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The Bill Simmons Podcast
The Kimmel Situation. Plus, "Can the Chiefs Really Go 0-3?" and More Week 3 Gambling Questions With Joe House
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This episode is brought to you by Disney, Hulu and espn. Now you can get all of espn, the new ESPN app, along with Disney and Hulu with a limited time offer. The biggest sports, movies and shows in one bundle, all for just $29.99 a month for 12 months. Visit Disney Hulu ESPN bundle.com for details. Ad supported Plan Auto renews at regular price. Currently $35.99 a month. Subject to change and unless canceled ends January 5, 2026. Terms apply. The Bill Simmons Podcast is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook. We're also brought to you by the Ringer Podcast Network where I put up a new rewatchables on Monday night. We did Tin Cup. We have another one coming on Monday. I'll just tell you what it is. We did Airplane and we did it with a special guest. So get ready for that on Monday. You can find Airplane pretty much all over the place. Not an easy. Not an easy move to find or not a hard move to find, but one of the great comedies of all time. And it's a really fun podcast. So we have that coming. Prestige TV Episode three of Task Breaking that down on Sunday night with Joanna Robinson and Rob Mahoney as well. Coming up on this podcast, I'm going to talk about Jimmy Kimmel's situation at the top and then Joe House and I are going to talk about the Week 3 NFL slate. We're going to take a break. We're going to and do Pearl Jam and then I'm going to come back. It's the Bill Simmons podcast presented by FanDuel and the NFL is back and thank God FanDuel has everything. They got an awesome app. They have SGPs, they have great futures, they have good prop bets, live betting your way Bets Clean app. It's great to use. Been using it for a few years. Every time I go back to Boston or any place that has Fando and I get to use it, I'm always excited. I'm on an airplane Runway. You done the airplane Runway?
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B
Yeah. Have you buddy?
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A
Airplane Runway.
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B
There should be a button. The Runway button.
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A
I'm on the airplane Runway. I got to get this in. Get your bets in. Build something bold. Make every game feel bigger. Download the FanDuel app or head to FanDuel.com BS to get started. The Ringer committed to responsible gaming. Please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and help lines available and listen to the end of this episode for additional details. You must be 21 plus in President, select states or 18 plus in President, DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Gamb problem. Call 1-800- Gamble or visit rg-health.com, call 1-887-89777 or visit ccpg.org chatinconnecticut paid endorsement. All right, I am recording this. It is Thursday night. I have been on duty the last 24 plus hours wondering what was going to happen with Jimmy Kimmel, who I've known since 2001. I worked for him for the first 18 months of his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, which is still on the air and maybe not for much longer. We're going to find out. We've been friends for 24 years. So you're, you're probably not going to be shocked to find out that I am on Jimmy Kimmel's side with most stuff. Um, but I think this, this story, the way it was dissected, the way it unfolded this week, and kind of what it means, big picture, I wanted to talk about that more than what happened. So it's a little different than the Stephen Colbert thing for a couple reasons. Colbert, I don't feel like, was the face of cbs, whereas Jimmy was. Jimmy, his show has been on for over two decades. He hosts who Wants to Be a Millionaire on abc. He hosts the upfronts. He's been hosting those since the mid 2000s. For them, he hosted the Oscars multiple times. And it's just, I don't even like, when I was growing up, when we had Battle Network stars and things like that in the 70s, each network had just all these different stars that you would associate with the network. And once you get to 2025, as they're making less and less TV shows, there's more reality shows, there's more sports. All these things that kind of make a network feel less vibrant, I guess, than a lot of the streamers. Jimmy was one of the few people that you would have associated with abc. Colbert, his show was expensive. It wasn't as impactful on social media. And when it got canceled or when they said they were canceling it next May, my reaction was like a lot of other people, like, ah, this is sinister, what's going on here. But it really does seem like they wanted just to get out of late night. And the show was too expensive for them and the risk kind of exceeded the reward. And the reason I think that was because Paramount, the company that is in charge of this decision, after they got rid of Colbert, they tripled down on south park, which is a show that's way more Controversial and way more critical of the Trump administration and just pushes the envelope way harder than Colbert did. So when you look at the Jimmy situation, I just think he means more to ABC in a bunch of different ways. But if you compare it, CBS versus abc, it comes down to leverage and it comes down to power. Paramount, they're not canceling south park because it's too important of a brand to them. It matters too much. They can't get rid of it. It drives too many subs. Trump knows that the people that he's going to use to try to put pressure on stuff to get rid of programming or hosts or whoever, he knows they're not going to get rid of South Park. But Colbert, there's a door open and you can kind of push through. So if he was responsible for that, who knows? But I just don't think Colbert had the same leverage. NBC, it was interesting. Trump this week mentioned Fallon and Seth are next. Well, Fallon and Seth are in a weak spot right now because late night television is in a completely different stratosphere than it was even 10 years ago. Yeah, it's conceivable they would get rid of both of those shows and just show reruns or whatever. SNL is a different story. And Trump's complained about SNL over and over and over again over the years, but NBC's never canceling it. There's no situation where they would be like, we are getting rid of this show that gets massive ratings. That's a huge live thing for us, that does incredible stuff online. We would get a huge blowback for it. And NBC is going to treat SNL a little differently than maybe they're going to treat the late night things. ABC and Kimmel, that was somewhere in the middle of those two worlds, the CBS and maybe SNL and NBC. But if the FCC can leverage some affiliates to get rid of it, then that becomes a different story. And what we learned from all of this stuff was that the affiliates and these companies, there's this merger. You have nexstar merging with Tegna, two companies that I put zero thought in over the years, but apparently they want to merge. They need FCC approval. The fcc, the guy who runs it, appointed by Trump, I don't know, eight years ago, he sees an opportunity to leverage some stuff. They need to approve the merger. So now you start leveraging and leveraging and if you want to get rid of a show like Jimmy's show, this is the moment to do it. But what was interesting in Rolling Stone, the next day they had this tidbit in the hours leading up to the decision to pull Kimmel, two sources familiar with the matter say senior executives at abc, its owner Disney and affiliates convened emergency meetings to figure out how to minimize the damage. Multiple execs felt that Kimmel had not actually said anything over the line, which I agree with, the two sources say. But the threat of Trump administration retaliation loomed. And that's why this isn't cancel culture. This is censorship, which is a completely different situation. But this goes back to the leverage versus power thing. Initially, as this is unfolding, Jimmy's show isn't quite powerful enough for Disney for them to defend it the same way NBC would have defended Saturday Night Live in a similar circumstance. Trump knows this. Bob Iger knows this. There's only so far they're going to go. And if it's going to cost them affiliates and all of these issues, they're not going to mess with it. But what changed over the last 24 plus hours is there was such a groundswell. This just felt like this became the moment. If we stand by and let something like this happen, what's next? Where do we go? And I grew up as a kid in the 70s reading about McCarthyism, about the Smothers brothers getting basically fired by CBS because they got challenged in the Vietnam War, Lenny Bruce, the Woodward and Bernstein, and the Washington Post challenging Nixon. And when you're a kid reading that stuff, especially going into the 80s, a lot of these people become heroes. And a lot of the stories that you read about them, you're like, man, those people really stuck to their guns. They stuck to their values. And Fast forward to 2025, and nobody sticks up for anything. And everybody's afraid of everything at all times. It's just the reality of the situation. We don't need to go on why there was such a groundswell against Disney this week that I actually think this. I went from thinking there was no chance this show was going to come back. And I thought Jimmy, rightfully so, was just going to dig in and maybe that was going to be it. But maybe this flips. Maybe what Disney is realizing is that at some point you got to stand for something. At some point you got to stand by a person who has been one of the best people you've had for 20 plus years, who all he's done has elevated your, your company, who has come through time and time again in all these different ways and is a face. Once you start losing your faces, you just don't have a soul anymore. You're just another place that's just pumping out content. You might as well be Pluto at that point. And I think maybe that's why there's a little hope with this. But again, it's Thursday night. I don't know how it's gonna play out. The bigger question for me, why does Jimmy need ABC anymore? And I have not talked to him about this. I've been in this