Penn State Search for a "Home Run Hire" while Hard Reality hits Steelers Fans on TNF

One coaching vacancy can rattle an entire sport, and Penn State’s decision just did. We break down why rumblings of Urban Meyer saving the program may be a bad idea due to his old-school, top-down approach clashing with the current NIL and transfer-portal era, and why fit now matters more than splash. From buyouts to decommits, we unpack how timing and leverage can launch a rebuild—or burn it down—before a game is even played. We also tackle the Big Ten’s private equity talk and what selling a slice of control could mean for kickoffs, scheduling, and the soul of Saturdays.

Then we head to the field for a weekend loaded with stress tests. LSU’s talent meets Vanderbilt’s discipline, Oklahoma’s margin for error gets tight in Columbia, and Ohio State has a chance to handle business before a bye. Ole Miss–Georgia has track meet written all over it, and USC–Notre Dame looks like a playoff hinge determined by the trenches and some grumpy Midwest weather. Every matchup asks the same question: who can string together multiple stops when it counts?

Finally, we face the music on Steelers-Bengals. Pittsburgh’s offense showed up; the defense didn’t. Cincinnati mixed a revived run game with quick hitters to Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins, and Joe Flacco stayed clean far too often. It’s a roster-building reality check: if your identity is defense, you can’t get bulldozed on the ground and be late to every pass underneath. We wrap with rapid NFL picks, the Shanahan QB paradox, and why the Chiefs’ Death Star is quietly powering up again.

Enjoy the ride, then tell us what we got wrong. Subscribe, share with a friend, and drop a five-star review to keep the show rolling.

Chapters

• 0:10 Solo Host Sets The Table
• 1:49 Weekend Plan: CFB Then NFL
• 2:56 Live Check: Louisville vs Miami
• 2:59 Penn State Fires Franklin: Search Begins
• 3:18 Why Urban Meyer Doesn’t Fit Today’s CFB
• 8:17 Signetti Stays Put And Big Buyouts
• 10:20 Penn State’s Realistic Targets And Risks
• 15:04 Program Floors, NIL, And Transfer Turbulence
• 20:29 Big Ten Private Equity Debate
• 22:39 Score Check And College Slate Overview
• 23:04 LSU-Vandy And SEC Parity Questions
• 26:03 Oklahoma At South Carolina
• 27:27 Ohio State-Wisconsin And Bye Week Mindset
• 30:00 Indiana’s Rise And Michigan State’s Slide
• 31:04 SEC Rundown: A&M, Ole Miss, Georgia
• 34:14 Oregon Bounce Back And Texas-Kentucky
• 36:32 Bama-Tennessee Shootout Potential
• 38:11 USC-Notre Dame Stakes And Styles
• 41:10 Holy War: Utah At BYU
• 42:32 Final CFB Thoughts And Miami Gripes
• 44:32 Pivot To NFL: Steelers-Bengals Therapy
• 45:36 Bengals Execution And Explosive Balance
• 50:23 Steelers Offense Good, Defense Collapses
• 56:38 Roster Reality And Reset Rant
• 1:02:56 NFL News: QB Choices And Returns
• 1:04:40 Rapid Picks: Overseas Game To MNF
• 1:53:44 Closing, Live Score Update, And CTA

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:10

Welcome back to the JV Sports Podcast. Today is Friday, October 17th, and we are back for another pod. If you've been listening to the pod for a while, obviously you'll know that I'm not the person that usually does the openings for the for the podcast. Usually it's my brother slash co-host Jace. He couldn't be here because he had to work and couldn't get the schedule together, but still have to get a pod out. So and to be totally honest, the way I look at it is that based off the things I have to talk about later, you know, the things that may have to do with recapping what happened last night in the NFL world, I'm kind of happy he's not here because I would like to be able to complain and be sad for myself for just a little bit without him saying something, you know, out of pocket to make me then have to take up for the team that I don't want to be happy about. So this is where I'm at. But I don't want to get to that just yet. I want to start out with a little bit of uh not necessarily happiness, but just something not so down, and then we'll get to the NFL and doing all that. So we'll start with college football and then we'll transition over college football when it comes to all the games this weekend, making predictions and all that, and then make the transition over to doing the NFL, which includes recapping last night's game, along with doing the predictions and re um pre-previews of the games on Sunday and Monday. So without further ado, let's go ahead and get into it. And we'll start with college football. And I don't want to get into any games just yet because there is a game actually happening that is kind of worth something. You have Louisville and Miami playing each other right now, Miami being the number the ranked number two squad in the AP pool in all of the country. They are currently down seven to nothing to Louisville. It's probably not going to end that way. I think Miami should win this game, but we have seen crazier things happen throughout this college football season, so I'm gonna get away from that now, give an update as we go on later on in the show. What I actually wanted to start with was the Penn State job, you know, firing of James Franklin, and then now the all the news coming out about who they're looking at and who they're talking to, and everything of the such. What I wanted to start with first about that was the news about Urban, because rumblings had started coming throughout the week where it was like, oh, Penn State's talking to Urban, Urban might be interested, and even some news that said that Urban was like in contact with Penn State before they fired James Franklin, and there was a little bit of interest from Urban's side on potentially taking the job. And so here's my thing on that. I don't think, even if Urban was truly interested, which I don't think he is, not necessarily because I don't think he wants to coach. I do, I actually think he does. But I I think it's because of on the Penn State side, I don't think Urban is gonna give you like he'll be a splash hire, but I'm not sure if he really fits what Penn State needs right now. And you know it's crazy that I say that, but I can say that Urban is probably a obvious not probably is a better coach than James Franklin ever was or will be. But I think James Franklin was more built for how college football is now in a way that Urban would never be built that way. Ooh, that's wild. Apparently, I just saw the score for Louisville, Miami. Louisville just went up 14, nothing. That's weird. What happened there? Rutro. That's not good at all. Okay. Uh, but back to the urban thing. So I just don't think Urban is a really good fit for what college football is now, which, and what do I mean by that for people who don't like I think anybody listening to this pod has a decent understanding as to what's going on in college football right now. But when it comes to the transfer portal, when it comes to you, and IL, when it comes to this, that, and the other, it all in all, it's giving players a lot more power in the what's the word I'm looking for, in the dynamic between coach and coach slash institution slash football program and the player themselves, okay? And obviously, being a part, being a Ohio State fan myself, I saw what Urban was firsthand, not necessarily firsthand, but as a fan, you kind of get the idea of what's going on on a week in, week out basis, coming from news and stuff like that. Urban is a dictator, he is a Nick Saban-like dictator. His way or the highway. I'm not saying he doesn't love his players, but I think he doesn't necessarily connect with them even as well as like maybe Nick Saban. And Nick Saban's not known to be the most lovable character to his guys. So what I think I think what caused Nick Saban to want to get out of coaching at Alabama, I think is the same thing that would keep Urban Meyer from being a good option to coach nowadays. He's a dictator, he wants the coach to be above everything, he wants the players to be in a spot where they have to, where they are. I'm not saying Urban doesn't like power, like players. I think Urban wants there to be such a hierarchy that can't exist anymore. With how players are coming in with the power they're having, with them being high schoolers being able to ask for the money that they're trying to get, even as young kids, and they're coming, and all that comes with them with players having leverage. And what Urban took advantage of was the fact that the coaches and the institution has all the leverage, and he puts these players through a grind that if they can make it through that grind and come out the other side, they'll be a lot better players for it, which is what Urban did. Urban produced a lot of great football players to go into the NFL and do a lot of great things, but I also think he, the way he was as a coach, grinded not only his players but his coaching staff and everybody around him to nothingness for the greatness that he was looking for, which again, he got to the greatness. I'm not gonna sit here and say what he was doing was wrong because it got got him to where he wanted to go, right? But just nowadays, with how college football is kind of set up in the hierarchy thing, that players have a lot more power. And I just think that the idea that that Urban is gonna come in and require that same amount of grinding to everybody around him, to these to the young players and what they're coming in and the money they're asking for, it's just a lot less power that Urban as a coach would have if he came in and tried to do it. Again, it's not like the money's gonna be a big issue. Penn State's a place that can pay players, but I just think that the even if places like Georgia, Ohio State, and Alabama are still having issues with paying players and they have a number, the player has a number, and you either acquiesce or let them fall off to go to somewhere else, there you do have to be a little bit more flexible in the way that you're dealing with these players because of how much leverage that they have. And I just don't think Urban has that in him. Because he went to the NFL and tried to coach grown men that were getting paid and he didn't have to deal with the money part, and he was knocked, he was kicked out within a full season. He didn't even get through a full season coaching in Jacksonville, and it's kind of closer to what college football is like now. So I just don't think Urban is a really good fit, even though I think he would be a he'd be a splash hire. I just don't think it'd be a good fit long term, not only for him, but for the school. And so get away from Urban, the other option people were talking about was Kurt Signetti. Everybody was saying that Kurt Signetti should be the first, obviously, not I keep saying obviously, but he is the head coach at in in at Indiana right now. Very hot coach. He we he's in his second year there, and he has him as a top five rated, so I think they're number three right now after their win over Oregon last week. And he has a very hot name, and everybody's saying, hey, what is he willing to stay Indiana or is he trying to take the next step up to a bigger, to a bigger school? And what Kurt Signetti said is like, hey, why why why why would I leave here? Which is what he has said in multiple interviews throughout his time there so far. But everybody was still kind of like racking their brain as like, what if like he's from Pennsylvania? What if that is the place in Penn State that he would be willing to leave Indiana for? And I get to a certain degree, I understand why your your brain would go there because Kurt Signetti is looked at as like a very hot name right now. He's a little bit older, he didn't really start his coaching career, like head coaching career till a little later in his life. But he has a lot of moxie, he knows how to build a program, obviously, going to a place like Indiana and having within two years, having them where they're they're at right now. So I get the idea. But it doesn't really matter because he got an eight-year,$93 million deal from Indiana. I think it's like a uh contract extension that takes him through 20, what is like 2033? I believe that's that extension has him going through, and it's gonna pay him like$11.9 million a season, which has him as like the a top five paid head coach in all of college football. So he's not going anywhere. I think, and I think the buyout for that is like 90-something million. So, with all of that being the case, he is off the market. So now it takes you into what are the other places that a that a school like India uh like Penn State would go to. Like, what other coaches could a school like Penn State bring in to be their head coach? Matt Rule, who is an alum from Penn State, the head coach in Nebraska right now, and he's kind of leading them to some decent amount of success. I think they're like only have one loss on the season so far. So Matt Rule is known to be a program builder and do all that. He's one of the better head coaches in all of college football. Do I think he's that much different than James Franklin? I don't think so. When with one of the main problems with James Franklin being the fact that he can't win the big game, Matt Rule hasn't really done that either. So just think that he's gonna be on an obvious upgrade over James Franklin is kind of weird, even though I do think to a certain extent the school can be get behind the idea that he is an alum of Penn State. He knows that area, he knows that school, and I so maybe they can get behind that a little bit more. But if their main deal was to try to take the next step into being a good, good program to being a great slash elite program, I don't think Matt Rule is necessarily the guy that's going to get them there. And to be honest, the coach that would get them that are obvious, the coaches that are obvious upgrades are already at places where they would not leave to go to Penn State because they're already at a school that they can reasonably assume would get them where they want to go, being at the top of the sport. Kirby's not go saying it. Like, I just think there's a lot of coach the coaches that are obvious upgrades over what James Franklin could give them. I don't think they're gonna be able to get. So any other name that they're gonna be going after, Matt Rule, they were talking um the head coach from Iowa State. Why am I forgetting his name? Oh no, this sucks. Um Iowa State head coach, Matt Campbell. Some people were talking about Brian Hartline, the the office coordinator from Ohio State, and I'm like, that doesn't really make sense. He's only been doing the office coordinator thing for about he's this is his first season, really calling plays. Like maybe, like, because