Pine Pony Podcast
Friends arguing about sports
Pine Pony Podcast
Week 11 / 12 Thrills: College Football Chaos & NFL
Welcome to another exciting edition of the Pine Pony Podcast! In this episode, the OG and the Fantasy Uncle recap a wild Week in both college football and the NFL. The episode kicks off with a detailed review of last weekend's thrilling college football games, including nail-biters featuring Clemson, Oregon, Texas, and more. The duo then transitions to the NFL, discussing the current MVP race with strong performances from Josh Allen, Jared Goff, and Lamar Jackson. Tune in to hear about the Chiefs vs. Bills showdown, the impressive play by the Chargers and Justin Herbert, and an in-depth analysis of the Steelers' defensive dominance. This episode is packed with sports insights and plenty of laughs!
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Welcome, welcome, welcome to another edition of the Pine Pony Podcast. It's me, the OG, along with the fantasy uncle. What's happening Persian? Howdy,
Pershin:howdy. Glad to be back for another installment. Something of a week 11 review, talk about all the goings on and football and elsewhere and sports. I suppose if there are any goings on,
Jason:Oh, there, there was going zones, lots of going ons. Nice. In fact, this weekend was absolutely wild. So let's get into it. Let's start the show.
The Pied Pony Podcast.
Jason:All right. So let's kick it off with. College football and all the crazy happenings over the weekend. So there was quite a bit of close games, Clemson escaping Pittsburgh. That game was just like Clemson. Just, it was sloppiness from
Pershin:both teams. Right?
Jason:Well, no, Kate clubbing actually had a really good day. It was just a defensive battle, really. I mean, he went 27 two touchdowns, no turnovers. He ran for a touchdown, like which was the game winning one. So what's happened was is at the end of this game with like three minutes left, Pittsburgh has the ball and they're driving and I'm like, they're going to score and this game is over. We we've lost our shot at everything. I turned the game off, but my phone still had the sports app, live activities on my iPhone. So it was still showing me updates on my phone as I was angrily washing dishes. And and then all of a sudden I see it appear that we're up 24 to 20. A miracle happened. Yeah. And what happened is, so they kicked the field goal to go up 20 to 17 with like a minute 30 left. We, we throw a pass, get to the 50. Then the next play, Kate Kovnik takes off 41 yard scamper to the end zone with like, you know, 20 seconds or something left like just couldn't have been a crazier game to you know Start off college football and and little did I know it would lead to other crazier games in the NFL for me But moving on moving on. Oh, I already
Pershin:know where you're going with that one
Jason:Oregon, you know escaped Wisconsin at one point Oregon was down rallies in the fourth quarter They scored 10 and a fourth to win this game. So
Pershin:that would have been a pretty impactful upset too.
Jason:Yes, it would have. I mean, Texas barely beat Arkansas 20 to 10 BYU lost the Kansas number six BYU lost the Kansas 17 to 13, still in the playoff hunt now, Kansas is not even a
Pershin:ranked school, right?
Jason:That's correct. Yeah,
Pershin:man. There's so many of those this year. There's so many unranked teams that that beat top 10 teams this year
Jason:Well, and then another inner division Game, Georgia beat Tennessee and Tennessee just can't get over to hope 17 to 31. They just We don't know what to think of Georgia. And every other game, it's like they only scored three points one game. And then they come to the next game and score 40. It's like, we, we don't know what to think. Georgia doesn't even know who they are. SMU was on the ropes for a while. Boston college had them on the ropes for most of the game. And then the end of the third quarter happened and SMU put them away. 10, 10 point win 38, 28. Kansas state number 16 got beat by unranked Arizona state. 24 to 14. Wow. Some implications there. So that's, that's a big time win by Arizona state because they could. That could definitely help. That could help Clemson. No, we don't care about that. That's not good. The only way Clemson gets in is by winning the ACC.
Pershin:Oh, they can't, they can't get an at large.
Jason:I mean, they could, but I just don't see it happening.
Pershin:Okay. Fair enough.
Jason:Colorado won. They beat the shit out of Utah. Washington State lost to unranked New Mexico. Louisville lost to unranked Stanford.
Pershin:Wild,
Jason:bro. And in another wild game, Missouri South Carolina. So Missouri goes up, and South Carolina drives down. To end the game and, and you know, at the end of the regulations, crazy LSU loses to unranked Florida. Oh,
Pershin:I saw the stat first time in three years that LSU is not in the top 25. Yeah. Why?
Jason:Yeah. It's, it's pretty bad. End
Pershin:of an error, my friend.
Jason:Yeah. It's, it's, it's crazy. Let me get the rankings up.
Pershin:See them buffaloes slide up. Spot or two, I assume.