situation, I was in this situation 11 years ago and 10 years ago. And when your life and career blows up in one second and all these people are reaching out, it's pretty overwhelming. I don't know why he needs abc. Howard Stern was in this position two decades ago and ended up with Sirius and probably has no regrets, right? He was just tired of dealing with the fcc, goes to Sirius and has this whole second act. Conan gets out of the late night grind, really got screwed over by the Tonight show in Leno, ends up at tbs, becomes pretty irrelevant for somebody who's on TV every day and then just completely reinvents himself. And I think is now in an incredible position. I think he's really somebody I admire a lot, how he was able to reinvent everything he was doing. Joe Rogan is the biggest host we have of anything right now. Technically he licenses his podcast to Spotify, but he's his own thing, he does what he wants and he has his own platform. And the point is you can create your own platform now. You don't need these big places that are going to get intimidated by whoever, fcc, the president. You can get your content out in whatever way you want. Like I remember when, when I was leaving ESPN 10 years ago and there was this perception like nobody could leave espn. You had to have ESPN or else you were just going to wither and die, basically. And now 10 years later, that seems stupid. It seems stupid to me that anybody would think Jimmy's next act isn't going to be really good. And maybe, maybe it's a, maybe it's a point now with the show that you're doing it because you did it for a long time, because you have 200 people working for it, because the night to night rhythm of it, you still feel like it matters. But if you don't think he's going to figure out another way to do content in an awesome way, you just don't know the dude. Because he will, he'll figure it out immediately. And he's the most competitive person I know. The biggest difference though, so this is from the Lorne Michaels book. Lorne Michaels, who is very passionate over the years about how important SNL was just as a platform, and rightfully so, because it's one of the most important shows that we've had on any platform for what it done for comedy and music and political satire, everything. But he had this story, and he's told it a few times. But it's in the Lorne Michaels book about the Smothers brothers and how four or five years after the show got canceled, he went to their comeback show at the Troubadour and drunk John Lennon was in the audience and he was heckling them and calling them fuckers. And it was just kind of a dark night. And it was one of those nights that really affected Michaels because he was like, these guys were on the top of the world five years ago, and they stuck up for what they believed in. And five years later, they don't have a TV show and they're getting heckled by drunk John Lennon and it's like, Jesus. So this is what it's said in the book by Susan Morrison. Michaels was horrified, and he thought about that evening many times in the coming years whenever he found himself in a difficult spot with the network NBC. I never got tempted by the idea of being a martyr, he said. One of the things I taught myself is you have to stay in the air. It's not worth it to blow yourself up for principle in a community that will sell you out. He went on, I realized, okay, you can take it to the brink, but if you give up your power, you've done nobody any good. He knew he didn't want to end up like Tom and Dick Smothers. And I think that's totally justified. And it was a great way for Lorne Michaels to think for his entire time he had snow. Because he's correct. My point is, in 2025, I don't know if you need to think that way anymore. The platform isn't abc. It's not a late night show that Jimmy is lucky enough to host. Even though he is lucky, he can still have that platform wherever he wants because he's the platform. And that's the difference in this. And that's why I don't think this is quite as scary and terrible as maybe it felt this week. Yeah, we're going to have censorship. Yeah, stupid shit like this apparently is going to keep happening for the next three years. Yeah, the discourse is the ugliest it's ever been, But I still feel like if somebody's good enough to have a platform, they can find it. So I hope Jimmy show sticks around. And I hope ABC sticks by him. And I think if they don't, I think it would be pretty cowardly. I don't think that's a crazy thing to say. But if they don't stick by him and this is the end, I think he's going to be fine. He'll find another platform somewhere and he'll figure out how to get all his content out in the right ways. And I would not bet against that dude. So the situation sucked. I kind of can't believe it didn't happen. It had to be the lowest threshold ever for an overreaction like this. But ultimately, maybe the way everybody rallied around the show the last 24 hours and just rallied around the concept of free speech, maybe we needed it. So stay tuned. We're going to take a break. Talk football the Bill Simmons Podcast is brought to you by fanduel. Fanduel turning up the heat every Sunday with Power Hour, the ultimate live betting window where the action is wild and the rewards even better. Here's how it works every Sunday from 3 to 5pm Eastern, Fanduel giving you a profit boost to use on live bets during the most intense stretch of the NFL slate. This is when games flip underdogs, rally parlays hit. It's your power hour on FanDuel. Open the FanDuel app between 3 and 5pm Eastern, claim your profit boost and make your move while the action unfolds. Every Sunday only on FanDuel. Head to FanDuel.com BS to get started. You must be 21 + President in select states or 18 + in President, D.C. kentucky or Wyoming. Opt in required bonus issued as non withdrawable profit boost tokens Restrictions apply including any token expiration. Max wager amount. See terms@sportsbook.fandrel.com Gamprom Call 100 Gambler or visit rg-help.com Call 888-789-7777 or visit CCPG this episode is brought to you by NFL Sunday Ticket My friend NFL Sundays are back. You won't want to miss the action. NFL Sunday Ticket and YouTube TV another friend of mine lets you catch every game every Sunday all in one place. And now get NFL Sunday Ticket month to month and cancel anytime. Head to YouTube.com BS and sign up now. Local and National Games on YouTube TV NFL Sunday Ticket for out of market games excludes digital only games and commercial use. If you cancel YouTube TV you will lose access to NFL Sunday Ticket Terms of bargos Device and content restrictions apply. Commercial use excluded. Renews every month during the 2025 regular season. Cancel anytime. All right, recording this on a Thursday House we did not decide to wait until after the Miami Buffalo game to see what happened because I didn't really feel like that would be worth it for either of us. Buffalo is a big favorite and I'll say something at the top for what happened in that game. How you feeling about the slate? We're 4 and 6 in Ringer 107. I did okay gambling wise. You know, the Raiders didn't help me out on Monday night, but for the most part, a lot of favorites covering. We've had a lot of quarterbacks getting hurt already, including yours, and the packers are the big winners for the juggernaut spot. The Colts are the big winners for the whoa, where these guys come from spot. The Bears seem to be the giant disappointment team and then the Chiefs are the question mark of Is this the end of the era? Which storyline are you the most interested in?
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B
Honestly, the Chiefs, because I think that they still have some chapters to write and I still trust Mahomes and Reed and we just need to see them with a healthy, competent receiving core. And it might be like a eureka kind of experience because we didn't see it really at all the entirety of last season when they went 15 and 2 and made it all the way to the Super Bowl.
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A
It might be one of those. It might be one of those Tale of Two Cities seasons where like the first half of the year they look awful and then all of a sudden by week 14, they're fine.
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B
They don't even really look awful. I mean, you know, the defense isn't as locked down as it was at the end of last season thus far. But they also play the Chargers and the Eagles, who, you know, style wise, pretty tough teams.
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Yeah, compared to the Colts, who went 2 0. But the first one was against a Miami team that it feels like it's imploding. And then the second win was against the Broncos where they lost the game and then there was a leverage penalty and all of a sudden they, they.
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B
Did not lose both of those at home. Both of those Danny Dimes and Shane Steichen in their bag, catching the league by surprise a little bit. I mean, the Denver defense was the biggest disappointment in that game.
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Yeah, the linebacker's looking a little slow, not getting stops.
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There's been some plays went right at.
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Certain so week three trends. This is usually a great betting week and one that we've had success with over the years. You usually see the 0 and 2 teams as dogs usually do well. The division, home dogs, they usually do well. It's a good time to capitalize on some overreactions. But what's interesting is there's so much gambling data and analysis and everything that some of the games that I think 15 years ago would have just seemed like Colts -4 and a half over the Titans. And you're like oh, the Colts. Then the Titans win in Tennessee. You're like oh my God, I can't believe it. Now we have our radar up for all of these and it's harder and harder to find the inefficiencies. But we're going to try, we're going to go through the slate. I have the stay away group house which includes the Chiefs who you just mentioned Chiefs, Giants, 20 and two teams. It still feels like I, I feel like the Chiefs are just getting two extra points just because they're the Chiefs. This line should probably be three and a half.
