The Ringer NFL Show - 49ers-Rams Takeaways and Week 1 Predictions!

Episode Date: September 11, 2026

Sheil and Billy are joined by Tom Pelissero from Melbourne, Australia, to analyze the San Francisco 49ers' impressive win over the Los Angeles Rams. Austin Gayle then stops by the pod to help predict what headlines will be buzzing around the NFL mediasphere on Monday morning. They end the pod by discussing Sheil’s Ringer 107 picks.(00:00) 49ers-Rams takeaways and Week 1 predictions!(1:48) 49ers-Rams takeaways(25:28) Buccaneers-Bengals preview(32:45) Packers-Vikings preview(38:39) Bills-Texans preview(47:59) Cardinals-Chargers preview(52:23) Falcons-Steelers preview(57:44) Cowboys-Giants preview(1:02:35) The Ringer 107 The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan to learn more about the resources and helplines. Host: Sheil KapadiaGuests: Tom Pelissero, Austin Gayle, and Billy GilProducer: Chris SuttonProduction Supervision: Conor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgopowell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the Ringer NFL show. I'm your host, Shield Capadia, the San Francisco 49ers with a big time win over the Los Angeles Rams in Australia. We're going to talk about that game because Tom Pelliserro was there. You probably saw him during the Netflix broadcast. He's going to talk about his experience. We're going to talk about our takeaways from that game with Tom and Billy Gill. And then we're going to welcome in Austin Gale. We're going to talk about this Sunday slate in.

week one what we're thinking about some of these games, maybe some predictions, maybe predicting some headlines we're going to read next week. So we'll do that. And then we will finish the episode with the Ringer 107. That's right. It's back and we will have our picks at the end of the show. All right. Let's take a break. We'll come right back with Tom and Billy. The Ringer NFL show is presented by Fandul. The NFL is here and it's your most rewarding season ever on Fandual. With the all-new Fan Duel Rewards Club, every eligible bet can earn you points. Win or lose, the more points, the bigger the rewards you can unlock. Head to fandul.com slash ringer NFL to start earning with Fandul rewards club.

21 plus select states, 18 plus, D.C., Kentucky, or Wyoming. Gambling problem, call 1-800-Gampbellor. Call 1-888-7-7-7 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. All right, we are back here on the Ringer NFL show. Welcome in. from Melbourne. Tom Pelliser and of course Billy Gill joining me as well. Tom, I just saw you on my big screen TV here like an hour ago and now you're on a Zoom with me. This is amazing. Crystal clear picture on Netflix, right? Everybody, everyone was texting me. The sound and the video quality was immaculate. It was honestly, it was a total blast the entire day. Just being in that stadium where you got 100,000 people, whether they're singing along to that song that everyone

seemed to know by the Jonas Brothers at halftime, we're singing along to the national anthem. And honestly, like, being fired up, like, there was real energy in the stadium. And everyone was in their seats, you know, well before kickoff. It was, it was just a, it was a really unique experience. Everything went off without a hits. The city did great with it. The league did great with it. And obviously, the 49ers did great with it as well.

Yeah, Philly. I mean, we got to give it up for our guy. Tom, was that? I was going to ask, you now, we'll get to the game. But I have to ask you, was that the first time you've done sideline reporting? Because I was trying to remember, I should probably know this. Have you done that before? Or was this your debut? I have done it before.

I was on the call, actually, for the Vikings Colts, largest comeback in NFL history from 33, nothing down. I was on the sideline for that one. And I've done, you know, senior bowl and things like that. Definitely not international, definitely not with quite this audience level. So I'm just glad it didn't fall flat on my face. It was a ton of fun. The people of Netflix have just been sensational with everything, you know, just the way that everything is put together.

And yeah, I mean, it was just, it was cool. It was really cool being a part of this thing. Billy, our guy was just, I mean, he looked like a natural. He looked like he was born to do this. He's getting the information to us quickly. he's not using too many words He's kind of like giving us little nuggets on Miles Garrett Where I'm like, wait, I didn't hear that nugget on Miles Garrett

Until the broadcast He's pounding meat pies at the end I mean, what a performance How was the meat pie by the way Tom? Very messy. I saw it got it all over your papers too Thank goodness it was after the game Probably didn't need those anymore Well, you know, the strategy there was

First of all, I didn't plan to do it But I watched the post game ceremony where they gave him the kangaroo coats. And then, like, they offered up the meat pies. Of course, Nick Bose is going, like, no. But, like, Nick, Nick is a very, like, he eats, like, one thing all the time. Like, he doesn't venture out. Like, Brock, Fred, like, come on.

Like, these are good guys. Like, just take the bite. And then, so they leave. And I have to come in and do a news hit. It's all injuries. So it's like, you know, just here comes time to be a total downer on a fun day. I literally got on when I did because the Jonas brothers weren't, quite ready to join the other set.

So it was like, Tom, you got to be ready right now. And so I took through the injuries, but like, the meat pies are just sitting there in front of me. And I'm like, well, they can't let an entire plate of this go to waste. And so I did have that thought. And initially, I was like, all right, I don't want to like get it, you know, get it everywhere. So like, I'm just going to like lean back.

But then I'm like, no, then I'm going to get it on my shoes on the suit. So instead I leaned forward onto the desk, which is where you saw that giant squirt of whatever that was come out of the side. I want to take the first bite. Yes, it did get all over the desk, which, you know, hopefully it will be cleaned by next year. Did get all over the notebook. I threw that legal pad away. But I heard that.

I emerged unscathed. No dry cleaning necessary. I was surprised at how watery it was. It's gravy, as Nick Foles corrected me. That's gravy. Yeah. Yes. And, you know, I didn't have the ketchup.

I saw a bunch of Aussies saying that to me. You have to have it with ketchup. There was no ketchup. There was a bunch of meat pies. I took a couple bites for the people. I just hope everybody enjoyed it. I'll tell you what. I don't know if you noticed or if you heard it on the thing,

but the Jonas Bros. were then on the set and they were jealous that they didn't get any meat pies. So you officially made the Joe Bros. jealous of you. I almost ran over one of them on my way off the field because I was like walking out. Like I finished my hit. They were still up on the set.

Well, then I guess they got down there. I wasn't paying attention. I literally almost ran smack into a Joe bro, which, you know, I think here, if you bump into one, It's like life in prison. So I'm very glad that I avoided that. Are they, there you go?

Or was that like an Australian anthem? Because people are like really into that song they were singing. I literally, I asked my, because I knew the one, the one, the one, I can't even describe the song. But like the one's something that everybody knows. Like, I knew that one. And then they went to this other one. And the whole crowd singing, I turned to one of our, like, our audio guys. I'm like, how does everyone know this?

He goes, have you heard of this singer here? I'm like, no. He's like, oh, he's very famous. It's his song. I'm like, oh, okay. So they did like a cover for the, for the audience, which was like, I mean, great, great work. And again, like that and like the sing along with the national anthem, like, those were just, those are those unforgettable moments. They're just like, they're so unique to this thing.

And, you know, for an NFL that as we discussed the other day, wants to continue to branching these markets with flag and with the Olympics coming here in 2032. too. I don't know for sure, but let's just say I'd be surprised if they are not back. All right, there you go. Listen, he didn't run over a Jonas brother. He didn't get any of the meat pie on his suit. He still got the suit on. So he escapes unscathed from his trip to Australia. This game, we got to get to because whether it's fair or not, I know what the conversation is going to be around this game and what the conversation already has been around this game. and it's the topic we discussed in these shows preparing for this game. And that was the travel and the two different approaches and whether it actually affected the play on the field. Now, the 49ers blow the Rams out.

I don't think anyone thought this was going to be the result where the Rams lose by 20 points, their worst loss since week two of the 2024 season. They were not good offensively. Matthew Stafford had a very uncharacteristic game. So, Tom, you were, you know, embedded with that Rams team. and it's probably not fair to just jump to the conclusion that the reason they looked like that was because of their approach to the travel.

But at the same time, this was a question going into the game. So how do we kind of digest what impact that had if there's really any way to know it? It's so hard to say because also week one's weird. There's so much like you don't totally know schematically what people are going to do. There's a huge feeling out process in the first 5, 10, 15 plays. And then there's adjustments within the game that you can see is based on, okay, they're showing us this. It may not have been on tape last year.

Hey, we have a new team and we're trying to do something that's not working. My perfect example was the 49ers who we came out of halftime and we were playing back the interview with McVeigh where I'm saying, hey, you kept McCaffrey in check. And then they immediately run the ball twice dead up the gut, which for the 49ers, you normally outside zone and they really stretch you horizontally. they're just like, we're going to run downhill. So after that, I don't specifically know what the schematic change was, but I was watching on the sideline after that.