there is no direct correlation to saying that if you can or cannot be a good play caller, whether that makes you a good head coach or not. So I'm not gonna sit here and say Brian Hartline can't, but I just think it's a little bit soon, and I think it's a little job a little bit too big, especially for from coming from Penn State's side. I just don't know if you can take a swing like that because that is a huge risk. And that being Brian Hartline's first opportunity to be a head coach of like a may like a big boy program, I just feel like that's a step a little bit too big for Penn State to want to try to offer for Brian Hartle. I do I honestly I do think Brian Hartline would have to take it if that opportunity was given to him. That'd be too much money for him to take for him to turn down, and also it would be his first big head coaching job. So I just don't think he would say no. But I just think that on Penn State's side, it's a little bit too much of a risk. Because again, like I was talking about last pod, is that the floor for a place like Penn State is not that high in comparison to other schools that are there, like Penn State likes to think that they are peers with with teams like Ohio State, like Michigan. I think even Michigan, I don't think I think Michigan is kind of a little bit of lower tier like comparison to Ohio State. Penn State likes to think they're Ohio State or Bama or Georgia, like they're not that. And I think with the way that the sport of college football is kind of put together right now, a lot of teams' floors are going to be lower than what fans and institution would like it to like it to be because movement is so prevalent, and if things aren't working out, players can leave, like everything is so shaky. Like it takes years and years of development to kind of get the standing necessary to be able to take the big swings you need to take. And by firing James Franklin, it has shake it has shaken Penn State to the core because there's no guarantee that of what anything that they have is stable ground. Like the players they have are not guaranteed to be there now, they don't have to be there for three years, they can transfer right after the season is over. The coaching staff, they're obviously going to be out because the new coach that comes in is going to want a brand new coaching staff that he they pick. The future players that would be coming in, all of their whole recruiting class for this upcoming season that would end up signing doing the early signing period in December, all of them have decommitted. All of them are looking around at other schools. So like you don't even have a recruiting class for players that are going to be coming in to even to like not supplant, what's the word I'm looking for? Supplement the talent that you'll probably end up losing once the season is over to the transfer portal. So I just like I the Penn State's taking a huge risk here, and they need something that's like very concrete to like really give them some stable ground to start with. And I think with doing that, it's gonna probably be like a guy like Matt Rule being like the main guy. And who knows if he takes it again. I I think going from Nebraska I think Penn State's obviously a better job than Nebraska, but I just don't know if Matt Rule is much of an upgrade for what they already have. But again, I'm not gonna sit here and and say that because not say that, but I'm not going to harp on it too much because you have to be willing to try. And I think what James Franklin has given you has shown to already be at its ceiling. So where I sit with it is that if you either you're gonna sit there and like have to reside yourself into knowing that you'll never get to the top of the mountain like you want to, because James Franklin's not the guy to get you there, or you're gonna have to fire him and take a chance on potentially going farther down the mountain than you would like, to then have to track your way back up, or to not even get to that point again because you you're taking the chance on a new guy that may not even get you where you want to go. So, and here's the other thing where some people don't want necessarily want to have this conversation, but I'm willing to. Penn State is not a guaranteed the best job on the market once coaches are starting to move around. If a place like Florida comes open, I think Florida's probably a better job. Florida State probably a better job than Penn State. I'm not saying necessarily by tradition, but if you're thinking about things like money, backing, recruiting base, I think those two teams from Florida might be equal, if not better, places to get a job for than what yours is. So you may not even get your first choice as a coach if those schools decide to go after the same guys you're going after. So, and I'm not saying there's gonna be for sure overlap in what these teams are looking for in their head coaches, but there's a chance, and I think if there's a chance of that, Penn State has to be open to the idea that they not they might not be the best job on the market. I think I was listening to a pod that kind of started breaking down was like, hey, is Penn State a better job than blah blah blah? And when they were looking at it, they were going through these schools and Penn State, like they're they're 10, they they're not a top 10 job in all of college football. They're not. So if you're talking like fifth like around like 10 to 15, and now you're starting to deal with those Floridas and like those places that may not like on the surface may not look like equal jobs, but I just think with some of the other things that are surrounding it, I just think it does kind of throw a monkey wrench into what what they're doing there. So that's it on that. I just want to get less uh I just wanted to get through that whole because there's been a lot of news coming out this week about the coaching stuff and especially for Penn State, because obviously when a team like Penn State has a coaching search, it kind of shakes the core of college football because a team like teams on the level of Penn State, even though I don't really think of them as like a top 10 job, it's still when it comes to reputation and all that, a lot of people do think they're a top 10 job. So like it does shake the core of college football when you have a team like that looking around looking for a head coach. It does kind of like put everybody on notice that, like, hey, Penn State has the money, they have some of the backing to try to like take the next big swing. Oh, another guy they were looking that people were talking about Marcus Freeman from Notre Dame, and I'm like, maybe, but I think Marcus Freeman has the backing he needs from there, and I just think that the only difference it may be is that maybe he doesn't want to deal with being at an independent institution like Notre Dame anymore, so you can be in a conference and is like so you know what your future is in the like in the cost of all playoff era. If Notre Dame's not gonna join a conference, it's gonna make their job a lot harder year in, year out to like be sure to be guaranteed to get into the playoff. And maybe Penn State will give them a little more security in that aspect competitively in comparison to what Notre Dame is. So, like maybe, but I don't even think that's a slam dunk. Like, like James uh Marcus Freeman has he's well paid, he's gonna have a huge buyout, too, that you'd have to pay. It's just gonna be a lot of money, and he may not even say yes, he may be comfortable where he's at. So, like, even that's not even a guarantee. So I just wanted to start the pod by getting that out of the way because I I realized when I mentioned on the last pod about James Franklin getting fired, I kind of stayed with that, but didn't really get into any of the the potential coaching search and all of that. So I just wanted to give that a little bit of time before I got into the other news slash getting into games and all of that. So that's it. I just want to get out of get out of that and let's go ahead. Is there any other news that I really had to talk about? Oh, the whole so the Big Ten has been trying to like get capital. So the Big Ten has been discussing between all of the Big Ten teams trying to take in private equity to then give sub to give all the teams to have to split a big amount of money. I think they all will get like 10% stake and a change. It's just a bunch of money they're trying to infuse program by taking in private money. I'm not gonna go into the weeds on this. I just think that as a thought process, when has anything gotten better by going private equity? Because as soon as you do that, you're you're bringing in other people to the table that'll have opinions and they'll want to make changes to what you're already doing. And I think what Penn State's going, I mean, not Penn State, what the Big Ten is going with right now, it's them and the SEC in the power positions in all of college football. And it's going your way anyway. So I just think that taking in all this like taking in private equity will obviously give all these teams a money boost. And I think to some of the lower schools in the Big Ten will give them some money they didn't plan on having, and it would help them out when it comes to running their academic, their their athletic programs. But I just think in general, nothing is really made better by taking in money from people you really don't know, and everything has a cost. And so there is no free money just get being given out just because, and I feel like it'll only it'll only be a detriment to college football in the long term if the Big Ten decides to do this. And I hope that some of the bigger teams, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon, I hope they can kind of get that through their thick skulls. That they like again, it would help the lower tier schools in the conference. But I'm like, at the end of the day, are you gonna sell your soul for a little bit of a money boost if you can just you're getting a bunch of money anyway? Like the money's coming. The money's coming in. That's like they're getting they're making money hand over fist right now. So what why give up a little bit of your control for that money boost if you really don't need it? And that's all I got on that. So let's go ahead and go on to the games. I don't want to take too long doing it, but let's go to the games as of right now. Because I've been doing the score updates. Louisville is up 14 to 7 right now, and they're going down the field. They're just the start of the second quarter. Uh well, I'll keep going as I go on that. If I see any score updates, I'll mention them. But let's go ahead and talk about the other games, predictions, all of that. The other game that's happening tonight, Nebraska at Minnesota. I think Nebraska should win that game. They're a much better team. But Minnesota's a feisty bunch. They have an older quarterback, they have some, they have a good squad. So maybe they can make it a little tougher, Nebraska. If Nebraska loses, then you know, it's all bets off because Nebraska was looked at as being a five-in-one squad. Like they're kind of like nobody's really talking about Nebraska and how they're doing this year, but they only have one loss on the year uh to Michigan. But if they lose this game, it'll kind of, I'm not gonna say knock them out of playoff contention, but it probably will, based on how the rest of college football looks. So, you know, it is what it is. Minnesota can definitely play um play spoiler if they really want to, especially being at home. And that's about all I have on that. Let's go hang on to the other games to talk about here. What's next? First, we got LSU, number 10 LSU going to Vanderbilt to play tomorrow. You have Vanderbilt being like a three-point favorite, a two and a half point favorite in this game, which is the first time that Vanderbilt's been a favorite in a SEC um game in a while. And I think Vanderbilt's known as being a good squad. Like they're a good team this year, and with the the deficiencies that LSU has, not only offensively, well, not like mostly offensively, because I think defensively, LSU is a pretty good team. But Vanderbilt does have an offense that's a little bit harder to prepare for. And I think that if LSU's offense isn't going to be consistent, can't run the football, keep the defense uh out off the field a little bit longer to get some rest because Vanderbilt runs the football a lot. They really do. And they want to run the football, like that's how they want to set up their offense, is do a lot of running and then do everything else off of like it's kind of like a triple option offense, but they have a little bit more cat passing off like passing concepts than what a regular triple, like a triple off a triple option offense would have. So if Vender if LSU can't be consistent offensively, get down the field and score points, and then also have extended drives to help keep their defense off the field, get them a little bit of rest because they're gonna have to do a lot of running tomorrow. I think Vanderbilt really does have a chance to win that game. I would still lean LSU. I just think LSU is a little bit different caliber of athlete. But I think Vanderbilt has a real chance to upset LSU. Wouldn't be an upset because they're favorites, but I think that there's still a lot of people that think Vanderbilt's a cute story. If that makes sense. Vanderbilt's cute, like they're having their moment, but they're really not one of the big boys. But if Vanderbilt can beat an LSU team, I think that like a lot more people will take them seriously. Next game I want to talk about was let's see here. Oklahoma, South Carolina. Oklahoma's coming off a bad loss to Texas. Can they come into South going to South Carolina? Can John Mateer play some better ball and not throw as many interceptions? Can the defense hold down South Carolina's offense? Again, I'm not saying South Carolina's offense is elite or anything, but they do have a very, very, very good quarterback in Lenora Sellers, and they have some weapons that they can again, it's not even good weapons, but it's just it's enough with when you have to worry about a guy as talented as Lenora Sellers, not only throwing the football, but running the football, I just feel like you can be put in a bad spot quickly. And if they let South Carolina get any type of confidence at home, it can become a little bit of an issue. So I just think that if Oklahoma can establish themselves offensively, run the football, and have John Mateer kind of control the game, I really do think they should win this game. But I just think that in South Carolina at their home, at their