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This episode is sponsored by Uber Eats. Here's the thing. Football and food just go together almost too well. Hash marks. They look like hash browns. Turnover. Suddenly you want dessert. Pancake box pasta syrup. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. Who's to say? The good news? Uber Eats has game day deals all season long. Like a Bogo large extra most bestest pepperoni pizza from Little Caesars available now. So when football makes you hungry, get game day deals on Uber Eats promotion available until October 19th. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. Terms apply. The Bill Simmons Podcast is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. We are also brought to you by the Ringer Podcast Network. On the Prestige TV podcast, I broke down the season finale of Task with Joanna Robinson and Rob Mahoney. We talked about where the show is pitted against some of the all time great HBO shows. And we talked about whether the show's coming back because we thought this was going to be a series finale, but it seems like it's just a season finale. What is Tax Season two going to be? So we talked about all that stuff. If you get bored of us talking about it, you can listen to the Watch with Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald as well. New rewatchables coming on Monday night. It's the last one for Redford Month. We did Quiz show. Me and Brian Koppelman. And that's it for Redford Month. Quiz Show's an awesome movie. Really, really highly recommend it. Love talking about it. So we're gonna do a horror movie the next week. That's why we're cutting Redford Munn short. We always try to do one horror movie before we get to Halloween. Speaking of horror movies, Cousin Sal and I are gonna talk about Miami's performance in Cleveland, the Giants lost in Denver, and a really fun, crazy day of games. Lot going on here. So we're going to take a break. Bring a pearl Jim and then cousin sal talking week seven plus guest alliance. This is the Bill Simmons podcast presented by FanDuel. If you're betting on the NFL, come on, FanDuel is the place to do it. They've got everything. Same game parlays, quick bets for when you want to jump in. Live your way so you can set your own lines on just about anything. The app's fast, it's easy to use, and best of all, when you win, you get paid instantly. I've been in Boston, Massachusetts. Recently. Guess what I did use Fando Super Fun. Download the Fando app or go to fando.com BS to get started. Must be 21+president, select states 18/in D.C. kentucky and Wyoming. Get in prom, win 800 Gambler or visit rg-help.com, call 888-78-9777 or visit ccpg.org ChatInElectric Sam all right, recording on a Sunday night. Little past 8:30 Pacific Time. Cousin Sal is here. We just watched a pretty crappy Sunday night Falcons Niners game. Not crappy for you.
B
It was good. It was good.
A
It was your best bet.
B
I loved it. I'm very proud of myself. I feel like I pulled out that Denver game. We'll probably talk about that one right on the money line. And then I doubled it up on this. My favorite pick, the San Francisco 49ers. I think I analyzed it right. First time in six years. I feel like I got everything right.
A
We both had good ones this week. Cause House and I went all in on that Browns Dolphins game. We went all in. We made it our lock of the year. TUA and wind and rain. We'll talk about that later. You watched all the Sunday games with the ringer crew because we have a bunch of ringer people in town and we have this movie theater in the downtown LA offices where they put all the games on the big screen and you got to watch the early and the late, including with some Giants fans. The late game. So what was the experience? What were the highlights? You had JJ on his phone watching the end of the Dolphin season high. Fidel watching the Giants collapse. Tell me. Give me the highlights.
B
Yeah, he had his skinny jeans on. High fits. You know, it's great because Spotify flies everybody out for a week out here and it's good. They call it core week. And then they have meetings during the week and everybody pretends they're recording their podcast so they could blow off the meetings. But at least Sunday we get together. Huge, huge theater. I forgot how the youngins root. I mean they really. They really whoop it up. And some is alcohol fueled and some isn't. And then. And then some watch on their phone. I'm not going to mention names, but they update like they'll be watching like on FanDuel. So there'll be two plays ahead. So that's kind of annoying is that.
A
You can do that.
B
You could do it. You could. You could do it. Yeah. I shouldn't even tell you about it, but it's.
A
Oh, please don't. But it's great.
B
It's. I mean, Heifetz, I sent you the video. Ported Danny Heifetz a big Giant fan when they were down like 18, I was like, every stupid first down that Bo Nick scrambled for, I'm like, oh, you're nervous now and then he was actually nervous. I thought he was going to be brought to tears at the end.
A
Well, I think he was banking on the 1602 straight games with 18 point lead with 6 minutes left. That was pretty great. Big picture before we go into the games like, you know, this is the sports wheelhouse time. Like the Blue Jays won tonight. We're going to game seven with that. We had Ohtani on Friday night with. I don't even think it's a debate, the greatest player performance ever. I was. The only thing I was thinking was whether World Series versus regular playoffs and everything else should be like two separate categories.
B
Yeah, I think so. You know, you, God forbid you say something like that, like you're called melodramatic. I was the greatest you've ever seen. And then someone's like, on June 12, 1973, Rick Wise pitched a no hitter and hit two home runs. I don't want to hear about Shohei O time. Like, all right, fine, okay. But no, this is, this is as good as it gets. There's only a handful of players who have struck out 10 batters in a playoff game and there's only a handful of hit three home runs. And he did both like insane.
A
Yeah, it makes you think when you watch this, all the lost time when he was on the Angels, not in these games, because the hope with him was always off. He was with the Yankees or the Dodgers or the Cubs and he was in big, big games in a big city. Maybe he'll even rise up and go up a level and there'll be like true greatness that pops out. And we just didn't get to see it for half a decade and now we're seeing it and he actually did elevate. I still feel like to me, the Reggie, three home runs, you know, they're down by a run in game six. You know, they had the last two at home. But the three straight and the exclamation point at the end, I just feel like World Series has to be kind of over here and then everything else is over here. But it was certainly the greatest baseball game I've ever seen in any play. I only saw the last two homer. Do you. Did you see everything?
B
Yeah, well, once he. I didn't see. I didn't see the first home and then I saw everything else. I also think these numbers are screwed up. When they said that One shot was 469ft. And it's like it's still rising as we're talking two days later. It's like they have to fix that. And why wouldn't they? Why are they short changing these? This should be big for baseball, right? It should be 5, 10, or whatever it is. Or lie.
A
Who cares? I wasn't even sure that was possible. To hit it out of the Dodger Stadium that easily was flying out of there anyway, so that was fun. College football's in full swing. NBA starts Tuesday. I'm sure you're betting on hockey. We have the Equinox coming up later this weekend. And then today, Broncos Giants was the best game of the year. Just an unbelievable comeback by the Broncos. An unbelievable loss. Both teams lost. I'm not even sure there was a winner by the end of it. And of course I had the Broncos and a tees laying one and a half, so I somehow lost.
B
Nice.
A
Even though they came back and won. Yeah.
B
Oh, right, right, right, right. Oh, man.
A
Yeah.
B
Oh, that's not good. Oh, I'm sorry about that. Because that's a fun one to celebrate if you're on the right side.
A
Broncos scored 33 fourth quarter points, so.
B
Yeah.
A
I, I mean, they're five and two. This could be like a playoff position game. We could be in week 18 being like, oh, my God, they're the 2 seed. Because that stupid fucking giants game in week 7. I can't believe it. And it really looked like. It looked like they were going to give it to the giants on that 4th and 19 with that bogus. I didn't like the rough and the passer call. I didn't think the guy got the first down. The pass interference near the goal line was terrible. It was just. They were playing the hits and it seemed like it didn't pass the stink test.
B
And yet the worst call of all was a review that said that Jackson Dark got in the end zone and he did. But if he stopped short at the end zone, that kills two plays of the following drive for Denver. At least I think right now, you know, I'm assuming Giant score in the next play or the play after, but it would have knocked 40 seconds off the clock. I mean, yeah, there was too much. There's a. Just two. I mean, we're cursing Bo Nix, who I still can't put a finger on, like we're. Oh, this is a carryover from the London game. He so bad and then he becomes the first player in history with two passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns. In the fourth quarter in the same quarter. So I think I set a record just on the day for saying the words they scored. They scored too soon. Like those. Right. In every game, there was like four games. Like, no, they scored too soon. But you read the stat, man. 1602 games. It's just spectacular that. That we've saw that with our own eyes. Yeah.
A
I did feel like Dart scored too soon when they scored because the Giants were dead. They're playing in altitude. And I. But you can't tell the guy not to. We. I feel like we argue about this three times a year. You gotta go for it. I was thinking with Bo Nix, because this is maybe the third or fourth game where he's looked like complete dog shit for two hours, and then he kind of revives. It's like, did you have. In college, did you have the one guy who would throw up and pass out and then an hour and a half later was in somebody's room like nothing would happen? And it was like he had like a second life and then some and was just awesome. And you were like, whoa, Bo Nicks, I thought you passed out. That's. That's what he's done three times this year where you think he's dead. Like, we'll be like, I guess we'll see Bo tomorrow. And then all of a sudden he's running around.
B
If you want, you could get delete this. But I thought this of our friend not even going all the way back to College, but about 20 years ago with our friend Jacoby, I mean, he would tie one on with the best of them, and then the next day at seven in the morning, he'd be ready to produce a bit with a tie. We're definitely not cutting that out. No, definitely. Okay.
A
Compliment. Yeah, he's, you know, he's a mature guy now. Yeah, no, he can rally with the best of them, but I. It's. It's. He's like a Jekyll and Hyde qb. And there's not a lot of these anymore. There's not a lot of guys who just look like complete dog for a while. Like, I don't know how many open receivers he's missed on 40 to 45 yard bumps. I've watched a lot of Broncos. I have a lot of Broncos futures. That was my big AFC pick. And it just feels like for two hours he misses everybody that's open, and then all of a sudden he settles down. He basically needs two hours to settle down.
B
That's it, right? Yeah. Like, he's planted on there. Yeah, he's one of those guys who in four years I don't know what you'd be more confident in. Is he a top six paid quarterback or is he out of the league.
A
Or is he like Carson Wentz where he's on some new team?
B
Yeah, he's got to come back.
A
They're kind of hoping he's okay, but you know he's not and you're just kind of waiting for the starter to come back.
B
That's Jacoby for you. Yeah.
A
Amazingly they're 5 and 2 and we have India 6 and 1. Tampa's 5 and 1 heading into tomorrow night. And then the only 5 and 2 teams are my beloved Patriots, Denver, Philly and the Rams. And Denver could either be. It feels that they could be 3 and 4. They could easily be 6 and 1 if that leverage thing doesn't call. I think what was notable today was their defense was awful and I thought this was going to be one of those defense against a rookie qb, just take them out, you know. But it was the opposite. They were, I thought, really, really bad. And even that last drive like Dart shouldn't have been able to do that. They lucked out because Dart threw the worst, one of the worst passes of the day that Tua wasn't involved with when they were down 10. It's just all that. If you run three times and punt, the Broncos probably can't win. But instead Dart threw them that pick.
B
When he was supposed to be running and then when he was trying to kill the clock he should have passed on second down and they did everything the reverse. And that's why Brian Dabel's breaking chairs in the locker room after the game.
A
Oh my God. Well, the Broncos have a one game lead over the Chiefs and yet are the Chiefs favored on Fanduel for that division? They have to be right Favored to.
B
Win the Super Bowl. Yeah, they're.
A
Oh they're favored to win the super bowl too.
B
They're minus. The Chiefs are now minus 125 the Broncos plus 230 for the division. Chargers 370.
A
Chargers have dropped and the Raiders are no longer on the radar. Yeah, and meanwhile you have the Chiefs who dominated the Raiders to the point that I felt really good once they scratched Bowers. This game doesn't need to be in the multi view. We have enough games. I'm going to just going to hope nothing happens and they'll get a couple updates and the Chiefs will win by a lot. It's exactly what happened. They had 30 to three first downs they tried. I don't think the raiders got to 100 yards. It was like one of the most inept offensive performances I think of the 21st century. So that was great. So anyway, the Chiefs I've rounded into form and then you look at that stupid Monday night game they lost against Jacksonville that we lost money on, right. And is one of the three worst results of the year. Jacksonville looks the way they look today and the Chiefs should probably be 5 and 2 anyway. That 99 yard interception return, one of the dumbest plays of the year for sure. Yeah.
B
And that's what kept Jackson. I remember they have like 14 turnovers in three games and now everything is like coming back to the norm. But yeah, I love the Chiefs today. I mean, this was the only thing they hadn't done in a while. Right. Like lay the smackdown on a team. Like now you have Mahomes favored for mvp. You have the Chiefs favorite to win the Super Bowl. They haven't beaten anybody like they did like in 2022. Like Reed and Mahomes type team. And I laid 23 and a half. I got good odds on that. The only thing I don't understand is why run a trick play against the Raiders by the goal line? Why wouldn't you save that for a game you're not going to struggle in?
A
Which trick play? The one when Mahomes was pretending he was trying to. There was another play.
B
That was the other thing, right?
A
Yeah. Why did they waste that one?
B
That was never fucking works thing. That was great.
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
B
That was dumb. So I don't know, like may. I don't know why. I just would like an answer for that. But who cares? They're right back at it at 4 and 3, the toast of the town.
A
It seemed like a little animosity for the Raiders, who talked a lot of shit the last couple of times. Back to Nuggets. Nuggets. I'm already in NBA mode.
B
Stop it, please.
A
Back in a Broncos Giants mode. The Giants are two and five.
B
Yeah.
A
But probably had the. Including your Cowboys win two of the dumbest losses. Two of the five dumbest losses. So they could easily be four and three, I think of all the two and five and under teams. So that's. Let's see. Cleveland, Vegas, giants, Zona, Baltimore's 1 in 5. Miami, Tennessee, Saints, Jets. If there's just a round robin tournament of all of those teams. Yeah, it's the Giants against the Ravens, I think in the finals. Out of all the crappy teams. Right.
B
So we have Our five cross offs. And who are you adding? You're adding the Giants and Ravens and.
A
I'm just saying those are the teams that are at least -3 for win totals right now, right? No. Well, our new cross up team is Vegas. I think our cross up teams now are Jets, Browns, Tennessee, Miami, the Saints and Vegas. Vegas is 2 and 5 and it's a wrap.
