Week 6.....Contender ?

This week's Pine Pony Podcast dives into the NFL's Week 6 action and beyond. There has been some topsy turvy in the NFL this year and we take a look at teams and talk about whether we think they are contenders or bust.
 

Chapters

• 0:00 Fantasy woes
• 7:10 MLB Playoffs Update
• 10:58 NBA Season Preview
• 14:23 College Football Highlights
• 26:00 NFL Contender Talk

Transcript

Jason: 0:11

Welcome, welcome to another edition of the Pine Pony Podcast. As always, you got me the og, hanging out with the fantasy uncle, what's happening in Persian.

Pershin: 0:23

Howdy, howdy. Glad to be back, my friend. Hope you've been doing well over in Costa Rica. I had a pretty lucky week, I would say. All my fantasy teams won. I hit two. Yeah, I hit a couple parlays. My DK team fell short, but I just blamed Marv for that. But yeah, it's it's been a good week. My, my risk continues to. It gets stronger and things are feeling better looking up in uncle Land. How, how is the original strengths there?

Jason: 1:02

Well, I lost all three fantasy games this week. I, I, I have just discontinued hope. I, I have discontinued hope in two of the three leagues that I'm in. I have just decided that I've put together the worst team possible in a redraft league and, you know, I don't know. I'm just trying to stay outta the last place. I got it. Just trying to stay outta the

Pershin: 1:29

last place. Listen, listen to this. Listening to you Sounds right. I'm gonna, I'm gonna send you an inspirational message.

Jason: 1:37

Please do through, through. Listen, at this point in one of my leagues, I'm just trying to stay out of getting a rename of my team and having to keep a permanent player on my bench the next year, for the second year in a row. How for not second year in a row, but for the second time in this league. But also if history has proven anything. Last time I got last place, the following year I won the whole thing. So yeah. You know, maybe, maybe we will see what happens. Yeah. And it is

Pershin: 2:09

a, there, there is a big silver lining in our league, which is dynasty, is that you actually get a, a better pick if you, if you suck. So, I mean, that never hurts.

Jason: 2:23

All right. Well let's, let's continue this talk on the other side of things. Otherwise let's start to, so yeah, I mean, back to this fantasy football talk, to open it up real quick. Yes in our league, like, dude man, I just like, I'm just surprised at that. Like, I don't know if it's me, like this same constructed team last year was on fringe playoffs like, or in the playoffs, but like the lower tier seats, like I'm not gonna sit here and say I was poised to win at all. I wasn't. But this team, same team, couple better players, even my rookies are just like shitting Golden is doing fine. Matthew Golden is doing fine. I will admit trading way Tetra Row McMillan for a QB was a stupid move. But I was desperate in that situation and I don't have any faith in the Panthers offense at all. And he's doing okay. Like he's not like. Like making me regret it too hard. And the fact that I don't think Bryce Young is gonna be the quarterback next year even makes me feel better about it because it's like, I don't think they're gonna get a good quarterback anytime soon, but still kind of is like that was stupid move.'cause Gino Smith isn't doing jack shit. And, but it's just like the rest of my fucking team is just like, just, it's like they've all got mud on their boots or something. I don't know, man. It's like I can't get a good, like I can, I can, everybody else in the league is breaking two hundreds. I'm barely scraping one 40 and I'm just like, none of my team is performing whatsoever. No one. Absolutely no one. And you know what, what's great though is in one league I did pick up the better of the two Chargers running backs. I did pick up Vidal and he crushed it this, this past weekend in 24 and a half fantasy points. Whereas Haskins had the lower, lower amount. So it was, it was like a 50 50 shot on who you should take.

Pershin: 4:50

I, I actually was guessing that neither of them were gonna be good because I figured it would probably be a 50 50 split and a, a offensive line that's completely banged up. Right? They're missing their best offensive lineman 50 50 split. But then it wasn't a 50 50 split. They no. I, I think maybe the first series or two was like a trade off and then they realized like, oh, one guy's doing well, the other not so much. So I think they picked the right guy too. I mean, Del Yeah, I got definitely looked better.

Jason: 5:26

I got Vidal in, in the league that matters the most. The league that I'm actually like three and three attending.

Pershin: 5:33

Yeah,

Jason: 5:34

yeah, yeah. So like I'm happy with that, but still,

Pershin: 5:38

here's my theory on your team performing so much worse than it did last season is, I think last season Burough stayed healthy, which meant that T and Jamar Chase got to eat week after week after week. And I think that those three guys not being able to perform like they did last year is making a huge impact, you know, on, on your team because those are probably the, well, also the

Jason: 6:04

all is performing like dog water this season.

Pershin: 6:10

You know, the Breeze Hall thing is hard because the long-term outlook I think is still pretty good. But for this season, dealing with fields and, and just no creativity in that offense, man, I honestly, I think Fields is gonna get fired before the end of the year, if not as he

Jason: 6:29

should. When is this experiment gonna be over?

Pershin: 6:32

And I think that Aaron Glenn is gonna lose his job at the end of the season, maybe even during this season. And so I, as, as annoying as it is to deal with Brie Hall in the current state, I do think it's probably worth it to hold onto'em for next season. Well, I'm not getting, I'm not seasons after that.

Jason: 6:52

If I make any trades, it's gonna be for picks and it's gonna be people that are not the future.

Pershin: 6:59

Yeah.

Jason: 7:00

IE older people. I think that makes sense.

Pershin: 7:02

Yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense. I'd be shopping all of the older players if I were to.

Jason: 7:08

But nonetheless, we'll get into more NFL talk in a minute. Let's, let's hit up the MLB. So we got the Final Four teams, got the Mariners versus the Blue Jay. Seattles dominating that, that Series two Zero. And, and they're dominating the games as well. And then the Dodgers versus Brewers as a new Brewers fan. I'm disappointed in this team. They're the best record in baseball and right now they're getting, they're just getting manhandled by the Dodgers. Dodgers are currently winning the game playing right now, but I'm already gonna chalk that up as a loss as it was five to one last I saw. So we'll say the Dodgers are headed back to LA

Pershin: 7:50

two and

Jason: 7:51

oh. They're headed back home two and Oh, that's right. You never want that as,

Pershin: 7:58

yeah.

Jason: 7:59

So the brewer's got some work to do, man, and they're looking, lethargic looking, looking young, and just looking like the moment is scaring them a little bit, in my opinion. So hopefully they can pull it out, but we'll see. Yeah. Yeah. What do you think about the M-L-B-M-L-B any missing? The rocky, I mean, anything at all? The,

Pershin: 8:22

the thing about the MLB is that it can be remarkably streaky. I mean, I, I remember as a Rocky fan, yeah, there was that one year, it was a long time ago now, maybe 15 years ago when they, they won like 26 games in a row just to squeak into the playoffs, and they swept the first two series. And so they're, they're in the, the, I wanna say super. They weren't to the World Series. They're in the World Series, right? Yeah, yeah. So they're in the World Series, that was the Matt Holiday

Jason: 8:51

season.