Jason:Yeah. So speaking of rankings, let's get into the top 25. Yeah. Oregon, Ohio state, Texas, Penn state, Indiana, Notre Dame, Alabama, Georgia, Ole miss in Tennessee, rounding out the 10, then a Miami Boise state, SMU, BYU, Texas, A& M, Colorado at 16 Clemson at 17 army, South Carolina, Tulane, Arizona state, Iowa state, UNLV, Illinois, and Washington state. And as far as the playoffs that came out tonight, we got your four teams with the by conference champions for highest ranked conference champions would be Oregon, Texas, Miami, and Boise state. So if they keep going there, we won't have to see the blue field because they won't have a home game. And then your next, your first round teams are. Ohio State playing BYU, Alabama and Notre Dame, Georgia and Penn State, Ole Miss and Indiana.
Pershin:I think the Buffaloes should be in ahead of Indiana.
Jason:That's my opinion. And with that being said, let's go ahead and look at what's happening currently in the race for the playoffs. So in the Big 12, You got BYU in Colorado, Arizona, right. And Arizona state and Iowa state are hot on their heels. So if either one of those teams lose another game this season, they'll be, it'll be, you know, like Arizona state or Iowa state. So Colorado has Kansas and Oklahoma state left. So they can't lose either one of those games because those are both conference games,
Pershin:right?
Jason:BYU has Arizona state and Houston left. Now, remember, Arizona State just won against Kansas State. Right. So, keeping them in the hunt. So, if Arizona State beats BYU, we could potentially see a Colorado Arizona State game for the Big 12, which is just wild. Yeah. And even if they tie, even if Arizona State ties with BYU, BYU will own the tiebreaker. No, no, it leans Arizona State way, beating Kansas, because BYU lost to Kansas. Way back way back when they're only loss. So that's pretty interesting My opinion, I mean we you got anything you want to add to that?
Pershin:No, I was just gonna say that I'm glad to see that Colorado basically controls their own destiny if right if they just win the next two games Then they're in that, that final. So that's
Jason:conference final. Yep.
Pershin:Right. So as long as you're in that final, then basically the playoffs have already started for you. And if you keep winning, then you're golden. You know what I mean? So I just thought based on what happened the first couple weeks of the season that not only were we going to have to really turn shit around, but then we'd have to get some help. But I'm happy to see that as long as we handle our shit, the sky's the limit here. You know what I mean? We'll see. How far they can take it. But I like the chances of winning the next two. And then from that, we'll, we'll just kind of have to see, but you know, I'm happy with the way that they've been able to turn things around, even though they've got some insane coaches coaching the team.
Jason:Yeah. Yeah. Right.
Pershin:You, you know how it goes, man. If you're winning. I can overlook it. I can, you know, yeah. Right.
Jason:Yeah. If the, if
Pershin:the Buffaloes are winning,
Jason:I
Pershin:will look the other way. They're not crazy criminals, but I mean, look, if you're not winning anyways, get the fuck out of my face with this shit.
Jason:Oh, Oh, if you're not winning pack them Louis Vuittons. All right. So another race we got going on in the big 10, we got Oregon and Indiana on top, both undefeated in the, in the conference. And then we've got Ohio state and Penn state, both one loss in the conference. So Oregon plays, Oregon has one conference game left and they play Washington in two weeks winning in. Here's the question I
Pershin:have for you. I don't think I've seen a single Indiana game myself. I
Jason:haven't played any. I feel like
Pershin:I am not sold though. Like they're, they're not legit, right? Like they, they're, they're a little bit. This is who Indiana's
Jason:played. Indiana's played FIU, Western Illinois, UCLA, Charlotte, Maryland, Northwestern, Nebraska, Washington, Michigan state. And Michigan, that was their closest victory was Michigan, which was five points, everything else was a absolute blowout. They'd be one team, 77 to three.
Pershin:Oh my God.
Jason:Was that FIU? Northern Illinois. Oh,
Pershin:yeah.
Jason:Yeah. So, but, so what, what I'm saying is, is Indiana has Ohio State next, this coming week and Purdue. Yeah. So that'll settle. Those two will settle themselves out. Absolutely. Indiana loses. You can kiss them goodbye.
Pershin:Even though they've, they've blown out most of their opponents. You got to think that the favorite here is going to be Ohio State, right? I mean, I, I would bet Ohio State wins this game.
Jason:I don't Ohio State is an eleven and a half point favorite. Oh, heavy favorite. Thirteen and a half, thirteen
Pershin:wow, okay. Well, I'm not It opened at, it opened
Jason:at eleven. I'm
Pershin:not betting that high a spread, but All right. Well, I'm glad to hear that. Cause I do feel like Indiana is probably fraudulent. Well, we'll see.
Jason:Well, and then, so OSU has Indiana and Michigan, so they got, they got a win. They got a couple. They got a win to get in. They got
Pershin:a couple of decent opponents too. Yeah.