pouse, I think that it's your main job just to not help South Carolina out. Because the more confidence that South Carolina can gain throughout the game, the more likely they'll be to have the juice to pull off the upset. But I'm going to lean Oklahoma here. I think their defense will have a very bad attitude based on how they played in the week before against Texas, and I think they'll be out to make a statement. So I'm gonna lean Oklahoma. Next game, Ohio State, Wisconsin. Ohio State's a 20, 25, 26 point favorite in this game. I think it's a little disrespectful because Wisconsin has been so bad this season. I think Luke Fickle, the coach for Wisconsin, is on the hot seat right now. And I think if they lose this game pretty badly, I think this could be the last game Luke Fickle coaches for the Wisconsin Badgers. I think Ohio State coming into this game, this is another game they're gonna have in on the road. They have a bye week next week. I think they're really looking forward to it. So I just think that the starters for Ohio State are gonna be more than willing to go out there, step on Wisconsin's throw early, get out of there, let the backups come in and play. And I also think that with how they played last week against Illinois, even though I think the defense was awesome, I think that they're gonna come in with a bad attitude based off of the fact that they felt like they did not perform the way they needed to in last game. Even though it was still an 18-point win, they still covered, they did all what they had to do, but they, the team, felt like they should have been more dominant in that game. I think that Ohio State's gonna come in with a bad attitude against a bad Wisconsin team, and they're gonna have some bad intentions and they're gonna be ready to put points on the board early and end this game as soon as possible so they don't have to play and kind of look forward to their bye week. So I think Ohio Stitch win this game. I think they'll probably cover, and I hope offensively, I hope that Ohio State opens it up a little bit more because Wisconsin really doesn't have much of a defense. And I think that if you get the ball on the outside to the weapons that Ohio State has, Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate, Max Clare, and I think Bo Bo Jackson has an ankle injury. I hope he doesn't play. They're saying he's fine, but again, if you could just like not have him play and just have him get a two-week break and then come back off the bye a lot more healthy, I would love if they could do that. Because I really just don't think you need him to win this game because Wisconsin's so bad. But again, I'm not gonna I'm not paid to be the coach there, so they'll make the decision on that. But as an Ohio State fan, I just think I want to see them open up the offense a little bit, let flex a little bit to start the game, and then get out of there as fast as possible. No injuries, let the backups play in the second half. That's what I'm looking forward to on set uh tomorrow, watching Ohio State and Wisconsin play. Next game, Indiana. Michigan State's going to Indiana. Indiana should win this game pretty easily. Michigan State, I've been trying to get like I bet Michigan State over five and a half wins on the season. So I've been sitting there like, man, I really want Michigan State to win. But over these last three games that they had as a losing streak, that has not looked all that pretty, especially last game against UCLA. Offensively, they have been awful. And that is a problem because the defense for Michigan State's already really bad. So if Michigan State's offense doesn't show up to these games, they really don't have any type of opportunity to even keep the games close because their defense is not stopping anything. Like I mean anything. It is very bad. And especially with Indiana coming out, coming off the win against Oregon, I think they'll look to kind of keep that momentum, that momentum going. And I think Indiana will roll here, especially with the fact that they do, they totally love to run up the score on teams that are not as good as them. So I think I use a 27 and a half point favorite. I think they'll probably cover because Michigan State just doesn't know how to get any stops. They just can't. Next game, you got Annam, Arkansas, and them should win that game very easily. But I think, you know, I think in general, I don't think there is a team in the SEC that has truly separated themselves for the rest of the pack. And I don't think there's a couple, I don't even think there's a couple teams that have truly uh like separated themselves from everybody else. And I think that Tex AM is the closest to that because they've there's they're undefeated and they've played the best throughout the year. But I just think that Tech CM could lose this game, and I wouldn't necessarily be all that surprised because it's just how the SEC has looked this year. And people are trying to make that look like a strength that the SEC has a bunch of teams that could be anybody, but I think that's more of a I think looking at it from my point of view, it's a little bit more of a detriment because you just don't have any teams that are able to are talented enough or good enough to separate themselves. I feel like that's a little bit of a downside on that end. But you know, the SEC fans will do whatever they need to to try to try to keep conference seniority conference seniority that they like to keep. So AM should win, but I would definitely love to see Arkansas win. That'd be very fun to watch. You got Ole Miss going to Georgia, Ole Miss being undefeated on the year, Georgia having one loss, Georgia recently having their loss to Alabama at home. I think that was the first game that Georgia had lost at home in years. So a lot of people are going with, hey, are we really gonna see Georgia lose multiple home games in one season? I just think in I just think Georgia, their offensive line has been a little bit of a disaster over this season so far. I think offensively they're a little bit like hit and miss. They really like you don't know what you're gonna get from them on a week in, week out basis. They really can't run the football that effectively. And I think I think the better side of that Georgia team is probably their defense, but even their defense isn't what it usually has been in past years. And when you're going against the Ole Miss team in Lane Kiffin, he knows how to put an offense together. And I think that if because Ole Miss is going to start quite fast, they always do, they're not really a slow starting team whatsoever, and Georgia's a little bit more of a slow, slow rolling team, usually in the second half where Georgia starts to really get going. But if Ole Miss comes out quick and Georgia can't match, I really do think Ole Miss can like get out to a nice, comfortable lead. But I think because that's the whole thing, because I think Ole Miss defensively is not really all that good. So I think Ole Miss, where they play most of these games, they want it to be a track meet and just kind of be an offensive game and just see how it goes from there. And I think Ole Miss is a good enough offense, but I just don't trust their defense enough to get any stops. But I think Georgia has a little bit more of a propensity to like have the opportunities to get some stops, and they'll be eight actually more a little more able to. But I don't know. Georgia's like a seven and a half point favorite. I think Ole Miss will keep this game close. I do think it'll be a very high-scoring affair because I think both defenses are just not as good as we would like them to be. So I will lean Georgia, I think. No, I'll lean Ole Miss. Why not? I want a little bit of little bit of uh no. Do I want to stake anything on Lane Kiff and Ole Miss in a big game like this, winning it, even though they beat Georgia last year. I think there's a little bit of an added element on Georgia's side. Knowing that they had lost to Ole Miss last year. Close game, I think Georgia wins. I'll go with that. Close game, Georgia wins, even though I don't feel really all that great about either one of these teams. Uh next game, don't really care about that. Oregon should beat Rutgers pretty easily coming off of their bad loss last week, not bad loss, but coming off their loss at home against Indiana. I do think Oregon will have a bad attitude, and I think they'll run it up on the Rutgers, and I think Oregon will win that game pretty handily. You got Texas at Kentucky. I think Kentucky's not a good football team. Texas should be better. I think their defense coming off of last week, if they can keep that defense can keep playing like that, and if the Texas offense led by Arch Manning can just, you know, stay on schedule, score some points, not make the big mistakes. I think Texas should win this game handedly. But if Texas loses to Kentucky, I think it's DEF CON 5 level. Like Kentucky is a very bad football team. So I don't know. I'm not gonna sit here and guarantee it, but I think like I totally think Texas is a better football team. But it's just they've looked bad against a lot of teams, man. And it like maybe we can say that coming off of last week against Florida with how they looked, that that is their turning point of the season where they'll kind of turn it around and really start playing a different brand of football. But I'm not gonna sit here and guarantee it. So I'm gonna I'm gonna say Texas will win, but I'm looking forward to seeing if Texas can kind of string along these games and just like not fall off a cliff again like they did earlier in the season. As a team, not necessarily just as an offense. Because I think their defense, go back and look at the Florida game that they lost, their defense wasn't good either. So I just think that Texas defensively can have some lapses as well. So on to the next game. Tennessee is going to Alabama. I don't know, man. This game can be a back and forth affair. I think Alabama's kind of found a groove over the last couple weeks offensively. Defensively, they're kind of uh, I'm not sure how I feel about it. I think defensively, Alabama still is a little bit of an issue. And when you're going up going up against a Texas team, I mean sorry, a Tennessee team that can definitely score points, and they're they they're a good football team. I think defensively, they're not necessarily crazy strong on that side of the ball, especially in their secondary. But I don't I don't know. I don't know how I feel about that. I uh because everybody's starting to get back onto the Alabama bandwagon again, talking about how much better they are. Ty Simpson's has been very good at quarterback for Alabama, but I just think that their defense is a little bit of a problem, and I think offensively they can't run the football. Like that's they're better with getting Jam Miller back, their main running back, off an injury, but I don't know. I don't think I believe in Alabama consistently right now. No, but Alabama's at home. I'll lean Alabama because they're at home, but if it was at Tennessee, I'd pick them. Because I think these teams are very close in what they are as talents. But I think Tennessee can go in there and make it a track meet and uh make it a very close one, and just like who has the ball last wins. Which that'd be a very fun game. I'm probably gonna take the over on that because I think the over under is 59 and a half. That's a lot of points. I don't know. That's scary. But I just don't trust either one of these defenses, and I think both offenses are running at a pretty decent clip. Um, I don't know. Uh I'll I'll lean Alabama though. USC is going to Notre Dame. This is the tale of two different teams coming in with two different narratives they want to either prove or disprove. USC's coming off of their win against Michigan, where they're able to run the football effectively, and Jaden Maeva had a very good game. And they were defensively, they were able to stop Michigan. Again, it's not like Michigan's a really great defense. I mean, I'm sorry, it's not like Michigan has a great offense, but USC was able to dominate. They were able to run the football. They had over 200 yards against Michigan. So USC is coming in. Can they do more of the same to Notre Dame that they did in Michigan? And that's going to be a lot more difficult because Notre Dame has a much better football team talent-wise. And I think they're their culture is pretty close to what Michigan's is. Like their toughness, they want to be very good at the line of scrimmages. And I think Notre Dame has a better defense. Not much better because I think their secondary is a little bit iffy. And I think USC can probably take advantage of that to a certain extent, especially with Mikhail Lemon, their wide receiver. But I think the way that Notre Dame wants to play, I think this will be it's like it'll be a little bit cooler. I think maybe some rain's going to be involved. So I'm it's a little bit, I'm things are looking weather-wise, things are kind of look going trending towards Notre Dame's way. Because what Notre Dame wants to do, they want to run the football, they want to be tough the line of scrimmages. I think their defense feels like they have been better over the last couple weeks, but this is the best team that they have played in a little while. So I think I think this is a test for both teams. I think this one might this game might be the for both of these teams, could be the game that decides their season if they get into the playoff or not. Because I think if Notre Dame loses this game, they really have nothing else left in their schedule that'll look like good wins. So if they lose this third game, they may just be locked out of the playoff altogether. And I think if Notre Dame, I'm sorry, if uh USC loses this game, I don't think they have a bunch left in their schedule either. Hold on, let me see. They have Nebraska still, and they have Oregon and UCLA. So they still have some other games left in their schedule that can be viewed as good wins when it comes to trying to get into the playoff. But I don't know. I feel like this is the best team they have left. And I feel like if they can kind of come into this game and kind of show the same things they were able to show last week against Michigan, I feel like they have a really good chance. I think they match up pretty well against Notre Dame with what the talent they have on the outside, but I just think in the trenches, I don't think USC will even be able to even come close to running the football as well as they did uh against Michigan last week. So that's all I got on that. I will probably lean towards Notre Dame because it's at their house, and I