Pershin: 8:52

They're in the World Series against the Red Sox, and they've won so many games in a row to the point where they're now favored against the Red Sox. And the Red Sox just swept them because the streak was over. The, the juju wore off. And it, you know, I, I think that that happens a lot of times in baseball. Hopefully the brewers can get back on a good streak, but it, it's just wild how like teams will really go on runs and looks like the Dodgers might be on a bit of a run Right now.

Jason: 9:24

It just, like, baseball just annoys me in the sense that it's like it's pay to play, man. Like the Dodgers have a 350 mil million dollars roster. Like it's, the brewers are, are anywhere close to that.

Pershin: 9:39

That is so ridiculous. I, you, I, this is what I say to people when they're, when like as NFL fans, a lot of times we complain and we, we say, you know, the, the salary cap is made up. It's not real. I'm like, it definitely is a little bit real because when you look at the MLBI, nobody wants that in the NFL. I could not stand that man.

Jason: 10:00

No, and I mean, I love the NFL for that fact that it has a hard salary cap. There is no, the NBA could learn a lesson too, right? Like, like I'm so sick of these luxury tax where it's like, oh, if you go over the, the a lotted salary cap, you can just pay a fine. Well, it's like if I have endless amounts of money, I'll just pay the fine over and over and over again. When you're

Pershin: 10:23

in huge markets like New York and LA that fine, it's a drop in, in the bucket of the kind of merchant ticket sales that you get. I mean,

Jason: 10:32

right. Like if you have all the best players.

Pershin: 10:35

Yeah, I mean, the Dodgers and the Yankees are selling merch all over the world because they're so fucking popular. Like you think they care about a fine, they don't care, they don't, they're just gonna buy as many wins as they can. Is it, I will say though, sometimes it does make it feel a little bit sweeter when those smaller market teams do win a World series. I think that's great, but Oh yeah,

Jason: 10:56

for sure, for sure.

Pershin: 10:57

It's, it's

Jason: 10:58

still frustrating though, you know, it's few and far between though, so but nonetheless we mentioned the NBA and that season is starting up very soon. I, I got some hornets hype, you know, feeling, feeling good about them, feeling like, like maybe they could maybe make a playoff run this season. A win for me would be a, a playoff round, win round, one win, like, just, just win round one. Make it to round two and, and I would be happy with the season,

Pershin: 11:33

but I really didn't pay much attention to the the NBA draft this past season. I, a lot of times I, I liked the, the lottery system and so I tune in for that. But did the Hornets get like a first round of year pretty excited for, or do you know much about the draft

Jason: 11:49

class or, man, you know, NB a's a little bit difficult for me to follow because I don't necessarily watch college basketball. Yeah. And I'm not, like,

Pershin: 12:00

I completely relate. I, I a lot of times only tune in, I only tune in into playoffs to watch my nuggies and, and then maybe I'll fuck with the lottery draft.'cause I just think the lottery draft is fun. But yeah, I completely understand. I I really don't make time for NBA at all.

Jason: 12:19

So look, I mean, they drafted this guy, KN Pol. And I mean, I'm, I really like, you know, the starting five, they got Lamella ball. I like him, but he's always injured. And that's the problem with, with the Hornets, is the guy's always injured. And then I really like Brandon Miller. He's legit. Miles, bridges is legit despite his domestic abuse situation that happened and he's been acquitted for, and all of this, you know, he's in the clear. But, so whatever happened with that is, is water under bridge because I mean, nothing, you know, he either, you know, took his licks and, and whatever, or nothing happened. So I, I can't fault the man at this point. And so I like him. So I don't know anything about Kahan, NAL or Mui ate. The center, what a name. But the other three guys I really like. Yeah, CE ate. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, I don't know man. I'm, I'm, I'm just ex I wanna get back into NBA. It's been hard for me to watch it just because it's, it's hard to watch any Horness games when you have to pay for them and they're bad. So I just want them to get to back to the point of relevancy to where it's like they're at least making me want to watch them. So we will see what happens. I'm there.

Pershin: 13:55

Glad, glad to hear that the one guy's been cleared. If you, if you wanna be supported on the Time 20 podcast. Don't hit people. Okay. Yeah, don't hit people. That's the rule.

Jason: 14:06

He's probably still a piece of shit. So we, we, I probably won't support him for a long,

Pershin: 14:10

but so many of these guys are, unfortunately, it's just, but hey, if we find out, you're in trouble, Mr. That's

Jason: 14:18

right. For the record. Okay. Divine point

Pershin: 14:20

for the record.

Jason: 14:22

All right. And then you know, let's get into the NCAA man this weekend. Just an absolute, another banger of a weekend, man. I mean, if you're watching college football right now, you gotta be loving yourself. I mean, OSU demolished number 17, Illinois, Ohio State looks like the best team in college football, in my opinion. And then, so

Pershin: 14:49

Ohio State got knocked off earlier this year. They got upset by somebody, didn't they? Or am I misremembering that? I feel like they lost to someone they shouldn't have lost to already. I mean, it's just one loss. I mean, they're,

Jason: 15:02

well, they, they haven't, I mean, they have not lost yet. They're six and Oh, so,

Pershin: 15:08

oh,

Jason: 15:09

you must have taken someone

Pershin: 15:10

else. Yep. Ohio State

Jason: 15:14

and then Arrow. Yeah, arrow up for sure. I hate to admit that. But then the other team that's arrow up is Indiana number seven, Indiana Beat number three, Oregon. Indiana is probably the second best team in the country. I would say. I would have Ohio State one, Indiana two, and Indiana is also six. And oh, so, you know, undefeated looking, looking real good. And then Texas whooped up on number six, Oklahoma. So Texas bounced back, bounced back this weekend. B Oklahoma and the Red River rivalry Alabama, nearly escaped. Number 14, Missouri. Number 15, Michigan got absolutely demolished by an unranked USC Trojans, which was just wild to me. 31 13, like just whooped. Wow. Just taken, taken to the war. Yeah, that's

Pershin: 16:16

decisive.

Jason: 16:19

And then Unranked, Utah whooped up on 21 A SU Arizona State Colorado. Beat number 22 ISU Iowa State. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There we go. Yeah. Come get a bitch Pitt. Pittsburgh helped Clemson a little bit. They beat FSU number 25. F-S-U-F-S-U has lost three games straight, all in the a CC man that vaunted a CC, just getting after'em. So yeah, I mean, Clemson look, there's a path for Clemson to make it to the a CC title game and make it into the championships. It's a hard path, but there is a path We're still alive. So hopefully K Clubnick can play next week.'Cause he had a little bit of a knee injury against BC in that ass. Whoop. And we handed BC but we'll see. As far as next week, the games I'm looking forward to is Ole Miss versus Oklahoma. Those are two top teams that should be playing. And then UVA top

Pershin: 17:34

ish. Top ish. They got beat by Texas Top.