And Miles Garrett's over there with Joe Coniglio going through on the iPad. And then, you know, the defensive line coach, Jeff Smith is over there, like talking to the defensive lineman. Like, they're all talking about, there was some kind of a tweak that was made that threw them off on that initial series. And it just felt like it was a 10-7 game and halftime, right? If I remember that correctly, it wasn't like they were getting blown out. but like that drive just seemed like such a punch in the gut coming out of the half that everything

kind of it just felt like then the you know the table's turn is that about the travel is that about you ran out of gas um i talked with i said this on the broadcast like i talked to 12 15 different coaches and players everyone on the rams was just like no feel great like we're still on l a time this is you know kick off it's like 530 kick like this is totally normal for us um they they they didn't play great. And there were some things just rhythmically in the passing game. Stafford, you know, whether he's missing throws he would normally make or whether it's just not quite in sync with his receivers, they were just, it just never felt like they found

their footing. But I thought that the first half was pretty even. I know what the final score is. The first half, there was some back and forth. The Rams get the huge interception. You know, that was a big play for them. Defensively, they were pretty good overall in that half. They also, they had some injuries.

We didn't get a chance to talk about it much. But Cam Curl, I think it was on the second series, hurt his ankle. And then he did come back in like the fourth quarter of like he was out for a while. Then Cam Kitchens got banged up. Landman went out late. But like, and then Miles Garrett was just, he didn't look like Miles Garrett, not to the same degree. And he had been very upfront with us about the fact that he called it lower leg stuff, not a knee, but like this lower leg stuff.

It's like he's got pain. And I pressed him on. I talked to him again before the game began. And it was just, yeah, like, he's not hiding behind it. Like, he's dealing with something here. But it's also the guy hadn't practiced in training camp. When you don't have your legs under you, I mean, I don't know, I can't tell you how much sleep he got on the plane. I do know this.

If you don't play, if you don't practice for all the training camp, unless you're Nick Bosa, who apparently just never needs training camp, whether he's holding out or he's hurt or he's got a contract thing, whatever it is, He just shows up and immediately looks like Nick Bosa again. He was fantastic in the game. But, you know, Miles just looked like a guy. He was in and out. He was taking multiple snaps off at a time, just kind of shuffling in it out. They clearly wanted to manage it.

He just looked like he was out of gas. Again, I can't say it. Is that the travel? I understood the science behind it, why they did it. It's worked for him. Sean McFay always travels in late. It just, they just didn't execute today. You know, really not at a high enough level on defense in the second.

half and really the offense, the entire game just was a little bit off. What do you think, Billy? You were very invested in this storyline. Are you ready to just draw conclusions here or no? No, I mean, I don't want to say that it was just the travel. But I think that Clay Matthews on the broadcast did a good job, too, of saying like, hey, to say this is 100% on the travel is discrediting what the 49ers did. And to what Tom was saying, too, like, it was close at halftime.

And we were a goal line stand away from it being a three-point game late in the And they had two opportunities to get in there and somehow didn't. I mean, part of that could have been play calling on why is it, why do you have Matthew Stafford doing a QB sneak up the middle when you need a yard? And then, you know, he didn't get in there. Play before Puka barely didn't get in there. They turned the ball over. Then they go on a 99-yard drive to score again.

So it wasn't as lopsided, I guess, at parts, towards the end of the game, it seemed to get away from them. And it seemed like, you know, even the ramps have the starting quarterback. So they said, you know, we still have a drive here, but we're not going to come back. Like, we'll just, you know, call this a game and we'll go on to the next one. But for three quarters, more or less, it was pretty close. It was closer than the score indicated.

Yeah, that's a good point. That was a turning point. As the season goes on, too, like, I mean, the Stafford thing, I'm sure it'll get debated. We were talking about it. I was with Foles and Clay in the car back about, like, you know, one of the matches me just like, were you surprised? And it's like, it's 20-point game. There's three minutes left. Yes, we've seen Matthew Stafford do crazy stuff.

and he's as many final minute comeback as anybody, but also what would the feedback have been if he gets his ankle rolled up and is out for a month? It's just, those are really tough decisions. I mean, shoot, Nate Landman's in the game late. He's a really important

player. I think the leading tackler on that team, he hurt his shoulder. I mean, he was in some pain when he went into the medical tent. And so, imagine then, you know, if that's Stafford, it's just, you know, Miles, they kind of limited late. They pulled Stafford out of the game. I understand

that part of it. They got a long break now. They don't play again until a week from Monday and that's a home game against the Giants. So yeah, I think we talked about this a few weeks ago where it was like if the Rams lose this game, everyone's going to flip out because they've been built

up and put on such a pedestal that anything less than just they win every game and they crush people was going to seem like a disappointment. I got a pretty good feeling that Sean McVeal have those guys ready to go in whatever it is, 10, 11 days here, and they'll get this thing moving. You have to win those division home games, though, Tom, you know, I'm bored those are.

Yeah, there were a lot of 49ers fans. That's crazy. But, yeah, I mean, there were a lot of my flight, which I chalked up to when I flew from San Francisco. But, I mean, they definitely, you can hear the 49ers fans. I mean, there's no doubt about it. They travel really well. They always do. And they, they traveled pretty well here.

And I think that they probably had 49ers had some extra fans in Melbourne from showing up early and being around for the week. The Rams did a bunch of stuff. They did activations and other things around town. I mean, no way discrediting them. But, yeah, I mean, you know, I talked to people just around town. They kind of liked that the 49ers came in early. So I think it was a lot of real 49ers fans cheering. But maybe they had a few extra Aussies on their side.

And to your point, Billy, I mean, this was a Kyle Shanahan, like, master class. I still have my fastball. Don't forget about us. You know, we've talked about, I was thinking about this. We've talked so much about, hey, are the Seahawks being disrespected there, the defending Super Bowl champs? But they were still like second in Super Bowl odds,

you know, going into the season. Rams obviously got all the offseason hype. Maybe the 49ers were that team. You know, I know. I didn't pick them to make the playoffs. And they come into this game and they had such a good plan. Even though Miles Garrett had the injury, they had such a good plan to come in and be like,

he's not wrecking the game here. We're going to throw screens. We're going to have misdirection. We're going to chip him. Every time they would show a replay, they were doing something different to Miles Garrett in this football game to the point where he's not even in the box score. He didn't have a tackle.

He didn't have a quarterback hit. He didn't have a sack. And the 49ers, to Tom's point in the second half, they come out. They start running the ball with Christian McCaffrey. Brock Purdy had the drive. After the Matthew Stafford failed quarterback sneak, for the 49ers to then go 99. yards against the defense that traded from Miles Garrett, Trent McDuffie, signed Jalen Watson,

was a pretty good defense last year. I thought Brock Purdy on that drive was fantastic. His scrambling, his decisiveness, his decision making, his accuracy, everything. So this was a terrific offensive performance for the 49ers and not just offensive. Rahim Morris, you know, comes in there as their defensive coordinator and they make the Rams look like an offense that we hadn't seen anyone really make the Rams look like that all of last year. So, Tom, there's no doubt this is a terrific win for the 49ers that makes me rethink a little bit about where they're placed in the NFC here. Brock Purdy was fantastic, that little shimmy that he had after the long scramble, you know, he's got some stuff to him. We sat down with him too in, you know, the 49ers production meetings.

And he talked a lot about wanting to get back to what he was doing his rookie year. being able just the way that he used his eyes and his feet and feeling things. And he felt like in some ways he kind of got a little bit away from that. So the word he used was coachable. He wants to be coachable, which is not something that you often hear players say. And I don't think that's because like, oh, he was disregarding the advice he was getting. But I think it means like he kind of regrounded himself a little bit in this offseason and really thought through what he wants to be.

He, you know, he does a lot of different types of training to try to have himself and his body in the right place to be. he was really, really good in this game. You know, Kittle has that early drop, and that could have been one of those, okay, this is going to be, you know, one of those days. Like, they just, they came right back. He went back to Kittle like two plays later. Stribling goes down.

He just keeps distributing the football. And, you know, anytime the CMAC gets going, that to me was the story in the first half was as much as the Rams were struggling offensively, they hadn't let McCaffrey take over. When he guts them on those two runs right up the middle, it just felt like from that point forward the Rams were on skates, bit trying to search for answers and they just didn't have them. Well, it's also nice to see contributions from Mike Evans, Debo, Samuel.

You didn't know exactly how they were going to fit in. Mike Evans was like the three third down catches early. He looked incredible. This is why you go and get that guy just immediately. Yeah. No doubt about it. He looked fantastic from the, I looked at the box score afterwards and I'm like, that's all he had.

I think it had six for 49 or something. I'm like, that was the most impactful six for 49 I've ever seen. Three on third downs, the touchdown. I don't remember the other two. But yeah, it was all like tone setter type stuff. They never had a receiver like that. There's not many guys built like Mike. And he looked like vintage Mike Evans today.

And his chemistry with Purdy in week one is impressive. Because that touchdown is just like Purdy's got to just put that in a spot where he can go up and get it and he's just winning a contested catch. And that was a beautifully placed pass. And he, of course, goes up and wins it there. So Luke Keekly nailed it. Luke Keekley nailed that one. two where he goes, he doesn't run much of a route.