think Notre Dame just has a little bit more when it comes to talent in comparison to what Michigan has, and I just think that USC may not be ready for that type of physicality. So I'll lean Notre Dame on that, but it could go either way. Um next game. Utah going to BYU. The Holy War is what they call it. I think it'll be a close game. Utah is favored by three and a half. So this is at BYU's house. So I don't know. I I I think Utah is probably the better team, but you BYU's undefeated on the year. But I don't think BYU has really played anybody to feel like real confident about that. No, I think the best team they've played so far this season is maybe Colorado or Arizona, maybe. I think Arizona might be the best team they face. Who knows? Arizona, probably. But nothing for me to feel very confident about. I think Utah's a little bit more tested. I think their best team they've played was Texas Tech, where they got blown out. But they've played Arizona State in one pretty convincingly, and I just feel like I I think Utah's a little more consistent. Even though they're like they're not as good at like a away from their house as they are at home. I don't know. I'm gonna lean towards I'm gonna lean towards Utah. I think Utah's a little bit more of a known commodity in my brain. So I'll lean towards Utah even though the game is at BYU. But I'll I'll I'll go to I'll go to for Utah. I'll go to Futah on that one. And that's about it for the games in the college football space. Uh let me give you the update on Louisville, Miami. Louisville is currently up 14-7. I don't know why I'm giving you an update. By the time you listen to this, game's probably over already. Yeah, I don't Yeah, I made a mistake on that. I shouldn't be giving updates on a game because it's probably over by the time I put it out. Because I podcast for so long, which not like we're doing it live. Yeah, that's a mistake on my part. I couldn't help myself. But yeah, Louisville's up currently 14-7 on Miami. If that game ends up being upset, I'll be more than happy to watch it because I think Miami's really annoying for me as an Ohio State fan because we usually we end up going after the same recruits. Miami's always overpaying for them, so kind of taking away some guys from Ohio State. And I think that everybody has this mentality that the college football is better when Miami's good. And I'm like, college fool was just fine when they weren't good. I didn't care. It was the same thing was when everybody was talking about how Tennessee, like all the Tennessee fans were talking about how like college football is so much better when Tennessee is on top, and it's like, uh, I was having just I was having fun. I was having fun over here, just fine. But I don't know. Again, I don't as an Ohio State fan, I think I'm just like very against everybody that's not Ohio State. So it is what it is on that. But I don't know, it'd be fun to see Miami lose. I I just like because everybody wants to question Ohio State because Ohio State's on top of all of college football, and everybody wants to poke holes in them, but while every other team, it's like everybody's trying to look for reasons to support other teams as being the best in college football, while Ohio State, everybody's looking for reasons to down them. And again, maybe it's just one of those they're on top, so there's nowhere to go butt down, but it annoys the crap out of me. So I would love to see Miami fall, just have one less team be able to try to stake a claim as to why they're potentially better than Ohio State, which I really don't think they are. And that's all I got on college football. Let's go ahead and go on to the NFL stuff, and we will start with unfortunately the game that happened last night that I had to watch. I'm so upset. I honestly, if I'm like giving you a little bit of a look behind the scene the scenes on this, not really that there's a lot to look at, but when I was getting ready to do this podcast, and I've been thinking about this all day, I really thought about wanting to do the reaction of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati first because of how pissed I was, especially coming off of last night. Obviously, as a Steeler fan, Steeler fan, I was very pissed and I was heated, and I'm like, uh, but I felt like I just felt like when the moment came and it was time to start, I'm like, you know what? Let's just go ahead and get to the college football stuff first, be able to split it off a little bit more evenly. Don't like start with NFL, go to college and go back to the NFL. So I'll go ahead and start with yeah, I'll so just go ahead and start with Pittsburgh and Cincinnati here with the NFL side. So let's get to it. See, I'm so like, because here's the thing. I'm very happy, um not very happy, but I'm I'm a little bit more I'm I'm better by the idea that Jace ain't here. Because like I mentioned earlier at the top of the episode, I'm gonna want to sit here and complain about how I wanted to believe in the Steelers, and the one time I did, it doesn't go our way, and it defense looks like shit, and I'm down on myself. But the problem is that when you have Jace here, obviously him being a Bengals fan, he was just as down on his team too coming into this week. Even though he still picked Cincinnati because he would never be able to pick Pittsburgh against Cincinnati by any means, but he would come in and say some blasphemous shit, and then I'll have to get off of my soapbox to go and protect them against a guy that's saying something out of out of pocket, even though I'm so negative on my Steelers right now, I'm ready to like to I'm I'm ready for the season to be over. That's how negative I am I am on them right now. So the idea that I get to sit here and complain and not have anybody, a la Jace, sit here and stop me and say something crazy, it's a very nice thought in my brain. Even though I know at this podcast is a lot better with both of us here talking shit to each other, doing all I know, I know it is. There's no doubt our podcast is much better when you have both of us in here. So I'm I'm not happy in that aspect, but I think that selfishly, as a Steelers fan, I'm a little bit happy that I get to sit here and complain and talk about this game without getting into an argument right away because then I start fighting for a team I really don't want to fight for right now because I'm so pissed off. Alright, that's that's it on the the preview on this. Alright, so Steelers, Bengals, Steelers going to Cincinnati to play this game. Bengals win the game 33 to 31. Where do I start? I'll start with the winners. I'll start with the winners. I'll I'll start with the Bengals, get my everything off on that, and then I'll transfer over to how pissed I am about the Steelers. Let's do that. Bengals scored 33 points in this game. Joe Flacco played an awesome game. He went 31 of 47, 342 yards, three touchdowns, zero picks. Was only sacked twice. Another big issue when I talk about the Steelers defense, but he was only sacked twice in this game. Again, like their offensive line has been bad all year, but it's just couldn't. Against the Steelers defensive line, the vaunted Steelers defensive line with TJ Watt and Cam and all these other guys. We just cannot get more pressure on him, and it was annoying as crap. They were to run the football effectively. I think they only averaged like 50 something yards total rushing in on the season. They come in the last night, they rush for 142 yards total. 142 yards? Insane. Insane to me. Sorry, I'm starting with positive, starting with Bengals. They able to run the football very effectively against the Steelers defense that you would not think that would be possible against with how bad the Cincinnati Bengals team had been so far this year. Jamar Chase had an awesome game. He had 16 receptions, 161 yards, averaged over 10 yards of catch, had a touchdown. T. Higgins also had a great game, six receptions, 96 yards, averaged 16 yards of catch and had a touchdown. Um Andre Yoshivash, he had three receptions for 49 yards. Noah Fant had four receptions for 44 yards and a touchdown. They were throwing the football all over the Steelers' defense. And they were also running the football very effectively, too, being able to keep the Steelers' defense on their toes to not be able to feel any type of comfort into knowing what's coming next because the Bengals were always ahead. They were never behind the sticks at all. They were able to get off the they were able to keep converting on third downs. They were able to have third and shorts instead of having third and longs. And they were able to get anything they wanted offensively because the Steelers' defense couldn't do anything to stop those wide receivers that they have. And I think Joe Flacco was as cool as can be. He was as cool as a cucumber in this game because they he was not really getting pressured as much as you would think he would. He was getting the ball out quickly. And anytime he saw a one-on-one with any one of his dudes, especially Jamar Chase, he was throwing it right away. There was no second guessing it whatsoever. And the fact that Joe Flacco could not get forced into throwing any turnovers was absolutely insane. It was it was bad. It was an all-around, sorry, bad for the Steelers, great for the Bengals. They had an absolutely awesome game last night. Their fans showed up, it was great. It was a great environment atmosphere. You couldn't even tell other than the fact that Joe Joe Burrow wasn't out there. But you could tell their fans had full buy-in. They were all out there, they were all supporting, and it was a very loud, raucous environment, and the Bengals showed out. They really did. And I think defensively, even though the bang, there's really nothing for the Bengals to write home about defensively, other than the fact they forced two turnovers in this game. Those two turnovers being two picks, uh, two picks that were forced, taken from Aaron Rodgers. Okay, you have Jordan Battle that was able to take one when Aaron Rodgers threw an absolutely stupid ball down the field to um, sorry, I'm so frustrated. To DK Metcalf. Aaron Rodgers tried to force one down the field to DK, and then Jordan Battle was able to literally, he was sitting as a safety, he was like Aaron Rodgers looked at him and said, Oh, I can get it past him. And then Jordan Battle was able to just take his merry old nice little jog over there and just jumped up and had the pick. It was such an easy one. I just don't know why Aaron Rodgers ever threw that ball. And then the other pick was by DJ Turner, who it was another ball going towards DK Metcalf. Even though I think it was actually a better throw by Aaron Rodgers, he got it right over the ear hole of DJ Turner, right into DK's hands, but DJ Turner went and took the ball right out of his hands and then was able to take it, stay inbounds, and that was another pick forced. And I think because of that, I think they got like now. I gotta see how many points they get off those turnovers. Now I gotta see now. Um, interception. Yeah, the Bengals were able to get off the the first interception, which was the long throated DK that was taken by uh I'm forgetting his name now. This sucks. I I always forget these names when I really want to remember them. Jordan Battle interception, they were able to force and take that and get a turnover turnover, like sorry, to get a able to get a touchdown off of it. And then in the other one, they got let's see here. The other interception they got a field goal off of, so they got 10 points off of turnovers in this game, and that was the difference because other than that, the Bengals defense could not stop this Steelers' offense at all, which is a crazy thought in this game. Like they really could not stop them. You know, it's not crazy because the Bengals' defense had really shown like the Bengals' defense has not been good this year. It's not necessarily about the Steelers' offense being incredible, but off those turnovers, like that was the difference in this game. They forced those two turnovers and got 10 points off of them. And the Bengals could I mean the Steelers couldn't force shit. So I'm gonna transfer over, transition over into complaining about the Steelers in general. And this is not me taking credit away from the Bengals. This is more about me knowing I was right from the get-go. And have the one time I started feeling any type of positive feelings about this team all season long, because I've been negative all season long about this team, and I've been very honest about the idea that like, hey, this is like this isn't gonna work. It's a problem, like this is not gonna end the way everybody wants it to. It's gonna be maybe get it to a playoff game, but then lose it. Like, it's not I've never not felt positively about the Steelers at all until last Sunday, where they beat the Browns handedly from start to finish, and I finally had to give them the credit, be like, hey, from they handled this that Browns team like they should have. And because of that performance, I allowed myself myself for exactly four days to feel a little bit of positivity about this goddamn Steelers team, and they turn out with a performance like this. And it wasn't a complete, utter failure of performance, but it was a performance that just crystallizes the problems that I was talking about coming into the year. So let me get to the part that was at least okay about the Steelers last night. Offensively, the Steelers played good ball. Other than the two bad interceptions that Aaron Rodgers had in this game, one that was totally his fault, the other one that was more of a great play by the corner. Rodgers played some good ball. He went 23 of 34, 249 yards, four touchdowns. Had absolutely an amazing game. Like he threw one bullet to Pat Fryermuth that I'm like, I I after he threw that ball, because it was like a little bit of a scramble drill, because it really he got sacked, he didn't get sacked at all last night. He had a lot of good protection by the offensive line. And I looked at that throw that he made to Pat Fryermuth, and he kind of went off to his right and then he kind of threw a bullet, like when he's drifting, no, sorry, he was drifting to his left, threw an absolute bullet to Pat Frymouth in the middle of the field. I'm like, I have not had a quarterback that could make that throw since Big Ben, and like the like the good Big Ben, not the bad one that was can only throw 10 yards the last like two or three years of his of his playing days. Like that play right there, I was like, I really got like, okay, fine. Like offensively, we had a decent night running the ball. Warren had an awesome game. He had 127 yards off 