The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - Thursday Night Football Reaction, Rodgers is back, Stuckey joins the podcast

Episode Date: September 20, 2024

John reacts to the New York Jets' dominant 24-3 victory over the New England Patriots on Thursday Night Football. John admits he was wrong in predicting a Patriots win and he dives into Aaron Rodgers' impressive performance at quarterback for the Jets. John also previews the Jets' upcoming matchups against the Broncos, Vikings, Bills, and Steelers, discussing how, if Rodgers continues to play at this level, the Jets could potentially win all those games. Later, John talks about the challenges facing first-year head coach Jerod Mayo as he navigates the growing pains of a struggling roster. He also questions whether Jacoby Brissett can stay healthy behind a porous offensive line, which is crucial for the Patriots' plan to keep rookie QB Drake Maye on the bench this season. Finally, John is joined by The Action Networks betting guru, Stuckey to talk about the weekend's best bets. 7:17 - TNF Football Reaction 20:48 - Stuckey's NFL Bets 1:05:26 - Best College Bets Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast.

For 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s.

84 was a wild year. It was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest

conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. The volume.

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How are we doing? It's about 8.30 at night, Pacific Standard time. And I think I just watched pretty rough football game. Not if you're a Jets fan. Rogers looked really good. I got to eat crow on that potential upset prediction because that was not even close. That was domination.

by the JET Jets, Jess, Jess, and Rogers, who looked good. I mean, he looked like throwback himself, which is a big positive if you have money on them to make the playoffs, if you're a Jets fan, if you just like watching football, because he is a very enjoyable player to watch. And one of my big questions was movement stuff,

and he looked a lot better moving around. The Pats, on the other hand, looked like a lifeless team that did not want to be in this game. And that that was, is what made the game a tough watch. But the jets go to 2 and 1, the paths go to 1 and 2. Pat's located for a long, long season. And, you know, in a couple weeks, we'll dive into the Jets. And just their overall situation, drafting offensive linemen,

why it comes to fruition tonight, you lose a tackle, boom, your top first rounder, insert them right in. So props to Joe Douglas for having reinforcements. Stucky will join us as well. Stucky will join us as well. join us, talk gambling, talk some games. Obviously, the NFL, pick my three favorite games. We'll talk a little college as well. And for the mailbag, we just, me and Stucky went for like an hour. So I'm going to move the mailbag to Saturday. We will have a mailbag that comes out Saturday. Probably like

45 minutes. I try to bang out a bunch of questions. So people keep firing in. I appreciate everyone that has. If I don't get to you, I'm not avoiding you on purpose. It's just, I can only do so many. And like I always say, I'm not shitting on Instagram because it's been a good vehicle for the mailbag, but it is, there's no way to like really do it in order or like you can on Gmail or an Excel spreadsheet. It kind of is what it is, which is fine,

but some stuff gets lost in the shuffle, not on purpose. So I appreciate everyone who always fires in there. And, yeah, other than that, subscribe to the podcast if you listen on Collins' feed. and the YouTube channel Make sure you go subscribe But first You know I got to tell you about my friends

I almost call them family My partners The official ticketing app of this podcast Game Time Right now You can go to any game You want to go to a baseball playoff game You want to go to an NFL game

You want to go to a college game You want to go to a concert You want to sing some songs Enjoy yourself Bring a family member Bring a loved one And just jam out for the night Well they got you cover

comedy shows, want to smile, want to laugh, want to enjoy your night. Do it with my friends at GameTime. Take the guest work out of buying tickets with Game Time. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use the code John for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply again, create an account, redeem the code, J-O-H-N for $20 off. Download the GameTime app. Lowest prices guaranteed. well, well, well, the New York Jets came to play. And I'll take the L tonight because I put a lot of faith in the team that I had seen the last two weeks in the Patriots, the matchup, and they got destroyed.

I mean, they got absolutely housed. Like I said, the game was over very, very quickly. That was an asswap. and it starts and ends with Aaron Rogers. My concern has been since this injury and what he would look like was the movement, was the scramble ability. And if you lose that, you get Jared Goff with a much stronger arm, which isn't a bad thing. Like, he's still a great player from within the pocket, but part of what made Aaron Rogers great was the mobility.

And within the first couple plays of that game, scrambled to the left, he made a throw to his right that was called back, that ended up being dropped. But he hit the dude in the hands, 50-yard, just like, damn, that looks like the Green Bay Packers, MVP-level Aaron Rogers.

And I understand this is the Patriots who had injuries and no one thought was going to be good. They tried to change our opinion. They did mine a little bit through, two weeks, but that's the Patriots we all expect it. A bad team. A team with no offensive line and a quarterback that, you know, it's going to be

fighting for his life all season long. If Jacoby can make it 17 games, the Patriots should give him 25 million, not 10. Because he was getting the shit kicked out of him the night. That offensive line rolling out rookies who have no chance. Now, granted, they're calling holding on plays that aren't holding,

but regardless, they had no chance tonight if Aaron Rogers was going to play like that. And like a game over first half, he was 15 to 20 for 170 yards. A touchdown comes right out in the second half, throws a touchdown to Garrett Wilson. But that version of that player against better teams, I might have to eat some crow on this team can't make the playoffs. Because now we're going to learn a lot. They get the Broncos next week, which should be a W.

So they're 3 in 1. Then they play at Minnesota, which before the start of the season, season. You said it would have been a winnable game. That's much more difficult. Let's give them a loss there. They're three and two. After five games, three and two, the Jets, it's fine. Then we're going to learn who they are. Because they play the bills on Monday night football. And then the following week, they play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night football on the road. So if this version of Aaron Rogers, he can stay healthy, he can stay mobile, they're going to have a chance because he's that great of a player. and the one thing that gave me hesitation the first couple weeks, like I don't really see the offense.

They got two really good players. Well, the backup running back, Allen from Wisconsin, number zero, is a 235 pound force. That is a fantastic draft pick by Joe Douglas. And you saw tonight, Morgan Moses gets injured. And we've been talking about with the Chicago Bears, props to Joe Douglas, because that would have been an easy position to draft.

a skill guy. And there was a lot of, you know, connection and hype about them taking Brock Bowers. But I think we've learned over the years lean linemen early. If you're going to miss, miss on an offensive lineman or defensive lineman. And when they were in the position last year with all the moving parts, they take the kid out of Penn State who had to come in today. And if Moses, who knows, maybe, hopefully it's nothing. He was able to walk off. And then they go down to the sideline and she's like, well, he walked off to where no one could see him and then he got into a cart. So that could be kind of an old school tough guy.

Like, no one's carting me off this field, but I need some help. So that's something worth monitoring, but not that big a deal. Because you have an offensive lineman waiting in the winks. And that has been a big, obviously the Jets quarterback play has been nowhere near the version of. I can't imagine being a Jets fan tonight. after just watching some of the guys. It's easy to just point of Zach Wilson,

but for years it's been poor quarterback play. And then get that. Like, I get your playing a terrible team, but to watch that, to watch the confidence, to watch the ball come out of his hands, to watch that flick of the wrist, to watch just how cocky is in his movements,

when he gets hit, how he jumps up and kind of looks at the ref and pass the defensive linemen on the ass, that had to be a pretty empowering. feeling. You don't get to experience often in sports most of my life shitty franchises that end up with a superstar at the end of their career. It's a disaster.

