The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Blazing 5 - Week 5

Episode Date: October 10, 2020

Colin talks with RJ Bell of Pregame.com & Fox Sports Radio about his Blazing 5 picks to find out which ones the sharps in Vegas agree or disagree with. This week's games:Panthers @ FalconsJaguars @ TexansRams @ WashingtonColts @ BrownsVikings @ SeahawksPlus, Colin gives out a bonus pick not in his Blazing 5 Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee 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 Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the I Heart 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. Hi, everybody, and welcome to our Saturday morning podcast. Last week, Blazing 5, 1, 3-1. That Dolphins pick still hurts.

I'm 9, 10, and 1 in the season. Not happy, dissatisfied, little angry. I'll get to RJ Bell at pregame.com in a second. But first, my Blazing 5. That's a hot one. Let's blaze it up. It's Collins blazing fire. Panthers at Falcons.

I'll take Atlanta, only have to give up two and a half. Listen, Matt Ryan and Dan Quinn have actually always played Carolina well, especially at home. But this story is about the Panthers defense. Bad last year, I think it's the second worst in the league. Carolina's 31st ranked on third downs, few as sacks. second worst scoring defense. Seven rushing touchdowns allowed second most. This is a bad defense.

And I'll say this about Atlanta. I don't think they've quit on their coach. I think their passing offense is still robust. And I think it's a desperate team. This is an easy one for me. I like Atlanta to score enough points to beat what I believe is the second worst defense in the NFL, 3327 Falcons. Jaguars at Texas.

Couldn't tell you the last time I took Jacksonville, taking the Jags plus six between Gardner Minshu and James Robinson, the running back, they've got a pretty pesky little offense. And teams that fire their coach, Houston, mid-season, are two and six against the spread the following week. And they got real issues in Houston. Their offensive line is awful. Last and rushing offense can't protect Deshawn Watson, the most sack quarterback in the

league. And that's Deshawn Watson who escaped sacks. I do not believe you can correct a bad offensive line in season. There's nothing on the market. Nobody's giving away their good offensive linemen. I'm going to take Jacksonville plus six to upset the Texans who just fired their coach. You don't have to love Bill O'Brien, but I thought schematically it was darn clever, 2726 Jags. Rams at Washington.

Washington plus seven and a half, I'll take them. third East Coast road trip already for the Rams, who also play rival San Francisco next week and could be looking ahead. Listen, there's a way to disrupt Sean McVeigh's offense. Pressure. Chase Young is back in the Red Washington defense. 14 sacks, top three, 208 yards allowed, top four. So real good Washington defense getting star rookie Chase Young back.

And also, Kyle Allen's not great, but he's efficient. and when he started last year over Cam, remember that? He was very good early until the world got film on him. Ron Rivera is telling you, we can win this division with our defensive personnel. We just can't make mistakes. So what he's telling you is Kyle Allen, at least when I see in practice, makes fewer mistakes.

I'm going to call the upset here. Rams third trip out east. Washington wins, upset 24, 23. Good defensive lines have been. disrupted Sean McVeigh's running offense. He's been in L.A. Belichick sort of gave everybody the blueprint and the Super Bowl how to disrupt the offense.

Washington will do that. Colts at Browns. Like the Colts, I love them. Indies only got to give up one point. I'll take Indy. Think about this. The Cleveland Browns are off their biggest national TV win in a decade. They beat the Cowboys.

Oh, Cleveland loves themselves this morning. Good luck. The Colts defense leads the NFL in everything. Points allowed. Passer rating. All levels, as Greg Kosell told us, this is a great defense.

The Browns three wins have come against teams whose records are 3-8-1. Their defense in Cleveland is still awful. It's just that Dallas couldn't expose it at the right times. Philip Rivers may be limited. But with this offensive line, he's completing almost 73% of his passes.

The Colts have the better all line, the better defense. Cleveland's highly emotional coming off that win over the Cowboys. I'm going to take the Colts to win 2623. Vikings at Seahawks. Vikings plus seven. I know, I know, I know. Don't bet against Russell Wilson. I'm going to take Minnesota plus seven here. Chicago won last night. What does that mean for Minnesota? Oh, hell, the Packers are winning and the Bears are winning. This is a must win for Minnesota. a much more urgency in that division. The Bears are 4-1.

