Pardon My Take — Oct 15, 2025

Episode Title: MLB Playoffs With Jeff Passan, CFB With Matt Leinart, Bears Beat Commanders In The PMT Bowl + Guys On Chicks

Episode Overview

In this quintessential PMT episode, Big Cat and PFT Commenter deliver their signature boisterous, snarky, but insightful takes on the MLB playoffs (with ESPN’s Jeff Passan), college football (with Fox’s Matt Leinart), and recap the PMT Bowl — a.k.a. the Bears-Commanders Monday Night Football game that ended with major fan therapy. The show also weaves in topical NFL storylines, coach drama, record-breaking stats, and plenty of irreverent moments, all capped by their classic “Guys On Chicks” mailbag.

Main Segments & Key Discussion Points

1. MLB Playoffs: Dodgers’ Domination and Mariners Magic

[03:06–15:25; 82:33–128:33]

• Dodgers: The Unfair Juggernaut
  • The crew discusses the Dodgers’ playoff run, particularly their overwhelming pitching depth (Yamamoto and Snell both pitching gems), massive lineup, and Shohei Ohtani’s ability to disappear in the regular season and reappear in decisive moments.
  • Big Cat (07:24):* “The Dodgers are a divorce attorney. They slowly bleed you dry over the years. It’s no fun, nobody’s happy at the end, but the lawyer gets paid.”
• Dodgers-Brewers as a Proxy for MLB Economics
  • Jeff Passan frames the Dodgers-Brewers matchup as a “proxy war” for baseball labor issues — the contrast between the high-spending Dodgers and frugal Brewers will fuel the salary cap debate looming in MLB’s next CBA.
    Jeff Passan (95:17): “If the brewers go and win this year, can’t you, if you’re the Players Association, make the argument that if you can win on $125 million, then … it’s something that can be replicated?”
• Seattle Mariners: Team of Destiny?
  • The Mariners have electrified with dramatic wins, strong pitching (Gilbert, Kirby, Castillo), and the surprising heroics of Jorge Polanco.*
    Big Cat (88:48): “Cal Raleigh season … the home run that he hit to the guy wearing the Cal Raleigh shirt, right into his lap, that’s a team of destiny thing.”
  • Passan explains Seattle’s rise: deep farm system, perfectly timed trades, and playoff chemistry.
• Baseball Culture: Celebrating Too Much?
  • The guys debate whether MLB teams celebrate clinches and playoff wins too much.
    PFT (93:04): “I’m a big believer: celebrate everything. … You don’t know where your next celebration’s going to be.”
• Yankees, Mets & Phillies: Who’s in Trouble?
  • Yankees have lost their “mystique” and big-spender status (“run like a Fortune 500 company now, not a baseball team”).
  • The Phillies are entering a transition: the current roster “just has failed. They have not been able to win a championship. ... At some point you just gotta change the mix in the room.”
  • Mets: even with huge spending, 2025 was a monumental collapse — but the farm system is improving.

2. College Football Deep Dive with Matt Leinart

[132:24–165:41]

• USC’s Big Ten Era & Michigan Win
  • Leinart relives how USC shed its “West Coast Soft” label by dominating Michigan: “They completely dominated them on both sides of the ball… it’s a confidence booster, a program changer, knowing they can do it.”
  • Big Cat pokes fun at Leinart for storing his Heisman in his garage: “You don’t have, like, a shelf for the Heisman?”
• Notre Dame Rivalry & Playoff Stakes
  • This year’s USC-Notre Dame game is a playoff elimination game: “It means a lot more than it’s had. Notre Dame has owned this the last decade. But we got a fighting chance.”
• Conference Realignment, CA Stereotypes, and Lineman Recruiting
  • Discussion turns to Big Ten dynamics and how “West Coast Soft” is more reputation than fact, but admits it’s harder to “get fat linemen in California.”
  • Leinart: “My six-year-old, all he eats is salad… my four-year-old, all he eats is mac and cheese. He’d line up at right guard for Wisconsin.”
• Coach Carousel & Penn State
  • Major talk about James Franklin (Penn State) being on the hot seat; expected replacement names: Curt Cignetti (Indiana), Matt Rhule (Nebraska), and wild-card Brian Hartline (Ohio State).
• Heisman Race & Breakout Teams
  • The panel effusively praises Indiana and QB Fernando Mendoza for their “team of destiny” run.
    PFT (150:19): “That moment where you’re Indiana…threw a pick-six…this is where you crumble. [Mendoza] goes on a 75-yard drive. That’s a dude.”
  • Alabama and Texas Tech both exceed expectations.
• NIL/Early Recruiting & ‘Star System’ Skepticism
  • Leinart explains the modern recruiting world: “It’s all bullshit, dude. A lot of these guys…get stars based on offers…seven-on-seven is all about social media.”
  • Reflects on his own potential NIL earnings (“At least 4–5 mil a year”).