The guy's over the hill. It's never the same. It gets your hopes up. And it felt a little bit like that last year with Aaron Rogers as Achilles, you know, rips right, what, four or five plays into the season. I would say these last couple weeks, definitely tonight, prime time, everyone watching him. Him giving some, you know, Matt LaFleurre, 2021 MVP type vibes, has to have you feeling pretty good. So I'm not rated on the parade.

This is not about the opponent. You're going to look like that. You have two good running backs. You have reinforcements with the offensive line. Mike Williams is just a jump ball guy and a back shoulder guy. Well, who's one of the greatest to ever do that, Aaron Rogers? Now, I'm not pivoting and acting like, after one night, I'm going to pick them.

I said they were a 9 and 18. Now I think they can win 11 games. But that stretch against the Bills in Pittsburgh, we're going to find out how real this team is. I still contend that do not love their head coach. I just don't. I don't like their coaching staff. If you tell me like Robert Sala and Nat Hackett coming into a game, like I'm not going to like them in the Bills or the Pittsburgh matchup.

Like, who are you going to take? Tomlin or Arthur Smith? Sean McDermin or Joe Brady. Robert's all letting that hack it. But you got Aaron Rogers, maybe he just won't listen to anything Hackett says and he'll call his own place. And, you know, they're going to need their defense big time to step up

as they start playing some of their better opponents. But they're two and one. Rogers is vibing. You've got to feel good. Now, from the Patriot standpoint, there's not much to say. I mean, this is a bad team with bad personnel, who's now injured, who has a first-time head coach.

I do think one thing that was interesting, the most interesting part of this game was nothing to do with on the field. Robert Kraft, and sometimes old guys can say things that are just, I guess any human can do this. But listen, old guys can misremember the truth and say something, especially owners. You know, they don't talk that often, not named Jerry Jones. So when they do make a statement, you got to take it with a grain of salt. But if we just take this at face value and believe him, that Robert Kraft said that he decided five years ago that Gerard Mayo was going to be his head coach, I will give him credit

because at the time it would have been pretty easy to go, yet Josh McDaniels is going to be our next head coach. And remember, that was a huge part of him not going to Indy. It's like he's the coach in waiting. And then there were a lot of rumors. Well, he actually officially was not the coach in waiting. They just paid him a lot of money. But if Robert Kraft knew, listen, we like this. We love this guy as my offensive coordinator under no circumstances. Can I make him the head coach. I'm going to go with this guy that is a beloved former player, super high IQ guy, and just gets it a little bit more than Josh in terms of dealing with people, clearly a Josh McDaniel's downfall. Props to Robert Kraft, who you have to say this, he wanted Belichick

when no one else did. And that one played out pretty well. And he's had a lot of time. They showed the visual the night of him drafting Mayo way back in the day, I think was 08 or 09 draft. and obviously he's been around him for, you know, going on 16 years now. So we'll see how this plays out. I mean, their team is just really, really shitty. And personnel-wise, when they go into a game, I don't even have their schedule up, but unless they're playing the Panthers, they're going to be at a huge disadvantage.

And any time they play any team with a pulse and some players, it could get ugly and it can't get ugly fast. I mean, their quarterback can't really move. They have an offensive line that can't block. but I will also give them credit on this. And it's going to be hard to hold to this. If Jacoby is able to stay healthy, which I would say feels like a miracle at this point in time

for the entirety of the season, if they can stick with the plan not throwing Drake May out there, I'll give them credit because that is the right thing to do. And I'm a big believer and you learn by experience. I say it all the time. It's why I like playing rookie quarterbacks. It's why I always recommend. So many people talk.

Well, I'm going to do this. Just do it. Just do it no matter what you do, no matter what industry you work. And sometimes you just have, that's the only way you improve. But in this situation, with those people walking for him, it could get him killed. And I think the risk for a guy that is a project when no one can block for him is, the risk is not work there. Now, is he not going to gain certain steps by not getting on the field? For sure.

Obviously, you know, you can improve mentally. and through practice, which I also give them credit, is no team lets anybody take first-team reps, but you're starting quarterback. It's the way the NFL works. All the star quarterbacks never give up one rep. Occasionally, certain teams may give 5% of the reps. They're going 70-30.

And I think sometimes the nature of football, I got to win, I got to win, I got to win now. They are seeing the big picture. so giving him extra reps that no team gives their backup quarterback in practice does have value. And that's part of the reason why I'm a big proponent, like rookie quarterbacks, if you're not the starter, you're just kind of servicing the starting defense. You're not working on your own offense. You're not working on implementing a game plan because you don't take any of the reps.

Well, the Patriots are bucking that trend a little bit and doing it a little differently. So I do think that's really smart. And they deserve credit for kind of getting it because no one usually gets it. That's not the way it works. It's not the way it ever happens. So it's going to be a long season. Tonight, I mean, they were a couple injuries. And listen, road team Thursday night, but still, I mean, that was bad.

They may look probably by the second or third series like they didn't really want to be there. And in the NFL, when you're playing Aaron Rogers, and you just, don't want to be there, you're going to get mollywopped, and that's what happened tonight. 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 IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations,

stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.

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

or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84's big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack.

So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking. Trip Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we

are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person

because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app.

Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Okay, back at it again. Beautiful Friday, which means football's right around the corner. Star of the Action Network. Stucky. doesn't get any better than this. We're into week three in the NFL, week four in college football. Football is flowing.

We got Mel Kuyper saying they should ban cover two. We got scoring. We got scoring and stats. Why don't we just ban linebackers? I mean, why don't we just ban slot receivers? But let's be real, you're a, you got numbers up the wazoo. The scoring has been way down. Obviously, some like,

historic lows. A ton of field goal attempts. Red zone play has been horrendous. What's your overall thought on the landscape? Not necessarily on Mel Khyper's comment, because that's, to me, just a throwaway comment that's your classic gets a lot of reaction on social media that's never going to happen because you literally can't do that. But just overall offense versus defense so far in the National Football League, Stucky.

Yeah, it's an Astonon comment. I mean, the number, the most of the most. most frequently called coverage, you know, and a lot of times there's like cloud coverages and then, you know, there's split coverages, one side of the field, you'll have, you know, cover two, the other side of the field you'll have cover. So it's not that simple. And the most frequent one is, you know, cover three. And so cover three and cover one are still more frequently run than cover two.

There's a lot of teams now, like the fans you that'll have two eye safeties, but rotate into cover one, cover three. So the coverages are more complex. There is a greater focus on taking away the explosive play. So that's part of it. It's, you know, you have to drive the field and, you know, running is becoming more efficient or, and then it has been in the recent past. And it's like catching up to passing from an efficiency standpoint. I also think like offensive lines are not, they're behind where defense.

lines have gotten to and how teams are using, you know, simulated pressures and just at the talent level at the defensive end position compared to maybe the lack of talent at the offensive tackle position. Look at the chiefs, right? The chiefs are just dinking and dunking all over the place. Their tackle position is kind of a mess right now, and everyone just wants to take away the explosive play. So they're like a great case study of what's going on in the NFL, because in order to beat a lot of those covers, you need time. And a lot of these teams aren't getting the protection. Also, the bottom barrel of the league in quarterback plays way down.

