PMS 2.0 1416 - TNF Preview, Jeff Passan, Mike McCarthy, Nebraska Coach Matt Rhule, & AJ Hawk

Summary

The Pat McAfee Show 2.0 Episode 1416 – TNF Preview, MLB Stretch Run, NFL Deep Dives, and Big Ten Football

Date: September 25, 2025
Host: Pat McAfee (ESPN)
Guests/Regulars: AJ Hawk, Tone Diggs, Ty Schmidt, Boston Connor, Jet Passan, Mike McCarthy, Nebraska Coach Matt Rhule

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Episode Overview

This dynamic Week 4 Thursday episode kicks off the NFL weekend with Pat, the Toxic Table, and regular guests covering all the key sports stories. The show weaves NFL previews (highlighting Thursday Night Football: Seahawks at Cardinals), NFL international games, MLB’s dramatic playoff races, insights from Jeff Passan, a breakdown with Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, and college football (especially the Big Ten). Expect a signature mix of hard-hitting analysis, genuine sports nerdery, and the trademark banter that powers PMS.

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Main Segments & Key Insights

1. NFL Week 4 & Thursday Night Football Kickoff

• [00:00-07:30]
  • Tonight’s Thursday Night Football: Seattle Seahawks (-1.5) at Arizona Cardinals
    • Seattle, with Sam Darnold and a rebuilt line, is praised: “That Seahawks line has been shite. It has not been. It’s been really good.” (Tone Diggs, 05:21)
    • JSN (Jaxon Smith-Njigba) is second in the NFL in receiving yards, Marvin Harrison Jr. (Arizona) “is dropping footballs—Marvin Harrison Sr. never did that.”
    • Cardinals missing James Conner (injury) and others. Public/Sharps are heavily on Seattle (74% of bets).
  • Betting and Fantasy:
    • “Seahawks, JSN is the second leading wide receiver… only 10 yards behind Puka Nakua, who’s unbelievable.” (Tone, 05:21)
    • Cardinals’ backup RB, Trey Benson, “not a household name, but in fantasy circles, he’s a lottery ticket.” (Boston Connor, 07:57)
    • Hembo stat: "Cincinnati is the only defense that blitzes less than Seattle. Kyler had a 34.5 QBR vs McDonald’s 4-man rush last year—three picks, seven sacks.” (Pat, 06:48)
  • Injury Reports:
    • Multiple Cardinals key players are questionable.

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2. NFL International Spotlight: Steelers vs. Vikings in Dublin

• [01:46-04:25]
  • The Steelers are staying in a literal Irish castle: “Two golf courses, Hogwarts-style… Steelers are getting the royal treatment.” (Pat, 02:14)
  • NFL restricts how soon teams can travel abroad, “Should be able to treat it like a bowl game… let teams decide.”
  • Both teams are setting up fan HQs in Dublin (Vikings at JR Mahen’s, Steelers at Kennedy’s on Westland Row).
• Quarterback Storylines:
  • Minnesota:
    • JJ McCarthy injured; Carson Wentz fills in with “a resurgence like we’ve seen from other QBs.”
    • Debate: Should Vikings bench Wentz when JJ’s healthy? “Whole season is about JJ’s development…but if Carson balls, why rush?” (Pat, ~12:10)
    • “KOC is out here making magic happen… If Carson plays well, do you sit him?” (Pat, 11:47)
  • Steelers:
    • Aaron Rodgers starts
    • Tone: “Steelers own Ireland. That’s a de facto home game.” (15:00)
• Strength of Schedules (Vikings):
  • Next six opponents after Dublin: Steelers, Browns, Eagles, Chargers, Lions, Ravens—brutal defenses, raising question whether to expose rookie McCarthy or stick with Wentz.

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3. NFL Trends: AI vs. Bettors and Touchdown Scoring

• [62:21-65:57]
  • AI is winning more bets for books: “If you look at the top five games bet on each week, the sportsbook won basically 4 of 5 every week.” (Tone, 62:21)
  • Pat: “Live betting is how we beat AI, they can’t feel momentum.”
  • Recent trend: Star WRs have big yardage (JSN, Puka), but not necessarily TDs; goal-line plungers (Hurts, Henry, Dimes) are dominating in fantasy/TD props.

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4. MLB Playoff Race & MVP Debates (with Jet Passan)

• [19:26-38:52]
  • Chaos in the MLB: “It’s so good…Aaron Judge hits two home runs, Cal Raleigh smashes 60…Paul Skenes probably unanimous Cy Young.” (Jet Passan, 20:28)
  • “Biggest Tigers collapse in 150 years…Mets went from best record to barely holding on, both could miss the playoffs.” (Jet, 35:54)
  • Pirates’ Future:
    • Pat: “Bob Nutting, you spend 7 Springs money, you get three bats, you make more money than ever.”
    • Passan: “All Pirates fans want is for ownership to care as much as they do…The Padres proved if you build it, fans show up.” (Jet, 27:37)
  • AL MVP Duel:
    • Ty vs Pat: Is it Judge fatigue? Cal Raleigh, the “Big Dumper,” has the narrative and sexy HR totals, but Judge has the absurd on-base % “Bonzian” statistics.
    • Quote: “He is threatened right now because he knows how good Cal Raleigh’s case is. That’s the problem.” (Jet, 31:40)
  • MLB Playoffs start Tuesday

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5. NFL Coaches’ Segment – Mike McCarthy

• [69:16-92:58]
  • Praises AFC/NFC West division strength, and how BOTH Seattle and Arizona are “playing the right way—sustained drives, ball control, winning the LOS.” (McCarthy, 71:57)
  • On Cowboys-Packers SNF: “Micah Parsons, most disruptive defender I’ve coached. They’ll double team him when he gets off the bus.” (75:51)
  • Dallas D has struggled: “On their third coordinator in three years; the base philosophy has changed again. There are correctable issues.” (76:51)
  • Special Teams Revolution:
    • Early-season game-winners, new kickoff return rules leading to more returns (“20% up to 70%”), and novel “squib balls” — “I don’t love kickers doing it… Should be punters, feels unnatural for FGs.” (Pat, 90:39)
    • McCarthy: “Kickoff returners like Turpin can now change games, teams are weaponizing special teams again.”
  • Division Game Philosophy:
    • “Division wins on the road give you huge confidence momentum…You gotta stack them early.” (81:55)
  • On NFL Personnel:
    • “Every franchise looks at trade/FA options 365 days a year now. If you’re not, you’re behind.” (105:29)

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6. NFL Family/Genetics Segment (The Watts, etc.)

• [43:09-48:13]
  • TJ Watt shares his high-calorie childhood — double lunches, two peanut butter sandwiches, two dinners, dad (firefighter) recreating meals.
  • Ted Karras (Bengals): “Drank a gallon of milk a day, gained 100 lbs. in a year.”
  • Pat: “Lot of people going to hear this and just eat without working out…That’s how you end up on My 600 Pound Life, not in the NFL.”

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7. College Football Focus – Coach Matt Rhule (Nebraska)

• [123:05–142:21]
  • “Michigan loss was tough, but it’s a measuring stick—not a funeral. We’re a much better team than two years ago (55–7 loss)."
  • On bye-week and bouncing back: “You want to play right away; instead, we went 1s vs 1s in practice, best session all year.”
  • Big Ten as America’s Premier Conference: “With NIL and the portal, recruiting is national...and the Big Ten is buying primetime slots (CBS 3:30!)...more depth and exposure now than ever.” (Matt Rhule, 136:57)
  • Penn State–Oregon Whiteout locked in as marquee matchup this weekend; crowd noise, explosive plays, and fast starts will be critical.

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Notable Quotes & Highlights

“The Seahawks line has been shite. It has not been shite. It's been really good...they are running ball with Ken Walker, Darnold's had time, and the defense is top-5 in pressure rate—blitzing less than anyone but Cincy.”
— Tone Diggs, 05:21

“All Pirates fans want is for ownership to care as much as they do. The Padres proved if you build it, they will come. The Pirates can do this. The eternal question: will they?”
— Jet Passan, 27:37

“Division games are the best games. The knowledge of the opponent always weighs heavy. You gotta stack these wins early for playoff tiebreakers.”
— Mike McCarthy, 71:20

“He is threatened right now because he knows how good Cal Raleigh's case is. That's the problem.”
— Jet Passan (ref: Ty on Judge vs. Raleigh MVP), 31:40

“I think if you win nothing, ticket sales go down. If you win? Merchandise, beer, pizza, everything explodes! Three bats away, Bob—you’ll make more money than Seven Springs!”
— Pat McAfee (on Pirates ownership), 25:15

“If Carson (Wentz) keeps balling, you don’t gotta pull him. But this entire year, the whole Vikings season, was about JJ McCarthy’s development, and that’s not gonna change.”
— Boston Connor, 17:11

"Our team is a better golf team, but their Ryder Cup team is way cooler. So we gotta hope America's crowd brings the moxy."
— Pat McAfee, 53:37 & throughout Ryder Cup segment

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Fun/Banter Highlights

• Seahawks/Cardinals Jersey Unboxing: Gumpy dresses up as Kyler Murray in the new Cardinals “Sandstorm” Color Rush, attempts a mini-hoop pass live on air.
• Watt Family Diet Regimen: TJ Watt on force-feeding and endless workouts; Ted Karras drinking a gallon of milk every day in high school; jokes about kids ending up on “My 600 Pound Life” if they try it without working out.
• Ryder Cup Arguments: Ty passionately hates (but will root for) Patrick Cantlay, while Pat and Foxy debate which team is “cooler” (Europe wins on style, USA on skill, allegedly).
• Pat’s NFL Special Teams Logic: Dissects why punters, not kickers, should be the ones squib-kicking under new rules. “Kickers hitting fat balls messes their whole FG rhythm.”
• Pat & Ty’s “Big Dumper” Love/Hate AL MVP Chat: Great quote insults, squats, and Cal Raleigh’s big ass.

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Useful Timestamps

• 00:00 – Pat’s kickoff, tonight’s TNF stakes, Dublin NFL hype.
• 05:21 – Seahawks’ statistical deep-dive.
• 19:26 – MLB chaos starts: Jet Passan joins (MVP, playoff collapses).
• 31:40 – AL MVP argument hits fever pitch (Judge vs. Raleigh).
• 43:09 – TJ Watt/NFL genetics discussion.
• 69:16 – Mike McCarthy segment starts (Cowboys, division philosophy, schematics).
• 90:39 – Special teams revolution/squib kick theory.
• 123:05 – Matt Rhule interview (Nebraska, Big Ten, Penn State-Oregon preview).
• 142:21 – Closing banter, NFL picks, and the crew's Thursday night predictions.

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Recurring Themes and Tone

Authentic locker-room humor, insider-level football talk, family vibes, and fearless fan energy. The show is irreverent but well-informed, blending data-dump analytics with wild banter (“This whole Watt thing is just force-feeding and four workouts a day away from glory!”) while prioritizing community and shared love of sports—across both NFL and college.

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Final Word

This episode was built for hardcore and casual sports fans alike: NFL Week 4, MLB drama, irrepressible arguments about MVPs, family genetics (thanks, Watt bros), and spirited conversations about what actually matters most in coaching, competition, and fandom. Whether you care about betting, fantasy, or sports talk as pure entertainment, PMS 2.0 hit all the notes.

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Listen for:

• Unfiltered picks and predictions (Pat leans Seahawks, plenty of Cardinals underdog talk)
• MLB playoff chaos being celebrated, not just tolerated, during football season
• Deep dive coaching insights with McCarthy and Rhule
• Constant “keep it real” vibe—be it about sports, America, or whose team has more “cool guys”

“It’s a great time to be a football fan. It’s a great time to be a sports fan. Baseball’s crushing, Ryder Cup is on tap, and the NFL is just getting started!'” — Pat McAfee, 142:23

Transcript

[Pat McAfee]

Hello, beautiful people, and welcome to our humble abode, the ThunderDome on this NFL Week 4 kickoff Thursday, September 25, 2025. This program begins now. Football is amazing and we've made it to another week of incredible football. The Saturday college football slate is impeccable. Tonight we have an NFC west division battle between the Seattle Seahawks traveling out to Arizona to take on the Cardinals. Seahawks have favored by a point and a half on the road. The Seattle Seahawks team is a damn good squad, obviously in its second year building around McDonald and Sam Darnold gets paid this offseason. They have a defense that's stingy and an offense that's explosive. Jackson, Smith and Jigba is actually doing things that hasn't happened since Marvin Harrison was on the Colts in 1999. And on the flip side, Marvin Harrison Jr. Is on the Arizona Cardinals. How's that going? Not great thus far. Well, Kyler and he turn it up as Arizona hosts Thursday night football on Amazon prime with Kirk Herb Street. I'll Mike Kaylee Hartung on the call. And we celebrate another weekend of incredible football kicking off. And it's not just a normal weekend of football. This one's bigger. 9:30am on Sunday. Yeah, you wake up after a great college football Saturday. That whiteout will be happening at night. Then there'll be some west coast football happening after that. You'll pass out, you'll wake up. Maybe if you have a kid or a daughter, you'll wake up, have a good time there, do a little hey, good morning. Maybe go dance a little bit. We take a walk outside. There's still going to be some dew out there. There's going to be a little bit of the morning buzz still. And boom. Over in Dublin, Ireland, they're going to be kicking off a football game. And it's not just like a shite football game.

[Boston Connor]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

We got the Minnesota Vikings with Carson Wentz possibly in the middle of a resurgence in the middle of his career like we've seen a lot of other quarterbacks do, taking on Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are all in. Okay. I know that place is going to be incredible. We've gotten a chance to experience Dublin as a host town for a football game. It was electrifying. We are expecting Dublin to show up in a in Dublin to become a normal for the NFL going forward in international games. Pittsburgh Steelers are staying in a castle.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, it's awesome.

[Boston Connor]

So cool.

[Pat McAfee]

Pittsburgh Steelers are staying at a place that has two golf courses. Thousands hogwarts the NFL told them they're not allowed to go out early. I think there's a chance like Tomlin and Khan. That's horseshit. Maybe Aaron and T. Everybody was like, where are they putting us at? Oh, they're going to put you guys up at a castle that has the finest amenities. Basically you'll get to go to Ireland and live the actual royal king life over there if they were to have that. And Steelers like what? Okay, so we'll go over there Monday. We'll get. We'll get used to the whole thing and then we'll have a game and it'll just be, you know, we'll do an international week. NFL's like, I don't think so. Okay. That used to be a decision you were allowed to make. Used to be able to travel over whenever you wanted to. It was actually a strategy piece. Whenever we played in England, we had a strength coach. He was a good guy. I think he was a good guy. Great ball head. He's a good guy. He was with the Miami Dolphins though, whenever they went over and played and I guess they went over earlier in the week and they lost. So his big sell was we've been there, done that. Need to go over later in the week and just kind of operate as if it's east coast time is what we're going to try to do. Not really try to make the change. We lose to Blake Bortles and Jacksonville Jaguars. Okay. So that ends up happening. And the Dolphins lost whenever they went over earlier. So I don't know if there is a right answer for an entire team because each person is going to operate individually. But I know if a team wants to go over on Monday and treat it like a bowl game, you're already sending them to a different country. They should be allowed to be able to go ahead and do that. I don't love that the Steelers were not allowed to head over there early, especially with what they were going to experience. If they think think that's what's best for their team, they should be allowed to do that. Well, it's not fair. It's like, well, the other team have them. What if they're staying in some shite place?

[Ty Schmidt]

They might be.

[Pat McAfee]

What if the Minnesota Vikings are in some Carson.

[Boston Connor]

They're not putting them up in some.

[Pat McAfee]

Recent discovery long time. Yeah. The Pittsburgh Steelers have a lot of connections over there in Ireland. That's one half of the hammer Cowboys massive Pittsburgh Steelers fan Tone Diggs. The talks tables here at Boston Connor and at ty Schmidt. The 9:30am kickoff Sunday is very Exciting. And if you're over there, you need to know that friends of ours have things going on. Festivities. Obviously the Minnesota Vikings have a official Vikings pub at our friend JR Mahen's place. We were over there for the college football. The owners of this particular pub. Good lads.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, great lads.

[Pat McAfee]

Hardworking lads willing to make everything happen. They got meet and greets happening with Kyle Rudolph. Trad music is traditional music. Hup, hup, hub. Hup, hup, hup. A lot of this, a lot of this, a lot of this. Good times. And you know they'll have live music, pub quizzes, hangouts, afterparties, everything. Go ahead and check them out. If you're a Minnesota Vikings fan or if you're just football fan. To happen to be in Dublin, this will be where like minded people are at. And then there's an unofficial Pittsburgh Steelers place, Kennedy's on Westland Row. That's the address right there. Got a meet and greet with Brett Kiesel on Friday at 2pm and all the rallies are happening basically around this bar. So if you're in Ireland and or in Dublin for the game, whether you're a Steelers or Vikings fan or whatever, I, I believe these two places and I know there'll be plenty of others will be having a good time celebrating ball. Let's celebrate ball tonight. Seattle Seahawks favored on the road against the Arizona Cardinals. Tone, I think you told me earlier, 75% of the money is on the Seattle Seahawks. Nobody has any hope in Arizona at home. Or is it just that the Seattle Seahawks are a very good football team as the Pittsburgh Steelers found out?

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, I think it's because people think Seattle is a good football team. Obviously they went on the road and won in Pittsburgh and then they just absolutely blew the doors off the Saints last week and even week one they were driving down to score and Bosa wrecked the game. They were in the red zone, had Sam Darnold fumble. But I think like Seahawks, JSN is the second leading wide receiver in all of the NFL, only 10 yards behind Puka Nakua, who what we all know is unbelievable. So JSN is having a great year. Sam Darnold is off to a very good start. Gray Zabel, the first round left guard who they took has been unbelievable. Like the thing for the last few years is that the Seahawks line has been shite. It has not been shite. It's been really good. They've been running ball with Ken Walker. Sam Darnold's had a bunch of time, but on the defensive side of the ball. Byron Murphy. He is first as far as interior D lineman. He was drafted out of Texas last year in the first round. He is first in sacks, first in pressures, first in run stops. And then Leonard Williams, Jaron Reed and DeMarcus Lawrence. They've been unbelievable. They are getting pressure with just four. They're in the top five in the pressure rate in the NFL with and they are. They blitz the second least only to the Bengals. And there's some stats here that Humboldt sent over kyler last year versus McDonald in two games, three picks, seven sacks and had a 34.5 QBR when only rushed four defenders. So, you know, it's kind of like a thing where people think Seattle's good. They haven't really seen Arizona play well yet. They've had some, you know, whatever games and then you know, the stats this year have been great.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so Hembo said Cincinnati is the only defense in the NFL that blisses less frequently than Seattle at 16%. Kyler threw three picks and took seven sacks in his two games versus Mike McDonald last season had a 34.5 QBR against their four man rush. Now the question is the Arizona Cardinals, will they be able to be better than that? Is obviously the expectation. But also are the Arizona Cardinals the same Arizona Cardinals as they're always going to like is this. This is a game the Arizona Cardinals lose. And I think that is sportsbook and what people are thinking, why not the Arizona Cardinals? What is the thought in the conversation around this team other than the fact that AQ Shipley is the color commentator for their team broadcast in James Connor.

[Boston Connor]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Which we certainly miss. He's a massive piece of that offense.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. James Conner being out is a huge deal. You mentioned JSN doing stuff for the first time ever since Marvin Harrison. Actually Marvin Harrison Jr. Is also doing stuff for the first time since Marvin Harrison that's dropping footballs. Unfortunately, Marvin Harrison had a tough go. No. This is why I think everyone's on Seattle. The Cardinals stock is as low as it's ever been. James Conner's ankle falls off his body, has to get surgically put back on.

[Pat McAfee]

Wouldn't even show a replay.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, yeah. Genuinely tease and peace. That sucks. He's been through a lot. Still doing it, you know, cancer way back in the day with the Steelers legend. This is where the fantasy football helps you though when it comes to games like this because his backup Trey Benson is a guy that not a household name probably. But from a fantasy football perspective, you're drafting Trey Benson late Because if James Conner goes down, this dude's unbelievable. Their backup running back is really good. So that's probably not out there as far as like public knowledge when it comes to betting. Like, hey, they're down James Conner. That's the storyline. Not as much. Trey Benson being great. Marvin Harrison Jr. That one's tough. But again, I think everybody has faith in the fact that Marvin Harrison junior's gonna figure it out. Like everyone's high on the Seahawks, but I think just like, you know a lot of teams right now, you really don't know. You know, the Seahawks beat the Steelers and they beat the Saints. So they're two 1 and 2 and 1 next to their name. Looks awesome. But this could be a toss up. I don't think everyone should be as down on the Cardinals as they are.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, here's the injury report. A lot of names for the Cardinals and obviously that doesn't have James Conner on there who's already out for the season. He's one of their mainstays, Will Johnson. I think there is a lot of question, obviously doubtful. He's potentially. He's great football player. Obviously we like him. So at this stage we're already having a lot of injuries to teams and anytime you're playing Thursday night, those questionables are always like, do we rush here or do we give a full two week break, basically? So we'll see what teams are out there tonight. We'll see who's playing. And we're excited that the NFC west is kicking off a great weekend of football and hopefully this game is an absolute shite. We got some news. Staying in the NFC West, Brock Purdy's taking first team reps again with San Francisco 49ers. He said it was a walkthrough, but him taking first team reps as opposed to Mac Jones taking those first team reps. I think we'd say welcome back Brock Purdy.

[Boston Connor]

Hell yeah, Brock.

[Pat McAfee]

I think that is kind of the expectation we have after reading that particular news. I think Good Morning Football had that up across their lower third out there in San Francisco. We thought there was going to be a little bit of a situation potentially brewing and let's stay in the nfc. Minnesota Vikings team that's playing in Dublin. I guess there was a question already about, hey, if JJ's healthy and Carson continues to play. Carson played one game, played very well, very well.

[Boston Connor]

Didn't turn the ball over probably in the first time since he was 8 years old.

[Pat McAfee]

All the upside of Carson Wentz. Yeah. Was there none of the Carson Wentz was there, and you listen to Koc talking to him before the game. KOC is like, hey, it's you and me out there, okay? You're doing this for me, with me, by me. This is the entire time, play by play, we're going to do this entire thing. And the way Carson, like, responded to that, it was truly as if Kevin o' Connell was setting it up as, hey, we're a tag team right now. Okay, let's go ahead and do this. And, like, don't let me down. Like, yeah, I need you not just do the shit, and then I'll be thankful whenever you do the shit. We. Then we're. We're in this thing together. It's kind of how KoC was a cool thing because of how much success he's had with all these quarterbacks because he's been in their position before, so he understands where they're at. And he's an incredible play caller, this guy. So the way he kind of motivates and finds each person's best is the reason why he's coach of the year. Reason why they're already talking about him potentially being top two coach in the NFL and he's out there in Minnesota and they're making magic happen. But Carson Wentz plays good, continues to play good. What are they going to do with J.J. mcCarthy? Obviously, J.J. mcCarthy came into this year as the starter. Aaron Rodgers, you guys want him in Minnesota? Nope. We feel good with JJ McCarthy. They did offer Danny Dimes more money than the Indianapolis Colts did for him to be a backup for JJ McCarthy, but this was supposed to be his year. He gets hurt, has one good quarter. Really good quarter. Yeah, one really good fourth quarter gets hurt. Carson Wentz comes in and balls. Their team's built to win. Right now, the decision for Koc will be, do we ride the hot hand with Carson if this continues and let JJ kind of watch and experience this even more? And is Carson going to get hurt? Inevitably not guaranteed. But chance and then you slide JJ in. I don't think Kevin o' Connor should be in any rush if this Carson Wentz experience goes very, very well. And I assume that's how he feels as well.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, I mean, I think as of right now, the thought is, hey, they'll let Carson Wentz have the European trip, and, you know, when he gets back, maybe JJ will take over from there. But I think if Carson Wentz, I mean, it all comes down to how he plays on Sunday and the following Sunday, I guess. But if he goes 2, 0 in Europe, coming back, there's. I really don't think they'd be in any rush to say, okay, let's move J.J. back in here. So, I mean, we'll see.

