Saturday To Sunday: Fans, Bets, And Blowups

Recorded November 18th, 2025 

A skydiving Navy SEAL dog, a 385-drone halftime show, and 268 texts later, the weekend delivered more storylines than a rivalry week deserves. We start where fans actually live: wall-to-wall games, survivor sweats, and the bets that felt brilliant until one sideline flag flipped everything. From Oklahoma’s statement wins to Kirby Smart’s audacious onside kick, we separate swagger from substance and ask whether the SEC still scares the field like it used to. Arch Manning becomes a case study in hype versus development, where progressions, pass protection, and patience matter more than last name and headlines.

On Sundays, reality bites harder. Pittsburgh finds unexpected calm after an injury pivot while we debate whether the Pickens trade was smart culture or missed firepower. Context matters—double teams, quarterback fit, and offensive structure live under every stat. Then it’s a hard look at the Chargers’ trenches: quick game abandoned, time of possession crushed, and a couple of calls that swung the mood but not the math. Across the NFC, Rams and Seahawks play turnover roulette with playoff seeding on the line, while the Niners lurk a step behind. Along the way we spotlight rookies stepping into real volume, the way NIL reshaped the recruiting map, and how officiating in high-leverage moments can still tilt a Sunday night.

We end where candid fans always do: what’s fixable now, what’s not, and who we actually trust to win in January. If you’ve got thoughts on the new playoff pecking order or want to vent about flags that changed your ticket, we want to hear it. Tap follow, share the show with a football friend, and drop your boldest playoff upset in a review—who’s shocking the bracket next?

#baldguysonthebench #graboneandcrackone #nfl #steelers #lachargers #collegefootball

Transcript

Cold Open: Banter, Beers, And Fantasy Fire

Announcer 0:06

Welcome to another episode of the Bald Guys on the Bench Podcast with your hosts Graham Cohen and Scott Wasco.

Graham 0:21

What's up everyone? Welcome back to another episode of Libji. Why am I doing this?

Scott 0:26

Wow, I remember my first time talking.

Graham 0:28

I know. Guys, we know what it is. It's the bald guys on the bench. I'm here with my boy Scott. It's Graham. How you doing, brother?

Scott 0:34

I'm good, and I'm even better now that you don't know how to talk. But dude, before we even get into things, we gotta grab it. We gotta crack it. I mean, just the point of you not knowing how to talk and that text you sent me earlier about what happened at your house.

Graham 0:51

Oh my god! Leave it alone.

Scott 0:56

I don't even know the words of the song, but I'm gonna just hum it and just put in my own words. Oh, what a night. It's November 18th at 920. And Graham has already made some funnies. Uh, let's go, baby. I didn't know we were gonna sing 30 seconds into the show tonight, but I ain't mad at it. Started off on a good note. You're unbelievable. Dude, what did I do? I'm just taking advantage of my friend.

Graham 1:31

Yeah. I mean sounds like last night, I was the punching bag last night, too. Shit.

Scott 1:38

Oh. You brought that upon yourself.

Graham 1:43

Hey, I brought it upon myself that is fair. And you know what? As I said to you earlier, I'm alright with it because if it takes 11 weeks and me bitching and complaining in the group text and our fantasy football league, like, hey guys, you know, if you could actually say something and make this league worth being in, I'd kind of appreciate it. Like, you know, I thought we were all boys here, and the one female, like, I thought we were friends. Like, the whole point of this is to have fun and talk shit. And no one's saying anything. And boy, did that can of worms get opened up last night. Sheesh.

Scott 2:18

I mean, I guess all it took was me last place in the basement of the league. What was I one in nineteen? Yeah. Because we play two games a week.

Graham 2:28

Yeah.

Scott 2:29

One one game. I mean, if you like being in a hospital, you're gonna love being on my roster. But dude, all it took was me to go 2-0 this week and rack that record up to you know, three and nineteen and talking some shit. And, you know, all of a sudden, bada bing, bada boom, badger woke up and screenshotted it. Two hundred and how many text messages this morning? Yeah, like 268. Yeah, I mean, and Jeff, you know, happy birthday, Jeff. You know, happy birthday.

Graham 3:02

Well, I mean, the best part of it was that the alley oops.

Weekend Recap And Movie Takes

Scott 3:05

The best the best part of it was, you know, this is the third year of this league, okay? And here's some behind the scenes shit that you don't even know. Jeff, I have not beaten Jeff in two years and the first matchup this year. And Jeff always talks shit. You've never beaten me, yada yada yada. Uh I think I beat him yesterday.

Graham 3:32

Let's go!

Scott 3:33

Not only that, I had Brian Thomas Jr. on my in my starting lineup. He was a scratch. But anyhow, you know, gotta keep it real. Fantasy's fantasy. Uh Graham. How was your week? How was your weekend? Uh, what'd you do? I mean, we're sitting here chatting Tuesday night watching Kansas and Duke. Uh, what's cracking?

Graham 4:03

Weekend was good, actually. Been, well, let's see. Watched some good college football. Sunday, watched NFL all day, and you know, not that I take it for granted right now, but as I'm saying it right now, it just makes me think, remember those dog days back in July when there was nothing on? And two days ago I could literally, you know, granted West Coast time, I could get up at 9 45 and watch football from 10 a.m. until 8 30 at night? Like, what's better than that?

Scott 4:39

I don't disagree. The only thing is that sucks is it's week 12. Yeah, I it's a it's a it's a sad sight.

Graham 4:48

But hey, we'll get into it later, but team won, Survivor Picks won, had a couple bets win. It's a good weekend. And what tops it off, I know you always give me shit for it, but saw a movie, and let me tell you, I've been kinda waiting for this movie to come out because it looked pretty good. Bro, The Running Man, classic. I mean, I don't want to say classic, but amazing start to finish. Guys, if you haven't seen it, go out. It's actually worth the price of admission going. Gotta see it. Glenn Powell.

Scott 5:24

I'm gonna say this. Before you go see it, and I haven't seen the new one, watch the original. Because the original, have you even seen the original? No, I'm gonna have to, though. Dude, the original was awesome. And when what was that show we were talking about the other night? Hunger Games.

Graham 5:45

Yeah.

ODU Game Night: Parachute Pups And Drone Show

Scott 5:45

When that came out, I was just like, this is like the Running Man in a different way. Kind of, yeah. I loved Running Man back in the day. I mean, it had Arnold was in it. I I mean, I haven't seen the new one. I want to see it because that was one of my favorite movies growing up. But uh, anyhow, you know, we chatted about it last week. Kellen, my dad, and Kellen's girl, we went to the old minion game Thursday night, you know, started the week off like that, ODU domination station. But a couple things about that game that I told talked to you about that I've never seen before. Number one, you know, I'm in Virginia, right? Big military area. Yeah. So we always have skydivers parachuted in the stadium. This is the first night game we've gone to uh this year, and we had three skydivers, and the last one dude literally had a dog attached to him. What? When he landed, Kellen's like, Dad, he's got a dog. And I'm like, What? All of a sudden there the dog's got goggles on, and the announcer's like, yeah, and welcome to the field, you know. Fido, his third year being an active Navy SEAL, dude, the dog gets runs around. It was a it was sick, it was super cool. Nice. Could you imagine that dog the first time he's jumping out of a plane? Like if you could read its brain, like you know, and of course, my son being my son, he goes, Dad, what would happen if that dog shit from way up there? It's gonna land somewhere, bro. Gotta land somewhere. But you know, hilarious.

Graham 7:34

Oh, Kellen. Right.

Scott 7:36

But anyhow, at halftime, dude. I mean, ODU's dominating the game. Halftime, they're like, We're gonna have a drone show tonight and stay in your seats at halftime. And I'm like, oh damn, this is sick. First time I've ever seen that. 385 drones, dude. Insane.

Graham 7:54

Yeah.

Scott 7:56

Celebrating obviously Veterans Day was the theme. American flags and you know the bald eagle, everything. Dude, it was so sick. It was amazing. Had a good time. Kellen and I have been to two ODU football games now this year. We have yet to see the opposing team score a point.