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B
Yeah. And maybe we'd mess with if it mess with it if it was in that range. But I don't want to try and gamble on the Chiefs winning by margin and 6 his margin. So I, I just don't feel like.
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A
And I don't really want to take the Giants against the Chiefs. If the Chiefs were two and oh I feel like this would be a live one, you'd be looking at this gun. Oh, let down game. Giants go up early. But I do the, you know, the Giants pass rush against a pretty shaky offensive line for the Chiefs. The lack of explosiveness for the Chiefs.
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B
Chiefs don't run the ball. Can't run the ball. So I mean they're going to need something from Kareem Hunt.
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A
If I had to pick a side, I'd pick the Giants. But I'm not, I'm not touching that game. I'm not touching your game either. Washington's three and a half now over the Raiders. They were three when we locked in the 107 picks.
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B
Can't play it. Don't know anything about the quarterback. We'll know Sunday morning.
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A
So after this you're at Arizona at Chargers. We don't have must wins in week three but I don't know if you want to lose this one with those next two coming in a banged up.
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B
Quarterback and can't lose this one because of the condition in which the Raiders arrive which is off that tough Monday night football game. It was physical. The Chargers beat the hell out of them. Gino was, was backpedaling and throwing to the wrong team all game long. So you gotta. You gotta get this one. If. If you're Washington and have hopes on a repeat visit to the playoffs.
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A
I do like the idea of zagging after a bad Geno game on the Raiders. If I had to pick a side, I'd probably pick the Raiders. But stay away from me. They the big thing for the Raiders. I just thought Bowers looked like a different guy on Monday night. He's clearly hurt. He wasn't explosive. He was such like an X factor for them the second half of last season. And then in game one, then in game two, he just wasn't the same. I thought that was a big reason why they looked like crap. Next one. That's a stay away. Vikings. Bengals. Vikings by 3. Jake Browning versus Carson Wentz. I picked up Jake Browning in our Guillotine league. Some positive. Some positive offensive stats with him. Minnesota. Minnesota's 32nd in EPA for offense right now. And do you think JJ McCarthy is actually hurt if you had to at gunpoint. What do you think?
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B
Oh, that's a great one. You think he's going to have his hour long? They're going to. He and Coach o'.
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Connell.
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B
They're having their hour long in Coach o' Connell's office. They're back.
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A
It's now a book club.
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B
Thursday afternoon. I have to go sit with for my hour with coach and go through the playbook. I love this conspiracy action. Why is this a cross off for you? I'm curious.
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A
It doesn't have to be. I just two backup quarterbacks. I don't really want to back either. Then the Bengals. I don't feel better about their defense or their offensive line than I did two weeks ago. And I don't know what to make of Minnesota. I can't believe how bad their offense is.
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B
The three points is what is kind of capturing my fancy a little bit. Like if it was Minnesota one and a half, just a standard home field advantage or two. It's the minutes. It's the Vikings at home. That's the home field advantage. But the Carson Wentz aspect to this is unbelievable to me. I watched him. He has no business being in the NFL in any capacity other than holding a clipboard and helping his guys. You know, maybe leading prayer circle after a game.
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A
He could do a prayer circle.
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B
He could do prayer. He's going to be doing prayer circle.
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You just do. You gather everyone in and then you kneel and you say a prayer after the game. Do that.
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B
Yeah, he definitely can do that.
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A
Anyway, so you want to mark this? Should I Put it in both markets.
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B
Just mark it for a minute. Because it's not like the Vikings defense has exactly wowed us in the first couple of games. Somehow.
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A
The Bengals are two and oh, and it feels like their season is over, but yet they're two and oh, and they're playing a team that could not move the ball against the Falcons last week is now on the Carson Wentz stage of at least for the next two weeks.
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B
And you're right.
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A
All right, I'll move it in there.
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B
Well, just. Just for a second, I'm probably going to dispense with this. I'm probably going to say, what are we doing?
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A
Well, what'd you get? My wild. The foreplay.
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B
It's just. I want to see what it feels like.
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A
Why'd you plug it in if you're not going to use it?
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B
One. One never knows.
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A
Broncos Chargers. This is in LA. I think there are probably about 40,000 Denver fans here. Denver coming off just an awful loss. Just awful loss for us, too. It really hurt us. In Ringer 107, this line was three and it dropped to two and a half. And when it dropped to two and a half, it became a no play for me. I think these games, the Chargers looked really good against them last year. Chargers look really solid in general. I thought Geno had a lot of throws, especially in that second half that he just sailed or, you know, I didn't think that Chargers defense was as good as it would look after the game. We were like, oh, they only give up nine points. I thought there were guys open. Khalil Mack got hurt. Denver coming off really an ugly week one win and then an uglier week two loss. This feels borderline kitchen sinky for me. Do they Want to go 1 and 2, fall 2 behind the Chargers with the Chiefs looming as well? Ultimately a stay away from me house.
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B
I really want to petty bet the Chargers. Oh, like a punishment to punish the Broncos because the Broncos invented ways to lose that football game. Invented ways to not cover that football game. They were at all three levels, self sabotaging offense, defense and special teams. Well, let's just add another one. The coach. The dumbass coach who on a 60 yard field goal attempt with a rookie. Yeah, let's do. Let's have the block on because we're so concerned about this. This kid in these circumstances. Come on, man. What are we doing? And this is part of the thesis that that coming into the season informed the confidence in the Broncos. We're all. We all have exposure to the Broncos because this combination, you know, Bo Nix in the second year, our fault. He looks shaky as hell and Peyton is, is. Is, you know, somebody buy that man a cup of coffee so he can wake the F up and maybe he could share some of the play calling duties as well. But the late interception by. By Knicks in that game, I. I just was wholly underwhelmed by the Broncos.
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A
Dumb Dobbins penalty. Dumb face mask penalty that sent them back. Missed the field.
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B
Dumb things. Big dummy things.
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A
The Chargers might be good and I'm not willing to commit to it yet, but you know, and I'm not breaking any news with that statement, but they really might be good. They might be the third best team in the afc, but I think this is the week we find out if they are or not.
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B
Okay. Okay. Okay.
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A
I don't like the way they finished that Raiders game at all. And I know it's a Monday night game call weird time, but yeah, they.
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B
Just the fourth down call with the jet sweep. Come on, what are you doing? Run the effing football.
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A
I'll tell you another thing. Not sure about Hampton, who they spent a really high first round pick on. I think he was the 12th pick. I liked it a little more when Najee Harris was in there.
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B
Felt a little more. I mean, you know, Hampton did put the ball on the ground.
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A
Naja Harris at an important moment, huh? Yeah, well, he had a little fireworks accident or whatever happened.
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B
No, no, I know, right?
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A
I would lean Broncos, but it's a Stay away Lions, Ravens. I would rather. We're gonna get to a parlay portion this. I'd rather talk about the Ravens in that section, but they're five and a half against Detroit. Detroit looked awesome last week. That was a. Oh, Ben Johnson. We heard. We heard our name in the streets. Kind of a. Kind of an impact game. But I don't see their defense stopping the Ravens ever. Now I don't know if this could be a shootout, but I'm a little more interested in the Ravens than a money parlay, which I would like to discuss to you in a later category.
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B
I will be all ears. I don't want to mess around with the Vegas zone number, especially the Ravens. Van Noy is hurt, looks like he's out and Marlon Humphrey is questionable. Those guys matter to that Ravens defense, so I'm fine with. With being cautious. Okay.
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A
Bears, Cowboys. You know, I kind of like the Bears and they're minus one and a half somehow against the Cowboys who cannot defend anyone, they single handed rejuvenated Russell Wilson's. Career. Last week the Bears looked, you know, obviously awful against Detroit and their defense sucks, too. And this feels like it could be like a, whoever has the ball last game. It's more meaningful for the bears though, because they're 02 and they just got smacked by the Lions. And this is a. Our season is over if we can't beat this crappy Dallas team.
