Last Call for Giannis Trades, Plus an NFL Round 3 Deep Dive With Chris Ryan, Joe House, and Peter Schrager

Summary

The Bill Simmons Podcast –

"Last Call for Giannis Trades, Plus an NFL Round 3 Deep Dive With Chris Ryan, Joe House, and Peter Schrager"

Date: January 23, 2026
Host: Bill Simmons
Guests: Chris Ryan, Joe House, Peter Schrager

Overview

This episode dives deep into the hottest NBA trade topic: Will the Milwaukee Bucks finally deal Giannis Antetokounmpo ahead of the looming trade deadline? Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Joe House break down possible destinations, trade packages, and philosophical trade-value dynamics surrounding the future Hall of Famer. The second half shifts focus to the NFL’s upcoming Conference Championship weekend, with Peter Schrager joining for a detailed preview of coaching carousel intrigue and both playoff matchups, splicing in a signature blend of sports nostalgia and sharply opinionated football talk.

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I. The Giannis "Final" Trade Machine: Breaking Down Fake Deals

Segment Start: [03:50]

Key Discussion Points

The Bucks’ Predicament ([04:17])

• Simmons: “It feels like we hit rock bottom last night with the Bucks.”

• Chris Ryan agrees the situation is “untenable” for both the franchise and Giannis—too many Band-Aid moves, and now “out of moves” ([04:49]).

• Joe House: Bucks fans want to keep Giannis, but “deep down, they’re going to understand” if he asks out because he delivered a title in 2021 ([05:31]).

Media Pressure & NBA Landscape ([08:13])

• Chris Ryan: “The amount of pressure and scrutiny these guys are under now… also the NBA’s in a weird state where ‘faces of the league’ are mired on mediocre teams.”

Asset Reality & Historical Lessons ([10:10])

• Simmons: Teams often mortgage the future for a short window. “These trades now where you get 120 to 130 cents on the dollar… history is really good for the team getting all the assets.”

• House: Even in "failed" returns (e.g., Pelicans after the AD trade), draft flexibility pays off.

The Picks Landscape ([12:10])

• Simmons lays out the complicated pick obligations between Milwaukee, New Orleans, and Atlanta—tanking makes sense if the Bucks move Giannis, but some trades just tread water ([13:13]).

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II. The Giannis Fake Trade Machine (Trade-by-Trade Analysis)

Segment Start: [16:25]

1. Detroit Pistons’ All-In Play ([17:16])

• Proposal: Tobias Harris (exp.), Jaden Ivey, Isaiah Stewart, picks/swaps for Giannis.
• Simmons: “I would not do this if I was them but… it’s a discussion.”
• House: “There’s nothing in this that’s interesting to me if I’m Milwaukee.”
• Chris Ryan: “This is it. This is the moment. You’re never going to get a guy like Giannis in Detroit otherwise.”

2. Knicks Lateral Move ([20:00])

• Giannis for Anunoby/Towns + Portis/Kuzma.
• Consensus: “No idea why the Bucks would do that.”

3. Is Giannis Overrated as an ‘All-Time Guy?’ ([20:36])

• Simmons wonders aloud: "Are teams really failing over themselves to get Giannis? ... is it a referendum on his game, age, or just CBA flexibility?"

• House: “I vehemently disagree. There’s never been more value placed on flexibility and cap space—there are all these barriers to trades now.”

• Chris Ryan: “There’s a ‘popcorn, butts-in-seats, jersey sales’ element to Giannis, too—which most owners would want.”

4. Miami Three-Team Swap ([25:09])

• Giannis/Portis to Miami, Bam to Atlanta, bulk of picks/salary filler to Milwaukee.
• Ryan and House approve: “This is the best deal you sent us.” “I quite like this trade.”
• Simmons: “If Miami could…turn Bam and picks into Giannis and Portis…that would make me a little nervous (as a Celtics fan).”

5. The Absurd: Luka (Lakers) For Giannis ([27:00])

• Simmons floats a bomb: “Straight one with the Lakers…Luka and [salary filler] for Giannis.”
• Ryan & House: This is the least realistic proposal by far — “Bill, is Rich Paul in the room with you?”

6. Sixers Swap: Giannis for Paul George + Edgecombe ([30:14])

• Simmons: “Giannis and Gary Harris for Paul George, VJ Edgecombe…?”
• Immediate sharp NO: Chris Ryan: “I want to live in a world where VJ and Maxi are the backcourt.”
• House: “This just doesn’t make sense for Philly.”
• Ryan: “There’s a five to ten year future with this team. I want to cheer for a fun young backcourt.”

7. Jayson Tatum for Giannis – Mailbag Special ([34:28])

• Simmons: “Would you even have a meeting about it?”
• Ryan: “Would Danny Ainge do it?”
• Simmons: “Danny would have done it already…but I think Karma-wise, no, Tatum is beloved in Boston.”

8. Golden State ‘Go for Broke’ – All Picks, Kaminga, Pudz for Giannis/Kuzma ([35:34])

• All agree: Maybe interesting if Warriors had acted earlier; now the timing’s off.
• “Golden State would be nuts to mortgage their future for Curry, Giannis, and nothing else.” ([37:31])

9. Houston Rockets: Sengun or Amen Thompson? ([37:47])

• Giannis for Sengun ($20M), picks; or swap Amen T.
• Ryan: “If I was Milwaukee, I’d be most excited about this.”
• Simmons: “I wouldn’t do this if I was Houston. Sengun on $20M is too much value.”
• House: “I might be higher than is rational on Sengun.”

10. San Antonio: The “Give Up Dylan Harper” Test ([40:48])

• Giannis, Kuzma, filler to SAS.
• Spurs must give up Vassell, expiring vets, and Dylan Harper.
• “It’s a really good realistic basketball trade.”
• Ultimately: “If I’m San Antonio, I wouldn’t do it. If I trade for Giannis, I have to feel like I’m winning the title.”

11. Atlanta: The Cleanest Fit? ([43:48])

• Giannis for McCollum exp., Porzingis exp., picks, Realize Jalen Johnson/Dyson Daniels still there.
• Simmons: “Biggest star Atlanta’s had since Bob Pettit.”
• Problem: Would Giannis want to go from a middling team to another?
• House: “Doesn’t he want to take a team over the hump? …Hawks have three more wins than the team he’s on now.”

Bottom Line – Which Makes Sense? ([46:41])

• Simmons: “Miami is the one that’s kind of fun. You slot Giannis in Bam’s spot and…maybe have a chance with Spoelstra and shooters.”

Notable Exchange—Legacy Question ([46:48])

• Ryan: “Do you get the impression…once Giannis leaves, there aren’t a lot of guys at the Bucks sticking around for a rebuild? (i.e., organizational motivation to maximize asset haul is lower)”

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III. NFL Conference Championships + Coaching Carousel

Segment Start: [54:46]

Sweet Spot Nostalgia: Conference Title Games ([55:04])

• What’s your oldest memory? Guests share stories—80s-90s NFC/AFC classics.
• Simmons: “It’s like football amnesia. There are so many huge games, and I barely remember half of them…”

Bills Coaching Search & QB Empowerment Era ([63:08])

• Peter Schrager outlines the ongoing search; Josh Allen will have some voice, but “30-year-old Davis Webb as head coach?”
• House: “Fuck no…the quarterback cannot pick the head coach!”
• Schrager: “It’s such a player empowerment era, but…he’d be the youngest head coach, it’s nuts.”

Andy Reid and the Chiefs: End of the Road? ([70:15])

• Simmons: “You could argue maybe last year should’ve been Andy’s last year.”
• Schrager: “They brought back Bieniemy as offensive coordinator to try to spark something, but Andy will leave on his own terms.”

Would Belichick Make Sense in Buffalo? ([71:35])

• No real “smoke” beyond talk radio.
• House & Simmons agree: “You’d have to keep him far away from personnel decisions.”

The “McFay Unicorn” and OC Market ([73:45])

• 30-year-old OC hires rarely work—beyond Sean McVay, “that is such a swing.”

Vegas Raiders & Draft QB Watch ([77:33])

• Schrager: “I was on the sideline…I think Brady will really be the one who decides if Mendoza is their guy.”
• Vegas may look at defense-oriented coaches, but pairing with the rookie QB is key.

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IV. NFL Conference Championship Games Deep Dive

Seahawks (-2.5) vs Rams

Segment Start: [85:08]

• Intense line discussion & positional matchups.
• Schrager: “When you need it most on a third down, McVay calls timeout, talks to Stafford…they see the hot route” ([90:58])
• House: “First team in the Super Bowl era to not cover the spread in the first two playoff games.”
• Revenge angles: Seahawks’ Cooper Kupp, Ernest Jones—both ex-Rams.
• Simmons: “Three road playoff games in a row is meaningful; it’s just really hard to keep your legs.”

Broncos (-4.5) vs Patriots

Segment Start: [101:03]

• House: “A key math question—should losing Bo Nix to Stidham really be worth SIX points on the spread?”
• Deep dive into Playoff QB debut history: “No QB has ever made his first start of the year in Round 3.”
• Schrager on Jared Stidham: “His nickname is ‘Stiddy.’ …tons of charisma, beloved by coaches, but he’s still a backup QB in the AFC title game.”
• Simmons: “Don’t talk yourself into a terrible QB, ever, for any reason.” ([123:29])
• Gambling Manifesto cross-examines every angle—coaching history, inexperience, and “nobody believes in us” narratives.

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V. The Picks & Props: Ringer 107 Segment

Segment Start: [125:56]

• Seahawks -2.5 “Rams are banged up, Seahawks at home, the travel schedule matters.”
• Patriots ML + Under 50.5 “Line’s too high, close game expected, question marks on Stidham.”
• Ramondre Stevenson longest rec. over 10.5 yds
• Kupp 30+ receiving yards vs Seahawks
• Super Bowl Trivia: If it goes as expected, it’ll be “two Mikes coaching vs each other”; flip side, “two Seans.”

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Notable Quotes

• Simmons, on ‘trading Giannis’ fatigue:
  “I feel like I’ve done this segment five times. But now this is the one. This is the finalized version of fake Giannis trades…” ([00:00])

• Chris Ryan, on NBA player movement:
  “It’s a fascinating inflection point… faces of the league mired on mediocre teams while these juggernaut teams are just going about their business.” ([08:13])

• Simmons, re: patience for asset building:
  “History of those trades is really good for the team getting all the assets. It worked out for Milwaukee (title), but now…” ([10:10])

• Joe House, on Giannis’ legacy:
  “It’s impossible in the CBA world we live in… Cap space, flexibility—that is much more important than how much Giannis is going to help this year or next.” ([21:43])

• Simmons (mock Amazon ad spot for Giannis):
  “Giannis is basically on Amazon right now in a lightning deal.” ([23:35])

• Schrager, on Bills’ coaching pick:
  “If Josh Allen really pushed for his best friend (Davis Webb) to be coach…are we okay with that?”
  House: “F*** no! The quarterback can’t pick the head coach!” ([65:37])

• Simmons, on Patriots run:
  “This has been an amazing run. The line's too high, but I think the Patriots are going to win.” ([119:12])

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VI. Memorable Sidebars & Moments

• Popes & the Seahawks Super Bowl "Curse" ([99:29])
  Schrager: “2005, we got a new Pope – Seahawks went to the Super Bowl. 2013, new Pope – Seahawks went again. 2025…?”
  Simmons: “If it happens, this goes into the gambling manifesto.”

• Patriots’ Denver playoff record is discussed. Simmons laments they’ve “never won there” — “bad losses, altitude is not great.” ([114:18])

• Old Super Bowl betting story – “Bloody Sunday” from Klosterman’s book: The line moved all week and every bet cashed. ([101:03])

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VII. Timestamps of Key Segments

| Time | Topic | |-----------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:50 | Giannis trade situation breakdown begins | | 16:25 | Fake Giannis Trade Machine rapid fire | | 25:09 | Miami three-team (w/ Atlanta) trade proposal analyzed | | 30:14 | Philly proposal (Paul George, Edgecombe for Giannis) | | 34:28 | Jayson Tatum for Giannis? Mailbag question | | 43:48 | Atlanta Hawks as the cleanest "fit" trade | | 54:46 | Conference championship memories/nostalgia w/ Peter Schrager | | 63:08 | Buffalo Bills’ coaching search—QB empowerment/discussion | | 73:45 | Vegas Raiders coaching search and the rookie QB dilemma | | 85:08 | NFC Championship: Seahawks vs. Rams deep dive | | 101:03 | AFC Championship: Broncos vs. Patriots breakdown and QB-debut playoff history | | 125:56 | Ringer 107 picks and prop bets discussion |

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VIII. Final Thoughts

Simmons and his crew turn trade speculation and playoff analysis into a mix of sports nerdery, nostalgia therapy, and gambling manifesto cross-examination. The Bucks’ Giannis dilemma highlights how NBA stars—even “untouchable” MVPs—can become asset management problems under the latest CBA, while the NFL roundtable mulls over QB-driven coaching searches, the realities of playoff QB debuts, and historical context for every matchup.

Endnote:
If you’re into the inside jokes, tense trade machine banter, salty opinions on sports business and legendary games of decades past, this is a robust episode with plenty to satisfy NBA and NFL fans alike.

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Listen to the full episode for all the nuance, rants, sidebar jokes, and the full list of fake Giannis trades.

Transcript

[A]

This episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast brought to you by Spectrum Business. Fast, reliable Internet means everything for your business and even this podcast. That's why I trust Spectrum Business. They keep companies of all sizes connected with Internet, advanced Wi, Fi, phone, TV, mobile services plus 24. 7 US based support. Millions of business owners already trust Spectrum business. So visit spectrum.combusiness to learn more. Restrictions apply Services not available in all areas. The Bill Simmons Podcast brought to you by Fando Sportsbook we're also brought to you by the Ringer Podcast Network. I put up two rewatchables this week. We did just one of the guys on Monday. We did another 48 hours on Wednesday. It was one for us week. On Monday you'll be able to watch the Rewatchables on Netflix. So you'll still be able to get it on Spotify. You can watch and listen to it on Spotify and you can get it on Netflix right now in America and Canada and hopefully in more countries to come. But we are going to be doing Zodiac on Monday. I'm recording it tomorrow. I am over prepared, very excited. I think I've solved the case. Stay tuned for that. By the way, if you like the Rewatchables February 11th I don't know if tickets are left or not, but maybe there's secondary market tickets, who knows. Los Angeles the Bill Simmons Podcast live at the wheel turn ringer.com events and a rewatchables is almost guaranteed to break out during this live show. So if you like the rewatchables and if you like Michael Mann movies, I would highly encourage you to go to this. That is Thursday, February 11th. No, not Thursday. Wednesday, February 11th in Los Angeles. The Wilter. So there you go. Coming up on this podcast, gonna do some basketball at the top. Cause this Giannis situation, I feel like I've done this segment five times. But now this is the one. This is the finalized version of fake Giannis trades that I've combed through. I'm gonna bring in Chris Ryan and Joe House and bounce all of our Giannis ideas off each other. So that starts the pod and and then House is staying. Peter Schrager joining us again. Cause we had good luck last week with our picks. We had a fun football discussion. We're going to talk about the conference championships and a whole bunch more NFL stuff. That's all next. We're going to take a break, bring in Pearl Jam and then Chris Ryan and Johs. The Bill Simmons Podcast is presented by FanDuel. Playoff mode is on FanDuel's got it all. Same game parlays, quick bets for jumping in live offers to boost your winnings every game day. You do not want to miss out on the playoff action. The remaining playoff action we have on FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app or head to FanDuel.com BS to get started. 21 plus in President select states or 18 plus in President DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Gamble problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com, call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut. All right, taping this late afternoon Thursday was hoping there would be a Giannis trade today and so far there has not been a Giannis trade. But Joe House is here. He's gonna be here the whole podcast. Probably complain if I keep him too long. Chris Ryan taking a break from preparing for our rewatchables that were recorded tomorrow about Zodiac which what's the over under in time length? What would FanDuel put in like 2, 2 hours, 40 minutes.

[B]

It's always interesting to just see the length of the pod compared to the running time of the movie and right.

[A]

I think 157 minutes for the movie.

[B]

I'm going over.

[A]

You're going over the 157?

[C]

Yes.

[B]

I think great shot. Gordo might take a full 45 minutes.