Graham 8:14

Yeah. How great is that? And of course I'm bringing that up because you know, our daily bets that we like to throw in there. We were talking about the game before, and I was just like, yo. I was like, I'm like looking at the spread, and the spread was like, I don't know, 10, 12 points. And you always say to me, Gram, when these spreads are big, you know, you gotta be careful. I'm like, you know what? I'm like, all right, I'll take a little different action. So we were talking, you know, you were telling me, you know, did some research, like, well, these last X amount of games, the other team's been scoring X amount of points. So I'm just like, all right, let's hit the over at the half, let's hit the over of the game. Um, yeah, what happened was uh exactly uh they got shut out. So those were two losers.

Scott 9:02

Thank God it took ODU minus 10 and a half to break even, but yeah.

Graham 9:07

I'm like, yeah, Graham, stick with your gut. Stick with your gut. But hey, made it back this weekend, so I'm happy.

Scott 9:15

That's all that matters.

Graham 9:16

Exactly, exactly.

Scott 9:18

So college football, dude's the biggest thing I want to talk about. Oklahoma. Yeah, they they beat Bama and Bama, but dude, they also beat Tennessee last week on the road. Uh back-to-back road wins. Oklahoma? Are they real?

Graham 9:40

They're more real now than they were four or five weeks ago.

Scott 9:46

They're solid, dude. Solid. I I just I don't know. Uh impressive, dude. They're in they gotta be in the playoffs. I know the whatever seatings came out tonight. I had a chance to study them, but I know Georgia went to number four after laying a wood to Texas. And something you wanted to talk about in that game was Kirby Smart. I mean Yeah.

Graham 10:14

Hey, I always love when coaches think they got it so good, and they're like, you know what? I got some big grande huevos over here. Let's uh let's try something out. Uh, I don't know. I'm pretty sure it was the start of the fourth, maybe the end of the third. Kirby Smart's like, hey, why don't you go out there and onside kick? I didn't know this because I mean I didn't I've only watched bits and pieces of the game. I saw it on a highlight. I'm like, wait a minute. I'm looking at the kickoff, it looks like a regular kickoff, and the kicker just, you know, what they do, they do that little run-up and then kind of like kick the top of it with the side of their foot, kicks it, goes to 10, 12 yards, they pick it up, take it right down the field. I mean, at no point in that game did it feel like Texas had a chance.

Scott 10:57

No.

Graham 10:58

And look, for all the hype Arch Manning's been getting coming into college football, I mean, he sat most of last year, he played a little bit only because of, you know, you were getting hurt. Now he's the man here, and it's not like I'm trying to poo-poo on Arch Manning, but it's just like in this society, you can't hold someone up to a pedestal, and then if they don't live up to it, you can't expect, you know, the backlash of what you put him up there to be.

Scott 11:33

I don't disagree.

College Football Contenders And Kirby’s Gamble

Graham 11:35

And, you know, I've listened to other commentators, you know, different podcasters, you know, former NFL players, and they're like, look, yeah, he has the lineage, yeah, he had a great high school record, but look, when you're playing in a, you know, when your high school team is not playing decorated programs, top-level programs, how can you really compare them to like, you know, as I said to you when I was telling you this earlier, compared them to the big, you know, 5A schools in Texas or, you know, some of the big schools in Virginia or the big schools in Florida or out here in California. You know, it's just like if you don't play against high-level competition, how can you truly grade yourself where you are on that plateau? And it's just like it kind of seems like you know, Archie is being a little overwhelmed right now. I I mean, I I don't know, but look, isn't he only technically a sophomore right now?

Scott 12:31

Yeah.

Graham 12:32

So but look, how many sophomores besides quarterbacks who are sophomores, that all they do, or should I say, their biggest asset is their legs, and like they okay, yeah, I'll throw 150 yards, but I'll give you 200 200 on the ground? I mean, an actual quarterback that does his progressions and throws the ball. How like, you know, unless you are the second coming of Christ, how do you expect a sophomore to go in there and kill it? Especially SEC, Texas, like they're not playing slouches. Yeah, they might have one, two games, but everything else, especially when you're playing in the toughest conference, it's not a walk in the park. Like, you just can't expect pedigree to be like, alright, you know, you're good, you can handle this. And I mean, I saw a couple still shots, you know, just looking, I mean, you know the cameras are looking at him, and it's just like there was a point where Archie Manning, you just like I don't say I felt bad for the guy, but uh you could almost tell he just wasn't ready. So I I I don't know. What what do you what's your thoughts?

Scott 13:39

Uh I don't know, dude. I I just like I said last night when we were chatting. If the guy was as good as the hype, don't you think he would have been starting last year?

Graham 13:56

Uh uh Yeah, but viewers came back. He was a Heisman Trophy compet uh not competitor, but uh candidate candidate the year prior.

Scott 14:05

What's I mean still uh and going back to you know what you're saying about Texas being in the SEC and the toughest conference, uh I think that ship has sailed, bro, as far as the toughest conference. Uh have you seen the Big Ten lately? I mean, yeah, I understand Oregon, USC, everybody has joined the Big Ten, but if you're looking at what I just sent you, and that's the latest college football playoff rankings. Uh you got Ohio State, you got Oregon, you got Indiana, you got three.

Graham 14:48

Yeah, and I'm pretty sure we said this last week. Indiana has the worst record at college football of all time.

Scott 14:56

Hey, who wants to play Indiana? Overall record. Uh wants to play Indiana.

Graham 15:02

Hey, well, look, N I L, baby. N I L.

Scott 15:06

100%, dude.

Graham 15:08

100%. I look I I still think look, each conference, well, look, there's only four major conferences now. The Big Ten, they're top heavy with their top two. I mean, really, they got the one seed and the two seed right now. Okay, Oregon, they're you know, they're pretty decent. But I mean, uh that's why there's the playoffs. I'm glad it's not how it used to be, and it's only the two teams, and then you had your bowl games. Like, now it's gonna be a fight. And now, to be honest, because of the NIL and more teams can get better, if more teams are better, then you would think that would open up the field to say more than 12 teams.

Scott 15:57

That's another discussion for another time.

Graham 16:00

No, we're not getting into that discussion.

Scott 16:01

I'm just saying, uh I mean, but something else you wanted to bring up. Texas AM this past week. Uh, is he the cop?

Graham 16:12

I like Yeah, he's not he he's not working any more college games, that's for sure. His his extra overtime went BUBA!

Arch Manning Hype Versus SEC Reality

Scott 16:22

Yeah, that shit's toast. Wow. He gone. But dude, you saw the screenshot I just sent you of the top 12.

Graham 16:32

Yeah, I saw him.

Scott 16:33

Do you see who the 12th seed is? Oh my god. Come back, phone.

Graham 16:41

Yeah. I thought you were see, I thought you were alleyooping yourself for a minute.

Scott 16:47

Texas Tech?

Graham 16:50

No, I see it. Tulane?

Scott 16:53

Wow. The green wave.

Graham 16:56

Wow.

Scott 16:57

Right? Yeah. Who? I love it, bro. I love it. I love it. It's sick. I don't know. I mean, look at those matchups we could get right off the bat. Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oregon, Bama, Ole Miss, Miami, and Texas Tech, and Tulane. Dude. Yeah. Is that any good?

Graham 17:23

Well, dude, I mean, if it's gonna be anything like how the Texas AM South Carolina game was, sheesh. I mean, if I was a diehard Texas AM fan and a better, you're down, what was it, 30 points at halftime?

Scott 17:40

30. Was it 30 to 3? Yeah. Something like that. I don't know. Bro. Bro.

Graham 17:48

They had to be plus 10,000 to win the game. Incredible.

Scott 17:55

Incredible.

Graham 17:57

Scoreless. They held them scoreless. They scored 29 points to win the game. Like, what? And it's not like South Carolina, you know, interceptions and all their stuff. Text AM was just like, alright, let's wake up, splash them on our face, you know.

