stroud's caliber. And Tankdale, wide open, past the first down marker, would have been an easy first down.

It's not, C.J. is not even throwing a hard ball. And he just, obviously, Tank's not the biggest player, but it's one of those you just hit him in the breadbass. hit him in strike. It's something a player of his level should do with ease, and he airmails him. And then honestly, at the end of the game, there was a play that kind of broke down. CJ kept alive, which he did a lot tonight because he is a pretty good athlete. Metchie breaks it off last minute, cuts into the end zone on kind of a freelance play, but they're on the same page. CJ sees him should have been a pretty easy touchdown.

I think the second half of the season, 2003, C.J. Stroud, that's a touchdown. Tonight, it felt like he missed him by a mile. So, yeah, he's getting crushed. He is getting hit nonstop, which is kind of crazy because when mixes at the game, they're running the ball pretty well. But it doesn't really matter whether it's 3rd and 10 or 3rd and 3.

If they pass, like he is under duress. And when he does have a little time, I don't know if he's just thinking about it because it would have to get into your head a little bit, like someone's going to hit me, but he looks bad. And listen, road game, short week. I'm not writing the guys off after tonight,

but tough situation. But I think for a couple weeks now, he just hasn't been playing that well. Obviously, their best wide receiver who is like Mike Evans 2.0 is injured. I get it. That's a problem. But like, you're a high-level guy, I've anointed you as like, this guy's like a top five quarterback.

It's like, Mahomes, Lamar, Alan, Herbert, CJ. It's like, well, they don't look like that. You just got outplayed by the 40-year-old that we've all been making fun of. So, rough night for Stroud, rough night for that offensive line. When your offensive line is that bad, it really, I just can't take you seriously as a team. And this was a team that your boy sprung a little money at for 8 to 1 to be the number one seed. Well, that's a wrap. That ain't happening.

And this is where if you're the Colts, like, this is the reason. Like, this is why you bench Anthony Richardson. You should have beat that team. I mean, they can't protect their quarterback. And it's not like their offense is very potent right now. So that's, I don't know. I like their coach. How can you not?

Will Anderson, you know, rolls his ankle, tries to play through it, doesn't come back for the second half. Their corners are good. I mean, those honestly, even on the second touchdown that Garrett Wilson had, The DB was all over, and that's just, it's like sometimes good offense just beats good defense. They've been saying the NBA forever. Like, there are going to be Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan jump shots that I don't give a shit if you're the greatest defender in the history of the sport. Like, they're going to hit it over you.

And that's kind of that moment. You just kind of tip your hat to it. Honestly, the first touchdown when the DB kind of cut it off and got greedy, instead of just playing the player, tackling them. And that was a big swing because he misses the ball. Garrett makes an Odo Beckham one hand or catch and walks the thing into the end zone. And then the last touchdown, DB just got smoked. Against DeBonte Adams, who's, you know, I don't know if he will be,

but I mean, for one point in time, we all thought the guy was going to be a Hall of Famer. This is one you've got to lick your wounds and it's going to be a long flight home to Houston. So props to the Jets. The NBA is finally back. A new season means new ways to get into the action at Draft King's Sportsbook. An official sports betting partner of the NBA. NBA. Who's draining threes from Beyond the Arc? Who's hit the boards, getting rebounds. Get behind your favorite players on prop bets you can make on Draft Kings the home of NBA player props. Ready to

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It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me. Clever Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skis. the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media.

Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to The Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one of hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a perimenopausal chin here you do. So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast.

How Hard Can It Be with the Adamani Arriba, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive.

Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How hard can it be? Getting naked at 50 with the new guy. That one's kind of hard, you know? Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and

ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of my Cultura Podcast Network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone, it's Ryder Strong and Will Ferdell from PodMeets World. And now the Pod Meets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV, who now have covered Dancing with the Stars, traitors, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor.

So yeah, now we're experts. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge. That is the point of the show. I'm just going to remind you. I have watched some Survivor. I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it? Like what was just because we?

Yeah. We'll be recapping the big conclusion in the 50th season from the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate pleas of finalists to a bunch of ha, ooh, ha, ooh, ha, ooh. Again, we are experts. So make sure to tune in to PodMeets Twirled

for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body. On the podcast cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30. You shouldn't have to share one with anybody. Mm-hmm.

From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud. Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing. I'm standing and handing my children food.

Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas. They're practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself. Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And speaking of quarterback development, I've been seeing so many tweets

and things in my Instagram about the NFL has a quarterback development problem. It's all I see. And it's like, uh, it starts listing all the names. Anthony Richardson, benched. Bryce Young, Tray Lanch, benched. Will Levis,

benched. Matt Jones, Kenny Pickett, benched. Obviously, a lot of highly drafted quarterbacks have been benched, traded, not worked out. I also think the group of a lot of these names that we're throwing out, up until the quarterback inflation, which I think there was an inflection point right around Mahomes and Josh Allen, when those two guys hit, everyone just went bananas on drafting quarterbacks, that historically, in NFL history, never would have been drafted that high.

For the overwhelming majority of my life, guys like Mac Jones and Kenny Pickett were like Kirk Cousins. They went on the third day of the draft. Let's use Bryce Young. Up until Russell Wilson, and honestly comparing Russell Wilson to Bryce Young, feels a little crazy given one guy weighs like 180 pounds and the other guy is like 220 pounds and has a massive arm. Definitely did when he was young.

I think is pretty crazy. But Russell Wilson, as a 5-10 guy, he was almost 5-11, went in the third round. This guy at 5-9, a buck 85, went number one overall. Trey Lance played one season at North Dakota State, one season where honestly the majority of his play was running the ball. against, I would say, 99% of the guys he played against that season are never or never did play on Sundays. And then Anthony Richardson, while he is an NFL body and a physical freak, started one season over like five years.

So in the history of guys like Bryce Young, a guy 5'9, might have gone undrafted in like 1996. Trey Lance, small school, one season, honestly, even he's like a third or fourth round project 20 years ago. Anthony Richardson, maybe he goes in the second round, but that guy in the history of the league up until that inflection point is never sniffing the top five of a draft. So all I hear is this quarterback development issues we have,

maybe we're just drafting quarterbacks that never got drafted that high. When we already had guys who had accomplished way more in college and fit the bill and also struggled, it's a tough position to play. It really is. And the other thing with quarterbacks, like think about like venture capital, right? It's gotten really popular because all these guys become famous because they get the most money and they can buy sports teams. Well, if I take a lump sum of my firm has $250 million, right? And I spread it out. I give it to 10 different startups, 20 different startups. I diversify my portfolio. And if one of them turns into Google or Apple or net-forms, or net-firm,

or whatever, that one alone dwarfs all the money that I put out. And if I just hit on a couple that are like five or ten Xers, I'm in the clear. I'm cool with missing on a ton of them. Well, think about a draft. You have seven or eight draft picks. It's why all the time, at every other position, you can draft the same position multiple times to write a draft. And over the course of two years, let's take, let's say a team has 14 draft picks.

maybe over that period of time they draft three offensive linemen or four defensive backs or three defensive linemen so over the course of like two or three years yeah the second round defensive lineman you know what it turns out he sucked but you know the guy we got in the fifth round oh yeah max crosby no one ends up talking about the second rounder anymore it happens all the time like oh how about our first round wide receiver and two years later the fourth rounder is way better And everyone's like, God, pay this guy. Nico Collins. What quarterback, when you draft a guy really high, what happens?

You typically don't draft another one for several years. So that guy's kind of on an island. And when that guy's bad, it feels like there's no replacement. It's just him. And obviously at that position, it's way more famous. We talk about him way more. They are the most important guy in terms of if he's good. It's like invested in Uber.

There is no draft pick. There is no trade up high enough to get one of the star quarterbacks. But everyone has so desperately tried with the Anthony Richardson's, with the Trey Lances, to try to get the next Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen or Justin Herbert. Those guys are outliers. And I think we're seeing it right now. But this notion of like, you know, Anthony Richardson got done dirty by his team. Because I've seen some people around football.