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B
So tell me one good thing about the Bears. Tell me one thing that you've seen that's good from the Chicago Bears.
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A
That's why I have the stay aways.
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B
Well, here's the thing. We have one good thing from Dallas. That offense is cooking. Yeah, I kind of love Dallas this week. I think.
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A
You know, is that one of your picks?
- [29:55]
B
It's sitting here right, right on the sidelines. I have, you know, I have my little book here. It's. It's, it's in the book. I do have a. I, I'll try and make the case, but let's see if we may. Maybe we'll have consensus on 5. But I think this, the, the Cowboys are the side in, in that game. I mean, I don't. What proof is there that the Bears can score under any circumstances even against this Dallas team? The Dallas team, even with Micah out, they have been able to manage like kind of reasonable pressure. They had their pressure numbers are like in the middle. No, I'm just saying. Not a joke.
- [30:32]
A
Give up almost 40 points to the Giants, Seahawks, Saints. It's up to seven and a half. It is a lit. Let's be careful out there. I'm not sure the Seahawks should be favored by that much against anybody. And I like the Seahawks. I like their defense. This seems to me like one of those where if you're going to bet the Seahawks do an alt line like -14 and a half bet on the blowout. In the old days we would have teased the Seahawks against Spencer radler with the 12th man. I'm not ready to do that. And this. I also think the Saints are a little better than, you know, that we have that. We did that fourth place bet where we had the Saints and the Browns and the Dolphins in Tennessee and felt really good about that. And a big piece of that was Carolina being better than the Saints and I'm not sure they are. And I think that's going to be one. We're going to have to hedge that one late in the season because as we get down, they're not awful. They're not good.
- [31:28]
B
No, they're not awful.
- [31:30]
A
Carolina's awful.
- [31:31]
B
They're awful, awful Carolina. I don't, I don't want anything to do with that Seattle Saints game.
- [31:37]
A
Well that's a full on. Stay with us. And then last but not least is Packers Browns in Cleveland packers. The sign is just suspiciously only at seven and a half even though people think the packers are the best team league and the Browns, they played like two and three fourths really good quarters against Baltimore and then that game slipped away and then the week before they should have won against who they play week one.
- [32:02]
B
I'm blanking the Bengals. They should have beat the Bengals. Their field goal kicker kick them out of the game.
- [32:09]
A
Their defense might actually be good.
- [32:11]
B
It's good, it's a good defense.
- [32:14]
A
So I wouldn't do this straight up. I would, I would consider a Packers in a parlay just to win.
- [32:21]
B
I want to be careful. I want, I think that Browns defense they, they, they, it keeps them in the game. They, they just keep defeating with stupid turnovers and you know, special team mistakes at the wrong time. They were in that game against the Ravens and they were, they should have won the game against the Bengals.
- [32:41]
A
All right, we're going to do, we'll talk about the possibles but we're going to take a quick break. This episode is brought to you by Scout Motors. You don't change the game by standing on the sidelines. You do it by building something new. Iconic in the 70s and reimagined for today. The all new Scout Terra and Scout Traveler are engineered from the ground up with advanced capability and bold ingenuity. Build brand new for what's next. Opposing defenses take note. Join the wait list@scoutmotors.com Concept vehicles not available for sale. Joining the waitlist does not guarantee purchase. Visit scoutmotors.com for details. This episode is brought to you by NBA 2K26, a favorite of my sons and me. All right, quick break. NBA 2K26 stacked this year. Gameplay new motion engine smoother catch and shoot. The rhythm shooting is dialed in. My team added the W so now you can get Caitlin Clark pulling up from deep. Larry Bird talking trash mid game. Jokic casually dropping triple doubles. It's absurd in the best way. My career has a whole new storyline. The city's tighter and you're on the court way faster. I've been playing video basketball games. I think the first one was early 80s. I'm stunned. Like when I, when I go and my son's playing with his friends and I go in and I barge my wound and I start playing with them I'm just amazed by how good, how detailed all the games are, how they really look like NBA players. 2K26 is finally here and yeah, it is absolutely loaded. If you care about basketball even a little, you're checking it out today. Ball over everything. Now it's time for a special part of today's episode. It's brought to you by NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. NFL Sunday Ticket has awesome features to help you stay on top of all the action like live multi view where you can watch up to four games at once, something I do every Sunday. You can also track your favorite teams and players with stats and Fantasy View. Keeping up with your fantasy league has never ever been so easy. Device and content restrictions apply. My favorite thing I like picking the four games that I'm going to watch, especially in the early slate and trying to learn as much about the teams as I possibly can. But when you get closer to halftime, one of the games goes into halftime. All of a sudden you can pop another one in there. Maybe third, fourth, third, early fourth quarter. One of the games is a blowout. Shove another one in there you don't have to miss a minute of the action. You can watch every game every Sunday all in one place. With NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV you can track your fantasy league players like a champ. You can even in the multi view just throw red zone in one of the squares the entire time. Right now you can get NFL Sunday Ticket month to month and cancel anytime. Go to YouTube.com BS to sign up now. Local and national games on YouTube TV NFL sign a ticket for out of market games Excludes digital only games. Base plan required Renews every month during the 2025 reg season. Only your membership for the following month can be canceled anytime before your renewal date. Terms, restrictions and embargoes apply. Commercial use excluded. No refunds. One thing to note before we go to the possible is the Cowboys line flipped for ringer one zero seven. It was Bears minus one and a half. But now as we're taping this Thursday night it's Cowboys favored by one and a half. So what do you think happened? Was there another Caleb Williams hit piece that I I missed?
- [35:42]
B
No, no. I just think people looked at the the matchup and loved the idea of the Cowboys as a dog. The best unit in that game is the Cowboys offense.
- [35:49]
A
That's still a three point shift. It's weird that we can't ever have a pick em pick ems. Just never. It has to be. It has to get to one and a half. It can't even get to minus one. It's gotta just. If it flips to one and a half, it just flips the other side. Okay, possibles. We already talked about the Bengals. You talked about the Cowboys, Rams, Eagles. Rams plus three and a half in Philly. It feels like there's a lot of sharp sentiment heading toward this already for a variety of reasons. Namely that the Eagles offenses look terrible. The Rams played them well last year. People like watching the Rams throw the ball. They're good. I mean, these might be two of the four best teams in the nfc. There's a tush push. Lotta. Lotta stuff about how they were kind of cheating on the tush push on Sunday. And I wonder whether. Whether the refs are going to be really looking at that play a little more carefully. I wish this line was four and a half. The three and a half makes me a little nervous, but I still kind of like the Rams.
- [36:51]
B
Yeah, I'm on the side of the Rams. I like the Rams here. I think that their ability to rush for and not have to necessarily get pressure and not blitz, I like that. Yeah. I like the idea of them taking away the run. I think they can do it. And, you know, Saquon isn't even averaging 4 yards a rush yet.
- [37:18]
A
And I'm not worried about him yet.
- [37:20]
B
You're not? I mean, we're also not really worried about hertz. He has two passes.
- [37:24]
A
I'm more worried about him.
- [37:26]
B
Well, two passes this season of 10 yards or more. Two games, two passes of 10 yards or more.
- [37:31]
A
I don't understand why they're not airing the ball out with him. I watched his. They mic'd him. There was like a 14 minute jalen hurts mic, which I watched all of. It's really fun at the end when he gets mad at Chris Jones, when they're. They're like. They're like kneeling to end the game.
- [37:48]
B
And Chris Jones formation.
- [37:49]
A
Chris Jones, like, these motherfuckers don't even have 100 yards. And he's like, we won. Eart's like, we won the damn game or whatever it was. I was like, all right. This is why we Mike the players. I like this.
- [37:58]
B
Enjoyed it. Yeah.
- [38:00]
A
So I guess the bigger question for me is, are the Rams actually good? Because if they win in Philly in week three, that is a statement that they're actually going to be heard from in the NFC this year in that we had packers one, Eagles have to be two, and then the Rams are like, right there. Maybe the Lions. I don't see anyone in the NFC west really that can make a case yet. But this other than the Rams. So this would be a real statement for them. Kind of like Atlanta too. But let's see them for a few more weeks.