16 carries. He was we would have run the football pretty effectively, too. And then when it came to our pass catchers, we had Pat Frymuth had an amazing game. He had five catches, 111 yards, two touchdowns. DK Metcalf didn't do as much. We had three receptions for 50 yards, but I do feel like they were kind of like trying to take him away in the game plan. Jalen Warren did some pass catching as well, had 31 yards off of four catches. John New Smith had a touchdown with three receptions and 28 yards. Um Darno Washington also had a touchdown catch as well. Offensively, the Steelers did what they were supposed to do. The offensive line protected Aaron Rodgers well. Again, like I said, he didn't get sacked at all in this game. It was in part to the idea that they have a really quick passing game, but I think in general, like even when he had to hold on to the football for a little bit longer, the offensive line was protecting him for the most part. They were doing their thing. I actually have to give them credit for that. But here's my thing when it's not one thing, it's the other. Coming into the year, I was very adamant that even though I do I do not think the Steelers' offense is going to be much better, even though they've turned out to be better in general, but when it comes down to it, it is never a complete game by everybody. And I again I say that, and then I had we had they had the complete game last week against the Browns, and it made me feel a little positivity, and they come out with this bullshit. The offense did what they were supposed to do. When you come into a game and the Steelers' offense is going to score 31 points with a 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers, you would think that's enough, especially coming into the season where the Steelers have the highest paid defense in all the NFL. Of every team, and let me make sure I repeat that one more time. Of every team in the NFL, the Steelers have the most money of their cap designated to the defensive side of the goddamn football. It's the Steelers, it's a it's a culture, it's all about the defense. Then what the fuck happened last night? I'm not gonna sit here and say that like I never had any type of delusion about the idea that even if Jalen Ramsey is playing at his best, and Darius Leigh is playing at his best, even at the ages they are, they're a little older. They're not the young guys they used to be. They're not as quick as they once were. I never had any thought that they were going to be able to lock down Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. I never had a thought. I never that was never a thought in my brain that was gonna happen. They were never gonna lock those two down because they are too talented. And I think that at the end of the day, you're gonna be so worried about getting beat deep that they're gonna let all the underneath stuff happen, and that's how they're gonna eat. They're gonna death by a thousand cuts. Where I thought the Steelers defense will be able to do a little do a lot more than what they did last night. I thought they would at least be able to stop the goddamn run. 142 goddamn yards? Joe Flacco was able to run a quarterback option play, uh run option play and be able to pull the football and run for 12 yards? What the hell are we doing? Cam Hayward, TJ. Like what like what do we that defensive line is what's supposed to be the stallworth of our stallworth of our team? And we couldn't stop the Bengals from running running the football for 140 yards. They let Chase Brown run the football for 11 carries, 108 yards. He averaged almost nine yards of fucking carry. Sorry, he almost averaged 10 yards of fucking carry. What are you supposed to do with that shit? Like that, how? How? How? What why? I uh it it's maddening. And let don't let me get me started about the freaking secondary. The first call. Like so last night after the game, I was so worried about oh, what is the call I'm gonna get from Jace? And when am I gonna get it? He didn't call me at all. I was pit. I was sitting there like perplexed. I'm like, maybe he's asleep, like maybe he didn't watch the game, but I'm gonna get this call at some point, right? And then it comes up to the day, I go to the gym, going back to the to the crib, and I I get a call from Jace, and the first thing he says is, Hey, what's up? I'm like, hey, how you how you doing? How you doing, man? He's like, hey, you should ask Jalen Ramsey how Jamar Chase's dick tastes. What am I supposed to do with that? How? What am I supposed to do with that? It wasn't just Jalen. Darius Lay got Darius Lay got taken over for a lot of it. Hell, even the young gun that we have on our team. Uh, we're talking, um, why am I forgetting his name? Uh no, no, no. Uh Joey Porter Jr. also couldn't stop a nosebleed, and he was holding a lot too. That also didn't help. Um, holding and pass interferences, him and Jalen were getting hit with it multiple times. It was bad. It was a bad, it was an issue. They were getting butt fucked too. But here's the thing. I never had any type of thought that they were going to stop them. I thought that coming into the year with those signings that we bringing in Ramsey, bringing in Darius Slade, along like to play along with Jory Porter Jr. And I thought that there was a chance that, like, I'm not saying they were ever going to stop them, but I thought maybe they'd put up a little bit better fight to give the Steelers a chance to win against this Bengals team when they're running at full throttle. And that was quickly taken away last night because they were so worried about getting beat deep. They let the Bengals have everything underneath. Everything. It didn't help that Joe Flacco was just sitting back there pretty, only getting sacked twice. This offensive line has been absolute booty cheeks all year long. Joe Flacco is a goddamn statue. And the the vaunted Steelers defense, TJ Watt, Cam Hayward, and all the like, Nick Herbig, they only can touch they only can get to Joe Flacco twice. Only fucking twice, they only sacked him twice. I'm pissed. They can't stop the run. They can't get affect they can't get to Joe Flacco and sack him. And then on top, on top of all that, the nice little cherry on top is that the already issue that was there that I knew was going to be the problem, it was even worse than I even thought it could be because of how because of how much they like. I just needed a couple stops. They there was only one time the Steelers defense stood up and got a stop at the end of that game. And it was the one time they got the ball back to the Steelers' offense. They went and scored the touchdown to go up 31 to 20. What would that have been? Hold on, let me check here. The play by play. Scoring. They got the stop right before the Steelers were able to go down the field. They were able to get the field goal, not an actual stop to make them punt. Was it a punt? Oh no, now I gotta check here. Oh no. Make sure I got the game right. This is why I wish I would do it. They were able to force the Bengals to punt the ball one a few times in this game. But once the offenses got rolling, they're able to force the one punt by the Bengals with about two minutes left. Well, I make sure I have that right. No, with about three minutes left, they're able to force the Bengals to punt. The Steelers went down, scored the touchdown in two plays, and then the Bengals were just able to get down the field so easily. Eight plays, 52 yards, the passes to Jamar Chase to everybody was so easy to get. And they were able to ice the game away with the with the with the field goal to end it. And that's the game, man. The Steelers defense, when it's not one, it's the other. That's been the Steeler way for years. I have I don't think I can really recall in a big game both sides of the football playing well. It's always one or the other. Either the offense is absolute dog shit, or the defense can't stop anything. And last night it was a defense can't stop a nosebleed, and I just thought, I again, I never thought they were going to shut down Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. I never thought that was an option. I just thought that the vaunted Steelers defensive line, with TJ Watt being the leader, was going to be able to make Joe Flacco uncomfortable and make just like make life hard. They only got to him twice, and Joe Flacco was fucking nails back there. He didn't feel he was back there chilling. And they couldn't stop the run. And that was the thing. That was the part that made it even worse. Because they were the Bengals were running the football so well, they were always ahead of the chain. So it made their offense so much harder to play against because they could either run because they were getting almost 10 yards of carry out of Chase Brown, or they can just throw the football to their crazy weapons they have on the outside because they were never behind the chains ever in this game. I'm just pissed, man. I'm pissed. And again, like I said, but like I said earlier, I had four days where I started to feel a little bit of positivity about this Steelers team, and I got a swift kick in the dick last night, and it a harsh reality came back as to why I felt the way I felt about this team to start the year. Now I'm fucking done. I'm done with this team, man. I'm done. I'm gonna watch every week and I'm gonna support them. But in the back of my mind, I want them to fucking lose. I want a goddamn reset. I want a reset of all resets. I don't think anybody on this team should be safe. I don't think any coach should be safe. I don't think any of these players should be safe, probably other than TJ, because we just paid him a bunch of money. But I don't like all of it. I'm done. I'm done, man. This whole band-aid shit is just is for the birds. They've been putting a band-aid on China. Just let's run it back for years. They've been putting all this money on the defense and not getting number two, a number two for the wide rece like wide receiver room, which desperately needs it. The fact that it's DK Metcalf and nobody else is pissing me off. Roman Wilson, the guy they just drafted two years ago, has done squat diddly. Like we I it's all of it, man. It's all of it. They need a full reset. And again, here's the problem. They're never gonna fucking do it. And it's not, it has to be forced upon them. You need the bottom to fall out so hard that the Steelers don't have any other option than to just accept. Go get the player to help you for the future. Your your franchise QB or that that Stalworth piece to really help you. Because what we've been doing with TJ Watt and Cam Hayward, and then just kind of just rotating out everything else has not been fucking working. It's not working. It's not gonna work. And the way this and fire everybody, man. I'm I'm I'm absolutely done, man. We need the Steelers need, I don't have any again. I came into this season with no hope, and then I had a little bit of hope for four days, and then it got taken away the harshest way to to one of my heck to my brother's team, so it made it even worse. I just feel like all of that is making it so much worse. I don't know. Uh I I I'm done. I'm seriously done. I'm done. I'm not I'm not gonna feel any type of positive positivity about this team, this team's chances to really do anything special this year. I'm back to where I was, and I should have never left there in the first place. But I've learned a harsh lesson after last night, and I'm not gonna forget it. I'm not gonna let myself be bamboozled at all. I'm not gonna let it happen. I'm not. I'm done. So alright. That's that's all that I have on complaining about the Steelers and how bad they were last night. That's it. I know if you're not a Steelers fan, you probably like said this dude keeps bitching about it. Like, what did he expect to happen? But I don't know. I had to get it out. And like like I keep saying, if Jace ain't gonna be here to stop me or to say something stupid to make me have to then take up for the team I don't want to take up for right now, that's this is what was gonna happen. So all right. That's it that I have on the game last night. Congrats to the Bengals. They are now three and four, and the Steelers are four and two, so they still feel like everything is in front of them, which I'm not here for. And guess what they're gonna do? They're gonna go get a wide receiver, and they're gonna do this, this, and that, and they're gonna be like, oh, we still have a chance for all of our dreams this year. Super Bowl is still within reach, and I'm like, no, the fuck it isn't. Not at all. Not zero Zilchnada. So I don't know. I I don't know. I am uh last night was a like I said, a swift kick in the dick. It hurt real bad. Still hurts a little bit right now. You know when you get kicked in the dick as a guy, if you're a guy listening, obviously. I don't think we have a lot of women listening to the pod, but you know, maybe if you are, welcome. But if you were a guy, you totally understand getting kicked in the dick, and it's like not necessarily the the initial hit hurts, right? But then afterwards, it's like the the uh the feeling in in your in in your in your stomach just sits with you. You have to sit with it and just like there's no stopping it, there's no making it better. You it is you just have to eat it until it hopefully goes away, and you're just praying for that moment because it's like it hurts, it's so bad until then. And that I I'm over the initial hit because that happened last night, but but I my stomach still hurts. It's bad. It's bad. Alright, let's get to the rest of the NFL stuff. So, news wise, let's see here. Is there any news that I uh 49ers, they're gonna start Mac Jones again against the Falcons this week. Purdy is out, so that's news on that. Here's the thing. If Purdy is helped with the way that again, I've been my main one of my other side quests of the year is to prove that the whole the whole thing with uh Kyle Shanahan and his quarterbacks, the more like the the less personality you have at quarterback, the better quarterback you are for Kyle Shanahan. And I came to the conclusion weeks ago that Brock Purdy had too much personality for Kyle, and that it was gonna get to a point, even though they just paid Brock Purdy, that they may get to the spot where like, hey, we actually Kyle is gonna be actually have to start thinking about the idea that Mac Jones might be a better quarterback for them this year. Again, it doesn't the quarterback doesn't change the fact they have so many other injuries and so many other guys are out. But they've managed to make Mac Jones look viable because you know why? Because he's an automaton. He is not the quarterback, it's Kyle