I mean, you look at some of these rookies who are really struggling. I mean, outside of them, they all, if you just remove Jayden's runs, they've been, they even throw a touchdown pass, the three of them. Yeah. But even going back to the last couple of years, it's outside of, Purdy and Stroud, you know, who's really killing it. So there also is, you know, I think that there's more of a teams now more often won't play like their quarterbacks in preseason. And so I think the defenses are usually now, even more so ahead of the offenses early in the season. You did

mentioned red zone scoring red zone trips are still kind of on par with where they've been i tweeted this out last week and i said i i've never seen so many turnovers inside the 10 yard line uh on one sunday a lot of red zone production it's just that's a lot of variance so you would expect that to bounce back so some of it's just noise and red zone noise but uh this has been a trend over the past couple of years. I think like offensive line play, the focus of defenses on, you know, taking away the explosive play, the quarterback play, especially at the bottom of league, is historically bad. And then, you know, the defensive line, talent, scheme, uh, evolution and complexity is, uh, all contributing. So I think it's a podge of reasons. Well, I've been saying

this for a while. When I first got into the NFL in 2010, there weren't that many great pass rushing defensive tackles. And then right around 2011, 2012, there just started being every year multiple, Fletcher Cox, Aaron Donalds. Now look how many teams feel good about like, we got a big time interior pass rusher. I'd say most teams, all the good ones have, like high-end guys, and a lot of random teams have good ones. Even the Panthers had Derek Brown, who, like, would start for every team, obviously got injured. Yet the offensive line position, guards, I would say guard and center play is way down over the course of the last decade. Because I used to feel like, shit, you can find Kelsey's and random guards and centers in the fifth, six, seventh round,

and they can become, like, pro bowlers. It's much harder to do now. I do think the tackles, you know, we just, it looks like we're probably going to have a pretty good tackle draft. and those kind of goes in waves because that's a specific like 6-5-66 body type. But the garden center play and maybe, I mean, you and I both watch a lot of college football,

the influx of just the offensive schemes in college, it's not the 90s and 2000s. You know, when I was at Fresno State, like we ran an NFL power offense, as did Pete Carroll, as did a lot of teams in college football. How many teams in college football don't spread that shit out now? So that, you know, you can still develop

the tackle, right? Because they're kind of a raw product when they have that body size. But the guard and center thing is a little more hit or miss. Where there used to be, you know, the Niners got that Poonie guy from Kansas. There used to be like six of him in a draft. And they'd be a little over the league. It's a great point. Teams are more focused on getting that interior pass rush.

You know, guys like Wilkins and Chris Jones, you can go on and on. Look at the season that Madabuke had for the Ravens last year. nothing disrupts a passing play more than interior pressure. And NFL teams have figured that out. It's not like going back to the great 2000 Ravens defenses where you would just have Saragusa and Sam Adams, who would just use a big houses up front to eat blocks to free up the linebackers, whereas now it's more about generating that interior pressure.

And yeah, that's part of it too. it's a great point with the college offense is, you know, more of a spread. And I think so you don't have the same guard prototype, but also the quarterbacks aren't really asked to run a, you know, a pro-style offense as much. So, like, they're not used to reading. And I think that's part of what you're seeing with a lot of these young quarterbacks where they just seem to be lost coming up to the NFL and, not being able to get up to speed. So I think it's a great point.

Did you see the viral video last week of Bo Nix getting the play call in from Sean Payton? And he's like listening, listening, listening, then he has to look at his car, then he has to listen a little more. I mean, it looked and, you know, it's gone viral over the year. Sean Payton's just play calls in general. It looked like he was reading him a book. And I can imagine, you know, Oregon's like, Green left, right? I mean, it's a, and obviously what he ran in Auburn was not very complicated. So, you know, I'm not trying to act like I was, you know, totally missed the Bo Nicks preseason hype.

But the transition, obviously, to the regular season, the intensity of the play calls from the game plan, clearly he's a little overwhelmed right now. So is Caleb. I mean, they all are swimming. Yeah. Yeah. And also, if you look at, you know, I mean, back to the offensive line, I'm, Caleb Williams, you know, you're dealing with NFL past rushes now. that offensive line, the Bears' offensive line is a mess. They give up 37 pressures last week to Houston.

That's just an insane number. You know, Bo Nicks under constant pressure. So, yeah, the offensive line play, a lot of these teams is really bad. One of the questions coming into the year with the Saints, and their offensive line has been tremendous. And look what they did last week. Their offense looks like a juggernaut. Well, I think one thing I think the Bears would like

back. Romadunes A loved him as a prospect. Obviously, from a character standpoint, everyone loved them. You only get so many opportunities to have two top ten picks and a huge reason I saw Baldy put this out. The kid from Oregon State, Fawaga, could like play all five positions. There's not such anything, you know, can't miss doesn't exist, but he was pretty close. Like, he was going to be solid. Now, maybe he's better than anyone thought. Like, I think if the Bears had a do-over, You can find wide receivers, but you get an opportunity to take a high-end offensive lineman that even if you feel good about your tackle spot at the Sardomac Guard, move them over like that, that's one they're probably regretting right now.

Yeah, I think I heard Belichick bring that up on some show. One of the 17 podcasts. Yeah, he was just talking about the roster construction. And, yeah, I mean, you already had DJ Moore. You went out and got Keenan Allen. and you were fortunate enough to get that number one pick because of the Panthers you got who you think is your franchise quarterback. You know, you really want to help them out with offensive line help, and they just really didn't address it as much as you would have liked.

And it doesn't matter who you have out there to throw to if you can't get proper protection. And it's also going to like shake his confidence. and he's not up to like NFL speed yet and dealing with the pressure, feeling it out, knowing when to get rid of it. So, yeah, I agree. I think I would have went offensive line there as well. Aren't the Chargers a good example that I would say over half the GMs or whoever would have been in charge, GM slash coach, in their spot this year,

would have taken probably neighbors to put with Justin Herbert. I mean, he would have been sweet. He is sweet. but Jim Harbaugh never hesitated. He was never going to take a wide receiver. And you look at them through two weeks, like they look exactly like his team for the last 15 years. Now, J.K. Dobbins, and you know him well, Ravens clearly looks healthy. And they are shoving.

I know they played the Panthers, but Jim would play like that against, you know, the mid-70 Steelers. He'd play like that against a high school team. Like, that's how he wants to play. And you look at him this week. let's just dive into that game because my take it's like it's tough to take the chargers at a dog on the road but I do think the over under this is just a classic contrarian this is going to be a sexy under everyone thinks because both these two teams wouldn't mind winning this thing like 12 to 9 I'm just going to take the over just because I think conventional wisdom and we've seen through the first two weeks and you know things change so it's these underdogs I mean they had an incredible week last week. Did they not? It was like, I'm going to take the over in this game. Because I do think this is a spot where if Pittsburgh slows down the run, it could be

hard for the Chargers. But I do wonder if it's just one of those, damn, it's 15 to 10 at halftime, one of those. Am I crazy for that logic? Because that's one of my favorite bets, basically just betting against conventional wisdom. I mean, it has a super low total. Numbers tiny. It's 30.

I looked this morning. It was 36. Yeah, so I mean, like 20 to 17 gets you over. This is like an Iowa total. And I think Iowa and Minnesota totals are on 35, 36. Is this about as small as you get in the NFL? Would you say 35, 36? Yeah, you could go.

I mean, the lowest you'll ever get is that I can remember. We've been in NFL for like 20 years. I mean, you'll have like. Thursday night game that's sloppy. Yeah, like we have like some 33's back. I remember like, 32s, 33's, in like Cleveland with, you know, and there's like 30, 40 mile an hour wins, the bear, like the bears in the mid 2000s with their dominant D and they had, you know, no offense.