[Pat McAfee]

This is what o' Connell said. First and foremost, he's got to get healthy. Okay. So he's not healthy right now. So this is not a conversation that has actively taken place. And then I don't think it's one of those things where it's, hey, he's healthy the night before a game, we're going to throw him out there and say, hey, go figure it out type of thing. So Kevin o' Connell doesn't have to answer the question right now. That's what that was.

[Ty Schmidt]

Right.

[Pat McAfee]

The situation he put up. Well, if he was healthy the night before a game, we're not going to throw him in there. We don't know what the situation is because he's got to get healthy versus how Kevin o' Connell was viewing it, this entire thing. But with that being said, if Carson goes out and crushes it again, I don't know why you would feel an urgency to get JJ back out there, other than the fact that you need J.J. to develop. Right. Which is kind of the conversation with jj, which goes back to the entire NFL conference. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

And it's.

[Tone Diggs]

It's that, and it's a confidence thing. And if you look at their schedule, obviously they have the. The Steelers this weekend, but then you follow up with the Browns, with Eagles, with the Chargers, with the Lions and the Ravens. Those are all really good football teams with some pretty good defenses. So it's like, do you want to put. Do you want to put JJ back in there and take his lumps, or do you. How do you want to deal with that? It's. I mean, it's.

[Pat McAfee]

It's a. Pittsburgh's defense. Okay. Normally really good.

[Ty Schmidt]

Right.

[Pat McAfee]

Five turnovers. Turnovers. Last week, five turnovers. Last makers, Pittsburgh. Cleveland's defense, historic rate.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. Maybe best ever.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe greatest defense of all time. Maybe greatest defense of all time. Philadelphia's defense literally just won a Super Bowl. Yeah. Okay. Defense. Unbelievable. Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis. Okay, they're in there, right there. But you could see. You could smell them. You could definitely hear them, you know, because they're going to be doing that. Then the Los Angeles Chargers, they've been pretty good. Unbelievable.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

All on a string. And then the Detroit Football Lions, and then the Baltimore Ravens, if they have it figured out by then. Okay. Yeah. Now that's week 10. They were. There was A stat that was floating around the Internet for the Baltimore Ravens defense about how last year, until like week 10, they were considered a bad defense, and then they turned it on towards the end of the year. Right now, they are the worst defense in the NFL, which is what we don't expect at all from this Baltimore Ravens team. But you look at that stretch right there, it's like, all right, jj, you're healthy. Go get him.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And if Carson, who's been there, done that, is one tough son of a. We know that about Carson Wentz.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

He will go out there with an entire broken body, the entire skeleton broken. He will go out there and play football, which we appreciate and we love. But he's also seen it before. And this is the resurgence of these quarterbacks. Seen the defense before, understanding what's possible. Where am I going to die? What is the opt out here? Like, if Carson Wentz is making all the mature decisions that Danny Dimes is making here that maybe Baker's making down with Sam Darnold's making now? It's like that, that era of quarterback getting their second shot right now, really striving. Looks like Carson may be the next guy to do that.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, Carson playing overseas makes a ton of sense. The only thing is, like, when you look at the JJ stuff, their whole team, their whole offense looked back as Christian Derrisal wasn't out there.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Like, he didn't have his starting left tackle. Like, as someone who watched Drake May, you know, his rookie year without a left tackle, it looked terrible. Now that he has a left left tackle with Will Campbell, it looks completely different. So, like, as bad as it was for jj, they lost to the Falcons and the Falcons defense looked great. And then The Falcons lost 30 to nothing to the Panthers. And it's like, did the Falcons. Is the Falcons defense good or did the Vikings second best player is Christian Daras all playing left tackle? And they didn't have them like Carson playing overseas Makes sense. So, like, there's no reason to put him out there against Pittsburgh, which is going to be a Pittsburgh home game. That's going to be a Pittsburgh crowd. The Steelers own Ireland. That is a fact. And then Cleveland, you know, Cleveland's defense on the road, we'll see. They've already given up 40 once, but it still is one of those things where the Cleveland defense might come out hot. So I'm not like, I. I feel like Penck is more of a worry than like J.J. mcCarthy just because, like, without that guy, you just said it like, they're worried about where they're coming from without Darasaw. It was coming from the left side of the line every single snap.

[Pat McAfee]

I get what you're saying there. Making the decision if Carson continues the ball to go back to JJ with Christian Darasol or not is going to be a tough one for cables. Yeah, I mean, that is going to be a tough decision for kfc. It's going to be. I mean, especially if they go on the run that they're about. If they beat all these teams. Well, could you imagine they get wins over Pittsburgh and Cleveland or they get a win over LA right there, like that would be.

[Tone Diggs]

They'll be favorite in both.

[Boston Connor]

They've done that, though.

[Ty Schmidt]

But to your point, too, about, like, hey, if we want to develop JJ like those games that you said in that stretch after they get back, like, that's not a, hey, we just can't have you lose the game for us. Like, that's a, hey, we're gonna need the quarterback to make plays in these games. I don't think you can rely on their defense to score two touchdowns a week. And Carson, like we've said, when he's playing his best, like, he, he can be a guy who can go out and win you a game.

[Pat McAfee]

And then Carson, does he become the next Danny Dimes that the Minnesota Vikings can't keep around, or Kirk Cousins that they can't keep around? Sam Darnold that they can't keep around? Then you think to yourself, but do we waste games trying to develop a guy when our entire team is built? It's like such a.

[Tone Diggs]

We are, we are giving Carl a lot of credit, though. Without a doubt, this is his sixth team.

[Pat McAfee]

They're not going to do KOC credit.

[Boston Connor]

If they wanted to win the super bowl this year, they would have hung on to Sam Darnold. Like, this whole year is because of jj. I know we're talking about, like, hey, they can go in the Super Bowl. They're. The whole year is dedicated to JJ McCarthy's development. Like Carson Wentz, guess what? He's not going to win the Super Bowl. I, I really do. I enjoy the Carson Wentz thing.

[Pat McAfee]

How do you know that?

[Boston Connor]

Because they won 14. They went 14 and three last year.

[Pat McAfee]

Year.

[Boston Connor]

He knows they have a good team. If they wanted to go and win the super bowl, it would probably make sense to pay Sam Darnold $40 million and then let JJ sit and watch him. But instead it's like, hey, we need to get JJ out there to play, to develop him. So this year, what if they thought.

[Pat McAfee]

JJ was going to do very well with or without Christian Dersov? Like, that is kind of what was being kind of discussed. So we see.

[Boston Connor]

Without dares.

[Pat McAfee]

We see seven quarters, though.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

We see seven quarters of not good football and then he murders the Cincinnati Bengals. I mean, in. Now the Bengals. What is the Bengals defense? That's a whole nother conversation. There's a lot of those. But I'm just saying koc's decision making process in the reality of the situation, if they were winning and Carson's playing good, you. How do you. That would be very difficult, I think, for KLC to do. And if he does, I think that's his confidence in jj. But what if JJ over the next couple of weeks, see Carson ball out? Maybe it makes him better and then he comes back and he's the best version of himself like he was in that fourth quarter. All these things are possible. That's why football is the greatest. Another sport that's doing a. Okay right now. And this is crazy that this is happening at 12:18. Yeah. Okay. On a Thursday with Thursday Night Football week four of the NFL season kicking off tonight. Okay. I don't love that this is happening, but this is a necessity for the good of sports. Baseball is in the middle of something right now. Yeah. MLB is having huge things take place all over the league with playoff implications happening all across the board. There's history being made. There's MVP chases happening, there's dong shots taking place. There's teams maybe running out of the play. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now at 12:19 on a Thursday in the middle of football season, the voice of a sport for an entire generation, ladies and gentlemen, Jet passing. Jet gentlemen. You know, I don't. Dude, dude, dude. No, no, no. We don't.

[Jet Passan]

We don't need to belabor this at all. We're going to make it worth it. We absolutely are. So let's get right into it because there's a lot happening right now, Patrick. And I'm psyched. Like, I am fired up that I'm here right now. Thank you for bringing me on this early. Let's get after it.

[Pat McAfee]

Jet. I just want to let you know, I'll tell you, this enthusiasm that you had on the call to spot morning because I was sitting with the boys and I think it was Ty goes, lots happening in baseball right now. Lots happening in baseball right now. So fire up the jet FaceTime. Jet passing. And I literally say to you, I hate that I'm even doing this. Okay. It is football season. This is a very abnormal thing. But I watched that Mets guy from center field throw Buddy out at home last night in real time. Sent a text to my Cubs friend, wow, want to play for you guys? Then it gets overturned. Yikes.

[Ty Schmidt]

That is.

[Pat McAfee]

That is tough to kind of handle it all. And then on the flip side with the Mets. So I was in the middle of it, and then you said, bud, everything's happening right now. Is this the greatest time baseball has had? It feels like there's shit across the board, Jet, and you laid it all out for us.

[Jet Passan]

It's so good. And just like last night, seeing Aaron Judge go and hit two home runs. The first is 50, the second is 50. First in the middle of the MVP race and then to have that. Followed by Cal Raleigh hitting numbers 59 in an absolute bomb to the upper deck. And number 60 becoming the seventh player ever, joining Babe Ruth and Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa and Aaron Judge and Barry Bonds and Roger Maris. This MVP race in the American League is absolutely incredible. Paul Skeens goes out and throws six shutout innings to end his season. The Detroit Tigers a historic collapse. And the Cleveland Guardians getting not just back into the race, but taking over first place in the American League Central. And on top of all that, you've got the Mets. They stink. You've got the Reds and the Diamondbacks with an opportunity they lose in extra innings. It was just an incredible night of baseball, man. And considering the way that this season has gone and its whole trajectory, I was not anticipating it was going to be an exciting September. So this is like, for somebody who loves baseball like I do, this is just such a little beautiful surprise. And I'm just enjoying every single day on this calendar.

[Pat McAfee]

Absolutely. The highlights on the Internet that are hitting and then the storylines are developing are must watch. Baseball has been good to us during the off season, and now it's showing up in the middle of football season. Paul Skeens throwing his last pitches last night. Obviously, watching his lady go through the anxiety of him becoming the first player in the modern era to have his first two seasons be a 1.5.1.96er or something like that. Every pitch mattered.

[Ty Schmidt]

Literally legit.

[Pat McAfee]

History was on the line with every single pitch. And Livy experiencing that the entire time, I loved watching. But also, Paul Skeens is an absolute animal. Happy to hear that. He is still a monster on the mound. We need to build that team up around. We've come to another off season, bub. Now's the time to Kind of maybe build that team up. And let's talk about the things that go ahead.

[Jet Passan]

It's like Paul Skeens is going to win the National League Cy Young Award unanimously this year and deservedly so, in his first full season as a major league baseball player. And for all of the hype, that's what I love about Paul Skeens. He came up with so much hype, and he has not just lived up to it, he's exceeded it. He has been better, I think, than people thought that he was going to be. And you surround him with the arms that the Pittsburgh Pirates have right now. Whether it's Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft, Jarrod Jones coming back, Mitch Keller, Hunter Barco making his big league debut. The Pittsburgh Pirates are three bats away from being a playoff team right now. And the only way that they are going to go out and get those bats is if their owner goes out and spend some freaking money. And if not now, then when? Pat, at what point do you see all of this talent that you have and say to yourself, we need to take this opportunity and give the fans of Pittsburgh what they deserve? The losing. We've had enough of it. And you've seen opportunities that have been taken by the Kansas City Royals and by other smaller market, low revenue teams to go and change their lineup in an off season. The Pirates can do this.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Jet Passan]

The question for Bob Nutting is, will you?

[Pat McAfee]

He already sold Seven Springs, okay? That's the greatest Tubing Hill in western Pennsylvania, Okay. Sold the entire place. That was years at least. At least.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

We're talking about the greatest so many years ago. Okay. So we thought maybe he was selling that to maybe get some players. Turned out that went right into his stingy pockets. That's what we learned.

[Tone Diggs]

They all bought Seven Springs, okay? They got a lot of money.

[Boston Connor]

Dale keeps doing that.

[Pat McAfee]

Sick of it. Val Notting keeps taking money and just putting it in his pockets instead of putting it in the team. And I think what we need to say to this guy, and to be clear, he looks like he's a pretty oblivious guy. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Out to lunch perpetually.

[Pat McAfee]

Just pretty big little memboy, if you will. He'll be one of those, hey, bud, you win, okay, you make more money, okay? So if you win, it's crazy to think I was at a baseball game where the Cy Young winner was pitching and there was 6,6000 people in the state. In the state.

[Boston Connor]

That's generous.

[Pat McAfee]

If you win nothing, guess what? It goes up the ticket sales. And then guess what else goes Up. Especially in Pittsburgh. The booze sales and the IC lights are flowing. And guess what? I need a hot dog. I need some nachos. God damn. Is there pizza and wings here? Give me some of that. Players. Awesome. I want a jersey. Oh, I might buy some merch.

[Boston Connor]

This is cool.

[Pat McAfee]

Holy great hat, Bob. You spend a little bit of money. We need three bats. So what I just heard, I didn't do my own research, but I assume Jet knows for real. You get three bats, Bob, you're going to make more money. More than seven springs money, Bob. There's a chance that you make really good money. Especially with the logo, the brand, the stadium, everything is there.

[Jet Passan]

Pat, I think. I'm sorry to interrupt you here, but we have a test case with this and it's the San Diego Padres. And I know it's a baseball cliche, if you build it, they will come. But what the Padres have done in going out and for years and years, I mean, there was a. There was a fan group called Change the Padres where they wanted new ownership in place and people who were actually going to spend money. Peter Seidler comes in and he tries to build it. He tries to build something by signing Manny Machado and by giving Fernando Tatis Jr. A long term contract and by locking up Jackson Merrill. There are things that they have done that have shown their fans, okay, we believe that you deserve something more. We believe that. We. It's on us. It's incumbent on us to give you a reason to go to the ballpark. So let's give you some reasons. And that's all Pirates fans want. They want a reason to go to the ballpark. They want to feel like ownership cares as much as they do. And right now that's just not the case. But in this off season, you sure can make the case that it is. It's right there for the taking. For the Pirates. And the eternal question with that organization is will they. I understand it's unfair. The landscape in Major League Baseball right now, when you have one team that's spending $500 million in the Dodgers and another team that's not spending even a quarter of that, and there are a few of those teams, and you have teams like the Cleveland guardians, Pat, who don't spend a lot of money and win every year, the Milwaukee Br. You don't spend a lot of money and win every year. So you can have your cake and eat it too. But there has to be a baseline level of effort amid this landscape that you can't change. Like until the New collecting collective bargaining agreement. There is no changing what your reality is. So how about you operate within that reality, going out and trying to win as many games as you can rather than lament the existence that you're in.

[Pat McAfee]

I love that. Great way to describe that. Lament the existence that you're in. And you said that fans want to see that he cares about winning as much as they do. Even if you don't, Bob, just care about money. If you invest into something, more money will come. Like, it's clear that that's what you're in it for. Just know that you can get more by having success. That is kind of goes hand in hand in the whole thing. Tone is a die hard Pirates fan and we have buried him for it for a long time.

[Tone Diggs]

Well, no, but it is exciting though, because I think the Pirates organization does know that they need those, those three bats. The only issue is they think those three bats are probably Tommy Fam and IKF and Kutch and they're just gonna roll them out there again.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, so that's not what we're talking about here, love. Kutch would like Touch to be around.

[Boston Connor]

Easy on Tommy fans, all right? He'll find you and he'll get you.

[Pat McAfee]

He's got a good swing.

[Boston Connor]

He's a, he's a mean cuss.

[Pat McAfee]

He'll throw bombs.

[Ty Schmidt]

He'll beat the out of you if you're, you know, bumping gums or which I like. Tommy likes to fight.

[Pat McAfee]

And he gets from both sides of the plate, right?

[Boston Connor]

That, yeah, he punches from both sides of the plate too.

[Pat McAfee]

Thunder and lightning. Yeah, on both sides. Okay, let's talk about actual baseball stuff now. Ty has a bunch for you.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, Jet, I want to go back to the ALMVP because I think I saw a clip that maybe you said like you would give your vote to Judge, but, you know, it'd be tough. And I don't like doing this because we've been doing this in the office where basically because of my bias being a Yankees fan, I've. I don't want to say I've had to on Cal Raleigh, but you know, Pat's really getting me going. Basically saying. Basically trying to say that cal Raleigh is 100 times better than Judge. And I have to kind of just tell him like, hey, listen pal, you are very misguided in this. But also with this, like, is there just a level of judge fatigue? And we've gotten to the point where like, people just don't admire how great he is or don't Realize how great he is. Because we see. See it year over year. Like is Cal Rally going to win the MVP or. Or what? How. How should we look at this situation?

[Jet Passan]

I think it's going to be really close. And here's the reality, Ty. There's not a bad vote. Like, you can make a very compelling case for Aaron Judge and you can make a very compelling case for Cal Raleigh. And both of those are being made right now. I think a lot of it just comes down to how do you view the baseball world. Like if. If your baseball perspective is through the lens of what is the. His best story, then Cal Raleigh's the mvp. He has the round number home run that everyone's looking for like 60 home runs. And doing that from catcher.

[Pat McAfee]

Is that more? 60 more.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. Just let him keep going though. We'll get to the stats that matter too.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. See this is what happens. He gets all fired up.

[Boston Connor]

No, because I didn't realize Ty like singles.

[Ty Schmidt]

You can't say that because his judges has hit over 50 home runs. But it's basically.

[Pat McAfee]

Excuse me. I've never seen. This is Cal Raleigh setup right here. Two bats, brother. Okay, we're on one side, we're on the other side.

[Ty Schmidt]

Sure.

[Pat McAfee]

He's doing 100 squats a game. This guy his mitt.

[Ty Schmidt]

Well, that's his fault. Go. Go play outfield. I don't want to hear that he decided to play catcher. So don't give me the squats. Go play first base. Go dh. But Judge. All right, Jet. Is this just turning into like, hey, whoever hits the most homer is going to be.

[Pat McAfee]

He's mad. He's not happy. Judd. I love Aaron Judge. Aaron Judge was great for our show. We love Aaron. I'm just saying Ty started getting a little bit of what are we even doing here? Whenever the national narrative started becoming Cal versus Aaron. And I think that's because Ty thinks Mr. Judge is like best player on.

[Ty Schmidt]

Planet Mike go down as the best right handed hitter of all time.

[Pat McAfee]

So that's Ty's argument. What I'm saying is two bats, you.

[Boston Connor]

Know, touching the ball every play.

[Ty Schmidt]

I get it. I get it. But this is what I mean too. I didn't want to get in this, but because I love Cal Raleigh. He's awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

But you've been fighting against Cal pretty heavily.

[Ty Schmidt]

I have to. I have to go.

[Pat McAfee]

I have to. Because he's pat.

[Jet Passan]

He is threatened right now because he knows how good Cal Raleigh's case is. That's the problem.

[Matt Rule]

Like playing catcher.

[Ty Schmidt]

Ty, go on.

[Pat McAfee]

You can Tie.

[Jet Passan]

You cannot deny that playing catcher every day is an incredibly difficult thing to do. A whole lot more difficult than what. Yeah, keep doing your squats, Pat, because that's what the big dumper's doing.

[Pat McAfee]

That's why. He's got that fat one. Yeah, he's got that big dumper. Yeah, he's doing that. Yeah. What we have.

[Jet Passan]

What we have right now is a case where I think, Ty, you said Aaron Judge fatigue. I don't know if among voters that's real, but I think among fans, it is. I think we take for granted just how great Aaron Judge is. And all of a sudden you have this guy who's named the big Dumper, who literally is, like, known for having a large butt. And he goes out and hits 60 home runs, balls, carries his team to the division title for the first time since 2001, dethrones the Houston Astros, who haven't in a full season, lost a division in the American League west since 2016, and does it with an awesome September where they've won 15 of 16 games and look like the best team in baseball and have the highest odds to win the World Series of any team on fangraph's projections right now. It's a pretty damn good story. Right. And so what you're doing is, is you, Ty, are on the side of the nerds. I hate to say it, but you're sitting there.

[Pat McAfee]

Sure.

[Ty Schmidt]

In this case, yeah, you're sitting. Yeah.

[Jet Passan]

You're sitting there and saying, but he's got 177 OPS points more than Cal Raleigh does right now. How can you possibly look at a guy with all the other things that Cal Riley has in his favor? Are you telling me that that makes up the gap? He's almost 100 points higher in on base percentage, which is the one statistic, if I had any to judge baseball player on, I would judge him on. He's slugging.686 this year. It's Bonzian like performance. And you're telling me that a guy, because he's got a fat ass and his team is winning because it sucked for a quarter century, deserves to be mvp?

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, hold on.

[Jet Passan]

That's the case.

[Pat McAfee]

That is exactly what. Hold on.

[Ty Schmidt]

Well said.

[Pat McAfee]

What you just said. That's exactly what I said. Yes. Right over there. He actually said that. That is why I love that you know both sides of the argument so much. But the voters are nerds. Right? In that kind of what it is. The voters are nerds.

[Jet Passan]

Let's put it this way. I did talk With a friend who was voter yesterday and he said something very interesting to me. Like most of us who do vote and I stopped voting a while ago, but most of us who vote like we take it really seriously. We take it seriously because that's what the award wants.

[Pat McAfee]

Not everybody. Not everybody, but we appreciate that you did. Tone does as well. We've seen some other voters for things come out and basically say they, yeah, listen.

[Jet Passan]

And yeah, there are some. But the person I was talking with was taking it very seriously to the point where he asks a lot of people who play the game and who know the game frankly better than we're going to because they're out there every day because they experience it, because they face Aaron Judge, because they face Cal Raleigh. And my friend said every player he asks says Aaron Judge.

[Pat McAfee]

All right.

[Jet Passan]

Every player.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, is every player a former Yankee or a fan of the Yankees? Because that is how I am Bruce talking right there.

[Jet Passan]

No, this is, this is also. This is also somebody who does not cover a team in, in the American League East. This is somebody who is not based in the East. There is no coastal bias going on there.

[Pat McAfee]

Two massive stories happening and they're both on a roller coaster going. This one. Who is it?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, Jet. I mean, I know we're talking about the Tigers as being like maybe one of the biggest collapses in like so sports history, but do you think the Mets are kind of getting off the hook as well? I mean, I know both those teams are still holding on to a playoff spot right now, but for people who don't know, can you kind of contextualize how bad both of these collapses have been?

[Jet Passan]

Ty, The Mets were 45 and 24. They own the best record in Major League baseball through 69 games. Everything was going nice for them. It has not been nice since. And it has been the slowest, like most painful three months for Mets fans. Just watching this team, I use the word disintegrate. That's kind of what's happened. Like they looked like they were going to be a World Series contender and now they're flirting with 500. And the only reason that they still have a playoff spot is because the teams that are surrounding them, frankly, are not all that good either. And at the same time, The Tigers had a 15 and a half game advantage in July over the Cleveland Guardians. 12 and a half game advantage a month ago.

[Boston Connor]

Geez.

[Jet Passan]

A double digit advantage in September. And to watch the Tigers lose not just the eight games in a row that they have right now, including the ones the Guardians that You're seeing right there with George Valera's home run, with Jose Ramirez coming up with yet another clutch it. But for them to be in the position that they are right now, it would be the biggest division collapse in Major League Baseball history. And Major League Baseball is in its 150th season, gentlemen. So just to give you the context of that, we have, like, this is like the dueling pianos of substitute right now. They are both terrible at this point, and we're going to. I think at least one of them is going to make the playoffs, honestly, because the Astros, who should be taking advantage of what's going on with Detroit, have lost five in a row as well. It's not just that they've blown their lead that they've had over the Mariners all season, but the Astros are now behind the Tigers in the wild card standings. It's going to make for an awesome last four days of the season. I'm just really excited to see how it shakes out and to know that on the 162nd game of the season, it could be one that determines the fate of multiple teams in the postseason. And beyond that, guys, we've got the Yankees and the Blue Jays tied atop the American League East. They're going to be fighting for position. We don't know who's going to be hosting games in the Ales. It's going to be the Yankees. Is it going to be the Jays? Looks like it's going to be the Mariners at this point, but there's just a lot going on right now.

[Pat McAfee]

It's.

[Jet Passan]

Why, Pat, on any other Thursday, I would have. I like, I would have known better than to say to you, I need to come on early. We need to talk about this early. Baseball's worth it, guys. Baseball right now is as good as it gets in sports.