It was like, yeah, he just got to like, this is a play where it's just like it's backyard or like basketball. It's just like, I'm going to go get it. Just put it up there. And that's something that they've really been coach and purdy to do, which is like in their offense, that's so like timing and progression based, it's like a lot of times, okay, you come off if the X is the first read, all right, it's cover, go to the two and the three. And one thing they've been telling Brock is like, dude, hang with one a little longer.

It's Mike Evans. He's going to win some of these. And those third downs were great examples of it. There were a couple of those that were contested catches, but that's why Mike's going to be a Hall of Famer. He's just, if you have him one-on-one, he's just, he knows how to use his body. He's so big, so physical.

He was, again, out of the gate that that really got him going. They only kicked a field goal on that drive, but Mike basically single-handly kept him moving down the field. Yeah, that's true, Billy. It could have been even worse. I mean, they were at what, the two-yard line? If they scored a touchdown there, this margin is even bigger. And you mentioned Debo Samuel.

kind of just like a forgotten edition and, you know, it's just playing for them and the touchdown to him. Perdy now has to get off the initial read and buys a little bit of time and they improvise and there he is in the end zone on a touchdown. And also coming out of halftime, he had the big return before those McCaffrey runs. I mean, they're starting what, at midfield that possession? So yeah, all of a sudden, Debo Samuel back in our lives looking like it was three years ago before he left the 49ers and he's making an impact for them as well.

All right, Billy, what did I forget? What else do we have to ask Tom before we can let him? He's already worked like a full day. Yeah, I know. Do we have any more questions here for him? What did you do? Do you accomplish everything you wanted? Did you miss anything that you wanted to see?

You still have a little bit of time left. You're going to see any sights. Did you get souvenirs for the kids? You're going to take back one of those kangaroo jackets? Anything like that? I have a, I did not get a kangaroo jacket. I do have an alert on my phone to make sure I find some things to bring back to the kids. Right now, I'm mainly concerned that I didn't realize until I came on.

looked at myself up close that I got sunburned today. So I think the hunt for aloe is going to be a big part of my little Friday afternoon here. Oh, no. I didn't even notice that, Billy. I thought he looked good. I had the sunglasses on in the second half, and you can see right there. Then I got the red on the nose and the red on the cheeks. It was a beautiful day.

It was cold this morning. I was like, did I misjudge what I was wearing? No. By the second half, it was like just absolute perfect, perfect weather. out there. Fantastic. All right. Now I do want, let's finish with this because you had some newsy items there at the end in your report, which I took note of, which we got just in case anyone they shouldn't have, but in case they turned off the Netflix broadcast a little bit early. You had some updates on Sam Darnold and A.J. Brown. What are you, what's Tom hearing? Is that

the, is that what is Tom hearing? What's Tom hearing on Sam Darnold and A.J. Brown before we say goodbye. So Sam Darnold spent the night in the hospital. because of that hip injury that he suffered, the initial fear was that it was a hip socket fracture, which that is a major injury. That would be bad. So when Mike McDonald went to the podium and said, hey, we just got great news or good news, that's what he was referring to was that it was not a hip socket fracture. He went through a battery of tests. My understanding is he has an unusual muscle strain in his hip area. And everybody who's familiar with those injuries knows like the groin and the hip. and the glute, like they're all interconnected.

He's got something that's a little bit different. He's going to continue to seek opinions. The good news is, number one, I've been told as of now, there's no consideration of putting him on IR. Number two, it was not a major injury. And number three, it's really going to be guided, again, pending the additional medical advice by how Sam Darnold's feeling. If he continues to progress, you know,

I don't think he's going to play this week. It's, you know, most likely going to be Drew Lockett and that start against Arizona. But if he progresses, he's got a chance to get back in the not too distant future. So that was relief for Seattle. With AJ Brown, we all saw it,

and I think based on any time that a guy grabs that part of his leg, you're like, okay, it's a high ankle sprain. Underwent tests, the belief is it's a high ankle sprain. I was told there's nothing broken. It's nothing super long term.

But, you know, high ankle sprains are generally four to six weeks. We've seen people beat that timeline. There's some that are more severe than others. We'll see where AJ. Brown falls in. He's a pretty tough guy. But in the short term, they're going to have to adjust in terms of what they're doing with that receiver

group coming off of a pretty rough first performance against the Cioxx. Wild opening game with a couple key injuries that certainly could impact the season for those two teams, two teams that obviously have Super Bowl aspirations. So we'll continue to keep an eye on that. All right, Billy, I think we let Tom go here. We'll come back with Austin Gale. we'll talk about the Sunday games, the Monday night game.

We'll do the Ringer 107 at the end of this. And Tom, we will see you on Monday to recap week one around the NFL. Safe travels back, my friend. Appreciate it. All right. We'll be right back on the Ringer NFL show. The Ringer NFL show is brought to you by Fandul. You know how NFL Sundays go.

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Fandle. 21 plus select states or 18 plus DC or Wyoming. Gambling problem, call 1-800-Gambler. Call 1-88-78-8-9-77-7-77 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut. All right, we are back here on the Ringer NFL show. Welcoming in Austin Gale, which I don't know that there's like three people in my life more excited for a football Sunday. you, Austin. I'm excited, man. It's the first time I've done the jersey countdown thing. I used to

not like it, but then I've just been like spraying random jerseys and random football group chats I've been in. Honestly, I liked it. I think this is the most exciting football season going in that we've, I've been doing this for, this will be year 10 for me since I graduated in 2017, go Aztex. This is easily, this is easily the most excited I've been going into a season. just for college football reasons, for NFL draft reasons, and obviously for NFL reasons, I think that the stakes, the pressure on the best teams and the on-paper Rams being a plus 500 team to win the Super Bowl,

like the expectations are everywhere. I think this season is going to be incredible and teams are going to be looking for Arch Manning by Halloween. Like, there's just going to be endless. It's just going to be endless. Billy, it looked like you were about to ask Austin to rank his seasons, but I don't think we're going to do that. I was going to look ahead to Sunday.

I was going to ask him why he was. so excited, but he touched on it. Honestly, I need more Austin's in my life. Like, I need this kind of positivity and excitement headed into things around me. Because I feel like the older we get, Shield, you and I, the more jaded everyone becomes. And the more it's like, yeah, football, but like, man, it's going to be a long day. And, you know, we're already starting with a Wednesday game and a Thursday game. Then we have a Sunday and a Monday. When does it end? What week are we by, you know? But Austin's here to kind of get us up. He's here for the enthusiasm. Yeah, exactly. Right. He's getting has pumped up and that's what we're going to do. Here's the exercise. Now, I always like to see

who has been able to follow the instructions for the exercise, who has tweaks the exercise, how this is going to go. Now, the exercise was supposed to be this, okay? Predict week one headlines. So in other words, you're logging on to your favorite website, the ringer.com or another website on Monday. Maybe someone's sending you a link. This is what you're going to see. These are the headlines you're going to read. It's a way to predict what we think is going to happen on Sunday. And if you want to go Monday night, you can do that as well. So that's the exercise. Billy, did you follow the instructions? Surprisingly, I did follow the instructions. And I think I added to the assignment as well, not for extra credit, just because I wanted

to have some fun, you know? All right, Austin, we're starting with you. Give us a headline. We're going to read next week after the first full Sunday slash Monday of the NFL season. What do you Got the on paper, I'm calling them the on paper bangles. The on paper bangles look worse again off paper. I think that the bucks are a live dog. I think Bill said this on guess the lines. I think the defense is good. I think Bowles is good.

You know, this is an interesting like coach hot seat game, right? I think there's some who would say, oh, Todd Bulls, you know, coaching for his job this season, Canales walks, Liam Cohen walks. This guy needs to find a new OC. I think that I actually would argue there's more pressure and more fire under the seat for Zach Taylor, even though, you know, some people, Sheel included, thinks the Bengals are going to walk to a Super Bowl that they haven't been to since 2021. I think that the Bengals are going to struggle against this Bucks team. Maybe they win. Maybe they win. They're favored by three and a half. I hope they do. They're going to struggle against this Bucks team and they're going to look like shit out of the gate like they have the last however long.