So, yeah, this is, but this is getting there as low as, as you're really going to see in today's day and age, even with scoring down. You know, I, I. Like Harbaugh's a dog here? I prefer to tease, like this is a really good teaser piece. Because if you can tease an underdog in the NFL through 3 through 7 with a super low total, a total this low, it's a really good bet, even with teaser prices increasing, especially if you can still find like a minus 120, which are out there. But even at minus 130, you know, you tease this up, tease it with, you know, maybe the Bengals down to one and a half. I, you know, the thing that scares me about betting the chargers here. Because I'm going to tease them. The Steelers just find ways to win these close games.

Two and O in one possession games this year. They're 33 and 11 in one possession games since 2020. That's an obscene number. When you consider the quarterbacks, they've had 31 and 13 against the spread in those games. The steel, both these teams are, you know, the one scary thing about this over, I agree that it's probably an overreaction. Like, Red Zone, you want to talk about Red Zone? production. It should probably bounce back. And the Steelers have been doing nothing but kicking

fuel goals. I think they have one touchdown through two games and they're two and oh, which is pretty crazy. They did hit a couple big plays last week that were called back. Yes. Yeah, Pickens had, he had a really good game on Certain. It won't show up in the statute. He drew a big pass interference. And then he caught a huge pass that was brought back. But the Steelers are their first in rush attempts. They're just trying to run the ball. They first in two tight end sets. but they're like 29th in rush success rate, 29th in rush EPA. So they're not doing it very efficiently. They're relying on their defense.

Now, it helps when you play, you know, Bonix and that Broncos team. So maybe you have to open it up a little more. You are playing Justin Herbert. And, you know, their first game the Steelers played, they played the Falcons where Kirk Cousins was first game back. He was hurt. like so you didn't play in preseason you obviously saw he was completely rusty and they didn't put him under center it was the most predictable offensive game plan i've ever seen in my life just pistol we run it shotgun we throw it the Steelers were all over at watt wrecked habit on the game so they were able to play that way right and just hey we can win this game 1510 because the other offense he can't move their pass rush is awesome so it was a perfect storm yeah so now with herbert his offensive line's really good

And you want to talk about a guy, you know, them drafting all week one, he took Eric Crosby in his first ever start. So, you know, the weapons aren't great for the Chargers, but, you know, Herbert is in a much better spot than the quarterbacks that they faced over the first two weeks. The only thing that scares me a bit is the Herbert injury. So he, you know, he's dealing with an ankle injury on the same foot that has planter fascia. So how healthy is he going to be? going to just be too limited to move around dealing with that pass rush, even though the Chargers offensive line is pretty good. So, yeah, I don't hate the contrarian look here going over at such a low number.

You don't, look, if you're betting the under area, you need a lot of things to go right. You can't have like a, you know. Fumble six. Yeah, both of the fields in the past has made some dumb mistakes. And if Herbert isn't that mobile, he could get stripped, Watt, can always, can always, always wreck havoc on a game, but I prefer to tease the Chargers up. I know this, looking back at Harbos' first year at Stanford, his first year at the Niners, if you like the Chargers coming into this season, this is the type game that he kind of puts

a stamp early on, and you're like, damn, they are going to be way better than people imagine just because their roster wasn't as good as it has been in the past years with some of the Chargers. but I'm tempted. I got to see, you know, how does Justin Herbert, you know, does he practice? Now, Harbaugh's, I would say, top five guy that's very weird with injuries so you can never tell, you know, with his comments. And he already had issues in training camp when they're like, is both okay? He's like, what are you guys talking about? He's like, we saw him leave practice.

And he just gets very awkward in those situations. Okay. Yeah, it'll be a good day. You meant good data point for both teams. Steelers played the Falcons when he couldn't really take. much from that offense. And then, you know, the Bo Nix. And the Chargers played the Panthers and the Raiders in their first two games.

So very easy competition for both to get the two and L. I agree. This game, Harbo would normally win. This is a game that Tom will know always wins. Good data point for both teams, especially the offense is stepping up in class defensively. Okay. Last week, I liked the old G-Men against Washington, and they didn't come. ever.

You didn't have a kicker. It didn't have a kicker. It was a close game, though the time of possession, Washington was working them in terms of yards. Their red zone offense, I swear to God, they had three penalties every time that they got inside the 10-yard line.

That game could have been 15 points instead of three. But looking at Cleveland here, they scored 17 points in week one. They scored 18 points in week two. I think we acknowledge, right, they're not a great offense. So they're playing the Giants. and look at this morning, it's six and a half.

I'm with everybody. I don't think the Giants are good. But I don't think Cleveland at this point in time in the season should be giving up close to a touchdown to any. That's just for a team that can't score. I mean, if the Giants just score 10 points and they score 15. I mean, it's like, again, I feel sick and icky doing this, but I love this number with the Giants.

Am I crazy? A bit. I mean, Fade in Deshawn Watson is a favorite as from the win by margin. I think the Jags stinks, Stucky. So that game, like, I don't think the Jaggs are good. Yeah, and the Browns didn't really do much offense. They had a really good scripted drive. And then the Jagg shot themselves in the foot a lot.

And Watson had a good first quarter than not much else. You know, the one thing that would, so if you want to fade Deshawn Watson as a big favorite in the NFL. That's part of my logic here. Yeah, I don't hate it. I would prefer getting a seven. I would be a little more interested at seven because the one thing that scares me is a Jim Schwartz defense

generally eats up bad quarterback play and Daniel Jones under pressure is one of the worst quarterbacks in the league. We saw what Flores did to him in week one. It was a disaster. You know Schwartz is going to bring the pressure, take advantage of that offensive line, which while improved is still an area of weakness.

they have, you know, Ward last week only played 11 snaps. He's dealing with an injury. They expect to ramp that up. It's one of the best, I mean, the Browns have three really good corners. Can they, they are probably more equipped than anyone to stick with neighbors who got 18 targets last week. And if you do that, I mean, how are the Giants moving the ball? I just, I don't know. Jones is going to be under pressure.

He's probably going to make some mistakes. He's probably going to fumble. He's going to get stripped. So I would lean I would take a look at that under there because I don't think the Browns offense is any good. So if I do like the under and you're catching seven, I don't hate it. But I prefer the under to the side. The Giants offense could look just as messy as it did at home in week one against Minnesota, who doesn't have the same chops in the secondary as Cleveland.

I remember texting with a buddy before the draft. who knows the GM awesome for it pretty well with the cards. And I'm like, you think they would take neighbors at four over Harrison? He's like, no chance. He's just he's going to go safe with Harrison. And obviously Harrison's good, but just determining those two players. Neighbors are a little riskier. Just some question marks.

He would have been pretty sweet in that offense with Kyler and Troy McBride because he's going to waste away a little bit this year with DJ. Okay, this game's interesting. Eagles at the Saints. That was a devastating loss, bro, on Monday night. I mean, that was rough moment for Fangio, rough moment for the rookie corner. The Eagles D-Line.

You talk about a unit that got has multiple top 15 picks. They pay huff a bunch of money. He's done nothing. You know, Brandon Graham's just long in the tooth. They are getting no pressure. I mean, none. It's kind of crazy because two years ago, I mean, they were like leading the league in every statistical category, right, with their front.