Jason: 17:37

Yeah, that's right. Top ish UVA versus UNC for selfish reasons, UVA needs to lose. So I'm, I'm hoping Bill Belichick and or if he's even still there, we, we are not sure at this point. He might get bought out between now and then. So I want UNC to win and then we got Bama versus South Carolina. Again, selfish reasons I want South Carolina to lose. So I'm interested in that. And then the big game of the week is Texas a and m versus LSU you know, two, top 10, 10 team, two top 10 teams ranked.

Pershin: 18:21

You definitely just said 10 team, which is not a number.

Jason: 18:26

Exactly. That's what I had to reset. But yeah, man, college football is shaping up to be a interesting season.

Pershin: 18:36

Yeah.

Jason: 18:37

Any, any

Pershin: 18:37

I I think with so many upsets that there's been, I, I think that there's gonna be some actual sort of what's the right word? There's gonna be some, some real tough decisions for who's gonna get some at large spots because there's, I think that there's gonna end up being a bunch of two lost, three lost teams in the mix for that, you know?

Jason: 18:59

For sure. I mean, you, let's not even forget you got BYU undefeated, you know, you got a lot of these other teams kinda making a run for you. Where,

Pershin: 19:09

where's BYU ranked down?

Jason: 19:13

They were ranked 18th at this this past week, so pretty spicy. I don't, I don't know what they're currently ranked, but this was, you know, that's where they were ranked for week, week seven we're in, that's a good example. Like next

Pershin: 19:31

week I could see, I could see BYU dropping a, a game. Like they get knocked off by a team that they weren't expected to lose to, but they're just a one loss team. They're, they're probably getting in, they're at least gonna be in consideration. You're gonna have a bunch of teams with better, maybe overall resumes as far as wins, but then they got three losses or something, you know what I mean? So it'll be pretty interesting to see, see how things come down at the end, but

Jason: 20:05

still, yeah, for sure.

Pershin: 20:06

Still plenty of ball to be played before that. So

Jason: 20:09

let me, for real though. I, I, I don't know where the fuck I got next week's games from. So let me redo that, that section, because those games were wrong. Oh shit. Oh shit. Like, bro, I'm like, look at it. I'm like, what the fuck? Where did I even get those from? Are those week nine games? They gotta be week nine.

Pershin: 20:32

They must be happening at some point.

Jason: 20:35

Oh, you were reading off of something? Okay. Yeah, no, I, they're week nine games. Okay. My bad. Alright. Okay, so the games that I'm looking forward to next week, we got Louisville versus number two, Miami Miami's five and oh Louisville's 4 0 1. There could be a potential upset there. I mean, the spread is 13 and a half, then we got LSU five and one versus Vanderbilt five and one, and Vanderbilt just came off of that. A terrible loss of Alabama. They might be looking for some revenge there. Selfishly I need Georgia Tech to lose the Duke, so I'm interested in that game. And then selfishly again, South Carolina plays Oklahoma and I'm hoping they lose that game. The let's see, let's see what Oklahoma,

Pershin: 21:24

a top ish team could very well beat. South Carolina

Jason: 21:28

top is, well, they are ranked 14, so they, they should beat South Carolina. Hey man, top 10, top 10 matchup here. Georgia versus Ole Miss. Ole Miss is undefeated. Georgia's got one loss.

Pershin: 21:40

Ole Miss is undefeated. I love it. Yeah. Ha. Has old Miss beaten any really good opponents yet though?

Jason: 21:46

Well, I mean, if you're going by college, football's saying they're three and oh in the SEC, so. I guess they put three good opponents,

Pershin: 21:55

but yeah, as far as, as far as the media's concerned, they, they beat, they've beaten three Divine Miracle Yeah. Organizations there.

Jason: 22:09

And then you know, Tennessee, Alabama, Tennessee's 5 0 1 Bama six and one, that's gonna be a good matchup. I mean, the two SEC teams again, you know, and then we got USC number 20 versus number 13, Notre Dame. Somehow Notre Dame's still ranked above USC despite having one more loss than USC. So, I mean, I don't know how these rankings are anymore. I don't, I think they trust them anymore.

Pershin: 22:37

I think they, they're just still guard to the board. Think the name Notre Dame. I think they see the name Notre Dame. And it just carries more weight than have to, it should, you know. Yeah. Have to rank em. Yeah, they're just, they're just like,

Jason: 22:46

and then the final game. We got a Utah 23rd or Utah versus 15 BYU. So, hey man.

Pershin: 22:56

Nice. Got nice. Hey, college football. Keep the streak alive. We shall see.

Jason: 23:01

And I'm just gonna put this disclaimer out there for everybody who doesn't know, you can watch most of these games on YouTube for free. You don't have to subscribe to a streaming site to watch these games. Just saying, I, I don't think that's

Pershin: 23:16

how disclaimers work. What the fuck? Just putting it out there for everybody.

Jason: 23:20

What do you mean

Pershin: 23:22

disclaimers are supposed to keep you outta trouble? I don't think that's what that people don't

Jason: 23:25

know. People don't know this, man. Look, people don't know this. I'm just trying to put a little bit more change in everybody's pocket. All right? Yeah. We are for the people. Outside of the games, two other things happen and. College football. And that was that James Franklin from Penn State got fired and Trent Dilfer. Trent Dilfer got let go,

Pershin: 23:53

man. Believe

Jason: 23:54

that. Yeah, man.

Pershin: 23:55

Former Super Bowl MVP and you're gonna fire him. Unbelievable.

Jason: 24:01

I mean, to be fair, he was like, you remember, I don't know if you remember seeing that video of him just like berating some kid on the sideline. Like, oh, I haven't seen that. TR doesn't look, he does not look like anybody that should be coaching. Damn. Like, bro, just get back on ESPN and tell us about your dimes. Okay. And then James Franklin, I mean, that is surprising that he got fired Midseason. Ooh. That's surprising that he got fired Midseason, but I feel like it's been a long time coming just simply because he has made progress, like as in getting the team into playoff competition and all of that. But it's at some point that when is he gonna get over the hump? And I just don't think he's the coach to do that. You know, it's like you have coaches that are good enough to get you to the playoffs, but they just can't coach in the playoffs. There are several coaches like that within the N-B-A-N-F-L Doc Rivers comes to mind. Who's the, there's, I can't remember the guy I'm thinking of in the NFL, but there's several coaches like that.

Pershin: 25:14

Yeah, I remember, I think it was Smith, actually a friend of the pod back when we, when he was part of it. I, I was saying like, I didn't think Doc Rivers should have gotten fired considering that, you know, the team's often competitive, whatever. But the point that was made, you know in favor of firing Doc Rivers was that it's not that the next guy is necessarily gonna have the team actually performing better, it's that the next guy at least will have the upside that he could be performing better. Whereas, like, right, if, if you, if you know like your team's going to make it to the playoffs or be on the playoff bubble, they're gonna be a decent team every single season, that's fine. But the thing is, most owners, they would rather take a shot at someone who could. Bring it to that next level. Even if they know there's a good chance, it'll flame out on'em, whatever. And I think that makes sense actually. I think at the end of the day, the goal should be to actually win a ship and, and not just, oh, you know, we've got a solid squad. You know?