Scott 18:17

And they did.

Graham 18:19

It's like they were playing with their little brother. Like, alright, we'll let them get up some points. Now it's just like, alright, the big boys are here. Let's, you know, let's do some work. And do some work they did.

Scott 18:28

They did. God knows. But I don't know. We're sitting here on November 18th. Who's your pick right now to win it all?

Graham 18:42

I'm going to go Texas AM. I like that.

Scott 18:47

I like that, Girl.

Graham 18:49

I mean, look, who's been super hot come out of nowhere? Obviously, it's Indiana. I don't want to poo-poo the Big Ten because I'm a Big Ten guy. There's some good teams, but I mean the real test is going to come in the Big Ten Championship.

Scott 19:05

Yeah.

Graham 19:06

When they play Ohio State.

Scott 19:08

They've played some good teams, but looking at looking at the line in two weeks, Michigan, Ohio State, the line's only four and a half. That's crazy to me. And my brother-in-law, who's, you know, Ohio State guy, he's just continues to beat the horse and say Ohio State's not that good.

Graham 19:30

So if they're not that good, Ohio State has beaten some good teams, but like the teams they have, like they've destroyed teams and then teams where they you know they are ranked.

Scott 19:40

Yeah.

Graham 19:40

They've beat them.

Scott 19:42

I mean, they beat Texas week one at home, not convincingly.

Announcer 19:47

Yeah.

Scott 19:49

I I I I don't know. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to think. I mean, I like your pick of Texas AM. I like that. I don't know much about them. I'm just throwing it out there. Ole Miss.

Graham 20:06

Yeah. Yeah, but hey, Lane Kiffin, look, his mind's all the way in, but I heard he did take a walkthrough over at LSU.

Scott 20:19

Yeah. I I I don't I don't know what to think, man.

NIL, Realignment, And The New Power Map

Graham 20:22

Uh I just And folks, my point of bringing that up is, you know, his name has been mentioned to go to other places, and it's just like, hey, now with the NIL and SEC, he has a pretty good job. Cush job. There's no point for him to go to, you know, Florida, Florida State, all this other. It's just like, why would you leave?

Scott 20:41

Same thing as homeboy at Indiana.

Graham 20:45

Yeah, well, that's why he got paid.

Scott 20:47

His name was the first name that came up when Penn State fired Franklin. Why would he leave?

Graham 20:54

Yeah.

Scott 20:55

It's not ten years ago where you're getting all the recruits to go to the big name programs. Well, it all comes down to the money.

Graham 21:03

Right. It's well, it's it's clout. Before NAL it was all clout, which therefore that many recruits.

Scott 21:11

Not only recruits, but it's it's okay, who's gonna be on national television more? Penn State or Indiana? Uh duh, Penn State.

Graham 21:19

Yeah.

Scott 21:20

That's why guys are going there. Well, guess what? That shit don't matter anymore.

Graham 21:24

Yeah.

Scott 21:25

We learned that yesterday when James Franklin signed with Virginia Tech.

Graham 21:29

Yeah.

Scott 21:30

They just got a four-star quarterback to flip his commitment from Penn State, and guess where he's gonna be this Saturday? In Blacksburg, Virginia, watching Virginia Tech play against Miami.

Graham 21:47

It is what it is. But that being said, old miss is no slouch. I mean, they were I mean, they were kind of mid-tier for a long time. But if you got a chance to go to LSU, like there's a few jobs. It's just like you don't turn down Alabama, you don't turn down LSU. That's kinda almost it. Really? Ohio State.

Scott 22:15

The rumors I've been hearing is Lane Kiff into the Tennessee Titans.

Graham 22:19

Well, that's a whole nother animal.

Scott 22:21

Yeah. I mean, but anyhow, I don't know. I like your Texas AM pick. I like it.

Graham 22:29

South Carolina's no slouch either. No, they're not. If you're down 28 points or 27 points, and you have the Moxie to come back and get that dub, and plus they're also, folks, they're undefeated. It's not like, you know. And they've played good teams. So, look, there's a couple more games left. We'll see what happens. I mean, the real question is is there gonna be a three-loss SEC team that's making the playoffs? That's a good question. Does the SEC bias finally fade out?

Scott 23:03

It's a good question. I mean, Bama's gonna get in.

Graham 23:09

Yeah, how many losses they got?

Scott 23:11

Where they have two?

Graham 23:13

It's either two or three. I mean. It's close.

Scott 23:20

It's close. They lost to Georgia and Oklahoma.

Graham 23:23

Yeah, so then it is two. But well, yeah, okay, so then if they play in the SEC championship and lose, do they make it?

Scott 23:28

Are they even gonna make it there?

Graham 23:30

Well, that's a that's a very good point.

Wild Comebacks And Playoff Picture Shockers

Scott 23:33

Yeah, but college speaking of college football is something we have to bring up. Wilder, my boy, Tennessee Tech on the road playing Kentucky. We talked about it last week. Graham and I both played some moneyline wagers on Tennessee Tech playing Kentucky. Yeah, that didn't come up so well, but you know, whatever. Coach, love what you're doing. You're 10 and 1. I mean, you lost by, I don't know, 42 to 10, I think, or something like that. Is what it is. But uh, shall we jump into the NFL? Because we've got some fun discussions uh to chat about.

Graham 24:12

Yes there.

Scott 24:14

And before we even get into it, last week's episode, your boy me was on cloud nine after we beat the Steelers and dominated the game. And Graham was like, Ho hum, the sky is falling.

Graham 24:32

Yeah.

Scott 24:33

And uh it's a little different this week in this uh show. Uh after the Steelers get in the win against old man Flacco, which I guaranteed and picked in Survivor, and you didn't agree with me, and Billy hated it. And yeah, I mean it's uh y'all got the win. Rogers got hurt. When did he exit the game? Was it before halftime?

Graham 25:02

His well, he didn't come back in the second half. The last series, uh, we kicked the field goal. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott 25:13

Last series of the first half.

Graham 25:14

Yeah, last series of the first half, yeah.

Scott 25:16

Yeah. Mason Rudolph. I mean And Jerry, this goes back to you. Remember that text. I know you still saved it. But anyhow. Uh Duke's about to tie it up, hopefully, with his free throw. All right. Tie game, 440 left. We're still in play. We're still playing that first half.

Graham 25:41

Come on, six and a half.

Scott 25:44

I I mean. Rudolph looked good, right?

Graham 25:50

Bro, he uh, you know, he said in this post-game interview, he's like, look, I wouldn't be lying if I said I didn't have a little, you know, jitters, you know, going out there. But look, he he's in a situation where he was drafted by the team, I believe 2015, um, played there for multiple years. He only left because, you know, they were just like, we don't know if you're gonna get a starting chance, and that was the year that they brought in, you know, that's when they brought in Wilson and they brought in Fields, which is hilarious because neither of them are on the team the following year. But, you know, he decided he's like, hey, how about I go to Tennessee? I got a chance to start. Didn't happen, but he did play some over there, and then when that opportunity left, you know, we still needed a backup. He came back to Pittsburgh, and you know, he said in the postgame, he's just like, Pittsburgh's my home. He's like, I live here, he's like, I love the fans, you know, it was just like he's just in a comfortable place. And when he came in, look, he's obviously not getting multiple reps with the first team, but he still gets, I mean, he still gets some. But it almost felt like I mean, it didn't feel like he was the starter, but there was a level of comfortability there that you're just like, alright, I'm cool with this. And to be honest, I told you this after the game was over when we finally decided to talk. And folks, you already know how Scott feels about Aaron Rodgers, and if you don't, you haven't been listening enough. I'm watching that game in the second half. He looked better than Rodgers has almost all season. Almost all season. Especially the last three games. So I I mean I mean, look, look, there was one play, Rogers, before he got hurt, I think it was in the first quarter, the beginning of the second, Rodgers actually had the opportunity where you know he uh he had to move out the pocket and he was getting chased, a lane opened, he actually ran. Roger was so dangerous because he was deadly accurate, and granted this folks, this is when he was younger, but he was deadly accurate and he had legs. When you have the threat of the legs to get the first down, that's everything.