It was dominant. Every guy, didn't they have like four guys that had double-digit sacks? Yeah. With Hargrave and Fletcher Cox and Riddick was balling then. But this unit is a big problem. And part of Fangio, like, this ain't Jim Schwartz or Flores. You got a way not going to blitz them. Yeah.

Even D'Amico, who I think, you know, historically is not a big blitz guy. But like, it was working. We'll just keep doing it every single. single play against Caleb. Like, Fangio just will not do that. He's an old stubborn SOB. But is there a little overreaction here? Like, what would the look ahead line been two weeks ago on this game?

Would it have been the Eagles as a dog or would have been closer to pick them? Or the Eagles even favored in this moment? Or are the Eagles just, because I thought Jaylin had a pretty good night on Monday night. The Falcons aren't bad on defense. They're really physical. Judon adds a little pass rush element. Their secondary is pretty solid. solid. Obviously, Rahim's a good defensive coach. I do wonder if it's just kind of human nature.

You start feeling yourself a little bit if you're the Saints. I mean, you've been just, you can't start any better. I mean, I think the stats on their drives, they literally scored a touchdown or field goal. Like basically 99% of their drives is crazy. So I think I kind of like the Eagles in this moment, though reluctantly. Yeah. I mean, I think it's on principle. I think it's a bit of an overreaction. I think before this weekend, the look-at line was Eagles minus two and a half. And then after this weekend,

it flipped by points. It's about to go to three, Saints minus three. The last I checked. That's a big swing for a non-injury. I don't think it would have swung that much of the Eagles were sitting at 2-0. They did two tush pushes or Barclay caught that ball. So it's a big overreaction now.

being said that, the Saints could end up being, right? We only have two data points, so you don't want to overreact too much, but fast forward towards the end of the season, say the Saints are as dominant as they've looked, then this would be cheaper, right? So it should be over a field goal, you know, because we're still relying on some priors and prior market ratings that we had coming into the year. But the Saints will go like a completely different team. And you're right, the Eagles defense has major issues. The Fangio defense relies on guys up front winning, and they're not doing that. Their linebackers aren't any good.

And the secondary, all these new pieces, it's a complex defense. And they're still not there. Usually like Fangio the first year, it's a struggle, or at least in the first half of the year, year two is really when you see defenders start to grasp what he wants to do in the secondary. And there's a lot of new guys there. So you're seeing some coverage busts. I mean, look no further than that last. arrive where cousins went right down the field and what seemed like.

Well, the safety was playing 75 yards back. There's a huge gap. What are you doing? Yeah, that was insane. Tyree Kills not on the field. We don't have to be this conservative here. Yeah, a mind-blowing final two minutes from the entire. Do you think on that really quick, you know, just moving forward in situations where, you know,

a team is down and has to go the full field, so not necessarily a field goal? but even if they have a field goal to tire to win, to kick it out of bounds, forever our entire life, you kick it out of bounds, you get the ball at the 20. So if there's a minute 30 or left and they have no timeouts,

you're going to have to hit a couple plays to get close to midfield more than likely. Now you kick it out of bounds, you get the ball at the 30, they get a 10-yard game. Boom, you're at the 40. I mean, pretty quick. That's, I wonder,

and I know there's a risk if you kick it in that little area if he kicks it out, but what if you make the tackle like the 22-yard line, that's a big 7-8-yard gap. It wouldn't have mattered in that situation because they got down the field in like 15 seconds. But I wonder big picture after people watch that, you're like, they're a 15-yard gain away from being at midfield.

Yeah, it's good. I think that it's going to increase, I think that there should be an increased focus on different strategy there. But the inability to now squib it, which, you know, like the bills should have done against the cheese. but the inability to squip it late, I think, is going to lead to more late comebacks. So, yeah, I think that you have to look at different strategies there because, yeah, you're right. It's like one quick completion you're at midfield. And then with the way kickers kick now, they're 35 or 39 on the season, above 50.

I don't know if it's, this is like an MLB conspiracy theory, juice balls. We have juice balls. Guys are making them from 60 with ease. So now you got to get to the 40 to make a fuel goal if you're down three. So if I kick it out of bounds, they start at the 30, they only have to go 30 yards. Yep. Right? Yeah.

It's one seam wrap completion. It's pretty crazy. I could get in field goal range if I have, I don't know, 23 seconds left on the clock, hit a couple of plays. Yep. It's conceivable. Yeah. So I think you'll see more comebacks, more game time, fuel goals late. So I think that you have to, when you're kicking off, you have to look at different strategies and practice those to try and prevent that good starting field position.

But this, you know, the Eagles, so there's a couple things that, you know, like, so my by low, sell high philosophy in the NFL that is, that's kind of my overarching philosophy always has been. Once to bet the Eagles here at three, I would consider it. but, you know, I don't do that blindly. And the Saints' offense looks like a completely different unit. Mentioned Puauga. Penning's even playing well at right tackle. Lucas Patrick, he's somehow playing well at guard. I think...

Camaro looks like an MVP candidate right now. Yeah, Eric McCoy is the highest-rated center. Ruiz is playing well. The offense line looks different. And it all comes down to the scheme. And it's Kubiak. And they didn't use any play action under the offensive coordinator, year was a car. I could forget his name.

They didn't use any. Yeah, it was Sean Payton guy. Any play action. They used any motion. This year, they're top of the league in both. Carr is throwing it over 50% of the time with play action. And what is that doing? I mean, it's, it's, it's, Kamara looks great. And then it's just easy throws and the defense is off balance. Here's Kamara this year, 3.35 yards before contact, 73% success rate. last year, 1.8 yards before contact, 47% success rate.

I mean, those are just, how about allowing pressure within two and a half seconds? They were one of the worst last year, number one in the league at 4% of the time. Number three in the league is 16%, almost four times as high as that. And they're at 4% allowing pressure within 2.5 seconds. So it's all the motion, the play action. And then the offensive line, obviously, you know, looks like you hit on left tackle. They're all playing well. Is this sustainable?

Not this level, but they could be significantly better. We knew the defense is going to be pretty good. And the Eagles offense, just, it is much easier to defend when there's no AJ Brown. It's, you know, you have to worry about Devante. And then, but, you know, if you have Devante on one end, you have AJ Brown on the other side and Barclay with the threat of Hertz's legs. That's very difficult to defend. Now, if you're just worried about Devontay on the outside, I mean, how many, they were

threw like Britain Covey like seven times last week. What was that? I don't know. Like it was Kellynne Moore thinking he was at Boise State? I like Kellynne Moore. But listen, Britain Covey, cool story. Didn't think he'd be in the league this long. But I, what are we doing?

throw gain well. I would do anything else besides that is not going to work. Especially against a physical defense. He ain't going to break a tackle. He's not faster than anybody. What are we doing? Yeah.

So, yeah, I, uh, that's what I... Coaches love guys like that, bro. When I was in the league, it was Chad Hall. I mean, they just, they just like... Air Force guy. They see them... Air Force guy. I think he's coaching now for somebody. He was with the bills for a while.

They see themselves in that guy, you know? Something like, if I, if I would have had a little more town. I could have been this. Yeah. Yeah. Kellan had a brother Kirby who was basically Yeah. Britt and Covey, you know. Yeah, that makes sense. So that's what I would be concerned about. But at three, it would be interesting. Like the Eagles, you know, they'll probably have like a patent in seven to eight minute drive at some point. Just what they do.