It's like, you know, how are you supposed to develop? develop this guy if he if he's not playing. Well, what are you supposed to say to the other fucking guys on the team? Like, hey guys, we don't give a shit about winning any of these games. We're just going to develop them. And yeah, Ryan Kelly, I know you're just laying in the line. Your whole entire body hurts.

You're one of the better players, you know, in our franchise over the last 25 years. Probably not going to win as many games because this guy can't hit water from a boat. But hey, man, this is what we're doing. They couldn't do that. So even if you separate the tap-out helmet thing, you can only get so far with the competitive team. If you're the Panthers, if you're the Patriots, if you're whatever, it's like you can just roll with the guy because you're going to lose no matter what. But when you have a chance to win every week, you can't roll that out there.

Because in all those other positions, they all know, like, I could have easily been replaced. It's basically the hunger games at every other position that any moment like the next year, oh, this fourth round, or holy shit, is he better than me? and all of a sudden I get benched, I get cut, I get traded, and that guy becomes a starter. They all see it. And the quarterback is like, oh, we got to take care of him. We got to be careful with him. You could do that if he's like a great player. And even then, you better treat it very carefully.

You could not do that if the guy's average or below. And if the guy's a liability and not good enough and you do that, you're going to get fired. So to me, like, not only they make the right decision, they had the right mindset when they picked them. And let's face it, as we sit here today is, It's a disastrous pick. It doesn't get much worse. It really doesn't. It's like a better version of Trey Lance, but still extremely bad.

I mean, because he's a better player, but similar outcome. Like, I don't think you can win many games with this guy because you can't. And the coaching staff in the gym, like, they can discuss it all they want. This is the locker room turns on you. And the locker room new. And they made that decision, not because Chris Ballard and Shane Stuyken, like, truly, because they knew the locker room, they would tap out. And then they would lose the team.

Okay, before we get out of here, I talked to someone today. I don't have any trick-or-treaters. I moved to this house. Last year, I don't know if it's the part of the community I live in. We don't have street lights. We bought 7 million pounds of candy last year. I was so excited. She even made Rice Krispie Treats, special ones with M&Ms.

We're just going to have a bash. All these little kids. Didn't get one person. actually we did but it was because you put a post on next door they just aren't trick-or-treaters which was kind of disheartening but someone told me i was talking to him within the last couple days that they remember last year they were taking their kids and someone had a bowl with toothbrushes this is to me the fourth of july for little kids it is an incredible holiday for little kids and any human any human being

If you don't want to participate, I have no issue with it. Turn off your lights and just don't participate in Halloween. People won't walk up to the door. But if you are going to put something out there, and listen, I'm pro-health. Health is wealth. And candy, I've already had too much this week. I understand. You know, I'm trying to get a workout in six, seven days a week.

So I'm pro that. And I understand some people do not condone, given all the kids. There are two options. You either don't participate, turn the house lights up, off or you hand out candy. Anything else. Obviously, if you're like messing around, giving beers out to people or whatever having fun, I'm just talking about anything like toothbrushes, uh, fruit, you should be arrested.

I mean, you really should. You, something is wrong with you. Like, you're not teaching life lessons on Halloween. This is a night. I've been alive 40 years. And from the moment I could trick or treat still to this day, because my brother's taking his kids, they went trick-or-treating today. they can have as much candy as they want.

It's just one of those moments. And if you push back against it, you got problems. And you, deep down in my soul, make me very angry. Because that is, that's just whack job behavior. It really is.

Hand out toothbrushes. Like, you do understand all these parents that are bringing their kids. They have, their toothbrushes are at home, you know, in their bathrooms, in the sink.

Like, they don't need your fucking toothbrush. You're not, you're not Dr. Mandalayas. That was my dentist back in the, day. You don't need to hand out toothbrushes. And fruit? Like, give me a break. Do you ever try to feed a kid fruit? They throw it on the ground. So let's just two options. And I know most people listening, you're probably all with me. But there are a few of you that know a few people

that should be, I don't know what we do. I'd be cool like arresting, but definitely a citation. Something has to happen. If you are participating lights on and you have anything but candy out there. You got problems. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the

athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying.

Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now, I'm

bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Cliverts Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations,

stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and a TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a paramed apostle chin here you do.

So let's talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How hard can it be with Deanna Maria Riva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that? I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be.

Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How can it be getting naked at 50 with the new guy? That one's kind of hard. Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears or tears of laughter, and dive into it unfiltered and unbothered and ask,

How Hard Can It Be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Diana Maria Riva as part of my Cultura podcast network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone, it's Ryder Strong and Wilfridell from PodMeets World. And now the PodMeets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV. who now have covered Dancing with the Stars, traitors, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor.

So yeah, now we're experts. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge. That is the point of the show. I'm just going to remind you. I have watched some Survivor. I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it? Like what was just because we?

Yeah. We'll be recapping the big conclusion in the 50th season, from the final attempts at gameplay, to the desperate pleas of finalists to a bunch of ha-hoo. Again, we are experts. So make sure to tune into PodMeets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirl on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Agency, the ability to know that we're the experts in our own body.

On the podcast cultivating her space, Dr. Dom and Terry Lomax create a space where black women can show up fully. and be heard. I wholeheartedly think, you know, you hit 30. You shouldn't have to share one with anybody. Mm-hmm. From navigating friendships and healing to setting boundaries and prioritizing your mental health. These are real, honest conversations. We don't always get to have out loud.

Totally unreasonable with different parts of life, right? Like, oh, have all three meals and make sure you're mindful during all of them? Absolutely not. During one meal, I'm standing. I'm standing and handing my children food. Because healing, empowerment, and resilience aren't just ideas. They're practices. And this Mental Health Awareness Month, there's no better time to pour back into yourself.

Listen to cultivating her space on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Okay, happy Halloween, everybody back at it again with my main man Stucky from Lexington, Kentucky. all lines here presented by our friends, our partners at Draft Kings. And, you know, I was thinking whenever I start scrolling the schedule on like Monday or Tuesday and you're on ESPN.com and you go from like week four to week six, you start moving, you start realizing, God, it's seasons flying by. Like, we need to slow down. I start getting some anxiety stucky because I'm like, God, can we pump the brakes a little bit?

We're getting close. Like the college football playoffs, yeah, it's cool, but it also means we're close to ending the season. I started getting those feels this week when I looked at the schedule. Not going to lie. Yeah, it's the same for me. Whenever it's week 10, because it's like, wow, we're in the double-digit weeks already. And that's when it really hits me. It always seems to just come in a flash.

And, yeah, so cherish all these weekends that we all yearn for when, you know, it's, June. Well, one thing that definitely starts happening, I mean, hell, even in Scottsdale this morning, it was when I got in my car, it was 48 degrees. So the weather starts turning. And I think sometimes, you know, you're dialed into this, but I, you know, some of us, a little more casuals when it comes to just talking about the game, betting on the game, all of a sudden you turn on the TV Sunday morning, you're like, uh, this weather changes everything. And that's something you definitely have to keep an eye on. some of these games at Philly at Baltimore, maybe not this weekend specifically, but right when we turn Halloween, that's when we start getting some of these curveballs back in some of these cities. Just big picture. Any weather this week in any of these places in the northeast that caught your eye? Because sometimes you start getting a big line.

It's like you just, it's like an auto hammer the underdog sometimes you're going to have crappy weather. Yeah, I mean, unders too, especially early in the week, they usually are going to get hit. Wind is the biggest thing. Rain doesn't matter as much. Snow, I actually like to look for snow overs. I call them snowvers. If there's enough snow. You've got to bet it like really close to kick, though.

Like if there's like a coating on the field, like a significant coding. Because usually what happens is the total comes down. But historically those games go over because the defense is just at such a disadvantage is that it just don't have footing. You can't really get a pass rush. Brady's actually talked about that a lot. I mean, the Patriots used, their games used to fly over when, there was snow.

As long as there's not too much wind, there's enough snow, but not too much. It's a very fine line. You can't have like, you know, you can't have eight inches on the field. I remember Shady McCoy had a big game in the snow years ago on the Eagles. Yep.

