The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - Justin Herbert & Chargers DOMINATE Carson Wentz & Vikings on TNF

Episode Date: October 24, 2025

Former NFL scout John Middlekauff is reacting LIVE immediately following the Week 8 Thursday Night Football matchup between Justin Jefferson and the Minnesota Vikings vs. Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers. John then reacts to the Chargers blowout win vs. the Vikings and laments the Vikings QB situation. Should they have resigned current Seattle Seahawks QB Sam Darnold or Indianapolis Colts QB Daniel Jones? John then reacts to the current gambling probe involving Portland Trailblazers head coach Chauncey Billups & Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and others. John wraps up with his thoughts on Love is Blind & recaps his experience trying hot yoga. Later John is joined by betting guru, Stuckey from The Action Network to break down the upcoming weekend in both college football and the NFL. They dive into the biggest matchups, key storylines, and deliver their expert insight on where the value is for bettors. From Saturday’s slate of massive college games to Sunday’s NFL action, they’ve got you covered with sharp analysis and some of the best bets to make this weekend. 04:02 - Vikings-Chargers 21:46 - NBA Gambling scandal 31:28 - Love is Blind 33:01 - John tries Hot Yoga 42:16 - Stuckey joins the show Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest.  All lines provided by Hard Rock Bet 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. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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John Middilcock, Three and Out Podcasts on this beautiful, awesome. Fugazi Friday. Or as I like to call it, Fugazi Friday. Hopefully everyone's having a great day, better than. Carson Wentz and the Vikings who just got destroyed. Did they make the wrong choice? I think we know the answer to that. The Sam Darnold situation, the JJ McCarthy situation, they won 14 games.

I don't think they're going to win seven this year. So the Chargers absolutely throttle them. And we'll dive in a little of that game. I'll give a couple thoughts on the crazy story today about Chauncey Billups. and the, I don't even know, the mob meets the NBA. I mean, this is right up my alley. I love that. And then a couple just a couple Fugazis that,

a television show I watched, just got to be the biggest fraud thing I've ever seen in my life. And then I attempted to do hot yoga this morning because I saw Lane Kiffin who looks just physically so good. I'm like, I want to be skinny like that. And he just does hot yoga every day. So I attempted it for the, first time in 15 years.

I just, all I'll say right now is it didn't go well. But we'll talk about that coming up. And Stucky will join us as well. So we'll go over the NFL games and a couple big college games. So Stucky will join us from the Action Network. And yeah, so you guys know the drill. Subscribe to the podcast, wherever you may listen. Spotify, Apple, they got you covered.

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J-O-H-N, for $20 off down the GameTime app today, last minute, tickets, lowest price is guaranteed. 37 to 10. That was a complete massacre. The Chargers just obliterated the Minnesota Vikings. I can't. I like the Chargers tonight, but I don't know if I expected that. That was wild.

And I think it all gets down to this. Is the Minnesota Vikings drafted a quarterback really high? It happens a lot, right? Teams all over the league since the history of the sport have drafted quarterback's eye. Here's the problem. If that guy is not good, you're screwed. Every once in a while, we saw it with the 49ers. They drafted Trey Lance really high.

And the expectations when you're a team like that 49er team or this Minnesota team, team that just won 14 games is a lot different than when Trevor Lawrence got drafted to the Jags. Kyler Murray got drafted to Arizona. There aren't any expectations the team sucked. J.J. McCarthy inherited a 14-win team. He did not play a game last year because he was injured. Two games into his career, after eight quarters, and he played one good quarter out of the eight, he's injured with the, I don't know, most severe ankle injury we've ever seen. Who knows if he's coming back. Yet they didn't have a contingency plan. I don't blame the Vikings front office or Kevin O'Connell from going, you know what, we're going to roll with J.J. McCarthy. It was risky,

but I do understand the logic of we believe in this guy. We think he's going to be healthy. We're going to, we have a good enough nucleus around him. We just need him to kind of mold in. Again, risky based on your quarterback play last year, the guy threw 35 touchdowns and a playoff level team was very interested in him and then obviously signed him and Sam Donald's excelling and that no one would argue that if you gave their general manager and Kevin O'Connell the opportunity of a redo. It's like here's your Mulligan. They would immediately take it and they would have paid him more money than Seattle to keep him in Minnesota. We all agree there. No one's even arguing that. That was a conversation a couple weeks ago.

that argument's over. If they could have a redo, they would have kept Sam Donald. But they didn't, and they went with J.J. McCarthy. I think the mistake they made is not having a contingency plan for a guy that had proven he couldn't stay healthy. He only played in the league one year. Wasn't even possible to play a game because he ripped up his knee. And now he's injured.

We don't even know if he's any good. So it's like Carson Wentz, who, that was tough to watch. I mean, it really was. not that I'm the biggest Carson Wentz guy clearly he's not a very good player though I'm not necessarily judging him on the night but he was getting throttled on a on a play in play out basis

by the end of that game you're like cringing when he's getting hurt his shoulder his finger his knees his ankles you're like this guy's going to get killed so obviously J.J. McCarty's going to come back get thrown into that and have no chance it's probably going to look worse and the reality is when you go with one of these young quarterbacks,

especially coming from these powerhouse programs. It's actually, you could argue, way harder to judge a kid when he's playing at some of those peak Bama teams or the peak Ohio State teams or the team J.J. McCarthy played on one of the most talented college football teams in recent memory.

They literally had a pro at every position. So it's like, is that going to translate his advantage every game in college was, I have better players than you. And unless you are equal, which maybe happen once a season, at best you have the same talent we have, probably given that my team is so good, and this used to happen to Sabin, we have the advantage. So then you try to translate that to the pros, it's all a guess. And this gets back to Sam Darnold, like there's no guessing.

We had seen a year with him with the team and his. him Excel. Now, if you want to go, well, John, what happened in that Lions game and what happened in that Rams game? I'll be the first to agree. Wasn't pretty, especially the Lions game. He was really bad. The Rams game was him and the coach. But it was bad. But he got you there. He put you in a position of dominating and being in the MVP conversation helping you win 14 games. That in itself is an accomplishment. I've always said this about Tua, up until this year, where he obviously does not look as good as he has in years past. But a couple years ago, like, listen, to his value, you got no shot in the playoffs.

And you got no shot in a cold game. But over the course of 17 games, if your team's relatively healthy and he's starting, you're going to win 8 to 10 games. And there is value in that. For a franchise like Miami, if every single year you can win 9, 10 games, just be in the playoff mix, what's that worth? $30 million a year? Not what they gave them, but there was financial value in that.

when you could do Sam Darnold, make huge plays, big arm, and you could have said, well, listen, am I going to judge him just strictly on those two games and going, that's what he is when I have the long body of work of him winning big games throughout that season? And I think they overthought it. And I think they got caught into, well, we drafted this guy. We got to make it work. And let's be clear, that 2024 draft could derail Kevin O'Connell big time.

because not only did they take J.J. McCarthy, which turns out does not look great at all. And honestly, if I'm a betting man, I think when he comes back, it gets way worse. Like, you think Carson Wentz looks bad. J.J. McCarthy can look worse. They also took Dallas Turner,

who I started texting around my buddies in the NFL. I'm like, what do you think? What do you think? Because we're on the three and out text change talking about him. Like, this is kind of good. And I got a lot of, you know, I had a buddy compare him to Travis Hunter in the sense of it's not that Travis Hunter's a bad player. He just got overdrafted and that trade, it's going to be really hard for him to live up to it.

Well, Dallas Turner was drafted two picks ahead of Jared Verse. And let's face it, Jared Verst is one of the better young players in the league. Now, you say, John, you're just playing Monday morning quarterback. Well, yeah, I am. Their job is to get it right. Our job, as fans, as people to talk about league is to just talk about the current situation, what's going on. they didn't get it right. And if they could do it over,

I think they would have to, they would not take J.J. McCarthy. And obviously, they would rather have J.R. versus than Dallas Turner. And those were really powerful picks because they had two first round picks. And it looks like they didn't get it right. And now their team, because of injuries,

is a shell of itself. You go, well, of course, that would happen any teams they got injured. Well, I'm watching the Chargers who have a million freaking injuries. first series of the game. You see Derwin James, or might have been the second, chase down Carson Wentz. You're like, God, Durwin

James looks incredible. Al Michaels comes on. You know, he's not quite throwing fastballs anymore, but, you know, still trying. He's like, you know, Derwin James hasn't missed a snap this season? Next series, pulls his hamstring, or ankle, or whatever happens, is just out. You're like, the Chargers, on any given moment, they kind of feel like the Niners, they feel like the Ravens.

Someone goes down, they disappear. Doesn't matter. Because they got the quarterback right. Now, finding Justin Herbert is not easy. But when they went into the season with J.J. McCarthy, Carson Wentz wasn't even on the team. Remember, they signed him basically the first week of the season. They had all these other guys. It's like you didn't have a legit backup plan.

Like, why didn't you, even if it's just, listen, it's not easy to find backup quarterbacks, but there were several with a lot of playing experience. Why didn't you give one year $10 million to Garner Minchew or Mac Jones or someone that's like, hey, worst case scenario, this guy started a lot of games. That wasn't the case. They had like Sam Howell, then they have Carson Wentz, and now they have the situation where they went from 14 wins, 14 wins last year.

And we're awesome. I mean, we're freaking one of the best stories of the league. They created this Sam Darnold resurgence. And now they're not even going to win half that. And like, I'm not acting like the GM and Kevin O'Connell don't know what they're doing. that they've been good. But that's the past. When you look in the future, you go,

you got a disaster on your hands. You have a major problem because your quarterback situation is in major flux. You've missed on some draft picks. And like most teams, you're just going to get injured throughout the season. So your quarterback position where last year could elevate you,

you're not even sure if he could function if you were fully healthy. So if I'm a, if I'm a, if I'm a, if I'm a, if I'm a, Vikings fan, I go, how did this happen so fast? And the answer is pretty easy. They made a decision.