Sequin looks good. Yeah, Sequan looks really good. Their offensive line is good. So they should be able to run it some here. but, you know, not a game I'm running to bet a ton on because I just, the Eagles definitely applause on defense, no AJ Brown. They're also, it's a short week going on the road of the New Orleans. Place will be jumping now. Yeah, I feel of them start. And the Saints offense looks, and the numbers back it up.

Now, it's only two games. One of them was against the Panthers, but the game against the Cowboys to go in there and dominate like that, and the offense the line, it looked really good. It says a lot. So another good data point here for the Saints. And I, but I, I like the Falcons last week. I like them again this week for what it's worth. You mentioned their defense.

Anything over a field goal against the Chiefs, the Chiefs just, over a field goal favor, they're not good. If they're a field goal favorite or under an underdog, you always take them homes. Over a field goal favorite, they're not, they just play with their food. Like they'll probably be down in this game,

find a way to win by a field goal. They could easily be 0-1-2 on the air. They have issues on offense, not explosive, issues at tackle. You know, their release is not ready. No Pacheco, no Hollywood Brown. It's basically just like one receiver. It's kind of the same game plan for the Falcons this week, what they have to defend. And on the other side, the Chief's defense still can't defend the run.

They are dead last and rush success rate, 58% success rate. I think the next versus the Rams are like 55, the only two teams that are over 50. what are the falcons going to do they're going to lean on bejean they're going to lean on algear that's going to set up the play action easy throws chief struggle to defend the run struggle against play action cousins look better as that game went on he's finally like shaking off the rust felt more comfortable post injury they have a really good offensive line so i think anything over a fuel goal there uh is good on the falcons on on sunday night people love shitting on the NFC South, but I do think those three teams are pretty solid. You know, the Falcons, I didn't want,

like, you know, the way the Belichick stuff and they act like he was the village idiot and the cousins penics thing, but they do have a lot of good players. And like, even if they had started Owen, too, like, they're pretty solid if cousins can just kind of write the ship. The problem for him, he looks weird in Atlanta uniform. Do you agree with that? Yes. It looks, it looks It looks weird. So when he was playing shitty, you're like, this is just not going to work. The final drive, I mean, that has to be a big moment for the season. He's never been able to move, but he really can't move.

So to me, if you can pressure him, it's like golf, they're just sitting ducks. Now, when seven on seven, it turned in on that final drive, he can look like Joe Montana. Like, he just, he's going to hit guys with ease. So his bags is going to pressure. Spags is going to bring blitzes and pressure. But they can't get down. They're not going to play well from down, right? If you know they're dropping back to pass,

you know, if they're down 10 points in the second half against good pass rushes, he'd be in trouble. Yeah, but I do think the Falcons can lean on the run here, like, and just run wild and then set up third and manageable play action because, yeah, if they're down and Cousins is in known passing situations, they have a really good offensive line, but Spags can draw up exotic pressures as well as anyone. So that's when it could be problematic.

So, yeah, it's imperative. that they get off to a fast start here on Sunday night. You deserve your flowers on the Packers indie game, which I was way wrong because that was a LaFleur Picasso slash a Gus Bradley, man. I know he's down some players, but what an embarrassment. Yeah, I mean, they didn't make an adjustment. It's insane to me that the Packers ran for 237 yards in the first half. on 34 carries. That's seven yards per carry. And where the cults and the cults didn't adjust,

they were sitting back in their zones. They didn't bring their safety down an extra defensive alignment. Were they not expecting the Packers to do this? Were they expecting the Packers to try and come out and throw it over the field with Willis? 237 yards in the first half, the third most of any team in the first half since 2000. In the second half, I don't know why it took till halftime and why this wasn't the plan before the game. They finally, even without, after losing to Fars Buckner, they brought extra defensive linemen in, safety down, and the Packers ran for 24 yards on 19 carries in the second hand.

Just mind-blowing, the defensive game plan. So, yeah, Richardson was just too inaccurate. Packers had a good game plan. Everyone else stepped up, some easy throws for Willis. And they were able to get it done. Are you going to keep short in the Colts? Because I've looked at that Bears line and go, that feels like a little too easy. Rookie quarterback on the road.

It's still September, so it's not like Indies 3 and 10 where their crowd. Like their crowd's going to be into it. It's like, is that a spot where Indy just kind of comes out and wins the game pretty easily? Or is it one of those where things get weird? That's a tough one because, I mean, the Colts defense is bad. The Bears defense is pretty good. I mean, the Colts lost their top corner, too. DeFars Buckner is now.

out how their best defensive linemen they have other injuries um but the you know the bear's defensive line is a mess Caleb's still not there I think he really does need keen and allan back like just this is a reliable possession receiver will he go I don't know will Gus bradley blitz like he has been blitzing a little more at times like you got to blitz this bear's team you got to bring pressure on the other side but also the but the but the but the the bears can't run the ball this year. I mean, the bears are averaging, I think the Colts are giving up like five and a half yards per carry,

but the Bears running backs are averaging like two yards per carry because their offensive line is such a mess. So movable object meets a irresistible force. I don't know what wins out there. And the other side, it's going to come down to like, does Richardson hit a few deep balls? So there's high variance Colts. And they do have a really good offensive line.

So I think that. Yeah, I would lean Colts in the desperation. Historically, if you bet these teams that are 0 and 2, as home favorites, they do very well. My favorite bet of the weekend, I was with Malik Willis last week. I'm against them this week. I'm going to the Titans again, even though I've the most extreme PTSD you could ever imagine on the Titans. I bet them the first two weeks. I've lost both games.

They arguably should have won both. games. They lost both because of block punts in both games. What is this? High school, they got a punt block in the first two games. Will Levis the most, speaking of high school, high school s turnovers you'll ever see, one inside the 10 where he just decides to pitch it backwards. And then the other one, he tries to flip it, I insane. And to make matters, the same exact score, same exact score and catching the same exact price of three and a half four lost 24 to 17 in both after leading and covering the whole game. But I did bet them again.

Got to have a short-term memory in this gig. I bet them again. For reference, O-N-2 teams over the past 10 years playing teams that aren't 0-N-2, so they at least have one win, or 65% against the spread in week three covering by about a fuel goal a game. A bunch of other trends that support this as well. Favorites in this spot, about 72% against the spread, 75, when they're at home.

But, you know, I backed Willis last week. I don't think Love's going to play. Now, if Love plays, I still don't mind it, but you'll get a better line. But I like this anything under three. The Packers, historically, they're conservative with injuries. They already stole a win without Love. You have the Vikings next week. You just gave Love a ton of money.

I don't know why you would really rush him back here. So I don't think he's going to play. if he does, he's definitely not going to be at 100%. But if Willis plays, which I think is going to be the case, Tennessee already saw what Green Day was trying to do. They're not going to be able to just line up and run. This Tennessee defense is worlds better than the Colts. They have good corners.

Their front is really good with sweat and Simmons. They're not going to be able to, I don't think the packs of the middle move the ball at all. So, and look, Tennessee knows Willis as well. He was in their room and they cut him. So, yeah, I think this is a good by-low spot on the Titans who easily could be 2-0. They played well. Their defense has been awesome for the most part. Yeah, I mean, their defense, the profile as well.