Scott 28:13

It's a different world.

Graham 28:14

When you're 40 or 41 years old, if you have no threat of running, the defense can tee up. And he finally ran one and got a first down, and I'm saying to myself, was that the first time he's ran for a touch for a first down all season? It's amazing how extending a drive can help your offense. I mean, I know that's rulery to say, but when he did that, I'm just looking over at Pops and I'm like, are you kidding me right now?

Scott 28:41

Dude.

Who Can Actually Win It All?

Graham 28:42

Especially because it was on our side of the field. Like it was, we were on our 15-yard line. I'm like, uh, let's go here. And he got that first down. You know, it's just like, you know, Rogers even said, and I heard this in their interview, when Rogers broke his collarbone a couple years ago, he's like, yeah, I'm healed, but the arm is not the same. He's like, I don't have the same velocity on the ball. And I'm not, and look, I'm not saying Rudolph, you know, is a gunslinger and all this other stuff, but there was points in that game where I like there was a level of confidence of just calmness watching that game where I was like, you know what? I have faith that our offense can do something. We weren't lighting it up, but here's my question.

Scott 29:30

Yeah. It's it's not in the notes. I saw it today. Okay, and I was like, wow, I have to bring this up in the show to get Graham's real-time reaction.

Graham 29:40

All right, let me correct this here first. Hold on.

Scott 29:44

And don't say a word until I finish saying what I'm gonna say. Oh, now I'm scared. Okay. And this was from Kay Adams. She says, is the George. Pickens trade, one of the worst trades in NFL history. Don't say a word, remember? I just told you. Okay? And the reason I'm saying that is because uh your number one receiver on Sunday against the Bengals was Kenneth Gainwell. Seven for 81. Okay, don't say anything. I'm not done. Not only that, you traded away, what, a second for DK? He has 37 catches for 551 yards and five tutties. Pickens has 58 catches for 908 yards and seven. He's number two in the NFL in receiving yards this year. And what have the Steelers been saying all year long? We need a what? A number two number two. Well, a couple of I didn't think about that, dude, until I saw that today, and I was like, oh shit.

Graham 31:09

A couple of points. Number one. I did not know Pickens was number two in yards. Granted, he did get like 150 of them last night. And not that this is a knock on a lot of other players, elite players in the league, but when JSN is the number one wide receiver in the league right now, like, I mean, Jamar Chase, who everyone would say is the number one wide receiver in the league, he's been, you know, he hasn't done much. Yeah. Jefferson.

Scott 31:44

Burroughs has been gone.

Graham 31:45

Yeah.

Scott 31:45

Jefferson ain't done shit.

Graham 31:47

So, like, there's context, is what I would say. Of course.

Scott 31:52

But now, now could you imagine? Could you imagine Pickens and DK together?

Steelers Highs, Rodgers Hurt, And Rudolph Calm

Graham 32:00

Yes. Look, I was mistaken. I thought when we traded away, I thought we got a second for him. I was later reminded it was only a third, so I thought it was the fair swap. Still. Um, here's my point. Everyone, well, I can't say everyone knows, but one of the biggest things in the locker room is cohesion, right? When you have a player that just I don't want to say purposely, but when he continually does things to upset the organization, there are times where the hassle is not worth it's not worth the player. You know, is they is what's that saying? Is the juice worth the squeeze? Type of scenario? And look, yeah, is Pickens looking great? A hundred percent. But um, oh, I don't know. Is he on a team that, you know, has Dak Prescott, who is a top five quarterback? Is he on a team that has top 15 offensive line? Is he on a team that has, I don't know, CeeDee Lamb on the other side? Is he on a team that has Ferguson? Is he on a team that I mean one plus one equals two here? Pickens, I mean, do you have Pickens stats from the previous year when he was the number one? My point in saying that is this.

Scott 33:39

Yeah, he was the number one in Pittsburgh, but who was throwing him the ball?

Graham 33:43

But that's my point. Who's throwing you the ball helps when you have Dak and then you have CD on the other side? You're not double, you know, if you double CD, what's gonna happen? So what look at Pittsburgh this year. Offensive line started terribly. Rogers hasn't looked good. When your offensive line doesn't good look good, our running game hasn't been spectacular. Our offensive line has only started to look better these last couple of weeks. Our running game is finally starting to get it going. Okay, great. Our offense is nowhere near the same. Duke's up five. Oh, I'm behind, baby. Let's go! Come on.

Scott 34:22

240 left in the first half.

Graham 34:24

Let's go. Um, so it's just like how Arthur Smith runs the offense. We do a lot of two tight ends. Look, DK is getting double teamed. He's getting he's getting help over the top. He's getting all this special covers to him because they know he is the guy, right? The only games like DK's best game was the one in Ireland when we played Minnesota, mainly because he took that slant route 80 yards to the house for the tutty, right, and still finished with like only 125 yards. You know what I mean? Like, he's averaging 55 yards a game, so it's kind of like an apples and oranges situation. Like, I get her point. I completely get it. Would having Pickens help? Absolutely, but the thing is, Pittsburgh has been known to bring in troubled players. And look, we did the whole thing with I mean, look all the drama with Antonio Brown at the end. Right? We just it got to a point where Pittsburgh was just like, dude, if we're gonna trade the number one wide receiver in the league away, and we could only get a third from him from the Raiders. Not that Pittsburgh, I'm not that I'm gonna say Pittsburgh has experience and dealing with crazies and letting them go, but it's just like getting back to it, is the juice worth the squeeze? And it or the saying it's addition by subtraction. So I get it, hit that in a perfect world. If we had Pickens on one side and DK on the other, that would be amazing. But look, um Pickens, uh, correct me if I'm wrong, wasn't he disciplined and not playing the first series of the game last night because of his antics? Has he not been punished before in Dallas for his actions and doing you know him being crazy and his antics?

Scott 36:25

So it's just apparently, apparently it was him and CD seeing at a casino at 7 30 a.m. and they were only benched for the first drive.

Graham 36:36

Well, yeah.

Scott 36:37

What does that do? What does that do? What does that do? That's so stupid. Yeah, Keon Coleman is late to a team meeting as a healthy scratch for the Bills.

Graham 36:48

Well, because Jerry Jones is like, I want a dub, so I'll slap you on the wrist. You know, it's all about ethics and morals, is what it comes down to. And you know how, and my last point on this, if Pickens wants to be an alpha, and you have Metcalf who wants to be in a uh wants to be an alpha, and look, DK was somewhat of you know uh a diva, per se, in Seattle. What happens to a locker room when you have two divas on the on the same team?

Scott 37:23

Yeah, I'm I'm not disagreeing. I'm just saying I I I get it.

Graham 37:28

It's just on paper, would it be amazing? A thousand percent. But the reality of it is it is what it is. And all I can say is two things. One, I think you're like two seconds ahead of me in this game, but three, um, maybe that's signing of MVS, like, and that doesn't even make any sense now, because now with Rogers hurt, like, that's a whole nother thing. Roger is hurt, he has a f slight fracture in his wrist. So they're not they're not letting him practice. You know, they want him to heal up. If he can't hold on to the ball, like Pittsburgh's not showing their hand whether or not he's gonna start or not.

Scott 38:15

And look, I saw they worked out two quarterbacks today.

The Pickens Trade Debate And Locker Room Chemistry

Graham 38:19

Yeah, that's because Will Howard got uh is off the practice squad. Like he's on the he's on the 53-man roster now. So he's and look, I'm actually happy about that. I want him to get reps, I want to see what he's all about, you know. I want him to get chances. Come on, Duke. Come on. So it's like, you know, I I've said this before, probably on the show and in LifeTube hundreds of times. I'm a firm believer and things happen for a reason. And look, Rogers being a Packer for so long, the fact that he's on our team and we're playing the NFC North, I know deep down Oh, that hurts. I know it's killing him, potentially not playing the Bears because what's his famous line? Yeah. Rogers, I own the Bears. This is my town. And the thing is, if he goes in there and doesn't win, that's not his town anymore.