[A]

Yeah, we have fantasy too. So he's going to. I don't know. He's going to go full. I don't know what's his outfit going to be? He could wear a beret.

[B]

He's got his bow tie necklace.

[A]

Yeah. We're talking basketball, we're talking Giannis and it feels like we hit rock bottom last night with the Bucks. And I've done Giannis trade segments before, but now we have more information with the season. I would normally throw this at House, but CR this is in your wheelhouse. You love hyperbole. You love things that might not happen. Your team might be involved in one of my fake trades, but what would your two weeks left for the deadline. Is there any chance Giannis is on the Bucks in two weeks?

[B]

I always think that the January that the mid season trade deadline is a little bit overrated as a fireworks display, but this seems untenable. Yeah, this really does seem like I don't really know. He's they have tried so many different band aids and fixes for this and they're out of moves and he seems to be out of patience.

[A]

What do you think, House? I mean they play OKC yesterday, which is the worst case scenario, nightmare situation for a team like the Bucks. But the quotes after the game, and I said this in Tuesday's pod, just like, just ask for a trade. The Bucs fans will get over it. They'll under. Deep down, they're going to understand you won the title for them in 21. Like, it's time. Just do it. What do you think, Cuffs?

[D]

So that was going to be my first question back to you. I was going to answer your question with the question, what do you think Bucs fans want?

[A]

They want to keep Giannis. They want to get through this season and not trade Giannis. I think they love Giannis. They want him to retire with the team. And I totally get it. But for him.

[D]

So that means. But for him.

[A]

He won the title there, though.

[D]

He did.

[A]

That's the part. Like Nowitzki never won the title in Dallas until 2011. And there's some other guys who never won. Like Karl Malone never won in Utah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In this case, he delivered them the title. So if he asks, he's like, all right, it's time for me now to go. I don't think they can get mad at him, Right.

[D]

Oh, no. I'm just wondering, if I was a fan of the Bucks, what would I want now? It's very, very difficult for me to put myself in the shoes of a franchise that's won a title in the last 45 fantasy years.

[A]

It's a top.

[D]

We have two top 100 players now. God damn it. Trey Young is top 100, and Alex Sar is a top 100 player.

[B]

Talking about the Capitals.

[A]

By that capitals, you had two top hundred players.

[D]

House, two top 100 players, nation's capital only three away. I can only, as a reference point, consider the purgatory of winning 39 to 46 games every goddamn season and not being relevant come playoff time. Relevant is fine, but it takes these extraordinary, superhuman efforts by Giannis. We literally watched this in the first round of the just completed a year ago playoffs, where I actually thought the Bucks matched up quite well with the Pacers. And the Pacers ran them the fuck off the floor, ran them out of the gym. It was not close in any way, shape or form, even with the most extraordinary efforts by Giannis. So if I'm a fan of the Bucks, I. I understand the sentimentality and, you know, the. The loyalty of wanting that Giannis thing, but I think it's time to move on.

[A]

Yeah, it's tough because they weren't even that close last year, and they Feel less close this year. And also cr. I think the league has changed. Like, we have to vote for this Ringer 100. We got that email today. The a hundred best players. And that list is just so much deeper and better than it would have been 20 years ago. You could have gotten away with this weird Giannis bucks team in 2006.

[C]

Right?

[A]

They probably would have made the second round, had a puncher's chance to beat anybody in the East. Even with the depleted supporting cast now just feels like everybody's too deep. I don't see it.

[B]

Media ecosystem's totally different now, too. Why we're doing like five pods a week about trade deadline in. In mid January. So it's like the pressure that's on these teams and on these players. I mean, just look what's happening to the Knicks. You know, they. They got a get right game against Brooklyn, but. But like we did so much Nixon Crisis Cat™ Mike Brown on the hot seat stuff. That's like a Finals favorite. Like, they're. They're like a. They're like a pretty good team. They're still third in the Eastern Conference. So the amount of pressure and the amount of scrutiny that these guys are under now, and also the kind of weird state of the NBA where we've got a bunch of quote unquote faces of the league that are kind of mired on mediocre teams, while these juggernaut teams are kind of like, going about their business. It's really a fascinating inflection point for.

[A]

The league, and it's taking a lot of time, energy and attention away from the Joel and Bead Renaissance right now.

[B]

I know that you're being sarcastic, but they're playing the Rockets toe to toe right now, and I just heard the Rockets broadcast say even though he can't move like he used to, you have to pay attention to Joel Embiid.

[A]

I think that's an accurate scouting report.

[D]

He still could get his points move at all.

[A]

He still can get his points. All right, well, I sent you a list of Giannis trades and I intentionally left a couple off and I want to go.

[B]

Did you answer what you wanted? Do you want him to be. Do you think it's best for everybody if he moves on, or do you think that there's, like a path back?

[A]

I think when somebody is as good as him, to put him on a team like this for the rest of his prime to me, is unacceptable. And I think they've exhausted every single possibility to try to fix that, including the really, really aggressive Dame, Miles Turner thing, which I did not agree with, but they've had a combination of bad luck and you know, they, they traded a lot for Jrue Holiday, but that, this is the thing that seems to happen over and over again with the league now where these teams make these trades where they give up all these future assets and then three years pass and everybody gets amnesia. It's like we don't have anything to trade. What are we. It's like. Yeah. Cause you, you traded all that stuff for Jrue Holiday. That's why you can't trade your picks now. And that won you the title. So worth it. It worked out. But. Yeah, but they.

[B]

I wonder if going back, in retrospect, it's like they would have just been comfortable running that title team back more or less into the ground, you know, like, would you? Obviously, hindsight's 2020 with Dame, but.

[A]

Well, I think they would. I don't think they would have done the Middleton trade again if they had to redo that one, but it's, it's a hard one. I said this to Mahoney on Tuesday. House that these trades now where you get 120 to 130 cents on the dollar for your, for your guy because somebody else feels like they have this short window and they have the assets and they want to do it. The history of those trades is really good for the team getting all the assets. You know, like, even if you look, I think the Davis New Orleans trade probably worked out as bad as it could have gone for New Orleans, just because of the actual picks they got in the spots in the draft. And they never really got lucky with one of the lottery picks. And, you know, but that's how it goes. But they had a lot of bullets in the holster, which I think is what you want with those trades. I'm sure. I'm sure Memphis loves the Bain trade, even though I think Bain's become an important guy in Orlando. I'm sure the Nets are happy with the Bridges trade, you know, so I wonder, like, is there a version of that that you could get 120 cents for somebody like Giannis? I think there is. Right.

[D]

I agree. And you know, the thing that the fan base has to be reminded of is patience. Like, even the Pelicans, it's a failure because Zion turned out to not be capable of playing complete seasons. Like, they made many good moves. They drafted good guys in the draft.

[A]

As Achilles and Zion was a letdown. But some of the other moves were great.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

It'S tough because here's the big variable that we have to mention before we talk about these Giannis traits. And people have heard these on the other 450 NBA podcasts have done this, but we just have to mention them at the top, like a disclaimer. They get the worst version of their pick or New Orleans pick. The best version of that used to be with New Orleans, but New Orleans traded it to Atlanta for House's guy, Derek Queen. Dmv. Dmv, AAU All Star. So Milwaukee is still getting one of those two picks. And the worst they get. It's not as bad as you would have thought normally, because the New Orleans pick, New Orleans is also not doing well. New Orleans, by the way, might be the best 10 and 36 team in the history of the league. Every single one of their games. It's a two point game with five minutes left. So it actually is in Milwaukee's interest to become worse this year if they make a trade. And I think that makes this really hard because there's some trades that will go through where they're getting good guys back, but you're treading water and that's not necessarily where you want to be.

[D]

All right, so before you get started, can I ask a question? Yeah. Do you not think that they are now officially competing with Golden State for this, the pool of assets that are out there?

[A]

Well, the Golden State thing's different, right? Because I. I just think it's over.

[D]

So it's just over.

[A]

I think it's also over for Milwaukee, but they have a better asset to trade. Golden State's never trading Curry. Did you see cr. Do you see the Golden State box score the first game without Butler?

[B]

I saw Kaminga did quite well, right?

[A]

Yeah. But you look at it, it's like Curry, I watched 14 other guys. Yeah.

[D]

I made so much money on. On Toronto in that game. Thank God.

[A]

It's just that they have a bunch of ninth man in Curry and Draymond's not tough though.

[B]

Cause it's like Curry's too old to do a. Like, oh, I have a phantom back injury. You know what I mean? Like, they're.

[A]

He's moving into The Kobe from 2012-16 thing where it's like, we can't trade you. You're an icon. Our fans love you. But our team's also not going to be good. So maybe this is just. This is. Now we're making Equalizer 4 and Equalizer 5 with you. We'll give you a budget. It'll be solid.

[B]

It's you and a bunch of Italian guys.

[A]

Yeah. There'd be nobody else you could recognize in the cast.

[D]

And Sierra, there's literally a blueprint from this. It's the Sixers did it last year to great effect, to great outcomes. I mean, the only reason we're talking about this Sixers team in any way, shape or form being relevant is because VJ Edgecomb is fucking awesome. He came in and immediately injected life into the team, the franchise. Everybody who plays on the floor likes playing with him. I, I, I continue to resent that he doesn't get more shine in terms of the rookie of the year conversation. Like, we have him firmly in third place.

[A]

All right, stop sucking up.

[D]

Sixes are in nowhere's bill without him. Huh?

[A]

Who did? Stop sucking up. Cr. So you, you have him over Canoppo and Cannippo and Flag?

[D]

I have him over Flag and I think he's at least equal to Knipple now. The shooting by Kanipple is amazing.

[A]

The Hornets kind of shit the bed last night. I was excited for that. Legs was doing the game. I was excited for, for a big thing from them.

[B]

I obviously think BJH comes to fork you the year, but I'm basically like a cult member now.

[A]

Yeah. Between him and Maxi. Yeah, this is great.

[B]

I'm holding, I'm holding on to my Philadelphia real estate. Let's just put it that way.

[D]

You're prepared for the Maxi injury that's coming, right?

[A]

Come on. No, he's playing 41 minutes again.

[D]

Talking about.

[A]

Yeah, he's young. Too many minutes.

[D]

Let him, let him live.

[B]

Let him work.

[A]

You gotta tone that back, cr it's insane. He should be at like 36.

[B]

Really needs to chill for a second, though. Yeah.

[D]

Over, under on how many weeks he's gonna miss.

[B]

Well, the other weird thing is that McCain is now Jared for doing Sixers. Jeremy McCain is now in the G League, which is just like, I don't understand the rotational stuff for what happened with Jericho McCain, who's still like, I think is an interesting.

[A]

I would have already traded for him if I was one of the other teams.

[D]

All right. I derailed us. I'm sorry.

[A]

From least realistic to most realistic. But all trades that I'm sure the teams, the other team probably least had a meeting. Least realistic Detroit. So I sent most of these to you. Harris. Tobias Harris, expiring Jaden Ivory. Isaiah Stewart, who's been awesome for them, and that's a tough piece to give up. And also there's like crazy defensive rim protection numbers with him. This year, which the eye test backs up. Like he had an incredible block of Keda in the Celtics Pistons game. Kata was just going in for a two hand dunk and he just went up and like fucking swatted him. So Harris, Ivy, Stewart, and as many picks and swaps as it takes in, Detroit's like, we're going to make a real run at this. We're already in first place. I would not do this if I was them, but it's a discussion if I was the Piston, so can I.

[B]

Make the case for it?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You're in the midst of an Eastern Conference where the Knicks are in a swoon. The Cavs look like they don't, that this nucleus is not going to be able to put it together and reach the heights that they were at. Yeah, you're getting off years and off, off eras from Miami and Philly and a couple other teams. Like this is, this is your year.

[A]

Well, on top of it, if you get Giannis, you now have two of the best 10 players in the league.

[B]

You could even, you might want to shrink that number a little bit, right?

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

And.

[A]

Oh, how's your thoughts?

[D]

Oh, no, I thought CR was still going.

[A]

I'm sorry.

[B]

No, I'm just saying this is, this is it. This is the moment. You're not, you're never going to get a guy like Giannis to be like, I, I, I'm signing with Detroit. So this is, this is the, the shot.

[D]

You have Totally agree with all of that. And on top of it, it's a lot of pressure on Cade. And I don't mean like, you know, the psychological whatever.

[A]

No, it's the game to game, fourth quarter, game to game.

[D]

It's the same as Maxi. Like, I want both those guys to take a little All Star trip to Boca, trip to Cabo, whatever they need, get those guys away from basketball for a little while. They're going to go to the All Star. Both Maxi and Cade are both starting. And I know for sure Maxi's starting, right?

[B]

Brunson starting.

[D]

Oh, okay, well, whatever, Fine.

[A]

I think might be starting. I thought Maxi and Cade were starting and Jaylen Brown and Brunson. Isn't that what those guys really need.

[D]

Are breaks from basketball so they can get ready for the playoff run? And that's why Giannis to Detroit makes an enormous amount of sense. It immediately changes the impact. It turns, it takes this version of Cade, which is like a 9.875 out of 10 into, you know, north of 10 potentially. And Giannis will, will absolutely love It. I just. There's nothing in this that's interesting to me. If I'm Milwaukee.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Not one piece of this interests me.

[A]

If you're Detroit and you end up with Giannis, with Cade, with Duran, with Thompson, with a couple shooters, you're feeling great.

[B]

Would anyone ever score again on that team?

[A]

Well, and then a rejuvenated Giannis too, on top of it. I think House made the key point. There's too much on Kate in these games. I think it's. I'm not that scared of them in a playoff series like you normally would be with a one seed because I think there's a sameness to how they play that I think is going to be trouble for them. If you're seeing it for seven straight games, you know, over the course of two weeks, it's like, oh, you're going to do the thing where just Kade has to come up with something again, like at some point. More than that, I don't think, you.

[D]

Know what they need Malik Beasley, who was on their team, who they were about to resign. Goodness gracious.

[A]

Speaking of the Knicks, this would be the trade. I don't think either team should do well. The Knicks would do this, but Townsend Anobi to Milwaukee, Giannis with Portis and Kuzma, who would be the Giannis trade tax, who's got a deal for this year, next year and that actually works under the cap and that would be the lateral move trade for the Bucks. I have no idea why they would do that. I would just keep you honest at that point. I would reject that. I think you guys agree.

[C]

Yes.

[B]

I mean, it would have been an interesting hypothetical world to live in if they had lost to Brooklyn yesterday.

[A]

It's like full panic. It would be more interesting if they had three first round picks they could throw into a framework like all the Bridges picks. Basically. Right before we keep going, I want to mention something. It's a point I made a month ago and it was near the end of the podcast and I thought it was a really important point and I'm going to basically karaoke it. Do we think Wes A Giannis as an all time guy when he seems really available right now and everybody's like, eh, like Philly would be like, no, we're not. Maxi's off the table. No thanks. I just wonder like I made the point that in, you know, the mid-2000s, if Duncan, like when KG became available, every team in the league was trying to figure out how to get KG when. If Duncan was never available, if Duncan had been available, every team in the league would have been like, what do you want, Maxi? Done. Let's call it in right now. Something about Giannis and how particular his offensive game is and I, I don't know and maybe his age, but it's. I don't know if his trade value is as high as maybe I think it is in my head. So what do you think of that House?

[D]

Not only do I vehemently disagree. Great. I vehemently disagree. I think it's impossible in the collective bargaining agreement world that we live in now with aprons and every other sort of all of these nonsensical efforts at a hard cap in basketball to measure ERA against era. This is a one of one and we still haven't really yet gotten to the full effect of the ramifications, the barriers to the old school way of doing trades and stuff. And only thing that teams are looking at this is my sense is what's our flexibility. Flexibility is the thing cap space. There's nothing more valuable than in the NBA than, than, than cap space and flexibility. And so that now becomes the per. That that's much more important than how much Giannis is going to help your basketball team this season or next season.

[B]

I wonder if it's just also a referendum on he's now. It's, it's been an unhappy situation for several years now. So it's, it's. We've got equal amount of years of not necessarily him being unhappy, but the Bucks not firing on all cylinders or having a postseason, you know, combustion because, you know, he gets injured or something like that. So I wonder whether or not people are like I'm going to keep my powder dry or I like my team. You know, we're going to go through a couple of other teams and I do think Zach and Kirk were talking on Zach show the other day about there is just a, a popcorn butts in seats, ratings and jerseys element to getting Giannis and getting one of the like most recognizable names in the sport that I think most owners in this league would probably be like, yeah, I want that. But I don't think it's any kind of like referendum on his ability or his legacy or all time standing.