And we're going to be like, oh, man, what's going on? Why isn't, why aren't the Bengals as good as everyone says they are in August? And I think maybe they win this game. Maybe they come get out of the gate. Obviously, I have a lot. all the talent. There's a reason, you know, the price where they are in the market. But I honestly think, like, no one loves to talk about the Bengals more in September or in August, early September. But then when we get to the games, everyone's like, what's happening? Why is it not working? And, like, there's common denominators here. And it's Zach Taylor. Wow. I mean, Billy, you said he's positive and he just comes in and he just rips my Super Bowl team. He's saying, this is going to be ugly from the start. You have them in the Super Bowl? Yeah, you just said that, didn't you? Yeah, I didn't

know you had them in the Super Bowl. I thought you had them playing well this year and like you're like talking them up again. They're going to the Super Bowl for you. Oh yeah. Interesting. Okay. Okay. Okay. Wow. They're going to the Super Bowl. But I actually don't disagree with you in this spot. But because I also like the Bucks a lot. These are two teams that I like a lot. I think the bucks are underrated from a talent perspective. And I do look at this and I'm like, ooh, the bucks are coming in kind of healthy. Three and a half point favorites for the Bengals. I'm like, that seems a little, little bit high. Billy, I'm not back and down. I'm sticking with my Bengals, but not every team needs to win week one or blow a team out in week one. I just want Joe Burrow. I don't want to see any reports about walking boots or crutches or

looking at his shoulder. I don't want to see any reports like that about Joe Burrow. And even if they lose this game, 35 to 3 and they go in one, I'll be like it was a weird week one game. I still feel good about it. So I had a headline for this game as well. Would you like my headline for this game? Oh, yeah. I love this because we don't share them beforehand. So this is good synergy. So here's a thing. I took it more literally and actually wrote a headline as though I was writing for a newspaper or a New York Post type thing. So I wrote a headline for each game. Ready? So here's how this, here's how this goes. Ready? Cha-ching Sinati, fresh off signing his new contract extension, Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay

Bay Buccaneers outlasts the media darling Cincinnati Bengals in the game of the day. Bill, that's a lot of words, though. You're including Game of the Day in the headline. Game of the Day? The big word is Cheching Sinati. Where did you have like a picture? Baker Mayfield is going like this. Johnny Mansell,

Cheching Sinati. It's Chichin Sanati, even though Baker Mayfield plays for Tampa Bay? Yeah, because it's got to be a Tampa Bay thing, right? No, because a game's in Cincinnati. So, Cheching Sinati. And then the picture is him like this. Yeah, like celebrating like Johnny Manzell. And then all of the other.

stuff is like getting progressively smaller as you go down and you kind of get the story of the game. So you think the bucks are going to win too? I do. Yeah, they're going to outlast the Bengals in Cincinnati in the game of the day. So you think shootout or something? That is fun though.

Baker Mayfield, Joe Burrow, that could actually be a very fun game. They're just going to be slinging it at the end of that game. That ball is going to be flying all over the field, back and forth. It feels like a game of the day. I do think it will be the game of the day. Austin, do you have the Bengals in the playoffs or no? Or you think they're not even going to make the playoffs.

I just did my final predictions. You didn't prep me for this. But give me one second. Let me find. I'll tell you where I had that. I have by heart, I can name, I'm walking down the streets and I could tell you who my third wildcard team is. Oh, I apologize to that.

Yeah, I have the Bengals missing the playoffs. What? Missing the playoffs. Yeah. Okay. And I have the Steelers winning that division. Oh, all right. Well, maybe we'll get to them here on a few Steelers winning the division.

Wow. Okay. All right. So Bengals, Box, fun game. Sunday afternoon, Bengals, three and a half point favorites. These guys think the bucks are going to win outright. I'm going to say Bengals win, but if I had to pick that game,

I would take the points for Tampa because I do like Tampa. All right, you guys both give me a headline from that one. I'm going to go to my headline here. Kyler Cooks, Murray, Vikings, light up. Hackers, defense. How you like that? Wow. Your post headline writers.

See? Say it again. Can I get it again, please? Can I get another read? Kyler Cook's Murray, Murray, Comic, Vikings light up

Packers defense. And you know what I want for my photo? I want Jonathan Gannon, like on the sideline or the booth, just looking real sad because he doesn't have Michael Parsons and that Packers defense, I mean, go look at that freaking depth chart. Who are the players on that Packers' defense that are going to lead them

to competency this season because I don't see a lot of them. They've got injuries on the defensive line. Gannon, I think, will coach to the level of his talent. So I think Parsons will come back and all of a sudden they'll obviously be better. I don't think he's a more with less coach.

I don't think he can just take some group of, you know, rag-tag players and be like, oh, don't worry, I'm going to scheme this up and this is going to look great. I think Kyler Murray's going to get off to a good start here and one of the big stories in the NFL next week, Austin, is going to be, huh, have the Vikings maybe found something here with their new quarterback?

So good start for you, right, is a win. It's a win. They're favored by one and a half at home. It's a win. But also, is it two tugs? Is it 200 plus yards? Is it running? What is success? What does Kyler looking good in KOC's offense look like, right? Is it different than what it was before when we've seen the peaks and then obviously the valleys? I always think about that clip against the Raiders on that two-point conversion where he like scrambles like 150 yards. Like what do you think good Kyler, what does good, Tyler look like with KOC? I see, I don't think he has to put, this isn't a situation where it's like put the team on his back. This is why I'm actually bullish on the Vikings because it's kind of like you don't have to do everything here. You've got good wide receivers. I think the offensive line's going to be pretty good.

The coach will say he's got to prove himself. I think this year that he's a good offensive coach. And then I think the defense is going to be pretty good. Although in this matchup, certainly against Jordan Love and Matt LaFlor, I'm not saying they're going to totally shut down the Packers offense. But yeah, I mean, numbers wise, I think it's something if he throws for

212 yards and two touchdowns and doesn't have that costly turnover and doesn't take a bunch of sacks that to me is kind of good enough and that type of stat line can lead this Vikings team

to a lot of wins. Do you have more faith in, let's say, and maybe not a fair way of putting it, but you have more faith in Kyler's unfulfilled potential than you do in KOC's role as an offensive

mind here. Because I feel like KOC has like shown that he can have these quarterback reclamation projects. I just wonder if he's run out of pixie dust on some of these, you know? Like how many times can can he do this? I definitely think KOC is closer to, I mean, I've been calling him Cliff O'Connell, like Cliff Kingsbury. Like Cliff Kingsbury got a long way for who he knew and what he looked like. And Kevin O'Connell's pretty hot, right? The Ringer Fantasy Football guys are going to do ranking the hottest head coaches in the NFL. I'd argue Kevin O'Connell's probably a lot for the top six. And I think that's a piece of it, right? Hold on lock for the top six.

Who else do we have in the top? It's very specific. Because he missed the top five. I mean, I think, I think Dimeco has to be in there. It's hard to say, right? I don't know. I think I'd have to do a deep dive. Six, you know.

At six, I don't want to reveal it also. It's not going to come out until next summer. Yeah. Yeah, we can't steal the other pot. I mean, Billy, we can't steal the other parts of thunder there. But I did catch that too, that it was very specific. Top six, not top five. And listen, Damiko Ryan's, good.

Look, and man, I think we can all say that with certainty. All right. So I like the Vikings here. Billy, what do you think here? You have your hand on. Yeah, one thing that kind of makes me sad, and I'm probably in the minority on this, and I feel like everyone, like, in Minnesota and Green Bay will probably hate me and disagree with me strongly on this.

But I kind of miss when this felt like a bigger game, when the Packers Vikings felt like a rivalry game that you had to watch, where I was like, let me sit down, let me mark my calendar, Vikings, Packers, like, that's going to be a great game. that I want to see. And we're kind of just getting at week one middle of the day and I feel like that rivalry isn't what it used to be

outside of those two cities. I don't know. I think it could be those I think the NFC North games are going to be pretty spicy this year. Really? You're looking forward to it? I'm looking forward to it.

What does rivalry mean to you, Gil? What is a loud rivalry to you? What do you think the best rivalry in the NFL is? It's a good question. I mean, I feel like it's something that I feel like I can't miss. Like, I need to go out.

out of my way to watch that game. I'm not saying they're not rivals. I'm just saying it doesn't feel like a must miss or must must must they can't miss game anymore for me. See, this is where I just can't relate. Every game is must watch. Well, I know. It's the NFL.

Like there's only 16 games for every team or 17, sorry, there's 17 games for every team. Like, you have to watch everyone. Seahawks Rams is probably the best one right now I would say, right? To Bill's point. I think Steelers, Steelers, Steelers, Steelers, Steelers, Bengals. Do you really care that? I think just the Steelers, the Steelers feel like the last team and maybe the Cowboys that like actually still remember that it is a rivalry. All right.

Next, next headline. Austin, you're up. What do you got? Oh, okay. I just want to, my notes for this were just the text I sent to Arjuna. And I did send headlines. So my first headline was on paper Bengals look worse off paper. This next one, because sometimes I've done this in the past where a lot of the headlines end up kind of predicting who's going to win.

And even with the Bengals won, I think the Bengals can win, but still look. bad in this game, right? And look like not the Bengals that Shield thinks are going to go to the Super Bowl. For this one, I have the insert team, Texans or Bills suck. Because I think, and Bill has hit this on his pod too, because whoever loses this game, I think they're going to say they suck now. So with the bills, right, it's going to be like, how the hell did you lose this game? Sean McDermott was right. We need to take the ping pong table out, right? This coach is too loose. Buffalo needs to correct itself. We need to find a way to win. If the Texans lose this one, Stroud might be under a bus. Right, because they, both teams think they're going to win the Super Bowl this year.

And we love overreactions coming out of week one. Like, this game, someone's going to lose. And whoever loses, it's going to be right for the taking for people to be like, oh, now this team sucks because Sean McDermott's gone. Or now this team sucks because Stroud can't figure it out. And that's why they didn't pay him. I think that we have to be careful with this game because someone's going to lose it. And I think we can't rush either side, right?