Might have been the bills. Eagles are the bills. He was great in that because he could cut and the defense just can't get their footing. So he was famous for that. But yeah, like wind unders, even against the clothes that historically done well, The key mark you're looking for is a 15 miles per hour sustained wins.

And obviously, if you have like really big gusts, that helps too. Because it's going to impact the deep passing game. It's going to impact fuel goals. It's going to make coaches a little bit more conservative. For this weekend, I mean, the one that sticks out to me the most is a bet I already made with the Packers plus three and a half. Get to fade outdoor pumpkin golf. Jared Gough, just any type of conditions turns into a complete pumpkin.

I saw even practice yesterday with a, he rolled his ankle. I think that he's trying to get out of this game. It's only one of two that he has to play outdoors, I'm kidding. You're talking MVP, Gough, Stucky. Yeah, I mean, he's played every game indoors. They've also played a bunch of hurt defenses, no Jameson Williams. But if you look at historically,

I mean, Gough and Campbell just automatic against the spread. Like, Gough is 60% against the spread in his career. Campbell's 70% since he's got to Detroit. But if you split out indoors versus outdoors, Goff is 39 and 16 against the spread indoors. 71%. 34, 34 and 1 outdoors.

And for what it's worth, the floor at home has been very good. He's 28 and 16 against the spread. 6 and 1 as an underdog. Gop's touchdown to interception ratio goes from 3.8 touchdowns per interceptions to 1.8. when he's outdoors, drops by two full touchdowns. And that's just, that's all outdoor games. There's not always weather conditions.

There's going to be wind, there's going to be rain. It's a slumber track in Green Bay. So there is a lot of uncertainty with the quarterback situation, which is why the line is sitting here at three and a half. But Malik Wilson has showed well. I mean, if you look, out of all quarterbacks, he leads the NFL and EPA plus completion percentage over expectation. now he's only had I think 60, 65 dropbacks,

but he's been good in every game that he's played. Even last week against Jacksonville, just led nothing but scoring drives in that game. LeFleur will have him ready, but it looks like Love thinks that he's going to play. We'll say it could be just some gamesmanship. He talked like it, I thought, his quotes on Wednesday that like all signs point,

if he can move, he's playing. Yeah, but then is he hampered? But the thing is that this Detroit defense, without Hutchinson is bad. They, I mean, they got torched by the Titans. The Titans, I'm able to move the ball on anybody. I mean, I know they won 52 to 14, but the Titans have 300 yards in the first half. Somehow they were down 28.

Titans are a special team. You know, I mean, Minnesota moved the ball. Their pressure rates gone way down. Their explosive play rates gone way up. So whatever quarterback is in there is going to have all day to throw. And this, Detroit. secondary is getable and it's just golf outdoors so um i think that this is the top of the market on the lines it the line might tick up a bit like i would have green bay favored by a small amount

if love was fully healthy and you know early in the year the market was like assuming it was like a touchdown difference between love and willis i think that's been proven incorrect um i think it you know so anything over a field goal even if it is willis i still like this line would obviously crash down if Love is in, which I think I'm probably going to say like 65, 35 he's in. And it might tick up to like four, four and a half if he's out. So, yeah, it's outdoor pumpkin golf in conditions. So it's safe to say if LaFleur on Monday had just announced, Malik Willis is going to start this week. Jordan Love is for sure out.

This line's closer to five than it where it sits now three and a half, four and a half, five. Or do you think Malik Willis has shown enough? Because to me, when I saw this number, obviously you knew when you saw the number Jordan Loves in question. I mean, hell, he couldn't even finish the game on Sunday. This was the number one game that stood out. It's like, wait, Packers at home.

I mean, Halfley has been a huge upgrade for them. You just watch them play. I mean, they had been, they just had games where they were like a joke the last couple of years with Joe Barry. And to me, it feels like they tackle better. Obviously, it's hard. I mean, they're playing Trevor Lawrence, who's turnover king.

throws, I mean, just a horrendous pick backed up into his own end zone. He had another terrible fumble. But they have been creating turnovers. And the other thing is, listen, I don't care who you are. Coming into the year, you're like, wait, you trade from Malik Willis. What are you guys doing? This is insane. I think we talked about it. You're like, we just got a faith. And then you watch him play, you're like, fucking LaFloor. Who is this guy? Bill Walsh, what he did? Now, I actually kind of have faith because even, one, they just won't try to, you know, put too much on his shoulders, Jacobs is a stud. Malik can run. I think he's averaging over eight yards of carry. And let's face it, their weapons, I mean, their tight ends of stud. All their receivers are pretty dynamic.

Like they can just manipulate plays a little like Shanahan can do. It's like, okay, things aren't working. Just throw some quick screens. Just get the ball on our hands behind the line of scrimmage, and we can gain yards that way. I just think this is an auto packer hammer. Even, you know, if Sunday comes and doesn't go your way, it's just it's 100% the right bet. Because like you said, everyone is, Lions just win 100 to nothing against the Titans. Their quarterback didn't even throw over 100 yards. I mean,

that's got to be a statistical outlier in the history of the league. A team scores over 50 points with their quarterback thrown in the 80s. Has that ever happened before? I would highly doubt it. Yeah, I mean, also you have this, I mean, historically, if you look at teams that the previous week won by 35 plus in the NFL, fading them the next week.

You're about around 65% against the spread. Same thing as if you bet on a team that loses by 35 plus. Very good bet, usually the next week. But yeah, I mean, this line would probably be at four and a half. The other thing is if you get Willis, like the lines can be got by mobile quarterbacks.

And Love probably wouldn't be at 100%. So I don't mind it either way. Just anything over a field goal is what I was looking for there. Wouldn't you say this game is more important for Green Bay as well? They've already lost in Minnesota at home. So to have two home losses against two teams that obviously not just in your division, but I mean teams that can win your division, like that, that'd be a pretty big problem. If you told them at the beginning of the year, you're going to lose multiple home divisional games and you're a Super Bowl contender or a division contender. That's not something any coach or

organization or fan base signs up for. So this is, to me, this game is much bigger. for Green Bay than Detroit, especially like, okay, Detroit, they'd have the same amount of losses if Detroit would lose. But one of their losses was on that free Tampa game. They still control their own destiny of their home games in the division, right? And they've already gone on the road and won at Minnesota. So it's, it would not be as big a deal, in my opinion, for Detroit losing this game. Yeah, I mean, we talked about it last week on, like, betting the Packers to win the division was the time to do it last week. I had a feeling that the Rams would beat the Vikings and I bet the Jags and the Packers ended up winning and not covering.

So that was good for that bet, but you're right. This is a huge game for them because they then go into a buy week. But then they're at Chicago. Won't be an easy game. Home against presumably a healthier San Francisco team. Home against Miami, who's healthier now. Then at Detroit, at Seattle. Home against New Orleans, who's getting healthier.

At Minnesota. And then you finish. out the year with the bears at home. So it's not an easy finish to the year. And then timing-wise, you're getting a lot of these teams things could change, but that it looked like they're going to be getting healthier.

Well, playing Seattle with D.K. McHaff or without D.K. McHaff is a big deal. Yeah, and their defense, too, has been ravaged by, like, Detroit got to play Seattle when their defense was ravaged by injuries. They're probably going to be a lot healthier later in the year. So, yeah, this is

This is an important game for Green Bay looking forward to it. But yeah, golf in conditions usually he just turns into a completely different quarterback. You know, another number that jumped out to me is Denver plus nine at Baltimore. Obviously, Baltimore has kind of turned into a pumpkin in some of these second halves on defense. And these teams have been able to score on them. Clearly, Cleveland is just a completely different team. You know, one thing I thought, just big picture on the Monday night game, is like Baltimore and Pittsburgh

didn't get to play Cleveland when Deshawn Watson was playing. So all four of those games, obviously Baltimore lost one, but both the games in Cleveland, you're going to get just a much more credible team. They're going to be a much tougher out, obviously defensively in their passing game, is completely

different. I mean, that's aside from here, but Baltimore drop in that game, but it's like their past defense. It's just a problem. And obviously, Denver, I wouldn't exactly say is the Peyton Manning, Denver offense, but one thing Bo Nix has shown is like he kind of heats up as the game goes on. Their defense is pretty good. I was not saying they're going to win this game, but it's hard to feel comfortable with Baltimore.