B
Giants are a different tier for sure. But now like you said, Giants are 2 and 5. Now they play a Philly team on the road who just wants to murder them. Right. They're so, so mad. So they're going to fall apart here. I feel like people are still going to love Jackson Dart, but Brian Dable is a little closer to firing after this game. You know what I mean?
A
A Giants fan friend asked me how many franchises could have believably lost that game and he said it's only the last 10 years. Giants. Because the Giants were. They won two Super Bowls in the last 20 years. But then, so I.
B
Not counting the Washington Generals, I think you're right. Yeah.
A
Well, I thought jets would have. Absolutely. That would have happened to the jets. Right. The, the first time in 1602 games. Jets definitely. And I think the Browns are the other one. I don't think maybe Jags, I don't know, maybe that's tough. But I think if we were doing a fantasy draft of who would lose this way, the Giants would have been the third pick.
B
Yeah, right. I would have taken the jets and.
A
I would have taken the Browns second for sure. Then I think Giants third and then.
B
Probably Giants could do it again next week against the Eagles. It could be. It could happen like two or three more times this year with this team.
A
Dart's fun. I like him.
B
He is.
A
I have no idea if Denver. I just don't know if you're a Broncos fan, how you think you can like win a couple rounds with Bo Nix with how he's looked this season. It's just been too erratic. But I think as a, I was.
B
I was going to ask you as a Patriots fan and it's looking more and more certain that you're going to be a playoff team. I know you have your eyes on the division title, but have you thought about the who we don't want to play in the first round thing? I bet Denver's not on your radar for that right now. I bet like the Colts are much more right, right there for. We can't play this team. We can't match up first round.
A
Well, the Colts, I would say are a safe one seed bet right now. The Chiefs would be the two. Right. Buffalo. It just seems like they've been too spotty. The Pats. So if they win the division, which is conceivable, that's probably a three seed for them.
B
Oh, all right. You're. My numbers are all different from yours, but that's fine.
A
Where would you have them?
B
I was saying worse. Like, let's play this out like. Like, we know these teams, and the Pats are a six and the Colts are at two.
A
I think the Pats are going to be in the top five if May stay south just because the schedule. The schedule is so. It's so awful. That's true. I mean, it's really like, number one with a bullet for easiest strength of schedule. Every week they play somebody shitty or somebody that has some major injury. And I think they're a good team. I don't think they're a great team, but May has been one of the best players in the league for the last four weeks. Their defense, they can rush the passer, they can stop the run, and they can get first downs.
B
I think they're a good team. You were so scared when they were down. Terrified.
A
Hench can back me up. I texted him, and I was like. We were down 10, three. And I was like, I like this. This team needed a little adversity. Let's see how they respond. May went right down.
B
Yeah, but you were crying.
A
May was laughing.
B
No, he was good. He couldn't. I was like, oh, this is exciting. I get to throw the nickname at him again. But then he completed, like, 14 in a row.
A
Son of a bitch. He is throwing the best deep balls in the week. They're consistently, like, in stride with a guy catching them with their hands up. One last thing on Broncos Giants. I just wanted to mention, thank God we have win probability rates, because I had no idea if that was, like, an amazing comeback or anything. And then when I saw the charts.
B
You need to see the chart.
A
Yeah, yeah. Once. I was like, oh, yeah. That really was amazing. If you could combine the wind probability charts with how fast somebody ran on a boat 19.8 miles an hour, that we'd really be peak. This is stupid.
B
It's the same dude. Do you think, like, in 1929, like, the great Depression, they had charts of the stock market bottoming out? Like. Yeah. Here's your portfolio, sir. Yeah. So you see this flat line?
A
Oh, all right. Okay.
B
Yeah. Your grandfather's dying. There's a flat line, and there's a annoying Noise going off for now, a minute and a half.
A
We really need them for marriage. Yeah, right. It's like, that's good. My wife's in. Lousy move. What's my win probability chart for asking her if I could go out tonight? All right. The other game we have to talk about is the Browns murdering the Dolphins, which.
B
Let's, let's, let's kill this kicker a little bit. This number 99.
A
Oh, the Giants kick this.
B
Mackinac and Anning.
A
Where did he come from?
B
When a number 99 with a crazy name like that, like, it seems like it's from it's only Sunny in Philadelphia. Like a made up name or something. Like, you know, you have no confidence. You should just get on FanDuel right there and. And bet. Bet the other side.
A
Yeah, you at least need like a. A short guy who's been on a couple teams and kicks like the traditional soccer style. And it's like, oh, I remember that guy when he was on the Jaguars. He deprived us of overtime is what he deprived us of. Yeah, I felt like that game had some more magic in it. It just could have kept going and going. Browns killing the Dolphins. We were texting a lot during this game. I don't even know where to start. Two of finishes after calling out the team. 12 for 23 for 100 yards, three interceptions, two drop picks. Really could add five. He had a fumble. He led three wide receivers into just getting obliterated. I think all three eventually got up and. And it was just everything you would have expected from him. In Cleveland, the weather wasn't as bad, I know, as they thought it was gonna be an interesting state of batter. So you had that and then you had DJ Mikey Mack on the sidelines.
B
The best.
A
He had these big sunglasses. He looked like John Holmes in the mid-80s. Like one of his last porn movies. When the wheels are coming off. I can't even describe how fucking weird he looks. That guy's supposed to be a leader of men. Just checked out and then has an insane press conference after. Like, I actually think it seems like he's unraveling. So he's. There's no way he's going to be coaching them on Thursday. Right? Interesting.
B
Cause I was talking to jj. John Jastremski was a big Dolphins fan and he was really just miserable for three hours trying to figure out what year they're going to be good. And we got like the 2031. And I was like, okay, stop already. Like, he couldn't. He couldn't even pull the trigger on. On that year. But battling for the one, you know, number one pick and everything. But yeah, McDaniel is. Those glasses had. Except like the windshield wiper things on the glasses. Like why just go all out?
A
He's.
B
He's a clown, right?
A
Like why are you wearing sunglasses? It's raining. It's in here in Cleveland. It's 40 degrees. What's going on but you dress like that.
B
We both heard 50 to 70 mile an hour winds like on Thursday. I'm like, oh, we both went under on a teaser and that's what made that exciting. It wasn't like a 137 game. It was like holy shit, how many interceptions is two are going to throw to put this in all under in jeopardy. And it was almost got there.
A
I had a giant 13 point tease that actually won. That took the lineup to 48. Tua throws that pick and like basically from his own end zone. Yeah. And all of a sudden it's 31 to 6. I'm like, oh my God, this game's going to go over 49 points. Like Tua single handedly going to drive this. He was so bad.
B
I.
A
It just. He didn't want to get hit. He was just flinging the ball up for grabs. It was really one of the worst quarterback games we've seen all year. And we've talked about him on this pod for four or five years. This felt like rock bottom for him. I find it hard to believe he's going to be on that team next year. Don't you think?
B
No, I think they have to move on from him and move on from the. It doesn't have to be either or. I know. It's like, well, Tua said this. So McDaniel's gone. It's like nah, it's both of them. But I was, I really hung in there. I was like, I don't want to blame Tua here because they were right in his face for a lot of the plays. Like, like if the average, you know, you get the playoff in like 2.9 seconds. He had like 06 seconds. But even so. But that goes back to McDaniel. Like what kind of game plan? Just run the ball. You got hn. Like just run, run, run. That's what the Browns did. That's why they weren't getting blown out in the third quarter.
A
Right. As somebody bet on the Browns. I was praying that they weren't just going to hand off to HN 38 times. It was a very strange performance. The Browns. There's a couple Teams that I think are good home bets. I think the Falcons are another one. We saw them tonight. But the Browns at home, I don't know. I just think their defense shows up, they can run the ball. Receivers aren't terrible. The quarterback's pretty, pretty tough.
B
Yeah, he's vanilla, right?
A
Pretty, pretty mediocre. But they dominated the game. Some of the Texans 7 for a.
B
For a 1pm Eastern slot.
A
Sadly. Right.
B
Should we rent. We should start ranking quarterbacks in the one 1pm slot. Not this week but I mean it's. It's on a curve.
A
Some texts that we had Hench said at one point if you zoom in on McDaniel's laminate, it's just Zillow listings. I thought that was a good one. I the. There was this one moment where they come at a commercial and Spiro Dietis and Adam Archuleta. Oh yeah, they have the graphic. It was their 17th Cleveland Browns game together. What memories. Get them a photo book. Like out of 17 Browns games, how many of those do you think were like fun to announce?
B
Like two? Yeah, yeah, two.
A
It's like sorry guys, you're going to Cleveland again. And this was just brutal preseason too.
B
Yeah, they showed that graphic and they freeze framed on those guys. I'm like oh are they dead now? Are they in carbon? What happened to these guys? They just clown this one too.
A
Yeah, they left the booth. Um, I left it on the multi view all game all I. It was one of my four of the whole thing. I couldn't get enough of it every time Miami was on offense. I'll tell you this, I think the most wrong I've been all year was my overexcitement for Travion Henderson on the pass thinking that he could be Jameer Gibbs for them. He has not made I don't think a good play this entire season. I don't know what happened in the preseason when he was the most electric rookie they've had in 10 years versus how he's looked this year. Like he. He basically got buried today. He's. He was the third string running back. And then on the flip side, Judkins on. On the Browns is a stud. And I remember saying after like week one or week two, like this was like a miracle that they took Judkins over Henderson. Judkins wasn't even training camp and now it's like Jesus, Judkins looks like they've just recreated Nick Chub but like a faster, yep, quicker version of him.
B
So I was going to bring this up to you Because I have him. He's. He's 10 to 1 to win offensive rookie of the year. I was trying to think, like, what ha happen? You know, they have, like, hurt, like, three more times. Igbuka darts in fur darts at the top. So those two would have to get hurt. Book is already hurt, but probably playing Tyler Warren. Warren would have to go away too. So just three guys have to disappear.
A
You know, I had Igbuka as the best rookie that I've seen this year.
B
Yeah.
A
But Tyler Warren is an absolute destructor of defenses, and they did a good job. They, at one point, they had a graphic today of all the formations, like.
B
Use him a lot lined up at.
A
All these different positions. But we've said it every week, like, the Browns taking Loveland over him was just weird.
B
Yep.
A
The whole year, he was the best tight end in the. In the draft. And then, like, within two weeks before the draft, people were like, I don't know, look out for this Loveland. Right. Coming on. It's like, how about the guy who's always been the best guy at the position?
B
What must the Browns think? Like, they get shit on for every single pick, every single trade, every single. Everything they do. And like, all right, all we need is for this Tyler Warren to be okay, but not great. Like, ah, damn it. Now everyone. Now Simmons is calling us out for not taking. For taking Loveland over Warren. It just goes on and on. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Bear. Oh, yeah, the Bears. Yeah.
A
Well, the funny thing is the. The. So the Browns end up with Mason Graham, who's been awesome because they did this trade back, and then watching that Jaguars, I tweeted this today, and of course, Travis Sutter had a couple garbage time catches. Yeah. But that trade is just like, you watch Mason Graham and it's like, I wouldn't trade Mason Graham for Travis Hunter straight up. I would. I would make. I would make Jacksonville throw in a number one pick. You can find receivers like that. What Mason Graham is doing for the Browns already, it's really hard to find.
B
Yep. Yeah. Yeah, I had the same take that I had to cross out that Travis Hunter is. We don't give him enough crap or the Jags for that. But yeah, then he scored. You had the Jag. Did you have the Jags? You said you didn't have the Jags, did you?
A
We didn't.
B
We.
A
House made us back off in the. In the Arab thing. But no, it's just. It's frustrating because after that Chiefs game, I was kind of hoping that they would be good. So I'd feel better about it and I still feel terrible about it. We we're going to take a break and then we're going to play a new game. The Bill Simmons Podcast is brought to you by fanduel and basketball is back. Finally the NBA is upon us. Fanduel putting you in control Right from the tip off every day to start the season, you get to choose your reward. Play it safe, go for it. Feeling bold.
B
It's your move.
A
Whatever your style, you're in control. What kind of bet are you? You'd be doing same game parlays. You can be doing moneyline underdog bets. You're going to try to put I think this team's going to win with somebody scoring 30 plus points. You should go to the ringer futures that we have. Whole bunch of our favorite future bets. Try to get those in before tip off on Tuesday. However you play, FanDuel is giving you the power to choose your reward and own your game every single day to start the NBA season. Head to FanDuel.com BS to make your choice. Must be 21 + President in select states or 18 + in President, D.C. kentucky or Wyoming. Opt in. Required rewards are non withdrawable. Restrictions apply including bonus and token expiration, leg requirements and max wager amount. See terms@supportsbook.fando.com, get Prom Cod 100 Gambler. Visit rg-help.com call 1-888-789777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut. This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra, the official beer partner of the NBA. So the NBA season is starting. I'm excited about a bunch of different things. We have a lot of lot of teams up in the air. Boston, Milwaukee, Indiana. What are we getting from these teams? The Lakers? Can they hang on and still be a top six team? I think I'm most excited for the Texas teams. I want to see Durant in Houston, Cooper Flagg in Dallas and Wemby and Dylan Harper in San Antonio. I feel like I'm going to be spending a lot of time in the state of Texas with my basketball choices. There are a lot of moments worth playing for. The ones that taste best are sort of cold. Unlike in Texas, where it's usually hot. Whatever happens this season, catch every moment with Michelobotra, the official beer partner of the NBA. Getting fans closer to the game with a chance to win courtside seats. You heard me correctly, a trip to All Star Weekend, custom merch and much more. Michelob Ultra Superior is worth playing for. Enter now at michelobultra.com courtside Michelob Ultra Courtside 2025-2026. No purchase necessary. Open to U.S. residents. 21+. Begins on October 1, 2025. Ends on June 30, 2026. Multiple entry periods. See official rules@michelobalcher.com courtside for free entry, entry deadlines, prizes, and details. All right, this is a new gimmick for us. Very excited about this. We're calling it Baby Doll Corner. So the background is for years and years. I don't know when this started. How far back when he started wishing people luck? Is it before I even knew him? When did this start?
B
Probably before we knew him, but very, very early in on our acquaintance with him. Yeah.