They've got to win now. And I'll say this. Say what you want about Kirk Cousins on Monday night football. On Sunday night football, he's been good. He's 4-2. 117 passer rating. He's great on Sunday night football. Delvin Cook leads the league.

Adam Thielan and rookie Justin Jefferson, are a... Justin Jefferson, folks, is the next superstar wide receiver in this league. The Seahawks defense is atrocious. Atrocious. They are on pace to allow the most... yards and the most passing yards of any team in the Super Bowl era. And this is an offense that is stacked with weapons. Kirk Cousins, when given time, he'll have it, will move the ball.

Russell Wilson does something miraculous to pull a W out of an L. But I'm absolutely going to take Minnesota and the seven points. 27, 26 Seahawks, way too many points to give Dalvin Cook, Kirk Cousins, Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, good tied ends, and a capable offensive line. All right, RJ Bell, pregame.com, straight out of Vegas, Fox Sports Radio, 6 to 7 Eastern, at RJ in Vegas's Twitter handle. You know, I'm seeing some of these big lines this week, you know, Raiders, Chiefs, and it's like, yeah, yo, y, let me start with a favorite. This is one of my favorites I like. I'm going to take Atlanta minus two and a half against the Panthers. It's one of my favorite bets.

It's a very desperate Atlanta team. Matt Ryan's always been good against the Panthers. But I just don't like this Panthers defense. They allow you to rush for touchdowns. Second worst scoring defense. In fact, it was bad last year. It's worse this year. They don't get to the quarterback.

Fewest sacks by any team. They're bad on third down. I just don't like their personnel matchup here. And I'm going to swallow the two and a half. This feels like an easy one to me. What are the wise guys think? Agreement here, strong agreement. whenever you have a team whose wins and losses are bad,

but their stats are good, the wise guys tend to ignore the wins and losses. Now, I think that is something that they can get overboard with because I do think there's a psychology of the humans on the team, but I think that there's still a sense in Atlanta that the season's not over. So obviously that may be irrational, but remember, last year they finished year six and two, and to me, Colin, the main drive here is what was the look ahead line in this game?

So if you were to bet this game a week ago, just one week early, the line was five and a half. Five and a half. All that's happened since is Atlanta looked really bad on Monday night and Carolina looked good. Hey, I'm not saying you don't adjust a little bit. You don't adjust from five and a half to two and a half. the value, especially under the field goal on Atlanta. All right, I want to take, let's go back to underdogs because I like them. I thought Jacksonville was tanking, and now I just think they're not a great team.

But giving them six is too much. I'll take the Jags plus six at Houston. First of all, teams that fire their coach mid-season, I look this up, two and six against the spread the following week since in the last four years. Secondly, Deshawn Watson, Houston's got a problem. It can't get passed. and these are not in-season fixable. He's been sacked 16 times this year, most in the NFL.

They're last in rushing. This is a team that is bad up front. And I think there are problems you can solve during a season. I don't believe that's one of them. And I think, frankly, Gardner Minshu, in his division opponent games, his last three, he's a gamer, three-plus touchdown passes. I'm going to go with an upset here. Jags 27, 26, I'll take the point.

I don't think Houston should give up six points to anybody right now. What are the wise guys think? Agreement here. If you look at it, Houston is a team that literally has been up only like five minutes the entire season. So think 240 minutes of football and they've been up about five minutes. So if you think about it is home field advantage we estimated about two points entering the year, obviously without the crowds. we are now moving it towards one. It just really is a situation where the good quarterbacks,

and I'm not sure Minshu meets that criteria, but the good quarterbacks are taking advantage of the silence on the road in such a way. It's really diminishing any home field. So the fact that Jags are getting six, and you would think, well, home field's three plus three, no, no, this is five additional points. And I agree with you in general. I think O'Brien, and I know people is going to say, well, the division wasn't all that good.