Jason: 26:24

For sure. Yeah, it's, I mean, nobody wants to make it to the first round of the playoffs and leave every single season. All right. And then now it's time to get onto the NFL man. So we had a firing in the NFL as well. Brian Callahan. That was

Pershin: 26:41

quick.

Jason: 26:42

Outta here. Outta here. The fun stat about this firing the last four. Number one, overall quarterbacks to have had their fire, their court, their head coaches fired in the first season. So Trevor Lawrence, urban Meyer. Urban Meyer was fired. That's right. Season one's Bryce Young. Frank Wright was fired. That was 2023. Caleb Williams, Matt Eber, fleece was fired. 2024. That's right. Cam. Cam board. Brian Callahan 2025. So pretty

Pershin: 27:22

interesting.

Jason: 27:23

I think it just goes, goes to

Pershin: 27:24

show how hard it is to get an offense to work with a rookie quarterback. Because I mean, these are guys, these are guys first. Overall, that should be the most pro ready and the expectation, I think is usually too high for these

Jason: 27:39

guys. It's too high. I mean, if you think about that though, but, but if you look at like a, A Packer's model, and I, I, I hate that they like,'cause I don't wanna seem like a homer. Right. And it's like, but the Packers model for a quarterback is. I mean, it's been proven time and time again to have actually worked. Yeah. And where

Pershin: 28:01

yeah,

Jason: 28:02

you draft a quarterback when you don't need one, you, you say, this guy could potentially be the future. Let's give him some years underneath the belt, sitting on the bench, and then boom, they are the future. We've done that with fav, I mean, from favs to Rogers, from Rogers to Love, and I, I, I think we're one of the, the only teams Yeah. To have had a succession of quarterbacks to where it's like, this is the guy and, and we're winning. And, and you go to a playoffs with those. Same with those guys.

Pershin: 28:38

Yeah. I, I, I think it's absolutely true and, and it's a lot of different head coaches too, you know, so it's not just like, oh, like a, like a Kyle Shanahan right in San Francisco. They're like, oh, all his quarterbacks seem to do well. It's, it's him, you know, it's, I think that, and this is, this is something I've gotten more on board with lately. I mean, just last week I was talking about how I, I think I wanna rethink sort of the development curve for these quarterbacks nowadays. And we, we've got so many sort of late bloomers now, and I think it has to do with the fact that defenses are more complex than ever, and the offense that they're learning is more complex than ever. And I think as the NFL mm-hmm. Gets that way, what's the one position that constantly has to know? All the meta for both sides of the ball. It's the, it's the quarterback, you know? So it's like, it's, it's something that takes time. And even when these guys are really talented and they do eventually get there, the rookie season often is tough. It's tough, you know? And so I think that this is basically just another sort of indication of where we're at nowadays. And, and I think that there, there of course, is always gonna be a correlation between guys that show something the first year or two, and the guys who are asked the first year or two. It's more likely that, you know, those guys are gonna work out when they've shown something, but, right, right. I do think that there's a lot of wiggle room left for these guys that look like they're complete failures. The first year or two might not, the door might not be completely slammed on them. And in a way I think that's better for the NFL. I think that's cool that some of these guys will come out of nowhere and they, they will develop skills that you didn't think they had in'em. And so

Jason: 30:33

yeah, which, which is, and I mean a lot of these guys will probably talk about 10, you know, on this episode, but it just goes to show you that, you know, some of these guys were given up on too quickly and when they went to their second destination, they're all of a sudden everything is clicking. You know, I mean, the fuck, the fourth destination for some of, yeah. Well, yeah, Sam darn, like I was just saying, you know, that's his like fourth or fifth destination, wherever it may be, but Minnesota, it clicked and then boom, he's in Seattle and things are looking good in Seattle for him. You know? Yeah. And,

Pershin: 31:08

and, and I think sometimes the, the, the piece that you need Baker Mayfield more than anything is that, that self-belief, once they get that confidence back, a lot of times all of a sudden they're more comfortable. They, they can, they can, you know, focus in and lock in without thinking, oh no, I'm gonna get benched because of that play. I'm going, I'm gonna lose my paycheck because of this play. I'm gonna, you know. Right, right, right. They, they feel more comfortable. They're like, I got this, I got this. Well,

Jason: 31:36

and you don't have the stress of the whole like, oh, we drafted you to change our projector. Oh, yeah. You know, type of, type of, you know what I mean?

Pershin: 31:46

Tons of pressure too. Yeah. Where you, you're expected to be the same. It's

Jason: 31:50

like, at this point I'm on my fourth, third, or fourth team. Like, if I do great, who gives a shit at this point? Like, right. Like whatever.

Pershin: 31:58

If I, if I go out there and play backyard ball and it, and it completely is, is a mess. I'm right back where I was a minute ago. Right. I was already back. I'm finding a new team. I was already the

Jason: 32:11

backup or whatever. Yeah. And then you know what else? It's just this mind, this is crazy. More injuries than ever. I think this NFL season, and this is another week where, you know, fantasy teams took a hit due to injuries. You know, Fred Warner done for likely done for the season. Done for the season, if I'm not mistaken, Calvin. Really? Yeah. Definitely went down middle of the game or whatever. Marvin Harrison Jr. Went down middle of the game. A Mecca Buca, huge loss, huge loss for fantasy owners and the of the Bucks, Buka, even though I still, I still take the bucks, will. I still think the bucks will be fine without him, but yeah. Pka, NACUA, Garrett Wilson Trey Hendrickson Lamar Jackson's still on the, on the bench. Like just what a crazy NFL season and with all these injuries has really like leveled the playing field so much. There's a lot of teams that we're gonna talk about that it's just kinda like, holy cow, are these contenders or not contenders?

Pershin: 33:21

Yeah. It, yeah, it really, it really changes the way that you have to try to evaluate teams. You have to kind of fall back on do we trust the coaching enough or not, you know, because when you lose that much talent, you're gonna have to, you're gonna have to have a really good playing a scheme. Yeah. Yeah. Coaches that can coach around their weaknesses like that. But I do think like from a fantasy sort of perspective, people that are playing fantasy, it's been pretty wild this season. Just how many injuries? There's been awful last season it was more so wide receivers that got injured than running backs. And I, I was saying in the off season when you and I were talking about it, that I would expect that to regress and that probably we'll go back to more running backs, getting injured more so than wide receivers. What we've actually gotten is fucking everyone, like everybody we're getting, doesn't matter. We're getting both, especially running backs and wide receivers just getting injured left and right and it's like, whew, man. And, and it's crazy because it's a lot of the top guys too. If you think about like, yeah. How many of these guys went in the first three or four rounds of your draft? Something close to half of them. And that's not an exaggeration. I mean, it's, listen, that

Jason: 34:38

waiver wire is getting worked. Okay.