I mean, the injury status of some of their guys was, you know, Wiggins was out last week, right? Humphrey's out. Are those guys playing this week? Yeah, it looks like Humphrey and Wiggins will be back, which is important. I mean, the Ravens have been pretty unlucky at the defense. Like, they have the most dropped interceptions. They had like three or four last week. And if you look who they played, like if you look at their schedule,

they played Mahomes. They played the Raiders when they had Devante. They played the Cowboys. So they played Dak, Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Jane Daniels. And then they had to play the Browns with a competent quarterback.

And then, you know, they played the Bucks when they had their weapons until later in that game. So their schedule has, I mean, opposing pass offenses that they faced has been about as difficult as anyone. They've also been extremely unlucky in penalties. If you look at judgment call penalties, you know, things like PI, they've had 17 more than

their opponents, which is an insane number. It's the most of the NFL by far. I like the Ravens first half. So Lamar Jackson, for what it's worth, in the first half in his career, he's the most profitable first half against spread quarterback in NFL history. He's 54, 29, and 2, 65. percent covering by over a field goal per game in the first half as a favorite he's even better 46 23 and two 67 percent covered by four points per game that's just a stupid number for one half football and then

when laying six or more 11 three and one against the spread close to 80 percent covering by five points per game why is that well raven's usually have a pretty good game plan and then it takes defenses a bit to get used to you know his speed and and getting those angles right especially when he's playing non-divisional teams. Mentioned the Ravens should be healthy in the secondary. They, and look, I look at the, and you can't run the ball in Baltimore. They're the number one run defense in the NFL. They did lose Michael Pierce, so the depth on the defensive lines are bit concerning,

but it's a past funnel defense. Am I, and the Broncos have been good when they can get their run game going? Am I really concerned about Bo Nix and this Broncos offense exploiting Baltimore's past defense? Not really. I mean, what you need is like an elite quarterback and good receivers. That's how you can really attack. There's like two really good receivers.

You can attack this Ravens defense. And look, Bo Nix, you're right. For the full game, the Ravens have blown leads. And Bro Nix has been a garbage time merchant. I mean, if you break out his numbers, he's put up so much of his stats when, you know, the game is out of hand. Go back to that Chargers game. It was 21-0. and, you know, he led three scoring drives late in that game.

If you look, if you just isolate Nix's early game numbers, and that includes a game against the Panthers who have nothing on defense and were decimated. The Saints who were decimated by injury and have nothing. You know, and they got to play Brace Young and Spencer Rattler the last two weeks. I mean, the Broncos schedule, if you look, they played, they opened the gear with the Seahawks, and they played the Steelers and Justin Fields, been benched. the Broncos had a excuse me, the Bucks had a ton of defensive injuries.

But then they played the Jets who have not been good, but it was in a windstorm. And yeah, torrential downpour. Then they played the Raiders, the Chargers, the Broncos and Panthers backups. Like, they're schedule of opposing offense, complete opposite end of the spectrum of the Ravens. This will be a shock to the system for their defense,

which blitzes a ton. Sean Payton even admitted it. Right. Yeah. He was like, yeah, it's kind of a joke. I wouldn't make too much of that game. Yeah, so, yeah, he was like, yeah, we knew that we were, what was going to happen there? What do you think of your defense?

He's like, yeah, it's hard to even tell against that offense. Like, can you imagine being a Carolina fan or a coach? Like, that's, and obviously he'll talk a little more shit than most, but still, that's, that was pretty crazy, I thought. Yeah, insane. You don't, you don't usually see that in the NFL. But Nix, he might as 0.145 adjusted EPA play in the first half. only Deshawn Watson has been worse and Knicks has been even worse in the first quarter so in the first half he's been really bad so yeah ravens have a propensity to blow leads

nix has been good in the garbage time so i wouldn't be surprised if they end up covering but i like the ravens off the loss at home against this broncos defense this could be a like a really a shock to the system especially with lamar's speed and the raven's offense is just rolling right now. Broncos blitz a ton. Lamar has been absolutely dominant against the blitz this season. So I like the Ravens first half there, but don't mind your Broncos play. I do think, you know, Baltimore, this is a game. Like, no one takes Denver that seriously. Like they may make the seven seed and everyone will bet against them in the first round. I think we're going to learn a lot about the Ravens. Because last year, which obviously they were better because their defense was so dominant.

what do they win this game? 40 to 9? I mean, they would destroy these guys. And this is a spot. Like, this is the Ravens team. If they are who I think we thought they were going to become the last couple weeks, and then what happened with James,

that they win this game pretty handily. But I just don't trust them right now because they're past defense. But like you said, you bring up good points about the quarterbacks they've played. And Bo Nicks, who I just saw today won the offensive rookie of the month. I'm not quite sure on that. happened, but I guess they don't factor in, you know, fourth quarter hollow stats. And I'm not some Bo Nix hater, but he wouldn't have gotten my vote if they sent me a ballot. I know that. So yeah, there's a big moment for Baltimore. This is a bigger moment for Baltimore than it is for

Denver. Obviously, Denver the next couple weeks, I mean, they're going to be huge underdogs against Baltimore. I mean, they are in Kansas City. But like, this is a moment for Baltimore. It's like, okay, do we, everyone was just like, God damn, this team going to win the Super Bowl again? And, you know, it's just that team last year, offensively they're better right now, right? Andrews is healthy. You know, Derek Henry just brings them an element. Lamar even looks better. But that defense, I mean, that was why I had so much faith.

I mean, what they did to the Niners going into that Chiefs game was like, this is, who's beating this team? And it's like when you had to have bad bass defense, even when you play random quarterbacks. It can bite you in the ass. Yeah, no, for sure. But the Brockers just don't have a receiver that's going to take over the game. And you go back to it, like, these,

they go back to the Ravens in this spot historically at home. Dominate. Dominated. And like, it was similar to the bills, right? The bills hadn't played anybody. And everyone was calling them the Super Bowl favorite. And they went into Baltimore and couldn't move the ball. And, you know, with a mobile quarterback, team that wants to run it.

They don't really, they didn't have a number, really dominant number one receiver. This game could end up going the same way. But the Ravens just, they just find ways to blow lead sometimes. So there certainly could be a backdoor here. But I like the Ravens that jump out early. Okay, before we dive into Indy, Minnesota, another number that jumped out to me. Because I actually thought, you know, we talk about all these shitty teams. I mean, Carolina is probably the most embarrassing.

team in recent memory. Because unlike that Hugh Jackson Brown's team, who was legitimately trying to win, that Miami team, while Flores tried, you know, they kind of tanked in terms of their roster trading everybody. Like, this team is, they have injuries, but they are desperately trying every week. Did you see the viral photo or video of them running a play? I think this was two weeks ago, like all slants. And every slant was like different timing.

Like, it was just like, it was four or five wide. It was, every guy was running a slant. And, like, they all broke at different times. You know, like, when you watch a great offense, it's all in sync. It was just like, God, this is just, they just stink. But, so to me, the Jags are better than the Titans or better than the Panthers or better the Patriots. But, God, they're quarterback, man.

Just every time it's like, oh, they're playing pretty well. Then he just hits a dude in stride or just the ball falls out of his hand. But this number, to me, is pretty big. And I understand Philly, like, is Philly just. just going to have like three straight games where they just blow people out. Now, clearly they're better. But this is a classic game at home. Like all of a sudden it's tied at half. You may hear a couple of booze. I can just see it getting a little weird. To me, this is just kind of an auto bet over a touchdown. It's really that good where just you're playing a team that is capable. Now,

Christian Kirk shatters his collarbone, which is a pretty big blow, given that they were probably going to flip him, probably a fourth round pick. And he's just a good player, so he helps their offense. But I just, this number plus seven and a half, I don't know, it's pretty big, little Doug Peterson revenge, you know, fired. I don't know. That number jumped out to me. Yeah, I can't play. Yeah, I need the, I need the injury report. I mean, you have the Jags. He's traded a tackle. Yeah, he hasn't started the last two games, but he hasn't played, but I think they knew that they were going to trade him, but his replacement little isn't very good. the problem is you did trade your left tackles, you downgraded there.