While it was logical, it didn't work. And it backfired. And now they found themselves in shambles. Because next week, you know who they play? The Lions. So it's like, you're going to put Carson Wentz out there at 50% or are you going to throw J.J. McCarthy finally for the first time in seven weeks since he rolled his ankle? Because I'll tell you this. I like the lions in that game. And all of a sudden you look up and you're three and five

and your season's just falling apart. And you're getting lapped in your division. And the Lions, Jared Goff, for years moving forward. The Packers, Jordan Love for years moving forward. Even the Bears. I mean, Caleb's obviously better than anything the Vikings have. But it just, it shows you how fast things can change. And decisions in the NFL,

and it gets thrown around a lot. Like, you're just saying this because of what we know now. It's like, yeah, but their job is to get it right in the first place. And they had a lot of conviction on it. They've told us how awesome they thought this player was. Hell, they believed because they let Sam Darnold go when they had a for sure thing. A guy that even if they had to pay and couldn't build up the rest of their roster, they would have known that they could have won double digit games for several years moving forward.

Might not have been 14, but it would have been 9.000. but it would have been 9 or 10 minimum for the next couple years. And then you're in the playoff mix. This isn't a seven-game series. It's one game, anything can happen. I saw Eli Manning win multiple Super Bowls as wildcard. I think the first one they won in 07, they went 9-7. So football's not basketball, where when the playoffs start, you're like, yeah, okay, see,

he's probably going to win it. It's not baseball. It's like, yeah, the Dodgers is probably going to win it. Anything can happen in football. I mean, the Rams were a play away from knocking down the Eagles. and then the Eagles went to blow out Washington, blow out the cheese. Football's weird that way. And it does feel like they screwed this up.

And if I'm a Vikings fan, that hurts because how awesome last year was and really how awesome a couple years ago were with Kirk Cousins and seeing how good this coach can be. Like your coach's staff's good. We know Kevin O'Connell's good. I do think he's a little overrated in the way he's talked about because I don't know he's never won a playoff game. He's been in two and favored him both and lost them both.

but I'm not trying to act like he's some scrub. He's really good and I'd say 80 to 85% of the teams in the league would take him without hesitation. Obviously, Flores and the infrastructure there is good. But as an organization from a decision-making standpoint, they made a bold move and it blew up in their face. And on the flip side, and listen, I think Kamani Vidal, I think is how you say his name, the running back from Troy, is a good example. that a team can scout a player. I knew nothing about this guy.

I saw his name a couple weeks ago once they had some injuries. And I remember texting a friend of mine in the league. I'm like, who is this guy? They're like, oh, he's just a little running back from Troy. I'm like, what's his deal? They're like, ah, really productive player. I didn't really do much research.

And then tonight I'm watching him. I start Googling him. I'm like, what's this guy's deal? And he was the Sunbelt player of the year in 2003. He ran for over 1,600 yards. He had like 14 rushing touchdown. downs. He then went to the combine and ran a 4-4-5. I'm like, how this guy end up in the sixth round? Well, he's like 5-7. And I text a college director. I said, how did this guy like not end up at a

bigger school? They're like, oh, he's probably three inches away from beating the starting running back at Georgia. And listen, sometimes in football, you get discriminated against. When you're a little slower at certain positions, when you're a little shorter at certain positions, there's a reason Ashing Gentie and guys like this, you know, aren't at Texas. USC, Oregon, or Ohio State out of high school. Because they're not that big. Now, that doesn't determine whether you're going to be good because I'm watching the night going, well, that translates.

He's breaking tackles. And that's back-to-back weeks of him playing pretty well. I would imagine if Joe Ortiz and Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman knew what they had, because they drafted this guy last year in the sixth round, played sparingly as like a backup, didn't even rush for 200 yards. But you watch them these last two weeks because Hampton's injured and obviously Naji's out for the season, that the Chargers don't spend $10 million on Naji Harris.

They would just come into the season with maybe get a way cheaper veteran running back, Hampton, and this guy. But even in the NFL, when you know a guy, you draft a guy, he's been on your team. You don't know what you have until he plays. And that would be the argument that Vikings would say, like, we were pretty confident. I text someone who has been on multiple teams with Carson Wentz. I'm like, does he look good in practice? like yeah he actually looks pretty good in practice

and sometimes you see on an individual play you're like God you see the physical skills and then there's just times where the ball is flying all over the place and his accuracy kind of shows up but Vidal is a good example of and this is what makes the NFL so awesome is like you could convince me he rushes the rest of the season for 900 yards

no one's even been talking about this guy hell the chargers didn't even believe that much in him because they drafted a running back in the first round they gave another guy $10 million and over the next several weeks he could rush for 500 yards in like a month and that's how it happens that's how fast it happens and tonight listen the one thing if i wanted to defend minnesota's overall effort making a team as the season goes on travel a long way on Thursday night is borderline criminal activity i had to google it because i've never made the flight

from los angeles to minnesota uh chad gpt said depending on the wind patters can be anywhere from like three hours and 45 minutes to four hours. It's a long flight on Thursday night. Like, what are we doing? Why don't the Chargers play like the Raiders or, I don't know, some team on the West Coast for this game? How do you force Minnesota to do this?

I get it because last year the Chargers were a playoff team, last year Minnesota was a playoff team, it's a good matchup on paper. And what do they want? Amazon to be a bigger partner. Why? Because Amazon's got a lot of money. Can't afford to pay a lot of money for the game. games. They want them involved. Don't blame the NFL at all. One thing's clear when you watch

games like this is how little, and I mean little, you know what the NFL gives about player safety, about player concern. They don't care at all. It's just about, oh, Vikings Chargers, and turned out to be a terrible game because the travel is absolutely insane. And, you know, Herbert, he had a pick on a ball that was tipped. He had another pick, I think, on the first series of the game that he got extremely lucky that Isaiah Rogers is I mean there's a reason most guys play DB and not wide receiver and typically they don't have good hands and he he dropped a ball that was literally thrown right to him that most wide receivers would have made with their eyes closed in one hand and and so he got lucky there that should have been it would have been a pick six

but overall he just watched him make plays tonight it was just I mean the difference in the game because both teams got injuries everywhere and one of team has a high-level quarterback and the other team has no quarterback. And you look up and the final score is one team wins by 27 points because that's what the league comes down to in situations where both teams, elite coaching staffs, both teams are a bunch of high-end players who a lot of them are hurt all over the place. And one team is a top five quarterback in the league and the other team has, you know, you could argue the Minnesota Vikings have one of the worst quarterback situations in the NFL right now potentially. And if J.J. McCarthy sucks, which based on the

eight quarters we've seen them and factoring in injuries, you would just have to say it's going to be a major problem. I don't know how it gets much worse than their situation. Are they already in the, do we draft another quarterback? Do we run this back if it stays ugly and just try to sign some version of Daniel Jones? I don't give Minnesota crap for letting Daniel Jones, who I think they tried to sign this offseason for a similar number as Indy, but what did he know? Well, I know you want to start J.J. McCarthy. I know I can beat out Anthony Richardson. He made the right choice. But again, I think if they could do that one over, they would have been like, well, just here's one year, $25 million will make you the starter. But you can't do that. There are no mulligans in the draft and free agency.

Once you make a decision, you made it. And that's what you live with. Today's show is brought to you by our new presenting sponsor Hard Rock Bet. Hard Rock Bet is the only legal sportsbook whenever you're in Florida and it's also live in Arizona, Ohio, Jersey, Indiana. see Virginia, Illinois, and Colorado coming soon to more states near you. You know that last week four top 10 teams lost. And in this new college football landscape, anything can happen every single weekend. So here's the thing. Get in on the chaos right now, sign up for Hard Rock Bet. And if your first $5 bet wins, you'll score 150 in bonus bets on top of your winnings. Download the Hard Rock Bet now. Plus today and tomorrow on Hard Rock Bet, you can get a college

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In Indiana, if you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants to help call 1-8009 with it. Gambling problem, call 1-800 gambler. Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, huge news?

We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas, we invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're out there. but this one's extra special.

So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down?

Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, people could call in and say, hey Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad Hey Jonas and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel 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. 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. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind.

Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise. breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear.

The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Okay. I did want to dive into a couple of Fugazis because the big story today was this mob, NBA,

arrest, 30, 35 people and just the headlines and people breaking down the indictments of Chauncey Billups. Terry Rozier has been under investigation for a long time. So that is not a new story. And there are a lot of different people with different opinions from politics to sports. From everything I've read, this investigation has been going on for a long time, right? For years. And today was a big day in the investigation of people getting arrested. And to me, the headline was Chauncey Billups, who to me two things really stand out. I've been saying this for years. The epidemic of tanking in the NFL or in the NBA,

there are several negative aspects of it. Obviously, you never want your product to not matter and to have teams just literally not try. That is not good. But I do think when you do it for so long, people involved in the sport become numb to, who cares? This game doesn't matter. So players and coaches, if they're involved in that,

and they do somehow have ties to the mob or just willing to make some bets on the side, which is crazy because I saw someone tweet, Chauncey Billups has been making a million dollars plus in his job since 1997. So, Chonsie Billups, and I thought Charles Barkley did a great job. They were arguing about it on Inside the NBA on ESPN,

which just, it's refreshing seeing them on ESPN. And like they did not change at all. And Kenny is like talking about being a gambling addict and all this shit. It's like, listen, I've been gambling for 20 years. And Charles was like, listen, you can't be worth $160 million and try to do some prop bets for your buddies and call it a gambling addiction. You're a fucking moron. You're an idiot. And to me, Tara Rozier, if that's true, like he's making these guys 150 grand.