I think Buffalo could look slow out of the gate because Joe Brady is a new head coach. Everyone's like, it's all the same. It's all the same. No, it's not. Ask any player. You look at any of the Bill's media or Bill's reports coming out of camp, the vibe is completely different, right? And McDermott's not bringing up, you know, the Taliban anymore, right? It's more of a buzz. It's more of a party. And I think that party could lead to sloppiness. Who knows? Maybe not out of the gate. But Buffalo has a lot of newness, even if Joe Brady was the offensive coordinator last year. And with Houston, the problem we already know.

Cedis Stroud maybe played the worst games of his life last year. Last time we saw him. We need to see something different against Buffalo. If we don't, we're going to be rushing, you know, with pitchforks to say that the Texans are cooked and that's why they shouldn't have paid Strout. This is arguably probably the best game of Sunday because of what I'm saying here. I don't know if it's game of the day. On Monday, on Monday it won't be.

Headed into the weekend, you could say this is looking like the game of the day. Once the headlines come out, we'll find out it was not. Yeah, because it might not live up to it. And we'll find out that blank sucks. That's true. That's true. All right, which team is it going to be? because I have one for this as well.

Yeah, what's your. Because I'm looking forward to this game. So I have, now, mine's a, this is a boring headline, but I'm going to land the plan eventually. So stick with me. So the boring headline is rough start for Joe Brady as Bill's drop opener. So I was thinking about Joe Brady, like Austin was just mentioning. It is a different time.

And then I go to ESPN.com and I was looking at their bills coverage. and I saw this story from Elena Getsenberg does a very good job covering the bills. And Billy, you're going to like this. Because anytime, Austin, there is a story about how much kind of a caffeine addiction for a head coach or sleeping or whatever, we get very intrigued. And Joe Brady says sleep versus sleep is overrated. Then he says, no, it's not overrated. It's just, you know, it might be important, but he can convince his brain that he can operate without. it. And it says during seasons past, Brady would sleep no more than three or four hours a night.

And he just kind of binges caffeine. Now, he wanted to make it very clear here, quote, not living on caffeine yet. When she interviewed him, this was a morning in June and he was on his second Gatorade fast-twitch energy drink of the day. and later he's going to have a little cafe con leche where he will get that delivered he will get that delivered if he can find it on one of his favorite apps there I have some concerns about Joe Brady I know NFL coaches are a different breed

it's not just the caffeine thing but I was thinking about this and it's like every year we make the mistake of like offensive coordinator moves to head coach job oh they're going to be able to do it and it's just a very different job I know nothing about his ability to manage timeouts and not waste them. I know nothing about his ability to decide, do I kick a field goal?

Do I punt? Do I go for it? On fourth down about when to throw the replay challenge. And so that's already in my head. And then I'm reading the story, the guy's going to be so sleep deprived here when by the time it gets to game time, kick off on Sunday,

I worry that he might not have the goods right away and there might be more of a learning curve, especially when you consider the opponent here. I mean, throw out everything I said just now And just think of the bill's offensive performance against a great Texans defense that has really shut them down in back-to-back years. I like the bills a lot.

I think the bills are going to go 12 and 5 and win the AFC East, but I think they could struggle here coming out of the game. Isn't it wild? Look, I love football, shield, you love football. We know you love football more than anyone under... I like football. You don't love football.

Well, I love is, you know, I don't throw around love Willie Nill. You don't love football? You don't love football? You don't love football a lot. Yeah, I like football. That's a like go too deep here, but like how many things do you love? No, skip, skip. He doesn't even like football.

What the hell? Who cares? Also, mom and his dad? Actually, this is a true story. You know, I got hired by the ring. And before I actually like started, they were having like a brainstorm meeting at their offices, you know, in L.A. And like, you want to just come down for this because the season's coming out?

And I sat in there. And I heard all my colleagues talk about football. And I thought, wait, do I actually even like football? These guys are speaking with such enthusiasm. So, you know, I think I do like it. But, I mean, Austin is at another level. I'm not going to lie and say I'm at the same level as Austin, Billy. So I just need to clarify that.

You don't have to compare. Did you love football without comparing to me? I'm a sicko. I'm a freak. And also, like, I can't even get into this. You're having a football life crisis and we're fucking two games in here. We're two games in. Did you?

I need you. Did you ever feel that way? Like, is this age? Like, the love has kind of like died out a little bit? I think the older you get, you know? Oh my God. You're getting... Austin, future's bleak for you, my friends.

It's not going to go well. I'm not going to just... I can't even... I'm out. I'm out. But Billy, you were saying. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. How long before you told your wife you loved her?

Who said it first? You were your wife? I don't believe it was me. Oh. Wow. Did you reciprocate those? I love you. I reciprocated. I reciprocated. Yeah, that's a good move. I actually can't remember when that was. Yeah. All right. Well, the larger...

I'm the hopeless romantic as you can get all. The larger point was, we all, minus Ushu, we love football, right? But it's incredible how these coaches, and we just accept it as like, yeah, that's normal, have all convinced themselves that, like, all this pseudoscience stuff, like, I don't need to drink water. I can just drink Gatorid fast-switch energy drink all day long and sleep five minutes, and I'll be perfectly fine because I love football. It's like, no, guys. Like, we're worried about your long-term health here.

It's not just the hits. It's like, you guys are putting your bodies through horrible situations unnecessarily, and it's not giving you an advantage. I cannot believe he's just tossing. Yeah, I drink two fast-twitch Gatorade energies. And then also coffee, that's insane. And also, for his sleep schedule, still two to three times better than Tom Pelliseros. I heard he sleeps with his AirPods in.

My guy's falling asleep to text in his ear. That's insane. You guys know me as this sicko, this guy who watches football all the time. If you found out I slept with AirPods in, I don't know. I feel like you guys, yeah, that would be crazy. I guess I get it for TV. He's always on. He's always on.

When he said that, when he said that live, it didn't sink in. And then earlier today, I was like, wait, did he actually say he sleeps with his AirPods in so that he doesn't miss a text? Because I would have asked a follow up, but it didn't even register in my head. It doesn't make sense. going on. You know, so I talked to Schifter, another insider is like someone who's like, anytime I see an outlet, I charge my phone. Like, he tells that story.

I feel like I've seen him at the Combine tell it a couple times. Like, he's always charging his phone, which I think is fair. With the AirPods thing, you know how like sometimes like I feel I think you do this? You put your phone on like, do not disturb or focus mode when you're going to bed because you don't want to be just getting with all these notifications or whatever. T.P.'s in disturbed mode, right? He's just, oh, put me, he's just like, you know what? Actually, send that right to the cerebral.

I want, if Ari Mairov drops an update on Jeremiah Love's ankle. I need to wake up. It's time to get moving. That's fucking crazy, man. I love the guy, though. That's a guy who loves football. Ask Tom Pelosi if he likes football. That's what I'm saying. Ask him. Ask him. I can't wait. I can't wait. I can't wait to hear his response. All right. There you go. That's Bill's Texans. Very fun matchup. Josh Allen, two of his three worst starts over the last two seasons have been against the Houston Texans statistically. So they've had a tough time with that Texans defense. But man, if they come out and light them up, because the Texans have become sort of a trendy hipstery Super Bowl pick. So I think Austin's right that there will be big narratives coming out of this game either way. And guess what? That's not even my take.

Bill said that. And too much from now, they're probably both going to be pretty good teams that are, you know, headed to the playoffs. One of those teams is going to lose. And guess what? Their season's not over, right? And it's fine. If Stroud looks like shit in that game, he might again, but their season's not over.

If the bills look a little clunky because they have a different coach, their season's not over. Like I feel like we just got to calm down and enjoy the. No, I don't like this perspective, Austin. I like the crazy one, yeah. Okay, all right, Billy. You're up. What do you got?

What's your next headline? All right. Next headline. Ready? Chiching, Chichin, I can't even repeat it. Sorry, go ahead. Chichin Addy was the first one.

Cheching Sinati. Okay. All right. Here's the next one. Ready? Now imagine this on the back of a newspaper. Bolt's QB shocks Cardinals with electric performance, setting a career high in passing yards with the help of new OC Mike McDaniel.

dot, dot, dot. Marian Hampton, Ladd McConkey, and Quinn Johnson each hit triple digits in all-purpose yards. Wow. Billy, what kind of newspaper are we working with? I just legitimately have never seen a headline like that. I've just never read one. I've never read that. I've never seen it. It's on Monday yet.

Okay, fair, fair, fair, fair. The Chargers, right, if you buy them at price right now, if you're playing fantasy football, if you're betting them to win the division, betting they're over, betting anything, Herbert passing yards, any of it. You were buying them, I mean, at the sky high top of the market, right? I mean, because Mike McDaniel is Mike McDaniel, and, you know, he could shock, bolt, electrify the Cardinals in week one. Like, I think that the way to, you know, I play this game sometimes with my friends where, like, you say something and the only thing they can say is either overrated or underrated. They can't say anything else. They can't say, oh, well, but you can only say overrated, underrated.