Your two guards got hurt last week. They didn't practice on Wednesday. You could be down all three starting receivers. At the end of that game, the Jaggs were down five starters on offense. Because Brian Thomas got hurt. Yeah, Brian Thomas. They need Brian Thomas here. Otherwise, you're down to Tim Jones.

Okay, you talk me out. I'm out on that. Yeah. So like the injury situation. on offense is really bad. They also play man at the highest rate in the league. Eagles, specifically A.J. Brown. Their defense stink.

Their defense stinks. They did get, they have Tyson Camelback who's really good. He's their best corner. And without him, playing man was a fool's errand. But the Eagles have historically torched man. It's, and it looks like their defense might be getting better. Under Fangio, it's a complex scheme. Looks like some of the young corners are starting to pick it.

up and you know I thought hey look I can't really take much from this because they played Deshawn Watson and then they played Daniel Jones without Andrew Thomas at left tackle but they played well against Sincke and granted since he also lost its left tackle and didn't have T. Higgins so you know there there is some noise in the numbers but historically Fangio's defenses takes them some time maybe they've hit that point where they've started to pick it up but I can't play it Yeah, you know, taking the seven and a half, I wouldn't blame you. But you need like at least one of the guards in, and then I need Thomas. Because, you know, say you're down three of your offensive linemen from two weeks ago

and all three starting wide receivers, even Tank Vigsby is banged up. That's tough. I think it's crazy looking back that if LSU just had the level of defense that they have right now, I mean, that team should have won the national championship. I mean, they had Brian Thomas, Malik, neighbors, and Chaden Daniels. I mean, their defense was so shitty. So bad. So bad.

I mean, can you imagine if they just had an average SEC defense? That team, how do they not? I mean, that's pretty crazy. It's why that I was like, you know, Jaden's going to come back to Earth. Look who he was throwing to. It's like, no, actually, he's just pretty sweet. And those guys come into the league. I mean, if you put Malik neighbors on just a decent team,

and obviously Brian Thomas is just every time you look up, you're like, God, this guy's sweet too. And that's, listen, it's hard to top Jefferson Chase, one-two college combination, but shit, that doesn't feel too far off. Yeah, their losses last year, they gave up 45 to Florida State. Ole Miss scored like 50. 55. That game was 55, 49, and then they lost to Alabama. So there are three teams that top-tier teams last year.

And, I mean, the Ole Miss game, they were up 14 in the fourth quarter. And they gave up a 90-yard touchdown drive in the final two minutes to lose that game. So, yeah, just a silly offense. If you're right, you're right. If they just had any semblance of a defense, they would have been scary. But, I mean, like, if you look at their scores, it's just, you know, their other games, 72, 41, 34, 49. These are good to SEC teams, 49, 48. You know, they beat Army 62-0.

Florida, they beat 52-35. Texas A&M to beat 42-30. I wonder, like, obviously, you know, I'm not trying to overreact to the first, these guys have long careers. going but like the hype and it had like an Andrew luck Trevor Lawrence feel you didn't have a choice you had to take them and clearly they liked them

but like I wonder right now if you just pulled the 32 GMs what quarterback would you take today for the next 10 years Jaden Daniels or Caleb Williams I would imagine it would be heavily in Jane Daniels favor don't you think? I agree yeah and I

definitely was not in that vote me either me either like you was like look he was playing he had a really good offensive line too like one of the best offensive lines we've got two NFL tackles two yeah two and two first round draft picks at receiver

and his like pressure to sack numbers are pretty concerning but he's so far man he's left apart yeah I would think that as of right now most would take Daniels over Caleb I said it even as the game you know they were kicking field goals. Like, if you watch enough football and you're just watching the guy play, you're like, this guy's already one of the better players in the NFL.

Yeah. More mobile is more running ability than Caleb. I mean, Caleb is mobile and can run too, but not like Daniels. And that's the, that's the new way. Remember how raw, remember how Ra when Lamar first started he was as a passer? Like what he has done these last couple years, he is, it's crazy how much he's improved. And now he's just a dime. prominent Hall of Fame player.

But like this guy kind of came in, I don't think he's quite as dynamic as a runner as Lamar. I'll never forget, like I think Lamar, maybe a bad Bengals team had this just incredible run against the Bengals, like his first couple starts. It was like, holy shit. It might have been his MVP year the next year, but it was just incredible. This guy throws it. Like, I didn't realize he throws it this well. Like the throws over the middle, the stick throws.

It's like, and he's got a hose. Like, it's just a tight spiral. lasers. Yeah. Caleb's way way accurate. You know

shotgun blasts all over the place. Daniels is exponentially more accurate and more polished as a faster

than Lamar was when he first came in the league. Okay. Speaking about a guy that's not polished,

Anthony Richardson, who is objectively terrible. I saw, I didn't see it until yesterday to

comments Ryan Kelly, who's, I don't know, probably the Colts top two or three player on the team, their center, said, I mean, you never hear a player talk like, yeah, we had to sit him down and talk to it.

Like, this is not acceptable. So clearly, once that kind of video goes viral, separate from the numbers on the field, which were obviously awful, and throughout the entire season, it was like, there's no way this guy is going to start next week. Like, I didn't know if they were going to do it, like, in perpetuity, like they ended up doing it, but it's like, you can't.

Jonathan Taylor, these guys are, laying on the line and this guy, it's like, it's over for him. And they go to Flacco, who, let's face it, has had one of the craziest career resurrections in like the history of sports. It really, I mean, this guy was out of the NFL.

And then the last couple years when he was a backup, it was like this, what'd be doing here? And now he's not just, like, he is easily, I mean, he ran circles around a guy making $230 million in the fourth overall pick where you watch him take like two series. You're like, it's not even close the gap between this guy and

the guys he's replacing. I do wonder if Indy gets just a huge life bump of like, I wonder if a lot of guys look around because I saw it with Trey Lance. Now, Anthony Richardson's better than Trey Lance, but it's like their high-end players didn't believe in them. And it's like Ryan Kelly, Jonathan Taylor, like these guys are trying to win every game. Why? Because they're like big-time players and they plan on going to the playoffs.

The Niners are a better version of the Colts team, but they looked around like, we, Kyle, we can't win with this guy. like obviously Kyle turned on him but I also think he was influenced by Debo Samuel, Trent Williams, Fred Warren like this guy ain't good enough bro and I do think that adds life when you think like obviously

Joe Flacco is like his numbers are probably better than he actually is you know is that you understand what I'm saying? Yeah like people would not be lined up to sign this guy if he was a free agent to like some one year $25 million deal

but relative to what they're playing with it is such a massive upgrade. Now, Minnesota, coming off the mini by, that, I mean, losing your left tackle. I mean, holy shit. That's how good is that guy? I mean, that's a huge blow. I mean, he's a big reason Trent Williams held out. It's like, well, this is the best young left tackle.

He's making 28. Trent's like, well, I need more than that guy. But that guy deserved every penny he got. And to lose him for the season, I mean, the backup immediately started getting shoved around by a rookie. So, like, the Colts personnel's not great. But the one thing I think every time that you watch and play, I would say over the lot, it feels like they play really hard.

Do you agree with that? Yeah. Like the defense relative to their talent? I just think Indy Plus 5 in this spot kind of an auto hammer for me. I, the one thing I don't get though is why announce that they're going to start Flacco? Blacko and Richardson are obviously very different quarterbacks. Your offense is completely different with Flacco. Why announce that or over?

It was that bad, like, the locker room. It just, they didn't even, they couldn't play the game. Like, I don't know. But everyone would want to talk to Richardson. He doesn't even know what he's saying. He still doesn't, I don't think, quite realize. Like, every time you hear him talk, he's like, I don't think he realized, every single player, whether you're a 35-year-old retired guy or like a 58-year-old on TV, they've all

reiterated the same thing. And yet, you hear him talk. It's like, yeah, guys, I don't think he understands. anything you guys were saying. Even Ryan Kelly was like, I just don't think he gets it. So I don't think you had a choice to like. You got to kind of end the circus.