He's made $160 million in his career. like you are a top like shelf idiot and the Chonsie Billups thing to me is kind of complicated because by all accounts like everyone loves this guy and it's like he's involved with the mob it almost feels like to me

as someone has just watched a lot of mob movies you go what does the mob have on him that he own money which you go God Johnson's pretty rich so it's like how much would he have to owe them to not be able to pay it back because some people it's like hey if John Middukoff

owed the mob $2 million cash tomorrow, you go, he's in some trouble. I'm going to have some issues, right? But if you go, hey, Chauncey Billups, those them $750K,000, like, I got a pretty good, you know, I think it's fair to say, like, Choncy Billups could make that work. Hell, he's got a job right now that pays millions of dollars. But something shady, his connection there. But I know this, right?

If I rob you at gunpoint for, let's say, $200,000, I'm going to jail. Well, depending on where I live. But if I'm in Arizona, I'm definitely. definitely going to jail, right? Yet, if I rob you at a poker game, I don't think we think of it the same way, but based on what they were doing, that's essentially the same thing.

And to me, the crazy part is they were using Chauncey Billups to essentially just rob people. And obviously these poker games, I'm a sports gambler, and I used to, in my younger days, play a lot of blackjack. I never got in to like hold them or poker.

It's never been my thing. Maybe it's patience. Maybe I'm just not smart enough. Maybe I just don't have a good poker face. I don't know. It never did anything for me. But like most people, I know people that love. We're in Vegas, wherever we are.

We'll go to high limit tables. Can sit there till for hours. I mean, you can go up there at dinner time. Won't come out till the next morning at 7 a.m. It's obviously people love doing it, which I respect. I kind of wish that I liked it. I can't even attempt to. It just kind of bores me.

But what they were doing is just stealing people's money. It was just robbery And instead of using a gun They're using technology And there are videos coming out Saying that like Yeah, that's People in the poker world

Kind of knew that they were getting robbed But this having this famous person Kept drawing them back Because it's like ah These guys suck it up over going to take their money Yet they would always lose And I just think You know in these situations

The government's good at a couple things Starting wars and collecting money And anytime you have this type money exchanging hands because again these type games the pot's not a thousand dollars I mean the amount of money being thrown around at some of these games

and the same thing with Gilbert Arenas with you know his mafia poker games these are extremes amounts of money well who's not getting paid when people are taking money back the government that's why they sniff around but to me the thing of Chauncey Billups

telling whoever about how he was going to rotate guys and play guys, that's only possible in a tanking league. Because even in the NFL, tonight, the game was atrocious. I do this for a living and I found myself kind of getting bored. I'm like, this is an awful product. Yet millions of people are watching.

In football, it's hard to hide. Because you only play once a week, even when you suck like the Jets or the Titans, if something really shady happened, the media covering your team would immediately ask questions after the game. If a player, like a wide receiver, just had like 10 drops in a game, it would be a big story. Even on a team with two wins,

yet in the NBA, as you get to March, as you get to April, as you get toward the end of the season, you get some of these teams that are winning 15, 20 games, and their season is just irrelevant. Doesn't matter. Even if they're playing Denver, the Warriors, or whatever. You're going to lose... I went to a game last year.

The Warriors played the Sons. The Sons were fucking terrible. I think the game I went to, Booker was hurt, Kevin Durant was hurt, and Bradley Biel was out there. And the Warriors were up 30 before you even blink. The game was a joke. And this happens all around the league. No one's paying attention in these games. Because the games simply don't matter.

So if you get some of these people involved in the games, you go, why does it even matter if I tell someone like, yeah, we're going to suck tonight. We're going to get throttled. Like, it's not that crazy. And if you are involved with those type people, even if you're not involved with the mob, just someone that gambled.

And you were talking about it. Like, yeah, I'll put some action on this game. And in their mind, they might be thinking, what am I really doing wrong? We got 19 wins. There's two games left in the season. And this gets back to the problem that is defined Adam Silver's career

is the tanking. So you just have so many teams where none of it matters, and that's where weird shit can go on. because you know where weird shit can't really go on? Like the Thunder playing the Warriors with a week left in the season when they're playing for seating. You know what can't really go wrong? NFL games.

Because everyone's paying attention. The games matter. Yet in the NBA, we just saw it last year. And I'll give them credit. They changed the lottery. So it's like, yeah, you can tank, but you're not guaranteed getting Cooper Flag. But still, like, 10 teams tanked because they wanted to get Cooper Flag.

So, and some of these teams, I'm not talking tank in the last week the season. I'm talking months all season, not even trying. I don't think Utah's tried in years. In years. So it's sad about the sons. I think they've actually tried and they still sucked. They're going to suck again and they're probably going to try. But a lot of these teams actively don't try to win and it gets back to the Sam Hinky days. And when you have these situations, shady people get involved and let's face it. Basketball by far of all the major sports is the most corrupt sport. It's not even close because it's the easiest to manipulate with referees,

With players, you can't even really notice. The only way now you can't with technology. I was just talking to the dudes building the office in the backyard today. Because they asked me, they're like, yeah, you see this story? I'm like, yeah, it's crazy. We start talking like mafia and mob. Listen, anyone watches these stories from like John Gotti to the five families to all that stuff in the 60s, 70s and 80s. It was harder to figure it out.

Why technology didn't exist. Now technology, I can track everyone's steps for everything. Hell, the reason Terry Rozier got turned in is because the gambling comes. companies turn them in. Like, wait, way too many people are betting the under on all his player props. And all I see the media, it's like, oh, everyone's involved with gambling. It's like, no, it's like, this is, what the fuck are we talking about? If you're actively throwing stuff, that's illegal activity. I mean, whether people are involved with gambling or not, it's like, what are we talking about? This has nothing to do like, oh, it's just so legal now. It's like,

it's like criminal activity. He knows exactly what he's doing. And for a guy that made a hundred and $60 million, you want to get your buddies some money, give him 20 grand, tell him to invest in the stock market. Do it this way, like you deserve to go to jail for being a complete idiot, complete idiot. And Adam Silver's got some, you know, blood on his hands because this guy's been in the league for the last couple years. And Charles Barclay's the only guy I've seen ask people like, what's going on? Adam Silver screwed this one up. Does Adam Silver to blame on this one? Of course he is, because he gets walked all over. And this is kind of the end result where they stand now. So I was going to talk football, but my wife loves, and listen, I can get into it at

time too. Love is Blind. I think Love is Blind is one of the most outrageous shows of all time. And I don't even believe it. I think the Fugazi going on in this show and in this series, I think all these people are actors. Because I've never met a human being. Never met a human being. I'm 40 years old. lived in different places, known a bunch of people, even just, I'm not even talking friends, I'm talking casually, I don't think I've ever met a human being. They would be like, yeah, I would go on a show where I couldn't see the other person,

and then I would get down on a knee, or if I was a girl, I would let them get down on a knee, and I would get engaged without ever seeing them. I think it's the most unrealistic show in the history of humanity. And I just don't believe any of these people are real. I don't believe that this is actually happening. Now, I think they're all paid actors,

because I don't think you could be an actual human being in doing this. And if you're doing it, you're just, you know, doing it for fame, you're acting career trying to take off. But I don't think any person actively looking for a significant other, a partner, would attempt this experiment. Because it's that unrealistic. I mean, it's just, you're just talking to them behind a pod, having a few cocktails, and after a couple days, you're going to get down on a knee.

Like, think how just insane that is. and you see these situations they're all breaking up none of them like each other like yeah no shit I could have told you the thing would fail and last but not least I

you know Lane Kiffin is the talk of the town watch that documentary he just looks so good he's skinny I'm like I keep looking at myself I'm like I just get fat trying to be healthy and all he does is hot yoga so I'm like you know what

my gym I was looking they got classes you know they got spinning classes stuff they got hot yoga classes I'm like you know what I'm gonna take this hot yoga class at six in the morning. So I've done hot yoga maybe once in my life, 15 years ago,

at Fresno State actually, with Tim Skipper, who hopefully gets a big win this weekend against Indiana. And I remember doing it back then. It was hot, it was hard, but I was probably 25 years old, could handle it, complain or whatever, do some stretches. I went to this class this morning. There were probably six, seven other women in the class. I was the only guy.

I would say I was at 40 years old, the youngest person by far. multiple women probably in their 60s, all in good shape. About 10 minutes in, I look over at the clock, because I'm like, how long have we, have we been in here in like an hour? And I look, and it's 610. So we had been in there 10 minutes. I'm like, I don't think I can make it 10 more minutes.

So I mentally just like, I start thinking like the Navy SEALs. I'm like, do not ring that bell. You can't look terrible in front of these, these women who are just dominating this class, doing these poses, doing this. And I'm like, I was just watching. watched the E-60 on Lane Kiffin, and he was doing it with easy. He's skinny. He looks great. It's like, this can't be that hard. And I'm 20 minutes in. I'm like, there is no way I got

40 more minutes in me. And I just kept telling myself, do not ring that bell, do not ring that bell, do not quit. And I got to be honest, I quit at 40 minutes in. And I don't even know how I made it 40 minutes. And I'm not one of those people that makes fun of yogis. Like, I respect that I'm not that flexible. Hot yoga. That was one of the most difficult things I've done in a long time. And there was a split second where I'm like, I might not make it. I can't breathe.

My muscles are all tensing up. I feel like I'm going to, I don't know if I'm having a heart attack. I don't know if I'm going to dive dehydration. I just feel like there's a chance if I make it to the 60 minutes. They might have to call a medic. So anyone that does hot yoga consistently, nothing but respect. Because that,

anyone who thinks that that's easy or just not that difficult or not that impressive is high on drugs. Because that's one of the most physical, difficult physical activities. I've done in a decade. So congrats to all you yogis out there. Hey, it's us to Jonas brothers. And guess what?