Jason:Yeah. So if OSU wins out, they're in. If Oregon wins out, they're in. Same with Indiana. If they win out, they're in. Now where it could get interesting is Penn State. Needs every, needs like everybody in front of them to lose. So if all three of them drop a game, Penn State could actually sneak
Pershin:in.
Jason:It would come down to tiebreakers, because they would all have one at one loss. Ohio State would be like, Yeah, if Ohio State beats Indiana and Oregon were to lose against Washington, they would all have one loss and it would come down to tiebreakers. That's what I'll be rooting for. Now, I didn't go deep, I didn't go deep into that because there's a lot, like, you have to look at everybody's schedule. That's what
Pershin:I'll be rooting for, though. I, I, I like the chaos. Bring on the chaos.
Jason:Yeah, bring on the chaos. Well, you want some more chaos? Here's some more chaos.
Pershin:Oh, yeah. Chaos me, daddy. Chaos
Jason:the, to the SEC. So, at the SEC, we've got Texas and Texas A& M on top. We've got four teams behind them with two losses. Texas and Texas A& M play each other and they've both got one losses. So one of them is going to have two losses. So whoever loses that game, cause there's going to be like five
Pershin:different teams with tiebreakers deciding.
Jason:Yeah, we could be looking at, well, so Texas plays Kentucky in Texas, A& M, A& M plays Auburn in Texas, UGA has no more conference games, so they're, they're done at six and two, so they need, they've already
Pershin:dropped two though. Right.
Jason:Yeah, Tennessee has Vanderbilt in two weeks, so they, they got to make sure they can't lose that game and Alabama has Oklahoma and Auburn and those aren't going to be easy games and those are both conference games, so they can't lose either one of those and then Ole Miss is the last team with two losses. And they have Florida and Mississippi state, so they need to win out too. And then, so I mean, those will all be in a tiebreaker with whoever loses the Texas Texan and the A& M game. So we'll have a one, two, three, four, five team tiebreaker. And as of right now, the way it's scheduled at the way they got it listed, Georgia is currently on top, but they've also played more conference games. So, I don't know, I mean, that's going to be wild. And you got South Carolina sitting here with three losses. They're going to have to go deep in the tiebreakers. If they got five teams with the same
Pershin:record, oh man.
Jason:Yeah, and then what could even get crazier is You know,
Pershin:fan, like a and n fans are gonna get shit, shit fans are gonna get so shit when the tiebreaker comes down to like point spread, like, oh, but they won their games by a differential of 42 and y'all, you guys only had 39 or whatever. Oh, fan. Well, the problem is, the though
Jason:with the SEC is you really gotta see where things look because they got 1, 2, 3, 5 teams in the top 10. They got half of the time. No, I
Pershin:mean, they're fucking stacked. I mean,
Jason:no, they're not stacked. They, I mean, that's another man. That's another, that's a time for another conversation. The SC gets benefit of the doubt, frightfully. Well, that's
Pershin:true. You're, you're not wrong.
Jason:Like the acc Hass been beating up on each other, but Oh no. Its another, another. Anyway, moving on to the A, CC, the O, the race we have got a little bit clearer, so we got SMU in Miami currently slated. To play each other with what they have predicted Miami coming out. So Clemson needs one loss from Miami or two losses from SMU. SMU plays Virginia and California and Miami plays Wake Forest and Syracuse. And they could lose that game at Syracuse. That's the game I'm circling for them to lose is at Syracuse.
Pershin:Had Syracuse been good this season though?
Jason:No, but Syracuse, well, there's seven and three overall, but they're not bad. Right. They can certainly pull off the way Miami has been playing. They can certainly pull off of the upset. Yeah, I got you. And it's at home and they're historically, they give people a tough time at home.
Pershin:Okay.
Jason:So
Pershin:that's what we'll be rooting for.
Jason:Yeah, man. It's just, it's crazy. I mean, the playoffs have really, in my opinion, have made, you know, like we said before, A lot more teams in it. And one thing that I do am interested in, it'll be interesting to see what Notre Dame does moving forward, because they're going to be stuck in a position to where they'll never get a buy in the playoff system because they don't belong to a conference. Right. They have to do it. It's like they're perennial stuck between five and 12. I
Pershin:wonder if. Like this new playoff system will actually sort of push them, kind of give them enough of a nudge for them to say, all right, fine, we will join one of these conferences,
Jason:which most likely would be ACC because they already play five ACC games. I
Pershin:know historically they've been offered basically by all of the top conferences to join at one point or another. So you got to think that. If they put the word out there, okay, you know, we're willing to talk with you guys, then probably multiple, if not all of the conferences would be interested, you know, so it's just, I don't know, man. I
Jason:don't think their brand carries as much weight as it used to.