A
So one of Babydoll's favorite things to do and the thing that has brought us the most joy is if somebody's like, their show's about to get canceled, they're about to get fired, some relationship is gonna go. Something bad is gonna happen. Professionally, Babydoll would be like, I wish him a lot of luck. And that has turned into. When we sniff out that something might happen, we'll text Baby Doll Baby. Get the luck ready, Baby. You gotta go into the reserves and get some luck. You have something in your back pocket, and it's just. It's probably the running joke we do the most. Right.
B
Even if something seems good for them at the time, like, oh, this one signed the deal with. To be. To be the vice president. Like, yeah, okay, great. Yeah, I wish you a lot of luck there. Like, oh, all right. You know.
A
So anyway, we. We have some luck we want to hand out in honor of Baby Doll. I'm not sure who's watching football, who's probably playing golf. Let's start with DJ Mike McDaniel. I think. I think on the Baby Doll Corner, He's a solid 10 out of 10. I think he needs a lot of luck.
B
Like, a lot.
A
For sure.
B
I mean, I wrote a lot of things down in his voice.
A
Go ahead.
B
You.
A
Why don't you do it? You go.
B
All right. Yeah. Thanks, Mike McDaniel, for another shitty game and an even shittier press conference. And I quote, this is from his press conference. You ready? Because we're not. I mean, if you are negatively affecting the football team, uh, routinely, you know, assess another player. You know what, Mike? You're as lousy a motivational speaker as you are a head coach. Good luck to you and your Lululemon pants. So that would be something. Yeah.
A
Yeah, that would be a long. It would be a voice text with a couple misspellings.
B
Oh, yeah, yeah. Capital letters. Almost all capital.
A
Almost everything he's doing on a bridge. Right. And maybe you should give your sunglasses back to Marvin Gaye. I think he'd have some luck for Tua.
B
Yeah. Well, first of all, wasn't it funny? Every time they showed Mike McDaniel, he was looking down at the play chart. He was looking down. It was almost like he knew the camera was on him and he knew everyone was staring at him and he couldn't bear to look up. Like if, you know someone's walking on a plane that you don't want to see and you pretend you're sleeping, like that's what he was doing. He's like, yeah, we see you, Mike.
A
What are his other options?
B
Where could he look? He could cover his face with it. I don't know.
A
Like, what if he just went in the blue tent and just kind of peeked out?
B
Mike. Mike McDaniel is in the blue tent. Nothing physically wrong with him. He's just hiding.
A
He's. He was probably mad he didn't have darker sunglasses. He should have had, like, the Ray Charles glasses. Tua would definitely have some luck.
B
Yeah.
A
We told baby we were doing this, and he demanded that Aaron Glenn. Aaron Glenn was number one on his list for. For luck. So I don't know if you want to do. How many of these do you want to do?
B
I have a 2. I have like 7. Do it to her.
A
Go do it to her.
B
You know what, Tua? I wish anyone over 65 luck trying to pronounce your name, but, you know, good luck in the workforce. Throwing your boss under the bus and then shitting all over yourself every Sunday. Yeah, that'll work in the real world. Good luck. Good luck. I guess they should all end with good luck. Yeah.
A
Well, he wanted to wish Aaron Glenn luck. So I looked this up. It was hard to figure out, but I think I'm right. Aaron Glenn started out 0 and 7. So the worst start by a head coach. Again, somehow, Hugh Jackson not involved. Cam Cameron, that won Miami Dolphins here for him. He started out 0 and 13, and then our guy Dan Campbell was 0, 11 and 1. You know, I looked at it here. So he'd have to go own 14 to own the record. They're at Cincy. Bye week. Home Browns. That could be. I don't know, maybe they're two and a half point favorite or underdogs, something like that. At Pats at Ravens. Home, Falcons. Home Dolphins.
B
Dolphins.
A
So basically Browns, Dolphins are the ones to get him to avoid that record.
B
Yeah.
A
So we'll see.
B
Dolphins, December 7th, that was the team they lost to. That's the only team the Dolphins beat. That's going to be. That's going to be spectacular. Yeah. I don't know. So with these guys off the baby thing for a second, but these guys, like, you want to cut them some slack if they don't have the quarterback in place, right? But he wanted Justin Fields, right? Like that. This was his guy. So he kind of, he can't kind of ride out the string and go like, oh, and 16. Oh, and 17. Right.
A
See that's the thing where these guys, I know they have to get people with football backgrounds and people have coached and coached in college or been a coordinator, QB coach, whatever. It really does feel like they need to hire somebody who watches football for 14 hours a day like us.
B
Right.
A
Just as a consultant. Be like, hey, Bill, what's your. What about fields for two years, 20 million a year. What do you just give me your blink test thought and I've just been like, dude, the Steelers quit on that guy in five weeks, right? And he wasn't even playing that bad. And they were just like, there was one, that one game, that Sunday night game and they were like, we're out with this guy. If he's behind, he can't like, you can't do this. Justin Fields will never be the answer. Don't do it.
B
Hey, Justin, guess what? We figured it out. You lied on your fucking resume. You can't throw the ball forward. Ty Taylor is more capable than you are. Good luck getting back on the field. You're going to need it.
A
I think that might have been it for him, by the way. He. He. So he was. What was that? What were his stats today? I have him here.
B
41 yards. 40? I guess that's better.
A
6 for. 6 for 12 for 45 yards.
B
45. Yeah.
A
Benched at halftime and then Taylor came in. It's like Taylor gave him some life. He. He gave the other team some life. He threw two picks.
B
Yeah, that was bad.
A
He finished with six points. I have, I have one piece of luck that I think baby might wish. Tom Brady getting inside info from his Fox gig and giving it to the Raiders. I think we need to. I think we need to wish that storyline luck.
B
You think it's info he's getting.
A
It's like this is such an advantage for the Raiders. The Raiders have gone backwards like more furiously than any team in the league. I'm pretty sure Tom Brady's not helping them out. How about our buddy Carson Wentz who was playing all the hits today and even had like a blooper reel at some point that was floating around on social media. I think if he played better, they would have won that game.
B
Yeah, if he played better. If Hawkinson doesn't slam that into the turf slightly. They were right there. They got behind two or one.
A
That wasn't a catch, though. I don't know why he was mad.
B
He's really pissed off.
A
The ball got loose after it hit the ground. I thought it moved that every time.
B
Yeah, we've seen that enough to see that that's incomplete. But that's how close everything was with them. He just got. Yeah, the Eagles, like, I guess like as boring as we think they could be for three hours, there's always going to. Always going to be like two or three big play capabilities. It's weird. They're not coming from Barkley, you know, and they came from A.J. brown, but it's good enough to beat a lot of these teams, that's for sure.
A
That was the most exciting they've been all year. Yeah, the Eagles, they actually had some explosiveness.
B
Gino, I think it would have been embarrassing, right, If Carson Wentz like that. The embarrassment factor is never, never. You can never put enough emphasis on it. Just like if Rabel had lost to the Tennessee. Those are the two games, right?
A
Well, I think with Wentz, there's a lot of like he's close to being a good quarterback. Right. When you watch him, like you can actually see the potential. Like he'll have some nice throws and there's like that one, that ad lib piece is just missing with him. Like when a play goes wrong and he's got a. And that's just when it unravels for him. Do you have luck for Geno Smith because it feels like his career on the press.
B
How did I miss that? Go ahead. Yeah, go ahead. Do your. Do your.
A
Well, I just think it's. He's in range. The only reason I would give them grace is and this is why I.
B
Thought throwing Grace is my daughter's name, by the way. Go ahead.
A
The Chiefs moneyline, I thought was the safest moneyline parlay ad of the year today because the Raiders scratch Bowers like they're clearly just get us to the bye week. We'll be two and five. We'll get Bowers healthy. Bowers hasn't been healthy since week one, so I don't. I Don't want to write off Gino yet, but it's. It's not been great.
B
Jacoby Myers was solid last year. He's. I think he's like the last three games he barely went over 100 yards. Genti, if you bottle him up and there's no Bowers, like you said, there's going to be not a lot of offense out of this team. Yeah.
A
Who. Who else did you have on the baby doll?
B
I have. Let's see. I have Brian Day ball. Hey. Oh, wow. Brian, you broke a chair in the locker room. Listen, you have no talent and no hair either. And look at me, I have a head of hair. A 25 year old would covet baby to you. Day ball, you're going to need it. Let's see.
A
Do you think he's in range? Like, if they get killed by the Eagles next week, would they be like.
B
It could be. They have a few. It's not just the Eagles, right?
A
They're.
B
The 49ers are decent. They play them. They're at the Bears and Packers. Lions. Your Patriots. Like, that's a. That's a mess. That could be like 3 and 9. So I don't know. Do you keep them at that point?
A
Well, one thing he doesn't have to worry about is Bill Belichick stealing his job.
B
Bill's another one, by the way. And I like to wish Hulu luck for giving millions to Bill Belichick to create a reality show and they made a shitty pilot and kept the money. Yeah, that money is gone. Hulu, you're not getting it. Jordan squandered it on designer purses and graphic artists.
A
They. They really rope a dope, Tulu.
B
They really did.
A
That's the only one he could beat.
B
He can't beat anyone else.
A
They filmed it and then they. Just like that. Actually, we're going to take the money.
B
I got a couple more.
A
Yeah, let's hear it.
B
All right. Oh, London. Yeah. Good luck, London. You didn't get a good NFL game today. Or last week, or ever. In our eyes, you're barely worthy of the Jaguars. You'd be fortunate if we named you our 51st state. I wish you a lot of luck. I might be mixing egomaniacs here, but that's.
A
Yeah.
B
Oh, whoever designed the Chargers uniforms. I got news for you. The Savannah Bananas look is not working for you. You want a designer, hire whoever designs for my girls. The Nader Sisters Love Thy Nadir. A show which I happen to be an executive producer on. They dress all classy and Shit, they're sweet girls, you know. Never embarrass themselves. Like the Chargers team had a wardrobe or whatever. I wish you luck.
A
We should mention Baby Doll does represent the Nader sisters. He's branched out.
B
We'll give you his number at the end of the show if you want to contact them for any reason.
A
The next time we do this, we should just have Baby Doll on camera for the segment.
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You should show a picture in the five. Just at least a picture. Just whatever. One more Andrew Luck. I wish him a lot of luck. You were locked for first ballot hall of fame and oh, then, oh, you retired because you fell out of love with the game. Oh, that's too bad. And now you're the GM of St. Stanford football. As if that's even a thing. Well, guess what? Your team's a 30 point underdog to Miami this week. Good luck to you. I could do this for like three hours. I'm done. I have no other.
A
I thought you might have had some. Some belated luck for Brian Callahan and his dad.
B
Yeah, go sell. Go sell your shitty tire somewhere else, Callahan. We don't need you.
A
I want to put in case you do this again on Luck Watch. I think Kyler Murray might be on Luck Watch.
B
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
A
Pretty competent. Two straight weeks. I know they're 2 and 5, but.
B
He does seem to have that offense in a better rhythm than.
A
Than Kyler and Spencer Rattler, who has moments and is moving the ball, I think would also be on. On Luck Watch because if they're going to be 1 and 8, like at that point you got to put in Tyler Schuck and see if he's competent or not.
B
Do you feel like rather was bad.
A
Today in the weather?
B
Well, those 1pm Eastern Games, you're just going to get a slew of bad quarterbacks, right? Or new quarterbacks or struggling quarterbacks, whatever. Is it like hate watching a bunch of shows now? I feel like it's like hate watch, hate watch. Binging five shows at once. Like, okay, there's the bear. I know, I'm not gonna laugh. I know it's best comedy. Everything else, but it's like I feel like that's where it is. Are you with that? Like, why do we do this to ourselves?
A
It's. To me, it's like those. It's the latest seven hour serial killer show. There's a John Wayne Gacy show. Yeah, John Wayne Gacy. Worst Rotten Tomatoes serial killer. Like, I think the lowest rotten Tomatoes rating. Just like not a fun Hanging. It wasn't a fun hang in the moment. Like, there are other serial killers just eclipsed him. There were, like, more fun ones, more entertaining ones. Like, Gacy's just, like, weird and. And him and Ed Gein were the two that Hollywood kind of laid off because it was like, man, there's just nothing to work with here. And now we're making eight hours about these guys. We've just run out.
B
I love it. I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about, But I love 1pm Eastern serial killers.
A
It's running out of them. Okay. Yeah. Speaking of the jets, The Panthers are 4 and 3. Had to mention that, of course, Bryce Young hurt his ankle in the game. Dalton had to come in for a little bit, but Panthers over under, I think was. What was it? Six and a half.
B
Six and a half. Yeah. So they're. They're going to get there, it looks like.
A
Yeah. I mean, there's a couple over unders that are almost done. Like the Colts. That one's right. You know, I was in Boston the last couple days, and I had made some. Some future bets on Fanduel in August when I was there. All stuff we talked about on the pod.
B
Right.
A
One of them was a pretty sizable Pats over seven and a half wins bet. And FanDuel was like, do you want to buy this out now? And they were like, you can. You can basically buy it out for, like, 80%. It's. It's really interesting. I was like, no, no. Thanks for the offer, fandom. I'm going to ride this out. But they give you the buy it. The buy it price, which I think is fun for the futures, because I had a Minnesota one where I was like, oh, maybe I should just get out of this. Now, do you get out of future.
B
Bets, or do you feel like once.
A
You'Re in, you're in?
B
We should. I have friends that do that. Not even with future bets, but just regular bets. They'll cash out. I feel like it's. I feel like it's a loss, but I also feel like Fanduel should be. As if you're, like, leasing a car, and you're like, yeah, yeah, I don't like this. I'm gonna go somewhere else. And they're like, let me talk to my boss for a second. I'll be right back. You know what, Phil? I'll give you 88% for that patriot. Yeah, let me.
A
How about that? We just take 90. We should take 90 right now.
B
We don't ever do this, but don't tell anyone. We're gonna.