Pershin: 34:41

Oh yeah. This is definitely a season where being, being smart about who you're picking up on the waiver wire is paying dividends,

Jason: 34:50

just throwing things at the wall in my world. Anyway. Alright, so, so instead of talking about individual games this week, we're going to, since we are, what was this week? Six. So we're six weeks in. We'll start talking about who is gonna be a contender and not a contender. So we'll just list off some teams and discuss them and, you know, the, this past week's game for those teams or whatnot. And any thoughts? Well, let's go ahead and get to it. Get to it. First team that I'm looking at is the Patriots. And I am wondering at sitting at four and two, are they contender or not? And they just played the saints. They beat the Saints 25 19, but they sh you know, Drake May, Mike Vrabel, everything's looking pretty good for them, man. I mean, dude, all the outside of Ram, Andre Stevenson, the Patriots aren't doing it in a flashy way, but to me it's like they're doing it the Patriot way. This is like with variable, this seems to a t like just the way they used to operate back with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, and it's just like, they're just doing their thing. They're not like being flashy about it, but they're just, it's like, we're just gonna win. We're just gonna win these games. What do you think about the Patriots man? Are they continuing for the playoffs or not?

Pershin: 36:26

Yeah, I think they're for real. I think that they're gonna be a playoff team. I, the, the interesting thing about the Patriots is that they kind of like. Like in the way that we're talking about so many of these teams getting devastated by injury, I think they've actually got some things brewing up that'll actually get better for them. Vrl historically does not like to lean on rookies. He really wants to see and trust that they're gonna do what he wants'em to do before he really puts much on their plate, which is fine. That's, there's a lot of coaches like that, right? But the cool thing is, is that you've got Stefan Diggs, who we already know, his level of talent, he's, he's getting healthier and healthier, more and more looking like himself. Each week. He's getting more of a snap share, more routes run, and frankly, more targets, more catches, right? And so that's good. And you, you gotta think that that's probably gonna get better as he gets further away from that last year's ACL injury. And then on top of it. Their rookies haven't yet made a big impact for them. You look at Trayvon Henderson, you, you look at Kyle Williams, these are the guys that, that haven't played that much. Like I said, I don't think it's because these guys won't eventually make an impact. I think it's more so just, it's gonna take time. But as the season goes on, they might end up getting more contributions from guys, whereas most teams are simply going to pile up more injuries. And so I, I, I like where they're headed. I think more so than anything is, is kind of, you already said it. I think that Drake May is playing really well. I've become a Drake made believer, and then Fable, I like Fable. I, I believe that he will have this team playing hard. So

Jason: 38:13

that, that's basically it. It's interesting that he's doing so much better here than he was in Tennessee, you know what I mean? It's just like, it's almost like. He was meant to be a patriot head coach regardless, like, like, you know Kraft just like him and Kraft like because of Bill Belichick. They just, it's like they all have an understanding of like how we're gonna run this team and, and it just seems to be a good match, you know? I mean, we all knew it was gonna be a good match, but still just putting it out there. Next team I'm looking at, I mean, this to me is a give me, but it's the Steelers four in one for all intents and purposes. The A FC North in general looks to be a worthless piece of piece of junk. So I mean, I. I forgot the Steelers are winning this division a hundred percent above 500. There's no way Aaron Rogers is playing well. The team is playing well. I mean for sure. They're contenders. I would say they're contenders to at least make the A FC championship game.

Pershin: 39:36

Oh, wow. Nice. That's a, I don't know if I feel that strongly about'em, but I do think that they're legit. I think that they're clearly a playoff team. I, I'm just a Tomlin believer and I think that things are going, going, damn right. You are as well. I think that things are going as well as you could expect with the Rogers Tomlin. Arthur Smith situation. You got three, you I got my, my roommate's cat here is a fan of the podcast, right? You? That's right. You wanna say, Hey buddy,

Jason: 40:11

what's happening? Say,

Pershin: 40:12

Hey buddy, this is all Ed.

Jason: 40:16

Oh, what a, what a cutie man.

Pershin: 40:20

Ahed loves me and usually he just likes to lay around somewhere near me. But I, I guess he's getting jealous of me talking to somebody else.

Jason: 40:28

Oh man, super jelly. He doesn't wanna let go of my shirt. He's like, nah, motherfucker. You done pick me up. Yeah, I'm in, I'm in for the long time. He's,

Pershin: 40:37

he's like, put, put me on the mic. All right. You're gonna be still, listen, you can, you can hang out in my lap if you want.

Jason: 40:43

That would be awesome if you just held him the whole time. Love it. Well,

Pershin: 40:48

we'll see. We'll see if he'll, if he'll behave. But yeah, so I just think that things have actually gone better than I would've expected with those three big personalities in the room together, they're making that offense work. I mean, Arthur Smith is still doing his crazy four man tight end rotation and, and getting lots of different guys in the, you know, the, the one constant is basically R Rogers and DK Metcalf.

Jason: 41:15

It certainly isn't fire Moth. He doesn't, it is like Rogers hates tight ends all of a sudden.

Pershin: 41:22

Bro, they're, they're using Remu, John U. Smith, Darnell Washington, the Nicole Pruitt. Like, what are we doing? There's, they seriously got a four man tight end rotation. It's crazy. But at any rate, they're making it work on offense. And of course, Tom's gonna have the defense pretty competitive. And so I think that they're, they're a tough out, they're a tough out, they're a locked to win the division. I actually placed money on them to win the division last week. Wow. I haven't checked, I haven't checked since the Ravens lost, but the Ravens were actually still favored by Vegas to win the division. And I just feel like, man,

Jason: 42:06

they've got, there's no way at this point,

Pershin: 42:08

they're like three or four games back on the Steelers. I just don't. I just, I just don't think it's very likely the Steelers in the NFL the Steelers

Jason: 42:16

are the only team with a winning record. They're four and one, the Bengals are two and four Ravens in Cleveland are one in five. There's absolutely, yeah. No way. I mean,

Pershin: 42:30

it, it probably did switch being that the Ravens now lost again. He got in good and the Steelers won, but Saturday it, they, they literally were given plus money to bet on the Steelers who have the, this huge head start. So I'm just like, yeah. I mean, yeah, that makes sense. I understand Lamar Jackson's getting back at some point, but I mean, they're, they got a big hole to dig out of. That is not easy in the NFL bro.

Jason: 42:58

Bro. We're a court, were like a third of the way through the season. Nah, it ain't happening. Like the Steelers would have to. Have injuries catastrophic, like Rogers would have to go down like, right. I just don't see that happening with Rogers on the team. I mean, the Jets were bad, but this is the Steelers. The Steelers are always an a plus team, in my opinion. Tomlins there, they've never been under 500. This isn't the Jets like this is a a a a one squad. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. It's not the Titans. I mean the whole A the, yeah. Right. Yeah. The whole a OC North is otherwise outside the, which it's just so wild to me because before the season, you're looking at the Bengals, you're looking at the, at the Ravens, like those are the cream of the crop in the A FC North. And then the Steelers are clearly the third place team. And then boom season starts six weeks in and it's like the Steelers are the best team, and the other three teams are looking like they have zero chance. At winning this division. It just cracks me up, man. Yeah,

Pershin: 44:09

and I was just gonna add it, just, just quickly just say that the, the Ravens defense is just uncharacteristically bad this year. I mean, you gotta call it what it is at this point. Yeah. I mean, we're five, six games in now. It's like they're not doing well. The defense is not good and year after year, they're the one of the few organizations you can count on to keep a good defense. But they're failing this year and that it, between that and Lamar being out for a while, I mean, they're in bad shape right now.