Scott 39:23

Oh, don't go in. Youth we covered, baby, by a half a point.

Graham 39:28

Let's go! Yeah, you're 20 seconds ahead of me. Oh, sorry.

Scott 39:33

Point and a half, 41, 39.

Graham 39:34

No, that's fine. Hold on, hold on. Why am I oh that's why? Oh, okay. I didn't. Oh, I didn't realize I wasn't live on my computer. Half a point, baby.

Scott 39:47

Um anyhow. So the real question is last week the sky was falling. How do you feel now? Y'all go to Chicago, right? Yes.

Graham 40:03

Here's the thing. Not much has changed. And yeah, we we beat Cincy. Okay, that's great. But what have I been saying the last how many years, especially on the podcast and even before that? There is no point in winning enough games to go to the playoffs and lose in the first round. There's really not. Especially if we lose. Like, it's only a winning season to a Steeler fan if they win at least one playoff game. I mean, that's what that's what ownership was just like, hey, do everything, make trades, spend money, you know, do everything that Pittsburgh normally ever does. Do everything in your power, you have to get a dub in the playoffs, like bare minimum. And now it's just like okay, say we win enough games, like the only way to make the playoffs is for us to win the division. The AFC West could have three teams. Could. It will have two, but like we're at a point right now.

Scott 41:13

I don't even know if I'd say two.

Graham 41:15

No, it will be two. I I I I would think two. Well, well, yeah. I mean, I also didn't think the Chargers going down to do ball would get that ass whooped. They the amount of bets that I lost because of that. Dude, uh Chargers plus three? Yeah, I love that.

Scott 41:34

We'll just transition into that right now. I mean, last time Chargers played the Jaguars in Jacksonville, uh, we had a 27-0 lead in the playoff game, and everybody says Herbert chokes. You know, we've talked about this numerous times, didn't turn the ball over. Staley's an idiot. But the thing I want to talk about is after the Chargers beaten the Steelers last week, and looking really dominant on defense, you know, and the Chargers are only allowing one touchdown and nine quarters. And dude, I'm just gonna go out here and say it. I talked about it with TP the other night. Uh Liam Cohen, the head coach for the Jaguars, who last year was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator. Yeah. Uh, he owns Jesse Minter. And that goes back to last year. When Tampa came into LA, waxed the Chargers ass. Uh the other night, or other day, whatever you want to talk about, waxed the Chargers ass.

Graham 42:47

Dude.

Scott 42:51

The offensive line injuries are finally catching up with the Chargers. I mean, first play of the game, like I told you, Herbert has to intentionally ground the ball so he doesn't get sacked. I mean, from the first play of the game, it was bad. I mean, literally one of the worst games I've ever watched. Yeah, the Raiders beat a 63 to whatever that Thursday night, but that was with fucking Herbert out on injury, you know, whatever. That doesn't count. I mean, Herbert only had 80 yards passing. And for Herbert to stand up in his press conference and say, I need to play better. Uh no, you need somebody to protect you. You know. Dude, the Chargers only had three offensive plays in the third quarter. Three. Three. Bro. Three, bro. Three.

Graham 43:51

You know.

Scott 43:52

Three. The time of possession in the game. Okay. Jaguars had the ball for 37 minutes. The Chargers 22. The crazy thing about that is Goldilocks, aka Trevor Lawrence, he only threw for like 150 yards.

Graham 44:12

Yeah.

Scott 44:14

Dude, they ran. Hold on, I'm trying to find it. This is insane. The Jaguars rushing yards, which the Chargers have been stellar at doing. Dude, team stats. Here we go. Uh God dang it. Here you go. Jaguars. Rushing yards. 192 rushing yards.

Announcer 44:40

She 192.

QB Injuries, Depth Charts, And What’s Next

Scott 44:44

I mean, Vidal goes down early, like I told you the other night. I thought he was out for the season. It looked bad. Then Herbert gets hit, has to go in the blue 10. I thought it was bad. I'm like, cheminy crickets, dude. The offensive line. This dude we traded for from God dang the Saints. Yeah, there's a reason the Saints are the armpit of the NFL. He's terrible. He couldn't block me, dude. I mean, the guy was garbage. Penalties, this, that. Dude. When we beat y'all last Sunday night, I was like, alright. It was a physical game. We looked good. I was 100% behind the team. Dude, we got we're sitting there at seven and four. Six games left. Uh our last six games? I only see two wins.

Graham 45:46

Now, let me ask you a question. Well, I don't know. No, let me see if I want to do the point first. My first point, let me before the question. Last week's episode, after it was over, you made a point talking about the defense. How it was a top five defense for most of the year, then they had those couple of games, but then they came back, and then after the Steel game, dominated. I'm bringing that up first to say. Did the Chargers I want to say this?

Scott 46:21

Did they go all out to beat Pittsburgh and just put so much effort into that game that there was like my dad said when we're watching the game, he goes, Was the Chargers defense that good last week or the Steelers offense that bad? And I was like, it's probably both. Both? Both? But I mean, you're you're talking about a Jaguars offense that doesn't have Brian Thomas Jr. playing. You don't have Wes's nuts from Colorado, their number one draft pick.

Graham 47:01

Hunter.

Scott 47:02

He's not playing.

Graham 47:05

They got Jacoby Myers.

Scott 47:08

Dude, Tutin and ETN ran their dicks off.

Graham 47:13

I see, and that's what's surprised because your old your D line is good.

Scott 47:18

I I the game changed. There were two third and longs with two suspect, you know, pass interference calls.

Graham 47:29

Oh.

Scott 47:30

I'm not gonna blame the game on that, but the first one was bad, the second one was worse. You're not but the momentum changed with both of those. And especially after Jackson picks off Goldilocks. And but the thing that I that keeps coming into my brain, dude, and I can't get this out of my mind. The fucking Raiders scored 30 against Jacksonville. We scored six.

Graham 48:10

Did they give up? I I don't want to make it sound like that. That's disrespectful. That's disrespectful.

Scott 48:17

I'm just gonna say this. No, it's not. It's not. It's absolutely not. G Row, Greg Roman, our offensive coordinator. Worst game of his life as a Chargers offensive coordinator. Yeah. Ever. Ever. His game plan against the Steelers was amazing. Get the ball out quick, get the ball out quick, get the ball out quick. What the shit did I just watch this past Sunday? And like I said last week when we were talking about the Chargers Steelers, I can't blame the offensive line all the time for the sacks. Herbert holds on to the ball too long. And he did it again this past Sunday.

Graham 49:02

And you gotta make something happen.

Chargers Reality Check: Trenches, Play Calling, And Time Of Possession

Scott 49:07

Throw it away. Throw it away. Yeah. But I don't know. Uh I don't feel good, dude. I mean, we thank God we have a bye week and we get Omarion Hampton back. Helps. We come off the bye and we play the Raiders at home, which is gonna be basically an away game for the Chargers because all the Raiders' douchebags will be in LA. Yeah. But that's a dub. Then uh we played the Eagles at home on Monday Night Football. Uh did you see the Eagles defensive line? What they did the other night against the Lions? Yeah. Uh is Herbert gonna make it out of that game alive?

Graham 49:51

Yeah, can I bet uh at least one completion for your backup quarterback in the game?

Scott 49:57

That's the thing. It's like, dude, we got the Raiders, we got the Eagles, we got the Chiefs, we got the Cowboys, Texans, and then the Broncos. The only good thing is by the time we played the Broncos last week, they've probably clinched the AFC West. They'll be resting everybody.

Announcer 50:13

Yeah.

Graham 50:14

The Chiefs are gonna have to play everyone because they're in the same, they're in a similar situation.

Scott 50:18

Yeah. Uh six games left, dude. If we go three and three, I'll be happy.