We have some big news. What's the news? huge news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to us. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas Brothers

was... This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title

for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some essence. You're an L, 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, S&L'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 I-Heart 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 I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsClice comes in. I'm Timbo.

Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves. Their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. SportsSlice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them.

Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife-12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. I don't want to say we're coming down the home stretch, but the season is moving pretty quickly now. Look at some of these records in college. I'm like, start doing the math. I'm like, they don't have that many games left. The NFL, we're at the point now where six teams have buys.

That's always like, okay, we're kind of to the halfway point. So I bring on my main man Stucky, who is a gambling extraordinary. And all lines here are brought to you by our friends at Hard Rock Bet. And we just got a lot going on. I think the college football landscape is clearer than the NFL landscape. one problem in the NFL is there just so many injuries. So even the good teams, it's hard to kind of tell. Are the Chiefs?

I mean, how many teams that you would consider like a top 10 NFL team would you say that are healthy? Chiefs? Yeah, there's like the Colts are healthy. Denver? Yeah, the Colts, Denver. The Rams relatively, like NACU is not going to be out long term. but maybe the bills will be healthier coming up. But yeah, there's a lot of teams that are, I mean,

you look at the team like the Chargers and their offensive line. It's been an absolute disaster. The Ravens, their defense, Lamar Jackson, the bills, their defense. You know, even the Eagles have been banged up. Packers have dealt with injuries. The Lions defense. Now, the Chiefs do have, last week, they did lose a couple starting offensive linemen, Juan Taylor, and,

Trey Smith left. I don't know their statuses. They play Monday night. And their left tackles is gone, right? What's it that? Their left tackles just gone. Yeah, their left tackles away for a personal matter. I hope it's nothing serious.

I hope it's nothing like I always remember when, what's his name? Eric Barry laughed and then he ended up having the answer. That was so sad. I hope it's nothing serious. And he's doing okay. but that they could potentially be down three offensive linemen. Trey Smith's one of their better ones. So that's something worth noting.

I did play some Washington for what it's worth as the kick-ins-off. I did place Washington plus 12 and a half on Monday night. I just think it's too many points. Like I know Daniels isn't going to play. The McClureen and Devo should be back. They can run the ball. The Chiefs are struggling to defend the run so you can keep Mahomes off the field. I know the Chief's offense is all the way to that.

I get that. And the Commander's defense is not healthy. But Mariotta can run the offense. hasn't been great this year anyway. Like, this is, you're pricing the commanders. Like, they're impoverished. Like, the Raiders were catching less than this last week in Kansas City. And they have no Bowers, no Miller, and they can't get out of their own way.

Like, Washington is at least competent. And when Kansas City gets the lead, they usually just sit on it. You can get a backdoor here. Too many points. Good buy those. I saw a spot. So I did play some commanders on Monday night. Well, think about this.

Tennessee, who is definitely in the running to be the number of, one pick again that they are atrocious football team is playing indie who obviously is good but I wouldn't say indie at home gets valued in the market the same way Kansas City at home does is catching only a point and a half more I guess yeah they're 12 and a half and the Tennessee's 14 I mean that's you're right this this spot on Monday night we'll just go right to the Monday night game has a little bit of a feel it's it's not apples to apples parallel but your squad against the Rams a couple weeks go is like, listen, I get we got some

random guys, but we're going to give a kitchen sink game. And I do think Washington's backs against the wall a little bit they look like shit, they're playing like crap, no one thinks they're going to win. This does feel like run some trick plays, just I don't know. But this is, you're just going to get

curb stomped and lose 30 to 10. I have a hard time, even though clearly Washington, I would bet against them being a playoff team right now. But are they going to be a five-win team? Or is it going to like be eight and nine when the dust settles. Yeah, I mean, they're three and four.

At the Chiefs. Daniels banged up. You got the Seahawks and the Lions on deck. It can get away from you. Yeah. So, like, this is like, you're going to have a Clarnback. You're going to have Debo back is what it looks like. So they have a competent office line. They'll be able to run the ball.

This is kind of disrespectful. Marriota is not, you know, Jake Browning or like, Kyle Allen. Yeah, he's run this offense successfully in the past two seasons. So, yeah, I think it's too many points. But we skipped over a couple days. Well, we can go back, but I do think Washington's kind of fascinating because I think when we started this season, you were all about like their fourth down percentage was like historic because it wasn't just like all these fourth and ones. They were going for like fourth and sevens.

And then when you factor in, they won some just crazy games. I mean, they had one of the craziest Hail Mary moments in the history of the league. And now you watch and play, the games don't even feel, I mean, their defense really feels slow and not good. But I thought last year when they were in the NFC championship game, I'm like, I think man for man roster-wise, even healthy, this has got to be one of the worst championship teams we've ever seen, besides their quarterback having like a historic year as a rookie. Yeah, I mean, we saw Stroud do that and Stroud has come back down there. like it's it's it's it's you never want to make an assumption like they're going to it there's there's there's there's ups and downs to an NFL quarterback's career and like Washington's 50

50 i think 50% on 4th downs this year which is like what you'd expect and they won so many close games when you're whatever they were 88% or whatever on 4th downs last year if the difference between that and 50% like a normal rate is enormous because that's like one possession you know Like every game that you end up scoring on or the other team gets the ball, that's like it could be the difference between like two to three wins in the season. So yeah, but they're in rough shape and the defense does look slow, but too many points here. It's probably, I mean, close to the difference of like closer to a touchdown a game when you factor in. If I get it, either I kick a field goal or if I score a touchdown, well, if you get it, especially like midfield,

you're probably a lock to kick a field. or six-point swings, 10-point swings, potentially 14-point swings. It just doesn't get any bigger as a swing, right? So, I mean, I think this is a big moment early in Dan Quinn's career. I talked about yesterday on the podcast, but we could get into the Giants. I know these guys have gotten injured differently, but I think Jaden Daniels, you watch a lot of college football. Do you think these young quarterbacks have kind of been emboldened because it's like, well, you can't really touch me or hit me, you get in trouble.

Like they feel way more reckless now. And obviously they're, you know, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Philip Rivers couldn't run to begin with. But like these guys just have no fear of anything. It's like you guys got to be a little, and go and Jaden played like that at LSU in the SEC. And it's like you guys better be careful. I get like, you know, the size of these guys. I've been saying this for a while. Linebackers are a little smaller.

But they're faster than ever and their body fat's probably lower than ever. And it's the only time during the week and during like they get 17 times to touch you and they are looking to destroy you. And I also said this. If you could go into a defensive coordinator meeting like on Wednesday to start the game plan on Saturday night before the game, I think a lot of football fans would be uncomfortable with what's being said. I don't think people quite understand the lingo that's discussed. Offense I don't even think would be that big a deal. people would I think the defense would make a lot of just casual people like that's how they talk it's like yeah

that's how they fucking talk you know yeah there's like part of it's probably mahomes too like mahomes he does that thing on the sideline which is BS yes and I would like someone eventually is just going to say I don't care uh suspend me and and take him out and he he will get suspended too yes maybe banned um but yeah no you're right like these quarterback all of them are treated like with kids gloves and so that's probably part of it uh i have to give credit to dart i mean he's looked he's looked pretty good and look what he's working with like it's not a great offensive line it's better with andrew thomas but they don't have the lake neighbors uh you know you're your your rookie rookie running back with you and a bunch of nobodies i mean you're throwing to

daniel belliger half the time last week it's a really good defense i do worry a little bit about this spot against philadelphia this week look am i running the bet philadelphia yeah, absolutely not. Like this, the last, last week they should have lost. I think I agree that there was like a six point loss. Sadly, Minnesota didn't cover.

But I mean, they were dominated on a down-down basis. They got to pick six. They scored a touchdown on the fourth down. Minnesota was in the red zone seven times and had one touchdown. Like, Minnesota should have won that game. But like this is a tough spot for the Giants. Number one, they had some injuries in the secondary.

So we'll see, like if Deionis, Banks has to play, that's not good. And that's what happened last week. They went to pre-empt, but they had injuries in the secondary and enabled Denver to score 33 points somehow in the fourth quarter in one of the most insane games of the season. But their run-dees really bad, dead last and success rate. And what they've been doing with Dart over the past four weeks

is if you go watch all their games, they are been dominant in the scripted drives, the first couple drives the game. and they have a unique offense with Darden, teams aren't too familiar with him and what they're doing. They're number two in EPA for play in the first quarter since Dard has taken over. The rest of the quarters, quarters two through four on offense, they're like number 24, number 25 success for any pay for play. So they've been below average. But they're able to get a lead.

And then they're able to play their game. Are they going to be able to do that this week against the team that already played them two weeks ago? I don't know. And then if they have to play from behind, that could get done. dicey you know the eagles are going to be up for this game after they got embarrassed on national tv carter didn't play quince uh you know they were without their best corner with quignon mitchell they'll be back defense is a different animal there and maybe philly found something on offense last week by mistake cam jerkins went out at center their backup center came in they

went under center more which and they became more unpredictable and they hit some throws through it so i i don't know that's something worth watching but they actually threw it downfield i don't I still don't trust the Philadelphia offense. Like they go into these laws still for way too long. I need to see way more. But this is a tough spot for the Giants. Also, like, how do they respond? How do you get off the mat after a game like that in Denver

when you were like 99.9% to win it? So this could be a tough spot if they don't jump out because that's what the Giants have been doing. They've been so good early in these games and that enables them to play the style that they want to. If they have to play from behind and Dorda is thrown to these receivers and known passing downs,

Could get a little dicey. Well, I think it was pretty telling that, and I didn't watch Siriani's press conference this week, but, like, they ran the slant on second down and Jalen misses him, and then the next play, they ran the slant and go, and he hits him to ice the game. Like, they put that, now, he had been good in that game. He had hit a bunch of deep bombs, best passing game by far. I mean, he got, I mean, he has a good deep ball thrower, but, I mean, that won to Devante Smith, the other one earlier to AJ, like, he was, he was dialed.