- [38:30]
B
The big thing for the Eagles is Dallas Goddard. So like, if you're going to be kind of an apologist about how they performed against the Chiefs. Chiefs have good defense. Defense that took them to the super bowl, no doubt. Dallas Goddard. Goddard, I think is supposed to be back. That's. That's the idea. So maybe a little bit of the multiplicity.
- [38:49]
A
Has he ever been 100% in the last 10 years? Is there ever a report? Dallas Goddard, he's feeling great.
- [38:55]
B
He was good against Washington in the NFC Championship game.
- [38:58]
A
Dallas Goddard is trying Pilates. He's really good at stuff. Speaking of the NFC West, Niners, Cards, inner division. Niners home. They're laying two and a half. I love the Niners in this one. I think this is going to be one of the five for me and it's not even a team I love that much but. And especially with Mac Jones, they're my purdy Might play. But the Cardinals, the deep back situation for them is so abysmal. They've lost so many guys. They're down to like backups to the backups. And I just think this line should be higher. I don't even care who the Niners quarterback is.
- [39:32]
B
It's.
- [39:33]
A
This is just like a Shannon Shanahan run the ball play action, couple deep throws.
- [39:40]
B
Also the game in tidy fashion. That's it.
- [39:42]
A
And it looks like the Niners with that Williams, the rookie they have on the D line who has been impactful for them.
- [39:48]
B
Yeah, yeah. But potential defensive rookie of the year.
- [39:52]
A
I'm not impressed by the Cards at all. Like, they've held on for dear life for two weeks in a row and. And I just find it hard to believe they're going to go three. And oh is another piece of this. Right?
- [40:03]
B
The Cards are very few. We don't have to lay anything. It's the Niners. Put it in the book. It's a lock. It's in our 107. Niners lay it.
- [40:11]
A
All right. I like it too. How you feeling about Jags, Texans?
- [40:17]
B
I've gone both ways on this one.
- [40:20]
A
Jaguar home favored by one and a half. Lots of storylines, lots of Brian Thomas Jr. Drama. Lots of what's going on with Travis Hunter stuff. The Jags, kudos to them. They've generated a lot of content through a couple weeks. There was A great Reddit post on the Jaguars. Reddit about how Trevor Lawrence doesn't actually throw hospital balls. With all this data, I was like, that's a pretty compelling case. Maybe my eyes have been deceiving me.
- [40:47]
B
He's also not accurate. I mean, there is that. He may not be throwing hospital balls, but he's certainly not accurate.
- [40:53]
A
They're definitely. The Trevor Lawrence hive is pretty funny. We're like, if not for those drops, he would have had four touchdowns. And it's like, all right, cool. Do you feel good when he's inside the 10 yard line? Because I don't.
- [41:08]
B
Well, part of the thing, too. God damn it, Jags. Like you have the coach Diami Brown is out there. I watched him for Washington. It was an absolute good riddance. Yeah. And Lawrence hits him dead in the hands for a touchdown that, that, you know, should have helped put the game away. And dope drops it, as always. I mean, I. I really had enough of him in Washington. Good luck in. In Jacksonville. Which way were you leaning on this game? I'm curious.
- [41:36]
A
I'm leaning Jags. And there's a couple reasons for it. I think their defense, I think they're. They. They actually have like a pass rush and defensive pressure. I think they're all right. Um, they pick Browning three times.
- [41:50]
B
He.
- [41:52]
A
It was one of those where the. The vibe of the game was just off and the Cincy kind of stole it. But I didn't mind how they played. I. I think they have playmakers. They have this backup running back, Tutin, who I think might be legitimately good. And I wonder if, like, this is the week they unleash him. And also, they had a big microscope on them this week. And Brian Thomas Jr. Had a big microscope. He's very polarizing right now for dogging on routes and stuff. And so from a Jaguar side, it's like, all right, if you guys have anything in you, this is the week. And then on a Houston side, they can't block. We've watched them two weeks in a row.
- [42:28]
B
Two years, two weeks especially.
- [42:31]
A
They had two really visible games. This.
- [42:34]
B
Yes, you're right.
- [42:35]
A
Camp block. They, you know, Nick Chubb actually broke a couple runs, but I don't trust that piece. And I don't think CJ Strouds look good at all. And really, for the last year, plus, he hasn't looked like the guy he was as a rookie. I just don't think they have it. I don't think. I don't know who's going to win that division, but I just don't think it's going to be Houston. And I think the Jaguars have just as much talent with them. So them being home minus one and a half Florida, outdoors, maybe there'll be some hot weather if the Jags can't win this game. Come on.
- [43:11]
B
The case for Houston is they are 6. 0 over the last since 2018 in Jacksonville and 41 and 1 against the spread. So they feel like they own the Jags. And CJ Stroud has had some good games against the Jags. Now, this is a different iteration of the Jags at a different iteration of Houston. Especially their run defense. You can run the football. We watched Tampa run it right down their throats. I mean, you know, they. They were. They had some creative movement stuff with Bucky Irving and. And I don't see why that's not replicable for the Jaguars. And I mean, I like the idea of Liam Cohen in his bag a little bit. I don't know how the Texans solve their rush defense issue, but if the Jags can establish the run, then I think you're on the right side.
- [44:02]
A
Yeah. The counter, if you were going for Houston, is they've only given up 28 points in two weeks. They dropped or had a chance to have multiple turnovers on the defensive side that they didn't get. Did you see that stat Baker has? He could have like six picks. He's zero.
- [44:20]
B
Oh, yeah.
- [44:20]
A
It's like six drops or whatever.
- [44:22]
B
Yes, yes.
- [44:25]
A
But I just don't like the vibe of that team. They have two guys who can rush a passer, and they have a very good secondary. But that same very good secondary got lit down the stretch by Baker when he had to go leak the field. They were up five with two minutes left. If you have a good defense, you gotta. You gotta finish. And they didn't.
- [44:42]
B
That's right.
- [44:44]
A
And I don't know. I've watched this Jacksonville team. I've watched a lot of them the last two weeks, and I think they can move the ball, like for real. Against Carolina, it was really sloppy and disjointed. They still got to 26 points. They left a lot of stuff on the table, but there was. You can see the potential of it.
- [45:03]
B
Yeah.
- [45:04]
A
And then they put up 27 against sitzing, and it really should have been like 40.
- [45:08]
B
Should have been.
- [45:08]
A
Cause they got inside the 10 twice two other times, plus the 27.
- [45:12]
B
Yeah.
- [45:13]
A
Yeah. So as crazy as it sounds, I kind of like the Jacks.
- [45:17]
B
I don't think it's that crazy. We're just you know, the trend is to, to not take the team. You know, the 0 and 2 team is supposed to be the side, but it's a tiny line. It's. I think it's lined perfectly.
- [45:32]
A
Pat. Steelers Pats are plus one and a half in this game against Pittsburgh. The, the defensive stats, the advanced stuff for Pittsburgh is even worse than it looked like from an eye test standpoint. Like they basically can't tackle. They're. They had 18.2% missed tackle rate according to next gen stats. Not to mention they've had some. Highsmith is out of this game.
- [45:56]
B
Right.
- [45:57]
A
Looks like Joey Porter's probably going to be out the defense dating back to last year when they really started to tail off those last four or five games. And then heading into this year, the jets lit them up and then couldn't do anything a week later. I think the Pats could cook in this game. The Pats looked good last week against the Dolphins. Like their offense was moving the ball and doing a lot of, a lot of good things. I think they've, they've kind of rejuvenated Ramandre. The left side of the line line is actually able to block now. They have multiple receivers who can at least get open on a third and seven and I like the spot for them. I also think the Pats have a real pass rush this year. This, this Milton Williams they signed, he's been awesome. I think he's the number one ranked defensive lineman through two weeks. But he's been like really, really, really disruptive. And that's how you beat Pittsburgh. You got to disrupt Rogers, pressure him, get in there. And I think this Steelers season is about to do this. And that's the case for Pats plus one and a half. This is going to be one of my two, four or five.