[Pat McAfee]

That's big Dumper baseball, and that's what we're talking about. And we're very thankful. Got to meet his whole fam. So good to us, you know, and obviously put on a hell of a show, as did you. Thank you for representing for baseball. And we can't wait to talk to you soon. Man, when's it start? When's playoff start?

[Jet Passan]

Playoffs start on Tuesday and espn, in fact, is carrying every single Wild card game. I will be up in Bristol in studio with our friends there, and we got a great month ahead.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. We can't wait to watch. We appreciate the hell out of you. Good luck to Dumper and Aaron Judge. Good luck on the race to immortality. You're the best, Ladies and gentlemen. Jet passes. Yeah. The Hemi V8 is back for Ram trucks. Fired up and ready to go. Get in on it. Motor Trend has chosen Ram 1500. The best truck down the line.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh.

[Pat McAfee]

Duh. As its truck of the year.

[Ty Schmidt]

Wow. Wow.

[Pat McAfee]

Not a day.

[Boston Connor]

Let's go.

[Pat McAfee]

Not a week. No. Not a month.

[Boston Connor]

Fortnite.

[Pat McAfee]

None of it. The whole damn Ram year.

[Ty Schmidt]

Love it.

[Pat McAfee]

Congrats to them. And Ram trucks are also back on the track. And returning. NASCAR Craftsman Truck series for the 2026 season. What's the next race they got over there?

[Ty Schmidt]

That was.

[Tone Diggs]

They're probably in Delaware this weekend. They're probably around Pocono or something.

[Pat McAfee]

Let me check. Mountains. Yeah. Because they're on that. Because it's.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. Just going in circles.

[Pat McAfee]

So it's only. But that is the difference with the Ram truck race car and every other race car. All the other race cars sound stupid. Yeah. You know? Yeah. The Ram.

[Tone Diggs]

Their office week. Next race is down in Martinsville.

[Pat McAfee]

Tough track. Wow. Tough people. Tough track. Short track.

[Boston Connor]

Who won the Haysey 2, 250?

[Tone Diggs]

That was not what it was. It was.

[Pat McAfee]

I can't. I'm not going to answer. That's not what was called. Really.

[Tone Diggs]

The AC250.

[Ty Schmidt]

You sure?

[Pat McAfee]

That was 500, I think.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

Sorry.

[Pat McAfee]

That's just the.

[Boston Connor]

The. The little seeds run the 250.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm not. Who.

[Boston Connor]

Who won the ha.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm so confused right now. So what. So who.

[Ty Schmidt]

Who won the last race right there?

[Pat McAfee]

Nobody won the race. Everybody stopped.

[Tone Diggs]

Let me look it up.

[Pat McAfee]

Let me look. They better finished on green flag too. I'm about sick.

[Ty Schmidt]

I know.

[Pat McAfee]

Finishes. I can't take it.

[Ty Schmidt]

I can tell you that.

[Boston Connor]

Second best race out there.

[Tone Diggs]

Obviously Corey Heim is leading the series.

[Pat McAfee]

What's he driving? What's he riding?

[Tone Diggs]

You don't want to know.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

I do drive a Toyota.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. We'll just wait till next year, bud.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Coming back to your ass off the track. Okay. And who knows? Maybe. Maybe Corey Heim. Now that he realizes rams getting back into the race. Maybe he says, I want out his Toyota. Yep. Like anybody would. Yeah. I want to get in a Ram truck. Especially if it's got that Hemi V8 in it. Oh, yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

You got it.

[Tone Diggs]

I gotta believe they even let those. That type of truck in these races.

[Boston Connor]

They donut. They see five tell you that you.

[Pat McAfee]

Should put that race on. Maybe they should.

[Boston Connor]

Only.

[Pat McAfee]

What are you talking about?

[Boston Connor]

It's already going on.

[Pat McAfee]

No, it sounds like it's not. He Was pretty offended. I thought that was maybe a name as well. I guess. It is not a name. No, I know.

[Boston Connor]

I mix it up. I mixed up my races. I think they run the fat hick250.

[Pat McAfee]

That is not how that works. You don't have the racing community at all.

[Boston Connor]

No, I forgot. In that one is the.

[Pat McAfee]

We know the load of hicks. This is what we know. The Craftsman truck series in 2026 season is going to be dominated by one truck and one truck alone.

[Ty Schmidt]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

It's a Ram truck. So get it in now, Toyota. That's right. Get in now, Ford. Because they're Ram. Ram. Ram. Ram. The Watt family has disclosed what they fed their kids. Yeah. You say to yourself, like, the Gronkowski family. How the hell is there so many athletes coming out of one family? Holy. They're huge. You start looking around, how does this happen? The Watts, you start thinking to yourself, like, was Mr. Watt asked maybe to racehorse this thing? Yeah, sure. You know, because what he was able to create.

[Boston Connor]

Stud fee.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Yes. I didn't want to have to.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, my bad. I thought we were looking for the name of it.

[Pat McAfee]

No, I think we all.

[Boston Connor]

Hey, I was looking for it.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. You. You. When I said race oranges thing, you were diving. You did not know that we were talking about what the terminology was. That's what we're talking about, though, because of the studs that have been created obviously within his family. There's obviously many others where that has taken place, where brothers or a family is incredibly athletic. And I mean, the McCaffrey family, I believe if you go through their entire thing, it's like, whoa. What's going on? Well, T.J. walt let us in on the entirety of it. What an absurd eating schedule.

[Tone Diggs]

I mean, all they do is eat. Here's the video of TJ talking about it.

[Pat McAfee]

What is the deal with the two dinners daily? Yeah. Five o' clock and then eight o'. Clock.

[Mike McCarthy]

We wake up to a five egg omelette every morning. I mean, you always have a full.

[Pat McAfee]

Breakfast, either omelette or pancakes or muffins or something fresh. And then they would send us to school with two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. One you'd eat before lunch and one you eat after lunch. And then you would have two lunches.

[Mike McCarthy]

You'd pay for two sandals.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Double lunches. Double lunch at school. Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

Which I didn't even know that was a thing.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah. Double lunch. So you have chicken patty. You just get two of them, obviously. And then after school, you come home at, like, from Next lunch level or track practice and you'd eat dinner at 5 and that'd be like a spaghetti with garlic bread or something. And then at like what, 7:30 or 8:00 my dad would make like salami sandwiches or whether it's that or he always wanted to recreate things.

[Tone Diggs]

So like I went to noodles company.

[Pat McAfee]

I love the Japanese pan noodles. He'd be like, oh, I can make the Japanese pan noodles. So then like that'd be like something never the same. But I give him a lot of credit, you know, like we were into the chicken bacon ranch at Subway. He thought he could make it exactly the same and it never quite hit the same. His dad fireman too I think. Right. So probably cooking for the boys down at the fire station, the amount of eating. So maybe that's the trick. I got a two year old, Mackenzie starting. Congrats to her. She's got a 5am omelette or muffins or pancakes, something fresh. He said omelette or muffin or pancakes, Something fresh. I'm like muffins and pancakes and omelet. A little bit different of freshness scale but I like that we're having spaghetti at 5pm oh yeah. Oh yeah. And then we've got a peanut butter sandwich before the double lunch and then a peanut butter sandwich after the double lunch. Listen, the amount of protein we're going to be getting in here and then also we're going to slip in carbs in the middle of the day and then also at night. Yeah, we got sandwich coming, salami kind of get in there. And they used to come back from tracker something. Think about the lifting schedule that they also had in there. I mean that might be the trick. Who'd we learn from? Ted.

[Boston Connor]

Ted Karras.

[Pat McAfee]

Ted Karras, the offensive lineman for the Cincinnati Bengals, formerly of the New England.

[Boston Connor]

New England Patriots. From Indy.

[Pat McAfee]

He's from Indianapolis. His dad was in the NFL. I think his uncle was in the NFL. And when he was in high school here at Cathedral, he didn't think he was big enough. His family didn't think he was big enough. His dad said you're too small for how slow you are and you need to be much bigger. Bigger. So he drank a gallon of milk every day through two, three years.

[Boston Connor]

That's for shoot too.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Make sure the tamer is home.

[Ty Schmidt]

Right.

[Pat McAfee]

One full gallon of whole milk every day.

[Ty Schmidt]

Throwing up all the time.

[Pat McAfee]

My dad took my side in eighth grade and told me I need to put on weight. I get 100 pounds one a year drinking a gallon of milk before school every day. I didn't forgot about 100 pounds.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. That's crazy.

[Pat McAfee]

One year 100 pound growth. Yeah. On purpose. How could your body react? I guess pretty well. It became an that got going playing the NFL 1 Super Bowl.

[Tone Diggs]

These things don't happen by mistake.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Legitimately though, the Watt family, because you see the dad and you see the mom and then you see the Watts. It's like okay, some, I don't, I don't think this was expected, you know, Like I, I don't, I don't think this was like, hey, we're gonna have a 6 foot 7 monster of a man who's gonna be a first ballot hall of famer. And oh yeah, we're going to have another one of those that's six foot two or six three or whatever it is.

[Tone Diggs]

He's five, he's all six, five.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Okay. Six five next to jj doesn't look as tall or whatever. And then oh yeah, we got a tough son of fullback in the middle of that thing who's I think a genius. They say, oh yeah, it's like he.

[Boston Connor]

Was the high school one too. Derek was the biggest deal early on. I remember, I think JJ told a story about how there was a homecoming game and everybody as like a, for the fans dressed up like Derek Watt instead of not TJ or jj.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I appreciate the fact though that it might just be force feeding the kids. Yeah, yeah. Just how much food can we get into these things? Let's do that. What happens if you end up as that 700 pounder on Dr. Phil though, you know, or on, or on Mori. I think they have fat. Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

That's why they're doing four workouts a day too.

[Pat McAfee]

That's the part that they all miss. Yeah, that's, that's the part that a lot of kids are going to miss in hearing this from TJ. They're going to say, yeah, 17 meals.

[Ty Schmidt]

It'S got eight bunch.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm the TJ watt doing the whole thing. Workout as well. I, I, I think, you know, there's some, there's some stuff out there that is making people not want to eat okay. Nowadays. Sure. And then there's, there's also people that are hearing that and not working out at all. So their body is becoming a bag of leaves and it's like, hey, you're allowed, you're allowed to work out while also doing that. There's going to be people that hear what TJ do and just eat all the Food without doing a workout alongside of it. And Those are the 500 pound lifes. Yes, those are the 700 pound lifes. Little do they know they are four workouts a day away.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. From leading the NFL in sacks forever.

[Pat McAfee]

40 mil a year. Yeah. They were so close. Instead, they're putting the crane in the roof.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Getting them out of there. Some of that is. Is so. I get so sad. Think about the entire existence there. How'd we get there? How do we get there? TJ was like, well, I'll tell you how you don't get there. You have track practice, you have three workouts. You got a swim lesson at night. You gotta go fight fires with your father at two, three. Whenever things happen. The Watts are built different, man. The Watts are double lunch at school. Just immediately off the jump.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Got chicken patties. Obviously we're having two chicken patties. All the other kids eating one. We're of. Bunch of losers. I'll bully you. That's what we do as Watts. I appreciate this. Pittsburgh Steelers in Ireland, Minnesota Vikings. This a make break game for you guys, for fans.

[Tone Diggs]

For fans. I think the fans are already partially. This would be. This would break the back, I think. But it's a tough. It's a tough matchup because of Van Genki and Grinard and Hargrave. Their defense. We're looking to play a team with. With not a great defensive line of defense.

[Pat McAfee]

Defense.

[Tone Diggs]

Vikings are not that team. They have a great defense. But on the other side, you know, Wentz can give you a few. So it could be similar to the Patriots game in that matter, but I don't know. I don't know.

[Pat McAfee]

I like 40 and a half. I feel like. I feel like under potentially. But last time Aaron was international, Right. Didn't he have a good game?

[Ty Schmidt]

I think it was against the Vikings.

[Pat McAfee]

He had a good game, right?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Threw a pick six after they got killed by the Vikings.

[Pat McAfee]

The jets did. Oh, yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

And I remember when he was with Green Bay in England, the. It was a year the Giants were really bad and they beat them at Wembley. So I don't. I don't think Rogers has fared very well internationally.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. But this year it's different.

[Ty Schmidt]

It is different. It's our. It's.

[Pat McAfee]

It is. It's our. Going to see a lot of videos of NFL fans doing that.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

A lot of NFL personalities are over there. They got any of that trad music, traditional music? There's gonna be a lot of hopping over there. Vibes. Awesome.

[Tone Diggs]

Good time.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Good for football.

[Boston Connor]

Perfect.

[Pat McAfee]

Good for American football. They painted the pitch onto a Gaelic football field, I do believe. Gaa. Is that what that is?

[Ty Schmidt]

I believe, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. Gaelic football field, which is an interesting sport. I mean, there's a paddle, a thing, a running, a jumping, a catching, a throwing. It is very physical as well. Interesting sport. Huge fields, all these sports that these people. Yeah, Australia, I was down there for that. Aussie rules football. That field is. It's a cricket.

[Boston Connor]

Massive circle.

[Pat McAfee]

Huge. Just absolutely gigantic. They're running all over the place. You know, that's the difference, I think, between the European sports and American sports. I think the reason why some of them have a difficult time of like, getting into American football is because there's a break taken like every 8 seconds, 10 seconds over there. Like, their sports are like, hey, you got to be cardio.

[Ty Schmidt]

You got to be constant motion flow.

[Pat McAfee]

You're a conditioned athlete. Now, golf, obviously different, and we're about to beat their ass this weekend. Hell, yeah. Let's get to that. Ryder cup starts. Come on, now. Now, I hate that it's happening during an incredible football weekend. An incredible football weekend. It's almost like the college football schedule maker said, oh, Ryder cup thinks they're going to have a Saturday. Yeah. Right. Let's go ahead and put five ranked games back to back to back to back. And then the NFL said, ryder cup thinks they're going to have Sunday morning. Yeah, Right. Let's have a game. Kickoff at 9:30 in Ireland. Who's that team going to be? Oh, the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of the most popular teams in the history of the game. And the Minnesota Vikings, one of the best teams in football right now. So it's tough to watch all this, but we do know if America is playing against somebody else, we're pulling for America.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

How do we feel about our team? Have we been. Have we looked at the rosters? How do we.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, just by looking at the team, face value, and I'm not talking about how well these guys play golf, but I'm just, you know, there's. There's a couple guys you can hang your hat on. A couple guys I. I'm pretty unsure of, but I'm willing to see what they do, you know.

[Pat McAfee]

For America.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, for America, Exactly. But, yeah, several of these guys, if they were on tour, yeah, they'd be some of the last guys I'd want to see win a tournament. So that kind of, you know, hurts me a little bit when it comes into this.

[Pat McAfee]

I agree. But we go to the European team. Please yeah. Okay, so we can match. A lot of moxie on. These guys are way cooler. Yeah, they all had full suit and ties on last night. They look good. We are a little loose. Loose?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. We're acting like we won last time and we didn't.

[Tone Diggs]

Who's cooler on this team?

[Pat McAfee]

Literally everyone.

[Boston Connor]

Our team sucks, dude.

[Pat McAfee]

Tommy Fleetwood, super cool. Victor Hoffman, super cool. Shane Lowry, Cool.

[Ty Schmidt]

Unbelievable.

[Pat McAfee]

Rambo Bombo, obviously doing his thing. Yeah, he's got going on Rory McElroy's Chirping. Bryson D. Shambell. D. Shambeau wasn't up for the fun and games last night.

[Ty Schmidt]

Night.

[Pat McAfee]

No, he wasn't. YouTuber Last night he stood up, getting fist bump, sat back down. He's representing United States of America. Remember, he's member of the cabinet.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, he is.

[Pat McAfee]

He's on the super duper fitness thing with the President of the United States. He. Let's put on. Good. Can we get back to the United States team, please? We shouldn't be putting them up for how long? You know, we kind of got stuck on a European team. Let's remember we got legends over here. Remember Bryson Dechambeau?

[Tone Diggs]

Yes.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you remember.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's not one of the guys we're worried about.

[Pat McAfee]

Have a call. Call him. More cow.

[Ty Schmidt]

I'm gonna need to see a lot from him. He is a good player.

[Pat McAfee]

He's got good iron. So at Beth Pages. She'll be good, right? Is what they're saying.

[Ty Schmidt]

You would think.

[Pat McAfee]

I seen some people struggling with the rough over there a little bit. There's some videos coming out of guys not being able to get it onto the green. Matthew Fitzpatrick, left hand underneath too. He thought he had it figured out. And the American chirpers in New York are going to be good. Yeah. Like, I think it's going to be a good atmosphere for the United States of America to win. What's going on, Tony? You okay to look back there, see.

[Tone Diggs]

If Foxy's wearing a red coat or not? Son of a.

[Pat McAfee]

Because he kept the European team out there so long that. And he's.

[Tone Diggs]

He's rooting for him, which is weird.

[Pat McAfee]

Their team is just cooler than our team. That's all I'm saying. Okay. Yeah. Now's not the time to act like that, Foxy. Okay. I'm just. Everything going on, I am just keeping it real. They have the better golfers. Our team is a better golf team. But they have the face value. They have the cool guys on there. Do they have Scotty Scheffler? They don't. No, they don't they don't have the cool guys on their team. But let's be honest. So we're at like Ty said, PGA event. Sam Burns. I'm sorry. Cantlay. I'm sorry. English I'm sorry. Ben Griffin. I'm sorry. Henley. I'm sorry. Cam Young. 50 50. And then spawn. I love you because you're just open champion. Okay, on that note, that's the first time I've seen Ben Griffin's face. Exactly. This is my entire.

[Ty Schmidt]

This guy was like a pharma pharmaceutical salesman like a year and a half ago.

[Pat McAfee]

So we like this story. It's America. It's an underdog story. This American dream, same story. And then on this side you got just people that. I mean even sep. Sta. You know. Exactly. We know all these guys. I don't know Robert McIntyre is. But I know he's going to be a problem.

[Ty Schmidt]

You know, Bobby Mack, he had quite the come up the last couple weeks of the PGA season. He was hot.

[Tone Diggs]

He was sitting in the room watching when. When Spawn. When Spawn made his putt.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh yeah. Unbelievable.

[Ty Schmidt]

That was Tyl Hatton who said. Oh, he. Hold it. Unbelievable.

[Pat McAfee]

Unbelievable. I have some songs that I've. I've wrote, written that I'm gonna like. I would want to make very soon. I'm gonna try to make these songs just because they've been sitting in my notes section for so long. Gotta add that unbelievable before one of these songs. Certainly one of the greatest sound bites of his. And to that point, that guy's entertaining on the course. Yes, he'll break a club. Yes, he'll throw that thing in there, there. He'll chirp a little bit at himself. He'll say terrible things to himself. So that United States crowd could potentially get him down in dumps. But on the flip side, he could become an absolute monster.

[Ty Schmidt]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

In that place. Who's our Mr. Roderick up? Isn't it Patrick? No, it's Reed.

[Ty Schmidt]

Justin Thomas. But yeah, on this team it's jt But Patty Reed. Yeah. Is has been nails in the Ryder Cup.

[Pat McAfee]

I remember when there was a thought of us going to this. Remember that?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

That was never going to happen.

[Ty Schmidt]

Probably not. But while we were talking about it, it was sweet to be like, we're going to the Rider Cup. It was cool in the moment to, you know, I mean we all knew. We all knew.

[Tone Diggs]

Record wise, Cantlay and JT are the best records as far as guys we.

[Pat McAfee]

Have on the team. Come on, jt, this is your thing. Here we go.

[Boston Connor]

Boys.

[Pat McAfee]

Roll Tide, Roll Tide. Roll Tide usa. A lot of those chances we all right, next hour we'll have Coach McCarthy join us and then 2 o' clock hour we're going to have Matt Rule and conversation with Stanford Steve.

[Ty Schmidt]

Hell yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Big college ball hour at 2 o' clock hour. We did baseball this hour, did golf this hour, did football this hour.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

Anything happening in basketball at WNBA is taking place.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, we don't have to talk about sports that don't matter. We can stay the football rest.

[Pat McAfee]

No fever matter fever about to win this thing. Kelsey Mitchell's about to win the mvp. And tonight week four of the NFL season kicks off.

[Boston Connor]

Hell yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

We'Re doing it.

[Boston Connor]

Yes we are.

[Pat McAfee]

It's a good game that I I think on paper and all our people can be excited about this one. You know, just naturally very fair. But I think the game is going to live up to the billing. I think Al Michaels and Kirk are going to call a great game. I think the kickoff crew there and the Nightcap crew there are going to deliver a spectacular show. I'm excited for week four to kick off because that only means Ryder Cup Saturday, Sunday night. Holy hell, we're in a middle of the great times. Let's never forget it. This is Joe Button. You and I make decisions every day but on Prize Picks Being right can get you paid. So I'm here to make sure you don't miss any of the action this football season. With Prize Picks where it's good to be right. With millions of members and billions of dollars in awarded winnings, Prize Picks is the best place to put your daily fantasy takes to the test. The app is really simple to use and available in 40 plus states. States including California, Texas and Georgia. Just pick two or more players across any sport. Pick more or less on their projections and if you're right, you could cash in. With simple stats and fan friendly policies, prizepix is the best place to make your picks. Most importantly, they don't play about your paper. All transactions on the app are fast, safe and secure. Click here to download the Prizepix app today and use code TPMS to get $50 in site credits after you play your first $5. That's code TPMS to get $50.00 in site credits after you play your 1st $5.00 prize picks. It's good to be right. Must be present in certain states. Visit prizepix.com for restrictions and details. Eight years ago I blew my football career. He dropped it at the one yard.

[Matt Rule]

Line on September 30 Chad Powers arrives on Hulu.

[Pat McAfee]

If I can't play as Russ, I'll play as someone else. My name's Chad and last name from executive producers Eli and Peyton Manning.

[Tone Diggs]

Remember, you're wearing a prosthetic mask.

[Jet Passan]

This is acting and starring Len Powell.

[Pat McAfee]

He thinks you're a rubber chew toy. Not rubber. I'm a man made of flesh. The Hulu Original series chad Powers premieres.

[Matt Rule]

September 30, streaming on Hulu and Hulu.

[Pat McAfee]

On Disney plus for bundle subscribers.

[Matt Rule]

Terms apply.

[Pat McAfee]

Football is magical. Tonight, the NFC west will battle in Arizona. Now that's a glorious city, Phoenix. But a lot of people do not think that they stand a chance against the Seattle Seahawks that are coming into town. Sam Darnold will be leading an offense. MacDonald, the head coach, will be leading a defense. And if you think about that Baltimore Ravens defense, you know, last couple years, beginning of season, they've started out as trash. They lost the defense coordinator who became the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks team. They painted over the walls there after kicking Pete Carroll out. Kind of a rough start. But now it feels like his culture's in there. Sam Darnold's very comfortable. He's spending it all over the place. And they're taking on Arizona Cardinals team that what are they? Are they the same thing they've been for the last couple years? Everybody feels that that's the case. But maybe tonight's the night that they say to the world, no, we're different this year. Gannon gets the boys buzzing. Kyler starts making all the right reads. Marvin Harrison Jr. Lives up to everything that we assume that he's going to be at some point in his NFL career. There's a chance that that happens tonight at 8:15pm Eastern Time on prime the talks and tables here at Boston. Connor at tyschm. One half of the hammer done. Cowboys AP Tony's here. What's the percentage of money on who.

[Tone Diggs]

74% is now on the Seahawks. So it's dropped 1% since we have started the show.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's go to the other half of the Hammer. Done. Cowboys Bubble gumpino gumpy. What are you nodding your head yes for? I just love it. I love everything about it. Everyone's on the Seahawks, the Lions. Flip reminds me a lot of Monday night. Everybody was on the Ravens. Guess what? Lions win. No reason at all.

[Ty Schmidt]

Cardinals going to get it done tonight?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I mean, two different teams. Lions, Ravens, Seattle Seahawks and Cardinals. But I like that you're on the Cardinals. I appreciate the fact that that is the case? Let's ask a Hall of Fame nominee, ladies and gentlemen. A college football national champion, a Super bowl champion, a Rodder cup winner. And in high school, this guy was the punter. I think he had a 60 or 70 yard punt in the game. And then he was a running back. I think he had 100 yards rushing, four touchdowns, and then he was a starting linebacker. He had 35 tackles. Ladies and gentlemen, Centerville Elk, A.J. hawk.