A
Yeah, I had another one. I had a Pat's Denver one that they were like offering 90% like the ones that it are. But the reason I bring that up is like, if you had the Colts over easy, you're at like 97% for the FanDuel buyout. Like, they're. You not even getting value of that anymore. Packers, Cardinals. Yet another weird packers game. There was couple. Couple notable things. Parsons finally got going really good. We called him out last week. I. We had nothing to do with it, but we did. We did point out last week that he was not jumping out of the tv. I really liked something lafleur did in this game that we've talked about in the past in different pods where they brought the field goal kicker out to tie it with like two and a half minutes left on fourth and two. I think they're on like the 27, 29 somewhere there, like two minutes left and then changed our mind, went for it on 4th and 2. Got it.
B
Long pass, right? Like, wasn't even a. Yeah, it was good.
A
It was like a ballsy call. They get it. It's one of those where if they don't get it, I think he gets criticized. But the reason I liked it, I just felt like the packers needed something like that. They needed some sort of like, hey, are we good or not? Because I feel like they were in no man's land for three, four weeks and it was the kind of thing you do when you have a good team. So they did it and they got it, and I think it's going to help them. I still don't know if they're good. What do you. What do you think?
B
Well, they're good. I mean, listen, they're.
A
No, but I mean, good. Good.
B
I'd be surprised if they didn't make the playoffs. I think we talked about on the pregame show, what was your confidence meter with the. With the packers after they beat the lions? Like a 9 or a 10.
A
Right.
B
What is it now? Like a 6, 7.
A
Right.
B
Right now in terms of like, right there.
A
But how many NFC teams do you like more than them?
B
Well, that's. Yeah, that's. Probably it. I. Probably three, if it came down to it. Even though they spanked Detroit, Dallas, one of the three. Dallas is. Well, we tied them, so they have to be on the same level, I guess. No, it's probably Tampa, Detroit. Do I say Seattle yet? I don't know. I don't know. Well, I mean, they're. They're right in there.
A
They're good, but I still think Philly has to be in there.
B
Yeah, they beat Flacco and Jacoby Brissette in the last couple weeks, so. But Parsons is back. He's right there. Three sacks, ten pressures. He's good.
A
It's a weird because when you watch in the game and it's like, I like that guy. Really like Tucker Kraft. Wow. Golden's really good. Ah, Jacobs is excellent. Wow, what a play by Love. And you watch them and you're wondering why they don't have like 40 points. Yeah. And meanwhile it's like, you know, 16 to 13 with eight minutes left and they have weapons everywhere. Every time they throw to Tucker Kraft, that's 15 yards. He's basically Laporta or Tyler Warren for them. They never throw it to them.
B
They get Watson and Jaden Reed back soon, so it's going to be like 10 guys I could throw out there.
A
Cards a cross off range for you? Two and five?
B
I think so, yeah. Two and five. They've lost four in a row. They probably should have lost five in a row. So I haven't seen their schedule in a minute, but it looks like they're not going to be favored in a lot of these games. Right. They're at Dallas after their buy. They're at Seattle, San Francisco Jaguars, Tampa, the Rams. I mean, that's one or two wins in there.
A
So I think 10 wins for NFC. So that means they have to go eight and two, last 10.
B
Oh, yeah. No, no, it's not happening.
A
Listen, I got a lot of things wrong. I was up and down on the over unders. I'll probably end up over probably. I'll probably be like 18 and 14, 19 and 13, something like that. The Cards, I never, I. There were a lot of smart people really on the cards this year and I just didn't understand it.
B
Yeah, Yeah.
A
I didn't get it. I didn't think they had the talent.
B
Good luck, Sal. Getting Fandel to cash out your NFC West Division Cardinals bet. Yeah, good luck.
A
Yeah, they're. They're offering you like 7% for that one. Philly, Minnesota we talked about earlier. The big one was The Philly receivers had 304 yards catching today, which I think people got excited about. I did have to ask you about Minnesota, though. This McCarthy ankle sprain does not pass the Bill Simmons stiff test.
B
Oh, interesting.
A
I watched that game. I wasn't positive that he was hurt at any point in that game. Then they said he was. And put this way I don't think Tom Brady in like 2012 is out for 6 weeks with this injury. And I wonder if this was a soft benching. I know I'm not the first one to speculate this, but if you had to bet soft benching or his ankles really fucked up, where would you put the ratio for that? Because to me, I'm like, way on the soft benching side.
B
Is it even soft? I mean, what was his performance? I know it was the ankle that.
A
Did him in, but he was terrible. He had one good quarter that he. The fourth quarter, Monday night game. That, of course, House that I lost on. No, it was Minnesota, I thought. No, not Minnesota. Chicago. Yeah.
B
Okay. Yeah, Right. Yeah. Oh, the good quarter.
A
Yeah, he played that one good quarter in that game. Other than that was. Was bad. And then this. This very fortunate ankle injury popped up out of nowhere, and we haven't seen him since. And I just. I don't know. It doesn't pass the sniff test to me.
B
I think you're right.
A
And.
B
Well, they had once. They're by now, I can't see where 23rd. Did they have their buy? This dumb thing I'm looking at.
A
I think they had their buy.
B
They had their buy.
A
They did.
B
Yeah. They're three and three. Yeah. I don't know. They have to bring them back sooner rather than later. The one thing I saw in that game that I liked out of Minnesota, this guy, the Vikings batty, laying down on the tush push. Yeah.
A
Explain that to me. Why did that actually work?
B
I don't know. I think it threw. First of all, I think it just threw them off. Like when. Like when chosen. Blocked Daniel LaRussa's crane kick. Like, holy shit, this is happening. They're gonna have to figure something else out. All anyone has to do is lay down. I mean, I'll lay down. I'll be the guy who lays down if they want to do that. But good for them if that's. What if that continues to work.
A
Yeah. So he gets hurt in that Falcons game. Week 2. Since then, they played the Bengals, Steelers, Browns in London. Bye week. Last week, Eagles. And then they're at the Chargers Thursday night at Detroit, week nine. And then week 10 against the desperate Ravens team. We're running out of spots to just slide JJ Back in. Right. And if they missed on that pick, that's pretty significant because.
B
Sure.
A
What was he? What was he, the seventh pick?
B
Well, even Schefter is like, hey, could I. Do I have to report on him every Wednesday? Like, what?
A
What?
B
What's going on here. It's fine. It's fine if you want to take him out. 10th overall. Right.
A
Right ankle sprain for a QB this debilitating, like you're out for over a month. I don't know.
B
Yeah, he's got to step up. The excuse, I think.
A
You think we need the NBA countdown crew to come in and tell him to step up? Yeah. J.J. mcCarthy. They let Sam Darnold go, but I was thinking if they had paid Sam Darnold, who I think has been pretty good on the Seahawks and was really good for them last year. They.
B
They gave him a lot of money, though. Yep.
A
They probably win that 8, 21, 18 Steelers game. I think they win today. Arguable that they win that Week 2 Falcons game, but they have probably have two more wins if they just kept Sandarnold. Yeah, they put some of that money toward like defense and I get it. Like they spend it differently, but at.
B
Least for him too. Yeah, he's got a. If that's a sprained ankle, meanwhile, I have like a cramp. I'm such a pussy. I have a cramp in my ribs. I can't wait for the next break so I could stretch. But yeah. McCarthy wants a new break now. No, it's fine.
A
You want to wish your ribs some luck? The Bears have won four straight and the Patriots have won four straight. What is crazier to you?
B
Wow, the Bears.
A
How about this? I didn't even know they won four straight until I watched the Ben Johnson post game locker room thing. And he was talking about four in a row. And I'm like, four what? Four, oh, four wins. Four wins in a row. They beat Dallas, Vegas, Washington and then New Orleans today.
B
I know.
A
They went 16 takeaways.
B
They. They were the only team to go over their point total every week before this week. And then what? They only had 26. I don't think they did it this week. But yeah, he had some bad numbers too. Caleb Williams then He had like one interception, two fumbles, like 160 yards. I can't remember how many.
A
I gotta be honest, I thought Caleb was pretty bad in this game. Yeah, they won. They won today because their defense was excellent. And. And they really. And Rattler had a couple bad throws, but their defense was really good, really lively. They're leading the league in takeaways now. They had an interesting moment at the end of the game. Now I'm just scouring for the post game speeches. It's my favorite thing to do during this Sunday night game. And Ben Johnson is just trying to step it up. And he does this very aggro. He's almost like a South park character with his post game speeches. But then he gave the game ball to Dennis Allen. We forgot it was a Dennis Allen revenge game. The defensive coordinator of the Bears gives the ball to him. Dennis Allen comes in and gives this speech that's way better than what Ben Johnson's speech was. He almost sounded like a preacher. And the guys were like, locked in. They were really excited for him. And I was like, dangerous move when you're the coach to hand off the speech to somebody who's better than you at the speech.
B
Interesting.
A
So maybe, maybe that speaks to the camaraderie of the coaching staff. I don't know.
B
It's either that or Ben Johnson knows how bad a head coach Dennis Allen would be and has that threatening. Yeah, there's no threatening at all. It's like, go ahead, take the mic, whatever you need to do.
A
He looked at his record on Pro Football Reference. He's like, ah, this is fine.
B
Go do karaoke. You're fine.
A
Yeah, whatever you want to give it to him. I am not a believer in that Bears team. So they are 4 and 2 next week. When we do guest alliance, they're at the Ravens, which is our first playoff game of the year, basically. Because if the Ravens lose, it's over.
B
Yeah.
A
You're not making the playoffs. One and six.
B
No doubt.
A
So this will be our first actual playoff game. Stakes for one of the teams. And then my team, the Patriots, who beat Carolina, Buffalo, New Orleans and Tennessee. Tennessee. Three stinker team. Well, two stinker teams. Carolina is okay. And then Buffalo is the big win there. But everything's going great. Couldn't be happier with May, the Lions, all that stuff. The one thing is May keeps taking these hits.
B
Yeah.
A
And I thought he got concussed today. The head bounced off the.
B
And he shook the. Shook his head too.
A
Yeah, yeah. And then I was like, fuck. Because I think he had two last year. And I. I'm reasonably confident I've seen every single play of his career for the Patriots. He's had at least four of these now where it seems, it's. It seemed like he got concussed. Some guys just seem like they take hits. But I'm. I'm starting to wonder, should he wear like the Grogan neck brace to. Oh, yeah, protect his head. But it's just like that's my one fear with this, is these hits that he takes. Of course, he's such a good Scrambler. But the protection broke down a couple times, which was atypical for this team. But for the most part, this is a really good, at the very least, a really good bad team, and they might even be a good team. I, I'm leaning toward that.
B
I think they're actually trying to get me. They're a good team.
A
Yeah, of course they're a good team. See, I knew that would work.
B
They're a good team, they're a playoff team.
A
We are a good team.
B
But you're going to beat a bunch of bad teams that you're not going to get credit for. Still. Like, it's just, it's, you're gonna have 11 wins and two or three of them are gonna be good. But I, I, I almost feel like everybody's right there with you as I look this over. But I was wondering how many good quarterbacks have fans that are worried about them? Like, you are, like, in terms of their quarterback is gonna take a beating. Like, Jackson Dart isn't there yet, I don't think.
A
But I think the Giants fans are probably terrified he's gonna get concussed over and over again with the way he plays. Yeah, May has at least been more cautious this year. The one today was a little bit of a fluke, but, yeah, look, if you look at the PAT schedule, the APP Buccaneers game, week 10 is probably the toughest game left on the schedule, and they're playing a bunch of crap teams. There's a chance, I mean, they might, there, there might play four teams this year that will fire their coach either during the season or after. Yeah, but they can keep piling up wins. I mean, the one thing with them is Rabel has had big win total seasons before. He kind of knows you just kind of move on to next week. Move on the next week. The one thing that was interesting about them this week, some of the quotes, I was surprised, like, they were talking, they're not talking about like, well, if we could make the playoffs, that'd be great. They're like, look, we got to measure ourselves. They're talking about themselves, like their playoff team already.
B
Sure. And yeah, they should.
A
It's crazy because they were one and two four weeks ago, but now I think they, I think they know that they're good.
B
Well, they knew they couldn't lose to both the Raiders and the Titans. Right. Like, then doesn't even matter if you end up in the playoffs. No one's going to.
A
That's the funny thing. They have two losses. They lose to that shit Raiders team and they. That was the worst game May played all year. And then the Steelers game, then turned the ball over five times. The one thing with Rabel, who I, I've been fascinated with how he's changed the culture. What he did for Ramondre this year I thought was really notable because Ramondre had all those fumbles and it's just he had this fumbling issue for a couple years now. And then he had a couple big ones. He cost them the Pittsburgh game. And Belichick, I mean, the guy would have, his body just would have been found in Rhode island, like on the side of a highway with like missing a head. Cops would have had to.
B
Is that the ending of Task? Don't tell me.
A
The cops would have ID'd him two weeks later. Like he just never would have played for Belichick again.
B
Sure.
A
And Rabel was like, you know, Ramandre the next game and in the, when they gave the game balls out and he was basically made it clear, like, I'm not quitting on somebody who fumbles a couple times. Did the same thing with the kicker. He set the kicker up for when that kicker made the game winning field goal. Set him up. It was like, I knew you were going to make it. Like, he doesn't bail on these dudes. And I think they really like that because you have all these coaches and all these people just, they'll bail immediately, whoever. He's like the opposite. So I don't know, it feels like there's something really actually happening here.
B
Well, I hope you have the same sunny outlook next week when Ramon Dre fumbles and you lose to the Browns. Let's see.
A
Well, you know what? Ramondre, he's. You're part of this team and everybody makes mistakes.
B
Is that what you, you have a.
A
Culture guy too in Dallas? Yeah, let's take, let's take a break and talk about that quickly. This episode is brought to you by the new CBS original series Boston Blue. Fridays. This fall on cbs, Donnie Wahlberg returns as Detective Danny Reagan and he's teaming up with Sonequa Martin Green to fight crime in Boston, where family loyalty and city pride meet high stakes drama. More importantly, they meet my dad because this is already his favorite show. He hasn't even seen an episode yet. It's the next chapter in the world of blue bloods. My dad is ready for it. Familiar, but with a sharper, grittier edge. The new CBS original series, Boston Blue. New episodes, fragrance 109 Central on CBS and streaming on Paramount. Plus, 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. So here's the thing with the Cowboys season, which seemed pretty grim when you traded Michael Parsons. You now have a top three most fun team in the league. Yeah, really, really fun to watch the Cowboys. And the attitude is just something about the. Something's different. So what is it other than that you have two.