And they put it in his hands where some of the knock is like, you know, they kind of get boring and they just kind of run it up the middle. And then they run slants. Like to, I don't know, to throw a bomb with the game, I don't want to say on the line because there's no guarantee Carson Wenz leads him down the field. But that was like, okay, like, does the offensive coordinator feel a little emboldened? Obviously, AJ still Instagram. For the first time, for the year. For sure. So with you there.

Okay, Cleveland. This is one of my hammers this week because, you know, I bet against New England a couple of times been burned. Obviously, Cleveland is way better at home. And you've been talking about this, the defense is really good. The running back, it's crazy. This is a little flip-flop. Or I guess Cleveland now, it looks like they've drafted the right running back of the two

twice. You know, New England back in the day took Sony Michelle, who I liked. And it turned out Nick Chubb was a stud. It's early. I'm not giving up. on New England's guy, but Junkins looks like he did back at Old Miss a couple years ago, fucking monster.

And I just think this spot, young quarterback, again, it's hard to know what Cleveland's offense brings the table. It's much easier when you're playing Tua, who's just falling apart at the seams. But seven points on the road, still a young team. That seems like a lot of points to me.

This number was like four and a half, five. Probably stay away. That touchdown number, though, I just got to wet my beak on this one. Yeah, I can't get there. I mean, I don't blame you for taking the seven. One of the reasons why, like, this is why I'm conflicted on this game. Drake May has been incredible. I mean, if you look at any metric, he's been one of the top three quarter. Has he hit more 20-yard passes than like anyone in the league? Yeah, and his deep ball's been great, the explosive passenger, and that's how you beat this Cleveland team with explosive, aggressive. You have to beat them, you know, one of their only blemishes on their statistical profile

is they allow explosive passes. New England's been doing. that very well. The one caveat that I'll say to Drake May, now I do believe that he's a really good player and he's going to be really good. He hasn't really played in the elite defense this year. You know, if you look at the defenses, he's played, I mean, they've all been pretty poor.

Carolina. Yeah, I mean, Carolina, I mean, even the Raiders, you can go on and on. You know, the Titans last week. I mean, the bills aren't great on defense. No, the bills were banged up and they are not a great defense, but far from it.

So this will be the best defense he's played, but the Cleveland defense isn't the same. They just haven't been the same animal away from home. My other concern is you have to throw on this. One of the biggest blemishes on the New England statistical profiles, they allow a ton of explosive passes. Their linebackers are really weak in coverage. Maybe that's some Cleveland can exploit.

Their safeties are a little vulnerable. You've got to throw on New England. Their run-dees really good. Their defensive line is really good. Their linebackers are really good in run support. Cleveland wants to run the ball. So I like, do you trust Gabriel to really come out and sling it? So I don't love the matchup.

But I don't blame you for taking the points. It's funny. You mentioned the Brown's getting Judkins. This is all rumor mill, but apparently Mike Ravel wanted Jonah Sabaniah, this guard from Arizona, who, and apparently it leaked. and the dolphins then traded up, I believe, to take him

because he was on there. They knew that the Patriots wanted them. And then the Patriots ended up because of that taking Trevon Henderson. Well, Henderson's been buried on the depth chart. Sovinae has been arguably the worst offensive linemen in NFL history.

I mean, these guy is still starting because they have no other options. Like if I pull up, I'll pull up, for example, PFF. He is, his past block grade is a 2.1. Like,

it's hard to describe how bad. He's basically a traffic cone out there. So I don't know. So the Patriots won it, still won that whole thing by default, even if Henderson, because they don't have a traffic cone on the offensive line.

But if you're into like seeing, advanced metrics and bad offense alignment. The Dolphins guard is, if you watch, if you just happen to have a Dolphins game on, on a passing play, watch their left guard, it is an abomination. So they got lucky. You know, they might not got the right running back.

Again, I don't want to, but it kind of played out like this with Sony and Nick Chubb. The one thing Junkins clearly is is he's just, you know, you can kind of do it all, right? Yeah. He's just, I mean, he's a physical, between the tackles, but he's quick. He can make you miss.

You know, I think the knock on Trevion is a little smaller, but definitely fast. But when you think about Vrable, like, where do he have success? Right, with a big, bruising running back. So, you know, now, I know he got in trouble. He's no longer in trouble. But that was, I remember when the thing came up with the girl, texted around like, yeah, we didn't, we never had,

there weren't character concerns with Junkins coming out. Yeah. And it's pretty crazy when he's, doing like he wasn't with the team early and he just yeah ready and then he's just taken off ever ever since it's not like teams aren't stacking the box against them because they are and he's still but this this is also where the transfer portal like wasn't he viewed as probably like a top 20 type pick when he transferred Ohio State and then as the season came on the other guy got to

made bigger plays down the stretch but like based on his old miss work I mean he's one of the best players in the country. So sometimes the transfer portal really works out. I was saying this about Gibbs. Isn't Gibbs a good example? Like pre-transfer portal, if he stays at Georgia Tech and just comes out his third year or senior year, I mean, because he's going to test really well and have some solid numbers, he's getting drafted in the top 100, but he's not sniffing the first round. Meanwhile, he goes transfers to Alabama. His numbers even Alabama weren't great. I don't even think he ran for a thousand yards, but he had some big games against some SEC opponents. Every scout goes into Alabama 10 times a year.

You're locked into that program. He shoots up the draft board like a rocket ship. So it can work for guys. It can also, I bet if Junk has just stayed at Ole Miss, probably gets drafted higher. Yeah. Yeah, you're probably right. He would have been more featured. Now, he won the national championship, so, I mean, it worked out.

Yeah, there's, the Jemir Gibbs was, he was, he started his career. It's funny to think of all this stuff. He started his career. He was with Georgia Tech with Jeff Sims, who started for Arizona State the other week. That's crazy. He's been around since 2019. They lost together a game against Dilling Gabriel.

When Dylan Gabriel was at UCF, Jeff Sims is still in college as well. Jeff Sims is pretty bad, isn't he? Yes, very. Okay. I do think it was borderline criminal activity, to make the Houston Texans play a seven Pacific Standard Time kickoff on Monday night football when they have a game the following week.

If you want to give them a buy, okay. That's, I googled it. I've never made the flight, but Chad GPT said it's over four hours. So by the time that they got out of there, my guess is as close to one in the morning. So, I mean, they are getting back to Houston and pulling into just get their cars. The light, the sun is out. Well, if you're a coach, Monday and Tuesday are game plan days,

you just go right into the office. You probably haven't slept much. And I would imagine they did a little work on the Niners on Monday, but still, you're getting ready for the game. That is a massive disadvantage. And on top of you losing, your offense is playing like shit, your defense, how long can they carry you?

That's just a really tough spot. Now, the Niners, again, they got it. Pierce all's out, Purdy's out. but I mean we just saw them against the Atlanta Falcons who I mean they got some issues bro you see that play 10 players on the on the field with on third down it's like Rahe grounding you can't do that at the end of the half that was god they got they got problems but I just think this is a really really hard spot in terms of the like out of gas meter for Houston and just their coaches they got to just be

fried I mean these guys probably they got to be exhausted sitting here as we're recording right now in the middle of Thursday. Yeah, I mean, I do think it's, this is, like, it, the situate with the spot, when where it fits in the schedule and the travel, as you mentioned, is horrible. But the situation is, like, this is your prototypical bylaw, sell high of the Texans who, like, this is their, I mean, there's seasons on the line. I mean, they're in a division with the Colts. The Jags are going to win, like, eighth,

nine games probably like and you're now sitting at what two and four and i mean you still have the chiefs the bill like this at the bills at the chargers the colts a couple times the jaggs like this is a big game you lose this game like it's your season's over pretty much over and you're you are going against the san francisco defense that is banged up they had like an all it was a great game plan by solid an all-out effort like kiddle came in a locker room questioned there and they were juiced up. But like, can you really count on like Tatum Bethune getting, like this is a team that's still for the season without Warner, without, I mean, they lost Huff now. They lost their other corner, one of their corners green without Bosa.

The numbers. Does any team in league history, Huff is a good example, has an incredible game, was awesome. And then it's just a game ends. He was awesome. And then Monday, Kyle's like, yeah, he pulled his hamstring. He's out two weeks. You're like, what? How does this guys get injured in games?

The 49ers guys. excel, finish the game, and then Monday morning. It's like, yeah, I broke my foot. I heard of the locker room. Yeah, it defies logic. But this team's not going to be able to get like elite pressure. So Stroud will actually be able to like operate from the pocket.

Like when they played teams of elite defensive lines, it's over. Like Seattle, the Rams. Like they can't do anything. They can't block. So they're, but this will be,

you know, indoors against this defensive lines. It's, you know, banged up secondary. Now, Nico Collins might not play as a concussion, but I would say he's more likely to not play than to suit up. Christian Kirk's questionable. So he might be thrown to, like, a bunch of Iowa state receivers. But I feel like this is the spot for the Texans, like their defense at home, one last stand.

And the 49ers, you know, come in maybe a little fat and happy. They're five and two. They got to be pretty satisfied, sitting at five and two with all their injuries. And I mean, look, you think about it, the Niners, and this is a credit to Shadhan for getting this done, but, you know, they beat the Seahawks by four. The game could have won either way. They beat the Saints. Saints had the ball late with a chance to win. They beat the Cardinals because the Cardinals dropped the ball by one.