[Ty Schmidt]

Hawker.

[Pat McAfee]

We're going to do that. As long as you're a nominee, we're going to go through, you know, the history of things that need to be said.

[AJ Hawk]

That's all right. That's all right. I think it's a bit over exaggerated, maybe. I did play those positions, but I think you're, you're pumping my stats up a little bit.

[Pat McAfee]

No, remember you had 30 tackles in one game. Twice. Yeah, it was it one game. You had 30 tackles in two games. Is that accurate?

[AJ Hawk]

Yes. Thanks to Larry Knoxinger, my linebacker coach. That was Cat. You know, every jop, every time I was around the ball, I think he gave me credit for.

[Pat McAfee]

The ball. Good things happen, you know. So 30 some tackles. You're the running back, too. I think you rushed for over 100 yards. Regular basis, right?

[AJ Hawk]

I don't know if it's a regular basis. Yeah, sure. And then what are we doing? What's going on here?

[Pat McAfee]

What are we doing?

[Boston Connor]

Hall of Famer, bro.

[Pat McAfee]

What we're talking about is this guy's a whole. He might be standing hall of Fame. That's what we're doing. That's a whole year of this. When do they make the announcement of who made it? Until you get that knock. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Not for a while. NFL honors. Maybe after the season.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that's right. So.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Buckle up, bud. New fun football stat for AJ Locke every day. AJ big game tonight. Seahawks. Cardinals. Tone told us 74% of the money is on the Seahawks minus one and a half on the road against a division opponent on a Thursday night. What are your thoughts as we look at this game? Or what are you thinking about as you try to make your pick?

[AJ Hawk]

Man, I, I or my early leanings were definitely Seattle. Like I, I like Seattle. Like what Sam Darnold is doing. I know. On the road, you know, we'll see what happens. Short week, all of that stuff.

[Pat McAfee]

I've heard.

[AJ Hawk]

People think that makes a difference. I'm not sure they're not traveling too far, but I don't know. I'm honestly still waffling on this one. I'll Give you a picket by the end of the program. But right now I, I, I was leaning heavy Seattle and now I'm not exactly sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Both teams obviously 2 and 1 against the spread have made some people some money thus far this season. Even though they the sportsbooks have been winning, right? Yes, they have. Like heavily. Heavily, yes.

[Boston Connor]

Like four.

[Pat McAfee]

It's been a slaughter.

[Tone Diggs]

Like, like if you look at the top five games that have been bet on each week, the sportsbook is won four out of five basically every week.

[Pat McAfee]

What's that all about? Age.

[AJ Hawk]

Why is that AI doing it for him?

[Pat McAfee]

Is that why? Yeah. Which we talked about yesterday. We got to beat them and debut said live is the way we get them. Live is how we get them. Because they don't have a sense of feel or awareness or what's going on or momentum or anything like that. Now granted that's going to take a lot of attention being paid to your phone while games are happening and obviously being in the moment and maybe predicting not as easy but in the live we can beat these AI pieces. Not mine. You guys are good. Yeah. Thank you guys.

[AJ Hawk]

Thank you.

[Pat McAfee]

Mine are great. AJ said terrible things about you AI over there. A lot.

[AJ Hawk]

Aj I know they're watching and listen to everything. They know. I don't say terrible things about them.

[Pat McAfee]

That's what you're just saying. You're just saying distinctly AI. AJ said this stinky AI in my pocket always gets the wrong answers. What's that?

[Tone Diggs]

And then just, just yes. Be nice to AIs. People were trying to turn me into Grok yesterday. I didn't love that. Think about this. Like all you need is one. Like last week was the Browns. Okay. That ruined everyone's moneyline parlays or teasers. Everyone either teased the packers down to one or pick them in their moneyline parlay. You get one of those games a week, your everything is ruined.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

And panthers winning by 30. That I bet you there's a lot of Falcons moneyline parlays as well.

[Pat McAfee]

There are some blowouts and then there's some thrillers. The blowouts do kind of ruin a lot of things. But unless you have touchdown parlays for the team. True. That is doing the. How have you been on the touchdown parlays? I know you and Gumpy have been cooking up some magic early in the season that continue into week three. And how do we feel looking into week four?

[Boston Connor]

Not terrible. Week three was tough just because of some of those games like there you figured that there's going to be high scoring when it came to like Bengals, Vikings. So you expect expected, you know, Justin Jefferson and Jamar Chase, none of the stars have scored as much as you would have thought. I don't think Puka has scored as much.

[Pat McAfee]

Leading the NFL and receiving.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, leading and receiving, but not in touchdowns. Like there's a lot of situations like that. Jackson, Smith and Jigba leading in receiving yards. I think he has one touchdown, maybe two. You know, there's a lot of those. So touchdown parlays have been few and far between. But a lot of the big guys do score multiple on a regular basis.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, here's the thing, especially if we got the dimes dive and the tush push and all this stuff, you get within 6 yards, 5 yards, that that's going to one person on a team normally and that person's just going to get. Jerome Bettis. I forget the stat line he had in the game. Maybe like four touchdowns, two yards rushing, something along those lines. I forget what it was because Willie, right. It was fast. Willie Park, Is that his name? Yeah. Willie Parker would get him all the way down, all the way down, just on his back, basically balling, taking big shots, getting up, making massive plays. Bang, we're getting all the way down. Everything standing in there for bet and you name it. And then they would get down to the three yard line, it's like, oh, bring in the bus, wheels on the bus. Go ride. You see Willie just walk over like, all right, all right, way to go. That's his fourth touchdown of the day. Happy. He's getting them all.

[Tone Diggs]

What was it in 2000, 2004? It was five attempts, three touchdowns, one yard.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that. So we've. This is starting to happen there for some teams. Like Jalen's gonna get the touchdown. Jalen's gonna get it if they're within the three yard line there. Danny Dimes is going to get it for the Colts if it's within the five yard line. Because we are. Even if they stop it, we'll do it again.

[Boston Connor]

Henry, normally on the one, you know, Derek Henry.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. Because they're not going to let Lamar have take that hit right there. So it's like when you start looking at that as well, whenever we're viewing touchdowns, it's like, hey, this person is going to get the close one. And then these other people, they might be stars. Whenever it's like a layup touchdown, they're not even in the line. Like they're not even in the layup line.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. Something to think about for tonight with that Thought is the Kenneth Walker situation with Zach Charbonnet. Walker has been getting those carries. He played so well against the Steelers. He's like established more so as the one and then for Arizona because James Conner is out out. You would think the thought is instead of handing it, you know to a Trey Benson rookie, younger guy or second year guy, whatever, multiple times on the goal line, maybe Kyler Murray gets a carrier two towards the goal line. So Kyler touchdown maybe around the edge. He also hasn't scored yet.

[Pat McAfee]

You know what you all you might see because this is a copycat league. You might see double pitch. Yeah, you might see double pitch tonight. Kyler seems like they potentially could be possibility for that. That and I will say this, every team as soon as Dan Campbell ran that showed that to their team. Hey, what are we doing if they do this? Because that looked too easy, didn't it AJ that play looked way too easy. And everybody's going to try to mimic that thing.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, they will. But that's the thing. Like you got to execute that. You got to practice that many, many times. That's there's a lot of ball handling for guys that aren't used to ball handling all the time on the football field. So yeah, to trust a guy to make that step pitch right there, which Amon Ra is the right guy for that. But you better trust that receiver, whoever's doing it.

[Pat McAfee]

I think I saw. How about Goff handing it off up and down for him to be able to grab that easier. That's like. That's a tiny detail that once again they practice and work through. Like hey, if I give this to you, can you just turn. Instead of me having to turn that thing, can you just. Yeah, absolutely. That's like tiny little details there that obviously Jared Goff hits in the biggest moment and then Monroe has guy in his face. Immediately Dust doesn't panic. I can make that pitch, coach. He does make that pitch. How many people can do it? How many people try it? There's a. Anytime an innovation comes around, you see some people get excited if they have the personnel. This play, I guess Dan Campbell was a part. I don't know if you guys saw the clip. He was playing for the Cowboys. He was tight end on right side. They ran this play to left side basically. So he was just kind of in the muck. I don't think he even remembered them running that play from what the conversation was. But I do like how offenses aren't scared to roll the dice a little bit. Let's talk about The Detroit Lions. There it is. That's the play. He's down there on the right. He's down in the line on the bush.

[Ty Schmidt]

Go block.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. He got his arms inside and straight armed him there. He had full control. Obviously, that guy wasn't doing nothing. That guy wasn't doing nothing.

[Boston Connor]

Did you see the play this weekend from Purdue? They're kind of spin on it. Quarterback. Yeah. Definitely fire to quarterback Handoff. This is probably the 15 going in. They're close. They're in the red zone. Quarterback handoff. Running back takes ball. Quarterback peels out. Running back gets to the line of scrimmage, turns, throws to quarterback. Who peeled out. Catch, walk in, touchdown. That look. Look for that one. Yeah, because. Because it was automatic and it was unbelievable play.

[Pat McAfee]

I. I love anytime people get creative. H. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a man. He wasn't scared to go deep on playbook.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

He's been super bowl champion. He's coach everybody. Most recently, he's coached the Dallas Cowboys. In his past, he's coached plenty of hall of Famers. Oh, yeah. Might have another one on that list. Ladies and gentlemen, our coach McCarthy. How you doing, coach?

[Mike McCarthy]

Doing great. Doing great. Congratulations, A.J. that's incredible.

[AJ Hawk]

You got to be excited, Coach.

[Mike McCarthy]

That's awesome.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah, I appreciate it. What's your background today, Coach? What is that?

[Boston Connor]

Don't change the sound of it.

[Mike McCarthy]

Roberto Clemente. I just wanted to, you know, let everybody know what's. When you come across the Roberto Clemente Bridge with what's right there in front of you. The great one.

[Pat McAfee]

Coach. Coach. Cy Young winner, Paul Skeens. Rest of the team ass. Game's over. Why don't you tell the owner? He'll probably listen to you. You. Let's get some bats. Let's get some bats in the PNC park barn. Let's get some bats in there. Coach, hasn't it been too long? They've sucked. You're old enough Yinzer that you experienced good days with the Pirates. My dad and older generation experienced good days with the pirates. I'm 38. I have not experienced really a single. There was a playoff run there for a little bit with catching 14. I haven't really experienced a good Pirate's time. They got the guy now at pitcher. Why don't they spend a little money, Coach? Why don't they spend a little money and make this thing happen?

[Mike McCarthy]

No, I definitely. I agree, you know, as far as it's time, because you had a great run in the 70s. You had a good run there in the 90s. And then, you know, the mid teens, they're around 14. So I'm with you. It's time to get. Let's get another run going. So just an unbelievable ballpark, though, to watch a baseball game. Just looking at the highlights here. So how about this pnc?

[Pat McAfee]

How about seven springs? You ever go up there? You ever go tubing up there? You know, that's nutting. Owned that thing. He sold it. Obviously, we thought he was going to spend that money on the Pirates, but he did not. He put it in his pockets. Seven springs under better leadership. Now we know that. We understand that.

[Mike McCarthy]

Well, yeah, for my neighborhood, they made us go to Hidden Valley. We couldn't afford.

[Pat McAfee]

Good tubing there.

[Mike McCarthy]

Beautiful place.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Hit with us, Coach. Let's. Let's talk a little bit about tonight. We have another division game here on Thursday night. Thursday night games used to be just division rivalries and they would all get dressed up and everything like that. We're early in the year, another massive division game here. How excited should we be about these two teams playing? And just like last week is the knowledge of the other team, does that weigh heavy in the outcome of every one of these fights?

[Mike McCarthy]

Absolutely. I think, you know, number one, the Thursday night game, all these division games has been awesome, you know, and as we've talked last week, the division games are the best games of the year. I've always felt that. And I think just really what's going on in the league so far from a division perspective? I think with the Chargers being 3, 0, and then when you look at the NFC west, how competitive their division is, clearly by win percentage, the most competitive division in football right now. You got one team at three and. Oh, and three teams at two and one. And if you look at both Arizona and the.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.

[Mike McCarthy]

It's going to be a hell of a battle down there in Arizona. Because I know when. You know, the first thing I always look at from the numbers perspective is, you know, how are the teams trying to play, especially when you're going through September football. And then when you look at the numbers of both these teams, I think they both have done a really good job of staying on time. You know, you look at the turnover ratio, you look at the ball distribution, which is, you know, rushing attempts and completions, and you look at time of possession. So I think these guys have done a really good job of trying to play to a specific time clock, and it's been productive for them because they both have you know, their one losses both came against San Francisco in tough division, hard nose, low scoring type football.

[Pat McAfee]

Both these teams, two and one against the spread. Sam Darnold having great success with the Seattle Seahawks. Immediately upon getting there, we thought we'd never see him again. Like, hey, he had a good run with the Vikings. He took the bag from Seattle. They're in the middle of a rebuild. They lose, lose dk, they lose everybody. That team's going to stink for a while. See you later, Sam Darnold. That's not the case at all. They are a great football team. McDonald's defense is the real deal. Sam's had time and he's spinning it all over the place. Jackson Smith Njigba is the leading receiver in the entire NFL. He's on pace to do stuff that nobody since Marvin Harrison has done with the amount of deep shots and explosive plays that he's converted already over the first few weeks. They're special, huh? Not a lot of conversation about him. Obviously. The they beat the Steelers, so Steelers fans all have their attention this morning. Whenever we bring up the Seattle Seahawks versus Cardinals. Every Steelers fan in the building goes, that's good football team.

[Ty Schmidt]

Go football team.

[Pat McAfee]

That's good football team up there because of what they did to the Pittsburgh Steelers. But I don't think a lot of people really talk about the Seattle Seahawks like that, coach. Other than. Go ahead. I'm sorry?

[Mike McCarthy]

No, no, go ahead.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, I was going to say always loud stadium. Always. Like they got a loud stadium but they're in a train. They kicked Pete Caro out. Like that's how we talk about them. That's how I think a of lot of people talk about them. They're a damn good football team, coach. I don't think anybody really expected that out of them this year.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, definitely. And I think, you know, obviously with Sam there, but I see a different, you know, different mindset in the way they're playing up front. I really like the way they're playing both offense and defensive line. And I think, you know, obviously this battle tonight, that's where, that's where it will start because they are definitely getting a big play production from their perimeter. So very good football team, you know, beating Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh, obviously an excellent win, excellent road win. And this is going to be a tough, tough road environment for them down in Arizona tonight.

[Pat McAfee]

That was a 10am start for them local time against Pittsburgh. I mean, that's the hardest of heart. That's a home opener for Aaron, right? Yeah, home opener for Aaron. Home opener for the Steelers, 10am local. All the juice is on the other side of the field. And the Seattle Seahawks did what they did to them. Congrats to them. I'm excited to see if they can continue to go tonight. Go ahead, A.J.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, coach switching. Sunday night, the packers traveling to Jerry World taking on the Cowboys. Obviously Micah coming back, back after, you know, seem he was. It wasn't that long ago Micah was in that facility. Now he's coming back. What kind of game do you think Micah has and what's that atmosphere really going to be like in that stadium?

[Mike McCarthy]

Oh, I think it'll be a great atmosphere. I mean, it always is and especially when you have a team that travels like Green Bay. So it'll be electric. It'll be a Sunday night football. But I think once that ball gets kicked off, it's going to be. It's going to be about, you know, going back to the trenches. So obviously they know Micah very well. He'll get plenty of attention. I say it all the time. You know, he's the most disruptive defensive player that I've worked with, especially, you know, in a training camp environment, so forth. So they'll be double teaming him when he gets off the bus. But I think it'll be a hell of a football game. And you know, just like I've said, I think week one, I'm a fan this year. I get to root for the Steelers openly and root for the packers and the Cowboys. So I just think it's going to be a hell of a football game Sunday night.

[Pat McAfee]

NBC has sent all of their shows basically down there. They're making this a big spectacle, as they should. Packers, Cowboys, two legendary teams. And you talked about the trenches and the big boys and Dublin, Micah and everything like that. That Dallas defense is going to have to do a lot. They were on Darius Butler's everything. Db, good D, bad D. And there was a. There was a quad box for the first time for bad D. And it was four different plays. Different where? Four different plays. Guys were just wide ass open.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, jeez.

[Pat McAfee]

Wide ass open. Not. Not for like anything too extravagant either. It was Chicago Bears now obviously Caleb Williams with a revenge game against Eber flu's defense and he does his thing. But that Cowboys defense did not look good at all. And with this packers offense, they can get you so obviously gonna have to tighten those things up. But as a whole, whenever you talk about playing. Go ahead, Ty.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, and that's coming off a week where they allow 450 passing yards to Russell Wilson and we saw what he looked like on Sunday night football game against the Giants. But coach as a whole, when it's the def. I mean, offensively, you got potentially CD out. You're going to be missing one of your linemen. I think they're missing another lineman already, so they're going to be very banged up. But just as a whole, like, is there anything they can correct in a week from looking as bad as they did last week to maybe get into a point where this will be a more competitive game than a lot of people anticipate?

[Mike McCarthy]

Definitely. And I think, really, I think, think the quick turnaround helps because, you know, I think like a lot of things, I think September football has components that are, that you see each and every year. And I know having, you know, being grateful to being Coach before the CBAs and post CBAs, you have seen a change on how you're able to train your team and some of the things you experience in September that you didn't in the old days. So I think you definitely have some of that. And when I look at Dallas defense and obviously, you know, having personal knowledge and relationship wise to the men in that locker room, I just think you got to look at it. They're on their third defense in three years. So, you know, you go Dan Quinn, Mike Zimmer, and now, you know, new coordinator. So there is a difference, particularly in the coverage component as far as their base philosophy, how they're playing. So they definitely need to correct what they need to correct, especially the last two weeks. But, you know, it's week four. Clearly understand the magnitude of the Cowboys versus the packers on both sides of it, but they just need to stick to, you know, stick to what they're doing. It's excellent coaching staff. Really, really exceptional locker room. I would say that, you know, from firsthand, and it's week four and I do believe that there's a lot of football left to be played.

[Pat McAfee]

Some of these stats are saying ain't that much football left to be played, you know, and I know the coaches, your entire mission, especially if the team and I don't know how many of those seasons you've ever been a part of, to be honest, because it feels like you win all the fucking time. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah. Legit.

[Pat McAfee]

Have you been a part of any, like 03 starts? Oh, yeah.

[Mike McCarthy]

I mean, I go back to AJ our first year together. I mean, that was, that was a hard year. So we were 1 and 4 and then we were 4 and 8 and then we won the last four in a row in 06 and really felt like it gave us a lot of momentum going into the off season program. And then, you know, you know, came back and was the, you know, youngest team in football both in 06 and 07 and played the NFC championship game and lost in overtime to be the Super Bowl. So yeah, I think we've all been there. You know, it's. And that's why I go back to. It's week four. It's a new coaching staff on the defensive side of it. I think you can see the carryover that Dallas has on offense and you know, and I think they'll continue to continue to carry the water as the defense goes through this, this transition. It happens, it happens every year. But you just got to stay, you know, them players will stick to, they'll stick to it and I think they'll.

[Pat McAfee]

Come out of this Shoddy first time head coach. I assume he's younger than EBER Fluth, not 100% sure. Is there a conversation that is had by a head coach there like does Shoddy have to have an uncomfortable conversation with Eber flu about like hey, giving.

[Ty Schmidt]

Up 50 points a game, is that.

[Pat McAfee]

Happen or how does that kind of work as the head coach? Like this is a first time shoddy maybe because what the offense is doing versus what's going on with the defense. It's like does how does the head coach have to handle that and how do you think shoddy might be handling that or any new coaches in those maybe uncomfortable conversations that have to take place as a head coach that doesn't have to take place at any other position? Or am I kind of blowing that out of proportion?

[Mike McCarthy]

No, I, I mean I can only tell you how it goes from personal experience and obviously having a lot of history with Brian. I think it's a constant conversation. I mean I don't think you just wait to talk to somebody when it's not very good. So I think evaluation is a 7 day, 24 hour thought process and I'm sure that he's going about it that way. So, you know, I know learned it from his father. You know, you get in there early Monday mornings and the most important video is the video that you, you just got done playing because it's very, a very natural, you know, path where you want to just Monday, hey, let's get on to the next, get on to the next opponent. I know players and coaches you feel that way, but I've always adhered to the most important video of that week is the game we just Played. So I'm sort of going through it and the corrections are being made and they'll continue to grow from it.

[Pat McAfee]

If they saw the four clips that we saw. Everything Deep good D, bad D. I think shawty's gonna be. Did we practice? Are we trying to. What is the. And obviously that's gonna happen. It's week four.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's right.

[Pat McAfee]

It's week four.

[Ty Schmidt]

September. Football.

[Pat McAfee]

Football. Yeah. Love football.

[Tone Diggs]

Figure it out.

[Mike McCarthy]

There you go. Sounds like another T shirt.

[Pat McAfee]

There's some teams, though, that we're talking, hey, they might win the whole damn thing in September. Go ahead, Tone.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, Coach. And more specifically. Specifically, that's a tough one, though. That.

[Pat McAfee]

That is a tough.

[Tone Diggs]

Not normally, but today maybe.

[Pat McAfee]

Really? I don't know. Specifically, that's a tough one. Lot of specific and a. In there. That's a lot.

[Tone Diggs]

I'm glad we.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm glad we got. There's no way could you nail us specifically right now? No.

[Mike McCarthy]

From Pittsburgh.

[Pat McAfee]

Exactly.

[Tone Diggs]

It's tough for our accent.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I think.

[Tone Diggs]

But no specific. Specifically talking about the division.

[Ty Schmidt]

Well done.

[Tone Diggs]

Chargers are 3, 0, and then you have the Bills, Niners, and Bucks, who are all two and, oh, in their divisions. When you have a great start to the season, it's one thing. But talk about when you have a great start in the division as well, being undefeated in the division to start.

[Mike McCarthy]

The year, I think it's huge because, you know, I think like anything just got done saying there's a lot of football left to be played and, you know, game. You know, your season's not determined in September, but. But, boy, when you can get those division victories in the back, especially on the road, those are huge. And I've always felt that because, you know, victories bring confidence. You know, road victories bring a little more confidence, and road victories in division victories bringing even more confidence. And that's just something I've always believed in. I think as your team grows each and every year, you got to. You got a stack success, and that's all part of the momentum that you're building. And, you know, it's a long year, so. So, you know, getting that momentum rolling and keep building off it week by week is. It's awesome. So to have that in September. I mean, it definitely gives them a nice springboard going into October football.

[Pat McAfee]

Roberto Clemente had a good. Had a good run. No signal back here. See that? We lost the photo.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, no.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, no, we didn't.

[Boston Connor]

You did.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh. Bye. Bye, Roberto.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, well.

[Pat McAfee]

Pittsburgh Pirates ain't special.

[Mike McCarthy]

My first IT Issue there You go.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, open the tab, open the, Go to the website, go to Safari, and then go to history. The cookies, Coach. Clear the cookies. The, the starting 30 in the division, though, that is such a great head start just to start your season. I mean, legitimately, what a relief. I would assume that is as you get those out of the way. But whenever you see the schedule, have that many division games that early, you know, coming out of the blocks we have to play our best football feels like the Chargers are doing that for all these teams. How hard? Like the Colts, for instance, and the Chargers, all these teams that are playing great, how easy is that to sustain? How hard is that to sustain? Like, what are your thoughts on dealing with a team being great early? Like the Indianapolis Colts right now are playing the best football that they've maybe ever played. The Colts as a whole, how do they sustain that for how long the season is. Obviously we're crossing our fingers about injuries that's going to happen in the NFL. But other than that, do they continue to get better in little things? Like, what is your thoughts on sustaining success, especially a hot start like this?

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, that's where I go back to the evaluation process we spoke on earlier. You cannot change your Monday process, regardless of the outcome of the game, so long as you keep evaluating the same win or lose. Keeping things realistic. As, as long we've all been there, we've all been part of games where you play very well and you haven't won and there's games where you didn't play very well and have won. So I just think staying in tune with the reality of where you are each and every week and continue to build off of that and grow because there are things, there are more little things in September. I think it's only natural because you only have so many padded practice. You know, the double team blocks aren't as tight, the pad level's a little high. You know, the spacing, you know, going to special teams. I don't know if we're going to talk about that.