[A]

It's just hard for me to believe the three best teams in the league are like, yeah, we're good. And Giannis is basically on Amazon right now in a lightning deal.

[B]

Amazon comes along if you buy one battle on 4K, you get Yanis.

[A]

Well, did you see the Kurt Russell movie Breakdown? Was lightning deal or it was like 50% off.

[B]

And I was like, that's how they get you.

[A]

I was like, oh, that's a pretty good price for Breakdown. I really like that movie. I get the train crash in 4K. All right, next one, we're starting to move a little more realistic, but I still don't like this either. It's Miami and there's a lot of variations where you could go with this. And I actually brought in a third team, the one I sent to you where Miami has to give up Bam in the trade. In my opinion, when we're doing this two months ago it was Khalil Ware, it was hero and picks, and I just don't think that's going to do it. And also Bam's, maybe his trade value has dipped a little bit with how he's looked offensively this year. So anyway, the trade would be Miami gets Giannis and Portis, Atlanta gets Bam, Milwaukee gets the Rozier contract, which I'm just trading until Adam Silver tells me not to because still waiting on a ruling for him. The Porzingis expiring Reese, three Miami picks and they get their New Orleans or Milwaukee pick back and they get all of that and they give up Giannis. And now we're in the neighborhood of there's a lot of assets there that you'd have to think about. So as you look at that, what makes the least sense out of those three Cr.

[B]

For, for which team makes it. Does it make sense?

[A]

Which team is probably like, eh.

[B]

I would probably say Atlanta, I guess doesn't. Why, why would Atlanta get help people out here?

[A]

But well, if you could get, if you could basically trade Risa Shay and that, you get Bam.

[B]

I see.

[A]

And you get Bam.

[B]

I gotta say, when you did this, I, I, I, I put together my, like, starting lineup for the Heat and I was like, that's, that's nerve wracking. That, that, that would be like the newly constructed Heat would be nerve wracking. I don't know if you, if you're throwing in all those picks. I think, I think this is the best deal that you, you set us. Honestly.

[D]

Wow.

[A]

What do you think?

[D]

House CR beat me to it. I quite like this trade and I don't know why you have it in the, in a lesser realistic kind of place. It feels very realistic to me.

[B]

Probably because it was like, Bam was like off, off the table for a long time and now it's like, okay, what are we talking about here? Like, if you could do where. And Giannis in a front court I.

[A]

Mean, I guess the hard part is you anytime there's a three teamer. That's why I make it less realistic. I think the three teams hard Atlanta would have to decide the richer, say, pick and the chance to move into the top three with that New Orleans or Milwaukee pick. You're just cashing in with Bam right now. And I don't know if they would do that. I don't not. Maybe Reese is just not in the trade. Maybe it's just that pick only and they get Bam. But the. The Celtics fan side of me is looking at it going, fuck. If Miami could somehow just turn Bam and expirings and picks into Giannis and Portis, who would be the most he guy since Haslam, like that would. I'd be a little nervous.

[B]

They basically like, they could not get a single injury to their starting five.

[A]

No.

[B]

But they were terrifying in a playoff series.

[A]

Next one. All right, so we marked that one down. We like that one the most. Next one is just a straight one with the Lakers. It's just Luka and Clebas expiring for Giannis.

[D]

What did you just say?

[A]

I didn't put that one on my list with you guys. I wanted the, the reaction. It's just the Lakers saying fuck it and turn in Luka and Giannis paying Reeves, keeping LeBron.

[B]

Bill, is. Is Rich Paul in the room with you? No, I'm just.

[A]

I want to talk it out. The part that makes no sense is Luka going to Milwaukee. But if you're Milwaukee, you do this now and you have two weeks to trade Luka. It's a Luca auction. Remember when all the teams were mad last year?

[B]

Oh, man.

[A]

Remember last year when like Utah, they were like, we have 17 picks. We would have traded all of them for Luca if we knew it was available. It's like, all right, Milwaukee has now acquired Luka. Here's the auction. Let's go. You guys got two weeks to make us your best. And then.

[C]

And.

[A]

And then they basically just shop.

[B]

So is the idea here that Giannis would fix the Lakers defensive problems and then It's Reeves and LeBron and that's. That's the team.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah, boy. It's not bad.

[D]

It's a terrible trade.

[A]

It's not bad. No, it's not going to happen. It would be one of those. I do feel like out of all the things towards realistic.

[D]

Yeah. Why did you drop that one into here now?

[A]

You thought I should have started with that one.

[D]

Yeah. Maybe it's by far the least realistic.

[C]

Is it?

[A]

If you're the legacy of trading Luca again? Yeah. Why?

[D]

For what? Under what circumstances?

[A]

Got Reeves? I don't know. I was throwing it in there, starting shit.

[B]

Haven't you done enough?

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

We'll take a break and then we'll keep going. The Bill Simmons podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. We are in the second to last weekend, three games left, two this weekend, a trip to Super Bowl LX60 on the line. FanDuel's turning on playoff mode right now. All customers get a profit boost pack during the conference championship round, AKA Round three. That means you'll find a pack loaded with multiple profit boosts waiting for you in the app. More boost means more ways to level up your playoff bets. We are going to be covering all of them when we make Ringer 107 picks a little bit later in this podcast with Peter Schrager and Joe House. So get ready for that. Visit fandor.com NFL grab your profit boost pack for the NFC and AFC championships. You must be 21 President in select states or 18 in President in D.C. kentucky or Wyoming. Opt in required bonus issued as non withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply including any token expiration, max wager amount. See [e-mail] gamprom call 100 gambler or visit rg d help.com call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org Chad Connecticut all right, coming back with some Giannis trades. Here's another one on the list that I did not send you and it involves the Philadelphia 76ers. And here's the trade. It's Giannis and the Gary Harris tiny contract.

[B]

Always loved Gary Harris for Paul George.

[A]

The 2029 Clips Phillies swap pick that Milwaukee has in Vijay Edgecombe. No, no, no.

[D]

Flat out no.

[A]

For the Sixers, it's a no.

[B]

I. I want to move on. I want, I want to, I want to live in the world where Vijay and Maxi are the backcourt and I don't want to watch Embiid and Giannis occupy the same areas of the floor.

[A]

So CR is telling us that VJ Edgecombe has a higher trade value?

[B]

No, I'm just saying that there's, I'm.

[A]

Just, I'm trying to get this straight.

[B]

There's a five to ten year future of this team that doesn't exist the way you just set it up. And I want to cheer for like a fun young backcourt. It's been a while since like I got to do that. So if you're just asking me, as a fan, I'm cool. I'm cool standing pat. You know what I mean? Like, this is a fun team to watch on a night to night basis. A little bit maddening. Generational divide sometimes on the court, but I don't. I don't think so.

[D]

This goes right to the heart of what I was trying to articulate, maybe not so artfully a short bit ago, in terms of how do you properly assess Giannis's trade value? It doesn't make any sense for him to go to Philly.

[B]

Would Giannis and Embiid. Would you. Would you say they were the favorites in the Eastern Conference?

[A]

You know what's. I wouldn't. That the reason we do this as a long time. Darrell's been in my life for 20 years now. Darrell has always been one of those, if I have three of the best guys and I can win the title, I'm going to move the math my way. And this trade would end up giving them Giannis and Maxi on the same team with the Embiid wild card. And you could say, wow, if we can get Embiid somewhat healthy in April, May, June, and I also have Giannis and Maxi, who are two all star starters in an appetite conference, I can make the finals. That would be the conversation you would have. I don't think they would do it either.

[B]

How old is Giannis?

[A]

Yes, I've sucked CR in. Giannis is 31. He was in the 2013 draft.

[B]

You know how you're like, you. You take the phone call, you go have the coffee. It's like, let's get the coffee. Let's walk around the block a couple of times. But I don't see.

[A]

This is like Zodiac where I'm Jake Gyllenhaal and you're Ruffalo, and I'm like, arthur lee Allen live 50 yards away. And you're like, no, I don't know. It's not him. Handwriting sample said no.

[B]

I know.

[A]

I think you're right. I think they probably would not do this because they'd be afraid of how mad the fan base would be. Because the fan base has already decided, this is great. Maxi and bj, Sign us up.

[D]

We're good.

[A]

House is laughing. He loves this.

[D]

Well, I do think it makes sense. It's. It's bananas for the Sixers to just sit tight. They should move off of Paul George by any means necessary. But.

[A]

Yeah, but that's. He's two years left after this one, so. So you, you could say you're getting off Paul George. You're using the Edgecomb thing to do that.

[B]

God, you have no idea how fun it is to watch him play. Like, it's. He's such a fun player, too.

[A]

So if I do trade value again, forget about, like, all the reasons for it. I do think Vijay Edgecoat might have a higher trade value than Giannis, as crazy as that sounds on a rookie deal. Forty games into the season and it's like, we can't trade him. He might be fucking Dwyane Wade, like, for real. This might be mid 2000s. Dwayne Wade again, we're not trading him.

[B]

I love him, man.

[C]

I. I just.

[B]

I. I don't know how contagious that that is for everybody else in the national scheme of things, watching him, but it's. It would be really tough to watch him go away. And also, like, so what's Giannis's current deal? How many years does he have left?

[A]

Like, two years left. So you'd have to worry about that.

[B]

Okay, so do. But do you wind up going right back into. Will Giannis stay or will he go?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And is Giannis happy? And does Giannis like Nick Nurse and does Yanis like playing with Joel Embiid? And does Giannis like the apartment that he got in Philly, like, or whatever? You know what I mean? Like, I don't. I just. I'm just really, really enjoying the page turning that's happening for the Sixers.

[A]

CR was like Andrew McCarthy in San almost Fire. He's like, I love her, man. I just love Maxi man rolling his eyes. All right, we're moving on the next one. I did not come up with this idea. It did come from a mailbag emailer named Will Jayson Tatum for Giannis, straight up.

[B]

I'm glad that you're doing some self reflection here.

[A]

He wrote, I don't want to do this, but this Celtics team is the Giannis team that he's always needed. And JB is the exact teammate that Giannis needs. This team and what they have going this season, this team Giannis needs. I don't want to do it. Tatum is going to be awesome, but would you have to have a meeting about it? I wouldn't do it.

[B]

Would you have the meeting?

[A]

I would. I just. I think karma wise. No. I love Tatum. I think he has a chance to have a Curry type of career. It is amazing how logical a basketball trade it is because for Milwaukee, it's an official tank, right? They'll tell Tatum, come back in October and then Boston just turns Tatum and Giannis, basically. So basketball makes sense. But I don't think Boston would ever do that.

[B]

Would Danny Ainge do it?

[A]

Danny Ainge would have done it already. He. He already. Tatum would have already done it.

[B]

While Jason Tatum was on the ground.

[A]

He would have done it. As Tatum was working out on Monday, it would have been done. I don't think anyone else that is affiliated with this team would do it, though. But it is a really interesting basketball trade. All right, the only. So there's three teams plus this next one, and this is the last, like semi unrealistic one. Even though you guys like my Miami trade. But there's a Golden State scenario where it could be Giannis and Kuzma. Kuzma is the Giannis tax. Milwaukee gets Butler's contract, which she's not playing this year, and maybe comes back, trade deadline next year. You could either trade him, whatever Kaminga, Pudzemski, and then just all of the picks and swaps you can possibly get from Golden State, you're like, I'll take all of them.

[B]

Just go for broke.

[A]

Yeah, I'll take all of them. Give me the next seven years of stuff you have, and in whatever order you want to do, I'll take everything you have. And you're basically betting on shorting the Warriors. And if you're the warriors, you're like, we have this generational Curry thing going on that we still might have three, four years left. We're adding Giannis, we can build around this. Who cares about the picks? It's mildly interesting. It becomes more interesting now that Butler's hurt because it helps Milwaukee this year, but what'd you think of this house?

[D]

I need to know more about what the picks are. Do they have their own first round picks for the foreseeable future at Golden State?

[A]

Yeah, they have. I have it here. I have a whole document. They have their. Basically all their own first round picks. And then they have this weird 2030 situation with Washington where.

[D]

Not weird. Washington got that for Jordan Poole.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

But it's like they still, it's. They still keep it under a lot of different scenarios. Right. All right, so that's that. I, I don't think this trade will happen. I think Golden State would be nuts to mortgage their entire future for Curry, Giannis and nothing else.

[B]

Well, I mean, it's like, it's almost like it's too late, you know, like they could have mortgaged their future a year or two ago.

[D]

Well, they did kind of. That was The Jimmy Butler acquisition.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

All right, we'll move on just towards acl.

[A]

That's right. Three teams left. Here are the big. Here's the big three. We gotta talk about the Rockets. I did every machination. The one I sent you guys was just Giannis. Damn. Vlietz in it. Sengun, a 27 Phoenix first and an unprotected 2031 Houston first. Maybe one more pick needs to be in it. I don't know. But you're basically turning giannis into Shengoon. $20 million last year and a couple picks, and it seems like a pretty fair trade.

[B]

I think that if I was Milwaukee, this would probably be the most excited I would be.

[A]

You're getting a young center who's on.

[B]

A really good contract, who might even be. I mean, at least, like, analytically or statistically would probably even pop more in a world where there wasn't so much sharing going on.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Even though he's a great passer. But, yeah, I think this would get me the most piped up.

[A]

House, would you rather pursue him or Amen Thompson if you had a choice?

[D]

Ooh, that's a great.

[A]

Which player do you like more as a building block for the next 10 years?

[D]

I might be higher than is rational on Sengun. I think Amin Thompson is going to be incredible. He already is incredible, but the. I feel like it's just the direction the league is in right now, having somebody around the rim who's as effective as he is.

[A]

Yeah, that. That's.

[D]

That's an asset. That's an outsized asset in this day and age. In my.

[B]

I have no doubt that Amin's going to become like what we all think he's going to become, but it's just like, I feel like you can build around Sengun and you can run.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

A system based on him and Amin seems more complimentary.

[A]

Both of those Thompson kids, like the Celtic, came on Monday night. They weren't even guarding the Detroit Thompson at the end of the game. Yeah, they were just like, do whatever you want, man. So he was kind of roaming around like a free safety on offense. But I gotta say, I wouldn't do this if I was Houston. It's weird because the Durant timeline kind of confuses them. It feels like then they should have urgency because the AGs have. But that I. That wouldn't make me want to. I still feel like Sengun and Thompson, I care about that with Jabari and with Reed, and I feel like that's my team and that's my team for the next seven years. And KD can help us with the ceiling of it. But I'm not making trades because I have kd, I think is where I've landed, and I wouldn't do it. I would keep sengun, especially 20 million less. So it sounds like we all agree this next one's more interesting. So I sent you Giannis, the Kuzma tax, and a small contract. Coffee for Vassell Olynux expiring. Barnes is expiring and Dylan Harper. Under the old adage, if you're going to get something, you got to give up something. So it's like, you want Giannis, give us Dylan Harper. Like, pony up.

[B]

I don't think the spurs would do this.

[A]

I don't either. It's a realistic basketball trade, though.

[B]

It's a really good realistic basketball trade.

[A]

It's exactly the kind of trade. If the Bucks are going to trade Giannis and they're like, what'd you get back? We got a guy who can be an all NBA guard in four years. Have you seen him? I mean, if anything, he's fallen off a little for San Antonio because they're too good. Like, they. Yeah, he actually is a little bit. A little up and down, but. House your thoughts.

[D]

Yeah. So I'm looking at it and I'm like, well, where are the picks? Because if I'm Milwaukee, I want some picks. But the answer is, well, the pick is. We have a pick. You have a pick. It's Dylan Harper.

[A]

They were sending you a franchise, potential franchise guy. And.

[D]

And guess what, You. You don't have to go into a draft and take a swing. This guy can play. We. We've seen him. He can play in the NBA. He can be impactful.

[B]

He's probably ready to be more than what he is now, even, like, at the early age.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

If this is kind of similar to the Philadelphia conversation, but if you're San Antonio, aren't you thinking, these guys are on Wemby's timeline. We like our team. We've worked really hard to get this. We got really lucky with Castle and Harper.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

We have Fox. Like, we're very excited about this guard rotation. Like, why disrupt it?