He won four out of five division titles. Yes. Andy Reid won four out of five and Belichick won five out of five. That's the only three coaches that's won four or five. Amazingly, Andy Reid, Belichick and the fired coach. So I wonder if there's going to be a little ambivalence, ambivalence from the Texans, right? I have a friend that is on radio down there.

He said they're happy to see him go. But, you know, I still think when a guy wins like, that and then you got Romeo Cornell and by the way the only thing last thing the only thing it worries me calling on this game is there's one other time Romeo took over midseason and he actually upset the undefeated Green Bay Packers they were 14 and oh remember the Packers were 12 point favorites and Kansas City with Cornell actually upset him 1914 I don't that's one game he did well in that spot but I agree with you. you, Jacks. One of my favorite

picks of the week, I'm going to go Washington plus seven and a half at home against the Rams. What Ron Rivera told me benching Duane Haskins is, listen, Kyle Allen won't make mistakes and our defense is good enough to win

games in a bad division. So if you go look at Kyle Allen, he won his first four starts last year when he replaced Cam. Now, once the league got film on him, he's fairly limited. But he's a high completion percent guy. His first four starts last year, no interception, seven touchdowns. And I think Washington's defense, which, by the way, tied for third most sacks, very good against

the packs, there is a secret sauce to beating the Rams. Interior pressure on Jared Gough discombobulates their offense a little. Giants did it last week. Rams probably win, but I like the number here, the value. I'll take Washington plus seven and a half to slow it down and make it ugly like the Giants did? What do the wise guys think? Well, I tell you, you get the wise guy badge because this is a wise guy game, right? Who wants Washington here? Right.

But that's the point. That's the point. That's where the value comes. When the public doesn't like a game or side, it usually is the right side. I think Kyle Allen, I worry about his fumbles. He does have really small hands. He was a late round pitch. that said, his performance last year, other than the fumbles, was mighty good.

I think even more importantly, how's the rest of the team going to respond? My sense is a new Haskins was a mistake and he was an albatross. I feel like, and maybe Colin you can give me your thoughts, I think the team gets energized by the quarterback change. What do you think? I don't think you can fool professional athletes. And from even in preseason practice, practices. Ron Rivera had these pointed thoughts about Duane, self-awareness. I always felt that there's

more to this story than just he's not winning enough. I don't think he ever bought into him. And I think Rivera looks around at this lousy division and says, we got too many good defensive players here and too many talented wide receivers. We can win this division and the players think that. So to your point, I think Kyle Allen. until we get too much film on him again is probably this week the better choice. And let's not forget, they could have had Cam and they chose Kyle Allen.

So obviously this is a team or coaching staff that actually feels optimistic about him. The thing I like, last thing on this game, that I really like the game about is the Rams schedule. So look at the Rams here. It's pretty shocking. They played Dallas, very tough.

game. They played at Philly. Now, in hindsight, maybe not so tough, but all the way to East Coast, tough, you know, opponent in theory. Then they had that game against the bills. Remember, it was 3532. Then they had this game against the Giants, which they were obviously flat.

Now they have Washington back on the East Coast. And next week, the 49ers at San Francisco. So if there's ever a sandwich spot, this is it. They want to win. They don't care about margin.

Agreement, Washington. More with R.J. Bell, my strongest pick of the week next. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year.

Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care which I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver 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. 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 Jette. And I'm Alex English. 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 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 for 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, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan, Ryan, 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 Hardway and listen now. RJ Bell, joining us pregame.com. Love, Indianapolis, minus one at Cleveland. So Cleveland just beat the Cowboys.

That's like beating the Patriots. Oh, my, everybody's telling Cleveland how great they are. Oh, it's unbelievable. And now they face the best defense in the NFL, which is basically number one, everything. Points, passer rating, passing yards, totally yards. It's a great defense. DeForest Buckner has added a real interior line surge. The Brown's three wins this year have come against teams that are three, eight, and one.

Their defense is allowing 32 a game. I still do not trust this defense, and Philip Rivers is completing 73 percent of his throws. You're not getting to him. He's not hurried. Now, his ceiling is low. But behind this line and this running game, I think Indianapolis is this, they just see the Cleveland Browns, the highly emotional browns off their biggest win. It feels like in years. I think this is a bad spot for Cleveland and a great spot for the Colts.