[Pat McAfee]

Absolutely. Next.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, I mean, I mean, you got to look at the big plays on special teams. So are the alignments right? It's the time clock of the snap and a hold intact. Or are the pads too high on, you know, on field goal protection? Because, you know, those are the things that, you know, how much time are you. Are you put into that? I know as a head coach, I always looked at it as the challenge of scheduling and training your football team versus the other 31, you know, coaches is so important and always. And always put a lot of time into that. How much time we're going to spend on each, you know, situation. If red zone offense and defense wasn't very Good and in 22, then, you know, I'll tell you 23. We were going to work on it more. So think so. But you only have so much time in this, in the CBA era. So all those little things add up. Because the little things always add up. And that's why I just think it's so important on how you got to find ways to win in September. It's critical. That's why I just have so much respect and I think it's. I mean, I don't know. The Chargers three and oh, in the division after three weeks. Has that ever. I don't even know. Has that been done before? That's good. That seems very unique to come out and play three division games and now we're sitting there at three and oh. So I mean that's definitely, you know, there's a lot of positive juice in the building right now for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

I appreciate that. Roger Goodell went down a schedule maker or somebody and said, last couple years, beginning of the season, you're shit. So.

[Ty Schmidt]

Division games make it better.

[Pat McAfee]

We need the best games early. Actually, the play, the teams have all told us they don't want that though, that. Well, that's good. We don't, you know, how much Jeff Bezos, how much money he has. Yeah, we, we would like to. That is clearly a mission this year. It felt like with the amount of division games early and especially the primetime games, it's like they want their best games leading off the season because there has been been a lull at the beginning of these seasons and I think that's potentially because of the CBA era that you are referring to, where there isn't much training, isn't much working. And then preseason, what does that become? But if they start putting these very important games at the beginning of the season, all of a sudden preseason becomes very important for these teams. So it might have been a good answer. Even though coaches are going to have to dodge and kind of duck dive and dodge through this entire thing. Yeah, through the early rigors of a schedule. Now, on that note, you mentioned something that people have been taking advantage of this year more so than last year. Go ahead, Connor.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, Coach. A lot of game winning kicks so far this year. I think we had four this past weekend. We also had a potential two score kick for the Bucks to go up. Instead, the Jets Take it back for a touchdown.

[Pat McAfee]

Rams.

[Boston Connor]

Josh Card, he's got a chance at a game winning kip kick that gets blocked for a touchdown. Special teams seems to be a massive deal so far early on in the season. What do you think so far about field goal operations, things of that nature. And then how do you feel about some of these kickoffs? The Rams, Josh Carty and the Panthers, Ryan Fitzgerald, I believe both those teams lead the league in opponents starting field position. I think the Panthers right here, this is Ryan Fitzgerald. They lead the league. Their opponents drive start in the drive start. Their opponents start start their drives on the 21. Vrabel said he watched two hours of this special team stuff this week to prepare for the Panthers. What do you think of all this big Mike, and how do you think it's going to affect the game?

[Mike McCarthy]

Well, I mean going back to the first part, I know historically for me personally, the teams that I've coached, being in charge of a draft and develop program, always had a little more anxiety towards special teams, particularly early in the year because, because being a young team, obviously your special teams are even younger. So that was always a bit of a challenge and something that was a really focal point for me and a special teams coach as far as how we were trying to play coming out of training camp going into the season. So I do think you see some of that that can affect the opportunity for potentially more big plays. And I think clearly on the kickoff I think the league's getting exactly what they want. Don't know specific. I don't recall specifically with the numbers, but I think they were down to 20% returns and 80% kickoffs. And I know the goal was that to get it up to. I think it was between 70 and 80% returns and you know, 20, 30%, excuse me, touchbacks. And I'm not sure where those numbers are now. Way up, I think.

[Pat McAfee]

Way up.

[Mike McCarthy]

I know. Yeah, I know they're way up.

[Pat McAfee]

No, but they are. They're celebrating that. The NFL is celebrating that. That's a big, big change. The whole kickoff was a huge change and they're saving it. They said, coach, everyone to save the kickoff is what they were saying.

[Mike McCarthy]

Definitely. And I'm a big. And I love the play also because I mean it's. I think it gives you a chance also when you get into roster development to make sure you're given, you know, the turpins of the world, opportunities to affect the game and things like that because there's definitely a place for those, those type of players. So I think it's great that the kickoff is back in the game.

[Pat McAfee]

Game 2006. Bears started 3. 0 in the division. You should remember that they made the Super Bowl.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Mike McCarthy]

My first game as a head coach. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Sorry, sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to.

[Mike McCarthy]

Opener.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Mike McCarthy]

Bad memory. Right.

[Pat McAfee]

Sorry.

[Mike McCarthy]

It was a hard day, A.J.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, let's talk about that.

[Mike McCarthy]

We made up for later, though. We came out of.

[Pat McAfee]

Put a trophy in the building. Okay. That's. I heard the Steelers. I think it was Joey Porter. Yeah, I think Joey Porter spoke at training camp and he said that his group. Basically, we added a trophy to the building. We feel like we did our job. That's like a good way to kind of view it all back to the kickoff thing. They're hitting a squib. Okay. These two guys are hitting squibs. Good squibs. They're calling a dirty ball a knuckle, but this is a squib. This is what a squib used to be. And I don't know if I love the kicker hitting the squib. I think the punters should be working on hitting squib squibs. Just the thought of a kicker having to hit a ball fat. I don't like. I. I don't. I just personally messes with their field goal kick. I don't like it. Yeah, just them seeing the ball come out shitty like that when they're taking their field goal steps, I don't personally love. But these dudes that hit good squibs, I think it's a real weaponry.

[Ty Schmidt]

It is.

[Pat McAfee]

It is a real weapon, Coach. And I assume there's going to be more people that are going to try to do it. But remember, if you hit this thing and it lands too short, if it lands in front of the 20 there, that ball is all the way out to the 40, which is like basically 70% or 60% scoring percentage or something like that. Whenever it's inside to 20, it's like 15% or 12% or something like that. So it's a huge deal if you're able to hit one of these good balls. And the fact that Vrabel is paying attention to it, I obviously massively respect. But I think special teams importance is very real this season more so than ever. And the kickoff's a big reason because of it.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, definitely. I've been very blessed to have two exceptional kickers in my career, both starting in Green Bay with Mason Crosby and then, you know, down there in Dallas with Brandon Aubrey. And it's a great place to be, you know, as a head coach because it definitely makes you approach certain situations differently. I mean, Mason used to have an unbelievable spike on sidekick that, you know, I would try to, you know, space it out almost every four or five weeks or six weeks. We were always looking for the opportunity to utilize that. And then he also had a couple different sky kicks at, you know, different. Different spots on the field. So always looked at him as a tremendous weapon, especially playing outdoors in Green Bay, especially in the winter. So it is. It is a nice part that has been added back to the game. So I'm definitely excited to see the kickoff back. And then, you know, Brandon Aubrey, I mean, what can you say about him? I mean, he used to go into games and talk about the game winning field goal spot would be 33, 35, 36 yard line. Now you just got to get it closer to 50. So that's a. It's a nice weapon to have so very, very blessed with those two guys.

[Pat McAfee]

That's really comfortable spot to be. He said he hit a 60 yarder in warm ups. It was close. He had to hit a 66 yarder. He just told his body, hey, we need a 60 yarder here. That's a good thing to be able to do if you're a kicker in the NFL. Yeah, I have no idea how far I can hit it, but I know I need it to go 66. So just kind of. All right. Just figure it out. And he does.

[Ty Schmidt]

He did.

[Mike McCarthy]

And you stand behind him. Man, that ball is like a rocket coming off his foot. It's, you know, just over the years, you, you know, that's. That's where I would always stand, doing the special things behind the punter or behind the kicker.

[Pat McAfee]

And.

[Mike McCarthy]

Well, when we brought him into training camp that year after he was done playing at usfl, it was obvious on the first five kicks that this young man was different. You know, the ball just exploded off his foot.

[Pat McAfee]

Smooth swing, too. Never really trying hard. Just like a super smooth swing. Perfect form every time. And he said that none of his balls are the same and he's never back at the same spot because he doesn't want to become a robot. He said he just wants to kind of keep it all kind of fluid, which is the complete opposite of what every other kicker basically says, which is why I love him. I love him even more. It's like this dude is an anomaly. The kickoffs, though, Aubrey's a talented ball striker. Talented enough ball striker to figure it out. All these guys are. But I don't like kickers taking their field goal steps and then the ball. Yeah, I, I, I In my head, I'm just too mentally weak. I, I don't, I wouldn't want that. You know, I just cardi potentially on that last one, too. I know it gets blocked. Yeah, that thing's poor because to hit that squib, you got to hit that fat. Coach, you understand, you know what I'm talking. You got to hit that ball fat. You got to hit the middle of that thing. You do not want to do that on a field goal. I mean, that is like. And they're talking about the differences, like this much so, like that much of a difference between Matt Prater the other night and then hitting that thing perfect in the straight. It's like, I don't want to dance with it, but good luck to all the ball strikers. And I appreciate the fact these kickers are getting better. The surprise onside kick out of the game. Coach, I feel like we're all to blame for that, you know, and you talked about Crosby. He was so good at that. Just casually running up and spiking that thing off of the ground. He's a weapon. Janikowski, maybe the best of all time, especially whenever he was out of his Oakland on that baseball field, he'd spike that off that dirt, and that thing would hit the top, would hit the weed clouds that are hovering above that Coliseum out there. It was, it was outrageous. Yeah. Good times. Special teams back. Hey. Oh, yeah, special teams are back. They were talking about that leaving the game. Coach, I'm happy that's not the case. Hall of fame nominee A.J. hawk has a question for you.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, Coach, I don't know if you saw last week, we see Andy Reid kind of give Travis Kelce, I think, a nice little shoulder on the sidelines. I thought it was a positive interaction. I think it shows both these guys care about their job, and they want, they want to get the job done. They want to win. Did you over all the time you've had in the NFL, if you not you personally, I haven't seen any footage of you getting in a fight with anyone, but have you witnessed any great interactions on the sideline like this or like something much better? Maybe back in the early 90s when coaches and players sometimes legit would fight.

[Mike McCarthy]

Oh, my God. I mean, 90s was a whole different era. I mean, without a doubt, but yeah. I'm just watching Andy's interaction. Your first time. It's awesome, but I think it's.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's your first time Seeing that.

[Pat McAfee]

That's your first time seeing that.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah, that's awesome. But I think that stuff's really. It's really healthy. But also what I like about it, I think it says a lot about the relationship, you know, because, you know, being from Pittsburgh as, you know, punching on guys is a sign of love. I mean, that's. You know, I think that's an expression from our generation, and I think that's really cool. I think it tells about the relationship. Obviously, whatever needs to be said or whatever was happening at that time, obviously that they were addressing something. But, you know, what happens on the sidelines definitely needs to stay on the sidelines. And especially being a part of NFL Pre, where they had the mics in your face and so forth, I think people are more conscientious of it now because, I mean, it's hard not to notice a boom mic coming flying down over your head and things like that, where, obviously, the, you know, the 90s was a lot different. And I know when I first became a head coach, you know, my mother used to tell me all the time that my language is terrible. And I says, well, she goes, you can't talk like that when I have the camera on you. I said, I have no idea when I have the camera on me. She goes, well, you need to clean up your language. But it's a different era now. But I think the 90s was a lot more fun, that's for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. So I didn't get to experience the 90s. My mom as well. Whenever I become a kicker and whole world change for my family, you know, all of a sudden, our first game was on national television against Syracuse. Okay. It was on abc. My first football game, freshman for West Virginia. And I just got out of the soccer world. I would show up on Fridays in high school. This is, like, me just getting dropped into that, and I. I missed, like, from 47 or something like that, and I drop a nice, clean. Just immediately, you know, that's. That's the immediate reaction. Then I walk into the locker room. I apologize to the boys for that. Then we kind of get off, and my mom was like, hey, you just need to know that they are zoomed in on your face as soon as you miss. So what you said there was very loud, so I would for a couple weeks. You know, I feel like I didn't do it all the time. Head down, and everybody's like, oh, he's pouting or whatever. No, I'm. I'm.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

There are some terrible things being said about Myself going straight down. But in a moment, it's hard not to get caught in it. I think that's what Andy Reid did with Travis, and I think it goes back to what you're about talking. Talking about. About the relationship. Andy Reid and Travis Kelce got to get along very well. Both for what Travis did to Andy.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

And then now what Andy is doing to Travis. And then Andy Reid came out. I don't think I like this Mike McCarthy. And I'm Pat McAfee. He said, you know, Travis is Irish too. So we got. He gets a little fiery sometimes, is what. Did you hear that, coach?

[Mike McCarthy]

I mean, truth.

[Pat McAfee]

Truth.

[Mike McCarthy]

Truth can hurt sometimes. Pat. I agree with anti. You can't dispute that. I mean, I think it's part of the Irish genetics.

[Pat McAfee]

Hell, yeah. Bill Polian texted me after I got arrested for a public intoxication. Alleged story, definitely. Publicly intoxicated. He sends me a text, hey, when you get in, come to my office. We'll have a conversation. And he put in there, I know you're Irish. I'm Irish as well. Let's just have a conversation about everything that took place. And that was the first time that I'd ever had. Had that said to me by somebody. And I was like, oh, this. This guy's like, hey, we're not screaming at each other in here. Just want to let you know that this is not going to escalate at all. That was a. I don't think the Irish people should be judged like that. I don't think we should be judged like that. I mean, but it is reality of situation.

[Boston Connor]

We want to be associated with that as well. I'd rather be that way than any other way.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's talk about this weekend. They're playing in Ireland. Minnesota, Pittsburgh, 9:30 kickoff for US Central Time. What is 8:30, I guess?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Kickoff all day. Getting a chance to enjoy it. Pittsburgh Steelers, obviously very popular, we think, in Ireland. Dublin being a Steelers home game is how everybody is feeling. This Carson Wentz, though. I think the Irish could potentially fall in love with this thing if they see him walking around the streets. How do you feel about these international games? How do you feel about them playing in Ireland?

[Mike McCarthy]

I love it. I didn't really get to experience much of it later in my NFL career, but always enjoyed, you know, the Tokyo Bull and things like that. But, you know, I was at the University of Pittsburgh 1989. We had a chance to play Rutgers and Rutgers in the Emerald Isle Owl. See, I can't say it. Emerald Isle Classic game Over there in Ireland. And that was just such. I mean, that was the coolest experience. And then just to see all the Pittsburgh people come over there for the game. So I think it's just going to be an incredible atmosphere, you know, for the NFL, obviously, with the Rooney family. Rooney family's connection to Ireland. So I think that's gonna be a really cool game.

[Pat McAfee]

Hey, so packers didn't do international games until what, Brazil?

[Ty Schmidt]

No, until when they went to England to play the Giants a couple years ago. Brazil was the second time.

[AJ Hawk]

Packers Runway is too short.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Runway's too short.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

It's kind of unfair. We can't get over there. Runway's too short. Sorry. Can't build anymore, too. The land's bought, so we can't fly anywhere. And then Dallas does. Dallas, I don't think I remember. Not 9:30am Dallas.

[Boston Connor]

I doubt it, Jerry. I could see never letting that happen.

[Pat McAfee]

So you guys didn't do that, huh? No.

[Mike McCarthy]

Mexico. Jerry. Gary would go to Mexico, but I don't think going over there was an option. But, yeah, we missed. We missed the European. Ted Thompson never wanted to go. Never wanted to go across. But I think. I think it's cool when you get to do that. I've never heard anybody dislike it. You know, I played. I coached in the game down there in Mexico when I was with the. The 49ers in 05, we played the Cardinals. That was. That was a neat experience. That was the first regular season game outside of the United States. So I think it's been very positive, not only for the NFL, but it's been great for the fans.

[Pat McAfee]

I like hearing that from you. If you get back into coaching somewhere. We know that Australia is looking to have a game. Sounds like he would love that.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Coach.

[Mike McCarthy]

Well, maybe not Australia. Make sure we got a bye week here. Pat, can you get that done?

[Pat McAfee]

We gotta make sure by week before and after. I. I mean, 16 hours over to Pacific, you're going. Let alone to get to LA or whatever, but 16 hours over the Pacific to get there. And there's.

[Mike McCarthy]

You just did that trip, right?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. There's no WI fi either. You're. You're. You're Amish there for that entire. You are doing it, and it's a long way. You got to really do it. But once you get there, the place is beautiful. I mean, it is. That place would love American flag football if it was fully around and ever present. It's just the timing is crazy. That's why them thinking about taking a game over there is absurd. Life clock is going to be set back for weeks for guys. I think.

[Mike McCarthy]

I think that'd be. I think that'd be maybe too much for the players. No. Doubt it. You definitely have to build in some extra time there.

[Pat McAfee]

Coach McCarthy will take his team over.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You're a good bloke.

[Mike McCarthy]

I'll do anything right now. Yeah, you get me to do anything right now.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, let's do this. This. How do you think tonight goes? Because we know you're not against a spread picker. No. You're not a goblet. Yeah. Okay. You would never want to do that, but if you were to, with the way you have been describing these games, we just like to let you know you would be two and one right now. Last week is the one. Okay. In two and one. And you waffled on that, Coach. You even said in your statement, this is how I believe. And on that note, I don't believe that tonight you want to get. You went directly against yourself last week. So you're 2 and 1. I think you're seeing it well, and I think you need to go with your gut. Isn't that kind of the mission?

[Boston Connor]

Especially because, I mean, Coach, I don't know if you want to say, but I believe Big Mike unfortunately caught some gruff last time he was up in Green Bay from a bartender letting him know, like, hey, I bet on the Bills because you told me to, but now you're sitting at my bar and you just said, that's too many points for a division game. What the hell is going on?

[Pat McAfee]

Well, that's because he won against his own. Right? You want to get your own intuition.

[Mike McCarthy]

No, I just. I do. I mean, that. Just my personal experience. Division games are so damn tough. I mean, to take that many points. But, you know, I was kind of. Ryan, you know, just watching Josh Allen play that week and so forth. You know, you thinking, oh, they can handle, but almost need to apologize to Miami. That's just a tremendous amount of points in a division game. So. Yeah, I just do. I know. I feel like I say this every week. The division games are the best games. I mean, it's going to be tight as hell. You look at the games that both teams have played so far, they both have lost tough games to San Francisco, tough defensive battles. You know, both these defenses are playing well. I think that you look at all the numbers, because the first thing I always look at is obviously you look at the score of the game, but you look at the turnover ratio, ball distribution, time of possession. Then you go look for the big plays. But the one thing that really factors into these Thursday night games more than we probably give credence to is the injury report. And based off what I saw this morning, I think Seattle is a healthier team coming in this than Arizona. So I'm going to go with the Seahawks.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. This doesn't even have James Conner, obviously one of their staples over there in Arizona. He's out. Backup running back is good, though. Connor has done film for fantasy football teams into him. And then the Seattle Seahawks, they seemingly are playing great ball right now, too. Like. Like, it's not even a question. I know. They lose and obviously what are the Niners going to look like going forward? Brock Purdy's getting one reps Bosa out though. So what is the San Francisco 49ers? Do they make a big trade for a pass rusher?

[Boston Connor]

That's what they were talking about kind of alluding to in the past with the San Fran 49ers. Like McAffrey was one of their acquisitions mid season when they were really.

[Pat McAfee]

And then they started giving him the ball.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. And it worked for them big time.

[Pat McAfee]

They did.

[Tone Diggs]

Did they get Bryce Huff in a trade or free agency? And then they. Who did they draft? Mikel Williams out of Georgia. So they do have guys at those positions. They're not Bosa, obviously, but they. They have guys at that position. So it'll be interesting to see.

[Pat McAfee]

What about Hendrickson?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, Trey.

[Pat McAfee]

What about Trey Henderson?

[Ty Schmidt]

Especially with how it looks like Cincinnati season could go from here on out.

[Pat McAfee]

And he's a free agent at the end of the year. So that's one of those things that could potentially take place. We're just. We are. This is no intel, no.

[Ty Schmidt]

No hypotheticals.

[Pat McAfee]

This is hypothetical. This is no inside information. We are just making this up on the spot, which is kind of what the show is. Which is why we appreciate you joining us and being a part of the bullshit. Coach, you're the best.

[Mike McCarthy]

Well, I mean, bullshit and wit, man. I'm glad to be part of it. I mean, it's just. It is impressive, though. I mean, you threw out some great, great ideas there. But as you know, all teams operate this way. They're looking at everything every week and so forth. And I'm sure the 49ers obviously involved. Involved in conversation just like every team is.

[Pat McAfee]

So that is happening every single week at every team. You think there's like, who could we add? Potentially add. Will we. Probably not. But this is available. That has to happen at each team now, at this stage of where the NFL is?

[Mike McCarthy]

Oh, I think so. I think if a personnel department's not involved in conversations 365 days a year, they're not doing their job.

[Pat McAfee]

Hell, yeah.

[Mike McCarthy]

That's been my personal experience.

[Pat McAfee]

So.

[Mike McCarthy]

That'S the way the organizations that I've been a part of are operate.

[Pat McAfee]

That's your personal personnel to kind of experience. I like that. I appreciate that. Hey, Coach, anything to say to the team on the way out here? Great job, guys.

[Mike McCarthy]

I mean, it's. It's an adventure, and I'm enjoying it. I'm loving it.

[Pat McAfee]

Team on three.

[Mike McCarthy]

Is that how we do it?

[Pat McAfee]

Team on three.

[Mike McCarthy]

Let's get the hall of Famer. Break us down.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you're right. A.J. hawker, let's go. What do you got, bub?

[AJ Hawk]

Coach, you ever go on Jerry's yacht? I meant to ask you that a while ago.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yes.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's.

[Mike McCarthy]

It's unbelievable. Unbelievable.

[AJ Hawk]

We'll hear about that maybe next time. It's a good tease for next time. Team on three. One, two, three.

[Pat McAfee]

Team. That's good. That was good. Yeah, we do hear about that. It's coach cars. He's like, good question, H. We saw Jerry drafting from that thing.

[Tone Diggs]

Oh, my God.

[Pat McAfee]

And they took that drone outside and shot it. And that drone just kept going. Just kept going. Thought it was crucial. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Lost connection.

[Pat McAfee]

Jerry Jones. Yeah. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

It's too far.

[Pat McAfee]

Too.

[Boston Connor]

Too big.

[Pat McAfee]

Had to recheck into Bluetooth on the other side. Got two different Wi Fi's, two different passwords. The AirPods are reported as missing. And if they're left on the other side to your phone on the other side of the yacht, I. What a special place Jerry has built down there. NBC. It's been reported. They're sending everything.

[Ty Schmidt]

Everybody.

[Pat McAfee]

Jerry's like, of course. Of course they're sending. Goddamn right, bring them down. What do you think this is? They got the Ryder cup of. Obviously happened. That's great. That's special. Guess what's in that cap? The show. And guess what? Somebody we made into a star. Do you know him? Maka Starsons is what I like to call him. Because he had a star on his helmets. That's why, people, if you don't recall, we made him star. You're welcome. He's coming back in to the place that made him. I birthed this man. And now he's coming back to my world. We will not be showing a video, okay? We. There will be antidotes for that out there. Outside side. You'll see Maybe little koozies and things like. There's enough welcome for him around is what he said. There's enough welcome for him around there. It's like from. It is.

[AJ Hawk]

Were you surprised, though? Did you think they're gonna have a video for him?

[Pat McAfee]

No, no, no, no. I don't think so. Like before four years. Yeah, four years. Not a long time now. He was pretty great. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's amazing.

[AJ Hawk]

Unbelievable.

[Pat McAfee]

The wounded is still fresh.

[Boston Connor]

And every year after his, you know, the Cowboy season, it is always like, geez, another disappointing season for the Cowboys. It was. It has never been since. Since Michael was there at least, like, hey, great season.

[Pat McAfee]

That's part of it.

[Boston Connor]

Good season for the Cowboys. But seriously, I. I mean, if. If you win something, I feel like you get a tribute. Isn't that kind of.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, Emmett's a little bit different now. Emmett. I almost gave him percentage of team. Okay. He. He. Two. Two. He did a lot for the star.