[A]

That's how I would. That's where I would land. If I was San Antonio, I would not do this trade.

[B]

I wonder if people are trying to get. They're like, you're insane. If you have a chance to get Giannis, you do anything you can.

[A]

I guess the question is, if I'm trading for Giannis, I need to feel Like I'm actually going to win the title. Like when the Celtics traded for KG and that what they gave up ended up not being maybe as potent as it seemed in the deal. But it was like we're getting this and we now are the favorites in the east with this trade and have a chance. I don't know if San Antonio did this. If I would feel like they were the favorites in the West, I would still think it's okc.

[D]

So how would they play together? That's.

[A]

Well, that's the other thing. Wemby and Giannis together, I'm not even positive I like it. I think they should trade for Trey Murphy and actually overpay for him. That would be. I talked about that on Tuesday. All right, so we're crossing them off. Well, this last team, this is the deal that made the most sense to me by far. It made the most sense six weeks ago. It makes the most sense now. It's especially now that CJ McCollum's an expiring contract and you can put him and Porzingis together, two expiring 60 million. Reese sachet that New Orleans or Milwaukee pick. They also have the worst version of the Bucks or New Orleans pick in 27. Give that back. Maybe even give them another one and just give Atlanta Giannis. And now if I'm Atlanta, I have Giannis and I have Jalen Johnson, Daniels and I can patch together everything else and I'm relevant in a way that I just. Even though they've had good teams, they had a 60 win team once. It's different. This would be the biggest, the biggest star they've ever had on the Hawks since like Bob Pettit and I love Dominique Wilkins, but it's just a fact. Giannis would be the biggest star they've had.

[D]

It's worth.

[B]

I wonder if that if Giannis. I mean, I don't know how much. Giannis obviously hasn't officially requested a trade. I don't know how much influence he's going to have over a prospective destination. But I wonder if he wants to stay in the Eastern Conference just to stay out of the bloodbath in the West. So you stay in the East. It's a soft East. This is why I was excited about this for Detroit even. It's like you just have an easier path to the finals this way.

[A]

I think House.

[D]

Yeah, I agree with that. The thing I wonder about to the point, the observation around what would Giannis want? Doesn't he want to go to a team that he feels like he can take over the hump.

[A]

That's the problem with this trade, if I'm honest. I'm like, well, the Hawks have three more wins than the team I'm on now, right? Yeah, that would be evidence. That's why that Miami trade is kind of fun, because it's basically the same trade, except you're just putting him in the Bam spot with Portis. And now you could. Now I have this bolster as my coach, and I have a bunch of shooters and maybe have more of a chance.

[B]

Yeah, my body fat content is already heat. Heat level. You know, I don't have to worry about that.

[A]

The thing I don't know yet, because nobody knows, is how loyal they would be to Ayanna's trade request, where he's like, I've decided I'd like to be traded, and I'd like to go to Houston, you know, or wherever he says, where he's just like, I want to go to that team. What is the responsibility of them, to them make a deal with that team when you basically don't have the leverage? We saw this with allegedly with Durant, with Phoenix and Brooklyn, when they basically just figured out that whole trade and didn't involve other teams. We've seen teams do this, but that's a pretty tough spot to be in if you're the Bucks or somebody's like, especially because I don't get the trademark, but one spot like House.

[B]

Do you get the impression that, like, once Giannis disappears, if Giannis leaves is off the Bucks. Like, I don't feel like there's a lot of guys working at the Bucs who are going to be there next year.

[C]

Right.

[B]

So they're not incentivized to be like, oh, yeah, and then we'll work on this five year rebuild. You know, like, they're probably like, there goes my job with this. So I think that changes things a little bit.

[D]

Well, you would have to have so much confidence around the picks that come back with that. And the problem with Houston is we all think Houston's going to be good for at least the next three years, probably longer.

[A]

I like the next three. Yeah. I think when they have. When they have. Well, now Adams is hurt, but when they had their two centers with everybody else, I'm like, this team, I would not want to see this team in a series ever. As soon as one of those guys is missing, it feels different, but I thought the size that they have is really unlike anything anyone else has. All right, well, I don't even know.

[B]

Where we landed no crazy wild card team.

[A]

No, I looked, I tried. Well, to me it was the Lakers and you guys laughed me out of the room. You accused me of trying to start shit.

[D]

Why did you say Luca?

[A]

I'm sorry.

[D]

I'm giving much my butt cheeks together.

[A]

I listed 10 teams.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Seven. Guy. That's. That would be, by the way, if they traded Giannis for Luca. I think that would be the biggest pound for pound NBA trade ever. I was trying to think like from an actual, like the talent of the two guys and the stature. Because like, remember when the Kid Marbury trade was just a straight up and we were like, wow, that what a cool trade. Like a slightly younger, awesome point guard for in his prime. Point guard. These never happened trades like the one for ones never happened like that.

[D]

Why again wouldn't Tatum for Giannis make sense?

[A]

Tell me again why it would make sense. I just don't think Boston would trade Tatum.

[D]

Why?

[A]

I just don't. Because he's going to love it.

[B]

He's going to be back by Valentine's Day.

[A]

Everyone in Boston.

[D]

He'S coming off of a torn Achilles. Why wouldn't Boston trade Jason Tatum? He delivered them a freaking title. He made them relevant, competitive for the entirety of the career. You know, they, they were on an accelerated timeline because of him. They made the Eastern Conference years. Gladly. Gladly I would have, you know, but I'm not in the business of, of, you know, trying to take money out of, out of good, hardworking people from Bethesda, Northern Virginia, just come on down here and watch this team flame out in the first round of the playoffs every year. That's not my business. It's none of my business.

[A]

Would you trade Jaden Daniels? No, I would not. Yeah, Tatum's pretty beloved. I don't see it. I, I think out of the actual wild cards, I would say Philly is the wild card. Not just because CR is here, just because I think, I think Darrell's like, Danny, I don't think he gives a shit. When you talk about the I don't give a shit GMs. Danny in Utah, he's. He's not in this discussion because they're never getting him. I don't think Polinka cares. I think he'll do. He'll. He'll slice somebody's hamstrings if he has to. If it's going to make team 10% better. I don't think Boston's wired like that right now. And then I, and maybe, maybe Riley used to be wired like that. I guess.

[B]

Well, the Riley thing would be the.

[C]

Last great work, right?

[B]

That would be like, I'll finally paint my masterpiece after, like six years of being in hot and heavy rumors for any given available star and missing out on Dame and Durant and everybody.

[D]

I mean, where does Giannis's brothers want to go?

[A]

Yeah, well, Miami. I forgot to put them in the trades.

[D]

Miami's got to be up there somehow.

[B]

I think they'll make their way to wherever he is.

[A]

By the way, I was reading that Lakers story that Baxter did, and Baxter was on Zach's pod today for people listening to this one about all the Bus family drama. And I was thinking, if it got really contentious, wouldn't the fuck you move have been to just trade Bronnie? Like, if we were like, we're really starting. We're really. We're tired of this guy. We're really in fu mode with LeBron. Like, you just like, trade him to Sacramento for with a second round pick. Just like a dump just to like, just to basically do this. It would have been an amazing trade. I don't think it's that bad. I don't. I don't think it's great, but I don't think it's acrimonious like that. I don't think Jeannie's like that. Unless it's.

[B]

That felt like some old family business stuff more than it was about LeBron.

[A]

Pretty fascinating. I got an email from somebody that asked me what family was more fucked up, the Buss family or the Roy's.

[B]

It's close. It's close.

[A]

It really does feel like the Buss family matched that last season of the Roy kids just ready to fuck each other over for the throne no matter what it took. Right.

[B]

I had no idea how many brothers were employed by the Lakers in different jobs and were pulling.

[A]

And then there was another one that was like the. I didn't even know about Sean Buss. That was the mother's kid. It wasn't even. I didn't even understand that one. Yeah, that. It's really something. I. This worked out great for the Lakers. They have the Dodgers owner who's spent a kajillion dollars and doesn't seem to care about money. I would say it was probably a win for them. We'll see how it goes. CR. Who's your football picks this weekend?

[B]

Seahawks and Patriots.

[A]

All right, well, we're gonna send you, Send you packing. I'll see you tomorrow for our three hour Zodiac session.

[B]

I'm just gonna start drinking hot water and Lemon right now.

[A]

House House is staying and we're gonna do some football right after this. So playoff mode is turned on and fanduel has it all. Same game parlays, quick bets for jumping in live offers to boost your winnings. Every game day. I'm gonna stay away from the Patriots. Here's the same game parlay I like on the other side in the Seahawks. Rams Seahawks. Moneyline Rasheed Shahid five plus yards rushing so five five yard run. He's got it. Cooper Cup 30 plus yards that is plus 420 on FanDuel. You can use your 30% SGP profit boost token as well and get an even higher payout. Wow, look at that. Tail my bet. Make your own bet on another game. The possibilities are endless during playoff mode with FanDuel. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. Having insurance isn't the same as having State Farm. It's like expecting the leadership of a team captain on the football field, but getting a sea captain. Sure, they're both captains, but who's going to run your offense? You wouldn't settle for just anything for your team, so don't settle for just any insurance. When it comes to getting the help you need, State Farm is the real deal. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn. If you've ever hired for your small business, you know how important it is to find the right person. That's why LinkedIn Jobs is stepping things up with their new AI assistant, so you can feel confident you're finding top talent that you can't find anywhere else. The best part is that those great candidates are already on LinkedIn. In fact, employees hired through LinkedIn are 30% more likely to stick around for at least a year compared to those hired through the leading competitor. Higher rate the first time. Post your job for [e-mail] Simmons then promote it to use LinkedIn Jobs new AI assistant, making it easier and faster to find top candidates. That's LinkedIn.com Simmons to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. This episode is brought to you by Firehouse Subs who just dropped a game changing Sandwich the French Dip. Literally one of my favorite sandwiches slash subs. Roast beef, caramelized onions, melty cheese, little freshly toasted garlic butter roll and the warm savory au jus. I've been eating these forever since I was living on the east coast in la. I think to me this versus the cheesesteak. The French dip. No contest, way better. And I think it's really because of the au jus. I don't know anybody who doesn't like au jus. An elite game day sub. Fun to order, by the way, if you want it delivered. Because they usually put the au jus in the special little container. You can pour it on. Knock yourself out. The French dip here for a limited time. I wish it was longer. Only at Firehouse subs. Limited time at participating Firehouse subs restaurants while supplies last. All right, Peter Schrager is here. You can see him on ESPN. Sometimes on shows with three or four people, sometimes on shows with six. Like I saw today. It was a six person studio show. I always admire ESPN's. ESPN's pursuance. Persistence. What's the right word?

[C]

Pursuance works.

[A]

Man is pursuing a word I don't even know having. Insistence. Yeah. Before you popped on, you asked us what was the first conference championship game you remember watching? House has no long term memory, so it's a tougher question for him. What is?

[C]

That you and I have that brain where like I remember exactly where I was when I was watching it, who I was with, and I just posed it because you guys are sports junkies. I want to hear your answers.

[A]

Well, I thought I had that brain until I forgot the Seahawks won the super bowl on Sunday's pod.

[C]

That's on.

[A]

Sal.

[D]

That was this week. Terrible, Amazing. Outrageous.

[A]

I genuinely think the first one I remember watching was the Drew Pearson game. Was that conference championship, the Hail Mary. Yeah. Wasn't that a conference championship against the Vikingship game? Yeah.

[C]

Was it 77?

[A]

No, that was like 75. I remember watching that game though.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And then I. That probably somewhere in the 75, 76.

[C]

Range because you used to have a column and I used to love it. And this was probably when you. It was probably 15, 20 years ago where one time you just wrote out every super bowl. The winner, the loser and the mvp.

[A]

What I remember to the game. Yeah.

[C]

This guy shares my brain. Mine is 1990, Candlestick Park. Leonard Marshall sacking Joe Montana. Gary Reasons on the fake punt. And then Lawrence Taylor recovering the Roger Craig. And then Matt Barr hits the field goal. I know exactly where I was in my living room as a kid with my father and my brother. And I was 8 years old. But that's the earliest conference championship game memory I have. House, what about you?

[A]

Oh, so I don't. That was before the conference championship. My pick. That was the round four.

[C]

Was it just playoff game?

[A]

Yeah. I don't remember the 75 ones. I do remember Vikings Rams in 76, 79. That was 76. Because I loved Sammy White as a kid. He was the only non patriot I liked. Remember Sammy Whitehouse? Of course I love Sammy White. So I, I remember watching that game. So what was yours? House.

[D]

The 198283 Washington Redskins. Because that was like, you know, at an age where, oh, I shouldn't say this out loud. I could be a lusty fan. I was going to make, I had something I was going to talk about, like the stage of my own development, my, you know, as the pre. Presence and the, all of that. I was, I, I, it was Washington against Dallas in the conference championship, 1982, for the chance to go to the, to the super bowl. And I was with, you know, my, my, my cohort and we were all going crazy for it.

[C]

You know, you're watching just Mark Mosley bang field goals and you're banging. Okay, okay, okay.

[A]

This is something I've been Dallas's ass.

[D]

That's the key.

[A]

This is something I've been thinking about in the last, the last couple of weeks because I started following that Kevin Gallagher guy who just posted football, but I had never been following him until December and he was posting these games and I was realizing that, first of all, I've been watching football now since 74, 75 range, right? And all these huge games and I cared about all of them and I watched them and I thought about them. And then when I was writing a column, I was writing extensively about them, podcasting about them, but there's almost been too many. So I started this document two weeks ago and I was just writing down all the things. Oh, I love this just with the scores to refresh my memory. And I wrote down all the conference championship games. What I realized, you think about it, there's two games a year and House and I, we go back to 1974, 75 range. That's over 50 conference title games in each conference. So now that's just 100 games out of those 100 plus they're in your brain. Plus like 52 to 54 Super Bowls. So these are 160 of the most important games that I watched that I kind of have to jog my memory to remember what happened. It's not like basketball, house, basketball. I can still remember all the stuff I could tell you better for me.

[C]

Steelers, Colts and Harbaugh playing Pittsburgh in 95. I remember all of these games and, and I think NBA, I would be a little shakier.

[A]

But like, yeah, I go backwards with NBA with NFL I'm always like moving forward. Like today that somebody was talking about the. On Twitter was talking about Marino's Last chance in 95. The Chargers game.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And Stoya Soakovich misses it. Stojanovic missed the 48 yarder. I was like, I think I bet on this game. And I think I, I think I covered. And I just went on YouTube and I watched the last five minutes of it and it was fucking awesome. The Chargers went down. They scored with like 30 seconds left. Then Marino got a pass interference. And I was like, this is great. I was like, it's almost like we have football amnesia. I didn't remember any of the details. I was like, I might just spend the off season just watching one football game a day until the playoffs.

[C]

And I think you'll appreciate this. There's. There's a. There's like one that's called like Giants VHS tapes. It's a Twitter feed. They'll show the intros to the game. So it's like, you know, some are all in Madden 92. You know, it's Cowboys versus Cowboys versus Niners. You know, it's just like you get.

[A]

Chills, then you get the ads. The ads are great. I really. House, I really miss Dick Emberg. That was one of the things, like watching a couple a lot, right? Yeah. For a while. And I was, I just thought he was like, lights out. I really like Charlie Jones was great. But. But yeah. So you think. And one of the recurring themes when you see these old games is how important weather was. It's just this fucking crazy variable that football has where like the Chargers don't win one year because they go to Cincinnati and it's like freezing rain in Cincinnati outdoors. And they just.

[C]

It's the week after Kellen Winslow game, they go to Cincinnati and it's ice cold and it's the coldest game ever played.

[A]

Ice storm, basically. But yeah, the weather. And last week I felt like I thought the Bears outplayed the Rams, but I don't know how much of it was weather related that made the Rams look that way. I don't know what do you take from that game? So. But anyway, it's going to be my off season project. House.

[D]

I love it.

[A]

I'm diving through. I'm jogging my memory because I was writing columns about these games. I barely remember half of them.

[C]

Do you ever go back and watch or think about any of the Bills AFC championship games in the early 90s?

[D]

Wow.