I think I'll take the Colts minus one. What are the wise guys think? Biggest agreement of the week. Let me ask you, one game you had to bet 100,000, like a. big calling bet, like it matters to you. Do you want, do you want, which of these two quarterbacks do you want quarterbacking for you? Well, neither. I would say, I would say this.

I would choose Frank Reich, that offensive line, and Rivers. Yeah, yeah. That's what I would choose. I do find it interesting that Rivers at the very end of his career is a game manager, and that's really what Baker has become a game manager. And he's been pretty good as that, no doubt. But you're right, it was the perfect storm of the public and the Browns getting excited. Let's look at the look-ahead line.

So if we had bet this game a week ago, the line in this game was two and a half. The Colts were favored by two and a half. Then, Colts looked great, right? Fine. But then in front of the world, the Browns dominate the Cowboys, 300-yard Russian, et cetera, and then the line goes all the way down to pick them. But then the pros bet it back up to two and a half. And now the public's betting it back down.

So this is really a classic pros versus Joe's. And the pros are certainly on the Colts. Like you said, DVOA, best defense, Colts, etc. Brown's let's down spot. And let's not forget, Chubb is out. So, yeah, Hunt's good, but it's nice when you had two backs. That's a half a point. Colts, big agreement.

My final pick on Blazing 5, Monday night, Sunday night football. I'm going to take Minnesota plus 7 at Seattle. I think Seattle, Russell Wilson probably pulls it out. We talk about Kirk Cousins bad on Monday night football, but he's been good on Sunday night football, where he's got 15 touchdowns and three picks and a 73% completion percentage. Also, Seattle's defense, it's really a mess. They were very fortunate last week that Russell Wilson, end of the first half, got a late score. against the sloppy Miami defense.

But Seattle really struggled to put away a Dolphins team with Ryan Fitzpatrick that's in a rebuild. They fly back across the country. The Seahawks defense is on pace to allow the most totally yards and passing yards of any team in the Super Bowl era. And I think Delvin Cook is healthy. Justin Jefferson is now an emerging star with Adam Thielen at wide receiver. Their offensive line gives Kirk Cousins plenty of time.

And I just, again, this is. Minnesota is a real football team, and this is urgent time. Chicago just won. Green Bay is winning. Seattle, they're undefeated. But for Minnesota, this, you cannot fall another game back after the Bears win on Thursday. I like Minnesota and the urgency and the seven here. Slight agreement.

I'm going to tell you in a minute why it's not for agreement. I think you're right, though, about the Vikings. They obviously had a very bad game to start the year. But Zimmer is a great coach. I mean, he has the best ATS record since he's become a coach of any coach in the NFL. And having a second receiver has made all the difference. Seattle has had 21 scores this year, 19 touchdowns, 19 touchdowns and two field goals. Can you imagine that?

They've actually won all for their, against. against the spread games, but three of the four have been by one and a half points or less. So in each game, Colin, if it would have been one more field goal and one less touchdown, in each game, they'd be one and three against the spread, and still their touchdown percentage would be way above average. So Seattle has been lucky with the touchdowns. And let me just ask you a question. Seattle, let's say they have the third best offense, and let's say they have the third

worst defense. doesn't that mean they're an average team or maybe a little better because offense is more important? Oh, I think they're the, this is weird to say. I think they're the worst great team in the league. But how can, with that defense, though, you've got to wonder. Oh, I do. They have no pass rush.

Ryan Fitzpatrick was, Ryan, this is why you got to go to two in Miami. He settled for field goals. He had plenty of time to throw. They don't create pass rush at all. No doubt. And here's my one caveat is you mentioned Cousins does well on Sunday night, but the reality is that if you look at Cousins any time except 1 o'clock Eastern, he has a 30% win percentage against the spread.

Now, that's always the debate with stats. Do you look at the small sample size in Sunday night football, or do you look at all the non-one 1 o'clock games? I think it's debatable. but to me, and this is just the amazing thing, is Cousins at 1 Eastern has a better ATS record than any quarterback ever has for his career, and he has a worse ATS record than any quarterback has

that's played even for a couple years if it's not 1 o'clock. That makes me not want to play him, but if I had to, I would play the Vikings. 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 here.

human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clipper 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.