B
If you don't root for them, it's fun, right? Like they're going to score a lot of points. Like, if you had to have a fun super bowl or NFC championship, you'd probably have Dallas and Tampa and forget the records. Right. Like, you know, that would be probably a fun game because, you know, Dak is playing out of his mind. I think he's plus 115 for comeback player of the year. I didn't see offensive player of the Year. He doesn't. They won't be good enough for him to win mvp, but I don't know. They're like. I was trying to think, like, they're like Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Like they're. They great taste, but you'll get violently ill if you have to have them every meal. They're going to disappoint your bowels. So, yeah, 44, 22 is a gigantic win over the Commanders. We'll take it.
A
Tough one for the Commanders. Daniels gets hurt. The defense looked awful. Yeah, some real dark moments on the. On a text thread with all the people I bet the Commanders versus the Pats. I gave everybody two wins and dark moments. Who is it?
B
David Chang. What's he.
A
What's Chang? We did a separate bet where it's. It's a certain dollar number per win over one way or the other. So if the pats go like 13 and 4, 12 and 5, whatever, and Washington goes like 7 and 10 plus. I have the plus two because they were two wins lower than the. The Washington over under. So it could get up there. Chang offered to do a buyout.
B
Like a FanDuel buyout?
A
Yeah, he wanted to do a FanDuel buyout. And I'm like, he's like, we got to talk about some sort Of a deal. And I'm like, the only deal I'm making is with Venmo or PayPal.
B
Wow.
A
So Chang's mad at me now because I won't. I won't do a deal.
B
I'm sorry.
A
I thought I was doing bets with men, right?
B
Oh, wow, look at that. So he's not a man because he offered you a deal?
A
He wanted to weasel out of his Washington pass thing. Be a man. Stick to 18 weeks.
B
Come on, Chang. Shit. Now I have to leave Washington. This is weird. Why do you think he's not a man all of a sudden?
A
I don't know. Yeah, I'll probably end up making a deal. I want to stay friends with Chang. He was really upset about the Washington game. He feels like this bet has ruined the season, that they. They put bad juju on Jada Daniels.
B
Well, he does. Look at. He looks. I know he's also injured, but he looked like he was playing injured up until then, right? Like, the rushing yards are not coming easy.
A
Honestly, he hasn't looked healthy once this season.
B
Has he looked very slow? I know their receivers are out, right? Like, they have, like, no receivers. But last year they looked so much faster than everybody. And now, like, to a man, and I get it, some starters are out, but they're just look very average. I mean, now they're below average. Are they three and four?
A
Yeah. This was a hard under for us.
B
Yep.
A
Because there was a lot of, like, regression stuff. Their defense was old. Every year we see this. With that, there's always an old team that thinks they can, you know, buck the system well.
B
And they were very old.
A
Guess what? Old guys get injured is how it goes.
B
That's what Chang should know. That's the lesson you should teach him as you collect 100% of your bet.
A
I mean, I guess I'm willing to talk a deal with him, but I feel like he should ride it out. Get me next year. Oh, and then Jacksonville. You don't. You have nothing else in the Cowboys, You're. You're playing it cool.
B
You're three.
A
Three and one.
B
I want to play it cool. I would have been a lot more excited, I promise, if they had beaten Carolina last week. Because now it gets. It gets kind of ugly, you know? You know, at Broncos, we'll go over the lines in a second. They'll have the Eagles, the Chiefs, the Lions, and the Vikings in consecutive games in November. So not pretty.
A
You're minus 340 to miss the playoffs.
B
It's a good bet. I'm going to bet Chang on that.
A
Your win total. No, Chang. If you start winning the bet, he won't give you the satisfaction he demands to settle it. Okay.
B
Seven and a half. What's our win total?
A
Seven half. Put some juice on the over. Minus one. 25.
B
Okay. Yeah, they're exciting.
A
I'd rather bet.
B
Bet The Dak Award stuff, I mean, it was great seeing CD Lamb back.
A
Right.
B
And George Pickens, I'll say a little more. I feel like he's going to lead the league in defensive pass interference calls.
A
Right.
B
Against him or for him, it's unbelievable. Yeah. And they all are defensive. Like, they're all legit. And also he's a great, great number two receiver. Like this. The Steelers rift on that. Like that. Maybe he doesn't fit in their offense. He fits in Dallas's offense really well.
A
Right now. The smartest thing about that trade, and it's something you should always be thinking, is, like, that guy was never with a good quarterback ever. Right. You're getting this guy who clearly was talented, and I wouldn't have gone near him. I just thought he was so erratic on the Steelers. But maybe he was erratic because he was losing his mind because his quarterbacks were terrible. Now he's this quarterback who throws. He'll go down the sideline, jump up and put his hands up, and the ball is right where his hands are, three feet over his head as he's flying. Like, it's all the stuff he's good at. So he must be, like, delighted.
B
You think he should be a benchmark for receivers or, like, their agents, like, they go out and like, hey, my guy, whatever. He doesn't put up the great numbers. But he's never been with a quarterback who could throw a ball. Take a look at George Pickens, what he did. I feel like there's a bunch. We could. We could. We could hold off on a couple of those, but they're probably all. Yeah.
A
Devonte Adams right now.
B
Yeah.
A
So Dallas, does that tie count as half a win?
B
I mean. No.
A
How does that work on FanDuel with, like, what if. So if you go.
B
Nah.
A
If you go eight, eight and one.
B
You still would have to be over eight and a half wins.
A
So it doesn't count at all.
B
No. 1. No. But if for the playoffs, 8. 8 and 1 is better than, I don't know, 8 and 9, right?
A
Yeah.
B
Or 9. 7 and 1 is better than 9 and 8.
A
So I don't think you're excited enough about the Cowboys. You killed Washington. You hate Washington.
B
Come on, The Panthers, that was just unbelievable garbage. They lost that game.
A
And then Jacksonville, 13 penalties, 0 sacks, 2 for 10 on third down, 1 loss, kick return TD on a bogus block in the back. They led five touchdowns to Stafford with no picks. And yet another horrible game where if you woke up a half hour late, you heard Rich Eisen and it's already 14 nothing and it's like maybe I should just roll over and go back to bed.
B
It could put you in a bad mood for the rest of the day. It's a long NFL day, right. And you're probably going to pick the game wrong, whoever you take. So if you could afford to stay away from it betting wise and do.
A
So, staying away from the winning games this year was a great idea. Week 8 guess the lines. We have six by week teams.
B
So yeah, this is a fantasy from hell week. Right.
A
Including Jacksonville. I'm not sure if there's any Jacksonville fantasy guy you'd be excited about. Brian Thomas Jr. Is just pulling John Wayne Gacy on two of my fantasy teams. Las Vegas, they had 95 yards this week, so maybe we don't miss any of those. But we are going to miss some of the Lions. We are going to miss some of the Rams. Arizona, probably not. And then Seattle.
B
Seattle.
A
Those are our six ones. So we're losing almost all of the NFC West. Yeah.
B
We're losing three NFC west teams. I don't know if that's happened before and why they did that, but. But I'm sure there's a reason.
A
Guest lines what. What's the record?
B
Four. Three. You're up four weeks to three. I think I scratched out a win to cut the deficit, but I don't feel good about this. I know.
A
Short week. Yep. Thursday night, Chargers home from Minnesota. We'll see if J.J. mcCarthy recovers from his high ankle sprain. I have the Chargers -3.
B
You're going to get it. I said one and a half. I just felt like that's where all these fall. With the Chargers, it's two and a half.
A
You know, we probably didn't talk about that Colts game enough. I. We could talk about it when the Colts. When we, when we do their game.
B
People get mad if we don't talk about their team enough.
A
No, but that one we should have talked about. I. What was notable to me with the Chargers was. I mean Herbert, especially in the last like two hours of the game, they were really moving the ball, but their defense was helpless. Like the Colts would get like incompletion or run to the ground on first and it'd be second and 10. You'd be like, they're going to get eight yards, they're going to get 12 yards. Like, oh, they're going to get 20 yards. They were moving. Wasn't just that they were getting yards. These guys were like wide open. Taylor was just slicing through. It felt like if they could have had the ball more, they could have had like 50 points.
B
That's the, that's what we're missing from this Chargers team right from. From the first couple weeks. The toughness with the Harbaugh, toughness on defense. Like, where is it supposed to be? I know there's some injuries there, but they. Yeah, I mean, they couldn't get off the field on, on third down. And those Colts, like, I'll say that, like, I'm never. I'm no longer expecting the hammer to drop on them. Like, they'll lose games, but I'm not. You don't feel like, oh, wait till they go to Kansas City. Well, wait till they go to Buffalo. Like, those are all could be one score games. They outscore everyone.
A
I thought we had the Chargers. The Colts had had a couple injuries and I really thought that that House and I both thought it was going to be like just a Herbert MVP game. And he was really good in the game. And it didn't matter because the Colts were awesome. They have nine, two touchdown quarters in the season.
B
Wow.
A
Where they've scored two touchdowns at a quarter.
B
Wow. They don't punt a lot.
A
So I think Daniel Jones. So if we have Geno in 22, Baker Mayfield in 23, Darnold in 24, now Daniel Jones in 25. This is the fourth straight year with a has to be a QB redemption. Like if you watch Jones in this game, you would think he was one of the five best quarterbacks in the league. He was doing everything perfectly. Every guy was hit on stride. Every deep ball was the right throw. I thought he was fantastic. Really good.
B
They can't stop. I couldn't really ignore it because Anthony De Bundo is a Colts fan and why he wasn't at that game, I have no idea. But screaming, screaming in our ears. Every touchdown, every first down.
A
Even my Indiana sports cluster theory. Sunday Marquis. So just a weird one because The Ravens are 1 and 5, but I think this is the game of the weekend. Ravens Bears in Baltimore. Playoff stakes for the Ravens. I think they have to win a couple in a row.
B
And Lamar's back for sure.
A
Lamar's back. After watching that Bears team, that's a Team they should be able to beat at home. I don't care how banged up their defense is. And I think they're going to be favored by three and a half.
B
That's exactly what I said. And those are amateur guesses, Bill. It's six and a half.
A
Wow.
B
I mean that's kitchen sink written all over it.
A
That has to be a record for a one in five team against a four and two team.
B
Yes.
A
A spread that's almost seven is just nuts.
B
That is nuts. And they get. They. It doesn't. Just because Lamar comes back doesn't mean the defense is fixed right. Chicago could throw the ball all over the place this game. I'm not taking Chicago. Don't worry about it. This is going in your ring or 107. This is going in your 107 parlay.
A
This is bet number five. I'm scared of the Ravens because I think not only Lamar thing but I thought Harbaugh had a really, really, really rough year so far and I just don't like the look of them.
B
So you could bet.
A
Stay away from me.
B
You could bet to miss the playoffs. Ravens minus 1:28. Or you could bet the Ravens on a teaser here, you know or, or I guess I should have said that the other way around. You can bet the Ravens to make the playoffs at like +105. Or you could bet a teaser here.
A
I was already looking at a Ravens pats combo because with the pats of The Browns only one watchable game. Texans home for the 49ers who despite all the injuries. Oh, we didn't talk about them either. We jumped, we jumped the Sunday night game. We didn't really talk about that patchwork defense they threw together and then how bad Pennix was.
B
Yeah, just a bad spot. Right?
A
Like bad everything awful. I don't know what to make he to me he's like tua. When it's bad it's. You just know it right away and you know it's not going to return for the game. But the Niners like you know Kittle is back. The receivers are going to slowly come back. Purdy will be back I think next week. McCaffrey is still one of the five best offensive players in the league and somehow they're going to win 10 games.
B
That was a great spot for San Francisco. Right. We talk about, let's just talk about our five cross off teams which is now six. Aside from those teams, no one is good or is as good or as bad as they look the week before.
A
Right.
B
So Atlanta just Throttles Buffalo, cuts off all of Josh's, Allen's lanes. He can't run, he can't do anything. Bijan is going to go for 400 yards. If there's like another five minutes in that game, there's no way they're going to be as good as that. Traveling to San Francisco on a short week. And the 49ers aren't going to be as bad as they were. So that was a nice spot for us, but, yeah, that. So now that division, we'll pick the line in a second. Who do you think is favored to win the NFC West?
A
I would say the Rams.
B
Barely. Plus 140. Niners 45.
A
Jesus.
B
Seahawks, 3:10.
A
You know, the one thing that sucks about doing the picks on a Thursday is I wanted to see who was going to be playing for the Niners. Yeah, definitely like them, but you just don't know. Like, we had the Chargers and Joel I don't think ended up playing. But on Thursday, it seemed like he was going to play. And I'm not positive I would have been jumping on the Chargers without Joe Walt.
B
Right.
A
It's almost, it's almost like we should, I guess we can't.
B
Who'd you want as quarterback? You wanted Purdy or Jones? Like, what would have made you commit?
A
I think I know. I, I. We didn't know if Kiddo was playing. Oh, we just, we didn't, we didn't know who was playing for the Niners. There was like, still stuff. We didn't know what receivers were playing. I don't know.
B
All right, Bill, it doesn't matter because let's take a look at our 4K sky cam delivered by Walmart. Plus it's Christian McCaffrey who makes a difference on this team. You can't stop cmc, man.
A
They made it National Running Back Day. We need another National Day. What is the cutoff for running backs I have to congratulate?
B
I don't know.
A
Yeah, I think is Harrison's flag football team. Do you have to congratulate all the running backs?
B
I think you should. Next week's tight ends game. Yeah. Rabel didn't cut. What's his name? Ramandre. That was what he gave him as a gift for National Running Backs Day.
A
Yeah, you get to, you get to keep your job in your locker.
B
This is so weird.
A
We gave, we gave it. Who did, who did Mickey give Rocky's locker to?
B
Oh, who was it?
A
Yeah, in Rocky 1.
B
Yeah.
A
Yeah.
B
The other Italian. Right. Who was it?