[C]

They would kick the shit out of these teams. I think they beat the Raiders 53, like just huge blowouts four years in a row. And then obviously we know what happened in the Super Bowl. But like conference championship week to me has like a real special place. Like. And even this week they were interviewing McVeigh and McDonald and Peyton and Variable and there's like an NFC NFC championship logo in like the background of. And like that. Even that I get like tingles. Like it's very. I don't know, it's very historic and very reminiscent and nostalgic to like these classic weekends as a kid. I love it all.

[A]

Yeah. I think my favorite non Patriots one was maybe that wasn't the conference. What was the one where Emmett had the sprain, had the separated shoulder and was.

[C]

That was a regular game.

[A]

What was the one against the Giants?

[D]

When it gets the Giants.

[A]

But then in the playoffs. But he wasn't right. And then in the playoffs and just kind of threw the Cowboys on his back. Anyway, I just. I just love that whole Emmett run was really enjoyable. The Niners, when the Montana got knocked out was an amazing game too. There's. There were so many good runs. We're going to talk about two games. Which one do you want to start with or do you want to do offseason stuff first?

[C]

No, you choose.

[A]

What before we do the game, give us your number one coaching subplot this week with all the. That's what I want. All the roulette that went around.

[C]

Coaching subplot that's interesting.

[A]

Like McDaniel picking the Chargers job. Did he. So he couldn't get a head coaching job.

[C]

What happened? He could have been in the running in Cleveland. And he said, uh, I'm gonna pull my name. Jim Harbaugh said, we'd love to have you. Basically he knew he wasn't getting the Baltimore job. So he told them he's in. His wife is from Southern California. And he and Harbaugh hit it off. Now can you imagine the conversations that the two of those guys are gonna have?

[A]

Oh, man.

[C]

Two of the most enigmatic personalities in the league, Harbaugh and McDaniel. But they're going together. And then he withdrew his name from the Cleveland interview process, which so did Jesse Minter. But we knew that the reason Minter was withdrawing his name from Cleveland is cause he was getting the Baltimore head coaching job today.

[A]

So I don't blame McDaniel for that because he just lived in a world where he didn't trust his quarterback. And now you go to Cleveland and you're in the same situation with worse Weather. Why would I do that? You do. You go to the Chargers, you resuscitate Herbert, maybe even try to get him to win a playoff game before his career ends. And then you're the hot candidate a year from now if it goes well. I think it's smart. You like it?

[C]

House, the Buffalo. Buffalo is the one that's we could really dive into.

[D]

Well, let's do it.

[A]

I saw you on TV doing your whole Davis Webb, 30 years old. Can you hire your best friend as the coach?

[C]

What do you think?

[A]

I don't know. I don't, I don't know if I'd hire House as my head NFL coach if I was the quarterback. What happens if we disagree on something?

[C]

So for the. So he McDermott gets fired. We have the fiery press conference. Everyone is crying for Keon Coleman for a full day. And then the next day it's like, all right, they have to hire a coach. So today they interviewed Luanna Rumo and Dabel. We're doing this on Thursday. They have Yudinsky, who's the 30 year old kid from Jacksonville interviewing Sunday. Anthony Weaver is interviewing this weekend and there will be a couple others. The wild card is Davis Webb, who, 30 years old, was Josh Allen's backup for three years. Also his best friend was I believe a groomsman in the wedding. And his final year with the Bills as a backup quarterback was like running the quarterback room. Went to the Giants for a year with Dable and then Sean Payton, the second he met him was like, you are going to be a coach. You're retiring today. You're going to be a coach. He's been on Peyton's hip for the last three years. All this happens. Josh Allen, I'm told, is going to have a voice in the head coaching process. And that led to this conversation which I guess we could open it up like, do you let the quarterback have a say first of all and then B, this is such like player empowerment era that we see in the NBA. But if he really was to push hard and be like, I want Davis Webb as the coach, are we okay with that? Considering their relationship off the field as blood brothers, whatever it is, what do you think?

[A]

S. Fuck no.

[D]

I mean, what are you talking about? It is insane. The quarterback is going to say who the what though?

[C]

No, no, no.

[A]

But he might prefer that the the answer.

[D]

Well, I mean I'm not going to sort of, you know, take too much time on Web Web yet could be a good answer. It's not the answer.

[A]

30 seems young to me.

[D]

Right.

[A]

That's really pushing it.

[D]

And his best attribute is he was under the tutelage of Peyton. That's a good attribute. What's the experience in terms of being leader of men? We just went through this. We have a lot of failures. More failures than not. Dable's the right answer. Bring Webb in as, as, you know, whatever. The quarterback's coach or whatever, let him be there in waiting.

[A]

As you guys were talking, I looked up the Emmett years. It was the 92 one, but it was the year. It was. I think it was the year before he hurt his shoulder. But that. So 92.

[C]

They beat the Lion?

[A]

No, they lost. It was Dallas winning in San Francisco in Candlestick, January 93. And Emmett was 24 for 1:14. Seven catches for 59, which is fucking awesome. I love them. Smith, so good.

[C]

Who they beat in the wild card that year?

[A]

They be Eagles. Yeah, Eagles. And then they killed the Bills. But the Niners, that was like, it felt like such a big game.

[C]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Like those Niners, Cowboys. And then when the Redskins were in there for a couple of years, like Giants were in there, it just was like those four teams all together, it was great. I want to get back to that. All right, so if it's not. If it's not 30 year old Davis Webb, who is it then?

[C]

Could it be 30 year old Udinsky?

[A]

You wouldn't want that either. Joe.

[C]

Joe House.

[D]

No, Joe. I want that.

[A]

Too young.

[D]

What happened? I'm 12 hours behind the cycle. Where's Flores? I know florist signed an extension with Minnesota, but he has the possibility of, if he gets a head coaching job at one or two places, he can leave.

[A]

He interviewed in Buffalo.

[C]

He interviewed in Pittsburgh. He hasn't interviewed in Buffalo yet.

[D]

Okay, well, both of those are good. Perfectly fine. Both of those would be great. Great answers to me.

[A]

You know who could give Pittsburgh Some. Some 14 to 12 type of games? Brian Flores. You interested in a 15 to 13 final? Yeah. Don't need a quarterback. I'll just have an awesome defense. That'd be fun. I. I'm excited that Buffalo overreacted, even though I think it was probably the right reaction. The press conference was a disaster. It was the complete opposite of that Ravens press conference. It got people feeling bad for Keon Coleman, who by all accounts was a schmuck this season and had to be benched, even though they needed receivers. Like, oh, feel bad for Keon Coleman. Like, how about just showing up for work every day and being reliable? I don't feel bad for him, but it just feels like a mess. It's so funny. It felt like they had the AFC east on lock for 15 years. Here's just flipping on them.

[C]

Two things can be true, right? Like, it's amazing. For the first eight years, that local fan base and that media was pretty harsh on McDermott. And when he gets fired but Bean doesn't, suddenly McDermott is this, like, knight in shining armor look. Could they have fired both of them? Sure. The other side of it is, should the GM be allowed to pick his coach one time? Usually in the NFL, the GM will get that opportunity. McDermott's defenses, playoff games gave up 311 1/2 points per game. That's tough when you're a defensive coach.

[A]

Yeah. It's like, what's. What is your number one thing you're bringing to the table if you're a head coach? If it's like, it's not really offense, it's obviously not really defense either, because over and over again, we saw that team not get stops. And then it's like, well, is your game management awesome and is your team good when it really matters?

[C]

13 seconds.

[A]

Yeah. Over and over again, that's been bad. So I don't know. I felt like I actually thought what the owner said was the right answer, which is like, we took this as far as we could go. We needed a new voice. I was like, I actually agree with you.

[C]

Yeah. And I think the NBA is a better comparison than the NFL. But, like, Mark Jackson took the warriors to a certain point. Steve Kerr got him over the top. Doug Collins got the Bulls to a certain point. Obviously, Phil Jackson over top. Thibodeau got the Knicks to, they hope. Mike Brown. Like, we see this in the NBA a lot, these teams that fire coaches despite great playoff appearances. The NFL, we don't see it quite as much.

[A]

Yeah, you kind of know when. Especially now in this era where the coaches seem to have a shorter shelf life. I mean, I'm going to whisper this, but you could argue maybe that should have been Andy Reid's last year.

[C]

Last year.

[A]

Oh, wait, why hasn't that been a topic? Like, who was more disheveled and weird and seemingly rudderless than the Chiefs last year? And what did they really do to fix it? Shriggs.

[C]

They brought back Eric Biennami.

[A]

Oh, my goodness.

[C]

Who from 20. Pretty rough 2018 to 2022 was the offensive coordinator when they were humming. And the hope is, if Andy isn't necessarily the. What's the term? The red ass that. That people wanted, you know, at times Eric Van Ami is that guy. And the hope is that his voice coming back sparks something new. But Andy's going to be able to, you know, say when his time is up and he's gonna be able to ride off into the.

[A]

I think he said it with his coaching job last year. It's pretty right. Like we watched that happen with Belichick with the, the Pat some. When some of the game management stuff started slipping, it was pretty alarming. But they just didn't seem prepared to me. They weren't fixing issues they had. I don't know if the locker room was that great behind the scenes. No, no, there was a lot going on there. It didn't seem like a happy team to me.

[C]

There were a lot of voices on my network and others that were throwing Belichick's name in for Buffalo. And the premise being the roster's built already, they're one win away. Like, can Belichick give you one or two years to get this team over? Can you see it or no?

[A]

What do you think has.

[D]

Of course you can. You see it? Yes, yes, yes, I, I can see it. I mean, he doesn't. You don't let him anywhere near the player personnel room. You like, don't even say, oh, yeah, that. That room has its own set of keys. We don't know. No, nobody has it. Like, you know, as long as. As it's just come in and coach up that defense and get some. You know, the pressure's on me now.

[A]

That's really interesting. So that's just like talk show stuff. That's not. There's no actual smoke to that.

[C]

No, there's none at, at all. And I know guys at Buffalo and I would tell you that that's aggregate.

[D]

It has not.

[C]

That name not come up, but I saw it. We did it on get up for like a throwaway segment and then I saw someone else talking about it. And when you think about it just on paper, like, the roster's built, we got the same guys, we have playoff experience. We just need to get over the hump. Like, can. Is there someone who can just win us a game or two more? And I don't know if anyone can win you a game.

[A]

That's a good get up segment. That's like the coffee hasn't hit in yet. And then somebody's throwing that out. Like, whoa. It's like having like throwing a shot of espresso in there. I. So he would. Well, it's a moot point because you said it's not happening, but if he wasn't involved with any sort of picking the players, well, then the other question would be he wasn't exactly awesome at hiring coordinators and coaches the last few years.

[C]

No, the better question is, as a Patriots fan, would you be more worried about him or would you be worried about Davis Webb being hired?

[A]

I'd be more worried about Belichick.

[C]

That's telling.

[A]

I would. House agrees?

[D]

Of course House agrees.

[A]

What are you talking about? See, now I'm going to get worried this might happen. Like, I mean, it's fun. As a Pats fan, I hope they hire a 30 year old coach. That would be the dream. How old was McVeigh?

[C]

McVay was 30. He's the youngest ever. And then this.

[A]

You didn't. He's younger than Faye's a fucking unicorn. So if you're thinking about matching that one again, good luck.

[C]

McVeigh was hired after. And House, you remember this season they lost to the Giants, Washington in week 17 to a Giants team that already clinched they lost 19 to 10. McVay was the play caller only one year. And I remember talking to him, he's like, I just pissed down my leg. I have no shot at being a head coach. Like, it's never going to happen now. And he got interviews with San Francisco and the Rams and he won the Rams job despite being on a team that didn't make the playoffs, being 30 and despite, you know, falling on his face in week 17. Like, that is such a swing. I don't know if the Bills or the Browns are willing to take a swing on you. Dinsky, who's 30, or Davis Webb, who's 30. Like, I, I love being aggressive, but.

[A]

Not when you have Josh in the prime of his career. House, what would be that? You can't say Hugh Jackson or people like that. What would be the funniest coaching hire for the Bills? Is it Mike McCarthy where it's like, it's just, you could talk yourself into.

[D]

It, but I kind of could talk myself into Mike McCarthy.

[A]

But it's kind of funny where you're just going sideways from Sean McDermott to Mike McCarthy car thing.

[D]

No, Tony Dungey would be funnier to me.

[A]

It would be like grabbing somebody would be the funniest.

[D]

Jason Garrett would be the funniest. But he got an interview in Tennessee which was literally amazing.

[A]

He did not get a second favorite stories, so. And then your guy, your guy, nine kids. Salah got the Tennessee, got the job.

[C]

Got the job, nine kids. They're going to be moving from San Francisco To Nashville, his third place in three years. Pack the kids, let's go.

[A]

That's great. I mean, perfect place to live. Get a nice house. It's like 20 minutes away from the city. You get like a nine bedroom house.

[C]

Live in that place to live. Franklin.

[A]

Yeah. Great job.

[D]

All right. I wish. I want somebody in his life to say, you know, the jets to the Titans isn't like the line. Like, you just went through chaos and chaos was. And it. And you saw how much it sabotaged you. Because I actually think that Salah's. Bobby's a. I think he's got a. There's a coach in there, a good coach in there somewhere. And, and what he did with that defense, like, hey, that San Francisco defense.

[A]

But going to the Titans with the key quarterback.

[C]

The key is the quarterback. And I think this pod and the three of us last week were very positive on Cam Ward. And I got texts from people being like, whoa, you, house and Simmons sure love Cam Ward. I'm like, he showed great flashes. And that's why that was an attractive job. There's also a new stadium coming next year and there's a lot of salary cap space. And their new gm, Mike Borgonzi is a smart dude. Boston guy, smart guy. That said, all right, the offensive coordinator position is what matters. Casala doesn't call the offense. So you hire Salah and now we're two days later. Cliff hasn't committed anywhere yet. He might go to Baltimore or Nashville or maybe Vegas. And then who else are you talking to? You thinking day ball? Maybe if he doesn't get the job in Buffalo, like, but that's going to be the most important hire there. Casala's got nothing to do with, you know, cam Ward and 3rd and 6. What are we calling?

[A]

You know, I thought it was interesting what happened to the jets defense after he left, where it became clear the jets defense was overachieving when he was there. And you could see it just do this right after. So day ball to Buffalo is probably the most. That would be the second most nervous I'd be as a Pats fan. Cause he. He knows. He knows the city. He gets it. He's worked with Alan.

[C]

He's from there, too.

[A]

He's been really good. I think you could argue that Giants thing. He just said bad luck left and right for years and years and years. And maybe he learned some stuff.

[D]

Right. Who's the defensive coordinator, though? That's the. I need to know the answer to that before I have an opinion.

[A]

Luanna Rumo, maybe He's bouncing around. Could be last one Vegas, the Vegas one. As you know, I love that job. And Mendoza, I think his stock's even higher than it was two weeks ago. And I think they have talent on the roster. I don't mind the job. So who gets that one?

[C]

I was there on Monday night at the college football playoffs, and I'm on the sideline before the game, just doing my usual walk around like a. Whatever, a nebbish. And I'm watching Brady, Mark Davis, John Spytek, Egon Durbin, the other owner. The four of them just staring at Mendoza, just watching every.

[A]

Oh, like I thought. Like they're at like two in the morning checking out a chick.

[D]

I thought. I thought he was going to say staring at Abuela. Danger, Danger.

[A]

Staring at Alex Earl. Just watching how everything he did. Yeah, yeah. And that's what I do when I go to basketball games. I love watching the guys in the warmups. I like watch the third timeouts. You can learn so much from that stuff.

[C]

And he played amazing and he was awesome. And on fourth down, makes the play. That's everything you'd think Brady would ever want. Just give up your body and just dive and flip and do the helicopter, whatever it is. So I would think he's their quarterback. I would think not knowing anything. And I think I said this last week, like, Brady's going to make that decision. And if Brady isn't a fan of Mendoza, that won't be the quarterback. So anything I say or Danny Kelly says or field Yates or Mel Kuiper, Daniel Jeremiah says means nothing. It's whether Brady thinks he's the guy. But I think Brady was probably impressed by that. The coaching position is fascinating, though, because I had been hearing Minter as a popular choice for Vegas. And then Davis Webb's name keeps coming up there also. So you've got not Cliff defensive coach. Yep. Or Cliff hasn't interviewed there. They haven't given Cliff an interview. So Vegas, to me, who's going to be best with Mendoza?