You got Sweat and Simmons in the interior. You're talking about that interior pass rush. They added Aronis Jones and lineback. It's a huge get. That was the position of need. Yeah, veteran safety's got as good of a cornerback group as you're going to find in the NFL with Sneed, a Wuzier, who have been number one corners in really. recent seasons, and then McCreary's really good in the slot. So their defense is really good. I don't know

how the Packers move the ball. I think Tennessee will be had to lean on the run game a bit. Hopkins also ramping back up to full production from his injury. I think he went from 17 to 30 snaps last week. Ridley's actually looked pretty good. And that offense? He has. Just get a pun off and someone has to just drill into Levis's head that you don't throw the ball backwards or, I mean, you just have to avoid that. that critical mistake. But they easily could be 2 and 0 on the season, and things would be really interesting.

Game of inches. In the NFL, it's crazy how much your outlook can change. Now this game's closer to a must win, and especially in the division with the Texans, whereas you were 2 and 0, this could have been a huge home game. By the way, the line probably would have been over three before any love news broke.

So I think you're getting a little bit of value here with the Titans. And same thing with the, we just talked with the Falcons. getting that last drive, monumental for their season. The Bucks and the Saints are 2 and O. The vision looks significantly improved. And the Panthers now should have a pulse because they are going to Dalton. And you fall to 0 and 2. They would have been in trouble.

With the Chiefs coming up. And, you know, your two games already behind in division, that was a huge win for the Falcons to potentially save their season. It was massive. I know Brian Callahan said after week one, if we would have punted on every first down we would have won. Well, not if your punts get blocked. Yeah, that's true.

That's not the case. Okay, I'm with you on that Tennessee, having bet on them and watched them much closely, much closer than normal, I've been pretty impressed. I mean, Will Levis, any Titans backer or fan, I mean, it's crazy, his mistakes. 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 IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

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

you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes.

Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of taun tons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to Stuff to Blow Your Mind on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your friends. podcast. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look

Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me. Not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now.

Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get Your podcasts.

Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking. Tript Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough, because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hard Way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search learn the hard way and listen now. Before you get out of here, some college stuff, we got some big games on paper.

You know, USC Michigan, it's crazy to think that, like, this is a conference game. Utah on the road against Oklahoma State, I mean, big, big, big 12 playoff implication matchup. And then like USC, Oklahoma making their debut in the SEC. But at home against Tennessee, who I guess, you know, could be, I don't know, national champion contender, but definitely a playoff contender. And who knows, maybe they are a national championship contender. When I say those three games, which one are you most fired up to bet?

Because Utah, we were talking before we hopped on, has had some line movement, a lot of question mark with their quarterback who got slammed in to a bench earlier this season. When he plays, they're really freaking good. When he doesn't, they look like a Mountain West team. Yeah, that game I've no idea on the camerawizing injury. It's the tail as old as time. The injury uncertainty, who knows if he's going to start or not.

Whittingham's always very secretive about those things. The line movement is very bizarre. Utah's going to sell out to stop Ollie Gordon, which other teams have done. He's not gotten off to a good start. They're going to play man on the outside. It's going to come down to Alan Bowman, hitting those deep shots. And then rising obviously needs to be healthy for Utah's offense. And if he is, the Oklahoma State defense is very vulnerable.

But with all the uncertainty, I have no idea. By the way, both quarterbacks total age. 49 in this game to 7th years, guys who have been around forever. Michigan, you know, the USC defense, I think, is legit. Their staff is good. They upgraded on the back end. It's no more. Alex Grinch, they got a great coordinator and just a great staff across the board.

It's shocking to say with USC, but their defense is legit. Michigan's going to Alex Orgy. You got to keep an eye on if Colston Loveland plays. I don't think he's going to play, and he's their, like, only pass-catching option at tight end, but they're going to play Orgy now who can't throw the ball. So I assume they're going to go just like they're going to look like a triple option team and run RPO's and their defense has to get stops because their offense is not going to be able to catch up.

And wink Martindale to DC, I'm not, he's just, is he going to blitz the entire time again? If so, USC's off a buy. They'll be ready for that. So, yeah, I don't, I don't like this Michigan team. am I running the bet lay 5, 5 and a half? No, not really, but lean to the under and lean USC.

The other game I actually, look, college football is much the first month of the season. It's as hard as it's ever been for me, personally, at least, because these teams have such drastic turnover. And it's not like before where a couple guys here, I can adjust my power rating based on the results.

And these teams, they turn over so much. I mean, look at Michigan. Michigan national title team, the team that looks incompetent. And then, you know, you have a couple data points. Some of them are against FCS teams. And it's like, who really is this team? So it's really tough to get a handle on some of these teams. Oklahoma and Tennessee looks great. They look like they could be a national title contender. But, you know, they played Kent State who lost at home to St. Francis the week before. They played Chattanooga. And then they played NC State team in Charlotte that looked impressive.

but NC State almost lost to Western Carolina. You say, okay, it's the first week. Last week they almost lost to Louisiana Tech at home. Their quarterback got her, and their backup had to come in and lead a comeback. Louisiana Tech is bad, bad, bad team. So maybe that win wasn't as impressive. This will be a really good date of one. Oklahoma hasn't looked great.

No, they have not. They've had a ton of injuries. So I think they should be getting a couple receivers back. They basically just have Dionne Bergson, nobody else. Their offensive line, they'd replace all five starters. they've been down to their fourth string center, rotating guards. They haven't had their starting right tackle

since the opening week. They got one of the best centers in the portal in Hickman. I think he's going to be back this week. Their right tackle might be back. We'll enable guys to go more into their natural position. Their office line has been such a mess. Any team in the country on your four-string center

after you're replacing all five starters, it's going to be a mess. So they haven't been able to run the ball. They haven't able to get enough protection. And then three of their starting receivers, have been hurt. So the Oklahoma hasn't looked great, but there's a huge caveat there. Their defense is really

good. They could get two of their guys at the cheetah position back. They could get their top cornerback as well. So they haven't been healthy at all. In the NFL, this would be, obviously, college lines are bigger, just naturally. I mean, is that fair to say? They just feel they get a little more inflated. Yes. I mean, I like, look, this would be an auto

bet for Oklahoma at home as a seven point dog. Yeah, I took Oklahoma. I took Oklahoma plus seven and a half. You should be able to find a seven and a half. There's money is just pouring in on Tennessee. It'll be the most popular better at the weekend for how they looked and how Oklahoma looked. This is a massive home field.

He was talking about a home field advantage. Home field advantage in this game is worth about four points. Oklahoma does a really good home field advantage already, but this is the first SEC game for Oklahoma at night against the top 10 team. And it's Nico Imoleva. All right. I said his name wrong. He's called Nico.

Yeah. He's been fantastic. but this is his first true road game. You know, he played NC State in Charlotte, half crowd. This is a hostile environment. The Oklahoma defense is legit, and their front is legit. Their run-dee is legit. It's one of the best run defenses in the country.

That's where everything comes from for Tennessee. With Samson, it starts with the run game, their offense, and then everything flows in there. So I think Oklahoma will be okay there. You know, does Nico make a few key mistakes? And I like Oklahoma. I mean, I can't get to this number even after adjusting Tennessee. maybe, look, maybe Tennessee, like the Saints, is just now a juggernaut that I can't adjust it.

Then I'll look foolish here. But I can't get to Oklahoma catching seven out. The last time they were an underdog at home of more than a field goal was back in 2000 when they upset Nebraska, number one Nebraska. I think Oklahoma scored 31 straight in that game. They all threw oranges onto the field. After the game, they rushed the field, stole the goalpost. There was pepper spray.