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 a 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 was big to me not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you're just so you're not. But just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, this is the second episode

where we've discussed, correct. 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 Hardway 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, Tripp 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, or 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, our heart radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. RJ Bell straight out of Vegas on Fox Sports Radio 6 to 7 Eastern his Twitter account at RJ in Vegas. So I didn't love a lot of games on the board.

The other two I had, you know, I would have taken the points with the Raiders. I like that a lot. Okay, you like that a lot. The other game, the bonus one, let's talk the game that people are talking about. Pittsburgh minus seven, Philadelphia. Mike Tomlin's nine and four off buys. The Eagles are still beat up. the Steelers are rested and healthy.

Their defense is exceptional. I probably, probably would say Pittsburgh minus seven with very little conviction. Tell my audience, what are the wise guys saying on that game? I tell you, this is a tough one. I mean, I'd say the wise guys typically are going to be on the Eagles. I think the more modern wise guys who aren't afraid to lay points are going to be Steelers. I'll give it a slight disagreement. amazing thing about the Eagles.

And I'd like to get your thought on this. What did you think of them? What adjustment did you make after Sunday night football last week? I didn't because my takeaway has been Carson Wentz does what he does, make stuff work. San Francisco with a backup quarterback is not dynamic enough to blow them out. I don't think Philadelphia can beat elite offenses. But when you give them backup quarterbacks, average teams, Carson Wentz will be. be the best quarterback on the field, and he'll just sort of will his way to win.

But I think they have very good defensive line personnel. When Slay's healthy, I like their corners. But their wide receiving and offensive line cores are injury-riddled and sometimes not as good as advertised. So I don't change anything. I like the structure of Philadelphia more than the personnel of Philadelphia. I like their GM, their coach, their quarterback. But you didn't think any more of them without wins.

Even as a seven and a half point dog. Kyle Shanahan can't win, even Kyle Shanahan can't win without at least a B quarterback in this league. What is he? He's 21 and 6 with Garoppolo in San Francisco. He's like four and something without him. So this is a hard league to win when you have a bad quarterback. Yeah. So what I would say is this.

The win, I think it wasn't super impressive. I think the quarterbacks for the 49ers kind of gave it to him. But at least it's a win. And after you tie Cincinnati, and I've been watching some of those postgame shows streaming, they are going crazy in Philly. The win is what they needed. And usually off a win, you might worry about a letdown off an underdog upset like that, but they're not going to let down here. And I also think, last thing, Big Ben's whining about, oh, I was in a rhythm. I didn't want that time off.

I love Big Ben. I'm a Steeler fan, but he loves the complain. So to me, it feels like Tomlin, who you always say not buttoned up, I think when there's a plan by, he's fine. But you do something like this with no notice. I'm not sure if he has the infrastructure to really take advantage of the time off. So I'm going to go slight Eagles advantage. By the way, you said you love the Raiders this week. I didn't set up for anything.

I mean, listen, here's what I know. Josh Jacobs in two games has been really, really good against the Chiefs. and their offense is converting, like, 53% of third down so they can keep the ball away from the homes. I just don't like betting against Patrick because the backdoor covers, it always feels frightening to me because he can score so quickly. But you like the Raiders? Here's why. Think about this. Baltimore Monday, New England Monday. COVID scare potentially fatiguing from that game. And then next Thursday, Thursday at Buffalo.

So if there's anywhere they're going to be flat and not be looking so much for margin, just get through the game, I think it's going to be here. Oh, that's an interest. I didn't even, you know what? That's good. So we both love the Colts against Cleveland this week. Yes, for sure. Okay.

RJ Bell, pregame.com, Monday through Friday, Fox Sports Radio, 6 to 7 Eastern, and check out his Twitter account at RJ in Vegas, very active. Good talking to you. Thank you. 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, 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. or wherever you get your podcasts. On The Look Back at it podcast. From 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 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, unfills of 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.