[A]

Do you. That's it, right? That.

[D]

That's the answer to that. If you take Mendoza, then you. Then you need a coach that is going to help that kid like, you know, become the best version of himself.

[A]

Do you have to hire. Is there like a time limit to hiring a head coach? Has anybody ever dragged this along until like March just been like, yeah, we don't. We still don't know.

[C]

Well, the Colts were left at the altar when Josh McDaniels left and they hired. Who do they end up Hiring that year instead I'm going blank.

[A]

Was it Chuck Pagano? No. Yeah. No, not some hired.

[C]

Whoever between.

[A]

Whoever's between Pagano and Shane Steich.

[C]

I'm so embarrassed right now. Frank Reich. That's who it was. Frank Reich.

[A]

And then last year we made money on Frank's last year. Frank was a go to.

[C]

And then last year Kellen Moore wasn't officially hired until after the, the Eagles, you know, won the Super Bowl. They can't meet with any coaches in person and they can't interview them in any sort of way if the team is still alive in the playoffs. So if Shula or Schill House or, or Davis Webb or Vance Joseph or Clint Kubiak, you go down the list of all these guys. I don't think there's anyone in New England who's interviewing for head coaching jobs. But any of those coordinators win another week, well, that only pushes it back even more. And I don't know if these teams are looking to wait.

[A]

I was worried about our, our precociously young defensive coordinator who had to step up. He's like 28. Because our, he's. Our defense has been really well coached and has gotten better week by week, month by month to like it's noticeable it's than it was and I think he has to get credit for that.

[C]

But yeah, well, Tara Williams, you know, fell ill early on in the season and then this guy has been calling the plays but is maybe the most underappreciated gem of this entire. He's been great Patriots run. Everybody likes inside linebackers coach him and.

[A]

Matt Collins, the two unappreciated gems of the 2025 PAT season. All right, we'll do the games.

[D]

I just want to say beyond the record, I think Kubiak would be amazing in Vegas and Mendoza would be really because what Kubiak did with taking what every single one of us, at least I don't. I won't put you in our box Trigger Forecasting how the Seahawks was going to do. The bit that we were most concerned about was that offensive line and somehow that offensive line turned out to be absolutely perfectly. Sam Darnold was back there thriving over these last six weeks. They established a run game, a two headed monster. Kubiak has really just excelled. I think I agree with that.

[A]

And I looked at Vance Joseph's Broncos thing because I, I remember not feeling great about him as a coach, but not feeling terrible. But then you look back at the, the team that he had, he had no quarterback at all.

[C]

So I was like Osweiler.

[A]

Yeah, it was a mess. I think when you, when you're these guys that have failed, but they failed specifically because they had no quarterback whatsoever. That's, you know, that was how Atlanta jumped on Stefanski right away. Because you could excuse the last couple years now whether it's valid or not. You find out when he's in the next spot.

[C]

One team that's interesting is Arizona. There's very little reporting on it. The team does not announce when they interview coaches, which is so refreshing and fun. You know how these teams like put out the social media posts.

[A]

I don't get that at all.

[C]

I don't either. Let the reporters do the job. Like go find out who reported. I will say this. Raheem Morris interviewed very well there. He could find his way back into the head coach.

[A]

Can you just hire like a game management assistant?

[C]

They won their last four games after being eliminated. There's something to be said for that in Atlanta.

[D]

I think he would be awesome as the defensive coordinator of the Bills Day ball and Raheem Morris would be that. Now you're. That would be something.

[A]

I've made this point multiple times. I thought Atlanta was like easily the best under 10 wins team in the league. Like if there was like a play in tournament of all the non playoff teams, I would, I think they would have been favored and that they were one of the best teams the Pats played.

[C]

Oh, they should have won that game. We've talked about that missed extra point. But I was there when they beat the Rams. I was there when they beat the Bucks. Like they, they win. I was there when they beat the Bills.

[A]

Weren't they. I mean, weren't they three kicks away from being 11 and 6? Basically? I think that's what it was. It was like a missed Pat the coup field goal and one other one. This episode is brought to you by the movie Shelter. Guys, the first great movie of 2026 is here. Shelter stars Jason Statham as a rogue agent in hiding who's forced to return to the field to protect an innocent girl from the shadowy kill squad he once worked for. This sounds like my kind of movie. Statham at the top of his game, unleashing vengeance and confronting the demons of his past. I'm still in. The twists and turns will keep you guessing. It all adds up to the most heart racing, pulse pounding thrill ride of the new year that truly deserves to be seen on the big screen. From Black Bear Pictures shelters in the theaters everywhere on January 30th. This episode is brought to you by TaxAct. Like an expert coach, TaxAct offers step by step guidance and guaranteed accuracy when filing taxes. Get tips along the way. Add expert assist to talk to tax experts and let our experts do your taxes for you. With Expert full service, TaxAct helps you find the deductions and credits you deserve so you can get them over with. Visit taxact.com to learn more. Conditions apply. See taxact.com for details. All right, which game do you want to hit first? House you pick Broncos or or Seahawks? Rams?

[D]

No, let's, let's do Seahawks Rams first because the Broncos and Pats is just so hard to to to to put arms around. I feel like Seahawks more straightforward one is just this rubber match.

[A]

Seahawks minus two and a half. That's the line on FanDuel threaten to be three for a while. Settled there. Big question is what we're getting from Sam Darnold. So Shregs is going to tell us right now how healthy is Sam Darnold? Because I was worried about him last week. I ended up hedging some bets and felt stupid because he was fine.

[C]

He threw a pass across his body in the back of the end zone to Jackson, Smith and Jigwa that I'll put up against any pass that was thrown this entire NFL season. As far as just beautiful precision, I would say his oblique is going to be fine. That's now eight days, nine days removed. I have we went on the pod, you and I, Bill House. You weren't with us. Is the one day you were out and I filled in and it was after Seattle Rams Part 2. And that game was unbelievable. I have gone back and watched the first, the first two times these teams played. If you were to do a prize fight, which we love, talking boxing and you were to say each quarter counts as a round. Chris Shula's Rams defense was up 7 to nothing on Clint Kubiak's City Hawks offense. That included all those interceptions from Darnold, seven interceptions, all that. But then the fourth quarter and overtime of that second game, they started doing play action. They started doing trick plays. There was all sorts of and Sam Darnold came alive. It's like seven to one as far as the rounds go. But the rounds that mattered. Seattle at the end there just it's like any issue of like, oh, the Rams defense has dominated Seattle. Like I throw it out the window because they crack some sort of code there in the fourth quarter in overtime. I think they're going to be okay as far as an offense goes. They showed flashes there in that second game.

[D]

So the two questions I have on that note. How impactful do you think the Charbonnet loss is? And are we a thousand percent confident that Charles Cross is a hundred percent ready to go? No issue whatsoever. Not diminished?

[C]

Don't know the latter. The former. I will say this because I couldn't tell you the X's and O's of it. I was talking to Orlovsky today who you see on ESPN all day, every day. He's just an Energizer Bunny. But I was with him today and I said, tell me. Like Charbonnet says, the thing that no one will know is or that no one talks about too often. He's like, I watch all the tape. Kenneth Walker is not a great pass blocker. And that's why Charbonnet's in as much as he is. And in fantasy football you want to bang your head into the wall. If you're a Kenneth Walker owner, you're like why is he ever out? So that might be what they're missing more than just the interior runs.

[A]

I thought Charbonnet from an actual running standpoint was pretty grim and he was, I think a very frustrating Seahawk for the fans. But the pass protection stuff is worrisome. Gambling Manifesto Beware of the looked a little too good the previous round team is just pulsating. Seahawks like you can't have a better game than that and that it was actually a little too good of a game. There's some gambling stats about like if you blow somebody out like that in a playoff round, what happens the next round? The Beware of all dome or warm weather teams playing outdoors in cold weather. I don't think it's going to be cold. Right. It'll be okay. Decent. It's not going to be like in the it's not going to be Chicago. Yeah. Aging Q being cold weather. We don't have to worry about that. The only other one that really stood out to me because even the coaches one is out. We have four really good coaches. Rule number 13 don't dismiss the nerd evidence if the nerd evidence is absolutely overwhelming. I just feel like the Rams special teams has to come back and haunt them in one of these games. This is their third road game. Third road game in a row and a road game where you end up in the worst spot in the league for a road game. Seattle. It's. It's the furthest. You know anywhere but so you're flying. Where'd they go? Carolina. They're in the Southeast come back. Then they go to Chicago come back. Now they're going to the Pacific Northwest, which from LA is in six hours. But I don't. The three road games in a row really worries me. And then the bigger thing, shrags. I just didn't think the Rams looked that good the last couple games. It was almost like that Ram. Especially that Rams game. The rams Seahawks, Week 16 as they lost steam in that game. They never got the steam back. The Carolina could have beaten them. They weren't better, but they could have. And I just thought the Bears were better and should have won the game. The I went back and I watched the fourth quarter in the ot. The Bears had it. They're midfield. They fucking had the ball. They had momentum. They had everything.

[C]

How about. How about McVeigh not. Not letting Stafford throw the ball in overtime? First drive, three runs in a row.

[D]

Two minutes, everybody.

[C]

Two minutes, eight seconds left. And they decide to run the ball.

[A]

And they call us timeout before the two minute warning.

[D]

Right?

[C]

Sean. Sean openly. I talked to him afterwards. He openly was like mortified with the way he called that game. And he's like, the players bailed me out. Like me. This bailed me out. And Cam Curl, former Washington commander, bailed me out.

[D]

Incredible. Don't think that was lost on me.

[A]

How so, Forbes? How so? The Rams defense is that good? No, because the advanced metrics like it a lot more than my eye test is like that. Dating back to that Week 16 game, it felt, it feels like teams are now just going up and down the field on them. Fucking Bryce Young was doing it. So we, we have all these. We have the advanced stats and it's like a four month sample size. I feel like they're a team that's running out of steam a little bit.

[C]

When you need it Most. On a third down, McVeigh calls timeout. He talks to Stafford. They see the hot route.

[A]

No, I'm talking about defense, not offense.

[C]

I know. I'm saying when you need it most, though. Their defense came up with the interception.

[A]

Yeah. And then it was a terrible miscommunication play and a play that I'm not sure why you're trying to get to the 20 yard line when you need to get to the 38 and they.

[C]

Weren'T being stopped on. And Cam, Caleb Williams uses legs. Got two first downs.

[A]

Use your legs. Throw it to the tight end for 5 yards. Do a design scramble. If I was a Bears fan, that game. As the weeks passed. House, let me throw this at you. The Rams who Have been an awesome offense. They a little slow to you, like a great defense like the Seahawks. And I think that at home I think we can give them the great tag. Not like 2000 Ravens great, but really, really up there. And I don't think they really have any.

[D]

The way they defend the run gets great.

[A]

They don't have any weaknesses. And the Rams, the way they do it, it's methodical. You go down the field and you know, and then hope or hope Puka can break a play. They don't really. They're not getting the long plays like they used to. And I don't really know who their speed guy is. Well, it's two.

[C]

Two at will. And he didn't dress last game. Right.

[A]

And then Puka, like you look at the game, he was like 5 for 50 last week. Their biggest play that anyone made was. Was Parkinson on a little tight end route. And I just wonder, are the Seahawks going to move everybody up and basically dare the Rams to go over the top and attack and hit Puka and just kind of keep everybody in front of them and just make it a game where it's gonna have to be 12 play drives to go down the field on them?

[D]

So I thought where you were going with this when you started, and I actually quite like it as I'm thinking about it, is are we waiting on the Rams to go up tempo like this methodical bit that you're talking about?

[A]

I don't think you can do that in Seattle.

[C]

But they did it in overtime. That's what they did in overtime.

[A]

True, true. And it worked tough for three hours and tough for that crowd.

[D]

Tough in that cold.

[A]

Let me throw another thing at you. Stafford does look a hundred percent healthy to me at this point and I think had had a couple really hard games there. Adams, we know, isn't 100% and Puka has taken more hits this year than anyone else in the league and now has to go against the Seattle defense.

[C]

And Forbes went down with the hamstring. He'll play, but that's real.

[A]

I think that there's a lot of miles that have added up on this Rams team that makes me really nervous about them on the road. I think the Lions should be three. What do you think the lion should be, House?

[D]

Yeah, I'm listening. I'm listening.

[A]

Go ahead.

[C]

I'll give you another little Schrager side note fact, anecdote type deal.

[A]

Schrader side notes.

[C]

That's good.

[D]

That's it.

[C]

Not notes.

[A]

Not for Pete's sake.

[C]

Not for Pete's sake. Not this one. Very difficult conversations they had internally after the season. And they were like, it's time to move on from Cooper cup, who is a beloved Ram triple crown winner, super bowl mvp. And they basically told Cooper like, we're not going to pay you what you were making and you're free to go explore. He was off free agent for quite a bit a couple days. There were no real takers. The Seahawks paid him a lot of money and they're like, well, we got a spot for you. Meanwhile, the Rams used all that money and paid Devonte Adams. It looked great for the Rams all season long. Cooper Cup's a competitor. Keep that in mind. Ernest Jones, super bowl hero from the Rams. They said, this isn't working here. They moved on from him. He had a nice little couple years, whatever in Tennessee. Then he's become like the Seahawks best linebacker and he is a vocal player and he is a super spirited guy. I love revenge stuff. I love all that, you know, I do. Cooper Cup, Ernest Jones just put those two out there.

[D]

Earnest Jones cost me so much money because when the Rams moved away from him, I was like, oh, so the Rams are tanking. The Rams are getting ready for whoever the next quarterback is going to be. I can remember quarterback class was they rope a dope the shit out of. I lost because that defense was, was a no name defense. They had two incredible draft picks. Then they immediately fortified the front again.

[A]

Kobe, Terry, Byron Young.

[D]

Yeah, and verse has been incredible. Like, God, it's okay. I mean the money's gone. I lost it fair and square. But that's part of why I have to give McVeigh credit. They retooled. They did not rebuild in any way, shape or form. They pull the defense together like that.

[C]

I think, you know, the argument for the Rams is that they're not going to be scared of going to Seattle. They've won there for years.

[A]

Third game is always games there.

[C]

And it's just he's a, he's a fucking unbelievable coach and. And he could. He's had a bad game last week and they survived. He's not going to have a bad game. Two weeks in a row case for.

[A]

Seattle, other than what we've already talked about, they've only lost once since week five. They've won eight straight in the last few weeks. They beat the Rams and they beat the Niners twice now. The Rams game was goofy. Obviously. The revenge stuff you mentioned, they seem pretty healthy other than the Charbonnet thing. They're home. Rams special Teams scares the living shit out of me. And I just did not like what I saw from the Rams the last two weeks. I don't know how you can feel good about it. And I think playing three road games in a row in the playoffs is fucking meaningful. I don't think you can skip over that.

[D]

First team in the super bowl era to not cover the spread in the first two games. They have arrived at the conference championship without covering in either of the two previous weeks.

[A]

It's really, really hard and one of one.

[D]

And they also are have a rest disadvantage. And there's a nice action network. Teams with the rest advantage. 21 and 7 straight up at home. Seattle at home with the extra day.

[C]

Have you guys been to a game up there in Seattle before?

[A]

I have.

[D]

I'm dying to go.

[C]

It's so cool. And I did Monday Night Football this year against the Texans, but I was at the playoff game where they played the, you know, the Michael Crabtree, Aaron Andrews game. That one. I was at the Sherman game. When it gets like. Like last week when Shahid returns the kick.

[A]

Camera trouble. Yeah.

[C]

Yes. And it's like an avalanche. It's like you just. You can't stop it. It's just too much. The momentum. They don't lose many playoff games at home. The one that I remember was against the Rams, but it was during COVID and it was a weird year. And it was Jared Goff with nine fingers, beats Russell Wilson off, and Goff came in off the bench. But, like, they don't lose many games at home, and when that crowd gets going, especially in a night game, like, it's. It's very hard to win there.

[A]

Well, one other thing I like about this. It feels like every week they've gotten a little bit better at using Shahid and kind of figuring out what kind of weapon that is. But him on special teams, I think should be terrifying for the Rams with how bad they've been. But then they can just get him involved a couple times in different ways, and I think they can throw on him. Now there's a chance Darnold could just shit the bed again. Can't be ruled out, but he's thrown.