Shanahan. And the thing that he Kyle Shanahan wants wants more than anything, I've said this multiple times, but I'm gonna say it again. Kyle Shanahan wants a quarterback that'll do what he's fucking told. Not do anything else, not do too much. He's gonna do, he's gonna make the throw that Kyle Shanahan sets up and he says to throw to, and he's gonna do nothing else. And that's the one problem that Purdy has. He has a little bit too much personality that says, Oh, I can make it better. Oh, I can fix this. That's the problem with Purdy. He has the same issues as all the other quarterbacks that Kyle Shanahan has Kyle Shanahan has had as the coach there. He has a little bit, his arm isn't as strong as you would like it to be. He's a little shorter, he's not as big, he can run a little bit, that's a positive, but it doesn't take away all those other things that makes Brock Purdy think, like, oh, I can fix it and not just do exactly what Kyle Shanahan tells him to. And that's the main deal. Like, Kyle Shanahan does not want a quarterback personality, man, and the way the way this keeps going, Brock Purdy's just showing himself to be way too much of a personality at the quarterback position for him, and it'll never work out well. It just won't. Um, other news, let's see, Brock Bauer is going to be out again for the Raiders. Probably he's doubtful, which I think he's probably not going to play. Uh, Rasheed Rice is gonna be back for the Chiefs after his six-week suspension, so they'll finally have the last piece of what I think could be the Chiefs' death death star that they're building throughout this year to get right back to the Super Bowl at the end of the year. That'll make all of us non-Chiefs fans very upset. You have let's see here. Any other stories I really wanted to talk about? That's it. Oh, Mar uh Marvin Harrison Jr. is gonna be coming back off from his concussion that he had from last week. And they are still a little bit iffy on whether Kyler Murray will be able to come back for their game this week. So that's about it for this. Oh, the other story was let's see here. Um let's see here. I'll switch me in stunned by the content of it. No, that's about it. I don't want to get into the whole uh branch and him fighting at the end of that game with the Chiefs. Don't really care enough. Who don't want to go in that negativity? It happened. Uh he's gonna be suspended for the week, and it's anything else is pretty much doesn't really matter at that point. Alright. That's all the news. Let's go ahead and go on to the games, make our picks and do all that. I do have Jace's picks for the game, so I'll have I will mention those as we go, and then I'll make my picks, talk about what I think is coming up for them, and uh we'll go from there. So, real quick before we start with that, I'll give the records for last week. I was nine and six, Jace was ten and five last week, and then now with the game that happened last night, I picked Pittsburgh, obviously, Jace picked Cincinnati. He is currently one game up because he obviously Cincinnati won. And let's go ahead and go on the other games and make our picks here. So, first game to talk about LA Rams going to Jacksonville, but it's not really going to Jacksonville because the game is actually happening in Wembley Stadium in London, England. So that game is actually going to be pretty much an away game for both of them. And then you have Jacksonville coming off of their loss to why am I forgetting their loss to the Seahawks, and then you have the Rams coming off of their win against the uh Ravens. I don't think the Rams will not have Puka Nakua in this game at all. I think it's already been announced that he will not be playing this week, so they'll be down their best wide receiver, obviously. And then you're coming into this game, going all the way across the ocean to go play this game against Jacksonville. Jace picked the Rams. And the way I'm probably going to match him with that, because my thought on this is that, and here's the thing, what I forgot to take into account last week when I picked Jacksonville to beat Seattle, when that should never have been the pick, is that Jacksonville's the most unpredictable team out there. They are a talented enough team to go and beat anybody because Trevor Lawrence can have those great games like the game he had against the Chiefs a couple weeks ago, and then he can have a game like not necessarily last week, because he wasn't bad last week, but this the offense just doesn't do what they need to do, and it just doesn't look like it all fits together how it needs to. And Trevor Lawrence has shown himself to not be the quarterback that can power you through a bad night like that, and just kind of like just carry everybody on his back and do it that way. So, and I just think that the LA Rams are just a better team from top to not necessarily better. I think they have a little bit better leadership, and I think they're a little more consistent from week to week, and I think with that going all the way to England, I think LA Rams, I think I can put a little more stock in to winning that game. In Jacksonville, real quick, Trevor Lawrence, inconsistent and all that, but my problem with the whole Travis Hunter thing, I think with how the season has gone thus far, I think they have more than enough not like tape to pr pretty much be able to go to Travis and be able to say, Hey dude, I don't think they're getting like instead of like because everybody was talking about Travis coming into the draft, and he's like, Oh, you can get a great corner and a great receiver in one player, which I thought with anybody with a brain look thinking about the situation knows would never that's not feasible, right? It's uh a person's only human, injuries happen, you get fatigued, but I think it's gone even worse than what even us as Travis Hunter doubters thought coming into the year. I think throughout his time in the NFL so far, I think he's been a better wide receiver than he has a corner. But I just think you're not really getting the best of what he can be at either position because not only is he not playing enough reps to kind of like get the learning curve out of the way, but he's just it's just you can tell he's just still like you're just not getting all of him at either position. So I think that it should be a real conversation right now that to get the best out of Travis Hunter, I think you should throw him on to the throw him in at wide receiver, let him be the best wide receiver to he possibly can be on the other side of Brian Robinson Jr. And let Trevor Lawrence have the weapon that he was, that he should, that he needs for if they really believe that he is their future quarterback for the next five, ten years. Give him that weapon because I just don't think outside of Brian Robinson Jr., they really have a lot of other weapons to really rely on a week in, week out basis. And I do think they they look at Travis as that type of dude, but they can't give him the full amount of reps because they still expect him to go play on the defensive side. But you're not getting the best of him best of him on either one because you're splitting his time between two different two different spots. So, and I just think what from what I've seen from him at corner, they're not even asking him to play against the best wide receiver at every team they're facing, and he's usually playing slot, and you're not really he's not really he's getting cooked by everybody there. So just the way I look at it, man, I'm just like just let him go play wide receiver and end this whole thing because it's not working out well for anybody. And if this keeps going on, it'll be bad for Travis Hunter as well, because he won't get nearly as much money. If you're only a top 25-30, both corner and receiver, you're not gonna get the number one money you could have gotten. You're just one if you are not a number one, but if you're like a top five guy at either spot. And I feel like if you were making a bet, I think he'd be a much better receiver than he is a corner, and I think they should make that long-term investment, including Travis. I think he should be take away some of his pride and be like, hey, I I think I should like he can't be Superman and learn two positions in the NFL. There's a reason that that doesn't happen nowadays. It just there's a reason it doesn't happen. There's a reason why. And I think they should accept it. I think they'll maybe they'll get a better player out of Travis Hunter if they make that decision sooner rather than later. Alright, next game. New Orleans going to Chicago. Chicago's coming off of their big win against Washington, and they have New Orleans coming off of their loss to the Patriots. This game is in Chicago, so I'm going to pick them along with Jace. Jace also picked Chicago as well. I think New Orleans has the chance to win this game, but I think Chicago coming off of their bye looked a lot better against Washington. I'm not saying that Caleb Williams looked like a much different quarterback. He still had his issues, but I do think they were able to keep the offense on schedule a little bit more often. They were able to run the football a little more effectively, too, with uh with Swift. And then even though I don't think the Chicago defense is absolutely amazing or anything, I do think New Orleans will be able to score a decent amount of points. I just don't know if I can trust New Orleans defense to really stop Chicago as long as they're keeping the offense moving and kind of on schedule. And I think even though I think that why am I forgetting his name? Oh, that's not good. Uh what Spencer Rattler, I don't think he's bad. I think he's fine. I really do. But I just think they just don't have a consistent enough offense. Their offensive line is like iffy, and they really don't have a great play caller, I don't think. It's fine, but it's not awesome. And I just feel like they're just not a talented enough football team to take to uh to make up for no. New Orleans just isn't good enough. Let's just go with that. Sometimes here's the thing sometimes I get a little too much in my head on trying to sound smart and do all that, but sometimes you can just look at a team and just say, they're just not good enough to be on the field with the other team. And even though I think New Orleans is actually a tough out, and I think they play hard and they have some talented dudes, they really do. It's just as a collection of talent, they are just not a good enough team to go out and be can be counted on to play well enough on a week in, week out basis, and I think Chicago will win that game. Next game, Miami going to Cleveland. Jace picked Cleveland. No, sorry, he picked Miami. I think I might I can't I I want to pick Cleveland because I think their defense is actually really good, and I do think they'll be able to slow down Miami from doing what they want, especially with Miami not really being able to take the top off of any defense that they play, with you know, Tua not necessarily being having the strongest arm, they don't have Tyreek Hill, and I think their offense is really turned into it's already been that, but I think even more without Tyreek Hill involved, like they're still a quick throw type of offense, and I think if Cleveland doesn't have to worry about getting beat deep, I think they're just a lot better team. There's a lot harder to have to face as a defense, and especially with their defensive line, have as many guys they can get after Tua and Tua not being able to run away from any type of pressure. I think Cleveland's gonna be a harder, hard uh team for Miami to face. But I just think offensively, Dylan Gabriel, I just don't believe in that offense enough to get the job done. So I will go ahead and go along with Jace and pick Miami to win that. Next game we got is New England going to Tennessee. Tennessee is coming off of their first win of the season. No, sorry, they win or lose. They no, they lost last week. They lost because they're they won against the Cardinals and they lost last week against the Raiders. They're coming off of firing their head coach in why am I freaking his name? Doesn't really matter. They fired their head coach, he's gone, so they're gonna probably be a little playing a little bit better with the boost because you know when the bad team fires their head coach, usually the team comes out and plays better because they're just Brian Callahan was his name, by the way. It popped in my head as I was going on to the next thought. The idea that they got rid of the Brian Callahan, who obviously did not know what he was doing, he was a terrible coach, he was a terrible offensive play caller, he was terrible at with the Bengals. So I think he was nowhere near deserving of having that job, and I'm glad Tennessee figured that out early and they're willing to get rid of him. I just think New England's playing on a much different level right now. I think that uh oh no. I think that Drake May is really playing at a level where he's really trying to, he's really the game is really starting to slow down for him, and I think his talent is really starting to shine through. Even though I think New England's offense is I mean their defense is nowhere near consistent, and they do let teams score that probably shouldn't against them. But I think that New England, Drake May is going to be able to make enough plays getting it to his guys, and as long as they don't fumble the football from the fumbles from their running backs, I think they should be able to win this game pretty handily because I think New England's a better team than Tennessee. So I'll take New England just like Jace did in that. Next game. Las Vegas is going to Kansas City. Come on, Jace picked Kansas City and so will I. Even though I think Vegas can be a feisty team at times, Gino's not playing well enough for me to believe in them. They don't have Brock Bowers, their best offensive player. I think defensively they're Swiss cheese, and like anybody can score on them. And on top of all of that, it's just I don't know, it's just bad altogether. Like Las Vegas just can't get out of their own way. And again, I know they're trying to make it a little bit better, getting Tom Brady in to kind of be trying to lead them down the right road when it comes to getting a culture together and all of that. But I just think that it takes a while to get the stink of losing off of you, and I just don't think they're there yet. So with with that, and then add it to the fact that Gino is just never has not played a consistent game of football this year, and he's just thrown a lot of picks, and the offense can't like stay consistent. So, and not to mention Kansas