A
It wasn't Spider Rico.
B
No, I guess not. We'll look that up.
A
Can't remember. All right, well, I have Texans minus two and a half. Houston.
B
I got this one. Exactly. It's one and a half unless it moved. It's Houston TikTok zone.
A
Well, listen, we're going to find out about Houston tomorrow because Seattle's a tough place to play. I'm not convinced they can run the ball. Houston. I'm not convinced they can block Seattle's defense. Their front seven is going to be really good and it's the kind of game if Houston has a chance to come back and try to be a playoff team, it should at least be a good performance tomorrow night.
B
I think if they win, it's got to be a low scoring game. They've averaged 12 points on defense.
A
19 of 14.
B
They played shitty teams but they are one of the top defenses. And maybe Darnold isn't so successful throwing downfield for one freaking game. I don't know.
A
Fairly watchable Falcons, Dolphins. I have this as a fairly watchable just because I don't know who's coaching. It could be DJ Mikey Mack could be back for another week where dressed like John Lennon. I have the Falcons minus imagine.
B
I no paycheck. Seven and a half is exactly right. I said six and it actually opened at six and it's seven and a half. So they saw what did happen that it's is someone out.
A
Who the hell could be out for.
B
Miami to make that go up?
A
Probably just people betting it because I think people saw people saw Miami highlights. But Atlanta is a home team.
B
Yeah.
A
Pat's Browns. I had trouble with this. It's either seven and a half or eight and a half. But I went with seven and a half cause I'm not sure people believe in the Pats yet.
B
I wish you would have gone to eight and a half. It's seven so you get that.
A
What'd you have?
B
Oh, I had eight. I had eight and a half. I went higher.
A
That's a teaser.
B
Oh, you're loving it. I mean I'm over under 16 and a half teasers you have with the Pats on it next week.
A
I just think Dylan Gabriel on the road is a non starter. Like he's really going to come in and to New England and outdoor. Drake May.
B
He's literally a non starter today. There's a lot of non starters in the league.
A
What's the deal with desean Watson might come back. Yeah, that he's like is that. Does that help them? I I don't Know I can't figure it out. By the way, I just noticed I have my hot rod glass.
B
Oh, good for you.
A
You have a hot rod behind us.
B
Right there. Wait, right. Yeah, right there.
A
Double one. There's some Twitter account that posts old wrestling matches from the 80s and 90s. I can't. I want to say rabbits in the title, but they had the. The Roddy, the. The strap, the. What was the match with Valentine when he was eardrum Dog collar match.
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
A
That was even too far for wrestling.
B
That was a lot. Yeah.
A
Having two guys with dog collars on. I just don't know there was any way to fake any of that. And apparently there wasn't because he lost.
B
He claimed permanent injured ear damage. And it was true because he. I have conversations with him and he'd snap by his ear to try to rejuvenate it. Yeah. Wrestling's real, guys.
A
Yeah. Eagles. Giants in Philly. I couldn't get to seven. I did six and a half.
B
We're gonna split it. I could get the seven. I went seven and a half. It's seven.
A
God damn it.
B
Oh, man. It might be simple. I mean, why not tease.
A
I'm not putting the Eagles that no.
B
Gonna lose twice to the Giants.
A
No really trust them at all. Can't do the Jalen hurts. I can't do the Jalen hurts. And a tease.
B
Do we think. I mean, isn't it possible that that Giant loss was like that Bears lost to Washington and it just. Everything tumbles now. Even though it might be a decent team. Like they just can't now scratch together when after that Denver collapse.
A
It is possible. Bills at Carol minus five and a half is my guess with the Bills being favored. I put it right in the Vegas zone. Unapologetically.
B
I think I get this. I said six and a half and it is seven and a half.
A
That. Come on.
B
What? They have to. If they're all the teaser idiots like.
A
Us, they have to.
B
So when they went 21 20, played.
A
A good game yet now I do think they get their two suspended D linemen back though this week. Right. And probably at Oliver back so they have a full defense for once. Bryce Young is hurt.
B
You just think the line's big. You don't think Carolina is going to pull off an upset and go four and three, right?
A
I think Carolina is a pretty good home team.
B
They are four and three. They're going to be five and three. Bills four and three.
A
I'm not saying they'll be five and just. You know what? I Like, they have two running backs now. Like, they had Dowdle and Hubbard today. They were kind of doing the one, two punch. It wasn't bad.
B
Yeah, they would have lost if they played any other game, any other team today.
A
Bucks at New Orleans.
B
That's another one.
A
Yeah, I. Vegas owned this. I had Bucks by four and a half in New Orleans, so I get it.
B
I said seven and a half. It's six and a half.
A
Ooh, little pricey.
B
Well, five and one. Verse, one and six. Did they. They didn't play yet this year, did they?
A
No. I'm trying to remember. Has there ever been a normal Bucks Saints game in New Orleans? Does that ever happen?
B
It's been a normal Bucks game in years.
A
I mean, there's no way that game's not coming down in the final two and a half minutes. Just lock that down. Oh, we're redoing the 1977 Super Bowl. Broncos. Cowboys. Yeah, it's in Denver. So I had this as a fairly watchable. And I'd like to apologize because this should have been the watchables.
B
Yeah. Denver's early watch might not be watchable for a couple of quarters, but your.
A
Team is an automatic watchable against any decent team. I have the Broncos in Denver favored by four.
B
I hit this. Exactly. It's three. All right. I'm doing okay here. Two, three, six, five, me. This is the Super Bowl. You ever see Butch Johnston catch the touchdown pass and just, like, put it on the goal line? Yeah. They called it a catch. Like, it's phenomenal. Example how 70s football is different.
A
I remember thinking, what am I, seven years old at that point? Really being upset that it wasn't a catch, it was a catch, it was a touchdown. Or when he dropped the ball. I thought he dropped it too soon. Yeah, yeah, yeah, right. I thought something was fishy about it.
B
Now. Coach would beat him up for that.
A
The one that really made me mad was the Mike Renfro play the Houston Pittsburgh game. Oh, right, right, right. Cause that was basically the play that created replay. Yeah, yeah, he definitely caught it. And they just like that.
B
The play. Or was it tested years later with test of birdie? Like.
A
Or just. That was when the refi. Stuff started. I don't know when they actually. Yeah, okay. Came up with it. But the Renfro thing, right? Wasn't it Renfro? That's what it was, right?
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was the.
A
Felt like I'd swung that one. Poop factor. Two games, Bengals Jets, Joe Flacco against Tyrod Taylor. I think they might have played together at some point in life. I put this right in the Vegas zone. Bengals by five and a half.
B
Yeah, you're gonna edge me out here. I said six and a half. It's four. It's four and a half.
A
Oh, still Vegas.
B
Hold on a second. Every team should give the jets seven points. I mean, come on, enough.
A
What did you think of that Bengals performance on Thursday night?
B
Pretty good, right? Like they. I think Flacco. Well, first of all, I think we switch. Like when we're saying Puka Naku is the greatest wide receiver in the game. If he's not playing. I wouldn't think of betting the Rams. Now it's Chase. Now he's like right at the top and like, doesn't matter. Like, was he gonna have like 22 catches in two weeks? It's phenomenal. So as long as those two were there, they're gonna score points and they're not on the Jets.
A
That should be a touchdown. Well, it reminded me of what I said 11 minutes ago about Dak and Pickens watching Flacco. Yeah, I don't think Flacco is a very good quarterback anymore, but he is good at that little 20 yard throw down the sideline. And it just, I don't know, it's just. He had chemistry, those guys. I thought it was funny that Tomlin campaigned about the trade and then. And then got beaten by it. Right.
B
I didn't get the point of that at all. Anyway, I got it handed.
A
I mean, they're about to come up when we do this Sunday night game. But I, I gotta be honest, I thought Rogers was awesome in that game.
B
It was good.
A
I think the last two weeks Rogers has. I thought he was done unabashedly, thought he was washed. I thought he's looked awesome.
B
He's very good.
A
Really, really good.
B
It hurts me to the point that.
A
Yeah, it makes me wonder like, what's. What's the ceiling of that Steelers team? Because it, I mean, it's. He hasn't looked this good for three years.
B
Yeah, but he looks great. It's a great fit for them. He's hitting everybody in stride. But again, this team goes as far as the defense goes, right? I think they had like 15 or 14 or 15 sacks over the previous three weeks and they only put Flacco down twice. So that's it, man. It's going to be a game every time if that happens.
A
Kyle Brand had a really funny thing I saw on TV about how he identifies with Rodgers at this point in his life. Because he's like your typical frustrated guy in his 40s working with a bunch of younger people. She's always put out, like when that lineman knocked him over, he's like, jesus.
B
Christ, that was ridiculous. Yeah, it was. So you should see the few seconds before that because he like pats him on the head, which that was like a little rough. And then he like chases him down like he's like trying to pull a wallet or something. Yeah, I don't know.
A
But. Yeah, no, I. Listen, I did not expect to have an entertaining Rogers, but I thought he. I thought he was really fun to watch in that game.
B
It's fun, but they're not a lock anymore. Right. Like that made you think like that division. You probably talked about it Friday.
A
Right? But no, I didn't. We. We didn't. I taped before that game, so I never talked about it. I think the Steelers defense looks fraudulent to me. I thought the Pats, we moved the ball on them for three and a half quarters. I just don't think their defense is what people might think it is.
B
And they're both plus 130 to win the North. The Bengals are 5 to 1, but go ahead. Yeah, we'll talk about it.
A
Well, one more poop factor game. Colts, Titans. It's in Indianapolis and I think. I think this is the week for the ultimate respect for the Colts. A giant line. I went all the way up to 13 and a half.
B
Oh, you're smart. I said 12 and a half. It's 14 and a half.
A
Yeah, they know it's time after they did today. You got to do it. You got to treat them like they're like a real contender because they are. And they're playing the shitty Titans and they have to be favored by this much.
B
On a scale of your mother in law tells a joke to pulling a Norm MacDonald clip online, how hard did you laugh when Cam Ward just dropped that ball? Just dropped it. Just flat out fucking dropped.
A
Just like I was waiting for it for two hours.
B
But just the way he plays it, like a magician.
A
Cam, I know you want to.
B
Yeah, just drop it here and then get shut out of the way.
A
Yeah, I loved it. We scored two touchdowns in like 11 seconds or something.
B
Unbelievable.
A
I loved it Sunday night. Really good game. Steelers, packers, in Pittsburgh. And I'm sure there's going to be a lot of talk all week about what we just said about Rogers, like not just the fact that he's rejuvenated, but playing his old team.
B
This is a fun one.
A
Has he. I can't remember. Did he play the packers last year?
B
As a Jet? Yeah, I'm pretty sure.
A
Right.
B
Didn't they? Now we got to look this up.
A
I don't remember.
B
Let's slow this down. We can't keep saying I don't remember.
A
Are you sure he played them last year? He must have.
B
I'm almost positive. Versus Packers.
A
What are you looking at?
B
Oh, oh, oh. Oh. Yeah. Maybe not.
A
Wait, I don't think he did.
B
He didn't?
A
No. Well, he's playing him Sunday night.
B
Yep.
A
Yeah. Mike, I just. I. I can't believe how good Aaron Rodgers is.
B
Come on, Mike.
A
I can't believe it. Mike. Tic tac zone for me. Stewart's minus one and a half. Ooh.
B
Steelers minus one and a half. Yeah. I said Green Bay minus two and a half. It's Green Bay minus three. Then we are tied.
A
Green Bay minus three.
B
Yeah. They're a better power ranked team.
A
Right. We just talked about how we didn't trust the Green Bay and what was going on with them. They barely beat Jacoby Brissette today.
B
Both are lacking. Steelers are. Stillers have a little rest advantage.
A
You know what? This line makes sense because I'm probably going to bet on the Packers.
B
There you go.
A
Monday night Chiefs. Ah, this game kind of sucks now. Chiefs home for Washington.
B
I was off by two points. I probably shouldn't even give you that much but whoever wins this takes the week.
A
I have Chiefs by eight and a half.
B
What?
A
Number eight and a half.
B
I had seven.
A
What is it?
B
That's nine and a half. You win.
A
Damn.
B
Come on. Eight, seven, nine and a half. There's a lot of that has all.
A
The makings of a seven point tease.
B
You love it. You love it.
A
Three teamer. So we could do Chiefs with the Patriots and the Falcons against DJ Mikey Mack in his last offense game. If they don't fire him. That sounds fantastic.
B
And just throw the Colts on there just to have fun as a money line.
A
Yeah, I'm trying to think. So if Simmons. So the best two Titans on. Well, two of the best three because I, I I thought sweat was good in the game today but Simmons got hurt and Steve got hurt so they matter.
B
Yeah.
A
If Simmons doesn't play against the Colts like I don't know if you can make that line high enough.
B
Yeah, it might as you could put Bill Simmons in there. It doesn't matter. You're going to be fine. They're. That's a disaster of a line.
A
So do we just think that? Can't believe it. At no point Daniel Jones is going to turn into Daniel Jones. This is just how it's going to go for the rest of eternity.
B
I think you called it exactly.
A
This is.
B
You compared him to those other quarterbacks that stood up that came out of some pretty much nowhere each year from 21 to 25. And he's Sam Darnold. So what did they win? 13 games.
A
Sam Darnold turned into a pumpkin in week 18 or week 17, the last.
B
Week and then the playoff week. That's fine. That's still a successful year if that happens.
A
Is he a top five MVP for you, Daniel Jones, or would you have Taylor as their mvp?
B
I gotta look here.
A
Cause Taylor should be the number one offensive player of the year guy. He is.
B
He's minus 1 40. He's actually minus number now.
A
He's been incredible.
B
Yeah. So Daniel Jones is seventh. Do you put Stafford and Goff ahead of him?
A
I thought Stafford's been great. What's Drake May now? What are his odds?
B
We don't have to talk about it. He's seven to one. He's fourth.
A
701. He's fourth.
B
How the hell did this happen?
A
Who's. Who's leading? Mahomes.
B
Mahomes plus 175. Josh plus 350. Baker plus 450.