[C]

Seven interceptions in two games against this team.

[A]

Not great.

[D]

Mike McDonald's first conference championship game as a head coach.

[A]

I like the look of second.

[C]

Oh, well, he was a coordinator for Baltimore and they lost to the Chiefs.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

I like the two and a half, too. And that's where I'm leaning. Unless you want to try to talk me out.

[D]

It's a fair number. No, it's so. It's super fair. One and a half. You know, whatever it was three weeks ago, two and a half now. And you know, I think the extra point half of that extra point for the incredible home field advantage in the playoffs and extra half a point for how good that defense looked last week.

[A]

Shahid. Shahid. To score a touchdown in the first half, 18 to 1.

[C]

Oh, see, I like Cup.

[A]

I think they're going to score the first touchdown. 18, first touchdown. Yeah, I think Cup's 15 to 1 for the first one. Cup anytime. Score two plus two.

[C]

Get him. They want to get him in there. Trust me.

[D]

I got to make a note of this.

[B]

Hold on.

[A]

I like, I like the. I like the Seahawks minus two and a half. And I like Stafford interception minus 114. That Stafford will throw one pick. I would like to. So for Ringer 107 we have. We had to pick both games straight up and you can parlay them or go straight up and then props are unders for the other two. And I would like to suggest as a possible prop house, Stafford interception -1 14. Did you have.

[D]

Go ahead, Pete.

[C]

Did you see the whole thing with the Pope and the Seahawks? Have you seen that?

[A]

What's that one?

[C]

Oh, this is up your alley. In 2005, we got a new Pope and the Seahawks went to the Super Bowl. In 2013, we got a new Pope and the Seahawks went to the Super Bowl. In 2025, we got a new pope to the Seahawks.

[A]

It sounds like I have to add this to the gambling manifesto. If it happens, don't bet against the Seahawks in the year of a new Pope.

[D]

A great one.

[C]

This is a social clip. Will ya?

[A]

Well, I was thinking the flip side of this. Patriots, 2001, Brady's first Super bowl, they upset the Rams. It all comes full circle in 2018, Brady's last Super bowl, they beat the Rams. Now we're starting the Drake May era. Could it be Drake May trying to beat the Rams for his first super bowl and we're basically just bookending. I like your Pope thing more, though. All right, so it sounds like Shriggs kind of understands why we're going Seahawks minus two and a half, but doesn't really want to say. I don't think.

[C]

I'm not saying a pick. I'm just. I laid out some things and Donald.

[D]

Against the Rams doesn't. You know, there's. You could make arguments to the contrary.

[A]

Patriots, Broncos.

[C]

By the way, did you. You read Klosterman's book, right?

[A]

Yes.

[C]

Do you have any knowledge of that Bloody Sunday that he wrote about the Super Bowl 10 Cowboys versus Steelers. And the line started off at two and a half, but nobody was betting it. Then it kept on going.

[A]

Oh, the Jackie Smith. Yeah, that was the Jackie Smith game. That's the most famous.

[C]

Did you ever hear that story?

[A]

Oh, yeah, that's the most famous gambling story. They moved the line around and basically the books lost on every version of every bet.

[D]

Got smoked with a middle. Right?

[A]

Yeah. That was like the first famous gambling story I think I ever knew.

[C]

I had never heard that. And basically, if you haven't heard of it, Chuck writes about it. I just, I ripped through that book in like three days. It was two and a half. No one was betting on the underdog, which was the Cowboys.

[A]

I thought it was three and a half.

[C]

Was it three and a half?

[A]

Yeah. And it moved between three and a half and four and a half. It bounced back and forth. And every time the line moved it ended up winning.

[C]

And then it ends up being a four point game and all the betters who came in early and all the bettors who came in late all won.

[A]

Right.

[C]

And I'm like, this is incredible.

[A]

And then, and then the pushes, which is the worst case scenario for the books. Not great either. House start us off with Broncos Pats.

[D]

Well, the starting point is whether you know what your perspective is on the amount of line movement. Because where is it sitting right now?

[A]

It's four and a half.

[D]

It's four and a half.

[A]

Bounce between five and a half and four and a half. I personally think it should be three and a half, but fine.

[D]

So that, that's the. You know, you have to first get yourself comfortable with the math problem, which is in the absence, if Knicks was playing, I think Denver would be favored by one and a half. Do you agree with that or no? I. Yeah, Denver at home. That's all we're saying.

[A]

This is the problem with this line. And I said this Sunday night, I don't think going from Knicks to Stidham should be worth six points. I thought it was going to be worth three.

[D]

That's the start.

[A]

I was way off. I picked Pats by one and a half and the line opened at five and a half because I think there's ways for them to win the game without having to rely on Stidham too much. I just thought it was an overreaction. If it was Josh Allen, I get it. But not Bo Nix. You get it. I get it. And, and game plan Wise, seven points better.

[D]

Here's the thing. The way that the Broncos decided to scheme offense last week against the Bills, they threw the ball 51 times. The strength of the Buffaloes. Bills defense was supposed to be defending the pass. Now, the way that Denver played all season long, I think they were either the second lowest or lowest air yards.

[A]

Right.

[D]

They don't go down the field. Everything is around the line of scrimmage in terms of how the ball comes out. That's something where they have such an implicit trust in Knicks. This is that this. They're going to have success with that. And so if you want to say can they replicate that with Stidham? Is that. Are they going to be comfortable doing that with Stidham? Is that. Can they run that?

[A]

Because the other variable, because the Pats run defense people are finally starting to realize is really, really good. They're going to have to throw the ball on us to beat us.

[D]

Denver can't run the ball. I tried that last week in there.

[A]

Dobbins lose money.

[D]

Yeah, just take my money and set it on fire. Broncos are not going to try and establish the J.K. dobbins thing. What's the current state of affairs? Do we think that he's going to.

[A]

By the way, is it going to really make. He's going to come back out of nowhere and his foot's going to be. I don't know. I'd be surprised.

[C]

The practice window is open. We'll see. You know, it's got two days.

[D]

That could change it. Let me read establish the run with him.

[A]

Let me give you some history with this Jared Stidham situation. Not sure if it was covered on get up. Might have been green. He might have been on this past 50 years playoff home dogs of four plus points are nine and oh against spread. It's true. No QB has ever made his first start of the year in round three. It's never happened.

[C]

Stallback did it in 72, but it was the second round.

[A]

Round three. It's never happened.

[C]

It was the NFC championship game. But yes, There was only two rounds. Go on. Sorry.

[A]

Yeah. True. He's the seventh QB since 1950 to make his first start of the season in the playoffs. And I'm going to talk about the other six, one of whom is near and dear to houses hard. Taylor Heineken 2020 with the Washington Commanders.

[D]

Covered.

[A]

Covered. They lost Tampa's favor by 10. They win by eight. Heinecke throws 306 with the touchdown.

[C]

Played well.

[A]

Did next Ron Rivera, Connor Cook for the Raiders. I don't even remember this game.

[C]

I'll tell you, that was against the Texans. Here's what happened. It was Derek Carr got hurt late and then Matt McGloin was supposed to play and he got hurt in week 18. And then they had to start Connor Cook.

[A]

Well, they lost by 13 and he threw one touchdown and three picks. I do remember this next game. Joe Webb, the 2012 Vikings, packers favored by 10.

[C]

Saturday afternoon game. Christian Ponder's wrist, I believe was what the issue was the morning of.

[A]

Joe Webb threw 30 passes. How many did he complete? House.

[D]

Oh, I remember this.

[A]

We won money on this.

[D]

Less than 12.

[A]

Yeah, it was 11.

[C]

That was a Saturday day game. And then the night game was that crazy Arizona Green Bay game when Rogers hit two Hail Marys.

[A]

Oh, right, right. 1992, the only win out of all these. First time starting all year playoff guys.

[C]

Can I guess it? Frank Reich.

[A]

Frank Reich, yeah, Great call.

[D]

Amazing.

[A]

Here's how it's a little different. And this has happened a couple times. Frank Reich, he played a bunch the week before. He at least got his feet wet. And then. Cause I think Kelly got hurt. Buffalo was favored by two at home over the Oilers. They fell down 35 to 3. Staged the biggest comeback in the history of football. Just an amazing moment. I definitely gambled on the game, but I don't remember who I had. But I was definitely gambling at that point and had one of the two sides. Maybe I must have had the Oilers because I think I have blacked out. So that's the only win. This one is a great one. 1983, the Detroit Lions are playing Montana and the Niners in San Francisco. Niners are.

[C]

They win this game, right?

[A]

They do not win this game. They do cover because the Niners were seven and a half. They lose.

[C]

Gary Danielson.

[A]

Who else? Gary Danielson, 23, 24.

[C]

They lose and they lost on like an a missed field goal or extra point. That was like a chippy.

[A]

Well, that's one of the reasons they lost. They also lost because Gary Danielson threw five interceptions. That hurts.

[D]

The full delome.

[A]

He did a full delome on us. I don't know if any of them were pick six before the loam. And then the last one was Staubach with they. Dallas got killed In Washington, so 1972, so six quarterbacks, they go 1 and 5 straight up 3 and 3 against the spread. The only thing that's different is that Buffalo was the only one that was home and that was Frank Reich who won. So I don't Know what we learned, House?

[C]

I'll give you. I mean, just. He hasn't thrown a pass in a game in over 730 days.

[A]

That's a lot. And. All right, so we had him in New England, and I could empty the.

[C]

Bag on what Peyton's told me if you wanted me to give you the rallying cry behind it.

[A]

Well, here's the thing. When Brady left, he was supposed to be the starter the next year, and he got hurt, and he hurt his back, and he missed the whole year. They ended up doing the Cam Newton thing and Brian Hoyer, but it was supposed to be Stidham's job, and they liked Stidham. The McDaniels went to Denver and was like, I need Stidham.

[C]

Vegas.

[A]

I mean, Vegas took him with him. He's like, I'm taking Stidham. That's my guy. And then Peyton was like, I like him. Brought him to Denver. So he's been a pretty fairly paid backup. I think he's one of the highest paid backups in the league. And I think coaches have liked him and think he's at least competent coaches and players.

[C]

So his nickname is Stitty?

[A]

Yes.

[C]

He's got a ton of, like, charisma and swag. And Jason McCourty was on those Patriots teams and was telling me, like, oh, Stitty thinks he's, you know, he's the number one quarterback in the NFL, and he acts that way. And you almost love it because he's on the scout team that whole season, and he's talking shit to all the defensive players. He was beloved in New England the very first day of.

[A]

And by the way, they let him go because I think they got Mac Jones. I think that was one of the reasons they. They were like, okay, good luck. Steady.

[C]

So McDaniels brings them with them. Obviously, they bench Derek Carr. It's great controversy. Derek Carr's, you know, his brother talks on NFL Network how, you know, how this all. Everything. And then Stidham comes in against the number one defense in the entire league, the 49ers. And Stidham throws for 350 yards and lights up the Niners as a Raider free agency comes. Sean Payton's first year with Denver, has a big board in his office, and he's listing out his priorities. Now, he's already got Russell Wilson, who they're on the hook for for about a billion dollars. And the first name on the list is Jared Stidham. And they paid him as high a salary as any backup quarterback in the league and they brought him in and then you'd say, okay, well Russell didn't work out. Why would they draft Knicks? Well, they fell in love with Knicks. They took Knicks. He's been there all along on Peyton's hip, on Davis Webb's hit, on Joe Lombardi's hip. And like when I tell you talking to Peyton in the summer, like telling me stories about Stitty, like they love, they love Stidham so.

[A]

Well, did you buy anything when he came out and did the press conference immediately that he got hurt? Like what was, I saw on one of the shows, they were like, he wanted the Patriots to know he was fine with going to war with Jared Stidham the next week.

[C]

Yes. It's also for the Broncos to know that. So instead of Schefter coming out with a tweet during the second half of the Seahawks game, Peyton gets the news, runs to the podium. There's never ever been a second coaches press conference. They assemble the media and he's like, yep, Knicks is hurt. We got Stidham. We feel great with Stidham. Stiddy's good. You know, look, I'm going to give you a quick Sean Payton history lesson here. You know that he won a Super bowl and you know that he got suspended for a league for a year from the league. That's the two big things in his career that everyone knows him for gut wrenching, horrible all time playoff losses. You're talking about Minneapolis Miracle. You're talking about Alex Smith to Vernon Davis in Candlestick at the last second to be true Brees. You're talking about the Nicole Roby Coleman play where they didn't call the pass interference. They were home and lost an NFC championship game. You're talking about that wild game against the Buccaneers in the playoffs where they were the home, you know, favored team and Tom Brady lights up the Buccaneers, lights up the Saints and wins in the division round. And then the Beast quake where they're 11 and 5 and they got to go to Seattle. So like they've had horrendous Sean Payton has had horrendous playoff losses. And it's almost like, well, I mean.

[A]

The worst one ever was that Rams one. That's, that's probably the worst call of the quarter century, right House? Is that the number one worst call?

[C]

Non call.

[D]

It was such a, a bad non call that they brought in a brand new rule that they never used one time. We'll review pass interference.

[A]

I don't understand how they messed that up. It was one of the most blatant past interferences, probably the most blatant pass interference that wasn't called that I can remember.

[C]

Now the Rams fan will tell you this because I've often said that. And the Rams fans retort is the Saints were up 13 nothing at home and lost that playoff game. They also got the ball in overtime.

[A]

Yeah, I get it.

[C]

Drew Brees threw a ticket.

[A]

I remember making that point in the podcast. They did get the ball in overtime. It was still a bad call.

[C]

So anyway, Peyton's had all these horrible losses. It's like he's always got like some crazy way to lose. Is this the year with Stidham that they get over the hump and he gets back to the Super Bowl? Crazy stat. No. Seven coaches have coached in two different Super Bowls with two different teams. No coach has ever won a Super Bowl. Two different teams.

[A]

Peyton would be the first House. Give us your Jared Stidham thoughts because I'll just tell you right now, he's violates at least three. Three rules in the manifesto.

[D]

How can I have any Jared rules.

[A]

That try to cover this?

[D]

Like, please have any Jared.

[A]

Don't talk yourself into Jared Stidham as a manifesto staple.

[D]

It's a scheme concept. You just have to believe in what the Broncos are doing scheme wise. They do have one of the what top three offensive lines that will be a difference for the Patriots. The Patriots had the luxury of playing at home against two of the worst offensive lines and now they're going up against by, by many measures a top three offensive line. Will you. You know that he's going to be comfortable at home. You know that he's going to be comfortable with the rhythm that they want to. To play at. It's just execution. I have no effing idea. Well, and then can you handicap that?

[A]

You figure there's some kitchen stink, kitchen sink stuff in this game with the Broncos. Right?

[C]

Every trick you can imagine.

[A]

They're going to be fake. Yeah, whatever. And pro Stadham stuff. Other than that, we know Peyton likes him. There's a really gruesome Patriots in Denver playoff history. So have you guys ever won in there or no, not in the playoffs.04 and bad losses. Rulon Jones is a legendary loss. Denver altitude not great. Denver is not going to be able to run the ball and I think Denver is going to know that and sit him. It's not going to be like, hey, sometimes you're. I think they're just like, dude, you're going to have to chuck it in this game. Or we're not going to win. Which I think might be good or might be terrible. If you're going anti. If he starts out slow and a couple of bad things happen, the crowd's going to die. Yeah.

[C]

And the team morale is going to go.

[A]

It'll just. We've seen this where it's just like it gets dark and then I think McDaniels really knows him.

[C]

He does.

[A]

So he's going to. Yeah.

[C]

I would say Sean Payton's supporter, Josh McDaniels might be his second biggest supporter in the world. I mean, so much so that they had him as the guy and that in New England till the injury. And he brought him to Vegas with him.

[A]

So he knows everything he can do and not do 100% pro pat stuff beyond the run. D. Matt Collins coming back is huge. I'm just telling you, like, he really is going to help them run the ball. And he's kind of Drake's twice a game guy. I'm like a third and eight. I feel like May is due for a good start to finish game. Maybe it's just. Maybe he's just too young in his career. But he has this habit of just starting slow for an hour and then it kicks in. But Denver's defense, not as good as Houston or the Chargers, I don't think. And I think Denver's defense has had some games where they've looked pretty shaky. And then the Sean Payton thing, talking about they're going to have plenty of rest. The fans got to be loud. They're going to be plenty rest. In two weeks, Vrabel's going to fucking jump all over that.