Yeah. I think that was a big part of it. It wasn't one of those like, let's say they know all along Jordan Love has no chance to play this week and he's just playing it up. That's like there's no circus there. This thing, I mean, that's one of the crazier,

it's weird because it's not that crazy when you think he's just missed a play. But when you factor in, wait, your quarterback, he never comes out. It is pretty nuts. I mean, it's unprecedented. It's literally never happened for a non-injury, right? It's like, wait, what happened? No, he's just, he's just gasped.

Especially now. I mean, how many running quarterbacks we have? Why say that out loud, though? Because he doesn't get it. He doesn't get it. Yeah, to your flacco point, I mean, yeah, I think the hype is a little too much. And trust me, I'm a Ravens fan.

I love Flacco. But he did most of his damage this year against the Jags' secondary that was just completely decimated by injury. You know, he threw for close to 400 yards in that game. But two of those touchdowns were late in the fourth quarter right, and one was definitely a blown coverage where the guy was wide open. Yep. You know, against Pitt, they were already up 14-0.

He was 16 to 26 for 160 yards against the Titans who thought Richardson was going to play. They weren't even preparing for Blacko. He was 22 of 38 for 189. It's the game they won by three on a late touchdown pass. So, you know, it's been one game where he's been really good. I, you know, and the Colts this year, they're seven and one against the spread. Like all their games are one possession. So they just find ways to cover.

Their wins are over the dolphins with a backup quarterback, the Steelers with now they're, you know, with a backup quarterback with Russ now starting, the Bears and the Titans. So, you know, but they, there are losses evolving by one possession. What I like in this game, I like the Vikings first. half minus three. Off two losses at home in prime time, one of the best home field advantages in the NFL with an elite coaching staff. This is Sunday night, huh? Yeah, with an elite coaching staff.

So, and here's the thing, the Colts, you're right, that they play hard, and they've gotten healthier on defense, but they play a very basic scheme. And when they do, when Gus Bradley does adjust, he doesn't really do until the second half. Go back to the Green Bay game when they played Malik Willis.

They apparently refused to adjust to the run. Green Bay almost. set an NFL record in the first half for rushing yards. And then they finally in the second half brought more guys up into the box and added an extra defensive lineman. I don't know why they didn't adjust in the first half. I mean, it was insane. I think the Packers ran for like 300 yards in the first half.

So you give O'Connell extra time to prepare you for a pretty basic defense. And it's not a defense is going to blitz a lot. Not a defense is going to get a ton of pressure. So you don't have to worry as much about losing Darisol, which I do think is big, especially for their season-long prospect. but the Vikings offense this year has been dominant early, and that's because O'Connell's script, which I think will be even better here.

But if you look, Vikings been the best first quarter offense in the NFL. They've been great in the first half. But their bottom third, if you look, EPA or success rate, in the second half, bottom third in the league. Even the Vikings' defense is better in the first half because Lourdes usually have some good wrinkles and a good game plan as well. Vikings on the season are winning the first half by over a third half.

touchdown per game. They've only trailed once against Detroit, who seems to just have their number. And they've, Johnson seems to have Flores' number. If you look at their results last year, too. There are other six games. You removed that Detroit game. They've led by an average of over 10 points per game. And then if you look, Colts in the first half, 27th in EPA per play on offense, 31st and success rate. They've only let it the half in two games. They didn't even lead at home against the Dolphins with their backup quarterback or the pack of with their backup quarterback. Bradley, like I said, slow to adjust. Vikings off two straight losses in prime time. Extra time prepare for really good staff.

Flores going to bring the Blitz. Going to bring the Exotic Blitz. The Colts offense and Flacco specifically has been really, really, really bad against the Blitz this year. So I think the Vikings jump out here. Wouldn't be surprised that the Colts end up covering, but I think this is a good spot for the Vikings in the first half. You know, one interesting game is, you know, that Rams performance.

I mean, they're just a different team when they have the two receivers and their defense. I mean, Jared Verst is really coming on. They're just like every year, feel just solid and well coached as the season goes on. That line flipped. Right now it's Seattle at home getting one and a half. If you are a believer that this Rams team is coming and you look at their schedule, it's not crazy to look up in their six and four. but it's like, is just too good to be true or Seattle just, you know, are they seriously leaking oil?

Even what's his name? Mike McDonald, they asked him about Halloween. He said, I dressed up for Bill Belichick one time for Halloween, but he probably wouldn't like that given how our defense is playing. And, you know, this game used to be, it was weird. The NFC West matchups back when they had, you know, Pete, Kyle, Sean, and Cliff would all have these like intermixed pretty cool little rival, like one team on the other team, but this team on that team. And I don't know if you kind of throw that out the window now. But this is a spot that I would say historically.

I would feel kind of good about Pete and that team. But I don't know right now. Seattle was, you know, the apple of everyone's eye early in the season. But they clearly are leaking oil. And the Rams also like Minnesota coming off that little mini buy are healthy now. And it's crazy. You just kind of forget because he's out of sight out of mind how fucking good Pooka Nakua is. I mean, he is a, he's a baller, and he just changes their team.

Yeah, this is, yeah, you're right. There was, I used to call it the circle of life in the NFC West. The Rams owned the Cardinals, who owned the 49ers. Cardinals used to always, they did it again this year. Niners on the Rams. And the 40s own the Rams, and the Rams also own the Seahawks, who also, for a long time, owned the 49ers. and like it was just all this circle of life in the NFC West.

But that was me. I think that could change now because I'll be interested. From a schematic perspective, I'm really looking forward to seeing McVeigh, Exotron-River here versus McDonald. One of the reasons the Rams just owned the C-Ox is the Rams and McVeigh just cracked that outdated Pete defense. and it's a completely different defense now,

much more modern defense. McVeigh talked a lot in the offseason about McDonald in this matchup. So I'm curious to see what he has up his sleeve and I'm curious to see what McDonald has up his sleeve. Seattle, this is a good, on paper, it's a good bounce back spot for Seattle. And these guys played them,

like, you know, those divisions cross over last year. So, like, Kyle had played McDonald, McVeigh, they played that epic game where Stafford was incredible, but they ended up fucking up the specialty. teams right in loss and overtime yeah um so yeah i'm very i'm very fascinated to watch this like the exes and o's of this game but just on paper it's like a great by low spot on seattle they were thoroughly embarrassed last week every phase of the game they had defenders fighting each

other on the sideline he had gino getting they they they calmed they calmed down though and made up about five minutes after that yeah but it was just a mess like that they're the game just slipped away from them. I mean, they were on the goal line twice. Gino slips on fourth and goal. Trips on the center's foot. They have a snap over their, Gino's head on the other time. So the game could have went a little differently, but they were just bad all around. Now, I expect their defense to be better. They got their top cornerback last week. Trey Brown, I don't know if he lost his job or if he's just not healthy, but he could be back to their other corner. Got a good nickel. You know, they added Ernest Jones at linebacker. They're getting healthier up front.

So I think that their defense is going to start to trend back up. They were just crushed by injuries. Now, it's very difficult to stop this Rams offense. But just on paper, you would expect a bounce back from Seattle here. The key for me, and look, the bills were just laying three in Seattle. And the market new Metcalf wasn't going to play. And now we're getting up to like Rams minus two. Like that's the bills are more than a point.

they're probably in market they're probably like three to four points better than the rams than the rams so we're getting and you might get mcgap back for me that's the gate for me i'll i'll bet the ceox is a dog plus one and a half plus two if i know macf's gonna play now is it gonna be a hundred percent that's the tricky part the seahawks need metcath not only i think he has the most or second most 20 plus yard catches on the season so he adds that explosive element but he also takes the top off the defense, clears everything up underneath, and opens up the entire offense.