If I said the Chalpharily rated. Yeah, yeah, you can only say overrated, chargeers, overrated. Mike McDaniel, overrated, right? You can't, you can't say underrated. But it's the Cardinals. It's just week one. No, I get it. No, I get it.

I think they are going to win. I just think they are going to win. I think that it's just, I think the Chargers optimism, I feel like I've been smoking it since fucking July 1st. I mean, since they got Mike McDaniel. Like, I think that everyone can say, like, I think everyone sees that Mike McDaniel is one of the best, if not the best offensive play callers in the league, what he did with Tuotung of Iloa, who can't even win the starting job over an injured Michael Penix and a random

and he's hurt again. We'll get to that in the Ringer 107, by the way. Mike McDaniel scored 70 points. with two tongue by Loa, he can't even make a team. The dolphins are paying him $59 million to not play for them, and he scored 70 points with them. So, like, what Mike McDaniel could do with Justin Herbert, I think is priced in, right?

I think everyone can feel that. I think they have to prove it, and I still have questions on the interior offensive line. They lost Jesse Minter. That has to mean something. I like Harbaugh. I like McDaniel. I think Herbert's good.

I like Hampton a lot. The tackles are obviously good. They stay healthy. They should be good. They're another team, like the on-paper charge. The on-paper chargers should be good. Wake me up when we see it because we just have it, right? And when we get to the playoffs, Herbert has been, you know,

I love the little memes where he's like, if guy. Herbert's just been if guy since then. Nine and a half point favorites, the Chargers, I think, biggest favorite of any team in the NFL this weekend. I kind of like the Cardinals with the points there. I don't know. You might be right, you know? I would never take it.

That's not going to be part of the Ringer 107. I would never take it. But if you force me to pick a side there, I do sort of lean towards Austin, where I'm like, all right, let's see it. There's a chance. There is a chance if you're a Chargers fan. You're like, yeah, I guess.

Stop, China. We're on our parade before week one. Yeah. That this becomes the biggest story. One of the biggest stories in the NFL were just like Mike McDaniel plus Justin Herbert. They're scoring 35 every single week. This is amazing to watch. That absolutely is within the possible range of outcomes for this season.

But I am on the side of let me see it rather than let me predict it. They should win this game by 10 plus, right? I mean, that's price. Like, they should. Like, the Cardinals are one of the worst if not the worst team in the league. I think they're going to be drafting number one overall with the Fohawk.

Headline implies that they win by a lot here. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think the line implies that they win by a lot as well. The nine and a half point spread might imply that as well. Austin thinks they're overrated, so who knows. I mean, if they were overrated or underrated, it'd be hard to say they're overrated. They have the widest spread of the first.

Football underrated. Underrated? Love? Love? Just like, just love in general. Yeah, the concept of love. I think underrated. Underrated.

See, Shield? Try love. I have. I'm a little selective. You guys are out there just, you know? tossing around the lower. Please don't let, can we not? It's week one.

Can we, can we not? I was about to call you a bunch of skanks, but you know what? Oh, Sheel. No, I just, I was sorry. Who? Who were you about to call a bunch of skis? The people on this call? Just you're loving everybody.

You're loving everything. Settle down. You know. Go ahead. All right. Who's next headline? Am I up? Who's up?

Who has one? I think it's me. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Oh, I have another one. Okay. This is a headline, but it's also going to be whispered.

I'm going to whisper it. Oh. Mike McCarthy's Steelers look good. One last ride. So I didn't finish that headline. I probably should have wrote something good. But I think the Steelers are going to be very good. I think very good relative to price.

Right now I think it's nine and a half wins. Right. I think that they're at or eight and a half, nine and a half nine and a half nine. half wins is where they're at. They think they're going to be right in that Tomlin zone of winning another nine and eight season. And I kind of like them to at least get nine wins, if not be

a sneaky 10, 11 plus win team. And in week one, specifically... 11 wins with Aaron Rogers as their quarterback, really? See, I think that, so you know, you know, heat, you know the movie heat? Yes. I mean, you literally can't get hired here. If I answered no, I would not have a job tomorrow. So, so the

The movie Heat, right, is come, there's an, it's an amazing movie. It's a heist movie. It's incredible. The Ringer has documented it. They're coming out with another one in 27 called Heat 2. Leonardo DiCaprio's in it. Christian Bale's going to be in it. I mean, Chris Ryan's talking about it in his sleep. It's going to be insane.

I think the Steelers are Heat 2, right? They have a chance with Leonardo DiCaprio, Aaron Rogers, Christian Bale, Mike McCarthy hasn't done something good in a while, but I remember Mike McCart-Christian, Christian Bail was pretty good. You know, the prestige? I mean, are you kidding? The machinist, if you want a deep cut. Now, Mike McCarthy, we haven't seen it a while.

I don't know if you've seen Bail's latest. It's not pretty. Okay, I missed the big short. But so running with this for a second here, I think Heat 2 has a chance to be terrible. Even with Leo, even with Bail, right? Because sequels, legacy sequels, so far removed, can sometimes just be really bad, right? And trying to do it one more time, another heist, one more time, can sometimes lead to kaput. And I think the Steelers are a one last ride kind of team.

McCarthy and Rodgers. The only reason Rogers came back. What ride are they going on? One last ride. McCarthy, one last ride with McCarthy and Rogers, right? Like, Rogers said the only reason he came back, he was going to retire is because McCarthy came back. Right? Like, it's one last ride with McCarthy. One last job.

In a division where, you're right, they aren't favored to win it. The Ravens should win the division. The Bengals should compete with the Ravens to win it because on paper, they're the better football teams. But the Ravens have a brand new head coach, right? And a brand new offensive play caller, those are two question marks. You want to say they're good now? Let's see the games. And then you are the Bengals, if you're counting on the Bengals to do something in December and January,

now you haven't watched the last three years. We don't know what this team's going to be, right? They've let us down every single year. Burrow gets hurt, even if he doesn't. They don't make the playoffs. This hasn't been a good team in December and January since 2021. So then I go down to the Steelers, who have been consistently good last year.

The last year of Mike Tomlin, who talked about one last ride, the guy's been playing Minecraft since like 2013. I can't believe he admitted to that. Tomlin wants to leave. He essentially quits the Steelers job, right? And Tomlin last year, that was the worst defense by EPA by success rate.

The Steelers have ever fielded since Mike Tomlin's been the coach. So there's going to be positive regression defensively. And the offense, I agree it wasn't good last year. But I think if anyone can bring Rogers back to life, I think it is McCarthy. And in this division, where there is a lot. How does everyone have amnesia about how that ended with McCarthy and Aaron Rogers, honestly. It was so long ago. When did he go?

When did he? This is a disaster. This is a complete disaster. And Aaron was trying to get him fired. What year? get fired. And then by the way, Matt LaFleur comes in and Rogers wins back-to-back MVP's. Like,

Mike McCarthy is the great, does the greatest PR job of anyone I've ever seen. It's like, that's fair. Terrible when he left Aaron Rogers. And then it got great as soon as Aaron Rogers got coached by a new person. And now Aaron Rogers is 42 freaking years old. Like, I actually, I don't

totally, it sounds like I totally disagree with you and I actually don't. I think the, the Steelers are a competitive team this year. I really like their defense. But I can't get there to the idea that they're going to win 11 games and that the offenses can actually be good. I wanted to be framed at price, right? If the Steelers are the favorites to win the division, I'd be buying up every Ravens and Bengals ticket I could get. But the Steelers are third, and I think that there's actually a chance that this division ends up being pretty sloppy.

And at the end, it's like a 9 and 8 or 10 and 17 that ends up winning it. The Steelers have been 9 and 8 for the last however many years. And yeah, Tomlin's not there. I think the defense gets better just because it can't get worse than last year. And the offense, even if it's just as good as last year, which wasn't that good. They added Michael Pittman. They added Jeremy Bernard, who I like. I think Rico Dowell and Jalen Warner solid. I think that getting rid of that tackle they drafted in the first round, Broderick, Washington, whoever, actually makes that line better. Right. So like, maybe the offense is solid or better than last year. And maybe the defense is better than last year, but based off of mathematical regression alone, that again, and again,

at price, I kind of like the Steelers. But I don't know. We're going to get to that more in the Ringer 107. Yeah. You know the problem with Heist, though, you always go, they always go one job too far. You know what I mean? And that's how they get caught. So is this them going one job too far? I think that's, I think that would be where the public leans, right?

I think, I think that's where, I think most people would argue that the, the Steelers are going to be either just as good as they were with Tomlin, and they win like eight games or nine games, or they're going to be worse. No one, no one, right? It just shields leaping out of his seat,

though I think he stands for every podcast that I'm thinking they could win 10, 11, 12 games. But, like, no one's predicting that. That tells me someone might be, someone might be on the wrong side. All right. Good contrarian take there with the Steelers. I have one more. Billy, do you have any more here? I do. I have one more as well.