[Boston Connor]

That's different.

[Pat McAfee]

Jerry Jones life a lot different before Emmett Smith and after Emmett Smith. We will certainly pay homage to Emmett. And if Troy wanted to come back and play somewhere. Oh, hell, I guess we'll put eight up here.

[Boston Connor]

Micah Irvin, the playmaker.

[Pat McAfee]

Micah. We'll have him hit that siren, actually, if he's playing for another team. Michael Parsons now, I'm not 100. I don't think that's pro.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's not appropriate.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't think that's. That's appropriate. I don't. I don't think the Colts did it for Edge. I was there for that. Edge.

[Mike McCarthy]

Different.

[Pat McAfee]

Edge played for the Arizona Cardinals. When he came back, there was a nice tribute. And also we know how close Jim and Edge.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Were. They're like very good friends. So I assume that was a very difficult decision. Joseph Adai, though, was unbelievable running back for us. Same with Dominic Rhodes. So I think that decision was certainly one that Arizona made for everybody whenever they offered to pay the amount that they offered to pay for Ed and James. But when he came back, they showed it. Edge did a fool, you know, Peyton Manning, Obviously, during the 1812 battle on Sunday Night Football. That was cool. I think NBC sent everything out for that particular night too, as Andrew Luck took on Peyton Manning and the building that Peyton Manning and the boys helped usher into the city of Indianapolis, Indiana. It's like that was special, you know, but he got a fool before the game. There was. I think NBC even offered up the time. Hey, we'll give you guys. What time do you want to of do your thing? Before the game, there was the full. I don't know if you remember this.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

During, like, throwing time for him before coin toss stopped, his throwing helmet off. Full embrace of the crowd.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, that was a big deal.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I'm warming up on the field there. That's punting time as well. And I'd never seen Peyton take the helmet off in that moment because that's, like, locked in time. And it felt like he did get emotional during that. Like, that felt like a real, like. Because this city is very grateful to Peyton Manning. And I think in that moment, he got a chance to, like, kind of experience it. And I do think that kind of. I think that was a little bit of a. Gamesmanship. Yeah. Yeah, I think there was a little bit, you know, this, like, running the.

[AJ Hawk]

Like running the military family out in between the third and fourth quarter and the. The dad surprised him. And I'm sitting on the sidelines balling in my helmet, watching the daughter run and hug the guy. Like.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, it's.

[AJ Hawk]

That's. That does something to you.

[Pat McAfee]

Crying our faces off, dude. Because normally those are happening during times where the field's open. So I'm on the field punting. Okay. So then if something's happening in the middle of the field and a ball accidentally goes near there, I'm the worst person on earth. Okay? So I'm paying attention to all these things. And the military surprise comeback home. Every time water works on the field punt, I'm, like, blurry. Like, literally punting the ball, looking over. Oh, my God, this is so awesome. He was supposed to come home for three months. Yeah, he was supposed to. And then, like, the little kids, obviously, the full surprise. You know, mom might have a little sense something's up. Sure. Mom might have. Or dad, if Mom's coming home, might have a little sense that something's up. The kids, though, have no idea. The kids have no clue. So whenever old dad or mom poke. Pokes their head out or whatever it is, he can't help but just, like, start to ball. You think that was a strategy, though? I didn't even view that as a strategy for teaching teams potentially.

[AJ Hawk]

Maybe it's both. Well, no, I don't think the military thing is, but I think definitely honoring the guy. It's a little bit of both. Like, hey, we're gonna put a great package together, make him feel great, maybe even cry a little bit, maybe get him off his game. Because we know how dialed in this dude is. We gotta. We got. You know, he knows he would respect us as Competitors doing this.

[Pat McAfee]

It would be cool if maybe they showed the boys on the home team the video. Hey, this is what's gonna happen. Yeah. Okay. Get the waterworks out now. This is gonna happen right before fourth quarter. The other sidelines are going to be balling their fucking faces off. Let's hit them soon. Here's Sunday night football. This is the War of 1812 as Peyton Manning returned back to Lucas Oil Stadium. Now, remember, Peyton Manning was cut by the Indianapolis Colts. And it was during a time where they didn't know if he was going to be able to grip a football again. Because what he had going on with his neck and his spine and everything that was taking place. And it was also during the lockout. I mean, there was. Here it is right here. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And you gotta remember the say that Peyton had in this city. He would literally forever do this number and everybody in the city would shut up whether they were at the game or not. If he did this, babies stopped crying downtown at Riley Children's Hospital. Like Peyton Manning's children's hospital. His own children's hospital. Babies stopped crying when he did this. And then if it was this time, they went crazy. Crazy. That dude obviously statue well earned. And the Colts fans that night delivered, they were so loud against him. They knew exactly what he didn't want.

[Boston Connor]

And they clap for him.

[Pat McAfee]

In the beginning, yeah, it was like a perfect thing. How's that happen in New England?

[Boston Connor]

It was just like Brady. It was the same exact thing when Brady. I mean, you experienced with Vinnie? Kind of.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. On the field.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. Love you. Love you.

[Ty Schmidt]

Once.

[Boston Connor]

Once the clock starts, this guy is. Yeah, exactly. This guy basically pissed on my mom's face. That's how much I hate this.

[Pat McAfee]

Treason. Yeah. That is what people were saying to Adam Vettiteri. Because it's a little tight there. So as we're jogging on the field, Adam, this guy's done a lot for the New England Patriots. He's jogging on the field. Place go. Hey, welcome back.

[Boston Connor]

He's a top five Patriot all time with, without question, Adam Vinitar.

[Pat McAfee]

But love started it.

[AJ Hawk]

He started the dynasty.

[Boston Connor]

Exactly. And even before the dynasty, like the Herschel Walker thing, kind of before my time. But like my dad, dad, when I bring up Adam Vinatieri, my dad's like, go to. Is, yeah, Adam Vinitary tackled Herschel Walker. Obviously he's a dog.

[Pat McAfee]

So whenever he goes on the field. Hey, welcome back, Vinny. Good to see you. And then as soon as that shit start. There's some terrible things being said to have it in the nets, like, right there, very close at that stadium, so. And then as soon as the game was over. All right, Vinny, thank you for everything. Jogs out. It's like, damn, this. This place is awesome. Pittsburgh would do the same exact thing. It was nice to see Indy do that. Dallas, probably the same exact thing with Micah, if I had to guess. Although this thing has gotten really sour really quick.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

It might be on Micah's side, though.

[Ty Schmidt]

I was gonna say. It's gonna be interesting because he. He was traded and he kind of wanted to stay as. As everything we've heard. And I also appreciate Jerry. Instead of, you know, making him cry, let's mispronounce his name, call him Michael about a hundred times before he comes back. Really piss him off. Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

We'll continue digital. We'll see you tomorrow. Tomorrow. Goodbye. That came quick. That was a premature there a little bit. That clock. It's been an hour 57. I had no idea. Yeah. Crazy, that first hour we flew. We did baseball in the first hour. Aj did you see that?

[AJ Hawk]

You did a good chunk on baseball.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

Jet. Jet brought the juice.

[Pat McAfee]

I called jet this morning. FaceTime. Okay. I go, I hate that I'm doing this. Okay. It's the first week four of the NFL season's kicking off. We need to have a baseball conversation. We need to pay respect to what's going on in mlb. Okay. We need to pay attention to what's going on. I think we should showcase it. And Jack goes, I'm only available in the noon hour. And I go, Jesus, chat. First hour, brother. I said, I don't know, dude. I said, we're trying to build during that hour. You know, like, we. There's a chance.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, no. I bet if we. Look, it's more than a chance now.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, well, I told that to Jet. But then out of respect for sports as a whole and the argument that Jet laid out immediately upon me saying that, he's like, this is what all happened last night. Banging. A bang, bang, bang of boom and a bang of the pow. Here's what's potentially coming up. The playoffs start on Tuesday. We got game 162 about to determine, like, four or five different teams fate. Like, baseball's really having a night. And last. Last night, I happened upon that strike from center field from the New York Mets on the Chicago Cubs. It was an electrifying environment, and I think I saw somebody with long sleeves on. I'm like, oh, yeah, we're in the time now where baseball really matters and jet won us over. So we did the baseball. And also anytime you can get in there, Paul Skeens one of Cy Young.

[Ty Schmidt]

Like you got to, hey, the best.

[Pat McAfee]

Pitcher in baseball is our guy. You know, that's good.

[AJ Hawk]

And do people know other than if people aren't die hard Paul Skins or baseball fans, do they even know he had such number?

[Pat McAfee]

So that's also. That was another part of the we should do the baseball here on Thursday week four kickoff. So we did that. We also talked about golf.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

How do you feel about our Ryder cup team, AJ we haven't heard from the hall of Fame nom here. Hoffnam, what are your thoughts on the USA team and on the European team?

[AJ Hawk]

Well, I don't. There's been some slander to, towards this American team from this program. I mean, I know. What are you guys saying? They're not cool or they don't have moxy or not a lot of moxy.

[Pat McAfee]

What's your problem? We don't need mox. If they were in Europe, they would need moxie. Our boys would need moxie. But we're in America. Our fans will have enough moxie for our players. Players just need to lock in, dial in and maybe not start verbal sparring with Rory beforehand. Yeah. And Bryson D. Shambeau, to his credit last night. No games.

[Ty Schmidt]

No games.

[Pat McAfee]

No. This ain't about chipping over my house.

[Ty Schmidt]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

This ain't about putting a picture ping pong ball into a cup so that somebody can win a Ferrari in my living room.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

This ain't about having a good time in the back of your Thunderdome. Getting very close to a hole one multiple times very quickly. This is about beating the out of Europe for the United States of America. And I like these locked in. Yeah, I like that he's dialed in, AJ but with that being said, you look at the European team, it looks much cooler than our team.

[Boston Connor]

Don't show it. Don't show it.

[Pat McAfee]

It's up there right now. Don't show it.

[AJ Hawk]

I get it. But I don't know, I feel I have a good feeling about, about this American squad. I do. I think Keegan, you know how much, like, I don't know, like, I, I cannot imagine. Keegan feels like he's on the brink of a heart attack at all times because he's so excited about this opportunity and what he's doing as the captain of the squad. So I think, J.T. he's becoming Mr. Ryder Cup. Right. And he Going to get to get everybody juice. Bryson's going to go for it on the first hole, they claim. Hey, be alert for Sam Burns, top left, I think Sam Burns, he's a stud. I'm looking for big things from him.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, but we didn't know who that guy is right below Sam Burns, did we? Do we?

[AJ Hawk]

He wears the shades, right? He wears the big, like, aviator shades.

[Tone Diggs]

You mean the number 11th ranked golfer in the world who Foxy said sucks?

[Pat McAfee]

This isn't about how good we are or rankings or any of that. I'm saying face value. I'm not rooting for a lot of these guys. On Sunday. You go to the Europe team. I'm rooting for a lot of these guys. You're pulling for anti American propaganda on Sunday? No, no, this has nothing to do. This is the Ryder Cup. I'm rooting for America through and through. But I'm just saying they have a lot of cooler dudes on the Europe team than America does. And it's just unfortunate that it has to be pointed out.

[Ty Schmidt]

The thing we do have going for us is Rory said in his interview, like, hey, America is the greatest country in the world. So, like, for Rory to be saying that as we're going in, I think we have it. I mean, this basically tells you all you need to know. Everyone wanted to make it in America. America, it's the land of opportunity. I still believe it's the greatest country in the world. And if you come here and you work hard and you dedicate yourself, you can, you can be or do whatever you want.

[AJ Hawk]

We already won.

[Ty Schmidt]

I'm so grateful and lucky that I got to come to America early on. And I think success is celebrated here. I think there's a wonderful sense of work ethic. And yeah, as you know, I live here. My wife is American, my daughter is American. You know, I have a lot of affinity towards this country. And I think everyone that lives here should have that same affinity because it is. It's a wonderful. It is a wonderful place.

[Pat McAfee]

Don't be showing that right now. I don't need to see that going in a week. This feels like Foxy really wanted that to be run. So because he's on Team Europe, it sounds like.

[Boston Connor]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm not on Team Europe. That reminds me to clean Europe a little bit right there. We all, all know America is the greatest country on earth. Why would I not run that video right there? Especially going into this weekend, Rory's not thinking about Europe. He's not thinking about his homeland. He's not thinking about all of his fans in Europe. He's thinking about America because it's the greatest country on earth. He's trying to warm up these fans. That's what. He's trying to warm you up, Mark. We have the better team, and that's all that matters. I'm just saying they have some cool dudes on that side. Okay. I believe it was two. I don't love it.

[Boston Connor]

Do we have the better team?

[Tone Diggs]

I think it. We do. I think it was 2000 the last time that an away team won.

[Pat McAfee]

When was it?

[Tone Diggs]

2012.

[Pat McAfee]

I believe it's every two years. Yeah, I don't like that.

[AJ Hawk]

Starts tomorrow. Starts tomorrow morning.

[Ty Schmidt]

Is that right? Tomorrow at seven. Ten, I believe is.

[Pat McAfee]

So just. Just real quick.

[Tone Diggs]

The COVID Something happened there, so I think.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so it pushed it back to an odd year.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, we got rocked last time, right? Was that Paris?

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Boston Connor]

They were doing that cool chant on the bus on the way home with the unbelievable guy.

[Pat McAfee]

What was the chant?

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, I thought he was just saying, you're unbelievable.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, it might have been that.

[Ty Schmidt]

I don't remember.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, he hold it. Oh, wow.

[Ty Schmidt]

He hold it.

[Pat McAfee]

Wow. Unbelievable.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's hard not to root for that guy.

[Pat McAfee]

And then Rory saying, america's the greatest.

[Ty Schmidt]

Exactly. And then on the flip side, you got Patrick KE Cantlay, who I want to see miss the cut and get last place every single week.

[Pat McAfee]

So it's gonna be very hard for.

[Ty Schmidt]

Me to come back around and wish him success on Friday. I will. I'll do it. But guess what? If he goes two down on the first two holes. Oh, mama. I'm gonna be ruthless. I hate that guy.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, mama.

[Ty Schmidt]

Hated him.

[Pat McAfee]

What did. Magic kid. Oh, mama. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

What'd he do to you?

[Pat McAfee]

He sucks.

[Ty Schmidt]

He takes. Takes forever to get. Yeah, he's just. Nothing about his game is compelling. Nothing.

[Pat McAfee]

He's an American.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's it. Sure, I. I get that. There are a lot of Americans out there, too. I don't particularly like, but they're not playing Go for the country this weekend.

[Pat McAfee]

That's what I'm saying.

[Ty Schmidt]

So I can let by guys be by guys. But having said that, this guy better win every point. He better win. Win every point for the US While he's.

[Pat McAfee]

For all of them.

[AJ Hawk]

Y. Keegan's gonna put that in a video tonight to show the old boys. Hey, no one believes it. Even your own guy.

[Ty Schmidt]

No, no, I didn't say no one believes in the team. I. You guys are missing the believe in him. I don't like him.

[AJ Hawk]

Gotcha.

[Ty Schmidt]

Just I believe in the boys. We got Scotty Scheffler, right? Can't lay you. You better pick up some points for the. For the country here, pal.

[Pat McAfee]

What if he does? Will he win you over? Over?

[Ty Schmidt]

No, absolutely not. I hate the guy's guts.

[Pat McAfee]

What? He does everything good for our country, though. You. You maybe turn over a new leaf. You got Yankees right there across your forehead. Obviously for the New York Yankees, but there has to be some sort of American pride. What if this guy goes out there and dominates pitches a perfect game?

[Ty Schmidt]

Then I would say, yeah, you're on the Ryder Cup. It's about time, pal. Because you've been on this team how many times before and we're always losing. And I'm always seeing that goofy look on your face after we lose. So you know what it would take? He needs to hold like a 75 foot putt on 18 on Sunday to win the Rider cup for the US and then maybe I'd get back on his side a little bit.

[Pat McAfee]

There's a chance.

[Tone Diggs]

There's a chance.

[Pat McAfee]

That's golf, baby.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's golf.

[Pat McAfee]

I think America wins. I'm pumped for it. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, has become a weekly conversation and we're incredibly thankful for it. He has a wealth of football knowledge and his team had a tough loss to Michigan. Ladies and gentlemen, joining us now, the head coach of the Nebraska Corn Huskers football team, Matt Rule. Sorry, man. Hey, Matt. Thank you for joining us. Coach, I've. You're on the road right now recruiting, right? What state are you in right now?

[Matt Rule]

Oh, well, I would listen to conversation. I could tell you this. I'm in Pierre, South Dakota at Mustang Aviation. And every single person here is counting on the US to win the Ryder Cup. There is no debate who we're rooting for here in South Dakota.

[Pat McAfee]

Thank God. I'm happy to hear that out of you, Coach. That's why we like. There's no debate on who we're pulling for boys. I actually don't like the culture of this stuff. For them all. I couldn't agree more.

[Ty Schmidt]

There is no debate on who we're rooting for.

[Pat McAfee]

Rooting for America?

[Ty Schmidt]

None.

[Matt Rule]

It's not the name on the back of the jersey, it's the name on the front. This week it's usa. That's it.

[Ty Schmidt]

Tell that to Patrick Cantlay, coach.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, hold on. You're pulling for him this week?

[Ty Schmidt]

I am. I am. I am. Because he's on Team usa.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. That's what we're saying he's saying. It sounds like you guys are a little bit conflicted on who's maybe pulling who you're pulling for. And I don't like that. That being a representation of what we have going on here. We're pulling for America to be Europe. Right, Foxy, you too, with the. This team's so cool looking. Didn't he put it up there, like, four or five different times? Yeah. And it's true. Remember back in the day, we used to have Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, where's Brooks Koepka at? Where's Dustin Johnson at? They need to get better at calling golf because they're cool dudes. Okay. Dustin Johnson would be cool up there. Thank you.

[Tone Diggs]

He hasn't shot under par in two years.

[Pat McAfee]

I know, but I'm saying if he was to somehow be good at golf again, maybe he goes, talks to Wayne, kind of does some osmosis stuff. It would be cool to see Dustin up there. It'd be cool to see Brooks up there. Just because the big fat lip. Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

I didn't realize this was a cool contest. I thought this was a golf contest.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. I don't.

[Pat McAfee]

I think it's part of it. I think it's part of it. Especially with this amount of crowd and chirping and everything like that. I think our boys can be locked in, though, Foxy. So why don't you come back to America? Okay. Why don't you come back to it? Like I said, we're the better team. We're gonna win. I'll be rooting for the boys. But if we lose, I know what I'm gonna blame it on.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, it's can't lay's ass.

[Pat McAfee]

We don't know. The Mustang aviation FBO up there in South Dakota is a beautiful one. Obviously, you're hitting the road to get good players. We respect that. Let's talk about what happened against Michigan. We have to. This was a big one for your team. Team. I think this was a massive one for the story of the Big Ten. I think this was going to be considered a measuring stick for you, I think, but also for what your team could be this year. Do you agree with that, or do you think we're still early in the process of figuring out who the hell we are at Nebraska?

[Matt Rule]

Well, I think. I think both can be true. I mean, there was a chance to play a play a game versus a perennial top 25 team at home. They have a rookie quarterback, freshman quarterback, so, you know, you got to go win that game. And we didn't.

[Pat McAfee]

So.

[Matt Rule]

So, I mean, we have, we have to be disappointed. But, you know, we're also not going to put on, you know, black shirt, black tie, and just, you know, call it a season. I mean, you know, we look at that game, Pat and I say, you know, we gave up seven sacks, we gave up 286 yards rushing. So they got after us in that ways and we lost by three. You know, I told our guys, like, I mean, we got playmakers making plays all over the field. We just, we gotta get a little bit better in a couple areas. And that was a good measuring stick for us. And you know what?

[Pat McAfee]

What?

[Matt Rule]

We're going to play a lot more good teams. We got Michigan State in two weeks. We'll be ready.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, so everything's still in front of you guys, obviously? Yes.

[Matt Rule]

Heck yeah. I mean, you know, we're going to have a chance to play face a lot of good teams. And I think that that took our pulse, right? It let us see, like, hey, you know what, we knew the line of scrimmage battle would be one that, you know, we'd have to wait and see, but we held them to 100 yards passing. We covered them all over the field. We played good. We, we played, we threw the ball, Dylan, two for the ball for 300 and some yards. So the things that we've tried to get better at, we've gotten better at it. Now, you can't win in the Big Ten if you don't control the line of scrimmage. So we have to improve that. But, but yeah, we, we're not, we're not seeding anything, man. We're going to, we're going to, we're going to, we're going to battle back.

[Pat McAfee]

Tell me about Michigan a little bit. Tell me about their team. Obviously, Bryce Underwood, phenomenal recruit is what everybody was talking about. Five star build, everything. Tell me about their team. What did you see from them?

[Matt Rule]

I think two things really stood out to me. Number one, you know, the week before they moved Jayshon Barnum, they moved him from middle linebacker. You know, we played at Maryland and moved there and played. They moved him out to their outside linebacker. Man, I walked up to him after the game, I said, well, you're, you're, you're a top 10 pick. I mean, he, that move disrupted everything. You know, he didn't play that against Oklahoma. He played off the ball and he's a great off the ball linebacker. But, but he, he is, he is a difference maker coming off the edge. And then Justice Haynes, the tailback from, from Alabama, you know, we gave up 286 yards rush. We gave up three, three carries for 168 yards. It's just he, he's a, he's a, you give him a crack and he's gone. And so, you know, to win in the Big Ten, they're going to have to throw the ball more. You can't throw the ball for 105 yards on screens. You're going to have to throw the ball down the field. But they got two guys there that I thought were top 10 type tight players that are going to be difference makers in the Big Ten.

[Pat McAfee]

I can't wait to see what your team is by the end of the season and what this Michigan team is by the end of the season. Everybody basically growing at the same time. Go ahead, A.J.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, speaking to that coach, I. In your past as a coach, I'm sure you, you're always paying attention to how, how good can your team get from the beginning, from game one until say, game 12? What kind of progress can you make? What kind of momentum can you build? Is that something you feel like this team, obviously, each and every game, win or lose, like, you guys are getting better. I just wonder when you look back at the end of the season, you look at, hey, week one or two and you think, I know I've sometimes been like, we were a different football team back then. Like, we don't make those mistakes anymore. We're so much better. Do you see that for this team and for, you know, teams you've had in the past?

[Matt Rule]

Yeah, no doubt. I mean, the interesting thing in that game, AJ Is we went down the field in two minutes before the half, end up throwing a Hail Mary for a touchdown. We go down the field at the end of the game and go down and score a touchdown. So in critical moments, you know, our inability to block their pass rush, but in critical moments, you know, those two minute drives, we move the ball and so it's not a, oh my gosh, we can't, it's that, hey, we didn't. And so I think, you know, sometimes positions like O line and corner positions, where like, if you mess up, everyone sees it, like, you almost have to go through a game sometimes where like, you know what, you had a bad game, you regroup, you wake up the next day, you're not dead. And now you go out and say, okay, I played against Barnum, he's an elite player. What am I going to do moving forward? How am I going to get better. And you know, I showed the guys the other day, like the Ravens, you know, Lamar Jackson got sacked seven times that there's going to be days like that. I mean this is a team in Michigan that you know, beat Ohio State to end the year. Beat who? I think maybe Alabama in the bowl game. I can't remember who it was. Like they're a good, good football team and it's a team we lost 55, seven to two years ago. Now there's no moral victories. But our week, we lost by three. We had every chance to compete. We scored a touchdown, you know, we stepped out of bounds, we didn't get the four points. So you're a player two away but you have to make those plays up and I think that's the mindset our guys have to have.

[Pat McAfee]

On that note, Connor has a question for you.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, coach? What do you look for in your team when you're facing adversity? Is it just, you know, the week of practice, especially when you don't have a game the next week and you can't really get back out there and prove it? Are you just looking for effort, looking for energy all this week? What are some of those things and then is it part of it to you also kind of, you know, letting up a little just because they are probably beating themselves up so much for the loss itself, you know, at home that you almost don't need to get on your guys versus, you know, when sometimes you do if you're playing, you know, a team under your guys skill level.