You know, they beat the Rams by overtime in overtime by three. That game could have went either way. So, like, they have four wins that were, you know, easily could be two losses. They could be sitting easily at three and four. Now, they bought themselves some time, some equity to figure some things out. So I do think that this is like a Texan spot where their defense rises up. And Stroud is able to do enough because he's not under pressure. But your point is very astute about how brutal of a travel and situational spot this is from that angle.

What's your take? Because obviously Sloick got, you know, destroyed last year. Everyone thought he was a village idiot. when the previous year, CJ had the great year. This offensive coordinator, I didn't know that much about him. I was looking him up during the Monday night game, right? He's a Belichick guy, but he'd worked for McVeigh for a couple years. It kind of looks the same.

Now, their offensive line was that bad, what are you going to do? Yeah, maybe that's it. Like, that there's both guys have just been so handcuffed by the lack of offensive line play, that they're not able to do anything, but at least the predictable runs. I mean, a predictable run for the Texans is never going to work. It hasn't worked in years because that offensive line,

like on a fourth and short, the early down, first down runs, they're never going to work because you can't block anybody. So you've got to get more creative. You've got to use more motion, more clutching, get Stroud moving. So like... How about on third and short and fourth and short

when you ran the same play and got stuff back-to-back plays? Against that Seattle front, like, that's never going to work. So or on the goal line when the dude jumps off size And he would have got stuffed anyway And then they ended up, you know, missing the pass on the next play Maybe they scored, I can't remember But it was like, you're just running it. This is not going to work.

Yeah, they did it earlier in the game too on a fourth down. Like it's, yeah, so I was, I still, I'm maybe it's like a lot of it is the offensive line But you got to try some new things And I haven't seen the innovation. And that was coming out of the vibe. I was expecting to see some new look. So yeah, it's been very disappointed.

because Sloat took a lot of heat, rightfully so. But to me, if you went in like a coma for a year and you just woke up and watched the Texans this year, you would have no idea they changed all. Carbon copy. Totally. Okay. This is actually kind of interesting game, though, you know, does Dallas and their offense just get slowed down a little bit by this Denver defense? I mean, before that fourth quarter happened, there couldn't have been.

many people, especially Bronco fans going, like, we kind of have a quarterback offense problem. Their offense looked awful. He just doesn't hit any of these big plays. There's no rhythm to the play calling with Sean. It just was off, you know? People like talk about the Packers. Like something's just a little off. Like, yeah, that's true, a little off relative to, like, what we thought.

Denver looked like a disaster. They got a major problem. And then really the only way you can come back in a situation like that, you need a turnover. Right, it happened in the Tennessee, Arizona game when DeMarcato fumbled, happened here where Dark just threw it right to the dude. That's the only, because you need an extra possession when you're down that many points. And they got it and then. And they got a couple of missed extra points, too, which I hope. Yeah.

Then they just cut the guy yesterday. Yeah. So I just, I want to take Dallas, but that kind of feels like your classic. Everyone's riding high and all of a sudden Dallas loses this game like, you know, 20 to 6. I agree. This is a very tough game because I can make cases for both sides. Now, like, do I want to lay three and a half with Denver? Absolutely not. Like, just trusting Bo Nix to win by margin. What's your take on Bo Nix? Like, what do you see? What were the numbers saying?

Like, why is he sucking for most of these games? He's just not accurate enough. He's basically a system quarterback. Like he needs to be put in the right positions by Peyton to thrive. Think about it. He has some decent weapons. He has an offensive line that's past protecting as well as at the best level in the NFL. His offensive line is elite.

You got Peyton calling plays. You got some good weapons. And you have arguably one of the three best defenses in the NFL. He's in a good position. And still, like there are games where you're like, oh, my God, the Broncos going to lose this because they're really handcuffed by the quarterback. He'll find a rhythm and then it'll look pretty good, but he's just not consistent at all with his accuracy.

I mean, the last three weeks, go back to that Philadelphia game, right? Like, it was like 17-3 going into the fourth quarter and they caught fire. The jets, like the jets had negative 10 yards passing and, like, had the ball with a chance to tie. It was like 13 to 10. And then last week they had no points through three quarters. And so like this Broncos, and you look at all their wins this year. I mean, all their games,

besides the, when Jake Browning bombed it all over himself, like they're all like just decided by one, two, three, four. So do I want to bet the Broncos no? Especially against like this Dallas team could score on anybody. Yeah, Patrick's retained one of the best corners in NFL, but his, you know, he can take, he only could take away one of these weapons, right?

You got pickings and lamb and then Ferguson underneath and the way that DAC is playing, Turpin. And don't forget about Aubrey. In elevation, you might be looking at a record, a 70-de-a-yarder this week. But, yeah, so, like, and then if you're down 10 late, like, the Cowboys can go get you a back door. But you got to remember, Dallas looks their different team at home. Just keep that in your mind. They're going to add these games where, I mean, look, they tied Green Bay.

They just put it on, Washington. They will blow out some teams, and their offense looks great. Think about some of their road performances. They got blown out by Chicago. I know Lamb got hurt, but they lost that Carolina. Their defense is still really bad. So I feel like if I had a bet it, I'd take the three and a half. Wouldn't feel great about it, probably a pass.

I just pulled up his college stats because I think sometimes with these transfer portal guys, right, they go to a place, especially when they upgrade, it's pretty nice. And they look incredible. And his completion percentage at Oregon was like 71 his first year. year and the last year was almost like 80%. But if you look at those three years at Auburn, 57, 59, 61. And let's face it, most NFL situations, even the Broncos, ain't Oregon, Ohio, State, Alabama, and your prime, right?

It's a lot more equality of the opponent, like the difference of the Giants and the Broncos, like, they got some sweet players too. This is going to be fucking hard. And you just watch, you go, God, maybe inaccuracy. And, you know, the knock on Oregon, especially for him was right, a lot of the those quick screens so it actually inflates the completion percentage. Yeah, Zadat was very, very low. He was not growing deep a lot.

So you just kind of do a deep dive, which I think now, like, no one really talked about Auburn, right, once he started coming out. Two years at Oregon, look at all these wins, look at all this success. But now looking back, like, maybe we should have done a deep dive, like, that's kind of a problem. And Sean Peyton, like, tries to talk his way out of it. Like, this guy's the next Drew Breeze with mobility. Well, Drew Breed's like the most accurate quarterback in the history of the league.

So that might not be the case here. This is your classic Tomlin spot. You know, this game is pretty interesting, actually. Obviously, the Pittsburgh coming off kind of a long, lick your wounds a little bit. One thing that was pretty evident in that game was like, I get they have injuries, but it was basically just running the three tight ends and one wide receiver. That's kind of their offense. And one of the tight ends, I do believe, and I text a couple people with this,

I think Darnell Washington should play offensive tackle, but you make way more money. Again, assuming that physically he can do it. I mean, we've seen like Jason Peters made the transition. Best thing he's ever done is going to go to the Hall of Fame. Like, you could make, bro, you can make $150 million becoming like a right tackle. You don't even need to be some huge mall or just use your athleticism. He's huge. Yeah.

But I just, I don't know. This is just, I guess you just, in theory, just take Pittsburgh at home, catching points. Green Bay is just, I can't pull. my finger on it. Offensively, something's a little off. Now, remember last year, they would start a lot of of these games really slow. They'd be, they just wouldn't score many points in the first half, and then he would be better in the second half. But I don't know. I mean, maybe Arizona actually, we talked about this last week. Probably one of the better two and five teams in league history. I mean, they could easily be like six and one. They haven't been that bad. And they've been pretty good

with Jacoby. I mean, the last two years, like, or the last two games, like, Kyler, your, your job's in Major Jeopardy. He might not carry me so rich. They've lost like every possible way that you can by like the Niners. They dropped that wide of them past end the game. The Titans disaster. You know, they were right there with the Colts and Indy, right there with the Packers at home. They have not been like some of these other one-two win teams. Yeah, they lost to the Seahawks in the last second field goal because they messed up the kick.

They kicked in the landing zone. So what's your take on Green Bay's offense? Why does you think it look stagnant? Yeah, I mean, they've had, so like they've had offensive line injuries. so the continuity just isn't there yet, like with that group up front. And then their wide receivers are like all in and out. Like, and who's good.

Like, they're all, every week, there's a different guy that's hurt. Like, when's Watson coming back, Wicks got hurt? You're still trying to break in the rookie golden. So, like, there's just not a lot of rhythm and continuity yet. I think they'll get there. Like, all the pieces are there. I trust the floor to figure it out. the one thing I worry about with them is their corners.

Like their corners are the one area that I think could have ultimately hold them back. Like it's not an elite group. They're undersized. D.K. Metcalf could have a big game here. He has a huge size advantage on the outside against anybody they put them on. And but yeah, so I'm curious to watch like how the corner group plays out of me. Or if they go get someone, the trade deadline. We'll see.

So I'm curious to also see the 49ers if they do anything. They could use like a linebacker for sure. Like just some couple. I think they might I think they would be more likely like Green Bay probably be more aggressive. Niners probably bargain shop because this year was kind of a reset year than like give a third round pick for a player. But yeah,

I don't mean like a superstar. But I mean I know what you mean. Maybe some linebacker like a like there's like a guy like I forget the guy's name that's now like a backup for the Texans is a pretty good player. I just think it's easier to find. I think a lot of people can talk yourself out of like, oh, this corner or linebackers available, usually good ones. We're offensive guys on shitty teams sometimes.

It's like, oh, we can get Waddle for two seconds or something, you know, stuff like that, where it's just rare Jalen Ramsey years ago, right, was traded. Was that end season? But it's just rare, like last year, Lattimore. I bet half the league was like, I wouldn't touch that guy with a 10-foot pole, you know? Yeah. And I just think a lot of times defensive players, it's just very hit or mess. They're either really old or, but it's like if this guy's under 30, like, why is he available?