A
So why would Josh be second? What has he done? As you know, I think he's the best quarterback in the league. What has he done this year that would make him the number two mvp? Like why does he have better odds than Drake May?
B
No, he shouldn't.
A
When the Pats have a better record and they've beaten them already.
B
I think they're anticipating. I mean I guess you could just.
A
Anticipating a Josh run.
B
Well, what is. What's the win totals for either of those teams?
A
First of all, Baker should have the best odds. Yeah, I agree. I agree. And I would argue Drake Mason had better ads than Josh Allen.
B
What do you think the Patriots win projected win total is right now? Oh.
A
Ten and a half.
B
That's exactly right. What do you think Buffalo's is?
A
What's the record? 4 and 2.
B
Buffalo is 4 and 2.
A
Yep.
B
Don't cheat. Just whatever comes to me.
A
They say eleven and a half for Buffalo.
B
Yeah, that's what it is. So I guess that's the only reason he's ahead.
A
Time of what is it for division?
B
For the division. Buffalo still favored minus 190. Pat's plus 155. So you have to win a division.
A
Pat's plus 155. Is a pretty good bet if you look at their schedule, because there's a chance, I think 12 and 5, if they can stay healthy is conceivable with how bad the schedule is. Which means the Bills would have to go 11 and three and win the game in New England to win the game. 11 and three or 10 and three, four and two? No, eight.
B
Eight and they're four and two plus eight and three is 12.
A
And I used to be good at math. Eight and three.
B
Eight and three. Yeah.
A
They'd have to go eight and three and win the game in the winter.
B
It's so fun because if we beat.
A
Them in New England, they would have to go one game ahead of us with those two losses. Right.
B
So New England to win 12 games or more is plus 175. I guess it's about the same thing as the division, right? It's a little.
A
I mean, honestly, fanduel having the. I know they have reasons for this, but FanDuel having the Ravens plus 1:30 and the Steelers plus 1:30 to win the AFC north is just batshit crazy to me.
B
You think the Steelers should be ahead of them?
A
Yeah. If. Put this way, if you were going to bet your life.
B
Oh.
A
On the outcome of that. And it's like you're. You're going to die if you're wrong. Would you bet on the one in five Ravens?
B
They're pretty. They're pretty far behind the Ravens. Like.
A
Yeah. A lot has to go right for them to come back. The Steelers are a way safer bet.
B
They have to beat him twice. So they play him twice. They absolutely have to beat him twice. And then the Steelers don't. The schedule gets really weird now.
A
Here's the other one. So now I'm looking. Colts are minus 240. Jags are three to one. Good luck there. I need to bring baby back for. For the Jags at 3 to 1.
B
Good luck.
A
And then Houston plus 8:50 is insane. Like, if anyone's going to win that division, it's Houston.
B
That's dumb. Yeah.
A
Other than Indy. But I would bet Indy minus 240.
B
What's wrong with Eagles, Colts minus 109 for a division.
A
How about this? Eagles, Colts, Steelers plus 355.
B
Yeah, that is good. That is good.
A
Not throwing the Pats now I'm at plus 9 11.
B
You're a lunatic now.
A
Not throwing Tampa minus 425. That's 11 to 1.
B
Have we ever picked five division winners eight weeks in? I have. Throwing the Cardinals, that's 377 to 1.
A
I had a future bet that I. If I had picked Minnesota, if I'd picked Green Bay instead of Minnesota, I think I'd actually have a chance at it. That was like 23 to 1. Yeah, well, you won.
B
Let me ask you this. We were talking about it. Patriots and Bills have at least have 12 wins. Jets and Dolphins have 12 losses.
A
Very doable.
B
Right.
A
Jets and Dolphins, which each have to have 12 losses.
B
12 wins for the top two, 12 losses for the bottom.
A
I don't think that's going to happen.
B
I might even say 13. 13 for top two and 13 for bottom two.
A
I want to see that. Fando has over four and a half for Miami now, plus 110.
B
So that's either over 13, right?
A
Yeah.
B
And then the jets can't be better than that.
A
Yeah, the jets are.
B
Yeah. I guess we could just bet it.
A
We could just Parlor jets are three and a half.
B
Jesus. I'm not betting. By the way.
A
The jets are going to win four games. Like.
B
Nah, nah.
A
Jets under three and a half seems like a lot to me.
B
We just went over the. What the ones they could potentially win is two of them.
A
So to have to happen to make the playoffs. The Pats are minus 420 now. Wow. The Broncos are minus 280. How are the Jaguars minus 162.
B
They are. Huh?
A
You think the Jaguars are a playoff team? In a million years, would you see them as like 7 seed?
B
So does that mean one AFC north team gets in? That's a lot.
A
So it'd be.
B
Patriots, Denver, Jaguars. Those would be the wild card themes.
A
Yeah, I'm looking. So it'd be Indy, Pats, Denver, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Kansas, kc.
B
Yeah.
A
So basically they're saying between Chargers, Jacksonville, Cincinnati and Houston, Jacksonville is the most likely. I would rather. I would rather go with Houston, but I guess if Houston loses tomorrow, they'd be two behind them.
B
Maybe they know something.
A
God, I think Jacksonville, I was so. They were just so awful today.
B
I love them too. Just for the year.
A
And then in the NFC, what's like the perfect. So the Ravens are plus 104, which is hilarious. And the Steelers are minus 122.
B
The Ravens aren't grabbing a wild card. You might as well just take them to get the division.
A
You might as well just take the division and then out of the. Out of the longer shots. Houston plus 205. Minnesota plus 390. I'm not against as like a crazy wild card.
B
I like Seattle plus 132.
A
Yeah. And then your team plus 260. Who knows? Who knows? Can throw the ball. Man.
B
Why do we even do this?
A
Yeah. This episode is brought to you by Velveeta. Game day is all about the tailgate spread. Listen, if you're going to have friends over, you absolutely 100% have to have a lot of things for them to eat. Everyone gets hungry. They can say they're not going to eat. But guess what? If you lay out the right kind of spread and you have some good cheesy creamy melty dip with some good crackers, some chips, they're probably going to eat it. So why not do creamy shells and cheese, melty Velveeta blocks and cheesy jarred quesos? I don't know. Why wouldn't you? They're taking down one taste bud at a time. Do yourself a favor, stock up on Velveeta before kickoff. This episode is brought to you by Brooks Running. Brooks reminds us that we're all powered by something. For me, it's the me time energy of a walk after a workday. I find the positive physical and mental benefits it provides are so valuable. So whether it's the feel good distraction free ghost, the supercharged Hyperion Max or the fan favorite adrenaline, Brooks makes gear designed to unleash your energy because at the end of the day, one step has the power to change everything. Let's run there. Head to BrooksRunning.com to learn more. Today's Parent Corner brought to you by Scout Motors. Parenting can feel like 4th and long on your own 10. No timeouts, meltdowns and a full on blitz. You're familiar with that, Sal?
B
Oh yeah.
A
That's when you need a playmaker. Iconic in the 70s, reimagined for today, the all new Scout Terra and Scout Travel are engineered with advanced four wheel drive available locking differentials, optional 35 inch tires and the go anywhere capability gate through life's chaos built for the next generation adventures. Join the waitlist@scoutmotors.com what do you got?
B
All right, I want to know as a parent watching a sport and I think your parent corner might have something to do with this too. So we might as well, we might want to, they might want to join them together here. But, but as a parent watching a sport, what's your freak out level on umpires, parents, coaches, like, what has to happen? Like I feel like I think I have a lot of tolerance because I know how embarrassing it is for my kids and my wife and everybody else if I lose my shit because that's happened. But when we have like a six run lead and this happens Saturday and then it's a four run lead and then it's a two run lead and the opposing coach is screaming at his players and screaming at our players and the team is banging on the fence and banging their garbage can like I'm. Fuck, I'm gone. That's it. I'm hulking out. I'm turning green right there, right there in.
A
In.
B
In West Covina, California at 8:30 in the morning. I just can't. God, I can't take.
A
It's where the Boogie Nights house was.
B
Is that where it was? West Covina? Yeah.
A
You could have sure stopped thereafter.
B
They should have sent me off there. Yeah. Wasn't there a suicide there? I could. I mean, it was really like, I just. First of all, in Little League, as soon as you shake a fence or bang it or use a bat to hit a garbage can to root your own team on, the umpire goes crazy, loses his mind. Not in this game. And it went on for like a half hour. And like finally I said to our coach, like, you got to do something, you got to say something. Like, now everyone's looking at me like I'm the bad guy here. And luckily they tie it up and we win in the bottom, bottom of the sixth on an era. And I'm like high fiving the shit out of everybody. Like it was a big win for me. And like, even my kid is like, I hated those kids, Dad. I hated them. And I'm glad you hated them too. I'm like, well, I didn't hate them. I just thought they should be better sportsmanship and everything. But what has to happen, I think this leads into your parent corner. But what has to happen for you.
A
To know that this. First of all, thanks for asking.
B
Yeah.
A
This is a passionate topic for me.
B
Yeah.
A
I think there's two things that you're allowed to get mad at as a parent, no matter what the age group is. One is the coach trying to either yell at players on the other team, intimidate them in some way, or fuck with them. I think is just out of line. It just shouldn't happen. Especially if it's like 13 years and younger.
B
Right.
A
The players on your team should never hear anything from the other coach. There should be a respectful thing. And if that's not there, I think you have right to be pissed. The other, this, I mean, this is more of a soccer thing. I think it's harder in baseball unless they're like throwing at the kids but if the kids, if there's a physicality where their kids are actually like in danger of getting hurt and the officials aren't officiating it correctly, I think you have a right to get mad.
B
Okay, Is that your thing?
A
I think I told a Parent Corner story that time about when we were screaming at the 17 year old ref and. Yeah, and he fled to the 10 after. But the other team was like, you know, submarining our kids, trying to hurt them.
B
Right.
A
And at some point, if you have to like, look out for the kids, like the whole goal of any sporting event for kids is can we not have anyone get hurt?
B
Yeah.
A
And if somebody's trying to hurt the other team, like, you have to intervene. Those would be my 2.
B
What about your first example though, where the coach is just like yelling things and you know, it's not exactly supportive of the other team and then you yell shit back. But then most of the parents are like, hey, you gotta be bigger than him, like I do, because that just means he gets away with it and keeps getting away with it. Do I have to be bigger than him?
A
I don't think so. I mean, you're talking to a guy who started yelling at the Campbell, Campbell High women's high school soccer coach because he was talking shit to our team. And we got into it a little bit on the sidelines.
B
Right.
A
I think there's gotta be a respect level that, you know, these coaches are supposed to be stewards, they're supposed to be teaching people and setting some sort of example. And if they're doing the opposite, it's just. That's when it gets weird.
B
Good.
A
I don't think you should feel bad at all.
B
I'll consider that a win. Thank you.
A
I don't think you should feel bad at all.
B
Yeah, I know. I just gotta. I got a lot of years of this left or maybe not many at all.
A
What if you were got into it with the opposing coach and then you kind of got to a good place? Then he's like, hey, who do you like tomorrow?
B
That's almost kind of happened.
A
What's your wise wager?
B
Give me a winner. We'll make it square.
A
You think? You take Simmons tomorrow night and guess the LUDs.
B
I'll give you three losers.
A
Really love you guys.
B
Who do you wishing luck to?
A
My parent corner is about. About my dad and my stepmom. So they had a dog die last year. They always have two golden retrievers and anytime one died because golden retrievers, they go between 10, 12 years old somewhere in there. Not really long lasters. And they would always get a second one. They're always girls, they always name them ie names. And they've had, since the mid-80s, I think they've had seven or eight golden retrievers. Maybe eight. So Sally dies last year, Sally with an ie. So only Winnie's left. And my dad is going to be 78 this next month. So my wife and I are like, you can't get another dog. You just can't, you can't do it. You can't do it. They're like, no, no, we won't, we won't. So then gets to like January, we had some Simmons family stuff. Like, you know, my. My dad's sister passed away. So they were like in between that and the dog, some other stuff. Like all of a sudden they decided to get a second dog. Almost like, like the. Just to try to change the karma of the situation, which I understand, but my dad is 77 and should not have a puppy. And so they tell us we're FaceTiming them and they're kind of excited about it at this point because they're about to get a puppy, which I understand. And they tell us, and, and my wife and I, our faces dropped. And my wife's like, you can't.
B
You gotta cancel it.
A
This is crazy. And they're like devastated that we're so upset. And we're like, you guys haven't had a puppy in eight years. Like, you forget like how hard this is. Like, you can't. Like we wouldn't want a puppy now. We're in our 50s. So anyway, they decide to get the puppy. Anyway. Then they get the puppy. The name the puppy, Ruby, super cute. The puppy is a freaking maniac. The all time. So now the puppy's like eight, eight and a half months old. So when I was in Boston, I was going to see them and my dad is just making jokes. Like, can you take, can you take Ruby with you on your way back to la? Like kind of serious. Oh, no, can you take her? And my stepmother's getting mad about it and it's, it's. It's just dominating their life. Like they. Zoe has a game. They have to like rush out after. Cause the dog's been in the crate for two and a half hours. Dog gets out. I was over there the other day, in 10 minutes, she hurt me three different times. Like she crashed into my knee. She left this long scratch over my chest. She jumped over a couch. Like she's an absolute. They're in a Condo, like she's just a maniac. And, and they have to walk her all the time. They got to walk her in the morning and they just didn't listen to us. And. And I think I might have a chance to get this dog is with my parent corner.
B
Oh, good for you.
A
Yeah, yeah, I'm going to. I might just actually just kidnap her, not tell them.
B
Oh, before.
A
Okay.
B
All right. Yeah.
A
Because I actually really like this dog. No, it's. I made the joke and my stepmother got really upset about it and was like, no, no, no, there's no way these are our dogs. And I could just see my dad. It's like the all time. Why did we do this? Right, right, right. Maybe the dog will settle down. I don't know. But I just wanted to say this as a PSA to the parents out there who have parents.
B
Yeah.
A
What's the cutoff age for. Maybe you shouldn't get a dog dog.
B
Well, I said that's 75. I wasn't sure where you're going with it. So was it the, the hardship of caring for a puppy was bothering you or that the dog, the dog was gonna outlast them and you think that would be a bummer like that?