Without him, then you don't really have that explosive element. The guys have to, you know, trying to fill that number one role, and then your three is way down, and the whole offense is just a lost operation. So I have to wait on the Metcalf news. If McCath doesn't play,

it's hard for me to see Seattle keeping up. So just on principle, I would stay away. But Seattle also could get George Fant back at right tackle. I don't think Lucas is ready, even though his window opened off the IR. Their right tackle position has been a disaster. They're down to like their fourth string right now. So getting Fant at least will help put a Band-Aid there for now. So, yeah, I think this is a good buy-low, sell high spot on Seattle to fill a

philosophically. But for me, it comes down to Matt Gaff. Need more information. That to me is the other game is like, you know, everyone's kind of riding high, Arizona. Everyone's down on Chicago because of the last play. Now, the thing with Arizona, two of their four wins, at least I know off top of my head, right, have been double digits in the second half, comebacks. And went by one. They won by one. And the charger game.

And one. And they probably should have lost all there. They down double digits to the 4-9ers, their kicker gets hurt, down double digits to the dolphins who snap it over their head for a safety when they were in control of that game, flips the whole game. Against the Chargers, they recovered all three key fumbles in that game, come back to win. They even had like a fumble through the end zone.

There was a touchback. The Chargers had one. They've been getting very fortunate. And it's third and ten when they drove to win the game and they got that personal foul call that was pretty iffy. You know, that easily could have been a turnover on down situation because they don't complete that. All of a sudden, it's just the game's over. But I am fascinated like the Bears, their coaching staff is struggling.

Right. I mean, you watch Shane Waldron, it's bad. Clearly that, you know, the last couple moments, you know, the last moment, is it Iber Fluse's fault that Stevenson's, you know, taunting? No, but clearly, like, is he doing that against a high-end coach? Like, that would just never be tolerated. but it's the play before where they just gave up 15 yards and put them into position. Even Belichick's talked about that. McCordy talked about that on the Sunday night game.

He's like, that was a big deal with us. We would play defense on that one to not allow those free 10, 15 yards to give them an opportunity. You got to take that away. What are they going to do? Score a touchdown from 70 yards? Probably not. So you can be a little aggressive. But I don't know.

To me, Chicago, I just don't have much trust. Now, yesterday as of Wednesday, sweat didn't. practice and he looked awesome in that game. Maybe it's just a rest day for a veteran guy, but if there is some injury issue there, that'd be a little scary. I don't know, man. I just, this is to me

their seasons kind of on the line if you're the Bears. When you look at their schedule, if they want to compete for a wild card spot, they were to lose this game. I'm sorry, you're not sniffing the playoffs. You win this game, your record, you have a couple upsets in your division. You know, you could get the nine or ten wins, but you lose this.

I do think with the coaching staff, it could kind unravel on them a little bit. I don't really have a tag. I would lean Arizona, but that's like, do I trust them? I mean, this is a stay away. I just want to watch this game. I just, I think there's a massive spot for the bears to kind of show like, do you guys have any metal to you?

Do you have any fucking, like, are you guys going to bounce back or it's just this, that, that one play by Jaden going to derail your season? Because I do think that is, that's a possibility here. They just all of a sudden were like, wait, the bears end up going seven and ten with that much talent? Yeah, their coaching staff sucks. Yeah, and you mentioned the divisions, toughest division in NFL. Well, they haven't played a divisional game, right?

Yeah, they have all six division games left where you mentioned the coaching. All of those teams have elite coaching staff, so they're going to be at a major disadvantage there. They also go to San Fran and they play Seattle. So these next two weeks, they need. They're out Arizona. They're home against New England because after that, it's your six division game. I'm giving them the New England win. I'll just give them that at home.

To me, this is like after losing that game. Yeah, I'm saying you need both. Like, assuming that they beat New England. Like, you need to get to, what, they're four and three now. They need to get the six and three here. Because if they're five and four after the New England game, you know, assuming they win that, I don't think they can get there with their schedule. Yeah, this, it's an, I don't know.

I mean, Arizona's a hard team to figure out. They're just like kind of like a gnat that doesn't go away. They're like a series to series team. Yeah, they've definitely been fortunate. I will say they started using Harrison well. They optimally last week, they changed like they altered his, his routes. Like instead of just having him run go routes, they were, you know, putting him in the middle of the field and crossers. And that really helped their offense and helped Tim get more involved.

yeah i just don't know where the i mean the bears the other thing that they did i don't know why teams don't they had edwards their linebacker he looked like he was either spying or he was guarding the running back in man and he was to the player it's waste and you didn't blitz to hail mary bring pressure or drop 11 guys because if you just are bringing two or three which you see you're the offensive lineman can wash them out and the quarterback can buy as much time as he possibly wants. So if you're not going to bring pressure and never spy, I mean, go back to that Auburn, Alabama game, never spy. But if you don't want to bring pressure, you're wasting all your guys apart. Then drop 11. Bring in three other

wide receivers instead of your defensive lineman and put them all back there because you're just wasted, you'd wasted four guys. And then you have another guy taunting the crowd. So you basically were playing And you're supposed to have another guy You're supposed to have a defender that goes back Behind What was him? Yeah, it was supposed to be him.

He was supposed to be him guard The best part is he came and tipped it After taunting and he tips it right to the receiver. I mean, I've never seen Carmen work that fast in my life. My theory was by the time he looked And they're beeline it down the field He then was discombobulated And he kind of freaks

Because he feels like He's just way late He clearly didn't think the ball had been snapped yet, even though the Bears fans were all pointing like, bro, and that threw him off, which obviously led to him tipping it up, and he's supposed to be back there to either box him out or tip the ball down, and he's nowhere to be found.

But like you said, they have the linebacker in the middle. To me, aren't you better off, if you're not going to play a normal defense, because you wouldn't because you'd have everyone cheating, you can still play a normal defense with four or five guys rushing the passer, and then the six guys back up against the line and behind the line. But like you said, with a mobile quarterback to rush a couple guys,

like that's shooting fish in a barrel. Jaden was like running around, no problem. They didn't even get close to him. It makes no sense. I mean, none. We have enough evidence now, even if it is a very, very low percentage play, it takes a guy to screw up and it's still really hard. You have to get obviously very lucky.

It is moronic football. Absolutely assinine. This is, yeah, I don't have a strong feel in this game. Injury report for the Bears is big. They've been missing Brisker and Gordon in their secondary. They matter. Sweat, you mentioned, he matters. So you could be down three key defenders.

Then their offensive line really banged up last week. Their whole left side of their offensive line, Jenkins and Jones were hurt last week. They're questionable. Their backup left tackle and left guard are hurt. well. So yeah, they could be down their entire left side and some depth pieces of their offensive line, sweat, who is very important to that defense. And then can they get Bursker and Gordon back to boost that secondary? So, and just wear that mentally. I, that's a question I

can't answer. Like, after that game, do they rally? That's my question. I don't know. Do they discipline Stevenson, too? I don't know. Like, do they, bench him for a half or just find him. I doubt that you can afford to, especially if you're without Prisker and Gordon, but there's got to be some accountability, just if you're running a team for, like, he was even taunting the crowd on the play before

on that out route, and I completely agree that you've got to take that away. And he was fucking, but he was poking McLorn in the eye. Like, he was kind of out of the game. Yeah, I mean, uh, my take, my take was obviously Iber Fluse. He's one of the, I mean, he's a good player. Right. You want him on the field. If you're Iverflus, you're just so focused on trying to win these games to keep your gig.

If you're Ryan Poles and clearly not going anywhere, and it's about setting the tone, I mean, a lot of these guys are going to be on the team for the next couple years moving forward. Like, you make him inactive this game. Like you set the tone, like, that will never be tolerated here. Which, you know, a guy trying to win on a weekly basis, like he wouldn't be, if I was Iber Fluss, I wouldn't want. I just, listen, we'll talk to him. He starts. But if I'm Ryan Poles, like, I have to show sweat, swift playing his ass off. Like, I have to show those guys. Like, listen, guys, that is, that is unexecate.

We were in a position to win because you guys never quit and this guy's fucking around. Like, that is not okay. You know, you could argue that stuff. The Richardson stuff, he's so, he's 22, he's never played. It was embarrassing. But I don't even think he knows what's going on. Like, this guy knows what he's doing. and he's a really good player.