Jason: 44:44

Yeah, man. Yeah, it, it, it'll be interesting to see how the A FC North shape is out, but I don't, I only see the Steelers making the playoffs there. And then we will go ahead and just move to the A FC South. And my next three teams that I was looking at were the Cols Jaguars and the Texans. And the reason why I have Texans added to it is because they have done so well, and I do like Dko Ryan, so it's interesting to see them at two and three, and I think there still is a chance for'em to make the playoffs. But what is interesting is Jacksonville, Jacksonville is just blowing my mind right now. And then the cults with Daniel McBrien Jones is kind of blowing my mind. Right. They're, they're five in one. You know, I, I'm a call me a cult believer. I think. Daniel, I'm, I'm, I'm a Daniel Jones guy right now. It just seems like he needed to move away from Dbol and Joe Shin, which, I mean, who can blame him? And then, you know, Jacksonville, I'm still on the fence about just because, yeah, they've had a few good games, but nothing's been like below in my mind. They, as far as those games, so I'm not ready to say that they're in the mix of the playoffs. I think the Colts are definitely a playoff team. Jacksonville could be a wild card team and the Texans need to get it together to be a wild card team because they certainly can be. But you know, we offense needs to get going at some point. What are your thoughts on, on those three squads?

Pershin: 46:31

Yeah, I, I think all three of these squads got an argument here. I think the colds have the best argument there because they're already showing it, but I do like how things kind of are forecasting for the, the both the Jags and the Texans. You look at the young pieces that the Texans have that, you know, they got both of those young wide receivers. They got, christian Kirk, who's now getting healthier. And then with the Jags, they have a similar issue where it's like, okay, now it looks like Trevor Lawrence is finally starting to get on the same page with Brian Thomas Jr. And eventually, Travis Hunter's going to be a two-way guy who's going to be much better on, in both regards, he's gonna have a big impact. So I do like the, the kind of long-term outlook as the season goes on for those teams a bit more than I, I like the chances of the cols improving. I think we've probably already seen the best from the Cols. That being said, I still think that the cols are, is the team out of these three, that's the contender. I think outside of some major injuries, they're going to be a competitive team. I mean, everyone is basically overplaying the offensive line is basically elite. They're just doing such a good job. Jonathan Taylor is. You know, still in his prime. He hasn't lost a step or anything. Daniel McBrien Jones the third is another one of these guys that seems to be developing in those skills he was lacking before. I mean, his biggest issue has always been that if a guy's not obviously wide open, he doesn't throw with anticipation, he holds onto the ball, he takes bad sacks and frankly, really bad hits. And you see this year that he, he actually literally is throwing with anticipation, throwing with anticipation. He sees what You'll get it, Josh. He sees that Josh Downs is about to come open. He throws the ball before he is open, and I love it. It to see you know, a sort of improvement like that, it makes a huge deal for these guys, and I think that he's going to continue to play well for the remainder of this year. Outside of injuries. They are legit. They're going to be a Super Bowl contending team. Wow. Super Bowl contending. Yeah, they're in the mix. I think that they're a contender. I, I, I don't think that I would, I would favor them over the Chiefs or the bills, but they're in the conversation

Jason: 49:10

for me. They're in the conversation to get to the Super Bowl,

Pershin: 49:13

right? Yeah. Okay, gotcha. That's a contender. Not necessarily. Yes.

Jason: 49:17

I feel you.

Pershin: 49:17

The most likely, but they're in that conversation, certainly ahead of the Jags and the Texans.

Jason: 49:24

Yeah, I get down with that. Yeah, for sure. For sure. If we're just speaking on that. Division in general for sure. Which is wild to think about.

Pershin: 49:35

Yeah, I know, right?

Jason: 49:37

Just mind blowing. And then the next two teams, your division A, F, c, west Chargers, Brocas, both at four and two. Now, I don't think the Broncos are necessarily a Super Bowl contender. I think they are a playoff contender. It's just like, to me the Broncos just kind of like, it's like they're good, but are they good? I'm not I'm like it, I don't know if they're good or not. I, I just like, they never really have defining games. And then you have a game against the Jets. Oh, and six, oh and five at the time Justin Fields gets nine sacks. Which ties his completion for nine during that game, and yet you barely beat them. You needed a field goal in the fourth quarter to win this game. And that's what blows my mind about the Broncos. So I'm not sold on them at all. But the Chargers, when we talk about the Chargers, yes, they barely beat the Dolphins, but what I like about the Chargers is that O Omarion Hampton went down and they had running backs that were readily available, ready to rock and roll. Justin Herbert put the team on his back against the dolphins and you know, rallied to win that game in the fourth quarter. I think to me that was his first defining moment as a quarterback, as like the i, it's time for me to shine and for me to put this team on my back. And so. I like the direction they're heading in with Harbaugh, with the running backs, and it's making Justin Herbert more confident. And so to me, the Chargers are the cream of the crop in this division, even though, I mean, I, I know the chiefs are there, you know, and that's fine, whatever. But the chiefs are struggling right now and, and we're talking about the, now the Chargers, are it Broncos? I, I have no issue with dec seating in this division. Chargers, Broncos Chiefs, obviously Raiders are awful.

Pershin: 52:00

Yeah. I, I mostly agree with you. Unfortunately. I, I, I've been very, I don't know what the right word is. I, I've been very concerned about some of the performances I've seen from the Broncos, particularly with Bo Nicks. Yeah. Rightfully so. We really needed him to kind of take a another step. You know, he developed, well at the end of, of last season, he made strides, you know, but it's been really hit or miss. There's been some, some really great stretches, I guess you would say. Like there's been like a half of a game here, a, a couple series in a row there where it seems like he's making the right decisions, he's getting the ball out accurately on time to the right guy. And, and, but there's been way too much of this sort of like, I guess you could say force the ball mentality where he just, he's throwing the ball so fast, but it's also to a receiver that is not open and it's like it, I believe watching him sometimes that he decides where the ball's going before the ball's even snapped. And that's crazy. You can't get away with that in the NFL, I mean. I can't get away with that in fucking Madden, you know, like,

Jason: 53:20

no, you can't do that, dude.

Pershin: 53:22

It, it really seems like he's doing that sometimes. And I, I just don't, I just don't get it. You know, it just need him to play more locked in discipline ball, you know? And, and also just with the accuracy sometimes it's just really, he, he will just really sail some of these balls and you're like, what the fuck did I just see? You know? And sometimes he throws an entire game where it's like, oh wow. A lot of accurate passes. Love it, love it. But it's almost like Cam Newton the way where he would have some of these games where everything's on a do, but then he'd have these games where everything's 30 yards to the fucking right. Or two yards over their head. And so it, it's been frustrating. I think at the end of the day, I gotta agree with you. They don't deserve to be in the first in this division, and they're like more like a French playoff team. I actually do love what I've seen, I've seen out of, I actually do love what I've seen out of Peyton. A lot of what he schemed up, it is been smart and you know, you could, you could tell that he's still got the fastball as far as catching defenses off guard with stuff. I love it. But we need, we really need Nicks to lock it in. The offensive line is still playing well enough, and I think that Dobbins is, has played better than I thought he would. And so, oh my gosh, I am

Jason: 54:46

loving JK Dobbins in Denver.