City, they're getting Rasheed Rice back. I think they're getting close to what they are as a Death Star, at least for the at for the AFC. And I think, if I'm right, they're gonna start their run of getting all the way back to the Super Bowl again. Not saying winning it, but I think they'll probably be representing the AFC again because all the other teams in the AFC don't want to, you know, take take advantage of the opportunity that they had and put the Chiefs down. And guess what? They're letting the Chiefs rise again to kind of get back to where they want to be and have a chance to go on this run. I'm not happy to be saying this, but I just think that's that's kind of the feeling I'm starting to get right now. So I'm gonna take Kansas City just like Jace did to go ahead and beat Vegas. Next game, Philly going to Minnesota. Philly is a fucking dumpster fire, man. It's it's it's bad. It's giving me the feeling of two years ago again, where they started the season out 10-1 and then they lost their last six straight, and then they got blown out by Tampa Bay in the first round of the playoffs. And you have Minnesota that I don't think is as good of a team as Philadelphia. But it's just, do you really know what Philadelphia's gonna give you on a week in, week out basis? They haven't played a full of a good football game from start to finish at all this season. And for as much as I like to talk shick up shit about Carson Wentz, I do think that in that offense, he can be more of an automaton and just kind of listen to the instructions that he's given. And as long as he does that, he can make plays. He knows how to get the ball to their best receiver and Justin Jefferson and best player. Um they can run the football decently, but I just think that and the defense for Minnesota can be good, but it just hasn't been consistent this year. But it's just can I count on Philadelphia to put a game plan together from start to finish to be able to win a football game? I don't know if I can trust it. And here's a little funny story because at work there's a Philly fan, and I asked her this question of like, hey, there's this whole thing going on right now between Jalen Hurts and all like it's like all their stars can't get everything together and AJ Brown. And I'm like, if you really had to come like say what you are in this situation, if you're like Team Hurts or Team Brown, because it feels like that's where the real divide is on this team, and I asked her what what side would you take in that in that, and she's actually said it might be a hot take, but I'm taking AJ Brown's side, and I was surprised. I'm like, hey, because Jalen Hurts just won the Super Bowl and he's the quarterback and all of that. And what her main thing was is like something we started talking about, and like she kind of agreed with the idea that gave her, like, hey, they've been like they've been making AJ Brown sound crazy for years when he has been talking about the plate, the the passing game, and all of that. They've been gaslighting him. That's the word I've been saying. And because he's been talking about how the offense is an issue, and everybody keeps looking at him, he's like, Hey, why are you complaining when we're winning and they go and win a Super Bowl last year, but yet he's always sitting there like, hey, the passing game can be better. And then now the passing game has really turned itself to like turn its ugly head around to really be an issue because guess what? They can't have like Saquon is not looking as good as he did last year. Not necessarily saying it's like a huge downturn, but he's just like he's not outputting the same again. Again, after getting the ball so much last year, it's hard to expect him to be able to put two amazing seasons back to back when he takes so much punishment. And it's not only him, the offensive line as well. The offensive line looks worn down too. So it's hard to expect the running game to be as good as it was last year. So when that happens, you need to have a passing game that could supplement that. And guess what they're not? They don't have is that. And they don't have an offensive coordinator that can really put any type of plan together. And they don't have a they're Jalen Hurts is a streaky quarterback. When he is on, it can look great. It can look one like one of the best in the league. But when it's not, he can look like a top, like the bottom 10 quarterback in the league with how he looks throwing the football sometimes. And that's okay. And what everybody was like on the Jalen Hurts train of trying to like, why isn't he a top five, top five quarterback in the NFL? Like he look what he just did last year and in the Super Bowl. Like everybody was trying to get on that bandwagon. And I was on the side of like, I still thought he was a top 10 guy because I feel like he did so much, he kind of deserves that respect. But I think it was it's more than fair to look at Jalen Hurts as like, hey, he's not a consistent enough passer to really believe in on a year-in-year-out basis, on a week in, week out basis. And that had shown itself to be an issue when he doesn't have the running game that he had last year. That to make it easier on them, they always had a lead when they were winning games last year. So I'm just like, all those things coming together, it just shows that the passing game is definitely a problem. And now AJ Brown is not willing to. Now that what he's talked about being the issue is now really like everybody truly believes it now. Guess what AJ Brown's not willing to do? And again, I'm not saying that AJ Brown's right for this. He could be an adult and handle everything in private, but guess what he wants to do? He wants to deny that there was a meeting ever happening. He wants to like he is not trying to do anything to put out the fire that is looking like going on in Philadelphia right now. And that's the wrong thing to do. I I hate, I like obviously I would love for him to kind of handle it like an adult and try to keep everything in house. But guess what? They've been gaslighting him for years. They know what what type of guy that he is. And at the end of the day, I think at his soul, he is a diva receiver that like when you do that to him, he's not going to take it and like turn the other cheek. He's not, he's not gonna do it. And I think that could end in AJ Brown end up getting traded at some point because if they have to choose between a quarterback and the wide receiver, they're probably gonna take the quarterback because they paid up, pay Jalen Hurts a lot more money. But I don't I don't know, man. This team is very fractured, and I just don't believe that they're gonna be able to turn it on at this point. I think Minnesota's a good team, so I'm gonna go ahead and take Minnesota along with Jace. But again, I just I wouldn't be surprised if they have could somehow put a good game together and can kind of go ahead and beat Minnesota, but it's just I just can't trust Philadelphia. I can't. There's too many, like the smoke is there, man, and sometimes you have to say that the fire is there too. The Soak Smoke's been there for so long, we've been looking willing to look past it because of the season they had last year. That thing has turned into a full-on inferno, and it's hard to do to ignore. Especially when they don't have a head coach that any of them respect. They don't their head coach doesn't have the respect from any of the players. He is an absolute clown, and I think all the players know that. And they look at him, he's like, hey, dude, we we know you're really not here doing shit. You're the you're the vibes guy, you're not an offensive guy, you're not a defensive guy, and we don't even respect you because you're not even doing the job here. So I don't know. And he's like, it's it's a clusterfuck there. Um next game, Carolina going to the New York Jets, Jace picked the Jets. I don't know, man. I think the way that Carolina's playing. My only my problem is that even if even if I I I don't trust the Jets at all, man. I don't trust them. And my whole problem with them at this point is even though I don't trust oh, this is if this is in Carolina, I'd feel a lot better. And can the Jets turn around what they have been this year, which they have been undisciplined, they've had a lot of penalties, they can't throw the football effectively on a week in, week out basis, they can't run the football, their defense has been absolutely atrocious. But the thing is, can Carolina take advantage of those weaknesses? And I think Carolina played some very good football against a very bad Cowboys defense last week, and they scored and they went up and down the field with with the Cowboys, and they managed to get the ball last and win the game at the end. But I don't think Carolina's defense is awesome. But Carolina can run the football. Uh Rico Dowdle had an amazing game last week. Can he put two of those games together in a row? And I I know the Jets' defense isn't really all that great, so can they like, but I don't I really want to pick Carolina because of how bad the Jets have looked. But then I have to believe that the Panthers can take advantage of those same weaknesses that other teams that take take care of some of those take some of those advantages and like take advantage of them. I'm gonna the Jets will look so bad. The Jets will look so bad this year. Oh no. They're the only winless team in the NFL. But can I believe that I'm I'm taking the Jets, screw it. I'm gonna take the Jets along with Jace. I'm not see this is me being a bitch because I'm behind in the record wise and I want to try to catch up, but I don't know. It's a it's a problem. Uh next game, we have New York Giants going to Denver. Jace picked the Giants. I'm going to take Denver. Denver's at home. Home field advantage, I think, is a big deal here. And I think that as much as the Jets, the Giants, sorry, the Giants have looked a lot better with Oh no. Why am I forgetting why am I forgetting aims right now? This isn't good. Um let's see here. Nope, not what I'm looking for. Uh Jackson Dart, sorry. I I was having a brain for it there. Jackson Dart has brought him and Cam Scataboo have brought a real a palpable amount of juice to this Giants team. They're playing a lot better in general. They have a little bit of hope on their side. And I just think they're playing a lot better as a team, and their defense coming alive because of it. But my problem is that the Denver defense, anything that the Giants can get, I think the Denver defense is very is very good, man. They can stop the run, and I think whatever passing game the Giants the Giants do have, which they really don't have a lot of right now, it's more about the running game with Jackson Dart and Cam Scatabou. I think they're gonna make the Giants so one-dimensional that they're not gonna be able to get the job done. And I think that as much as I think the Giants' defense is good and their deep their defensive line, the front seven is very good, but they're secondary. I just don't know how they're gonna fare against the Denver wide receivers. So I'm gonna go ahead, even though I don't believe, I really don't believe, in the J Denver offense being consistent on a week in, week out basis. Oh no, that's the problem, is that then I have to put some belief in Bo Knicks. But Bo Necks can put it together, man, as long as he can stay upright, he can make some plays. So I'm gonna take Denver in that game, especially with them being at home. I'll take Denver and just think defensively they can control the game enough to where Bo Nicks can get it together at some point and score some points to kind of get them the win. Next game, Indianapolis going to the LA Chargers. I think Indianapolis has looked like one of the best teams in the uh in the AFC so far this year. Daniel Jones is playing on time, throwing the ball on target. They're running the football so well with Jonathan Taylor. And I the problem is that can the Chargers make Indianapolis not like one-dimensional? Because you'd have to the Chargers would have to get up out to a lead early and make it to where they cannot keep giving the ball to Jonathan Taylor and run and running their offense through him to then use play action and just let Daniel Jones not have to put all the game on his shoulders. And I just don't think the Chargers are a team that can do that right now. I think the Indianapolis defense is good. I don't think they're necessarily amazing, but I just think with some of the injuries that the Chargers are dealing with right now on the offensive line and their receiver room, I just think that Indianapolis is a consistent enough team to where I think they're gonna come in. It's gonna be a close game, but I just think by the end of it, I think they're gonna get a little bit better play out of Daniel Jones, just being the guy that can not have to put all the weight on his shoulders in comparison to Justin Herbert, who everything is on like all of the weight is on his shoulders. If he doesn't play well, that team is not winning football games. They don't really have a running game right now that you can really like totally believe in. And I think against a good Colts defense, I'm gonna take Indianapolis as long as well as Jace. So we're both taking Indy in that one. So let's go ahead and go on to the next game here. Washington going to Dallas. I don't know. Washington's coming off the bad loss to the to the Bears. Dallas is coming off their bad loss to the Panthers. What do I think? I'm gonna go ahead and take Washington. Jace also took Washington in this game. Sorry. And the way I think about it is that I think that Washington can is uh are they getting Terry McLaurin back? If they're getting Scary Terry back, I will feel a lot better about where about picking them. Let's see here. No, he'll be out again. No scary Terry. But here's my thing, even without him, they still have weapons that I just don't think Dallas has any any type of hope of stopping. And the running game for Washington is still very good. I don't think Dallas can really stop the run either. And even though I don't think the Washington defense is all that good either, I just think that Washington, Jan Daniels, I just think I can believe in them a little bit more. And even though I think Dallas offensively is just playing at a very good clip right now, and Dak Prescott is playing very well, and I just think that if this is a game between like just scoring back and forth, I just think Washington can probably control the football a little better with the running game, and I just think that that's where I'll probably lean in towards Washington winning that game a little bit more. Jace also picked Washington as