- [46:55]
B
What is your current information on the availability of Christian Gonzalez? That's the most important practice.
- [47:04]
A
I have no idea if he's going to play and I, I like them either way.
- [47:12]
B
Okay. Okay. Well, I can give a throaty endorsement if Christian Gonzalez is involved because I really love him locking down one side.
- [47:19]
A
Of the football field.
- [47:20]
B
Yeah, well, especially with the pressure putting on, you know. What are you talking about? Oh, I have so many jokes, I won't do it.
- [47:29]
A
So the case for Pittsburgh is they won in week one and week two came down to that dumbass not understand the kickoff role that swung the game. I thought, I actually just thought Seattle outplayed them and basically Darnold had two bad passes that they picked and Seattle still won. By 14, which is, I think, a really bad sign for them. They're playing Minnesota and Cleveland after this for the next two, and then they're at Cincinnati, home, Green Bay, home, Indianapolis, at the Chargers. And, you know, that's nine games. I think this is. This feels like they could be like three and six after nine games. This could really be the year we're like, oh, I guess Tomlin can't win 10 games every year.
- [48:10]
B
Well, if that's the case, this is one of the games that they lose. If that's the case.
- [48:18]
A
Well, I'll tell you this. If the Pats win this and then they have Carolina next week, that's three and one at Buffalo, Week five, three and three, that's three and two at New Orleans, at Tennessee, home, Cleveland, the next three could. They literally could be five and three without us having any idea if they're even decent. But this was the case for them going 9 and 8. Their schedule was terrible. And if Pittsburgh's not going to be good, that really helps the case for, like, the schedule may create a 9 and 8 team. Not to mention the jets in Miami really should be four wins for them, potentially. Right.
- [48:59]
B
It's their division games. They're tough games. I mean, Miami damn near won that game in Miami, the punt return should.
- [49:08]
A
Have been a clinching point that game. In the first half, though, Speaking of the AFCs, the Jets are 6 1/2 in Tampa. Tyrod Taylor is playing, which I like. I know higher floor than Justin Fields, probably lower ceiling. Tampa is just demolished on the offensive line like. Like to a dangerous level. It's really bad. And I don't think Worfs is playing this week and they missed. They lost two other starters. And I feel like this line's too high, that this is an overreaction to Buffalo spanking the jets last week. Six and a half is too many points. This should be a four and a half point line.
- [49:49]
B
Totally agree with every aspect of that. Do we dare bet against Baker Mayfield? I mean, part of the thing.
- [49:55]
A
I don't want to bet the Jets.
- [49:57]
B
I don't want to bet the jets either.
- [49:59]
A
They killed us last week.
- [50:00]
B
Yeah, that game.
- [50:02]
A
We bet that we. As I talked about on Sunday, that should be an alert from fanduel where they alert you that you bet on Justin Fields against Josh Allen. We learned our lesson. But I think this line's too high.
- [50:14]
B
It's too high. I don't want to bet it. I just can't get there.
- [50:17]
A
All right, last one is Titans, Colts. Titans are a Classic sharp pick. Colts pass rush has been bad. Titans offensive line multiple injuries. Latham might be out and I think there's the. Their Zeitler might be out too. Colts should be 1 and 1. Colts on grass, Colts outdoors. Colts with a lot of smoke getting blown up their ass all week. It has all the makings and I actually like the Titans receivers. That rookie they have the fourth rounder I think is good. I picked him up in one of my leagues and Ridley and I don't know. I can't Ward.
- [50:54]
B
Yeah, it's good.
- [50:55]
A
Four and a half seems like a point and a half too high. I thought this should have been close to minus three.
- [51:00]
B
No argument whatsoever. Will not under any circumstances bet on the Titans. Just won't do it. Just will not do it. As long as that moron is the head coach never betting the Titans. You. You know it could have been Colts by 10.
- [51:14]
A
Just not doing it. He fixed the special teams. Special teams.
- [51:18]
B
Are they hired a special teams coach? Fossil's good.
- [51:21]
A
Yeah. They realized that special teams were one of the three parts of football. Congrats.
- [51:28]
B
All right.
- [51:28]
A
Parlay possibilities. The Falcons moneyline against the Panthers. I want to put the Falcons moneyline with something because I actually like the Falcons. I think they're good.
- [51:42]
B
Me too.
- [51:42]
A
You could also talk me into Falcons -5 and a half but I would rather money line them with something.
- [51:47]
B
I don't want to mess with that. That's too dumb.
- [51:49]
A
It's in Carolina. They should win. It has another one that has all the makings. You're going to get to knowing two team but I think Carolina is like genuinely bad and they threw everyone off the scent. Cause they got two touchdowns in garbage time against Arizona. All of a sudden they got an onside kick like it just. That game wasn't close for two and a half hours.
- [52:11]
B
No interest in betting on the Panthers. Don't care what the numbers are. Can't do it.
- [52:16]
A
So we have the Falcons minus five and a half. I'm sorry. Minus 250. We could put it with the Ravens money line. Ravens against Detroit Ravens money line. We could bring the Falcons line to plus two and a half. All adjusted on FanDuel and that is minus 112. And that fits. That fits in our little. In our little parlay spot. Ravens moneyline. Falcons plus two and a half. It's minus 112.
- [52:43]
B
Is there any scenario under which Detroit with golf. It's an outdoor game. It's in Baltimore. It's a. It's an. It's a Monday night game.
- [52:52]
A
Yeah.
- [52:53]
B
Campbell gets them revved up. Van Noy out.
- [52:59]
A
Yeah.
- [52:59]
B
Is there any way they can keep up scoring wise with the Ravens?
- [53:02]
A
There certainly is. Do you have another suggestion for us moneyline wise? Yeah. So we agree the Falcons in principle should be in this?
- [53:15]
B
Yes, we do. We definitely agree.
- [53:18]
A
So could I. What if I offered you if I could take the Falcons down to 2 and a half, minus 2 and a half. With the packers in Cleveland?
- [53:29]
B
Do you think that the Chiefs are going to start season 0 and 3 with a loss against the Giants?
- [53:42]
A
You really want to back the Chiefs.
- [53:44]
B
Just on the money line just to win?
- [53:49]
A
All right, let me look at.
- [53:51]
B
It's the best defense the Giants will have faced by quite a bit.
- [53:56]
A
Honestly, if you're doing that.
- [53:57]
B
The Giants played Washington and they played the Cowboys in the first two weeks.
- [54:03]
A
I can't believe you're talking us into this. That's minus 103.
- [54:09]
B
Well, tell me. No, it's fine. I'll.
- [54:13]
A
I mean, I like your logic of let's throw. Let's throw all common sense out. Are the Chiefs going on three?
- [54:21]
B
Is Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes going to go into Giant Stadium and lose to Russell Wilson and your boy Day Ball? That's going to happen.
- [54:32]
A
Are the Giants going on three?
- [54:36]
B
Sure. Sure they are. That was a good one. I enjoyed it.
- [54:43]
A
All right, so that's what you want to do. Give me. What's your favorite pick? Let's do Ringer 107.
- [54:51]
B
Oh, my. My pick for that.
- [54:53]
A
Yeah, give me your favorite.
- [54:57]
B
We covered it. I mean, we've already included it.
- [55:00]
A
I know we covered it, but let's hear it because I bolded a bunch of games. What do you got?
- [55:04]
B
I love the 49ers. That's my favorite pick by far of the entire week. I think the cards are fraudulent and this is, you know, it's not like the 49ers are, you know, gangbusters, but I think it's just a nice, orderly, tidy win for them. We could also put the Seahawks in. Like laying the seven and a half against the Saints is ridiculous. But Spencer Rattler is going to go into Seattle and win his first game straight up as a starter.
- [55:30]
A
Are you talking about putting them instead of the Chiefs?