Pershin:Well, that's true. Maybe not. Maybe not. I don't know if kids nowadays really give a shit. They definitely did when I was a kid and when my father was a kid and even when my grandfather was a kid, but the truth is things are just so different nowadays. It's really hard to tell what the, what the new generation, like,
Jason:you know what I mean? It's just a hundred percent, a hundred percent. So it'll just be interesting to keep an eye on them and see if they make any moves to try to get that first round by. But yeah, that's all I got for college, man. It was just a intense weekend looking for, you know, next week is got a lot of cupcake games, but there are a lot of good games. So we'll talk about that in the, in the Minnesota. Let's move on to the NFL. And what I wanted to open the NFL discussion with is the MVP race. In light of, I feel like this past weekend, we really got a good glimpse of Lamar's sputtering to me. He's no longer the MVP front runner. Josh Allen put the team on his fucking back and he said, I'm getting the first down and I'm going to get the chiefs. I'm going to be the Chiefs and then Jared Goff is just absolutely lighting people up. He was so accurate to begin the season with for through like nine weeks.
Pershin:Yeah.
Jason:Had a slip up, but still then came back out and put up another ridiculous point. Ridiculous game. What do you think, man? Who do you think has got the, I think the front runner for you?
Pershin:I think that you're, I think that you're right on with the top contenders there. I think that it's, it's gotta be a good team with a good record. You know, it's going to be the quarterback of a competitive team for sure. And I think you've got the right names. So not
Jason:Aaron Rogers. Yeah,
Pershin:yeah, no he you know, he's had his fair share of MVPs. I will I can't take that away from him I would love to if I could but Yeah, no his star has fallen. I think we've all seen the shit show going on there Yeah, I just love that literally since the Salah has left. They're 31st in defensive EPA when they were like 3rd. They were literally like 3rd in the league, kicking ass on defense, and now they're one of the worst defensive units.
Jason:Like I mean, it just makes me laugh that they did better with all of no name quarterbacks than they did with like one of the best.
Pershin:I'm pretty sure Zach Wilson has like the same record as Aaron Rodgers as a New York Jet. But I don't know, man, I, I think this is what happens when you allow Football player to just play GM and
Jason:he starts yeah, but move move back to the MVP talk anyway Sorry, I don't think so. You don't think Joe Mixon should be in this race right now
Pershin:No, I don't
Jason:it's I mean he's had pretty good Impressive performances. Yeah. He he's putting the Texans on his back. He he's a running back, bro. Mean, yeah, in his name, but
Pershin:I just feel like when we talk about the MVP race, we can, we can talk about it. Can't always be quarterback. We can talk about it. Like, as in what we would do personally. But I prefer to talk about it as in like, what do we predict? Who do we think is going to win? I don't think Nixon has a chance. He doesn't have a real chance. I do. I do honestly think that last year CMC should have gotten more consideration than he got. And I think this year. Guys like Saquon, Mixon, Derek Henry, they are having a huge impact on their team, and they should probably get more consideration, but I just know how, how the, how the vote always goes. It's going to be the quarterback of a contender of a really competitive team. So that being said, I think that you made some really good points. In your opening statement about the MVP race for me personally, though I still think it should be Lamar right now I know that he had a down game last week, but I feel like his down game actually wasn't Six points. No, no, they had 16 points and they their kicker missed like
Jason:Six,
Pershin:their kicker missed two field goals. So it should have been 22, but whatever. I think that he wasn't really which
Jason:kicker, Justin Tucker. He missed two field goals. Oh, and how many did Boswell miss? I don't think he missed any boss. For sure. He missed two too. Did he I don't know, but
Pershin:I don't know. But the thing is that like, yeah, he kind of had a bad game, but it actually is not as bad as. Like josh allen two or maybe that was three weeks ago Had a really bad game had basically no great passes or like super impressive runs But had three different turnovers Just bonehead stuff classic josh allen shit that he really he hasn't been doing this season And then the same thing with jared goff He had one bad game, but it was a really really bad game five interceptions through three quarters I mean it was a nightmare. Okay, and You And the thing is that Lamar's down game wasn't as down as those guys down game. And I think that his team, especially on offense, is Lamar's had more mediocre games, too. I don't think so. I think he's really been playing well. He's had more average games. I think he's really been playing well. I think that he is such a good runner, and he is able to evade the sacks so well. I think when you talk about Jared Goff, and you talk about Josh Allen, you're talking about offensive lines that actually do a better job protecting than what the Ravens have done this year. And, the thing is that he has the lowest, maybe not the lowest, one of the lowest in the league. Pressure to sack ratios, meaning that he's, he's creating plays or he's throwing the ball away without taking the sack. And that's just huge to be able to minimize that. He hasn't been a turnover machine or anything like that. He's made huge plays with his legs and with his arms. I think he should be the front runner. Me personally because I think he's creating much more hell for these defenses Dan jared goff or joe or josh allen is doing solely on their own I think second place though would be josh allen because there's just so many moments where he really just kind of puts everything On himself and he makes plays and he continues To like keep drives alive And, you know, I think Jared Goff has legitimately turned into an elite quarterback, but he gets so much help. That entire team is just really, really good.