Graham 50:24

Yeah. Now, I kind of since we brought up the Chiefs, I want to pivot uh just a little bit to that game. In that last series, not defending the guy, but for the last how many years, especially on the podcast, what have we always said, especially when it comes to Kansas City and Mahomes? Mahomes is the new Tom Brady in the sense he gets all the calls. For the phantom calls that have been made every week, but especially this week, that we'll bring up that it's just like, how do you call that? That it completely changes the game. In that last series for Kansas City, when when Mahomes gets sacked, dude hits him in the helmet. Dude goes helmet to helmet, and they don't call that.

Scott 51:14

100%.

Graham 51:15

You're telling me that doesn't change the momentum of the game?

Scott 51:19

Absolutely does, dude.

Graham 51:22

Absolutely does. Denver needed that win to basically put a strong arm on the division. Like if that switch, it makes things, you know, it opens things up a little bit. I mean, there's also I mean, so many bad calls. I mean, look, the Sunday night game. That last series with Detroit, and they called pass interference on that, is just so disrespectful. And the fact that the umpire ref, sorry, after the game, like whatever, whatever made it zebra. Makes a statement and said, Well, I'm I I threw the flag because I saw the defender grab his hand. I was like, receivers and corners are handsy all the time. You let them play. If you watch them see him grab his hand, the offensive player literally with both hands pushed the defender away from him and caught the ball.

Scott 52:11

What's the rule that everybody says? If the offensive player's arm is extended, what is it called?

Graham 52:18

Offensive. Both hands or both arms were were extended. What? What? Um I I just I just had to throw that out there. Something else I'm realizing.

Scott 52:32

I I get it. I mean, we're 53 minutes into the episode, and something I have to talk about.

Graham 52:37

Oh no, same here. I just realized we're 53 minutes into it, and how I, as a Sealer fan, could not talk about this, and we missed it on the in the game.

Scott 52:46

If you're gonna talk about Darnell Washington's big man run when he's like stiff arming everybody and posterizing everybody. Dude, that was sick. It was awesome. I mean, this motherfucker is six foot seven, four hundred pounds, catching passes, and just all I can hear when that shit's happening is Chris Birmingham bumbling, stumbling, stiff arming motherfuckers, blah blah blah blah. Dude, it was sick. It was awesome. It was it was sick.

Graham 53:17

I mean, yes, but that's not what I was gonna bring up. What's the biggest news of this of the weekend? You spit me.

Scott 53:27

The Spitgate. Oh, dude, I don't even want to talk about it. Well, I we have to bring The best thing that happened in Spitgate was Tomlin's press conference when he was like, if somebody spits on you, I got nothing to say. React how you're gonna react. As a head coach, I love that. Oh, a hundred percent. What are you gonna say? This motherfucker spits on you. What are you gonna do? That's like the most disrespectful, yeah. Thing that a player could ever do, and this is the thing that I hate. We saw it week one of the season with the Eagles Cowboys, Davis, we saw it the same week in college football, and now we've seen it again.

Graham 54:10

Yeah. Yeah, and the thing is because the players, the players union still had to, you know, appeal it, got upheld. I just saw the notification. But look, they jarred Ramsey and Chase. They jarred in that play, and then literally the next play, like they had to break them up, then the literally the next play. Obviously, you can't see it. All you can see is the punch. He gets ejected. I'm like, what's going on? I'm furious, everyone's furious. The team's like, what's going on? The fat I'm just happy with the team that they still could hold their composure, the defense, and still we were able to finish that game. But here's my thing. After it was over, Ramsey says what he said and why it happened. He's like, bro, he's like, I did it because he spit on me. The fact that Jamar Chase denied it, at least Davis didn't deny it. At least I don't think he denied it.

Scott 55:05

It wasn't Davis.

Graham 55:07

Well, it wasn't David.

Scott 55:10

Was it Car No, it wasn't Carter.

Graham 55:12

No, Jalen Carter.

Scott 55:14

Yeah, it wasn't Jordan Davis.

Graham 55:15

So, yeah, sorry. My my bad, my bad. Uh Carter. Jalen Carter. In 2025, if you don't know, you're an idiot, but if you don't know that there's 300 cameras on that field, how can you say you didn't do it and there's video evidence, especially after the fact, multiple times in interviews? That just makes you look even worse.

Scott 55:44

It's terrible.

Graham 55:45

Like your credibility as a human being just went it's terrible.

Flags, Momentum, And Officiating Heat

Scott 55:52

Terrible. But so let's transition real quick to something we gotta talk about. Ram Seahawks. In my opinion, the best two teams in the NFC. Agreed. And I I was you can't, I you can't hate on that.

Graham 56:12

Yeah, it's gonna come down to matchups for sure.

Scott 56:14

Dude, Darnold turns it over four times, and Seattle still had a chance. Okay, and here's the crazy thing, okay? Here's the crazy thing for me. Seattle, their defense proved it's legit. Okay. If Darnold figures it out in a big game, Seattle's gonna be unbeatable. The Rams only had one yard, bro, in the second quarter. One yard. Think about that.

Graham 56:50

Wait, what?

Scott 56:51

Yeah. Oh, I'm sorry.

Graham 56:53

I think it's the second half. I was like, wait, what?

Scott 56:55

No, in the second quarter. When I was looking at the at the team stats, okay, Seattle had 26 first downs. The Rams had 12. This Seattle had 79 total plays on offense. The Rams had 50. And once again, time of possession, Seattle, same thing as the Jaguars versus the Chargers. Dude. If they didn't keep giving the Rams short field, dude, uh I mean Seattle had 414 yards of total offense versus the Rams 249.

Graham 57:42

Yeah. Dude, that last I think it was the last series when the Rams coffin cornered them. Do you see that that punt? Yeah. Like there's like it came down to a field goal. Granted, it was 61, but folks, that's not a thing anymore in the NFL, especially indoors.

Scott 58:02

Like dude, I mean uh the craziest thing to me is Stafford 22 touchdowns this year. Guess how many interceptions he has? I think three or four. Uh the same amount as you and I.

Graham 58:22

Oh, that's right. Oh my god.

Scott 58:25

None. Well but the crazy thing, the Rams offense, they got Kyron, they got Puka, they got Devontae. They have 87 tight ends that are they've inserted in their offense that are dominating. Dude, Seattle's defense? They're legit. If Darnold turns it over twice, they win that game.

Graham 58:55

Let me ask you a question. What's the bigger story if they make that field goal at the end? Seattle. Does it lean, but I'm my point is, does it lean heavier on Seattle? Yeah. The Rams played a good game. That's the problem. They played a good game, forced four turnovers, but still almost lost. So it's like that's look, it's gonna come the division's gonna come down to it. They could be tied at the end. Like Seattle has to win at home against them. It's gonna come down to don't count out the Niners. I bro, they can't. The Niners are good, but they're not as good as the other two teams. Like they're just they're good, but they're a notch below.

Scott 59:44

They're a knots below. I don't disagree. So and let's don't forget, let's don't forget the Rams, who are currently the number one seed in the NFC. Uh remember that trade they made on draft day with. The Falcons. Yeah. Dude. They could have a top five pick next year in the draft.

NFC Heavyweights: Rams, Seahawks, And Turnover Math

Graham 1:00:12

I tell you one thing. Dude. I am glad I'm not an Atlanta Falcons fan. Like, they have just disappointed. So uh I'm saying this from a betting aspect, but also but to be a fan, like how they've disappointed in so many of these games. Granted, look, Penix got hurt. Finally, Cousins could come in and prove himself. But then when he came in, Cousins stat, look, how many how many first team reps do you think Cousins actually gets? Not many. Not many. I'm willing, uh not willing, but I'm ready to see what he'll look like when he actually gets the reps and what can happen. I mean, look, you throw him in cold. He didn't look great, right? But they still had a chance. Fine. Like, look, they took him to overtime. But I mean, hey, is this is this the time finally to say maybe Bryce Young's not as bad as everyone said he was? I mean, he did he did throw for 440 and three tutties and zero picks.