- [55:32]
B
Yes. Yes. I'm just offering other alternatives to you. Do you think that the Saints now, the Saints defense has been, you know, decent, not horrible?
- [55:42]
A
Do I think the Saints are going to win in Seattle? No.
- [55:45]
B
Do you think the Chiefs do you. Right. Okay.
- [55:49]
A
Am I worried about the Chiefs in Giant Stadium? Yes.
- [55:54]
B
Okay.
- [55:56]
A
I am A little worried. Well, we could do an alt line, an alternate spread to get this down. We could do Seattle to one and.
- [56:06]
B
A half.
- [56:09]
A
And that will get us to where we need to go. Yes. Atlanta moneyline. Seattle minus 1.5 is exactly minus 120.
- [56:20]
B
Fine.
- [56:21]
A
So we could do that instead of the Chiefs.
- [56:23]
B
Fine. Okay. I'm convinced. I'm surprised you're worried about the Chiefs, but it's fine.
- [56:28]
A
I am worried about it. You don't think I should be worried about the Chiefs?
- [56:32]
B
Well, I mean, against the spread is one thing. It's a whole nother thing about them. You know, they can't lose to the Giants this week.
- [56:39]
A
That.
- [56:39]
B
That really hurts their season.
- [56:43]
A
All right, you want to do the Chiefs, that's fine. I think you're right. It'll be more fun, too, if they lose. And we could be like, oh, my God, I can't believe we took the Chiefs. So you have the 49ers.
- [56:54]
B
Oh, my God, we took the Chiefs. Like. Well, you know, it's funny that we're debating it.
- [57:00]
A
Well, it's pretty. It's a pretty sad statement on their season. I have the Pats.
- [57:05]
B
Yeah.
- [57:05]
A
Are we throwing the Jags in here?
- [57:08]
B
I'm convinced. I like it.
- [57:11]
A
So our fifth one, we can. Do you like the Cowboys, The Rams, the. You don't want to do Titans or Jets?
- [57:22]
B
No, can't. Bengals.
- [57:24]
A
Bengals plus three.
- [57:25]
B
I love the Bengals plus three. But, you know, then we look at ourselves in the mirror and say we bet on Browning on the road. Like, what do we not.
- [57:33]
A
Browning against Brian Flores.
- [57:36]
B
Right. He has beat. He has beat Flores before. Browning has.
- [57:40]
A
Are we sure the Eagles don't have a little. People aren't giving us enough credit. Yeah, we have the latest smackdown kind of stuff.
- [57:48]
B
I'm fine with leaving them alone. I kind of don't really want to. I don't feel super convinced that we should mess with them. Even though I think the Rams are the right side. I kind of don't want to mess with that one.
- [58:01]
A
Well, we're running out of teams because then that leaves the Seahawks.
- [58:07]
B
Nope.
- [58:08]
A
That. That leaves. We could do something with the Cowboys and the over.
- [58:13]
B
We're. What? We're doing totals.
- [58:15]
A
Well, I mean, if we wanted to use our parlay for that. Or we could just do the Cowboys minus one and a half.
- [58:22]
B
I'm fine with the Cowboys minus one and a half. I mean, I think this Bears team, their whole secondary is. Is out. Like, half of them are out for the season. And like I asked you earlier, Nate, tell me one thing that you've seen out of the Bears, they can't run the ball. One good touchdown against the Vikings in week one, you know, to start the game. The, the dramatic, stark difference between the, the first series of the game for the Bears and what Caleb, Caleb Williams numbers are after. His completion percentage is through the roof. The efficacy, you know, all of the EPA stuff for him. First series of each game has been on point and then that's it. He's barely a 50% accurate thrower of the football.
- [59:13]
A
For the remaining we're making the Cowboys your pick and we'll make the 49ers a joint pick.
- [59:18]
B
Okay, good.
- [59:19]
A
And then I'll take the Pats and the Jags and then we'll agree on Falcons Chiefs together. This episode is brought to you by Viori. Look, I'm not a big let's hype up workout clothes guy, but Vuori, I gotta say, total game changer. Been wearing a lot. If you see me power walking around Los Angeles, probably gonna see me wearing some Vuori Sunday performance joggers that they have. It's made with four way performance stretch fabric, one of the most comfortable things you own. You will wear them everywhere, I promise. All you have to do is go to vuori.com Simmons and you get 20% off your first purchase with Viori. V-U-O-R-I.com Simmons enjoy. Free shipping on all US orders over $75 plus free returns. Exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions. This episode is brought to you by Workday. There are two kinds of people in the world. Backward thinkers and forward thinkers. Forward thinkers have plans 15 minutes from now and 15 years from now. They're not just one step ahead, they're 1,000 steps ahead. And when you're a forward thinker, you need a platform that thinks like you do. Workday's AI illuminates decision making and reimagines how you manage your people and money for long term success. Workday moving business forever forward. Find out more@workday.com all right, let's do today's Ringer 107. It's brought to you by FanDuel. Ringer 107. Four and six after two weeks, the picks. House loves the Cowboys in Chicago. The case being, I haven't seen one thing I like from the Chicago Bears. Fair enough. Dallas could throw the ball. Dallas has. This is one of the great kicker mismatches too, where we have Aubrey on one hand, the greatest kicker of all time, which with this new Kickoff rule. It's like they're guaranteed three points every time they get the ball. And then God only knows is kicking for the Bears this week. So Cowboys minus one and a half in Chicago grabbing that. We are grabbing the Jags minus one half at home against Houston. They've been a soap opera all this week. I think it actually helps them. This feels a little bit of a kitchen sinky type game for them. And I'm not a believer in Houston at all. All right then we have the Pats plus one and a half at home. Their home dog against 42 year old Aaron Rodgers, who has been bad anytime he's pressured against a Steelers defense and especially a run defense that has looked pretty abysmal. They're missing dudes, they're missing Highsmith, probably Joey porter. They weren't 100% healthy to begin with. TJ Watts on a milk carton at this point. Left side of the Pats line looking better. Look out for Travion Henderson in this game. I liked how the Pats. Something's happening with them offensively. We've seen Drake May when he actually gets protection. There's something pretty good in there. So Pat's plus one and a half. It's not a homer pick. I picked the Pats to have the worst record in the league last year. I actually think the Pats might be pretty frisky for the next couple of weeks. 49ers minus two and a half. We don't know who the quarterback is. Is it Brock? Doesn't matter. It's a back chance.
- [62:22]
B
I've seen enough of the Cardinals.
- [62:23]
A
Yeah, we've seen enough of the Cardinals. We've seen enough of their backups to the backups. D backs. So 49ers minus two and a half. And last but not least, we're doing a little parlay. Money line. The Atlanta Falcons, we believe, will absolutely, positively win in Carolina. This is a game in week 16. I'd be nervous about it. Not week three. I just think too many weapons and Carolina's terrible. I think Carolina is the worst team in the league. And then House really wanted to put the Chiefs in here.
- [62:54]
B
I'll take it. I. I do. I'll own it. I really want to put the Chiefs in here. Yes, I do. God's going.
- [63:01]
A
Andy Reid versus Brian Dabal. Patrick Mahomes versus Russell Wilson.
- [63:05]
B
Yes.
- [63:06]
A
The Chiefs cannot go 03. That was another thing you said. Maybe even a little kitchen sinky for the Chiefs. Not wanting to go 03 heading into. You know, this is like one of the easiest games in their schedule. So that will be our Ringer 107 for week three. Hopefully we can get over 500. All right, that was today's Ringer 107. It was brought to you by FanDuel. Remember lines and odds are subject to change. House, how are you feeling about the Clipper situation?
- [63:36]
B
It seems like it's now 5050 whether the other owners want to punish them. It feels like the vibes coming out and it also is the case for sure that Silver seems fine with this lingering over the league into the season.
- [63:56]
A
It might seem like he's going to take his time. Yeah. And I think he wants to do this correctly. He's not going to rush to judgment because people on NBA Reddit are upset. He hasn't decided what to do yet. I think this is going to take a while but not I don't think he's stalling. I think he's going to do a real ass investigation and try to figure out what happened so he can punish them correctly.