Who gives away a decent defensive DB? Yeah. The one guy that it comes, there's just a game in my mind is Christian Harris with the Texans. He's only 24. He started before, but like he's just behind a bunch of better linebackers. Plus if you're the Packers, like, let's say you can get a good player and it cost you a third round. and then next year you wouldn't have a first or a third rounder? Yeah, no, that's true.

But I think that they are like legit. Their offense, they're going to figure it out. They're going to get healthier. They have the pass rush. Safeties are good. The linebackers, like, you've got all the pieces. Anything less than like an NFC championship for them would feel like a great disappointment after how they went all in on Michael, right?

Agree, agree. But yeah, Sunday night, it's a classic Tompont spot. Off a loss. Their dog at home. against the winning team. I can go back historically. He wins more of these games and he loses. I'm talking outright as an underdog with three or more points.

He's the most profitable underdog coach in NFL history. He'll have them ready. That's what he excels at, getting his team. He does not excel like games against like the Bengals. We were supposed to win. And a lot of times his teams will come out a little flat and don't, and underperform. These, they'll be balls to the wall.

They'll probably have some voodoo, cause some turnovers. It is a fascinating game. Roders playing the Packers for the first time since he left. I think the key here is the Packers still aren't fully healthy. The second straight road game. They're out west. Sears have some extra rest and prep too. Riders can get rid of the ball really quick.

I mean, he's not throwing the ball deep. He will when he has to. But he's just getting rid of the ball deep. He doesn't want to get hit. His average depth of target is one of the lowest in the NFL. That can work to his advantage here. because I do think that the Steelers, like D.K. Metcalf in particular, they'll have some advantages against these corners.

So Rodgers getting rid of the ball can neutralize the pass rush of Green Bay of Michael Parsons and company. And if you look back, like the Steelers have what, they beat the Vikings, very blitz-heavy, pressure-heavy team. Why? Well, Rogers was getting rid of the ball very quickly. They beat the Browns by two touchdowns. Rogers look good against that great defense. It gets a ton of pressure.

Why? Just getting rid of the ball quick. So now you're going up against another defense that gets very good pressure. So I think that that could work in their favor. You'll get the defense's best effort. You'll probably get your standard Pittsburgh Tomlin spot voodoo. Like you'll get like a the, I'll say like this, the Packers probably like muff a pond. A fuel goal will hit the post.

Like that's some of the things that'll happen for you. So, yeah, Steelers. I think part of the reason the Flacco experience was so shocking was just because he didn't really get touched for like 90% of the game until that final, like, Cam Hayward and T.J. kind of fell on him. And I started thinking after the game, you know, obviously Cam's mid-30s, T-J's over 30.

You know, we're talking middle of October now, so you now have several months from training camp to early in the season, kind of heavy legs. I bet TJ would tell you I don't feel right until Wednesday or Thursday. I mean, Kittle was saying that like three years ago. So you get a guy like that because most people are, oh, the Steelers are going to kill him because you're just going to annihil a flacco. And then you're watching the game.

I thought this offensive line was terrible. They can't get any pressure. And you realize, well, these guys are kind of old. And that's why this game, they're probably, TJ will look dramatically better. Like you had the previous couple weeks on normal rest. Yeah, now you got a couple extra days off a loss. They'll be juiced up. That's where, we were recording this

before Thursday night. I do, like, Thursday night games, if you're the road team, especially like Minnesota's coming to the Chargers. As the season goes on, some of these games, like you are at a massive disadvantage from a travel standpoint, from a prep standpoint. I mean, the home team, even when it's like Niners Rams, let alone some of these longer travels,

it's like, this is crazy. Yeah, agreed. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, name? Huge news. We've created our own podcast called Hey Jonas.

We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how did we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember.

I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Oh, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band. Before Jonas Brothers was... This is how you guys remember it going down. Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast where people could call in and say, Hey Jonas.

And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. 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. 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 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 IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are

trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered.

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You don't like my guy Tim Skipper just rattling off four straight at Indiana. college or big noon kickoff. Signetti came out immediately early this week and like they are a three and O team. This is not, they've played three games this regular season and they're three and no. You know, Nico came back to Earth a little bit last week, but he did make some big throws on the game winning drive. UCLA clearly has been inspired. You think they run a plus you're getting 25 and a half points.

Get them 14 to 1 to win outright. I can't get there. I mean, like, there was, UCLA's story was good, Noah's, it was, like he might end up getting a job out of this, like a full-time job.

But they, the, the books out and what some of the stuff they were doing. Like, they're using Nicos, more of his strengths, using his legs, but,

I mean, last week against Maryland, it was ugly. They had no business winning that game. They had, like, three points with five to go, and Niko, I think,

had three picks, bad pick, six. So, yeah, and Indiana, from listening to Signetti, he cares about this, game and they still care about margin.

And what this is an early kick, I think it's a noon kick. Yeah. Cup travel. The reason is, is that Indiana, if you look at their schedule, they should go undefeated. And if they do, and then they lose to Ohio State in the Big Ten championship, they can still get a buy. Because it's the top four teams this year, get a buy. It's not the conference champions like last year. And then you end up with these wonky matchups that make no sense.

They made the right change. But so like Indiana, they go 12 and O. And then they're only losses to Ohio State. There's a good shot. They get a buy, especially if they're just pummeling teams. Like, Signetti's calling timeouts with a minute to go last week against Michigan State out 25, like trying to add points. And like, they care about a margin here. So I don't know if they're going to take their foot off their gas.

It's just not Signetti's style. And they do have an incentive to do it. Well, and tech and Miami losing those teams aren't getting buys, right? Yeah. Yeah. So the SEC looks like they're kind of beaten up on each other. Yeah, unless like A&M runs the table. Like, or wins the SEC with like one loss, which is hard to envision.

So is there a chance two big 10 teams and two SEC teams are the one, two, three, four? Yeah, I mean, the big, well, I guess, yeah, I could see tech being like the fourth that they went out. Could you have a team at a buy that has two losses and a team without a buy that won their conference champion? ship with one loss or that probably they wouldn't want to set precedent doing that maybe like definitely Obama with a second loss if yeah like it's a it all depends I think they could do it like I hope that they do really try to get the four best teams and don't care about like totally because that's how that's how you'll get the best matchups in the first round and then going forward so but there is incentive there so yeah it would be Indiana or nothing for me I think that the I do like

skipper. I think it was a major upgrade. I did play your Fresno boys plus three lines coming down. I played some plus three and a half plus three against San Diego State. San Diego State's been really good. But this Fresno State, I think this is way too much respect for San Diego State. Their defense has been great, but they've played nobody. I mean, they're their road games. They beat one in six Northern Illinois and they scored six points. They beat one in six Nevada. they got blown out at Washington State. They beat Cal in like a brutal spot for Cal. That is like their one really nice mark in the resume.

They have one of the easiest strength of schedules in the country. They have this really electric receiver Fresno will have to cover. But they have two weeks. Fresno, I valued buy weeks for these teams that have brand new staffs, much more than the teams who don't. So Fresno, brand new staff, brand new team, brand new quarterback. You might even see a quarterback change. I think that Warner will probably still start,

but they might go with one of these running quarterbacks to kind of juice up their running games. So I wouldn't be shocked that they have some different packages that catch San Diego State off guard. But their defensive coordinator, I'm a huge fan of Nick Vededetto. He came from Northern Illinois. And Northern Illinois played San Diego State, shut them down. San Diego State won six to three.

It was one of the worst games I've ever watched in my life. And Fresno State plays a very similar defense, and you better believe Benadillo spent two weeks talking to his friends into Calvin, getting some intel, which I think will help. So I think Fresno State at home catching a field goal or better is worth of that. Does Washington State have the weirdest schedule of all time? I mean, it's insane. What is going on?

I had a buddy text me. He's like, are they actually kind of sneaky good? Or like the last two weeks, these teams just don't take them seriously? because they easily could have just rattled off wins against Ole Miss and Virginia who were top 20 teams. They want to be in the playoffs. They could have ruined the playoff. Yeah, now they come on for Toledo.

Yeah, I mean, they went back to Zevi Eckhaus, their quarterback, which I don't understand what was going on there. In the first three weeks, they started this kid Potter. But Eckhouse stayed. He was going to go into a portal, but they were like, no, you're the guy. And he stayed there. And even though the staff left. and like he was the guy who started in the bowl game because mater last year because

mater was transferring Oklahoma and he threw for 400 yards against Syracuse and then they their coach Rogers came out and said like no he's not the guy he's like third string and then they lost 59 to 10 to north Texas the offense was a disaster and they went to this deck house kid and they've been much better ever since. So like they're a different team over the last five weeks, but yeah, they could have beat Ole Miss. They lost by three and they should have beat Virginia. They lost by two on the road.

Talk about a weird road trip. And that was after going to Colorado State, they had a buy week in between but now they come home for Toledo. And then they go, they got two games with Oregon State coming up. I thought I was reading that wrong. How is that even possible? I guess they need to fill spots. They need to fill spots.

They go to JMU in between. Yeah, ridiculous. Well, you had mentioned this last week that Lane had basically admitted that they had been looking ahead to Georgia for the Washington State Week. He, I mean, I know he lost that game, but just kind of solidified himself like Florida. If you're looking for an offensive coach, this skinny hot yoga, sober guy, is just, feels like a rocket ship right now.

And, I mean, I know people go back and forth, like, I'll be a little stunned if he's not the next head coach of Florida, won't you? Yes. Like, I would expect that to happen. their offense was remarkable in that game until it wasn't, and that kid looked like me or you, the last couple series. Like, he went from being awesome to, like, forgot how to play football.