A
Oh, no, not that. No, I'm not worried about the outlasting part because I think they're gonna be fine.
B
Oh, so that a four year old dog, you would have been okay.
A
Rigors of the puppy.
B
Yeah. Right, right.
A
It's like having a baby.
B
Yeah.
A
This is dominating your life. You can't leave. You have to constantly. If you're out for two hours, you gotta rush back. You're up in the morning, they're peeing all over the place, they get UTIs. It's just never ending.
B
So you want to create a sliding scale where like a 60 year old parent could get a puppy, but once you hit 70, the dog has to be like 4 or 5 years old if you're gonna even get one.
A
So my stepmother's younger than my dad, so that might be the only way they have some wiggle room with this. But I'm gonna say if either parent is over 75, no dogs. No. I think there should at least be somebody should come to the house, like if you're adopting a foster child or something, to meet the family and make sure. Ask my dad, well, how many steps do you walk a day? And my dad's like, steps, right. I mean, I walk from the couch to get a ginger ale and I come back. What do you mean steps?
B
It's A nice walk for a dog.
A
I walk three blocks to go to a restaurant the other day. No, I think 75. I think there should be somebody that comes to the house. Make sure that's good.
B
I like that. I think that's good.
A
They kept little Ruby in the kitchen, and my dad would sit in the kitchen with her. And this was like for six months. And they wouldn't let her out in any room, other room in the house because she would pee all over the place. So I think that's partially why she's so crazy. So my wife and I, like, we joked that she's the Brie Larson character in room. Remember, Brie Larson was stuck in that room for eight years. So anytime she gets out of the room, she's like daylight, trees.
B
Ah.
A
And just loses it. So it's partially their fault.
B
She's. Yeah, she's Rubery license. Rubrie Larson.
A
Rubri Larson. Yeah, that's it.
B
Well, anyway, 75, that's the only thing.
A
Like, if your mom adopted a dog right now, what would your reaction be?
B
But forget it. It would be like it is with everything she does. So I would lose my mind. But. But some older people want to have their life dominated by something. You know what I mean? Like, they don't if you're not active and everything. Like, all right, I just want something that controls, like a monkey wrench. Let's do it. It's fine. You know, we'll get through it, even if we have to stay home most of the time or whatever. I don't know that your dad's like that and his wife, but that is part of it.
A
I think that's what he thought before. Before crazy Ruby got in there. On the bright side, Boston Blue started on Friday. My dad was pretty excited about it.
B
Oh, nice. Okay.
A
New CBS lineup. Last week, all the new shows premiered. And Boston Blue, Donnie Wahlberg, Donnie Wahlberg's character came back to Boston.
B
Nice.
A
So we had that. Anyway, I'll keep you posted on Ruby, though.
B
I want to hear about Ruby.
A
I say she's minus 300 to make it to the end of the year in their house. Well, I might just have to put her in a suitcase.
B
Will your dad listen to this?
A
He might listen to this.
B
And then, yeah, I'll show him. We're keeping.
A
They might get upset. It's fine because we told them, right?
B
You said this.
A
You can't. Or if you're gonna get a dog, adopt a house trained dog that's like a year old and then you skip.
B
That seems like the thing, like, why do you think he wanted a puppy?
A
Like, he could.
B
It's just a golden. Just has to really be a golden retriever. Yeah, ultimately.
A
Right. So when we got Murph, who turned 5 today, by the way, Happy birthday to Murph. It was Covid times. And we were home a lot.
B
Right.
A
And we were able. But even that was like a complete nightmare. I don't know if I'd be able, even at my age, go through the puppy thing again.
B
Yeah, yeah, we have a same kind of thing. Yeah, it's a lot.
A
How old are your dogs?
B
A lot? Well, I just have the one and he was a Covid dog and he got hit by a car in Mexico and my cousin Katie, Jimmy's daughter, rescued him and then we took him from her. And yeah, he can't see. He doesn't bark. He doesn't acknowledge us. He doesn't like that dog's easy.
A
I like that dog.
B
I mean, it's barely a dog, so.
A
But you wouldn't get a puppy, though.
B
No, no, no, I wouldn't at my age. What am I? I'm not 70 yet, am I? I might be there.
A
Yeah. But you live in. You're. You're in south. Yeah. A lot of dogs down there.
B
All right, fine, I'll get a dog.
A
Just get a dog. One of us needs to get a dog just for a parent corner, because I can't even do. I mean, if I did parent corners about my son, it would be like about the 30 second interactions I have with him when he's miraculously home.
B
I thought you were going to talk about that.
A
I'm going out. I'm going out right now.
B
A certain soccer game you saw this weekend, but you kind of alluded to it. It's fine.
A
No, we saw. I came back, saw two wins.
B
Yeah.
A
Oh, you thought I was going to talk about Mount Holyoke strategy.
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
A
They parked the bus for two hours. I've never seen a team park the bus in a 00 game. Just play for a 00 tie.
B
Well, it got chippy too, right?
A
Yeah, a little chippy. But, you know, it's college soccer. I think somebody that's fun, that's fun.
B
You can watch college athletics. You have to fly out there because you murdered that. That app that would. Would one show the games. They had a. They went under.
A
You know that app.
B
Flow.
A
Flow. First of all, the flow sports. What happened? I've definitely heard from some people that work for them.
B
Okay.
A
Or they're urging that they're going to.
B
Oh, you're going to get all zoey stuff in 4K now. This is going to be stepping up.
A
Well, it turns out that there were more disgruntled parents than just the parents of my team, I think was what we learned. But listen, I'm going to give them a chance to rectify everything. We'll see how it goes.
B
I think this is how they're rectified. Like, hey, Bill Simmons said parents will pay anything to watch their kids. So we're raising the monthly fee to fifteen hundred dollars.
A
Fifteen dollars. Oh my God. We'll see if it works. There's two big games this week.
B
Hopefully.
A
Hopefully it's going to work. Anyway. That's it for Parent Corner, which was brought to you by Scout Motors. Join the wait list for the Scout Terror and Scout Traveler@scoutmotors.com Concept vehicles not available for sale. Features and performance specifications preliminary and subject change. Joining the wait list is not guaranteed purchase. Visit scoutmotors.com for details. When somebody tells you they have kids, what ages do you hear that you're the most jealous of? For the ages the kids are. When you think about your experience having kids, what do you think the best ages were?
B
I would say 40 and 42. When they say their kids are that old because you don't have to deal with them like five and seven.
A
Yeah, that's what if somebody says I have an eight year old and a six year old, I'm like, oh man, what a great run. That's good.
B
That's good.
A
Yeah.
B
That's like the take care of each other.
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
B
Dogs is a different story.
A
But yeah, kids probably worst is when they're like I have a 15 year old and 11 year old.
B
What are you gonna do with those yikes or anything?
A
Under four is a nightmare.
B
Yeah.
A
All right, so you're Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, ringer gambling show.
B
Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. Then the Sunday pregame show. Let me give you a couple basketball. You tell me what you think here. Sabonus.
A
Let me hear it.
B
Sabonus plus 20 plus points per game. He had 19.1 last year plus 270 for that. I feel like he's healthier. He went from 38% to 41% shooting from his continued success from three is one of the biggest X factors.
A
I think that's what you're leading with a Sabonus points per game prop as your number one.
B
That's it. Wow.
A
Okay.
B
You don't like that one plus 270.
A
All right.
B
He's at 19. He's just 20. And Edwards most threes per game also plus 270. He lost to Steph 4.4 to 4.1. Isn't there a world where Steph doesn't qualify? Give me +270 and Edwards and you were wrong. I listened to all four hours of your thing. Good. Great to learn that Cooper Flag's a generational talent. Wow. I don't know where you're getting that insight anywhere but no Pistons. I like it over. You don't like 50 +@ +182. Bickerstaff third year. This is how he turns a team around.
A
I don't. That's your favorite one.
B
Duncan Robinson.
A
That's.
B
That's an improvement I think.
A
Right?
B
Cunningham top 10 player. You really don't like that. You like that under someone in the east has to. I know you have your picks for the east, but that was mine to make. Get the gap plus four wins on their total.
A
They do. I would rather personally do Milwaukee if you're going to bank on one of those teams from that division as like the better than you think team.
B
Okay.
A
I think Milwaukee is going to be good. They put a bunch of specials up ringer futures on NBA and they have some good ones. Like Indiana to win 35 plus games and make the play in plus 164. The Bucks and Celtics to both make the playoffs plus 152. But they had a whole bunch of them. But I sent them. I sent them a slew of them and they put our favorite win totals.
B
What did we do? What did you make us do?
A
That.
B
That boy. That. I don't like the division bets. But the one you laid out was like even money and it really looked good. What was it? Knicks, Thunder, Cavs.
A
Knicks, Thunder, Cavs for the division. That was even plus 100930 or something. That was better than that. Yeah, it was plus 120. I really like that one.
B
That's good.
A
Yeah, we did that one. I roped you guys into another one.
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're excited. This is good. Football's over for you. Look at you. There's your picture right there on the page there. You're wearing a suit.
A
I'm doing great.
B
Adopt a dog. This is fun.
A
NBA star. And this is our time right now.
B
Yeah.
A
Who do you have for game seven of the World Series?
B
We have the World Series.
A
I mean I don't know as boy.
B
It'S going to be hard for Toronto to lose now. I know they don't really I had Seattle, so I'm going to have to hedge here. It's Bieber against Kirby, but these guys are going to go like three innings. I'll take Toronto slightly. I'm going to go against myself. But The Dodgers, they're minus 122. Toronto, that's a fun one. You got two Monday night games and the baseball all at once.
A
The problem for Toronto is if it's a nail biter. Yeah, I don't like their relievers. Yeah, yeah, if it's like a 4354 type game.
B
But you know, I went into the Dodgers pick saying I don't like their relievers and didn't fucking matter.
A
We didn't even see the relievers.
B
I don't even know if they have any on the roster. Unbelievable.
A
Yeah, crazy. All right, cuz, good job of you. Good job by you buddy. All right, that's it for the podcast. Thanks to Sal, thanks to Gehau, thanks to Eduardo. I'm going to be back two more times on this feed. You can also hear the new Rewatchables Monday Night Quiz show and then prestige TV breaking down task. That one is already up. I'll see you on Tuesday. Must be 21 plus on President select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 + on President in D.C. kentucky or Wyoming. Gamble problem. Call 100 Gambler or visit rg-help.com, call 888-79777 or visit ccpg.org Chattinconenetic or mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327550 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 877-8-HOPE NY or text Hopeny in New York. Whoever you're repping this season, carry the.
B
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A
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B
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B
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Date: October 20, 2025
Host: Bill Simmons | Guest: Cousin Sal
In this Week 7 NFL spectacular, Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal break down a wild Sunday full of meltdowns, comebacks, and coaching chaos. They dissect shocking collapses (looking at you, Giants), quarterback oddities (the Bo Nix Experience endures), and the juggernaut Colts offense. Beyond football, the episode features the debut of “Baby Doll’s Luck Corner” (roasting NFL figures in classic inside-joke fashion), plus Parent Corner stories on youth sports and the dangers of “puppy optimism” when you’re 75+. Throughout, they fire off lines, rants, and vintage Ringer banter without skipping a beat.
Ringer Office Football: Sal describes watching games with a raucous Ringer crew in the LA office theater, including boisterous Giants fans and the annoyance of spoilers via fast-streaming FanDuel apps.
“The youngins root—man, they really whoop it up. Some is alcohol-fueled, some isn’t... and some are two plays ahead on FanDuel, which is kind of annoying.” (04:07)
Giants Collapse in Denver
Broncos’ Bo Nix: The Jekyll & Hyde QB
The Colts Machine
Chiefs’ Statement Win
Browns Destroy Dolphins: Tua’s disastrous day (3 INT, fumbles, led WRs into annihilation) draws scorn:
“This felt like rock bottom... Hard to believe he’ll be on that team next year.” (23:30)
Coach Mike McDaniel (“DJ Mikey Mack”) Unravels
(32:00)
May’s Head Hits: Simmons expresses genuine concern for Drake May’s long-term health
“He’s had four of these now where it seemed like he got concussed.” (57:38)
Rabel’s Culture Change in New England
(70:16+)
(102:41)
On Bo Nix’s week-to-week volatility:
"Did you have that friend in college who'd throw up, pass out, then come back later crushing beers like nothing happened? That's Bo Nix. He does it three times a year." — Simmons (09:33)
On Giants' collapse in Denver:
"If we were doing a fantasy draft of who’d lose this way, Giants are the third pick. Jets, Browns, then Giants. It’s always those three." — Simmons (17:03)
On Tua’s rock-bottom performance:
"He led three wide receivers into annihilation. This felt like rock bottom. I can't believe he'll be on that team next year." — Simmons (23:30)
On Baby Doll’s luck corner debut:
"Thanks, Mike McDaniel, for another shitty game and an even shittier press conference... Good luck to you and your Lululemon pants." — Sal (33:09)
On Rabel’s contrast with Belichick:
"Belichick would've had Ramondre’s body found in Rhode Island if he fumbled. Rabel just gives him the next game ball and moves on." — Simmons (60:57)
On Mahomes and Chiefs:
"Chiefs had 30 to 3 first downs! The Raiders—most inept offense of the 21st century." — Simmons (13:01)
On “hate-watching” 1 PM Eastern games:
"Is it like hate-watching five serial killer shows at once? You know every one is gonna be bad, but you can’t help it." — Simmons (44:36)
On Parents Getting Puppies at 77:
"If either parent is over 75, no dogs. There should be a home visit before any adoption. Ask: how many steps do you walk a day?" — Simmons (112:11)
This episode is a quintessential NFL fever dream—snappy, chaotic, and laced with deep sports despair and joy. Simmons and Sal leave no stone unturned: franchise-altering collapses, quarterback mysteries, fantasy heartbreak, gambling regrets, and, as always, irresistible trash talk about everyone from coaches to TV announcers. Add in an epic new segment (Baby Doll’s Luck Corner), detailed playoff outlooks, and two all-time Parent Corner yarns for a can’t-miss listen.