- [64:15]
B
It looks like the timeline is sufficiently in advance of the All Star Game so that if the punishment includes taking away the All Star Game from the Clippers, they could, they could, they could give it to the Lakers of all things. Still keep it in la. Everybody's already got their travel plans to la. But that would be one of the, one of the ways to punish the Clippers. But that gives you that would punish.
- [64:37]
A
The people going to the All Star Game because Staples center sucks whatever it's called now. Crypto. It's like it's like a double A arena compared to Intuit.
- [64:47]
B
I'm just saying that really suck timeline wise. That seems like that's sort of roughly it. Right. If you give the law firm until January, mid January if part of the punishment for Ballmer includes that.
- [64:59]
A
Too much smoke.
- [65:02]
B
Oh, I agree with this.
- [65:03]
A
I, I still don't know what happened and I still want all the facts to come out but there's just too many payments right around time when Kawhi needed a payment and not looking good for the Clips. What did you think of my theory? Like one of the things with the punishment should be they should just move to Seattle and call it quits. Just like we tried since 1984 we've been trying. We're just, it's obviously just never going to work here and we're just going to start over in Seattle and we'll.
- [65:33]
B
Leave the into it.
- [65:33]
A
We'll sell it to the Lakers.
- [65:35]
B
Bomber would have to so they sell into it to the Lakers. The Lakers get to play in into it and Ballmer has to build a brand new into it in Seattle.
- [65:42]
A
That's the Seattle started. Yeah, that's his punishment Stadium in Seattle. You could the Aspiration Dome in Seattle.
- [65:52]
B
With trees. With fake trees everywhere.
- [65:54]
A
Aspiration 2.0 carbon trees.
- [65:56]
B
Yes, trees. He's fine with Seattle. I mean, you know, the whole Microsoft thing, it all makes sense. You take a villain and turn him into a hero. That's the function.
- [66:09]
A
I was thinking. I mean, I'm not the first person to make this point. But this Kawhi, the entire thing of going into business with this dude, all the stuff it cost them, all the players and the draft picks, plus this scandal. It has to be the most damaging transaction in the history of the league. I don't even think you could compare it to anything.
- [66:29]
B
Wow. The most damaging transaction in the history.
- [66:32]
A
It's already retroactively one of the worst trades of all time.
- [66:36]
B
It's not worse than Luca. It's not worse than Luca.
- [66:40]
A
They end up with Cooper Flag.
- [66:43]
B
That's not.
- [66:43]
A
They don't get Cooper Flag. But in a roundabout way at least somewhat worked out.
- [66:49]
B
Would you trade Anthony Davis?
- [66:51]
A
All right, just forget all the dumb reasons behind the trade. Would you trade Anthony Davis and Cooper Flag for Luca?
- [66:57]
B
Fuck no.
- [66:59]
A
No.
- [67:00]
B
How strongly can I.
- [67:01]
A
What if I threw Max Christie in?
- [67:03]
B
No.
- [67:03]
A
What if I threw Max Christian?
- [67:05]
B
Have you bet on the NBA? Oh, you can't bet on MVP Luka. I got him at seven to one this summer. I'm loving that ticket. Luka is going to win the goddamn MVP this season.
- [67:16]
A
That's what it is.
- [67:18]
B
I don't think it is that anymore. I got it this summer. He looked great in that Euro thing.
- [67:26]
A
I'm looking right now.
- [67:27]
B
Hold on.
- [67:29]
A
Awards. Unbelievably, I've not looked at this. SGA plus 150. Jokic plus 350. Luka down at plus 380.
- [67:39]
B
See a great, great price for me. I'm happy closing line value. I can put the ticket in a frame and say, oh, I had it back.
- [67:45]
A
When the best odds are Giannis at 12 to 1.
- [67:50]
B
Because.
- [67:52]
A
No, just bucks. In a weak conference. Him putting up like a 32, 12 and 6, like single handedly dragging them to a three seed.
- [68:01]
B
I know it's only September.
- [68:03]
A
Two MVPs, two in a row. That's it.
- [68:06]
B
People will be fine with us waiting a month to talk about the NBA. But I just want to ask you, who do you think is the second best team in the East?
- [68:16]
A
I Think it's Cavs, Knicks in whatever order you want. Drop off. Okay.
- [68:21]
B
Okay.
- [68:22]
A
Is that the correct answer? Who do you think it is?
- [68:25]
B
I like the Knicks better than I like the Cavs this season. The answer to me is the Cavs, but I just wondered if you had a wild card.
- [68:32]
A
FanDuel has Cavs to win the east plus 2, 30. Knicks plus 3, 20. And then it goes Orlando plus 5 50. Hawks 9 to 1. Those Hawks odds. We were on that. Remember when it was like 17:1 or 18:1 for them to win the East, Detroit. I mean, the funniest thing is after you get past Orlando, then you immediately go into the Atlanta, Detroit, Milwaukee territory. But then somehow Philly is in there at 14:1. Like they have any chance. I did. I did enjoy Skinny Embiid, though. Did you see Skinny Embiid?
- [69:04]
B
No, I haven't. I haven't.
- [69:06]
A
Oh, he, he.
- [69:07]
B
My timeline right now is great. I'm thrilled. Good. Best of luck. I wish him the best of luck.
- [69:13]
A
You seem a little dubious. Yeah, I would say Cleveland, Knicks. And then what's interesting with the west, the Lakers still have the fourth best odds and the Clippers still have the fifth best odds, even though we don't know if there's going to be, like, God only knows. Like, what if Kawhi's contract just gets voided?
- [69:31]
B
No, they're not doing that.
- [69:33]
A
Minnesota has the six best odds at 12 to 1, which I do not fundamentally understand.
- [69:38]
B
Minnesota, to me, is either the third or the fourth best team.
- [69:41]
A
They have to be there. It's either them or Houston in the three spot.
- [69:45]
B
No, that's right.
- [69:45]
A
Like, there's no question. How do the Lakers have better odds of Minnesota?
- [69:51]
B
The market? That's all dumb Laker enthusiasm.
- [69:56]
A
Dallas even get exciting for you at all?
- [69:59]
B
No. No.
- [70:00]
A
San Antonio, 30 to 1, nothing.
- [70:02]
B
Oh, D' Angelo Russell's playing guard for the Mavericks. Come on.
- [70:07]
A
I was going to actually start NBA homework next week. I've done nothing.
- [70:12]
B
I'm in the same boat. I haven't done anything either.
- [70:14]
A
But, yeah, we're like, within. Within five weeks of the season now.
- [70:18]
B
Yeah.
- [70:20]
A
All right, House. Happy gambling this week. Good to see you. I'll see you on the Ringer Gambling show on Monday and on this pod in a week. Good to see you.
- [70:30]
B
Can't wait.
- [70:31]
A
All right, that's it for the podcast. Thanks, Joe House. Thanks to Gahal and Eduardo as well. I'm going to be back on Sunday night with cousin Sal, and you can see me on the Prestige TV podcast on Sunday night talking about Task episode three as well and new rewatch was coming Monday airplane so that is the schedule. Enjoy the weekend. Please stay Safe. Must be 21 plus of President select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 + in President D.C. kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling Problem Call 1-800-Gambler or visit rg-help.com, call 1-887-89-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelpline ma.org or call 800-327-550 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text Hopeny in New York this episode is brought to you by Warner Brothers Pictures. One Battle After Another is coming to theaters September 26th. Don't miss legendary writer, director and producer my guy Paul Thomas Anderson teaming up with Leo DiCaprio for the first time ever. Pretty exciting. They almost teamed together in Boogie Nights actually, alongside award winning actors like Sean Penn, Teyana Taylor and Benicio Del Toro in this hilarious action packed advent following Bob Ferguson, an ex revolutionary, on a mission to find his missing daughter and overcome the consequences of his past. One Battle After Another. Only in theaters September 26th. Get tickets now. Rated R. Under 17 not admitted without parenting.