Scott 1:01:14

Did you see that stat I just screenshotted you?

Graham 1:01:18

Uh no, but I will right now.

Scott 1:01:20

Uh, about the receiving.

Graham 1:01:25

Yes, I'm looking at it right now.

Scott 1:01:26

You see that guy? McMellan, that's a rookie? Yeah. I is that any good?

Graham 1:01:38

Dude. I'll I'll say this. When it comes to fantasy football, when it comes to drafting, especially in a keeper league, I'm never the person that will have er, I don't say we'll never the person, but like I'm not finding those diamonds in the rough rookie. Not that McMillan was. I mean, look, he was number one wide receiver to come out, like he was the first one to do that.

Scott 1:02:03

Yeah, it was a top ten, top ten draft pick.

Graham 1:02:06

But to Carolina, it's all iffy, which as I've said on many a podcast prior, JSN's the shock of the year. I mean, I've could have, you know, it it is what it is. That being said, most of my keepers are because I was ahead of the curve and picked up the person on the waiver wire and got him cheat. Like I picked him up the week before he blew up and became the guy, right? I I the fact that you got McMillan for what, a dollar, two, three?

Scott 1:02:39

No, I paid no, I paid 15 for him.

Graham 1:02:41

Oh, okay. But still, like there's other, like other players, you know, Tom getting Puka Nakula. Like, I like there's just certain players, like, I just for me, the hype sometimes to me doesn't justify spending the money. And the biggest example of that, Genty. I said that I told you last night. I really think people still had him as a top five pick or top top five running back, but they still had him going in the first round, right?

Scott 1:03:15

Dude, did you see how many rushing yards he had last night?

Graham 1:03:18

Yeah. He had uh, well, it's pretty bad when their leading rusher was Geno Smith with 11 yards or 13 yards, whatever.

Scott 1:03:26

He had like Dude, Jinzi had seven more rushing yards than you and I. I I just I but something we have to talk about, Graham. Yeah. We have to talk about it. Uh last year's MVP? The Bills Bucks.

Graham 1:03:42

Yeah.

Scott 1:03:44

Crazy game. Okay. Allen had three rushing touchdowns, three passing touchdowns, two picks. Everyone is out there praising Josh Allen for this game.

Graham 1:04:02

Dude. You know me.

Scott 1:04:05

I'm not a fan of Josh Allen. Is he a great athlete? Yes, he is. But the thing is the way that offense played, that's why they lose in the playoffs, dude. He's out there playing, he's out there playing school ball football. When he's scrambling around. Dude, I I just uh two points.

Graham 1:04:33

Who's their number one wide receiver?

Scott 1:04:36

Yeah, who knows? But that's my point. They healthy scratch Keon Coleman.

Graham 1:04:42

I get it. So no Keon Coleman, they don't have Kincaid, who is a huge receiving tight end for them. They're relying on other guys. So for Allen to do what he did, like, and look, I I know how you feel about him, and as you know, you not that I'm saying this like as this was your defense, but like a couple of those touchdowns, like, bro, like it was that perfect throw at the perfect time. Yeah. I'm just gonna say this. It was the McConkie throw last week against us. I'm gonna say, you know, type of situation.

Divisions In Flux And Rookie Breakouts

Scott 1:05:17

I'm just gonna say this. Go ahead. And this is a person I've hated on when he was still in college. Okay. First 27 starts. Caleb, I paint my fingernails, Williams versus Josh. I'm the best tight end playing quarterback in the NFL. First 27 starts, Caleb Williams, 5,870 passing yards. Allen, 5,000. Touchdowns to interceptions, Caleb Williams, 33 to 10. Allen, 30 to 21. Passer rating, Caleb Williams, 88.6. Allen, 78.6.

Graham 1:06:04

So when can I start punching holes into that theory? Right now?

Scott 1:06:09

Whenever you want, dude. Alright. Whenever you fucking want.

Graham 1:06:13

Oh, I dude. I have miles of tape to tell you. Number one.

Scott 1:06:18

Tell me.

Graham 1:06:19

Tell me. Let's compare. What am I doing right now? Let's compare the two teams' rosters, shall we?

Scott 1:06:27

Yeah, we should, because the Bears, uh, how was their offensive line last week, last year?

Graham 1:06:33

I yes.

Scott 1:06:35

But the weapons I would rival them against the Chargers this year.

Graham 1:06:41

The weapons that Chicago has far exceed the weapons that the Buffalo Bills have. I don't disagree. Far exceed. But granted, Josh Allen cook is good. Look at the wide receivers.

Scott 1:07:01

If the Bills used Kincaid the last two years like they should have used Kincaid, it's a different story.

Graham 1:07:11

So you can't judge a player based off what the coaching does. Well, everybody seems to judge Herbert. I look, I hey, one of my good friends lives in Buffalo, diehard Bills fan. He's been calling for the for the coach's head for the last four years. Like the bill, dude, people said it, what was it, a couple weeks ago where you know a topic on GitHub was did the Buffalo Bills miss their window?

Scott 1:07:46

It's over. They missed it.

Graham 1:07:48

So it's like everything has to go right. And look, when you go up against juggernauts in their prime, it's it's almost like Pittsburgh in the earlier 2000s. Or, you know, like that 2007 to 2012-ish time time frame, or a little bit later, when it's just like, yeah, we have winning, like, we're 70% wins. We're doing this, but then we run into the Patriots. Or we run, you know what I mean? It's just like certain teams have your number, they finally got that monkey off their back and finally beat Kansas City, but they don't do it in the AFC Championship game. It's just like everything leads up to the playoffs. Doesn't matter what you did to get you there, everything resets once you get there. I get that, and then it just comes down to individual matchups, which is why the Patriots and Belichick were so good. They've won games that they should not have won on paper, but because of their style and their smart coaching, they won games that you're just like, they shouldn't have won that game.

Scott 1:09:04

But they did. Speaking of sheesh matchups and this and that, something I saw earlier I had to screenshot it. Uh the Colts are the only NFL team Kermit has never beaten in the regular season. He's an 0-2 against the Colts.

Graham 1:09:26

And didn't you say last night that you like them this week hosting the Colts?

Scott 1:09:33

I liked him last week playing the Broncos.

Graham 1:09:38

So did I.

Josh Allen Praise, Pushback, And Context

Scott 1:09:40

I didn't want him to win. Like we discussed on the show last week, but I thought it was gonna happen. I agree. I agree. I I just I don't know. The Patriots, I just gotta pat myself on the back after the Thursday night game. Uh took the over eight and a half win total. You laughed at me.

Graham 1:10:08

You said this last week. You don't need to you don't need to bring it up again.

Scott 1:10:13

No, they just won my bet on Thursday night.

Graham 1:10:17

Yeah, but you basically well, yeah, because they played the Jets. I mean, you I mean you were counting the winnings.

Scott 1:10:23

Speaking of the Jets, you know the Jets are still they still have 32 million of dead money because of Rogers.

Graham 1:10:33

Yeah.

Scott 1:10:34

I saw that and I was like, oh my god, that's amazing.

Graham 1:10:39

Look, this is one of those I don't say wonky years, but it's a changing of the tide. Like, folks, Kansas City, look, they've been up here for so long, but they're getting older. Dude, this could be Travis's last year. Like, he's not the spring chicken that he was anymore. It's a done.

Scott 1:11:00

This is it. This is it.

Graham 1:11:02

Yeah, like that's what I'm saying. It's it's like they're not as feared as they used to be. And all that being said, look at the top teams in the AFC. If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that the Patriots are the number one seed, Patriots, Colts, Denver. I told you the Patriots. Did you tell me they were gonna be 9-2 and winning that and being the number one seed?

Scott 1:11:27

I told you they were gonna win over eight and a half games. And you actually said you actually said you like the Colts. Yeah, and I did.

Graham 1:11:38

I I I I I'm just saying it's kind of like we're getting in the change of the times now. You know what I mean? It's just like we're cycling out of what things used to be and what the perception of teams were, and now it's like, hey, it's not what you did for me in the past, it's what are you doing for me right now.