Jason:Yeah. I mean, I hear you to me, the bar, he's not the MVP. I saw the Steelers. So the Steelers took him out. I mean, they took him away. I mean, here's my question to me. How
Pershin:far
Jason:down the list
Pershin:would he be for you though?
Jason:Like how many? Oh, he wouldn't be far. I mean, he wouldn't be far. Like he's just not an MVP. He's just not an MVP this year. I mean, his team is seven and four. They're three and a three. They still got to play the Steelers again. Like there's a good chance that they're not winning this division.
Pershin:Yeah,
Jason:like there's a real good chance that the Steel Steelers play. I, they're two games
Pershin:bad. The
Jason:Steelers play the Bengals, the Browns twice. The Bengals twice. Like both those teams stink. And that Bengals defense is
Pershin:so bad.
Jason:Ugh. Yeah, it's like, and I mean like, you don't even, this is a, this was a. Let's go ahead and talk about it. This was a classic Steelers game where they won with field goals. This isn't the first time that they've done this. They won with magic beans. They won
Pershin:with magic beans, which
Jason:is a classic
Pershin:Steelers win.
Jason:Give Mike Tomlin his props. This team is going to exponentially. Outperformed the record that we thought they would have. Look, I said it before and I'll say it again. They're winning this division. This game was just insane. The Steelers defense. I mean, to me, shut the Raven, the Ravens offense hasn't seen a defense like that this year, and it showed. To me, in my opinion, this defense is disgusting.
Pershin:Yeah, they, they really are good. I, I just feel like this always happens in a lot of these division match ups where they just turn, like they just turn into these defensive battles. I think we see the same things play out, like with the chargers and the chiefs and the Broncos and the chiefs. Like they just end up being these defensive. things. And it happens with the bangles, the Steelers, the Browns, the Ravens. And so I just don't know if it means as much that they were able to shut them down. But look, I take your point. At some point, I gotta stop saying, oh, Magic Beans, and I gotta, I gotta give Tomlin his, his due, man. He finds ways to win games, and he finds ways to get the best out of what he has to work with, over and over again. I mean, season in and season out. I mean, Rust is 3 0, it's a starter there. Hey, I mean, look, as a Broncos fan, I saw, you know, how hard it can be to win with Russ. And I mean, he's, he's making lemonade out of Russ like a motherfucker right now. And I'm just like, okay. I mean, earlier in the season, I thought Fields was even playing much better than Fields has previously. And now I'm seeing the same thing out of Russ and I'm thinking, okay. The common theme here is fucking Tomlin, you know what I mean? It's like he just gets the best out of his players. I think that happens all the time. Not only that, but he's funny. Did you see his press conference before the game where he was clowning on Deontay Johnson? The reporter was asking him like Well, you know Deontay's game as well as anyone. Do you guys have a plan for keeping him out of the game and limiting his his impact? And Tomlin is not even laughing. He's got a straight face and he's like, he's like, nah, nah. I mean, I, you know, he's not on their tape. You know, there's more important players that we have to game plan around, and so nah, we just, we just, we don't see him on their tape. So we we got other things to worry about. Next question. I was like, oh my God.
Jason:Yeah, I'm riding with the Steelers, man. Moving on chiefs, bills, classic chiefs, bills, Josh Allen. I mean, I sound like Chris Collins where it's right now, Josh Allen versus Patrick Mahomes. What more can you say? I mean, it was an incredible game. It was a
Pershin:really good
Jason:game. Yeah, unfortunately the chief's defense just could not get off of the field at the end of the game when they needed to the most What did you shakir? Khalil shakir Becoming one of the, one of the hot receivers here for Josh Allen. I actually had him in a parlay with, and I hit everything, but my homes needed two more passes.
Pershin:Yeah.
Jason:I, is he through two picks? I would, you know,
Pershin:yeah,
Jason:thanks.