Like, if I'm Ryan Poles, he just doesn't play this week, and like it's a big picture thing. But I would imagine that would be an Iber Fluse would argue till he's blue in the face all week. They're like, no, we need this guy. Yeah, definitely misaligned incentives between the two. But yeah, it's unacceptable.

Let's just hit on the one, I mean, the massive college game. If you just go on the universal look at this season, really good teams playing other really good teams at home as a dog Oregon won Bama one Tennessee one so you're getting Penn State now

as of right now their quarterback who knows what's going to happen there but the backup bow actually kind of looked okay added a more athletic element I would say than Drew Aller who's not a bad athlete but I wouldn't really call him all my friends from Philly and you know

you're from there too we're like this guy's been next Josh Allen. You watch him like, eh, I wouldn't go that far. You know, from a movement standpoint, he definitely can move around a little bit, and he did in that USC game to extend some plays, but I wouldn't say he threatens you with his legs. Penn State getting a field goal plus. You talk about offensive line and shambles.

I mean, Ohio State's offensive line is, I mean, what are they on their third tackle? Right? Yeah, they might. They got to kick out your left guard to left tackle and everything. The right side is already a major question mark. last week because of that, they couldn't run the ball, run game evaporated, Nebraska dominated them up front, and the same thing could happen with Penn State,

although one of their better edge rushers is highly questionable for this game. A lot of injured uncertainty for this game. But isn't it pretty deep defensively? I mean, that's, I mean, they're still, they still have dudes. They should still win the battle up front and cause some problems for Ohio State who, yeah, they just haven't looked apart this year when they've stepped up in class. There's the Penn State offense, though, leaves a lot to be desired.

I know. And there's the quest, like the explosivenesses in there, the receivers. Big game, James, he never wins these games. And I think he's one in nine against Ohio State. Although Ryan Day is not fair well in top five games recently. I think he's like one in six. Seven. Yeah, I guess.

Yeah. It's so. Yeah, this game's hard for me to crack. Then you have the quarterback uncertainty. The thing is that there is so much value to like the quarterback up having quarterback optionality and leveraging it in big games like Texas A&M did. Texas A&M when against LSU, LSU wants to prepare for it. Marcel Reed, by the way, going back to that game, he started against Florida.

Florida hadn't really seen him. He looked great. But the next week's against Bowling Green in Arkansas, they were expecting him. didn't look so hot. Saw that with Penn State, Wisconsin wasn't ready for him. And then the offensive change. He might actually fit like what total Nicky wants to do more with his legs.

But Aller is definitely way more talented. And Ohio State will be prepared for Bo. So I don't know. And if Aller goes, is he fully healthy? There's a lot of uncertainty here. But Penn State also has their right tackle is questionable. isn't this game because Ohio saying given that they've already

lost the game and then if you were to lose that in the championship game I guess you wouldn't even get there right? It's going to be Penn State which would be better right because you would avoid that third loss if you're Ohio State. Yeah but I mean depending on what happens elsewhere like

maybe Ohio State gets left out you know the fucking committee loves them they do but like that depends on what happens like this Indiana well because Ohio State would would beat Indiana you'd think but

but maybe not but I'm saying if they were to get the 10 and 2 they would beat Indiana but Ohio yeah that would be their they would finally get a ranked win because Ohio States wins this year Nebraska by 4 you know they'd be Iowa Michigan State Marshall Western Michigan

and Akron they don't have any good wins does it right now they play Purdue the Michigan game won't be a good win yeah they played Purdue Northwest Eastern Michigan and then that Indiana game, as long as Indiana keeps winning, that'll finally be their resume win. So you're right. I mean, if they beat Indiana, maybe it's better that they don't go to the Big Ten title because they, what will happen is Penn State and Oregon will have the head-to-head tiebreaker over them. And Penn State is not losing two more times and I shouldn't say they're not,

but highly unlikely. Penn State's remaining schedules, Washington at home, Purdue, at Minnesota, Maryland. So, yeah, they're most likely out of the Big Ten title picture. They lose this game. A hard game for me to crack, but you're right. Like, there's just no elite teams this year. The parody at the top is extreme. So.

Which is cool to me for the 12th team playoff that any team can win. Yeah, that's why you need the 12th team playoff. With the NIL, it is, it marries up well. With the NIL, changing landscape of the transfer portal, it's going to kind of disperse the town. These elite teams aren't to be as deep. as a lead as we've seen in the past. And Kirby Smart's talked about this as well.

So because of that, like say if we were back in the BCS system right now, if the season ended today, I think the national championship would be Oregon, Penn State. Like, would anyone be satisfied with that? Oregon, Penn State? No. So you need an expanded field for this

because there's going to be a handful of teams that are capable of winning the national title. There's also going to be higher upset potential because there's just, not as big of separation between these teams in the top 25. So kind of my head. Yeah, I'm taking the points. When do they go to neutral sites?

This is the final four. They go to neutral sites in the first couple rounds, their home games, right? The first round home games on the higher seed. And then the top four get a buy if you win your conference. Top four get a buy. And then it's neutral sites after that. Any other college games that you're hot on?

let's look I actually played Michigan for the first time this season against Oregon I look the one I played Oregon last week against Illinois

and Oregon was 21 point favorite at home against Illinois Michigan a couple weeks before they lost Illinois but they closed six point favorites at Illinois that assumes they're over a touchdown better home field difference

is about a touchdown so like if you look at Oregon is at home against Illinois laying 21. Michigan's at home now. This is assuming that Illinois and Michigan are equal, this line. I don't agree. And the reason I played Oregon last because Illinois did not match up well with them. Illinois cannot run the ball.

The strength of the Oregon defense is in their secondary. Oregon's run defensive metrics. They're outside the top 100, the number of metrics. Part of that is Gentie, but Purdue was able to run all over them. Michigan could shorten this game, run the ball, limited possessions and I think they can stay within the summer.

The other thing, Oregon has no incentive to run this up. And we've seen it every week. Oregon gets a big lead and they shut it down. It's like, say, healthy. They're already in the playoff. I mean, they're like,

it shouldn't say they're already in, but basically they're already in. They've already beat Ohio State. Their remaining schedule is Wisconsin, Maryland, and then Washington at home. I mean, and they can afford two losses. I think that Boise wins also aged pretty well, right? Boise probably be a playoff team. But their run defense is suspect.

The Michigan still is a really good day. The Oregon offense still lacks some explosiveness. So this is all out max effort for Michigan. I think they can stay in this number or get like a backdoor late because Oregon really does. They just don't care in the second half. The scariest one, how about a team that hasn't covered? all year versus a team that has covered every week. Air Force catching over three touchdowns against Army.

I have to take this. I mean, if you look historically, Service Academy is catching over three touchdowns are like 70% against the spread. Just silly. And they know each other very well. They know how to defend the triple option. There's limited possessions.

The games go so fast. It's so hard to cover as a big favorite. But they practice against a triple option every single week. week. Last year, in this exact spot, the roles were reversed. Air Force was undefeated and ranked. They were 7 and 0, and they were playing an Army team that was 2 and 5 that just lost a UMass at home. Game was in Air Force. Air Force was a 20-point favorite and got their doors blown off. I think they lost by 25. now you have an Air Force team that's really bad. They've only won one game taking on an Air Force team that's undefeated, ranked,

and the roles are completely reversed. Air Force has had this game circled. Their quarterback plays been so bad, but they have these two more mobile kids that are sophomores that they went to for one game, and the offense looked much better. They got hurt, but they should be back this week, and that's what they're going to go with,

and it just adds juice to their triple option attack. So, yeah, I just, Service Academy laying over 21 against another Service Academy is crazy. This line is 42 points different than what it was last year, same time, which is insane to think about. But I have to take it. I think there's all, a Service Academy has only been favored by over 21

against another Service Academy one time in the past 20 years. It was, I think, in like 20, that really good Navy team like 10 years ago and they they beat Army by like three or four. I have to take a service academy catching over three touchdowns against another one. Okay, I like it. Let's, uh, let's hammer Air Force and go, uh, go America. Let's do it. Thanks, Dougie.

You're the man. All right, bro. Have a good week weekend. I'll see you next week. The volume. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite, unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman

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