3. NFL Recap: Monday Night Football & State of the League

[25:13–76:46]

• Bears vs Commanders (PMT Bowl)
  • Extended therapy session for both teams. The Bears win 25–24, thanks to backup kicker Jake Moody hitting four FGs.
  • Blame is assigned: refs (took 14 points off the board per the guys), late-game fumbles, and lack of offensive explosiveness for the Commanders.
    Big Cat (41:38): “The Bears are not a good football team, but they are unequivocally no longer a bad football team. That’s a very important distinction.”
  • The chat dives into coaching improvements ("Ben Johnson is a 25–24 merchant"), run-game fixes, and tough future schedules.
• Falcons Stun the Bills
  • Bijan Robinson explodes; Falcons’ offense shows frightening potential.
  • Bills and Eagles both enter “are they okay?” category after consecutive losses.
• NFL Trends & Coach Drama
  • Chief conspiracy theories: UTEP study says KC gets more “subjective” calls than others, sparking “NFL Rigged” debates ([65:35]).
  • Tua calls out Dolphins teammates for skipping player meetings, then gets publicly corrected by McDaniel: “As a franchise quarterback, that’s not the forum… I think he knows that now.”
  • Early firing of Titans’ coach Callahan and the subsequent hustle by a ticket rep (“if Brian Callahan is fired…”).

4. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jeff Passan on Mariners magic:

  "Jorge Polanco has had three consecutive game-winning hits in the fifth inning or later of playoff games … This is what World Series runs take. A middle infielder who nobody thinks is going to be the hero just going and having the week or two of his life.” (86:44)

• Big Cat, on Dodgers ownership:

  "They have built the team every fan wants to root for, and they've done it within the confines of what the rules are … I want an owner who will spend like them." (104:10)

• Leinart, on rivalry hierarchy:

  “UCLA was terrible when we played them…it didn’t mean as much. … Notre Dame, we lost my redshirt year, so it meant more. Pete [Carroll] always did a great job with that game, really respecting the history.”

• Big Cat, after MNF:

  “That was a game the Bears don’t win, and now they’ve got two of those with the Raiders [and] the Commanders. That’s coaching… The culture has shifted!” (42:02)

• On Refs:

  “Those refs, by the way, are the worst refs in the league. First-year crew … 95 penalties in five games and 22 declined. They're so bad.” (35:36)

5. Rapid-Fire NFL & Sports Miscellany

• Nick Mangold Needs a Kidney
  • The show and the NFL community come together, encouraging fans from every team base to consider donating.
    Big Cat (18:20): “If we can get a rep from all 32 NFL teams … I think that’d be a good thing for us to do.”
• Hot Seat/Cool Throne
  • Range from online cookies and actual cookies, to Cape Verde (smallest World Cup qualifier), and Tua/Mike McDaniel drama.
• Pop Culture & Guys On Chicks
  • Hosts bemoan Netflix documentary quality decline, recommend the "Mayor of Easttown," and field mailbag questions — including NFL players’ hotness and how to get your spouse into football.
• Lottery Ball Segment
  • Shane gets his fourth win; memes still doesn’t find victory, maintaining the running show joke/curse.

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Discussion | |-------------|---------------------------------| | 03:06–15:25 | Early MLB playoff takes (Dodgers/Mariners) | | 25:13–47:49 | NFL Recap — Falcons-Bills & Bears-Comm. | | 82:33–128:33| Jeff Passan Interview (MLB deep dive, labor, banter) | | 132:24–165:41| Matt Leinart Interview (CFB, USC-ND, recruiting) | | 165:43–181:16| Guys On Chicks, Misc., Lottery Ball |

Episode Tone & Style

• Irreverent and humorous but shows genuine enthusiasm and depth in sports talk.
• Constant inter-host ribbing, running gags (e.g., memes’ lottery ball woes, Heisman in a garage, “soft” California schools).
• Frequent digressions into sports pop culture, fantasy, food, and personal stories, but always cycles back with stats and fan insight.

In Summary

This PMT episode is a smorgasbord of whip-smart sports banter spanning MLB October—framed by labor intrigue and the possible end of Yankee mystique—plus in-depth college football discussion with a national champ in Leinart and a classic PMT Monday Night Football hangover. Sports culture, fandom pain, and running show memes tie it all together, with clear respect for the games, the fans, and the perpetual inability to take anything too seriously.

For Listeners:
If you missed it, check out Jeff Passan's explanation of why this Dodgers-Brewers series could impact the next MLB labor war ([95:17–99:20]), and Matt Leinart's honest breakdown of recruiting and early NIL chaos ([158:33–161:08]).
Also: Don't skip the Hot Seat/Cool Throne for takes on cookies, soccer upstarts, and NFL rigging theory ([61:13–76:46]).