[Matt Rule]

Yeah, I think that's a great question. Number one. I think having a bye week the week after a game like that is torture. Like I'm tortured right now. Like this is, this is absolutely miserable because you want to get back out and play. I think the other thing though is if I took the approach with them of like, hey, it's okay, we lost, it's Michigan, you know, then, then they wouldn't respect me. Like to me it's like, no, no, no, no, no. Like we know they're good. So you guys are good too. And you know what, Like Ohio State lost to Oregon last year in game four by one point. You know what they did? They came back and they won a bunch of games. They got, they got angry, they got pissed off and they came back. So we're not going to sit there and say hey, it's okay. Like hey, fix this, fix this, fix this. You know what we did? We went out that, we went out and coaches had their practice schedule and Bro, I put the ball down on Tuesday, and I said, all right, well, ones on ones. Let's go play twos on twos. And we went for about an hour and 15 minutes, and the guys had so much fun and wasn't punishment. Sometimes you have to, like, you put so much pressure. You got to go back to just playing the game. Just go play, have fun, enjoy it, fly around. We did that Tuesday. We did that Wednesday. This morning. We practiced this morning, and then I headed up here, so just wanted them to get back to like, hey, you're a good football team. It's a play to hear a play there. Now go make those plays, and I think we will.

[Pat McAfee]

How'd the boys play? 115. Who won that? Defense or offense? Everybody get their licks?

[Matt Rule]

You know what? It was probably the best practice we've had all year. I think the defense, you know, when you give up 286 yards rushing, it's like. Like your soul has been crushed. And you can say, it's a play here, it's a play. It's soul crushing. So I thought the defense, they came back and answered it. You know what I mean? It's like, hey, as you guys know, like, on defense, you can't wait for someone else to make the play. Like, you got to do your job, but then you got to run the ball, you got to knock the ball out, you got to. You got to strike somebody. You got to get off a block and make a play. And so I thought I saw some of our younger guys starting to be like, you know what? I can play better than this. And so I think our defense made a jump this week.

[Pat McAfee]

That's awesome. I can't wait to see who they are next week. Whenever you get back on the field again against Michigan State. Hey, Michigan State's going to go green. Go white. Coach putting points up the defense. I don't know, but those boys are putting points up on offense. Yeah. Defense is going to get tested again. They got a great wide receiver. How's old buddy doing? Nick Marsh is doing great. He's a little banged up, but he's having a good year so far. Okay, Michigan State's good. I think it's a good team to have because. Not terrible. Oh, yeah. Good. Good test. Just lost to Michigan. Okay. I'm not going to say anything about the brothers. Which one? One. You know, in the state of Michigan. I would stay out of that. One of them has 14 billionaires giving money. I don't know how many. Michigan State, I think, got that One guy that was sitting next to me at that basketball game. Yeah, we got guys that need to start ponying up because we do have billionaires. I know that. Okay, so we're saying, hey, foxy needs to maybe start spending a little bit. We can have Phil do that. We got Phil send some of your check right over the Michigan State to get players for that football team. You talking about me? No, I'm good. Okay. Not that important. Okay. I don't know. There's another huge game happening this weekend that obviously you have some familiarity with at least the home. Go ahead, Tone.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, coach. There's a few big ones in the Big Ten this weekend, but obviously the nightcap, the, the white out at Penn State. Oregon traveling to Penn State is the headline maker of that one. What's your early read on that one? I know you play Penn State later in the season. You don't play Oregon. But what do you think about Dan Lanning going to visit Happy Valley?

[Matt Rule]

I, I, I think it's going to be a great game. I think one of the unique, interesting things is going to be, I mean, Penn State at night at the Whiteout might be the loudest place I've ever been. And while Oregon, I've heard how loud it is there. I'm really interested to see Oregon, their communication with a young, a dynamic young quarterback and Dante, you know, but just to see how they handle the crowd noise, how they handle the crowd, that's really, to me, a key factor in the game. And then on the flip side, Penn State, you know, obviously you lose Ty Warren, you got the great backs, like how explosive can they be in the passing game? Drew Allers, a great quarterback, but, but, but are they going to be able to get open versus the secondary that Oregon has? And so it should be a back and forth, back and forth game. But I, I really believe the crowd noise and playing in one of those, one of those elite Big Ten environments at night, that's something that, you know, it's going to be interesting to see how it worked with the young quarterback, how they handle it.

[Pat McAfee]

I, I heard something crazy like 112,000 plus going to be so many. So, and they're in the middle of renovating that stadium, so I don't even know what it's going to be. Whenever it's fully renovated, they got a great supply of people that are supporting that program. Whenever you look at teams around the Big Ten, obviously you've talked about you have great support in Nebraska is one of the reasons why that was a job it feels like the Big Ten is more teams are stepping up than maybe in the other conferences. Do you agree with that and do you think the Big Ten right now at this point, by far? I think I heard Urban Meyer talk about how when he was down in Florida, and then he comes up to Ohio State, you know, and he's won national championship everywhere, by the way. I mean, Urban has won everywhere. He said it was definitely back in the day, maybe not so far. History. SEC was by far best conference. No question asked. Geography. There was an advantage. Everything there was advantage. More primetime games also. And the environments and the cultures are crazy. I mean, it was sec, Urban said. Now it feels like the Big Ten is certainly deeper than it has ever been. And maybe at the time is we are the best conference in America, obviously national champions there from the last couple years. How do you feel about the Big Ten and how do you all kind of discuss it as coaches understanding that the strength of the conference is a good thing, especially with the way the College Football Playoff is set up?

[Matt Rule]

Yeah, no doubt. I think, think the Big Ten has really emerged. And obviously winning the last two national championships helps, but the advent of nil, you know, there used to be like, you know, Ohio State had all Ohio players, Alabama had all Alabama players. It was, you know, we kind of all recruited regionally. But now with the portal with recruiting, we're all recruiting all over the country. I mean, I'm leaving here, I'm going to Texas. Right. Like, it's just a completely different animal now. And so that. That, that benefits the Big Ten a great deal. It was really. It was really weird last week to have, you know, Brad Nestler, Gary Danielson do our game, you know, the 2:33:30 Eastern CBS game. I mean, that's been the SEC forever. And what the Big Ten has done is they've bought a lot of those primetime spots you like, you know, like, you know, like we were the national game against Michigan. And so I think the Big Ten has made some really big moves. And obviously bringing in usc, bringing in Oregon, bringing in Washington, who. That's a sneaky good. I mean, they're scoring points. That's a sneaky, sneaky good team.

[Pat McAfee]

Right now, they're getting eight and a half at home. And people talk about that being the loudest place maybe to play. That place is difficult to play out there. It's a far trip, too, coach.

[Matt Rule]

That's right. So I think when you, when you factor in the travel, when you factor in the weather, when you factor in the last two national championships and then the teams adding the teams from the West Coast. I mean, I think the Big Ten is at a better point than it has never been before and it's only getting better. And you know, like even last week we're disappointed we lost. But like, you don't need that to be 55, 7. You want the good games in your conference to be 30, 27. You want there to be Barbers coming down. Who would have ever thought Oregon, Penn State would be like a conference, you know, game on national tv, but it is now. And that to me that's what's making the Big Ten so proficient and such a, such a good league.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't want to talk any shit on anything, but I think the noon game being the biggest Big Ten game every single week and obviously that's a good deal. I appreciate, I respect what they've done for college football. A lot of investment and everything like that. We see it whenever we travel to a couple game day spots. I think national recognition of Big Ten like cultures kind of go down because the primetime game isn't what it is. They're about to fucking see it with Penn State. That place is about to be alive. You know, that is, that is a spectacular cult up there. I mean they are, they are all in and they will be the, oh, it's about to be legendary. But boy, if Oregon gets hot early like Ohio State did to Oregon at the Rose bowl, you can take a home field advantage and kind of make it your own in that it's all about how you start. I think in those games. You agree with that coach?

[Matt Rule]

Absolutely. I think you have to take, you know, you have to take the crowd out of it early on. You know, one thing about Oregon is that they've played in big games, right? And they've played loud stadiums and they have a coach. Dan, Dan Lanning to me is one of the best coaches in football. He's, he's got elite swagger and so he's not going to, he's not going to tiptoe around the moment. He's going to be, he's going to be ready for the moment. Now, you know, you go back and look at their year. You know, the Oklahoma State win isn't quite as I saw 69, 3. I was like, oh my goodness. But then, you know, they scored whatever 10, 12 points against Tulsa. So I don't know what that is, but I know this. They've got great players, they've got a coach who isn't afraid of anything. And you go out. You play well early, and all of a sudden the stifling crowd noise that makes you be on silent cadence, it kind of, kind of dissipates it. Now you just get back to playing football, settling down, and that would be very much in Oregon's favor.

[AJ Hawk]

Go ahead, AJ Coach, you mentioned fast start. We always talk about that. Every coach obviously wants their team to have. Have a fast start. But what can you do as a coach to like to facilitate that, to act, to make sure it actually happens?

[Matt Rule]

Yeah, I think a unique thing is, is when you have that big of a trip and that much travel, making sure your guys, like, their legs are fresh and they're energized and they're juiced up. You know, I don't know if Oregon went two days ahead or not, but, you know, even in the NFL, you don't make this many cross country trips. So there's a, there's a travel component to the fast start. I think one of the biggest things early on is, is. Is throwing your best stuff at them. And that's not just defensively. It's, you know, if I'm at Oregon right now, I'm saying, hey, we need that. We need to hit the quarterback. We need to get to Al or early, whether we blitz, whatever we do. Like, we need to make sure he knows that we're here. And then offensively, you know, you have a young quarterback, this is his first moment in this level situation. Like, I want him to start off 8 for 8, you know, 8 for 8. Even if it's for 88 yards, like, be 8 for 8. Get, get in rhythm, feel really good early on, come over the sidelines, you have a bunch of different guys who caught balls. And then all of a sudden everyone starts saying, like, okay, I'm ready for this. You know, you don't want guys having their first catch to be in the middle of the third quarter on third and seven. Like, let's get the ball pressed around, let's get the quarterback in rhythm, and let's make sure their quarterback isn't in rhythm, because this game will come down to, in my mind, which quarterback plays the best.

[Pat McAfee]

Dante Moore's been spinning it. Drew Aller's stats have not been spectacular with their start. They haven't really played anybody. Have they been high, hiding everything? That is kind of the narrative around the Penn State team right now, which is never good. If you haven't been hiding anything. It's. No, we've been playing our best football, actually, and everybody just thinks we're holding Back. Dan Lanning spoke about the whiteout and he said play the game, not the occasion. Basically is his messaging to the boys. We've seen a lot of behind the scenes stuff of how Dan talks to his team. I like the way you described him. He's got a lot of swagger. His team carries that, as does your team. Good luck in recruiting out there in South Dakota. That's a beautiful state, brother. They got a lot of dogs out there.

[Ty Schmidt]

They do.

[Matt Rule]

They do. So we're happy to be up here.

[Pat McAfee]

Evil Knievel.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Adam Venteri. Colt Anderson, of course.

[Boston Connor]

Dallas Goddard.

[Pat McAfee]

Dallas Goddard's from out there, I think. Brock Lesnar. Born in South Dakota.

[Ty Schmidt]

Tucker Craft.

[Pat McAfee]

Tucker who?

[AJ Hawk]

Baldo. Didn't he do a game?

[Ty Schmidt]

He lives out there.

[Pat McAfee]

He's in Montana.

[Ty Schmidt]

You're right.

[Pat McAfee]

Geez.

[Ty Schmidt]

You're right. It's not South Dakota.

[Tone Diggs]

I think he left Silver Ball in Dakota.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. Ladies and gentlemen, on a recruiting visit, which we appreciate him making time. Good luck the rest of the way. Friend of the program, host of Haas Rules. That's right. Hey, Will Compton. Not a bad looking bald guy. Obviously would rather still have hair, but not a bad looking bald guy.

[Matt Rule]

He looks pretty good. And, you know, it was, it was hard to shoot house rules after losing this week. But we put, we put it out with Joey McGuire from Texas Tech. You know, you know what part of being a man is doing, doing everything every week. So like I said, we'll be back, though. We'll be celebrating on the show here soon.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. You got to answer the bell and you did here today. We appreciate you. Ladies and gentlemen, coach Matt Rule.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah, Coach.

[Pat McAfee]

All right, let's get to a break on the other side. We'll make our picks. We'll cover everything that we haven't talked about. And then we got Stanford, Steve, Conversation about college. It's a great time to be a football fan. It's a great time to be a sports fan. Baseball's crushing. Yeah. Hey, I actually was captivated by baseball last night.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, you, you've watched it in the past. Like, the baseball playoffs are awesome. I get like, it's a slog getting to that point because there are so many games. But look at it. 62, 162. Like the, the season is going to come down to the last game of the season. Like, it's crazy. And there are multiple, multiple teams who still have a chance or who could choke, but once the playoffs actually start like that, those games are, they're awesome.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. But if it was 100 games, Detroit Tigers good. New York Mets good. That's right. All these other things.

[Ty Schmidt]

Good point.

[Pat McAfee]

You know, like. But now it's 162 games. Tigers just ain't got it anymore.

[Ty Schmidt]

Hey, it's because you know what? You got to play the whole season. Because sometimes the cream rises to the top and sometimes the teams who are pretenders all along, they fall off. Oh, yeah, Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

Rest in peace. I'm Christian McCaffrey, pro running back, and Abercrombie is an official fashion partner of the NFL. I'm not kidding when I say NFL by Abercrombie.

[Boston Connor]

Broke the Internet last year, and I.

[Pat McAfee]

Think this season's lineup is even cooler.

[Boston Connor]

And so does my wife, who keeps.

[Pat McAfee]

Stealing all my hoodies.

[Tone Diggs]

Stay fit for the season.

[Pat McAfee]

And Abercrombie's newest arrivals. Shout out.

[Boston Connor]

Shop NFL by Abercrombie in the app, online and in store.

[Pat McAfee]

When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the.

[Tone Diggs]

Secure messaging app that brings the whole group together.

[Pat McAfee]

Use polls to settle dinner plans. Send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom's 60th. And never miss a meme or milestone. All protected with end to end encryption. It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone. Learn [e-mail] football 2:33. We will start this third hour now. That is Hoffnom. AJ Hawk right there. Hoff Nom. You get it?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I think I get it now.

[Pat McAfee]

I get it. Half norm. Okay, it's abbreviation, not nom like Viet. No, it's nom, like nominee. So then it would be half nom, half nom. Half nom. Half nom. Half nom, half nom. DJ Hawk. Right there. Right there. Hoffn. Hof Nom. Hof Nom. Hoff. That's where. That's the. That's your abbreviation. Some people go to school to get PhDs. Some people are doctors. Sure. Some people we call Masters of love. Or. No. What is it called whenever you get a master of love ceremony. Love ordained. Yeah, but it's called. Called something. Pastor ministry. Those exist.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, oh, so, yeah, Love doctor.

[AJ Hawk]

No, it's something you can officiant. You can officiate weddings.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, it's like 35 bucks. They overnight change.

[Ty Schmidt]

It's a doctor of love.

[AJ Hawk]

Universal Life ministry.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, that is what it's called. But it's called something you become. You become something.

[AJ Hawk]

Somebody said you ordained something of love.

[Pat McAfee]

Love, though. I don't know about that. Anyways, yours is Hoffnom. So that's okay. That's a pretty cool. That's a pretty cool little sir title or whatever the hell it is. Toxic tables here at Boston, Connor at Ty Schmidt. That's a sweet shirt that.

[Boston Connor]

Thanks kitten. Con I haven't worn in a while. I saw it at the top of pile so I'll grab it.

[Pat McAfee]

A couple planes in there. You got the Wright brothers flying around. Oh yeah.

[Boston Connor]

It's supposed to be King Kong, but just with a cat.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, I get it. Because the kitty cat.

[Boston Connor]

Kitty cat Kong.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, yeah, right there.

[Boston Connor]

Not too shabby. Not too shabby.

[Pat McAfee]

I'll tell you what, that cat would.

[Boston Connor]

Raise a lot of hell, no doubt about it.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, especially with the way those planes look. That'd be a big toy for that cat. I mean that would be batting the out of it. Cats are very athletic.

[Boston Connor]

Nine lives.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Well, always land on their feet. No shoulder blades.

[Pat McAfee]

Well, babe, is it the shoulder blades?

[Boston Connor]

Cats do not have shoulder blades. So that their arms when they're straight when they go back instead of stopping. Yeah, they don't stop because they don't have shoulder blades.

[Pat McAfee]

That's amazing.

[Boston Connor]

They go all the way down.

[Pat McAfee]

I think they also flying squirrel. They make themselves into like their body naturally like becomes a parachute. Like a parachute for them as they're falling. There's four cats at my house. One of them is three legged kid. AI says Google says yes cats have shoulder blades. They are called scapulae. In scientific terms, cat shoulder blades are different from those of humans in several ways. They have different shoulder blades.

[Boston Connor]

Excuse me.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, Bruce. I forgot. This is Bruce place today. This is Bruce Brown. This is unbelievable. It was just so tense.

[Boston Connor]

Not even called shoulder blade.

[AJ Hawk]

Just seeing the yes that they obviously have some kind of shoulder blade.

[Pat McAfee]

I just thought it was fun. But you should have looked up the parachute of the cats. What they do is as they fall. I watched a Instagram video of cats showcasing how athletic they are. So quick, quick, so dynamic. My three legged cat lands same exact thing. They're a good animal. I couldn't even imagine one being the size of King Kong. Right there. With those particular. There's people jumping out of planes. That's probably the right play. 1/2 of the Hammer Cowboys AP tone is here. 74 was the last time we got the update on this game. Is it still at 74?

[Tone Diggs]

72.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, money's moving. 72 now in a Seahawks minus a point and a half traveling to beautiful Phoenix. Phoenix? Well, Glendale I guess. Arizona. Wonderful stadium. Great fan base. Will the Seattle Seahawks beat them by more than a point and a half. AJ Hawk, we'll start with you. Last week was not good for either of us, but this week could be our best week of all time. And that's how we need to view it. Seahawks minus a point and a half against the Cardinals. AJ how do you see it going?

[AJ Hawk]

So I was leaning Seahawks early on in the show. I talked about it earlier. I heard con man talk about about the Cardinals and what they have going. I understand that. I think they're a little Cardinals a little bit banged up on the other line. We'll see. I know there's some questionable guys on the injury report, but I, I, I'm going to take the Seahawks on the road behind this fearless Sam Darnold. I think the Seahawks find a way to. I think they get it done. I think they win by six, seven, ten, who knows?

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, on that note, Rapaport just reported that Zach Charbonnet, who is listed as questionable for the Seahawks. Yeah. Is expected to play tonight against the Arizona Car Cardinals. He had been dealing with foot injury but was full participant in practice just yesterday. Okay, so we should see one of their best players on the field. Jackson, Smith and Jigba for the Seattle Seahawks leading the NFL and receiving. And then on the other side, Kyler Murray and the boys. It's hard for me to be even. I used to bet on the Cardinals a lot. Remember that? It was like two years ago.

[Tone Diggs]

I was like collar because of shots and explosives.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

But I was going to make some coward plays, you know, some highlight real plays.

[Mike McCarthy]

For sure.

[Pat McAfee]

It was mostly because I believed in Kyler. Like I think I've always believed in Kyler. I've lost a lot of bets believing in Kyler beginning of the year though. Normally they start out pretty good. Yeah, two and one thus far, would the Cardinals go three and one? That's an interesting thing. If they're three and one. You got to have a conversation about the Cardinals all of a sudden. Especially if they get a win over the Seahawks. Only lost being to the Niners. Now granted, they're going to have to get that back later in the year. You would think, think. But are the Cardinals for real? Are the Arizona Cardinals going to. Gumpy really liked them. Gumpy really liked them because the percentage of people that are betting on the Seahawks. Is that the only reason why? Is there any other reasons? Gumpy? No, not at all. Absolutely.

[Ty Schmidt]

I've just been riding that and it's been working.

[Tone Diggs]

You know, that's just prime time games. If you fade the public, you usually Got a pretty good shot.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, 70 plus percent, too, is a no brainer for you. Is there any number if it was like 55, 45, would that be a sway for you? Or is it because once you get over 60, I start to worry a little bit.

[Tone Diggs]

Like, it was very loud that the Ravens were just going to smack the Lions.

[Pat McAfee]

I know the LI Lions are very.

[Tone Diggs]

Different than the Cardinals, obviously. Also rivalry jerseys tonight.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, my God. Arizona sent us. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

The sand Sandstorm.

[Jet Passan]

Sand.

[Boston Connor]

The box.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Is that sandstorm?

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

This is the new color rush. Oh, it's a root.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Sandstorm. That's their thing. They actually sent us their uniform. Can we get the helmet? Can you Gum? Yeah. Gumpy has the helmet. I don't think we can see it.

[AJ Hawk]

Come out here.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Gump, can you come out to the light? It was once in the shade, and it was in a box that was filled with sand. Actually build. The Arizona Cardinals sent a package to the Thunderdome with sand inside of it.

[Tone Diggs]

Up spilled everywhere a lot.

[Pat McAfee]

Are you serious? Yeah. I was not here whenever it was opened, but from what I heard, not a lot of happy parties in the Thunderdome that they put actual sand in the box. With that being said, what they pulled out of the sand. Greatness. This thing looks sick. Great color. Obviously. Gumpy looks more athletic than he's ever looked because of this helmet. Turn to the side there a little bit, Gumps.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, okay.

[Pat McAfee]

And the uniform, I assume, is going to match to the uniform coming to boxes. Yes.

[Boston Connor]

There's a Marvin here.

[Ty Schmidt]

Some.

[AJ Hawk]

I'm going to bang his head on the wall a little bit, see if it works.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Is it a tough above the chips belt? I think you can hit the. I think you can hit one of these pillars. Gump, see if it's a good helmet or not.

[AJ Hawk]

Get a couple headbutts. Oh, my goodness.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, and now, Gumps, because you are. You look like Kyler kind of out there. Let's go and do a universe shot here.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay.

[Boston Connor]

Let him throw.

[AJ Hawk]

Drop back a little bit. Scramble around like a Kyler.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, you gotta.

[AJ Hawk]

Earbud.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

That's a sick jersey. That's a game jersey. That's how tight they are. That's a legit jersey.

[Pat McAfee]

Looks good on good teamwork.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, those are sweet.

[Pat McAfee]

Now we talk. Now we're talking.

[AJ Hawk]

Is that a professional athlete?

[Pat McAfee]

All right, cops. You look like Kyler. Okay. All you need to do now.

[AJ Hawk]

Here you go.

[Pat McAfee]

This is for Arizona. This is universe right here. Yeah, it is. This is something you would wear in public. On a regular day. So I do appreciate the fact that, you know what? That can be yours, but, wow. It's yours now. Arizona Cardinals win tonight. If you put that football into this hoop right over here, and that's big. It's a lot of pressure here on the throwing arm of Gumpy. That is not normally the best.

[Boston Connor]

Grew up playing soccer.

[Pat McAfee]

Grew up a soccer player. Ran some sprints this morning, actually. Could be a little bit tired.

[Boston Connor]

True.

[Pat McAfee]

Could be a little bit winded. But he knows the fate of the game tonight is literally in his hands. Hand. Good. That's a great play Action Liberty.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, left hand, too. You do both hands? Yeah, I like left hand. Left leg, too. There. That's very athletic pitch. That's a good play. AJ Anything to say here before he hops one out here?

[AJ Hawk]

Can someone give him. Can we get someone to give him a shotgun snap? They don't have to take it under center, but shotgun. He can move around a little bit.

[Pat McAfee]

Absolutely.

[AJ Hawk]

He's Kyler.

[Pat McAfee]

Absolutely.

[Ty Schmidt]

Shotgun snap.

[AJ Hawk]

There you go. Call it, Gump.

[Boston Connor]

He said call.

[Pat McAfee]

Yep. Blue 42. Yep.

[Ty Schmidt]

Get in.

[Pat McAfee]

All right. That looks like.

[AJ Hawk]

I thought that was going in for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

That looked like a squip.

[AJ Hawk]

That looked good to me. He definitely got the laces.

[Ty Schmidt]

Then.

[Tone Diggs]

I'm done with laughing on the way.

[Pat McAfee]

I'm not playing your.

[Ty Schmidt]

I'm done with that.