Pershin:I saw that they had Kincaid out. They had a Mari Cooper in a cast and even Curtis Samuel was banged up. And so I was like, all right, well, this is. Shaqir's spot here. If he doesn't do anything this game, then when would he? So I was looking for him to turn up. And then what I saw was a pretty good player. Like I thought that he did well with his opportunity and. I really like this sort of, I think he's still pretty young. I think he's like 24 years old. I kind of like the way he's developed into something with very low expectations coming into the league. I think there's probably still room to grow with a guy like him. And, you know, I kind of like his longterm sort of prospects here. But yeah, as far as the game goes, I thought it was a great game and. I have pretty much the same takeaway that you had, which is like when things were really on the line and all the pressure was on, Josh Allen just really clutched up and he just refused to let the drive die. I, it really felt like he was just putting the team on his shoulders and just willing them to a victory. And you love to see it for a guy like that. You, who's, you know, Played really well and played in, in a lot of clutch situations, but always seems to come up short versus the chiefs. Finally, he comes through. I know it's just a regular season game. And he, he, he really wants the championship, but you gotta like that sort of. That sort of result that you see, if you're a bills fan for him to just really clutch up and sort of wield the team to victory like that, you see Kelsey getting, but her doing the, the slow clap, like, Oh, way to go. You guys finally got one on us. Like, like whatever, you know, he's so angry. They shut him down too. I think he had like one single reception. Like,
Jason:yeah, yeah. He had two receptions for eight total yards out of four targets. Yeah. So he's the last one that should be. Yeah, it wasn't, it, it, I, Mahomes is interesting, man, because it's like, like I said via text, it's like, you, Chiefs are playing with fire here, they're playing with a lot of luck in these, some of these games, and this is one of those instances where it finally came to bite them in the ass, man, I mean, two interceptions in this game by Patrick Mahomes. It's like, bro, you, you can't keep doing this with the team that you have. Like you can't keep turning the ball over every game with what you have on the roster.
Pershin:Yeah. And
Jason:like, you can't keep putting yourself in that position
Pershin:and actually you're not
Jason:built to come back. Like you used to,
Pershin:I think a really indicative stat here is. That they're actually 12th in the league in point differential, but yet they're, they're number one, as far as record goes, they've got the best record in the league, but they're only 12th in point differential. So it's
Jason:like the guy in fantasy that happens to be catching everybody's scoring their word score, but yet they aren't scoring a lot either. They keep playing against
Pershin:the lowest scoring team of the week. Right. Yeah. Yeah, that that's kind of like what the, what the chiefs have done. They keep eking out these small wins in these just single possession, you know, single score victories. And like, there's something to be said for figuring out how to win the game at the end and in being resourceful in that way. But there's also something to be said about the fact that, hey man, you're barely beating some of these teams and a lot of these teams aren't even that good compared to where the Chiefs are supposed to be. And so, it's a little bit worrisome if you're a Chiefs fan. I think that DeAndre Hopkins will definitely help the situation, but he's not going to be the The one thing to really move the needle that much. I think they're going to have to figure out something better schematically or, or ways to get worthy, more involved or something. They need more juice on offense, period.
Jason:Absolutely. Absolutely. Moving on to the chargers versus bingles game. This game looked at one point, like it was going to be a Chargers blowout. And then Joe Burrow just came alive in the second half.
Pershin:Yeah, it was, it was like this weird game of streaks where it's like to start the game. I think Justin Herbert was nine of 10 for like 156 yards. And then he's just goes like six and 13 or something over the next three quarters. And it's ice
Jason:cold, ice cold. Yeah.
Pershin:And like, as soon as he. Got cold is when Joe Burrow just started dime after dime after dime. And so it's just
Jason:like, it's
Pershin:like the next thing, you know, they're back in the game. And it's just like, all right, well, I guess we'll see. They were, they were just taking turns kind of going on streaks. It was a little, it was a little wonky in that way. But
Jason:yeah. But how about this Chargers team, man? I mean, looking good, man. Setting us up. Lab McConkie, man, you called it. Six receptions for a buck twenty three? Dude's a beast, man. This wide receiver group is not that shabby. When you really, when you think about it. I mean, I know the Bengals kinda had a shitty defense, but still. I
Pershin:still think they could use more than just Ladd, but yeah. I think Ladd's gonna be the real deal. And, you know, the thing about the charges here is that they, they're really winning the, the exact way that Harbaugh wants to, I mean, the offensive line is kicking ass up front. And they're just playing stout defense, you know, they're, I think they're still first in the league and scoring that they've allowed. I mean, It's kind of like a bend but don't break sort of defense where it's like they do let teams get a lot of field goals on them, but when they get in the red zone, they always seem to clamp up on teams and They've got them with a good record here. I think they're fine. Fifth in the, in the a FC right now. Maybe they're sixth, but it, but they're, they're a competitive squad and they're doing it the, the Harbaugh way with the, in the, yeah,
Jason:they're fifth right now
Pershin:with the, you know healthy running game good defense and, you know, certainly doesn't hurt that lad McConkey looks like he's gonna be the real deal. And of course. Justin Herbert can turn it on whenever he needs to. So I like their prospects. I think that they could, they could be a dark horse.
Jason:Hundred percent, a hundred percent. It's, it's going to be an interesting race in that AFC West there. But the chiefs being so good. I wonder if they end up. Going on maybe a little bit of a losing streak now that they've lost one, you know, maybe it will, maybe it won't affect them, but it'll give Los Angeles a door, I think, to get in there and Denver.