Pershin: 54:48

We, we really just need Nicks to lock it in and be more consistent. If he could just be more consistent, we've got a chance. But unfortunately, I have to agree with you. The, the one thing that, that I disagree with is I don't think that the. The Chiefs are like a distant third. I think the Chiefs are right in the mix. I, I think Mahomes is, has really been on his shit. This year. The offensive line has been just really horrible and I don't know that that's gonna improve any, but we do know that Rashi Rice coming back is going to help a lot. And so I think that it's going to keep this offense on schedule a lot more. And I, I do think that Mahomes is, is playing back at that sort of MVP level lights out, pulling shit out of his ass every other play. So I think that they are definitely in the mix to get it together, both with, I mean, to be fair and the defense,

Jason: 55:49

to be fair, I don't think they're a distant third place. I'm just saying for the time being. I think where each team is located is a perfect synopsis of their season. Thus far, chargers have had the best season. Denver's had a good season, not great, but the Chiefs have had a suspect season, and the Raiders have had the Raiders season. Now, I do agree with you that the Chiefs played a great game this past week, and certainly like with Rashid Rice coming back, they're going to get better. There's no doubt about that. I mean, they dominated the lines this past week, which was surprising because, you know, the Lions and all of their talk and all of their great and glory, they sucked. They sucked like the Chiefs manhandled them this past weekend. So. You know, I, I think the Chiefs are hitting their stride for sure, and it's, but it's the same, it's the same year. We talk about the chiefs every, every week, every year we talk about how, oh, this chief's team looks like they're struggling and this and that, and Travis Kelsey's lost a step, and which Travis Kelsey still has lost his step and the chiefs are struggling, but it's the chiefs man. It's kind of like LeBron. It's like, you know, you're not gonna get anything until playoffs time. Like just get to the playoffs and it doesn't matter.

Pershin: 57:24

I will say this though, for Kelsey, I do think that while he's clearly not in his prime, I do think he looks better this season than he did last season. He dropped some weight, don't you

Jason: 57:34

say things like that.

Pershin: 57:36

He clearly went on a diet in the off season and I, I think it helped. Taylor Swift got him

Jason: 57:40

working out. Taylor Swift got him on the ERAS tour workout. Session, you know, she's running, he's like, she's like, you need to run a treadmill with me while I, while singing a song. So to prepare for, for your, your debut.

Pershin: 57:58

Yeah. I don't know. So something has reignited that motivation in him for sure. And yeah, he's

Jason: 58:04

been playing pretty good.

Pershin: 58:05

He's been decent. Yeah. He, he, he looks quicker out there and, and you know, just getting Rashid Rice back I think is gonna be a bigger deal than what a lot of people are realizing.

Jason: 58:15

Well, yeah. And then what we didn't mention on the injury train was Xavier worthy battling injury. He went out mid game as well, or didn't even start one of the two. I don't know. I get confused as to which fantasy team is right now. He's definitely

Pershin: 58:28

trying to play through, he's trying to play through a torn labrum, which feels impossible, but somehow he's been out there. So kudos to him for toughen it out, but I, I don't think he's definitely anywhere close to a hundred

Jason: 58:40

percent. Doesn't help my fantasy team. Yeah. And then the next set of squad, I just went ahead and listed the whole NFC North. Are they contenders or not contenders? Because, you know, we've got the packers leading the division at three, one and one. The lions are four and two, the Vikings are three and two, the bears are three and two. Now, brass tacks tells me, ah, the Vikings are not gonna be contenders. I'm saying they're not contenders. I understand that they're, this is the only division where the entire four teams are above 500 for what it's worth. But I don't have any the bears are gonna falter. They're the bears. They suck. Okay. The Vikings, the Vikings could potentially continue to play well and, and, and get up there, but. There'll be a wild car team at best. Quick question about

Pershin: 59:42

the Vikings. Do you think that they'll be better off continuing to play with WI even when McCarthy's healthy? Or do you think that they're, they would have a better shot if they had

Jason: 59:52

play with McCarthy Wince the rest of the way? McCarthy. That's what I think.

Pershin: 59:57

That's what I think. I think McCarthy looked mostly bad, whereas we looked basically fine.

Jason: 1:00:04

Yeah, yeah. Completely agree. Now, what I will say about the top two teams, the Packers and the lines, the packers have a lot to clean up, man. They do not look clean. They do not look good. They should have four wins the season. The defense, the past couple

Pershin: 1:00:20

weeks didn't seem, did, does not look like the same defense that started the first couple weeks, you know what I

Jason: 1:00:26

mean? Now, there has been rumors that Micah Parsons has been held a lot and there's been no calls towards that. I, yeah, hesitate to say something like that because Miles Garrett from the Browns was held a lot and no calls and I don't, I don't, there's a friend of the pod still making a lot of place. Used to be like that, used to be like that. So I don't want to be the same guy. But Micro Parsons been held a lot and there's been no calls, but nonetheless, defense needs to do better. It's not all on Micro Parsons, like you can't let, like, it just seems like teams march down the field whenever they need to. And we led a lot up in the fourth quarter and thank God we did not get beat by Joe Flaco for a record breaking second time this season on a different team. That's all I'm gonna say about this weekend. But nonetheless, what do you think about this division? Mainly the top two teams, packers, lines, and maybe Vikings.

Pershin: 1:01:31

Yeah, I think the Packers and the Lion are a little more solidified. They, I, it's not that I don't like the Vikings or the Bears, but I feel like the, the Vikings and the Bears are much more of a wild card. Like, I could see things going well for both of those teams. No doubt. You could paint that picture. You could kind of follow that narrative pretty easily. But also, like, I could see things going south too. I didn't like is Caleb Williams really gonna be consistent enough? I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. You know? Is McCarthy gonna get the job back? Is he any good? I I don't think we've seen much at him. He's not good. We've seen like, what, one good quarter in that first game, and that's about it, right? So hold real quick.

Jason: 1:02:20

Can I just say, can I just say, we saw how good he was in college and they did not throw the ball at all in Michigan. So any idea that he would be good in the NFL is just stupid. Yeah. He's not good.