well, so that's about it on that. Next game, Green Bay going to Arizona. Me and Jace are both picking Green Bay. Kyler Murray is not really set to play in this game, but I just I actually think the Arizona offense with Jacoby Brissett actually kind of looked better than what they've had with Kyler Murray so far this year, even without having Marvin Harrison when he left early in the game last week, but they're actually gonna have him back for this one. But I just think that the Cardinals' defense is not gonna have a lot of hope in stopping Green Bay. And I also think that the D uh I can their offensive line stop the defensive line of the Green Bay, even though their defensive line really has not been all that great this year. I just think I just don't think they have a guy that can stop Micah Parsons, even though I'm I'm not a big Micah Parsons guy either. I'm trying to create this world to where maybe Arizona can probably make this game. I think Arizona can make this game close. I just think Green Bay will just have a little bit better time scoring points. So me and Jace will pick Green Bay, and I'll stick with it because even though Brissett really, that offense really did look a lot better with Brissett, because guess what? They can use the middle of the field. And he'll sit back there, he'll make the right read and get the ball to the guy that's open. But and I think all in all, offensively, can I they their run game isn't consistent? I just think Green Bay has a little bit too much firepower, and I think Green Bay won the game. Next game, Atlanta going to San Francisco. Here's what I'll say Atlanta in prime time has been looking very good in winning football games. When they're not in prime time, it hasn't gone as well. Not in prime time, they got blown out by Carolina. Like that's how bad it's looked at prime like not when it's not in primetime games. But guess what? They are playing on Sunday night against San Francisco. San Francisco has a bunch of injuries. San Fran also just lost. Why am I forgetting the linebacker's name? See, I know I suck at this. I I know I do because it is like legit that like he's that guy. It's what's his why am I forgetting his name? Fred Warner. They lost Fred Warner to a broken ankle, he'll be out for the rest of the year, so that's another defensive piece that they won't have the rest of the year. They will have George Kittle back for this game, so that is another offensive piece that they'll they'll have. But I think Atlanta defensively has enough to at least slow down San Francisco. And my biggest problem is what do they, what does the San Francisco defense have to stop Bijan Robinson with the run that he's on right now, being as good as he is, not only running the football, but passing, but catching it. They get him the football in so many ways and just tell him to go out there and make plays. And I just don't think I believe San Fran has any players that have a real chance of trying to shut down Bichon at all. And guess what? When you try to shut down Bijan, you have Drake London on one side. You also have Kyle Pitts making plays. They just have a lot of dudes for them to get the ball to. And I think it's gonna be very hard for San Fran to get off the field against this Atlanta Falcons offense. So I'm gonna take Atlanta. Jace also took Atlanta in this game. I just think that they just have a lot of, they just have too much firepower in this game, even though I think for whatever crazy reason, San Fran will find a way to try to stay in this game with Mac Jones and just throwing it to Christian McCaffrey and now adding George Kittle. But it's I think it'll probably be a high-scoring affair. I'm not sure what the over-under is, but I'll probably take the over. But I think Atlanta will win this game. I think in prime time they have proven themselves to be a team that can just play some good football. Even the defense that isn't great, they'll at least fly around and get after you and just kind of like try to stop big plays from happening. So I'll take Atlanta. I'll take Atlanta to win the game. And Bijan, I trust. Well, we trust because Jace picked uh Atlanta as well. Next game, Tampa Bay going to Detroit. Jace picked Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay, this is on Monday night, by the way. This is a Monday night doubleheader. It's kind of like an either-or because some people like people, there's it's either like if you are a football lover, you either love the Monday night doubleheaders, you absolutely hate it, and you think it should go away. I've kind of been more of a lover, other than the one Monday night that had both bad games. I think it was the Jets and New England, and I think the other game was Denver, and it was Denver and Cincinnati. I think that game is supposed to be very good, obviously, with the offset of the season with you know Joe Burrow potentially playing and all of that. But I think outside of that, I think the Monday night doubleheaders have been good. But the only problem is with this Monday's night doubleheader is that the second game doesn't start till 10 o'clock, with that game being in Seattle, so you're gonna have to stay up a lot later to make sure you watch the full game. So that part is an issue that I will give to anybody that is a Monday night doubleheader hater. But I love the seven, the 715-815 starts where you kind of had both games going on at once. I like that. I like that a lot more. But this the way they are having it set up this week is a little bit more of an issue. But back to Tampa Bay, Detroit. Detroit coming off of their loss to Kansas City, and then you have Tampa Bay coming off of their big win that they had against why am I forgetting who they played last week against the 49ers. Will they have their guys back? Let me see here. I don't think they'll have a mech mech a mecha eggbucan this next week because of the grunt because of the uh hamstring injury. I think he's questionable. Hamstring, he still didn't practice on Friday, so they probably won't have him back. Bucky Irving is doubtful he will not be back for this week. Are they getting back any of their offensive linemen? No, they're all their one offensive tackle is questionable, but I don't know. It doesn't really matter. They looked really good last week. But I think Detroit has a little bit more defensive line-wise to get after Baker Mayfield. Obviously, Aiden Hutchinson being like the main guy on that. Let me make sure he's not hurt before I say that for sure. Injury-wise, let's see. Taylor Decker is questionable. He might be able to come back as their offensive tackle. Kirby Joseph didn't practice Friday. He's questionable. DJ Reader, their defensive tackle is questionable. Terrian Arnold, their corner is questionable. Here's my thing. Okay. Detroit's coming off a bad loss to Kansas City. I think they'll come in with a bad attitude. And I don't know. Going against Tampa Bay right now is not looking great, especially with Especially with Tampa only having one loss in the year, I think. Hold on, let me check. They only have one loss in the year. I just think that if you have to go, and it's a track meet between both of these teams, I think Detroit has more of their weapons than Tampa Bay does. And I think they'll be able to protect Jared Goff and maybe be able to run the football a little bit better. So I'll take Detroit. I'll take the chance because Jace did pick Tampa Bay. You know, I already am behind in the record so far picking games. So I'll take Detroit. I really do think this one will be a track meet. It'll be first to 30, I think, potentially, based on how these two teams have played so far this year. And I think Detroit just has more of their dudes. So I think with that being the case, I'll take the chance and take Detroit, even though I think Tampa Bay has been so good throughout this year. And I think Baker Mayfield has really found a different level of play right now. I think I think I heard somebody say this on a pod or something, where like they're saying like Baker Mayfield is kind of like looking like how he looked in college. And I'm like, you know, that's kind of right. Like at when he came out of Oklahoma, people were looking at him as like, hey, he can be like the next Drew Brees. And the way he's playing right now gives some real credence to that fact. I'm not saying he's he hasn't really played like that for his whole career as in the NFL, but the the mode he's on right now in this point, in this moment, especially with playing with the wide receivers he had last week after Mech went down, it was a bunch of like dudes you never really heard of. And with that being the fact, other than Sterling Shepard, of course, but I think outside of that, I think Baker has been playing some very good ball. But I just think Detroit, if you're just gonna be a like a bat, like you know, two heavyweights matching up, I just think Detroit has a little bit more in the tank with all the different weapons that they have to throw to. And I think Tampa Bay is going to be missing a little bit of that coming into this game. Their offensive line is a little bit hurt as well. So I'll take Detroit to win the game, even though I think it could just as easily be Tampa Bay winning, because I think Baker is playing on an unreal level right now. Last but not least, we have Houston going to Seattle. Jace picks Seattle in this game. I think Houston coming off a bye. Houston's defense is absolutely amazing. Can they figure a few things out offensively coming into this game, and especially against a Seattle defense that has not been lights out whatsoever? And I think that if they can just get a little bit of protection for CJ Stroud, I think he's shown that he can make some plays and get the ball to his weapons that he has. And they have bit they've like little by little, they've been getting a little bit better at running the football week by week. And I just I'm gonna take the chance on Houston, man. Coming out of a bye, even though Jay's picked Seattle, I'm gonna take a chance on Houston because I think CJ Stroud, with that team coming off of bye, that offensive line will get a little bit better, hopefully, a little more healthy. Well, they're not having really been hurt, they've just been awful this year. Maybe they'll figure a few things out, and I think offensively, I just think maybe they'll have a little bit more what's the word I'm looking for? Not simplicity, but like melding a little bit to maybe trying to get a little bit more of what CJ does well, along with what they actually want him to do to be able to protect him. And I think that this could be a game where a lot of points are scored, and I think that Houston's defense is going to be a little bit better at getting stops than what Seattle's defense is going to be able to do, even though I think JSN cannot be stopped right now. Jackson Smith and Jigba, he's been absolutely on a tear. I think he's like been like the leading receiver this year so far, especially with Puka Hakua going out over the last couple weeks. I think Yeah, JSN's gonna be so hard to stop. Do I think Houston can really stop him? No. But I think they'll keep him from having the crazy explosive days to have like 160 yards and a like a touchdown. I think they'll be able to keep him to have a little bit more of a normal day for a wide receiver. So I just think with that, I think Houston has enough firepower as long as they can keep CJ upright. But again, do I think Seattle's defensive line has like a bunch of studs that I'm worried about getting to him? I don't know. I'll take the chance to go, Houston. Why not? And CJ I trust, why not? I'll go with it. And Jace picked Seattle, so how many splits is that for us this week? That goes one, two, excluding the Cincinnati Pittsburgh game, which you know, obviously. Other than that, I think we've had one split, three splits. So Jace is already up on this week. Hopefully I can match it up and at least tie him for this week and not dig my hole even deeper. So I'm taking some chances this week. I'm not gonna lie. But again, if I do end up winning the splits and like having a better record this week, Jace will just look at me like, oh, this is what happens when I'm not there. You just bitch, you just go ahead and pick all the splits, and I can't convince you out of it, which is what happens when he's here. He'll make me choose. And like he'll say three, two, one is make me pick. And then guess what that what happens when I do that? I usually just go with whatever he picks because I don't want to get further behind or take the chance. But without him here, I can do a little more thinking, take a little bit more calculated risks, hopefully, and hopefully it'll go my way. So that's it. How long have we been going for those pods? About just under two hours. So it's a little bit better, not going two and a half. So let's go ahead and get to it here. So that's about it. That's all I got for tonight. Let's go ahead and do the quick recap, uh, not recap, but how's that Miami game going so far? Louisville is currently up seven 17 to 10. So I will get off of this pod and probably watch the rest of that and chill out for the rest of the night. And uh that's about it. So thank you guys for listening. If you've been listening for a while, we appreciate you. If you're just now joining on, hopefully you'll like us and enjoy us enough to join us on this ride of talking about sports in the dumbest way possible. And if this is the first pod you've listened to, maybe you can go and listen to a different pod with both me and Jace on to get a better idea of what this podcast is at its best. When you have both me and my brother Jace talking about sports dumbest way possible, talking shit to each other, you know, the dynamic you'd think you would with a brother or with a sibling. That's what we bring to the pod when we're doing it together. So if you like us, if you could do a couple things for us, we'd appreciate if you could like our podcast, subscribe to the podcast, rate the podcast five stars wherever you listen to us. We're pretty much available on all audio platforms out there. We would love if you could do that stuff if you could uh if you can share us, friends, family, enemies, anybody you feel like could enjoy the podcast we put out on a weekly basis. We would love if you can do that. And then last but not least, if you could follow us on Twitter and or X, whatever you'd like to call it, at JB Sports Pod is the podcast handle, at Javante Boozer is my handle, at Jace Boozer1 is Jace's handle, and that's all I got. So thank you guys, have a great night, have a great day. Uh thank you guys for listening, guys for always listening, and uh we will see you guys next week. Bye y'all.