[Pat McAfee]

And on that note, I'm picking the Seahawks.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

I was thinking about it. I was thinking about. I want to let you know if he was. Have put that in. I was going to pick the Cardinals. He looked so good in that uniform that they're going to wear tonight. I almost picked the Cardinals strictly because of that. Good. Yudi. But I like the Seahawks. I do. And it's week four.

[Ty Schmidt]

You know, are pants that color, you never know.

[Pat McAfee]

I think so. I think it's probably a really uniform. What's that, brother?

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, that's the rookie receiver, Tori Horton. That guy's legit, too. He's. He's emerging as a star.

[Boston Connor]

He had the 90 yard kick.

[Pat McAfee]

Cooper cup, too. Man.

[AJ Hawk]

Why do we keep forgetting about Cooper Cup?

[Tone Diggs]

True, true.

[Pat McAfee]

I. I did not remember Cooper Cup. Right there.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Good football.

[Tone Diggs]

He killed the Steelers.

[Pat McAfee]

That's a Steelers fan in the back saying they're a good football team. Let's never forget it. Catching the ball at your own five. Obviously an aggressive decision. Unless you're going to crib that thing. Wow, he's very.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah, he caught. He caught a touchdown in this game, too.

[Pat McAfee]

Punter just got absolutely killed. Can you go back a little bit. Hold on.

[AJ Hawk]

What a good block.

[Pat McAfee]

I did not know that that punter got murdered. Like that would have put the body on. Oh, no. And then the arm straight up. Oh, no. Hey.

[AJ Hawk]

Did he see him or did he. He wasn't trying to take on the block.

[Pat McAfee]

I feel like I. I don't know if he didn't see it, We. Okay, Foxy? Geez, Bruce. Whoever's in, whoever's doing this right now, let's take it easy. The guy already lived it 10 times in his own brain. Brain. His brain is probably bouncing back and forth.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, true.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I guess he didn't see the guy. Or maybe he thought he was gonna get around him. I don't know. We need to stay out of that area, though, brother. That's one of those areas we may not be in. That's where Kevin Huber was. You remember that?

[Tone Diggs]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You're either back or you're all the way in. You're either all the way in and they didn't block you. So you're past everything or you are last line. You're at the back. If you're in anywhere in that other area, that's called the mix mixer and you could be the one that's getting mixed, basically, that is where you need not be. I appreciate that. He stuck his fan. His face in the fan, though. Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

In the mixer.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah. I give him credit.

[Pat McAfee]

He did go into the mixer. He didn't come out of the mixer. That was the last time we saw that, man. Who was that? Who is the punter for the Saints?

[Mike McCarthy]

I'll look it up, man.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know if we need to.

[Tone Diggs]

Do that, but to Connor's point, it.

[Pat McAfee]

Was a great punt. He murdered that ball.

[Tone Diggs]

Is it Kai Krog? I think it's Kai Kroger.

[Ty Schmidt]

Go player.

[Pat McAfee]

New Orleans State's current punter is Kai Kroger, who signed out of South Carolina. Oh, yeah, I remember him. He's a good punter.

[AJ Hawk]

He's willing to go in there. I give him credit for honestly putting his head in there.

[Pat McAfee]

Agreed. And that punt, if that's not caught, probably goes out of bounds at, like, the four. I mean, that's a great punt, but he hit a absolute bomb in the corner, and then all of a sudden, I'm gonna ruin your life is what he said. Yeah, that's what the returner said. That was fun. You did a good job, Club. Let's make sure you remember this as a terrible experiment. All right? Football kicks off Tonight Ryder cup begins tomorrow. Life is amazing. We had a chance to catch up with Stanford Steve about what's about to happen on Saturday. Great lineup of college football. It's another football convo. College football convo with Stanford Steve. AJ have you downloaded this show?

[AJ Hawk]

Oh yeah, I saw last week. That was week one run, wasn't it?

[Ty Schmidt]

No, that was week two.

[AJ Hawk]

Was week two last week. I've seen both something.

[Pat McAfee]

It has its own podcast thing.

[Ty Schmidt]

It does.

[AJ Hawk]

You could download RSS feed, right?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Bingo started one from zero there. Could have just snuck it in under ours doing the entire thing. Didn't want to do that. Wanted to show respect to college football. Have its own entity. I think it has its own socials already. We're starting up there. So, you know, good luck to that college football show. But it's great catching up with Stanford Steve every week. Awesome. He wore that bandana thing. The Matisse year. The F. Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

You, you and I thought of at the same time. Thanks, Steve.

[Boston Connor]

That was two weeks ago. He played a game in between.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe it was late.

[Boston Connor]

They won the game day when After Steve won it.

[Ty Schmidt]

You're right. That's a good point.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay, but maybe he was just like on a wagon and it got there.

[Tone Diggs]

Sooner and that's what they ride him.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

He did tweet today though that surgery went well. Boomer sooner said Dr. Chin Shin's the best or something.

[Pat McAfee]

Jesus.

[Ty Schmidt]

Knew it was along those lines.

[Pat McAfee]

Shin. Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Dr. Shin. That could have been Dr. Chen.

[Pat McAfee]

He is dug goat. Yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

When's he back?

[Pat McAfee]

So they got a couple weeks here before Texas and I don't know what the expected return time is, but it felt like the way everybody was talking is he's going to be back for important football. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

Red River.

[Tone Diggs]

They were hoping, hoping that they said hopefully by the end of October.

[Pat McAfee]

That's Yeah, yeah. It's tough.

[Ty Schmidt]

I was gonna say yeah, he's coming back early.

[Tone Diggs]

I think so if we know anything about material.

[Pat McAfee]

What if he plays lefty?

[Boston Connor]

He could run the ball 80 times.

[Pat McAfee]

Why not? He's built like a horse.

[AJ Hawk]

Drop back lefty and just play a whole game as a drop back lefty.

[Pat McAfee]

Matt Zenitz. M. Zenitz, who I do not know but he says I, I, I appreciate his in intel and his family. Lovely. The current hope is that Oklahoma star quarterback John Mateer will be back before the end of October, says CBS Sports. Michael Hawkins will take over for Mattier, whom ESPN had previously reported was expected to miss about a month. Number seven. Oh, you has a buy this week. Then plays Kent State, Texas, South Carolina and Ole Miss. Okay. Before the end of October. So who knows if he's back for Red river?

[Tone Diggs]

That's the 11th.

[Boston Connor]

That's what I'm betting on.

[Pat McAfee]

You think? Because Mater.

[Boston Connor]

It's tough. Son of a bitch. It's the 25th, fifth, two weeks. I think he'll.

[Pat McAfee]

And Dr. Shin is the goat. We all know that. All right. So is Stanford, Steve. That's what we're learning. He brings it every week. He does.

[Ty Schmidt]

He does.

[Pat McAfee]

We get a whole Tuesday night, whole thing is what it's about to be. And that's very kind of him to do that. We are very appreciative of him to do that. And also this college football slate. AJ How's Ohio State gonna be? How we gonna. How's Ohio State?

[AJ Hawk]

Got a tough test. We got a big test at Washington.

[Pat McAfee]

It's a.

[AJ Hawk]

It is a legit test. They're a good squad. And that's a tough place to play.

[Pat McAfee]

Matt Rule said it. I think Tone told me yesterday. 33 game.

[Tone Diggs]

33 is Georgia. 22 is Washington.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. 22 straight home wins for Washington, 33 for Georgia down there as Alabama comes in wild. Yeah. We dive into all of that and have enough people said to Ohio State like, hey, tough place to play. Like, don't sleep on Washington. Eight and a half point spread as of the other day. I don't know where it's at right now.

[Tone Diggs]

I think it's down actually to 7. Ish.

[Pat McAfee]

I.

[Tone Diggs]

Can you pop that tweet back up about home win streaks? Whose home streak is at risk this weekend? Does anyone think Oregon and Bama is going to lose their home win streak this weekend?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I thought that was weird.

[Boston Connor]

And they're just putting the longest active win streak.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. The question you're talking about, the words. It's like whenever team's social media account tells us we're about to see highlights and we get one play.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, you're right. But I do appreciate the information that's coming from.

[Ty Schmidt]

Good information.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. That is a good graphic. 33 down in Georgia. That's a tough place to play. A lot of dogs.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Between the head down there.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Especially without fire going down. I got a text from a couple bulldogs, actually. What'd they say? I don't want name drop. I'm going to Colt Ford. Just text me. He said, go Dogs. Ford? Yeah. Cole Ford. So go Dogs. Brantley Gilbert talked to him last week after I picked against the Dogs. Why'd you do that? That's what he said overtime win over Tennessee felt even better. And he felt even better. Georgia might be all the way back.

[Boston Connor]

Cole Ford sings that song.

[Pat McAfee]

Which one?

[Boston Connor]

You do it. That one.

[Pat McAfee]

Cole Ford. Who's got bangers?

[Boston Connor]

Who the is Colt Ford?

[Pat McAfee]

I'm sorry. I don't know. Know that. I'm sorry. Whoa, whoa. I'm sure.

[Boston Connor]

I'm sure this is bad.

[Pat McAfee]

I can't play this. I can't play. I. I can't just play the song. So I can't just.

[Boston Connor]

Is there a photo out there?

[Pat McAfee]

You need to just go Spotify cool for it.

[Boston Connor]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

You've heard five.

[Boston Connor]

All right. The one like Toes somewhere. Insane.

[Pat McAfee]

No, that's Zach Brown.

[Ty Schmidt]

He's also a dog.

[Tone Diggs]

He's also a dog fan, I believe.

[Pat McAfee]

Yes. Yeah. Zach Brown, also from Georgia. You know the highways 20 ride over there. Yeah. Just you just. Maybe Cold Ford would be a good discovery for you.

[Boston Connor]

I think Cold Ford's not my cup of tea.

[Pat McAfee]

No, I think he is, actually.

[Boston Connor]

Okay, I'll try.

[Pat McAfee]

What are you expecting from the name Colt Ford? Yeah.

[Ty Schmidt]

Colby.

[Boston Connor]

Probably. Probably exactly what I heard when I was at the AC 500.

[Ty Schmidt]

Okay.

[Pat McAfee]

What do you think it is? What do you think it is?

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. Liquor in my cabinet, beer in my gut, meat on the grill.

[Pat McAfee]

So what?

[AJ Hawk]

Sounds sweet.

[Boston Connor]

That's what I assume.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't think he's. He's. He would take it by surprise. Cole Ford has bars. Okay. Yeah. Cole Ford lived a life now for. Has lived. He. He. Cold Ford has lived a life. I'm excited for you to discover him.

[Boston Connor]

If we pull up a photo. I'm sure.

[Pat McAfee]

I know. I don't. To be honest, I don't. I'm not 100% sure if you would. If you did see a photo of him and also what he looks like now versus what he has looked like. Very different. I think he had a couple life situations kind of take place.

[Ty Schmidt]

Reform fats.

[Pat McAfee]

So. I think so. Yeah. Okay. Has taken care of himself.

[Mike McCarthy]

Yep.

[Pat McAfee]

Has been forced to, I think. But bangers in the. In the set list. You should. You should dive in of Cold Ford. But what I'm saying is all the Georgia fans are happy with where Georgia is right now.

[Ty Schmidt]

Should be.

[Pat McAfee]

There's one woman that talks about more than anybody else in all sports.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, that's true. Just call them plays.

[Pat McAfee]

Carly or.

[AJ Hawk]

No, Sister Jean. I know she retired.

[Ty Schmidt]

She did.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't know if she's still getting talked about as much as she should be. God. But in an eminent. Yeah.

[Tone Diggs]

No, but I think the one you're.

[Pat McAfee]

Talking about Taylor Swift. I think Taylor Swift is part of sports. She gets talked about a lot in sports.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, right?

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah, I think probably a lot. A lot.

[Ty Schmidt]

Eastern amount.

[Pat McAfee]

Cc Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, now Asia Wilson just won the mvp.

[Tone Diggs]

Serena.

[Pat McAfee]

Serena, do you know the answer to this?

[AJ Hawk]

I do not.

[Pat McAfee]

It was on cover of Us Weekly or Us Weekly.

[AJ Hawk]

Oh, yeah. Okay. I. I knew this answer.

[Pat McAfee]

I. I don't. I'm cool with whatever. I am cool with whatever. Whatever Bill Belichick wants to do. She runs digital and social. I think every team has those people that do that and they are around. Okay. So if always. They are always around. So if that is who is running that. I have. I know a lot of people don't love it, especially her being on the sideline and all the drama and attention, especially with how the team's playing. But like, social people are around nowadays more so than ever before. So if she is the designated social person for team and Bill decided that, or whoever decided that she'd be around, I think regardless. Saying you're the most talked about woman in sports is a wild. That's a wild thing. I think that is a wild. Is a. That is an absurd thing to put out there. But also feels like they're working at all times.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Aren't they? They're always working.

[Ty Schmidt]

Always got something cooked up.

[Pat McAfee]

Do you think that. Obviously not expected out of Bill. Do you think Bill likes it, though, at this point, that they're always working and angry? I don't know.

[Boston Connor]

All I know is I got my name. I got his name tattooed on my arm. And if this continues down the same path, I'm just gonna have to cut my arm off.

[Pat McAfee]

No. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

So no. We'll see what happens.

[Pat McAfee]

What if they win football games?

[Boston Connor]

No. And maybe they do. It sucks. Cause I grew up in. Belichick, has always been Bill Belichick. Whatever the fuck's going on down there sucks. I think him going to college was a huge mistake. And I think everyone's realized realizing it now. And I love Bill. He damn near the last 20 years of his life up.

[Pat McAfee]

No, no, but that's fine. No, there are. There are people saying that this is a Jason Whitten in a booth type situation where people forgot how good Jason Whitten was at football when he went into that booth. Because he was heard by every football fan in America every single week. And it wasn't the most comfortable place, I think, for him or the best setup. So people forgot how good of a football player he was. He had to go Play football again and reminder. But hey, hey, the reason why that happened is because how good of a football player I am, how good of a teammate I am, how good all those things, I think they came back to being positive. But he got really negative there for a while for Jason Whitten's brand as a whole. Right now, Bill Belichick's brand is very low.

[Boston Connor]

I mean, I mean, yeah, Jason Wilton got back.

[Ty Schmidt]

He did.

[Boston Connor]

I don't think think Bill's getting back anymore. Good run.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe they win ACC down.

[Boston Connor]

I hope. Who gives a. He was winning super bowl.

[Pat McAfee]

The acc. That's stuffly. Sweeney talking about it. Eight out of the last ten years we were in the league.

[Boston Connor]

Dabo's getting fired. I mean, who gives a. Yeah, so.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe Bill goes down to Clemson, you know, Maybe.

[Ty Schmidt]

Yeah, there you go.

[Pat McAfee]

Maybe Bill needs a different call.

[AJ Hawk]

He runs down the hill, he runs downhill, just like.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. I'm telling you, I don't love it. I don't love the way everybody responds to every. Everything that Bill does, you know, but everything Bill does now we all go, that ain't what wild.

[AJ Hawk]

The whole thing is wild.

[Pat McAfee]

But he's having a different era. Hey, there's different errors of this entire thing. Most talked about woman in sports, I guess we're talking about. She said that.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, we did. She said that.

[Boston Connor]

Yeah. We kind of leaned in.

[Pat McAfee]

We're part of the problem.

[Ty Schmidt]

I mean, I think most people would say they'd hear that from her and they'd say she would say that.

[Pat McAfee]

And on that note, we hope everybody's happy.

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah, we do.

[Pat McAfee]

And after Bill's retired from coaching after winning an ACC championship, bingo here in a couple years, we assume, or if he gets back into the NFL, whatever happens, which I don't know if that's going to happen at this case because I think owners are a pretty big like higher on brand type people, I think. I don't know if anybody's going to sign up for all of it at this point, especially if they're not having success in North Carolina. But we got to remember whenever he's done coaching football, which whenever it is, we will still remember the greatness. Right? Yeah. Right.

[Boston Connor]

No matter what, banners last forever.

[Pat McAfee]

Right, A.J.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I think some old people will for sure.

[Pat McAfee]

What about. Are we old?

[AJ Hawk]

You know, younger, you know. Yeah, I'm old, so I know. I remember when the Patriots had their dynasty, but, you know, like young kids have no clue. And by young kids, I mean 28 year olds.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

But 100 years from now, when they tell the story of the NFL. Well, guess whose name is going to be there for 20 years. Bill Belichick. So he will never die. But as people who are fans of him throughout this whole thing, people who are fans of him when he was the head coach of the Patriots, I think for a lot of people after that, it will be hard to separate the two. No doubt.

[Pat McAfee]

He is living his life right. So we should be happy for him.

[Boston Connor]

This won't survive 100 years. The six Super Bowls he won will.

[Pat McAfee]

Let's remember.

[AJ Hawk]

Yeah, I think it might.

[Pat McAfee]

Aj, don't be. What are you. What are you doing? He was impression.

[AJ Hawk]

Past impressions.

[Boston Connor]

Publicly, you know, AJ, it didn't even last 25 years for Ray Lewis brother.

[Pat McAfee]

What?

[Boston Connor]

I think. You know what.

[Pat McAfee]

No, but I'm saying that that's.

[Boston Connor]

Well, yeah, I mean, we can go. Yeah. I think a lot of the Apple careers gets forgotten. I think. Which it should. Because of what they.

[Pat McAfee]

Unless it's the end, which is. I think what he's saying. He's saying our last impression is going.

[AJ Hawk]

To be gets an NFL gig and wins the Super Bowl.

[Boston Connor]

Well, that's not going to happen.

[Pat McAfee]

Whoa. We don't know that it could.

[Boston Connor]

I mean, do we know if Tom landry dated some 25 year old when he was done with coaching? I don't know if we do because we don't remember that stuff. But he could have. But old guys.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah. Bill Belichick, he's living. He's living a vastly different life than any of us could have expected. Yeah. Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

He's losing.

[AJ Hawk]

Hey, as long as he's. He's all in and he's happy.

[Pat McAfee]

Valid. I don't think any of us could have expected him to lose down there in North Carolina.

[Ty Schmidt]

Capitol Hill is beautiful, though.

[Pat McAfee]

God, it is beautiful. So nice that first drive, too. We were there.

[Ty Schmidt]

Nice golf course.

[Pat McAfee]

Country club right there.

[Ty Schmidt]

Exactly.

[Pat McAfee]

P. On Lombardos. Literally in a cave.

[Tone Diggs]

Love you, Mike.

[Pat McAfee]

We do. Love you, Lambo. We got faith in you guys.

[AJ Hawk]

Takes time.

[Pat McAfee]

Takes time.

[AJ Hawk]

Build your roster.

[Pat McAfee]

There's people saying some really mean things.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

People trying to sue. I think the whole thing. Trying to get really. I'm thinking there's a lot of going around down there. As soon as he got there. There's just been a lot. It's been a. But if you win games, guess what?

[Ty Schmidt]

It all goes away.

[Pat McAfee]

That's football, baby.

[Tone Diggs]

There's always gonna be year two and.

[Pat McAfee]

Then year three and then another one.

[Boston Connor]

And magazine cover two.

[Pat McAfee]

That's right.

[Ty Schmidt]

Cover three and then another one.

[AJ Hawk]

They didn't pose for that to their credit.

[Pat McAfee]

What?

[AJ Hawk]

It's a picture from a while ago. We know that.

[Boston Connor]

A picture from a while ago that.

[Pat McAfee]

They posed for at a.

[AJ Hawk]

They didn't pose for a cover of a magazine. They didn't bring him into a studio, and here we're on the COVID of Us Weekly.

[Pat McAfee]

Yeah.

[Boston Connor]

And they definitely didn't pick that photo either to be used as the COVID.

[AJ Hawk]

I think she may have had some creative control over which picture. Picture was used. Yeah, I think that's right.

[Tone Diggs]

If this relationship unfortunately doesn't work, I can't wait for Bill to be the golden bachelor.

[Pat McAfee]

Oh, yes.

[Ty Schmidt]

Oh, boom.

[Pat McAfee]

I don't want to think about him.

[Ty Schmidt]

There it is.

[Pat McAfee]

This relationship is going to work.

[Tone Diggs]

I said if it unfortunately doesn't. And he's the golden bachelor and she's.

[Pat McAfee]

The bachelorette, we'd like to put him fastest on unfortunately. Yeah. If it unfortunately does not. But. But we think it will work out, especially with how committed he seemingly is.

[Tone Diggs]

Because we love love.

[Pat McAfee]

I mean, he's got to be fully committed to this. Yeah. Forever. He's on magazines. He's doing Instagram. He's doing the entire thing, so we are happy for him, but, boy, they got to win some games. They got to win some games. All right. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. Hey, here's something nice to friends up down there in North Carolina. Guys need to start winning games really soon, really soon, really fast. Okay. It's gonna get really low. You know that, though, you guys. Have you guys been born in it? They'll figure it out. I don't like the most. It's like Taylor Swift action, actually. She's sports girl. Yeah. Loves ball.

[Ty Schmidt]

That's Jordan. That's Jordan football.

[Pat McAfee]

We're in this thing together. Never forget it. Let's enjoy tonight. Uhhuh. Are we all in the Seahawks?

[Boston Connor]

No.

[Pat McAfee]

You're on the Cardinals.

[Tone Diggs]

I like the under.

[Ty Schmidt]

Cardinals.

[AJ Hawk]

Goomps. Goomps on the Cardinals.

[Pat McAfee]

Right? Toxic tables both on the Cardinals. Yeah. I like the under 40 and a half. You like the under?

[Tone Diggs]

Yeah.

[Pat McAfee]

Gump, you're on the Cardinals. Yeah. All of a sudden, are you starting to wonder that everybody else is on the Cardinals with the. With your kind of thing? It's percentage.

[Tone Diggs]

It's not this real.

[Pat McAfee]

Bruce, who do you like? I'm with Tony on the under. I would take the Seahawks if it.

[Mike McCarthy]

Was gunned to my head.

[Pat McAfee]

Pick a side, Nick.

[Ty Schmidt]

Go Hawks.

[Tone Diggs]

Go. It's a good football team.

[Pat McAfee]

Good football. Steelers need Seahawks.

[Boston Connor]

You're gonna see a guy Wilson for the Cardinals. And I only know this because I've watched it live twice. This guy brings the wood. It's not just Buddha anymore. There's another guy back there. Safety, I believe He's. I don't know if he's a safety, if he plays linebacker, if he's like Harold Perkins Jr. But he flies around.

[Pat McAfee]

I can't wait to watch him. Laurent Landry wanted to be safety. D end.

[Boston Connor]

That's kind of what it reminds me.

[Pat McAfee]

Okay. I like that. I like that that was possible at that time. All right, A.J. it feels like we're kind of on an island right now.

[AJ Hawk]

We are. I'm holding strong, though.

[Boston Connor]

73% island.

[Pat McAfee]

No, no. That's people we don't know.

[Boston Connor]

Oh, yeah.

[AJ Hawk]

We don't know them.

[Pat McAfee]

Talk about our friends and that number. Who knows? Who knows on that? Rest in peace, Kinsig. Hell, yeah. Have a great night. This is a dream come true. Getting to talk ball for a living and the fact that you guys let us do that. This we're incredibly thankful for. Another football convo with Stanford. Steve follows this. Let's have an incredible night. Team on me. Team on three. One, two, three. Team. Goodbye. Talk about stepping up.

[Jet Passan]

It's time to level up your game.

[Pat McAfee]

Introducing the AllNew ESPN app. All of ESPN all in one place. Your home for the most live sports and the best championship moments. Electricity is palpable. Step up your game. With no annual contract required.

[Jet Passan]

It's the ultimate fan experience.

[Pat McAfee]

Level up. For more on the ESPN app or at stream espn.com Sign up now.

[Tone Diggs]

You've seen the headlines, heard the debates.

[Pat McAfee]

The three point ball has created a.

[Ty Schmidt]

Monotonous rhythm to the game.

[Jet Passan]

Has the three pointer ruined basketball?

[Pat McAfee]

And how did we get here?

[Ty Schmidt]

The rise of the three point shot can be partially traced to an eccentric.

[Pat McAfee]

Kansas genius genius named Martin Manley, whose.

[Jet Passan]

Story didn't turn out quite the way he imagined.

[Pat McAfee]

I decided I wanted to have one of the most organized goodbyes in history. 30 for 30 podcast presents Chasing Basketball Heaven. Available now wherever you get your podcasts.