All right, ready? You remember the first two, right? So remember, this is on the back of the newspaper here. Back page. Ready? Touchdowns likely. Isaiah likely shines in Giants debut. However, Jackson's dart missed the bullseye in the fourth quarter

as Cowboys late I&T cast a shadow on John Harbaugh's big apple debut. I like getting big apple debut. apple in there. I think that's fresh. That's trendy. You have to have that in there. It's flowers in spring, essentially. I think, I think when you did Isaiah, give me the first part, likely. Touchdowns, likely. Yeah. And then, and then, and then I think you can just go Isaiah. I don't think you have to go another likely. I was thinking that too. Yeah. I was thinking that too. I think if I had an overall note, I think, I think if I had an overall note for through now the three gill, I'm a proud gillionaire, by the way, I don't know what you call your audience, but I think

gillionaire is great. As a proud gillionaire, the note I'd have is just, just less is more. I think we'd get words out of there, and I think we'd be in a really good place. I think we're also over-indexing. We're over-indexing on puns. You guys don't see this now, but when Christopher Sutton, our ace producer, first saw my shot, I had like a hundred more books behind here, and he's like, you know what, we've got to take everything out. I think you just got to take some things down. It looks better at less is more. Less is more. There you go. I did have a headline that didn't make the cut, but it is on that game. It's on that game. So I had, nothing has changed. Nothing has changed.

the Giants are still a disaster. I think that now I think that the Giants, if I had to like put a hard take, I think they might suck out of the gate, right? And I think part of the reason is they have a really hard schedule to start the season, right? They start with the Cowboys in East Rutherford, so at home, but still, that's Sunday night football, bright lights on Jarn Harbaugh, a lot of newness, Matt Nagy, Greg Roman, Jackson Dart, who's missed half the games or been in the medical tent for half the games, everyone's documented it. Like, this is a lot of newness with a lot of bright lights on Sunday night against a good Cowboys team, right? They could play, the Giants could play Sunday night, the best football game we see and Malik neighbors looks healthy and they still lose,

right? So say they lose out of week one on an island game. In week two, they play Monday night against the Rams in Los Angeles. So they go cross court all the way to Los Angeles to play the favorite in another primetime game. So you start the season 0 and 2, everyone always says Owen Tombstone, because it's like 11 or 12 percent of teams that start O and 2 actually make the playoffs. They go O and 2 in games where they play well. Let's say the Giants play. well, but they still lose games in primetime spots. I brought up, you know, how everyone's going to have a take, you know, coming out of some of these games. The Giants lose two island games to start the season, their own two. I don't think you're going to put on a TV that's not talking about

how the Giants maybe blew this. Well, I mean, but they have four potential bounce facts after they have Tennessee, Arizona, Washington, New Orleans. I'm buying the Giants when they get out of that slate, right? I think the Giants are going to be like all the way at the bottom, right? Like, you're going to, you know, buy a little of their wind total at that point, bet them immediately in week three because I think that's going to like risk it all kind of game for John Harbaugh. But in week one, not eager to bet them just because they're not super healthy. Scada bow coming back from a crazy injury. Neighbors coming back from a crazy injury. Dart literally just wants to get hurt. There's a report coming out in New York that he's like

not sliding in practice. Have you guys ever seen a quarterback have to be told to slide in practice? I can't even think of that. And then he's like, he gets to the podium and they said how, he gets to the podium and they say, how are you getting hurt? He's like, I have no idea. I think I have a, I think I have an idea. I think I have a clue. I have a clue, right? You're playing a little reckless, which is fine. I know how to play reckless. But like, in the NFL, when you're the most important reason the Giants are going to win every game, you got to say healthy. That's part of it, right? That's part of it. You can't take unnecessary risk. He's not that guy in Band of Brothers, shout out the anniversary, who just like runs straight through all the bullets and just doesn't get hit.

Like, that's not how the league works. You're going to get clipped. And I think he needs to learn that. Scadabot who's been headbutting cement wall since he was 13. So he's not going to figure that out ever, really. But like, this is a team that I think plays reckless on the field, has a brand new head coach. there have been worse teams have started out sloppy and they got two island spots there's going to be a lot of attention on it. I can't believe you compared Leonardo DiCaprio and Heat 2 to this version of Aaron Rogers.

I mean, that's offensive. That might need to be cut out. I don't think Leonardo DiCaprio is Aaron Rogers for what it's worth. I think I'd have to find maybe another actor that's showing up in Heat 2 and that's a very loose, half-baked kind of connection. But I do think it's like a heist movie, right?

I think that they're just trying to do one more bank robbery, right? And it's probably not going to fucking work because Aaron Rogers is 42 years old. And Mike McCarthy has been around for five years, right? Like, Mike McCarthy has, when's the last time Mike McCarthy even coached, right? Like, all the stuff that you say, Sheal, about like, Mike McCarthy hasn't done anything. It didn't work out then. I think that's priced in, right, into where they are in the division and how many wins they might get.

And I think the reasons that this doesn't work is all the reasons we know right now. Aaron Rogers is too old. Mike McCarthy's lost his fastball and the defense is too old, right? I think that's, you know, if that happens, it'll be like, oh, yeah, no shit. But then if there are a surprise team, which I feel like every year before the season, we act like there won't be surprises. I think the Steelers could be one of them. All right, there you go.

My last one I'm going to save for the Ringer 107 because it's one of the games I'm picking. So we'll just combine it with that. So let's take a break. We come back. It's Ringer 107 time. I'm going to give these guys my picks. They're going to make fun of me.

And we'll see where we land. All right, we're back here on the Ringer NFL show. Today's Ringer 107 is brought to you by Fandul. Make this your most rewarding season. Download the Fandul app to check out all of our 107 picks and boosted teasers every week this season. All right. So if you're new to the show or you're not sure what the Ringer 107 is,

I'm going to try to explain it. These guys can correct me if I'm wrong. So this is a bunch of us compete against one another. It's Bill Simmons. It's the Ringer Wise guys. It's the Ringer fantasy show. I might be forgetting about someone in there. And if I do, I apologize.

Rahim Palmer, Anthony Dubundo, Sal. They're all on the ringer license. I don't know his last name. Everyone calls him Cousin Salah, Danny Hivefitts, Craig Horlebeck, Danny Kelly. Right. Shield Capadia, right?

Yeah. She'll go to the Ringer NFL show. So last year, we came in second. We got off to a slow start. We came back. We were hot in the Super Bowl. Went 5 and 0. Finished 56 and 51.

And we lost, you know why? Because those fantasy guys won betting on the coin flip. Yeah. So we're not going to let that happen again. Now, the rules are a little bit different this year. So you pick four games against the spread,

and then your fifth is a teaser. So for those who don't know what a teaser is, you pick kind of two different lines, and you can move each of them six points. So it can be, I'll get to mine here in a second and explain it, but it can be an over-under, it can be against the spread, whatever, but you have to get both right to win that bet.

So that's what we're going to do. So I've got picks ready, and we'll see how we do it throughout the season. You know, if I'm stinking it up, Someone else might say, I want to make these picks, but for now, for week one, I've got them covered. My first pick here. We are going to the team. We just spent like 20 minutes talking about the Steelers.

Minus four and a half at home against the Atlanta Falcons. That's my first pick. Tuatunga Viloa suffered an oblique injury in practice. Cooper Rush took first team reps. I do like the Steelers defense quite a bit. I don't love the offense. but you know what? I think they're going to be able to do enough

because that Falcons team cannot rush the passer. So my first pick, Steelers, minus four and a half against the Falcons. I don't know. Do you guys want to boo me? Do you want to cheer me for these?

Do you just want to give some analysis? You tell me how you want to react. So you probably know where I'm at, right? Because I'm big on Steelers. I have a, I have a shekel on alt-line Steelers minus six and a half. I like moving it to six and a half. But I mean, for this contest,

I think four and a half makes sense. To a getting an oblique injury, maybe he's actually hurt, maybe they don't want to start him. I don't know what's happening there. I mean, I've never seen, I've never seen reporting out of camp, right,

about a potential starting quarterback or even a quarterback situation as odd as the two of one. Like, you bring in a guy who is being paid $50 something million to not be on a football team and he can't even make your football team. Like, in an ideal world,

he wouldn't make your football team. That has to be, and he's the one who's supposed to lead every huddle, right? I think they're going to be dysfunctional, right? And it's a brand new head coach, right? And Sifansky's great, but I think he recognizes that this quarterback room sucks. And I think he's looking at Archmanning, Lenora Sellers, C.J. Carr, Darien Mensa, Julian's saying, I'm probably missing like six names. But he's looking at this QB class and saying, sign me up. All right, we're all a line there. Steelers minus four and a half against the Falcons. All right, the next one. This was one of the headlines I left on the cutting room floor. Do you believe in miracles? Jets break in interception streak in opener. Wow. So we just need to remind each other that the Jets did not have an interception last year. It's still one of the craziest stats in all of football, maybe in all of sports.