It's one of the crazier, just, like, snap your finger, like, what's going on? They couldn't, they couldn't even generate a yard. And now coming into this game, did you see that Lane made some comments yesterday about how Venables, like stealing signs and know what's coming? He's like, I texted Hugh Freeze. Like, it looked like they knew your plays.

this game, you know, Oklahoma's actually got a lot to play for, right? So I just see plus five and a half. I kind of like Ole Miss, but Oklahoma's defense is pretty awesome. And you have to wonder that carryover those last couple series. It's like, yeah, this kid was in Division 2 last year.

This isn't exactly, you know, Fernando Mendoza or something. Yeah, Kirby does it again. I mean, his adjustments, he's the best in-game adjuster in college football. I mean, Alabama didn't score in the second half against them. You saw it with Alabama last year when they came out and put up like 35 points right away

and then Georgia almost came back. This happens consistently. So yeah, he made some nice adjustments and they did nothing. They were getting smoked in that first half. They were almost going up and down the field. Now, Georgia does not have an elite defensive line. I mean, this is not, same with Alabama.

They are not who you think they are in the trenches. This is a team that's like outside the top 100 and sacks per game. And but the Oklahoma defense is they have argued to the best defensive front in college football. I think that they just might overwhelm this Ole Miss offensive line, which is not that good. And force Chamblinson into some mistakes. And I think Mateer and company will do enough. Like, Ole Miss wants to take away the explosive play.

Like Oklahoma is okay with that. Now, Ole Miss's run defense is really bad. And Oklahoma's run offense is really bad. Like their offensive line is bad. their running game has been awful. Who wins there? They might determine this. Like if Oklahoma can get their running game going,

they're going to be able to methodically move it, and their defense will get enough stops. So that's something interesting to watch. The other thing that gives me a little bit of pause, but you can make a case for Ole Miss is this Oklahoma defense looks the part. I mean, if you look like EPA, play everything, they're number one in college football.

But the one question I have, like the front, the scheme, it's all elite. but like they have this this freshman cornerback who looks great the corners are my main question because here's what they played illinois state michigan when they weren't the underwood and their receivers it's not a jackson arnold arch manning yeah jackson arnold arch manning south of sellers with that offensive line they couldn't do anything so they haven't faced a real passing attack yet so we'll learn about their secondary that so if if their secondary is over rated. Then Ole Miss has a path here. I lean to Oklahoma, but there's many cases to be made for

Ole Miss pretty much an elimination game. I think the loser of this is out of the cultural club. Now, they can still win out and go 10 and 2, but like Oklahoma has at Alabama, at Tennessee, Missouri and LSU left. Schedule stuff. Yeah, so like the chances of you running the table slim to none, and either these teams I think are going to get in with nine wins. And then Ole Miss, they have an easier schedule left. They have South Carolina, Citadel, Florida, might be deadman at Mississippi State. So there's a chance they can still go 10 and 2. But, I mean, I don't know if they're a lot to get in. Like, their best win, if they lose this game and then win out, their best win would be, like, at home against LSU by 5. We don't

know what LSU is going to be by the end of the year. Not good. So, yeah, their strength of schedule is much easier. I mean, exponentially easier than Oklahoma's. staying in the SEC, one game I'll give you that I did like, hold your nose special of South Carolina. This is the spot of all spots. South Carolina has been really bad. Their offensive line has been horrendous. It's basically like the Texans.

They can't do anything because they're offensive line, even though Sellers is a super talented quarterback. But Alabama's defensive line is not a leave. It's like Georgia. They're not getting pressure. SouthCon and you can run on them. Southcon should be able to operate their offense here. Their defense is still pretty good.

this is basically their Super Bowl. There's nothing left of their season. They got revenge for last year. They lost Alabama by two at Alabama. And again, they should have won. That ultimately kept them out of the couch world cloud. This is a brutal spot for Bama. They just won four straight games against ranked opponents.

First ever SEC team to do that. Over four weeks, no break. And they could have lost two of them. I mean, like you talk about they were dead even in yards with, they got out gained by Tennessee. He didn't even in yards with Missouri. Georgia easily could have won that game. Vanity had two turnovers in the red zone.

You know, you get the pick six, the 99-year-picks-sac and set a seat. Like, it wasn't dominant efforts. Yeah. But just after that month stretch, the week before you're by, going to South Carolina, screams flat spot. And DeBore, who's one of the best in the business, is one thing that's given him issues, is going on the road as a double-digit favor. He's lost three straight outright as double-digit favorite.

So I could see Bama being extremely flat. I think they're going to win this game. But I think South kind of puts a scare on them. So I think taking the plus 12, 13 out there is a good bet. When do you think the last time Vandy has been a home favorite back-to-back week against ranked teams? You think it's ever like happened in the history of the program? Maybe like the 50s. I don't know.

So, yeah. I think a lot of people maybe watched a little bit because that day a lot was going on when they played Alabama. But last week, to me, that was the best game on when they were playing LSU. and I mean, I watched every snap. If you watch that game, you'd come away like, Vandy's good, you know? And they're legit. They could beat anybody in any week. Like, they played right with Bama.

You watched that game. You were like this team. Do you like Vandy minus two and a half in this game? Yeah, that's the only side I could bet there. I mean, Missouri's coming off. The Bandy run the event is really good. Their past defense is a little vulnerable, but Missouri can't really throw it.

They want to run the ball. Missouri is coming off the Alabama loss by three, and then the Auburn win in overtime. And again, they should have lost. They got outplayed in that game. They were Auburn missed fuel goals. There were some bad calls against Auburn. So that's two back-to-back emotional games.

You're on the road again. Vandy had, you know, they beat LSU last week, but they had a buy before then. They don't come in fresher here. I trust Pavia to get it done at home. Game Day is going to be there. It's going to be an electric atmosphere. I think it's a decent matchup

for bandy that is a this will be that's another playoff elimination game um i don't think missouri will get there i mean missouri's also go to oklahoma they play a and m next week but if they lose this game if they win this game they'll have a shot and a bandy wins this game they'll have a shot like but if they lose it i doubt they win out and they're going to have to go 10 and too because they're at texas and they're home against alvern home against kentucky at tennessee probably So we've been a bit. But like, Bandy's going to be, I think there are the lines for the game at Texas. This would imagine saying this last year.

I think the look at line right now is Vandy plus three and a half at Texas. But remember that game while it was being played in Nashville was like, is Texas going to lose? Wasn't that a close game? But we didn't realize at the time Vandy was good. Now this year, they're getting the respect. But looking back last year, like, of course. And I would say Texas is worse this year. You know, you remove some of the offensive weapons.

better in the trenches, the offensive line, year older, and Texas's offensive line, exponentially worse than Arch is just missing throws. I mean, they should have lost Kentucky. One of the luckiest wins of the season, Kentucky had an 85% postgame win expense. He had 200 plus more yards than Texas and eventually lost in overtime. Basically, lost because Texas had a bunch of punt returns that led to scores. That was the only way Texas had offense, Kentucky should have won that game. Arch, arch skips.

I know he was getting peppered his own line sucks, but man, he skips some balls. Yeah, he missed some wide open throws. He skips balls. Can I end on this? We talked about this yesterday. I didn't quite realize Jeff Brom's resume is way better than I thought. And like Penn State, it's like who are they going to hire? You know, now Signetti's not really an option. It's like Matt Rule. He just lost in Minnesota and his big game resume is not great. Why wouldn't they be all over Jeff Brom, who's coached in the conference,

who had success at fucking Purdue, and you watch him the other night, like, offensive guy, wins, has won at every level. It's like former quarterback. Wins big games that were big. I feel like he has not talked about, maybe it's just, you know, you live near that. Louisville, a little under the radar program, maybe.

I mean, is that it? I don't know. Like, if he was at, if he was doing what he was doing at, even like North Carolina or something, I feel like we'd talk about him more. I agree. I was yelling about this. a podcast recently. Why don't they hire him? Why wouldn't he be their number one target? I was

yelled about this. I was talking about this with a friend this morning. Like, if I'm Arkansas, I try to get him. I'm Penn State, I try to get him. I think he's the most underrated coach in the country. I think it's a clear top 10 coach in the country, arguably. Louisville, a high-level job. Am I underrating it? It's like Penn State is clearly better. It's like a second tier. It's his alma mater. Um, so that matters some, but do you throw enough money at anyone that are going to, or most people, I should say, they're going to leave. He has his contract, I think he gets paid like, I think he's making like five, six million

this year. Every time he wins seven games, they kick on another year automatically. Salary goes up. I think he signed in 2022, like a six year deal originally, but there's probably been a couple years added on. But you're right. I've been screamed out. I was talking about it this morning with a friend.

If I'm a big program, that's the guy I'm going after. especially to Penn State. He checks all the boxes that Franklin has never been able to check. And yeah, I don't know why he doesn't get talked about more. I couldn't agree with him more. Bees good teams, good with quarterbacks

and offense. Kind of won at Purdue. And he's been crushing it in the portal. Like they've been a heavy portal team because it's low. They're not like and every year they're able to reload. They lost a ton of talent from last year.

I mean, he worked Miami. I mean, they were taking into it. And that was a lot of that was Brahmin, that scripted portion, just carving Miami up. They were using like three quarterbacks, formations, and all kinds of stuff out of the buy. That it was, that was a clinic. And then after he was like, yeah, I probably ran out of plays next time I have to have some more. Because he was just all over it from the jump. So yeah, I agree with you.

I don't know why Brahms is. name is a mention more. Okay, Stucky, enjoy the weekend. I'm glad we're on the same page on that, and I will talk to you next week. Absolutely, how going, brother. The volume. Hey, guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers.

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