Scott 1:11:57

Now, what are you doing now?

Graham 1:12:01

And it is what it is. I mean, on a side note, maybe I might take the Bears, and I mean, I won't, but I I might bet the Bears this week. I mean, I don't I hate betting against my team. Pittsburgh historically does terrible. Who terrible in Chicago?

Scott 1:12:20

The Bears would be in first place.

Graham 1:12:23

That's my point.

Scott 1:12:25

Who would have thought the Carolina Panthers would be a half game back?

Graham 1:12:31

Well, I'm injuries, bro. I mean that's that's why I feel bad for Tampa. Tampa's a good team, but bro, when you lose Evans, when you lose Godwin, well, lose. He hasn't played all season. I mean I mean, what Abuka has done.

Scott 1:12:50

Dude's insane.

Graham 1:12:51

Sign sealed and delivered. If he's not the rookie of the year, I I won't commentate anymore. Like, I I don't like there's no who else is better? Who's a better rookie?

Scott 1:13:05

Warren? I mean, I agree with you. Igbuka.

Graham 1:13:09

He has more help.

Scott 1:13:10

I I agree with you, Igbuka. The best part about Igbuka is let's go back two years. I don't even know if this podcast was even out there. I said Igbuka was a better receiver than Marvin Harrison Jr.

Graham 1:13:27

I think you did say that. You did too. And we've been doing this for three years, bro.

Scott 1:13:34

Yeah. And we were like, Igbuca's a better wide receiver.

Graham 1:13:39

And this and the sophomore they got now, whatever his name is.

Scott 1:13:44

Something Smith or whatever.

Graham 1:13:46

Yeah, I I just I don't know.

Scott 1:13:49

Dude, I don't know. Uh thank God the Chargers are on a bye this week. I mean, the bye week came at a perfect time for us. We get Hampton back, hopefully. I don't know, man.

Graham 1:14:04

Hopefully we can we'll beat the Raiders. I would think. You would think.

Scott 1:14:12

But I don't know. We got six games left, dude. I'm the sky's falling in my world as a Chargers fan, but I'm also being realistic.

Graham 1:14:22

Hey, you sound like I did last week.

Scott 1:14:25

The Chargers always do what? They always win the game you think they're gonna lose, and they lose the game you think they're gonna win.

Graham 1:14:36

And I'm I'll say this. I'm glad that you talked me out of taking the Chargers and Survivor. Like I was gonna take I switched from them to the Cowboys on Monday night, so thank you for that.

Landman Returns: TV Break And Final Riffs

Scott 1:14:52

I told you not to do it. But anyhow, Graham, get us out of here. Oh, something we have to talk about.

Graham 1:15:02

Oh, yeah.

Scott 1:15:03

We're an hour and 16 minutes in the show. If anybody's listening at this point, thank you.

Graham 1:15:10

Stop saying that.

Scott 1:15:11

I love it because I get text messages from people that are still listening at this point. Uh, what came out on Sunday? Landman.

Graham 1:15:21

Oh. I was wondering we were going with that.

Scott 1:15:25

Dude.

Graham 1:15:29

Classic.

Scott 1:15:30

Amazing show. Second season. You know, the first season was amazing. Hit the world by Sorum on Paramount Plus. Dude, I talked to you yesterday or the day before, and you were like, first episode was fire. And I'm like, all right, Grams is fired up about it. I gotta watch it. Watched it. Dude, for the first episode of a highly anticipated second season, it was the best episode. There was nothing they could have done differently.

Graham 1:16:08

I I I don't know if it was the hype and expectation. And also, I uh like I know what happened last season, I'd have to like go back, but like that was almost my favorite episode.

Scott 1:16:20

You ain't wrong.

Graham 1:16:22

Like it every point that they needed to hit, they hammered the shit out of it. It was perfect.

Scott 1:16:30

Every everything. I just I don't know. I love folks.

Graham 1:16:38

If you ain't watching, you're an idiot.

Scott 1:16:42

I love I love the fact that they have the the lawyer and the other dude living in their house and they have dinner together. Oh, it's and Allie order flips out and starts throwing shit, and they're all like, oh god, I'm out. I'm out. Dude. It's amazing. Amazing.

Graham 1:17:06

Uh the best show on TV or on streaming, whatever you want to call it.

Scott 1:17:10

Yeah, whatever you want to call it. AL Graham. Oh, thank God the Chargers have a bye.

Graham 1:17:19

Bro, I this is not that I want to say like this was, you know, how you know, there's certain episodes where just like, yo, this is a top five episode. Dude, this was action from start to finish. I didn't not a lot of lulls. Like we normally like we're we we try to keep it around an hour, but bro, we're we're gonna finish at 120 and it's been hitting at every moment. Kudos to you. Love you to death.

Scott 1:17:47

I told Kristen last night, of course I want the Chargers to make the playoffs. But if they do, the same shit's gonna happen that happened last year with their offensive line. One and out. I mean, I don't know what to say. I'm a realist, I love my team. Obviously, you know that everybody listening knows that, just like you and the Steelers. But Sunday was probably the first game I've ever turned off.

Graham 1:18:19

I was waiting to add to bring that up.

Scott 1:18:22

Switch to the red zone before the what 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Graham 1:18:28

I mean uh let's just put it this way. I'm I I brought my second, I brought my TV out in the living room, so I got two big screen TVs out there. Got the red zone on one, the studios on the other. I'm watching Red Zone, and I knew the game was going bad when I'm not seeing highlights on red zone for the Charger. Like, not the Charger specifically, I'm saying the game. There's ten other games going on, but to only see X amount of clips, I was like, oh, this is probably not good. Yeah. And then finally, like at halftime, I switched over and I started like actually watching the game. I was like, oh yeah, this is not good.

Sign-Off, Shoutouts, And Sponsor

Scott 1:19:13

Yeah, it was terrible. Terrible. But but anyhow, Graham, get us out of here like you always do. Love you, buddy. Love doing the show. Um keep those follows and downloads going because we had a monumental day last week. But keep sharing it with your friends, keep doing your things. And Graham, I love you. I love the show.

Graham 1:19:40

Last point. I know we have the usual. Well, I don't want to say usual, but there's a staple for Hot Chick of the Week. It's it's usually one person.

Scott 1:19:52

Who are we going with tonight?

Graham 1:19:53

But you brought her name up. Kay Adams has to get an honorable mention.

Scott 1:19:58

I mean. Oh, dude. I mean, like she doesn't even need to be mentioned.

Graham 1:20:03

Like, I just I mean I you said her name earlier, and I was just like, she doesn't get enough love on the bald guys on the bench for hot chick of the week. I'm just saying.

Scott 1:20:12

Well, I agree, but she doesn't need to be mentioned. You know, and from what we've been talking about in the last four minutes, the my hot chick of the week is Allie Marker.

Graham 1:20:26

Oh. Slade.

Scott 1:20:29

I mean whipped cream bikini back in the day.

Graham 1:20:33

Yeah. Is she I gotta check. Is she 50?

Scott 1:20:39

Does it matter?

Graham 1:20:40

No, that's more kudos to her. I'm just saying, like, I mean. Can I get it? God damn. Dude, I don't know. On that note.

Scott 1:20:51

Yeah, Kay Adams. Yeah, I agree.

Graham 1:20:54

Scott, I love you to death. It's always a pleasure doing the podcast. I had a blast. And hey, as the best homie always says, boom-bye.

Scott 1:21:02

Good night, friends. Good night, Bozeman. You're the worst center in the NFL. You couldn't block me. I hope you tear your ACO, your MCO, every L in your body, and you don't play another game for the Chargers. I love you all. Thanks for listening. Hopefully you've made it an hour and 20 minutes. Boom!

Announcer 1:21:36

This episode of Ball Guys on the Bench Podcast is brought to you by our friends at North Star Credit Union at Southern Iowa, located in Southeast Virginia.