Now they go to Tennessee and they are underdogs, one and a half point underdogs against the Tennessee Titans. I just think the Jets are a flat out, more competent team. I think that their players are better. I'm not telling you they're going to be a good team. but I just think they're kind of one tier up against this Titans team where I don't know what Kim Ward's going to look like this year. I don't know what Brian Dayball's going to bring to the table. It did not feel like a great summer for that Titans team. And I think this one will come down to which quarterback makes fewer mistakes.

And I'm counting on not a big Gino Smith bounce back, but just like a tiny Gino Smith bounce back, where he doesn't look like the worst quarterback in the NFL. He's going to bounce back. He's going to bounce back. Jets plus one and a half. I mean, Chip Kelly was calling plays that he did not install in practice. This was the highest paid offensive coordinator in NFL history. That's what was happening last year.

That's how bad Gino Smith had it. And the offensive line sucked and the receivers weren't good. And Brock Bowers was hurt. Like, if Gino Smith is worse this year, the Jets need to relocate and rename the team. Because how much worse can it get? Okay. All right. Jets. Jets. Jets. Jets.

What could go wrong? Right. All right, Billy gives me the clap for that one. All right. Next one here, we talked about this game already. And I think we're going to be aligned once again. Cowboys minus two and a half at the Giants Sunday night football. I got the Cowboys here.

Now, you're supposed to stay away from games like this. This is like, all right, divisional game. It looks too good to be true. You're going with the road favorite. But I can't help it because I think, to Austin's point, this Cowboys offense is going to be pretty good. And I think that this Giants offense is, not going to be very good. You didn't even mention the coaching staff there. Austin. Matt

Nagy, I'm supposed to believe he's going to come back and all of a sudden he's going to be scheming it up after he got quietly fired by any of you read. I'm not buying that. It was so weird. So I don't buy this Giants coaching staff, especially at the beginning of the season. I think there's a chance that their pass rush shows up in a big way and that Cowboys offensive line. I'm a little unsure of. So that's a scenario where I think the Giants could steal this game. But I'm going to go with the Dallas Cowboys covering two and a half. The Tyler Smith injury, I feel like, is probably going to be one that gets under-discussed.

Underrated. It's a big injury. It's a big injury. And I don't like, you know, I think there's, I think a betting trend about taking road favorites, division road favorites, especially week one. I think the Giants could cover this game and look bad, right? Like, I think that, I don't know, it's probably not a bet I'm rushing to make,

even though I just kind of trap. I think the Giants could lose this game and play really well. Like, that's my fear, right? I think the Giants could be a good team this year, but start slow and then kind of have the season written off, right? But yeah, I don't know. I don't think I'm co-signing this bet. I do like Dallas this year, though.

I think they'll be good. I think the best buy signal you can do for Dallas and Sal and Bill are all over this. When's the last time you guys heard from Jerry Jones? You've seen him in the news lately? He's been awfully quiet. It's been awfully quiet. And you think Jerry Jones is quiet because things are good or things are bad?

It's because things are good. It's because things are really good. And he knows that this team can win, and he doesn't need to get loud about it. He needs to brag about anything. I feel like he understands that, this might be a window. And I think he loves Schontheimer,

has been confident with him from the day one. Like the Rear Fantasy guys, I love that show. I work on that show. Shout out the seven, God bless. They brought up how they want Jerry Jones to win a Super Bowl.

They kind of just want to see him win one. And I feel like I kind of'm on board. Like I kind of do want to see Jerry just talk one more Lombardi because, I mean, the man, you want to see a guy who loves football shield. I think that guy loves football.

More than me too. This list is growing now. We've got Tom. We've got you guys. guys, we've got Jerry. You know what? If you interview the broader population, I think I'm going to rank pretty high,

but you guys, this selection bias here, it's kind of working against me. Yeah, it's working against me a little bit here. That's all. Not to take this to a dark place, but you know,

for most people, they say like, oh, you know, there's like only one big event after retirement, right? Like, I think we all know. I haven't heard that. Is that true?

What we're talking about here? I know what you're talking about. You know what the event is? Yeah. You know what the event is? I don't know. Yeah. Are we worried that there's only one event left out?

after Jerry Jones wins a Super Bowl for Jerry. Is the one event that someone dies? Yeah, the person. I think Jerry dying after he wins a ring is exactly how he wants to go out. I think the fear would be him dying before he tucks one. I think I want to see Jerry get one before he goes down because I think earned one would be a little crazy.

But we could be celebrating Thanksgiving and looking at the Micah Parsons trade and being like, Jerry might have cooked. I'm going to say we're not going to be doing that. Maybe. Maybe. We'll see. We'll see.

Shield doesn't love football, so I feel like Thanksgiving. True. Like, he's not, like, going to be super into talking about Jerry Jones. He doesn't even eat food on Thanksgiving. I don't even think he likes food. I like Thanksgiving quite a bit. Do you love Thanksgiving, though? No.

Listen, I've heard the theory that, oh, Jerry Jones is being quiet because he loves his team. Like, maybe he's just tired. Yeah, true. He's getting up there. You know what I'm saying? Sometimes you only have so many words. So it could just be that. All right.

So I got the Cal. He's older than Joe Biden, right? I mean, he's getting up there. Geez, I bring politics in with Austin. No, this is, yeah, well, listen, last episode we did the American health care system. So I think we're okay to. These different avenues here. And then finally, my T's here.

So again, you can move two lines, six points. So the Denver Broncos are two and a half point underdogs against the chiefs. I'm bumping that up to eight and a half. So we get the Denver Broncos plus eight and a half. They don't have to win the game. They don't even have to keep it that close. They just have to lose by fewer than eight and a half. So I've got the Broncos as my one leg of that.

That's a big game Monday night against the Chiefs. And then the Jaguars go into this weekend, eight and a half point favorites against the Cleveland Browns. I'm bumping that down to minus two and a half. So that's the T's. Broncos plus eight and a half against the Chiefs. Jaguars minus two and a half against the Browns. I need those two to hit and we hit the T's for our final pick.

Again, we all have to do one T's a week. So that's mine for this week. What do we think? Do you guys bet teasers? Have you bet teasers before? No, I've literally never done a teaser in my life until today. Yeah, you're doing this one though, for sure, though, right? Shield.

Well, for the Ringer 107. Yeah, exactly. So there's this I think Bill has brought this up. Rahim Palmer on the Ringer Gowning Show brings this up all the time. The big thing with teases is they say not to for Rahim Palmer.

I don't know. I only know about his hotel room usage in Vegas. I think that's more interesting than his bets. But the, they always talk about like don't tease through zero, right? Like teasing like if someone's favored by two and a half and you tease it all the way to like the other team now like favored by three and a half.

You're not because so many football games land on it's three. It's like, two, three, and seven. Or it's like, oh, no, it's three, six and seven. So you want to, like, with your first leg of this tease, you're teasing through three, you're teasing through six, and you're teasing through seven. Because most games, because of how touchdowns and field goals work land on those three numbers. And you're like taking advantage of, you know, not uniform percentages. Right. So with this other bet and the Jags one, you're, you're getting it through three and you are getting that two and a half. But like bringing a big favorite down to three and two and a half,

you could lose that bet in a way that just doesn't make sense. A leg I, I, I would just offer to replace would take the Lions down to a half point. And it's just they have to beat the Saints. Lions beat the Saints at home, we win that leg. And if the Broncos cover by 8 and a half and the Lions win the game, that's our tease. Wow. Chill.

Listen, it's a good one, but I have actually already sent these in. Oh, you already sent these in? Listen, we had to send them in. You need to text me, dog. You know, I'm around. Listen, am I a part of this contest or am like a guest picker? We should make you a consultant on these.

but after she was already sent them in. Yeah, yeah, I'm down. I think that's good. I like that. I think that was a good process. So we will see how these go. Oh, yeah, I hate this. I can't do anything about it.

Now I'm going to be keeping an eye on that lion's one versus the Jaguars one. And could it burden me? Absolutely. And could Austin Gale be sending me angry text and calling me a dummy on Sunday afternoon, sure. And you know what?

I won't do that. Because this is all for good fun. You're not going to be on your phone on Sunday. You're probably going to be hiking or something, right? No, yeah. I know. I do put the phone. I do put the phone face down because I don't need to be communicating.

You know, I'm locked in to the sport that I really like. Oh, football. Football. You like quite a lot. Like quite a lot. Yeah, quite a bit. Just like. Here are the picks.

Steelers minus four and a half at home versus the Falcons. Jets plus one and a half at the Titans. Cowboys minus two and a half at the Giants. And then we got our T's Broncos plus eight and a half and Jaguars minus two and a half. Today's Ringer 107 was brought to you by Fandul. Download the app now to find all of our 107 picks and make this your most rewarding season. Fandul, play your game, odds subject to change. So there you have it, that Ringer NFL show.

Thank you to Austin Gale. Thank you to Tom Pelliserum. And thank you to Billy Gill. And thanks to Christopher Sutton for producing additional production supervision by Connor and Evans in Arjuna, Ramgofal. I'm Shield Capadia. we will next talk to you on Monday after the week one action. Everyone, enjoy the weekend. Talk to you next time on the ring around the fellowship.

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