Pershin:I think that they're, they're likely to lose that vibe. You know, they're, they've got the vibe right now, but. The Bills are just one game behind them. So if they just drop one more game than the Bills do the last third of this season, then the Bills are in rather than them because obviously they beat them head to head. So they got the tiebreaker and what's really interesting about that is that it's probably going to be either the Broncos or the Chargers that they would play in the very first round of the playoffs. If they're in that second spot. So the AFC West thing is definitely interesting. And
Jason:the final game, the one that sent me into another almost heart attack moment, the bears versus the Packers. I mean, you guys did
Pershin:the chiefs thing when the, when the chiefs blocked our kicker and stole the game at the last, that's exactly what it felt like. It was like, Oh my
Jason:goodness. They really just. Like it's so frustrating because we shouldn't have even been there because the Jordan love Interception in the red zone was just a fucking overthrow. It's just like oh, yeah, that was a bad Oh, all you had to do was hit the guy in the hands man, and that's a touchdown And so yeah, it's like we shouldn't have even been there and then we made Caleb Williams like Everyone's is going on me. It's hot Everyone's going on about Caleb Williams and the new coordinator. And it's like, no, our defense is just trash. Like we can't guard against running quarterbacks. And that's all they did differently was he ran more. I do agree with you. Ran for 70 yards. I agree
Pershin:with you about that touchdown. Like when he threw the interception. Instead of that being an interception, it really should have been like a sure shot touchdown. Like it would have been game. It would have been nail in the coffin right there. Right. And instead it's this huge swing just because he overthrows it. I'm assuming he overthrew that or he was just seeing something I wasn't seeing, but it was, it was weird because it was weird because he obviously had a receiver that just had to go ahead. TD right there. So it's like,
Jason:yeah, I, I don't know, but then you see throws where he says, Oh, you're throwing a perfect ball into double coverage and Christian Washington just opens his hands and catches it. It
Pershin:honestly is starting to feel like the Josh Allen sort of experience of the last few years where it's like, man, he makes all these totally fine. It's like, man, he makes all these really good plays, but then what's this, what did he just look at? Like he just threw it. To nobody. Like it would be, it's just like some crazy stuff where it's like, wow. But the dimes are there
Jason:too. And then they went for it on fourth down in the red zone. And I was like, why are we running the ball? We didn't get it on third down in one running the ball. Let's. Maybe just do a quick out route and just hit, just hit the, just hike it and hit them in the hand. It really
Pershin:looked like, like Chicago was crowding up for the run too. Like if you would've did just like a bootleg, some sort of bootleg option thing where it's like, okay. If you don't see anything damn field, you could kick it to the running back or you could run for a yard yourself or whatever, would it, would it just, would it just made it so, yeah, because it's like,
Jason:the floor just made a bonehead, like that was just, he overthought the call.
Pershin:Yeah, I just, in those really short yardage situations like that, I love just letting your quarterback have an option. Just letting him see like, Hey, I've got a guy wide open. There you go. Boom. Or nothing down there, but I could run for it or I could kick it out. You know, like it's just.
Jason:I
Pershin:hate the really limited sort of things in the short yardage things, because it's, it feels like a 50 50 instead of it should be more than 50
Jason:50, but I mean, but you know, it is what it is. We still won the game. Caleb Williams had had an incredible game, probably his best game he's had as a rookie this season. I
Pershin:don't know about statistically, but I feel like just passing the eye test, he really did look like something a little more like what he was supposed to be. I mean,
Jason:he had a better QBR than, than love slightly lower rating than love. It certainly looked like he
Pershin:was doing a better job of just sort of avoiding pressure, stepping up, setting his feet, making a real like legit throw instead of some sort of off balance. Yeah,
Jason:yeah, they look good. I mean, DJ more, despite my thoughts about him getting shut down seven targets, seven catches. I mean, he didn't do anything crazy, but I mean, yeah, we didn't shut him down. I caught everything. He was throwing the ball. I
Pershin:do think it was smart. By. Brown or just, just the, the bears, whoever came up with the idea, basically like, we're going to scheme up some like easy gimme things just to get the ball at DJ Morris hands and it didn't work out. He didn't break any huge plays, but you know, it's still, I think it was a smart idea. I like, I like where their, where their head is at with some of this.
Jason:Yep. But yeah, man, I mean, just hopefully this week we don't have the same thing. Clemson's playing Citadel and the Packers are playing the 49ers, so.
Pershin:Man, the 49ers just don't even look like the 49ers this season, man.
Jason:Yeah, I know. I'm hoping we stomp the shit out of them. This is my Super Bowl this year right now.
Pershin:Oh man, they're wounded right now. This is your chance to pounce. Get that revenge, baby. This is our
Jason:chance. Yeah, but yeah, I mean, you know, lots of games, fun coming down the stretches. Just a few more notes on, on the weekend to and the dolphins seem to be finding some mojo. They, they were putting up some points this weekend. Everybody seems to be catching the ball again, man. They got it. They got to see what was the rate.