[C]

What are you doing?

[A]

You can't do that with Vrabel. He's going to bring that up all the time. So those would be my big ones. House. Any other. If you're going pro Pats, anything else you're looking at?

[D]

No, I was thinking more. I want to hear whether there's any indication that Stidham can run because Knicks ran 12 times last week. Now, it was only for about 30 yards or so, but that the ability.

[A]

Of the quarterback scares you enough at least.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Does he have that? Do we think he's got it?

[C]

But it's not. It's not like we've seen it. I mean, he's got that in his game. Apparently. He can move. I asked the same thing and yeah, he's got some mobility, but he's not. Bo. Bo Nix can run.

[D]

Yeah. Yeah, he definitely can.

[A]

I don't. I don't like this line at all.

[C]

Wait, Bill, a couple thoughts on the Patriots for you and I want to hear your thoughts first thing. Drake May. Six fumbles and two playoff games.

[A]

Not great. Two.

[C]

Will Campbell. He might start in a Super bowl at left tackle. I'm not sure this guy is your franchise left tackle. He might be an amazing left guard. I understand Khalil Mack and Will Anderson are unbelievable. But like every time May went back last week, it was hold your breath. This Nick Benito can can run and can rush the quarterback. So that's something I would watch out for.

[A]

Shriggs. I'm aware. Yeah, I'll tell. I'm going to float this at you. Are we sure Will Campbell's healthy? Fair.

[C]

He missed what, three or four weeks at the end of the season?

[A]

I He doesn't look like he has the same kind of side to side movement that he used to have a little worried about that.

[C]

Then I have a flip side kind of thing for you. Yeah, I've seen this a lot. A lot of hate on this Patriots run and that like we should discredit it based on the quarterbacks that are the teams that they've played and the easy schedule and all that. As someone who follows the NFL, I am here to tell you, and I'm not a Patriots fan by any means, it is the most ludicrous thing to say that a team that's on the eve of a Super bowl has had an easy path. I think it's absurd. That defense that they faced last week in Houston against Houston is one of the best defenses the NFL has seen in years. And the Chargers defense, whether or not they play that way consistently all season, was phenomenal against the Patriots that week. Denver's good too. But like, if I'm a Patriots fan, do not apologize for anything. This has been an amazing run.

[A]

I made that point on Sunday. The Chiefs had that first super bowl mahomes one where they played like the freaking Texans and then Tannehill and the Titans and like Jimmy Garoppolo in the super bowl. Nobody was like, oh, who'd they play? There's some stat going around on one of my Pat's text threads about the DVOA of the defenses the Patriots have played this year is seventh and the Rams defenses is ninth. It's like, why don't they mention that? I think the line's too high House, but I also think the Patriots are going to win.

[D]

Okay.

[A]

So I'm, I'm really. I just, I think this is going to be a close game. I think it's really hard to, like, win a game convincingly in Denver with a team. It's one thing if Stidham came in in the second quarter and they're like, oh, shit, we got to change everything they've had all week to figure out exactly how to do this. They're going to be able to throw on the. On the pats a little bit, and then it's really going to come down to is Ramanja going to be able to run the ball and is Drake not going to turn the ball over? And I don't know the answers. I think Ramanja is going to be able to run the ball.

[D]

I want to ask you that. You need to run the ball, and for God's sake, May. Well, can Drake May run the ball? Is that too much to ask for?

[C]

4Th quarter, finally they started running. It was crazy.

[A]

A couple of the bets that I like for the props.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

Drake's longest run is 12 and a half yards. He did that in six of his last eight games. Ramondre Houston. No. Ramon Dre's longest reception, 10 and a half yards is the over. Under. He's done that in seven of the last nine.

[C]

Is he a hundred percent healthy?

[D]

What.

[C]

What's the deal with his eye?

[A]

He's fine. He got poked in the eye. Um, so I like that. And then there's some Stidham props. Like Stidham, Basically, to throw 20 completions or more is. Is 19 and a half is the completion number. And I just don't think they're going to be able to run the ball that well in the Pats. And Stidham's gonna have to throw the ball. They. How many times they throw it last week? 51.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Pussy scrambled.

[D]

12, 46, 46, 46 passes, and then.

[A]

Stidham 199 plus yards. I thought was interesting, too, because they're going to get offense. Triggs, I know you love the tie. First half, moneyline. Second half, game.

[C]

I was texting you throughout the first half. I'm like, I don't like this. They're up 11. I don't. I don't like this. They're up four.

[A]

That's 16 to one.

[C]

Do it.

[A]

And then there's some money line stuff we can do. House, you can do Pat's money line with the under of 50 and a half. That fits Ringer 107 rules. You could do Pat's money. Denver plus 14 and a half. It's minus 108. So basically the Pats win between one and 14. Points. We could do that. We could do Pats plus five and a half with Denver plus eight and a half. That's minus one 11. Basically saying it's going to be either the Pats will lose a close game or Denver's going to lose by less than a touchdown. Those were probably the ones I was looking at the most. But at the Pat's money line with the under 50 and a half, there would be 51 points in this game. Seems pretty high.

[D]

If. If we knew how many turnovers there would be then I would feel more comfortable with it. But like we. I just.

[C]

Let's just hope there's not a close call at the end because the NFL's gotta, you know, get it going. We got to kick off afterwards.

[A]

I gotta shrigs. Broncos D gave up 29 to Indy, 32, the Giants 24 to Dallas, 26 to Green Bay, 26 to Washington and 30 to Buffalo last week.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And yet they rushed the passer, which is what you have to be worried about with your quarterback.

[A]

Yeah. Can we just target Bradley Moss?

[C]

I think they might have led the league in sacks. I could be actually throwing that number out. They might not even be good at sacks.

[A]

Can we go big picture? Did you think Denver was that good this season?

[C]

Cardiac kids type season like the Bears. Like just one amazing games. But I don't know if they're that good. They're the number one seed though. And they earned a home field advantage which I think is huge there.

[A]

I thought they were good. House.

[D]

I thought they were good.

[A]

I think the Seahawks. I thought another level than the Patriots think they're good.

[D]

They're fine. Two, two fine teams. The conference championship play for the right to go to the Super Bowl.

[C]

Fine.

[A]

So it sounds like we have to trust the manifesto.

[C]

What's the manifesto net out with? We had a lot of different arguments there.

[A]

It says beware the nobody believes in us team. For the Broncos. That's scary. Beware of any team that could use a notable off field distraction, major injury or tragedy as a galvanizing force. They fit that one. Never pick an underdog unless you genuinely believe that it has a chance to win. They hit that one as well. Rule number 11, don't talk yourself into a terrible QB ever for any reason.

[C]

It's tricky. We don't know if he's terrible.

[A]

And be super careful with first time playoff QBs who are basically like 20 and 42 against straight up. And also terrible against the spread. And then. And then remember the law of Lombardi. Bad offensive lines don't travel. That could be the Patriots.

[C]

Yeah, that's the tr. That's the Patriots. And then Denver's offensive line's pretty good.

[A]

Rule number 18, take one last look at the quarterbacks. Doesn't help us. The fear of this ultimate variable. You talk yourself into the Broncos all week, and then Jared Stid himself sucks. And the reason he sucks is because he's been a backup QB his whole career. And you're watching the game and you're a half hour and you're like, what did I do? I just bet on the Broncos backup QB in the AFC title game. I'm an idiot.

[C]

Sean Payton loved him so, so much that he drafted Bo Nicks in the first round with him on the roster.

[A]

Right? He loved them so much, he used the biggest draft capital piece he had on a competitor that could take his job.

[C]

Here, here's what I envision. And when you're talking about, oh, shit. You start the game and you're like, wait, House is exactly right. One of those wide receiver screens to, like, Marvin Mims or Cortland Sutton, and he throws a wobbly ball and it's a pick six to start the game. And you're like, all right, here we go.

[A]

Right, House. We taking the Pats minus four and a half. I hate it. We're not too many points.

[D]

You got to take Denver.

[B]

You.

[D]

The math says take Denver. There's no. No, from. From the perspective of, like, just the basic math of it. You have to play Denver.

[A]

You can't. I can't do it.

[D]

You can't lay four and a half. It just doesn't. There's no basis for it. It doesn't make any sense.

[A]

All right, so I'm going to do Pat's money line with the under 50 and a half then.

[D]

Okay, You. I. I'm not going to argue with you. I'm just. You know, we haven't had great success tying things together.

[A]

Maybe this will be when it turns.

[D]

It could be. We did go three and one last week.

[A]

We should have gotten four. We talked ourselves into the stupid Niners.

[C]

I know. That was me.

[A]

No, it was fair.

[C]

Very interesting nugget here. Maybe my most insightful stuff. If it goes as you guys say, we'll have two mics coaching against each other in the Super Bowl. If it goes the opposite way, it'll be two Seans coaching against each other in the Super Bowl. My work is done.

[A]

Do you like.

[D]

So dumb.

[A]

I love you. Don't like any under in the Seahawks race. That's a stay away. All right. Winger 107 is presented by FanDuel Sportsbook. That's where we get the lines from. And our first game is going to be the Patriots Broncos. We are going to take the Patriots money line parlayed with an under of 50 and a half. So if this game goes to 51 points and up we lose. We're scared of the line.

[D]

It's happened.

[A]

Broncos plus four and a half at home. There's no sign of history of this not covering which is a little worrisome. There's also some bad bet. We covered all of it in the pot. That's one second. Ramandre Stevenson longest reception 10 and a half yards over little bailout or maybe a little wheelbase something. He's did it seven of his last nine times. That's our second best.

[D]

Love this one.

[A]

Third bet going Seahawks minus two and a half against the Rams Rams third straight road game. I think the Seahawks are the best team in the league. We'll see if Darnold's oblique can hold up. And then last but not least. What do you think Matthew Stafford for the interception -114.

[D]

What is the cup Anytime touchdown that.

[A]

We didn't we but we're doing ring around a seven. We don't need to take like a risk.

[D]

Got it.

[A]

Got it.

[D]

Got it.

[A]

So we could do. We could do Stafford. You could do the Drake May longest. Longest rush 12 and a half yards. Or we could do Stidham plus 19 and a half completions. What excites you the most? House Stafford interception. That'd be the most fun to root for. You don't like that one.

[D]

Well, he didn't throw. He just doesn't throw a ton of picks. It's not his thing and he didn't throw it. You know whatever. That was three weeks ago. No interceptions.

[A]

Shriggs. Is there a guy in the Seahawks Rams game you feel like could be heard from?

[C]

Could I get a cup?

[A]

You'd like the cup. Alt receiving.

[C]

I feel like they're going to this is it sounds absurd. I feel like they're going to make a priority and an emphasis on getting Kupp involved against his former team with trip to the super bowl on the line.

[A]

Kupp 30 plus yards minus 114 fits our parameters.

[C]

I like it.

[D]

Okay.

[A]

You like that one House.

[D]

That's my favorite of all the ones.

[A]

Really? You like that more than the the.

[D]

My second favorite is Stidham completion so think so. So you can tell where my both and the tie. Well, I'll parlay it.

[A]

I Could also offer you Rasheed Shahid five plus rushing yards at minus 108. It's one sweep around the corner.

[C]

They had that great sweep for a big sway.

[A]

One little gimmick sweep. I love that one. We're doing that.

[D]

So long to do that.

[A]

I don't know. We'll do that.

[D]

That's one run.

[A]

Rashid Shaheed, five plus yards, minus 108. Today's Ringer 107 was brought to you by FanDuel. Odd subject to change. Shregs. So you're going to the Super Bowl.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And then what happens?

[D]

Are you at one of these games this weekend?

[C]

I'm not because I work on Monday Night Football, so there's no Monday situation. I'll say this. There's supposed to be this horrendous blizzard. Joe House, I know you're aware it's coming. I think the NFL is in cahoots with the weather gods. The ratings are going to be absolutely insane. No one's leaving the house for two days and we just have two football games on. I can't wait.

[A]

There's even stuff in, like, Texas, like Dallas is getting annihilated like they did at that Super Bowl.

[D]

Yeah, we were at that Super Bowl. We were.

[A]

Ice Bowl. That was my favorite Super Bowl. We were the only ones there. Nobody else.

[D]

Are you at that one?

[A]

That was the best one. Yeah, that's my favorite one. I don't think we're strengths at that.

[D]

We had a great time.

[C]

I don't think we hung. I think the first time I hung with Bill at a Super bowl was New Orleans when it was 49ers Ravens.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[C]

I think Louis Lewis K introduced us and I was like a kid in a candy shop.

[D]

I was there. That was 2013. That was me against.

[A]

Were you there the last night and before the game in Dallas when we went to that party and nobody was at the party and they had like a. A million things of booze.

[D]

Was that the party? And it was outdoors and Kucher. Yes.

[A]

Under the heat lamps.

[D]

Yeah. With Aaron Andrews. Name drop.

[A]

We did it all. Lewis was there. We had a bunch of people, but Lewis was there. We were drinking and freezing to death and I flew from there to New York and I got bronchitis. I was the sickest I've ever been. I was in the. Ironically, the Trump Plaza Hotel in New York City for two days.

[C]

Like.

[A]

Like having, like, fever dream, like, thinking I was going to die. Level 6 and missed multiple flights back is the most sick I've ever been. But I Had a great time. Thank you, Dallas. Thank you, Dallas.

[C]

Do you go to that Nick and Steph's great steakhouse down there?

[A]

Definitely did that.

[C]

Well, the Nick and Tony's.

[A]

The funny thing is with Dallas, Sam's. Dallas is set up where it's like they have no snowplow, they have no ice, no salt for the ice on the things. They just have no plan. If there's ever bad weather, it's like, sorry, guys, you're on your own. It's the strangest thing we ever saw. Nobody could drive around.

[C]

No. The bus drivers didn't know how to do it. They careened off the road, if you remember.

[A]

Black ice, bad.

[C]

Yes, it was brutal.

[A]

Honestly, Dallas's handling of bad weather would be the most inexplicable thing this century with Dallas if they hadn't traded Luka Doncic for a banged up Anthony Davis. That's still number one.

[C]

How about you suggesting Luca? How about you suggesting. What was it? LeBron James for cat? All my Knicks fans texted me.

[A]

They got mad. No, everyone, you missed earlier in the podcast. We did. We traded Luca for Giannis.

[D]

He just tried that.

[A]

Yeah, you tried it. Got rejected. Real quick, Shrigs.

[C]

Real quick. Netflix, they had this whole thing. Netflix is a joke. I'm seeing all these ads about Tim Dillon doing something and this one's doing something. Can we get a Simmons in house? May Netflix is a joke. Like a live event where you guys are doing something for Netflix. Can I go and attend that? I would love that.

[A]

Well, I'm actually doing that because I'm doing something with the guys from Tires.

[C]

Oh, those are.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

I have to invite myself to be in the oven.

[C]

Can I come?

[D]

You and I will be in the. We'll be backstage.

[A]

We're going to fill Simmons shirts. Where's the food she'd be throwing out to Shane? It's in la.

[D]

Oh, great.

[C]

I think I'm going to see Shane Gillis this weekend if the snow doesn't stop me. He's playing at the Garden.

[A]

New York City. I have friends that are going to that. Okay. Happy for that, dude. Shrag. It's great to see you, House. Thanks for sticking around for two hours and nine minutes.

[D]

House.

[C]

Golf.

[A]

House. You did it again.

[D]

You know how we do it.

[A]

Thanks to Gahao and Eduardo as well. Don't forget, new Rewatch was coming Monday. First time on Netflix. It is going to be Zodiac. You can also get it on Spotify as well. We're taping it tomorrow. Could be three hours. Yeah, me and Fantasy and Chris Ryan Fincher. And that's it. We have a bunch more pods going on Netflix as well, starting on Monday, guys. Enjoy the weekend. Go Pats.

[D]

Let's go.

[A]

Football. Must be 21 plus on President select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 on President D.C. kentucky or Wyoming game problem, call 100 Gambler, visit rg-help.com, call 888-797-777 or visit ccpg.orgchattinconenetic or mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland, Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-550 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 877-8-HOPE NY or text Hopeny in New York.