Stoops, even got sprayed during the post-game interview. In that game, Josh Heppel was the Tennessee coach. He was the quarterback of Oklahoma. Brent Venables, then now head coach, was the defensive coordinator. Heepel actually got fired at Oklahoma under Stoops, alma mater, too. So he, I'm sure he wants this one, but there's a lot of good underlying storylines here. It should be a great atmosphere. Really looking forward to that game.

I'm hoping and think that Oklahoma should be much healthier, and that offensive line should look much more competent. Jackson Arnold has some talent if he can just get some protection. Yeah, maybe that, you know, I've been critical, I guess, watching Jackson Arnold is just, you know, in Oklahoma. I just have a buddy that works there, but it's understandable. They've been missing this many skill guys. I mean, all their wide receivers have been injured.

Yeah. And he's like Nico, I mean, a retro freshman. He's young. But, you know, in that first game, and I understand as Temple, you just you did see like his physical attributes like like Nico he is really gifted there's a reason they told Dylan Gabriel you're not going to start here anymore we're going to go with the young guy yeah and uh I would imagine if Tennessee if Milton wasn't old and had another they would have said the same thing right I mean these two guys are I think in their class they're in the same class Nico was three and Jackson Arnold was four or something and arch was one I mean it has a chance to be a really really good class, even the kid Moore. You know, the top five was Arch, these two kids,

Dante Moore, who's at Oregon, that played at UCLA last year and was kind of a disaster. And the one huge bust as the kid, uh, that started at USC, Nelson, went to Boise State and got beat out. But the other four, I wouldn't write off more by any means yet at Oregon. And obviously, Arch, I'll get you out of here on Arch.

uh, you know, Quinn, listen, I was, I wouldn't say a detractor, but I didn't quite understand the hype. based on watching them last year. Good player, but like talking about potential number one overall pick. But then that game at Michigan, and I understand Michigan's down. If you just watch him independent of the opponent, you're like, this guy's really good. And he gets this kind of weird freak injury and all of a sudden, Arch comes in. Some of the passes were like quick screens and stuff and a run that was cool. But I do think this is not your average backup coming in and

like we could easily transition back. This is a little different if he was, if he was, was Arch Middlkoff, it'd be easier to go back to Quinn when he's healthy. But what happens if, let's say Oklahoma wins this game. And in a couple weeks, he's ready to come back and it's fucking Oklahoma week. Sark doesn't have to worry. It's not like this guy's a freshman. They're both freshmen that want to keep him both. This guy's going to the NFL.

Like, how do you think this plays out? I don't know. It's a great question. It's going to be fascinating to watch. You know, if he like, if I think it is. his debut was a little overhyped. Yeah, I think so. There was some potential.

It was cool. I want to see him play. Yeah, but there's so much hype there. It's going to be, and then the thing is, like, you go back to yours, and if he struggles at all, like, at any point, then everyone's place. Where's Manning? And, like, it's, it could potentially create a mess for Texas. So I'm curiously how Sark handles it. I'll close out on my take on it.

is as a better, if you want the ugliest bet on the board, I bet U.L. Monroe plus 45. They're supposed to be one of the worst teams in the country this year. They actually do look a little better than I expected. They beat their shit out of UAB. We went up and competed with Arkansas. They beat them by like 24.

They're coming off a by week here. And they have a quarterback, by the way. It's fun on the back because their quarterback's name is General Booty. and he's a former transfer from Oklahoma. They're going to play really slow. They're going to run the ball a ton. They're going to try to shorten the game, which helps when you're catching 45 points.

But one of the reasons why I haven't even looked to fade Texas is a big favorite. I've backed them against Colorado State is you had Quinn Ewers in the game, and Texas is obviously really good, top 5 team. Then, okay, you build a big lead and you go to Arch Manning. I mean, there's no other team in the country that has less of a drop to their backup. And he comes in and they just extend the league. Now, no Uers, you have Arch, and then you're going to have another freshman who is talented, but not on the same level and as refined as either of those guys yet.

Plus, because Ewers has an injury, you have to be, if you're Sark, you have to be a little more cognizant of Arch's health. and you know SEC play starts next week so you might hold him a little sooner or go a little more conservative than you normally would um so i think it's a little easier to fade texas as a bigger favorite and u l monroe does profile as a pretty good enormous underdog because they just are going to run it and play really slow which is what you want with these big underdogs you don't want a team coming out of trying to run tempo increasing the number of possessions so that's kind of I take how it plays out. I don't know, but it's one of the most fascinating

storylines of this college football season. While you need is like 50 to 13 and you're like easily in the clear. Yeah. How sick would it be if there was like a 39 point spread on a Sunday? That's, yeah, it's never going to happen. I mean, it rarely gets. Well, if they kept race young, the Panthers were maybe heading there. Yeah. Remember the dolphins when they were tanking that floor as year, I think got close to 20? It's like 18 and a half, 19 against like some of those Brady. Patriot teams, but

Yeah, I think the biggest spread of all time, I want to say it was a horrid Jaguars team in 2013. 25? I think it was like 24. Let's see, no, it was 20, 28,

biggest ever. It was I think it was the Broncos and yeah it was the Jaguars against the Broncos in 2013 that was the Manning Broncos I assume And they cover yeah they actually let's say that was I feel like if you did if there was anything remotely that close again that big of a number The money that would flow in on 25 plus would be pretty high. Don't you think? Yeah close 27 Denver 135 19 I mean that's an auto bat in the NFL for me.

Like you're catching four touchdowns. And no one run, you don't run it up in the NFL. Yeah, I just think how popular betting is now. I think the amount of money that would flow in on that huge of a number would be like historic in 2024. Like think how different the way we talk about gambling,

how popular it is, how legal it is from just that year 2013, which doesn't, when you say it out loud, doesn't feel like that long ago. It's fucking light years. In time ago. Full different world now.

I don't think you could put a number that high. I think it would get bet down to like 20, don't you? Yeah, I agree. In the NFL, that's way too high of a number. Yeah, I mean, it was a perfect storm of things like the Jags looked so bad. They were, I think they were 0 and 6. The Broncos were 6 and 0, and they were like setting records with Peyton Manning. And, you know, it's in Denver.

Do you know, no, do you know, I think Jacksonville's, starting a backup quarterback, too. Do you know the quarterback wasn't that game? I mean, I don't think anyone would know this, but Chad Henney actually was the starting quarterback. Which obviously would be an upgrade over Gabbard. Probably. Yeah, I think.

Maybe not being a week in the time. But, yeah, a funny game, 27 points spread. It was pretty crazy if you would have said that at that game, Chad Henney will play another 10 years in the NFL. I mean, just retired last year, right? Yeah. chiefs backup. Yeah.

So his career was only heating up right around then. He became the chief's backup during the dynasty. Yeah. He's got three Super Bowl rings. He had a dream job. Yeah, it doesn't get any better. Okay, sucky. Let's keep our eye out for a nice 25-point spread in the NFL one day, and we will

fucking hammer that thing. All right, father. Have a good week. I'll see you next week. The volume. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smy. 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 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at a Podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. Eighty-four was big to me. I'm Sam Jay And I'm Alex English Each episode, we pick a year unpack what went down And try to make sense of how we survived it

With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s It was a wild year I don't think there's a more important year For Black people Listen to look back at it On the IHeart Radio app

Apple Podcasts Or wherever you get your podcasts A win is a win A win I don't care what you're saying Yep That's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Cliford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Cliford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcast. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.