Pershin:That's a fun agent. And like the full fucking bell cow roll too. I'm like, I,
Jason:yeah,
Pershin:I love it, man. The guy's like 175 pounds, just toting the rock over and over again. I love it.
Jason:Give it to him. And then the saints, Derek Carr and MVS play, like they have been playing with each other for years yet again. They connect on another long pass and destroy Cleveland 35 to 14. But it was Cleveland. So take with that what you will. It was Cleveland, but like
Pershin:to, to give credit where credit is due Derek Carr is low key dropped like some really good dimes past couple of weeks. Like,
Jason:yeah, he, Derek Carr is like. I compare him to Philip rivers in what way like he he he'll he'll throw you some good passes and he'll look good at times and you think This is the guy he's gonna and then You get to the playoffs or when it comes down to the game where you actually need him to play. Well,
Pershin:yeah
Jason:It's interception city.
Pershin:Yeah now that like coach is fired Everyone's giving up on the season. There's no pressure. He's like, all right Like
Jason:yeah,
Pershin:yeah when the pressure's on it's like he doesn't he doesn't step up as well I think I think I know what you mean there.
Jason:Yeah, and then I just had to laugh at the Colts Jets game Just the Colts Anthony Richardson beating the Jets in air Rogers. That's just Just it you know, it feels the soul
Pershin:They had three and outs for their first four possessions, the Jets did, like, It's not even a great defense! They're, they're like, it's just, it's so bad, it's so bad. Like, you got
Jason:It's so fun! You got
Pershin:all your fucking buddies there, you even got Devontae to throw to. You, you, you've pointed the blame at everyone else that you could possibly point the blame at, like, Rogers, it's time to, to come out, go, go to the McAfee show this week and be like, yo, we're bad because of me. It's my fault. I'm a bad quarterback now that I'm in my 40s and I'm an even worse GM.
Jason:Yeah, yeah, definitely not the LeBron of the NFL. That's for sure. And then the last game I wanted to touch on was your team, the Denver Broncos, Hey, the boat, just taking it to Kurt cousins in Atlanta. I mean, I did not expect Kurt cousins in Atlanta to play, like to only put up six points. Yeah, that's awful like how like no one's talking about how bad or how Unexpected the Kirk Cousins in Atlanta experiment is going like I thought they were gonna be a lot better than they were And they're fucking six and five They're middle of the road and they might not even win this shitty division that they're in. Well, are they not in first place? Well, it's just like, I mean, it's not like that they're not in place, it's just, it's just kind of getting to the point where Tampa Bay is, you know, two games back. I mean, if it weren't for the division being awful, like six and five, I just, I just thought Kirk Cousins was going to do a lot more. With especially with Drake London and having Bijon and
Pershin:yeah, well, I, I really like to see us step up and be the team that doesn't just absolutely suck because it basically all of our wins this season, or at least all of the decisive ones. Have have been beating up on, you know, the, the Panthers and the Raiders
Jason:to do that.
Pershin:Yeah, no, I'm not upset about it, but it's like all of the good teams that we faced, we haven't, we haven't really stepped up and then finally. You know, the Falcons aren't, aren't necessarily the best contender or whatever, but it, but finally we have a game where we actually are really good. We actually put up the most yardage that the Falcons gave up this whole season and they, they gained the least amount of yardage that they had. So we actually were the hardest team for them on both sides of the coin. And so it was really good to see the team just sort of. Just sort of step up on both sides of this ball at the same time. And I can't just write it off and say, Oh, well it's the fucking Raiders. No, who cares? So it was really nice.
Jason:I mean, it's the Falcons.
Pershin:Yeah, I know. That's what I, that's what I mean is, is previously what we have, right? Like you can't, right?
Jason:Yeah. You can't. Yeah. Right. I got, yeah, it's, it's, yeah. I mean, Bo Nicks only missed five passes.
Pershin:Yeah. And like,
Jason:as
Pershin:far as my eye test goes, this was actually his best game yet. You know, it's, it's there on the stat sheet, you know, four touchdowns, yada, yada, but also when you look at it, play for play, it's like, Oh, he really was kind of just in the zone. He was really, really accurate passes to. Guys who were actually pretty well covered. One one to Troy Franklin, a couple different ones to Devon Veley where they didn't even get any separation. He still just kind of put it right on their shoulder. Love to see it, love to see it. It, it's really hard to defend if you're gonna be able to get the ball out that quickly and that accurately. We'll see if he could build on that. I would love to see it. Obviously this is Peyton's guy, so no excuses. He needs to figure out how to make it work and so far it looks like there's some promise there.
Jason:Absolutely. All right. Well, that's it. That's all we got for, what was that? Week 11 in the books. We'll look for you at week 12 later on this week. And as always, you can hit us up at pineponypodcast22 at gmail. com or on threads and Instagram at pineponypodcast.
Pershin:Yep. Hit us up.
Jason:And we're out