Pershin: 1:02:35

I mean, remember when, when he was coming out, I, I mean, a lot of people kind of forgot because he basically was injured. Well, he was injured for that entire rookie season. Yeah. But, but, but. Before he got drafted, people were expecting him to be like a third or fourth round draft pick. And then at the very last minute, a bunch of teams were buzzing about him and scouts were saying, well, just because we got a small sample size doesn't mean that he doesn't have that upside or whatever. And teams are trying to go for that upside, which like I said, I don't think is crazy. But the thing is that he, he literally didn't throw the ball that much, especially his final season. So it was like it, it is basically hard to even put a draft grade on him. For most scouts, they're like, is the hardest guy to know what's gonna happen project in the NFL. And so I don't think it's surprising at all. What we've seen from him. I think it will be interesting to see if they give him the job back. I kind of think they shouldn't, but at any rate, whether it's went or it's McCarthy, you could easily see things going sideways at the QB position. And a hundred percent of course, that's gonna get, that's gonna get Justin Jefferson all pissy on the sideline and being a diva. Good. Get him pissy.

Jason: 1:03:51

I hope he gets pissy. You could see

Pershin: 1:03:52

the, you could see the vibes just going really sideways for them. Same thing with the Bears. I DJ Moore's got some kind of weird friction with the head coach. I mean. He's still out there for the majority of plays, but he wants to get burden more involved. And of course he took Loveland with his like eighth overall pick or whatever. It was very early. And so it's like you know, I just don't know what's gonna happen with those teams. I do think they've been playing pretty decently thus far, but really the Packers and the lines are the ones I expect to be in the mix when the playoff comes. And we're talking about who can actually make a run. I think those guys are both the ones that, that are gonna be in the mix.

Jason: 1:04:37

Couldn't agree more with you, sir. All right. And then got the Bucks, Falcons and the Panthers, which is wild to talk about the Panthers'cause they're three and three. Do they logistically have a shot? Probably not. Like I don't see them being great, but they have. Kind of got a little mojo going. So I, I, I think they're a fringe team. They could be a wild card spot. I know Smith friend of the pod will disagree and he hates everything football right now because the Panthers suck and, and, you know, all things football are terrible, but there could be some upside to the Panthers. We will see. I'm not holding hope on it though. Bryce Chung, to me is not the future for the Panthers and needing to move on from him now. With the Falcons, Pennix, Pennix is the future. It's, it's, it's kind of crazy how Kirk Cousins is on that team and is not playing at all. So that, that's kinda wild to me. But the Buccaneers I think are gonna win this division. I think they're the playoff team that comes out of the divi, out of the division. Any other team is Wild Card at best. Baker Mayfield is playing his best year of football and should absolutely be in the MVP mix. Boom. I mean, this is, this is a solid team. What, what are your thoughts? That's exactly what I was gonna say.

Pershin: 1:06:09

Yeah, I think you hit it. I think that Baker Mayfield's playing out of his mind and you see what they've been able to, to get done with so many injuries. And the crazy thing about the, the Buccaneers injuries is that the majority of these guys are returning for them doesn't matter. So yeah, that's what I mean. Is it, it hasn't even mattered. And when you think that the fact that the majority of these guys are returning for them, you realize like, man. If they're full strength, they're gonna be even better what they've been, which is a really good team. So, I mean, yeah. I, I like, I like the, the coaching and perhaps more importantly baker's on some shit this season. And so,

Jason: 1:06:48

baker Baker, touchdown maker,

Pershin: 1:06:51

I mean the, the, the sort of plays that, that he's been making the past couple weeks to fucking Cameron Johnson, 142 pound Tez Johnson. Very hilariously. Did you see last week when, when Tez Johnson thought that they were doing MVP chance for him when they were Oh, clearly doing them for Baker. It was for

Jason: 1:07:13

Baker, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was so funny. He was

Pershin: 1:07:16

like, he was like, wait, is that for me? No, bro. You made one play in the NFL,

Jason: 1:07:19

bro. Yeah. Chill out, chill out, chill out.

Pershin: 1:07:22

Not yet, not yet.

Jason: 1:07:25

You know, it's, it is gotta be sad for Browns fans to see that they. Signed. Who did they just sign? God, I can't even remember his name for whatever reason. But anyway, they, they signed a, another quarterback and then decided to make rador after what I thought was peer pressure, the QB two.'cause Dylan Gabriel's QB one, now Shado would be QB two. And it's just like you guys have had like eight quarterbacks in the last three seasons. Like, and you did all of this after getting rid of Baker Mayfield, who took you to the playoffs, beat the Steelers in the playoffs, and you got rid of him. And now he's taking Tampa Bay. I mean, listen here, I'm I. I was not a Baker fan. Not a Baker fan, but I'll give the man credit. He's, he is doing Wonders in, in Tampa Bay, and I'm sure the Cleveland Faithful would love to have him back. Yeah.

Pershin: 1:08:35

I mean, it's, it's pretty crazy. I know we've already touched on the whole QB development thing, late breakouts or whatever, but it, I can't help but notice that like the top two quarterbacks in PFF grading this season, baker Mayfield and then Sam Darn. It's like, wow, what a season we're in. What a season we're in right now. You know? It's,

Jason: 1:08:58

it's wild. It's like, yeah, speaking of Sam darn, next couple of teams I got on my list happens to be the whole NFC West. Even though the Cardinals, I, they're two and four, they're not, they're not above 500. I just feel like. Every week they get beat at the last minute of the game. They get beat, they get beat, and at some point they're going to go on a run of four or five games in a row and get themselves in a wild card mix. So, so I'm still holding out faith on the Cardinals, you know, I mean, I know Black Ops six or seven just came out and in Cler Murray's, but Battlefield Six came out and that's way better. So maybe Cler Murray will switch up genres and will just be better. But, but they've been playing lights out and I don't think they're, they're the best two and four, probably the only two and four. No, they're not the only two and four team, but they're the best two and four team out there, which is stupid say, but,'cause the other two, two and four teams are like the Giants, the Raiders, the Bengals. You know, so, but, but they really are, and I think they're, they just get like two, three more wins and they're right back in the mix. Yeah. So it certainly can happen. The 49 ERs, I don't understand how they're four and two, they have so many injuries. It is mind blowing how they continue to win it. It, and as you said, for Sam Donald, IWI gave him Zero Faith in Seattle and I thought he should have stayed in Minnesota. And here he has got Seattle four and two, and then the Rams, they're an enigma to me because they're foreign too as well. And yet it's like, at what point is Stafford's age and like the fact that they don't have Cooper Cup and now they don't have Puka Kuah, you know what's gonna happen with them? And I mean. Selfish me is a little bit excited that the fact that pka Nuku is going out.'cause I have Devonte Adams on one of my fantasy teams. Oh yeah. He's

Pershin: 1:11:17

getting a

Jason: 1:11:17

boost. Yeah. What's your thoughts

Pershin: 1:11:19

on the NFC West? So, in regards to the NFC West, I think that the, the commanders are a strong team and I think that they're not the commanders. They're definitely in the playoff hunt. The, oh wait, I'm thinking of the wrong,

Jason: 1:11:43

yeah, you said the command that is not

Pershin: 1:11:44

the west.

Jason: 1:11:45

It's all good.

Pershin: 1:11:46

Whoops. I'm thinking of the NFC East right now. Plus I was about to start talking about the cowboys and giants and shit. Oh, my, no, no, no. Okay. Back, back, back to the west. No, I think that, sam Donald and Clint Kubiak have got the, the Seahawks like in a pretty spicy position here. JSN has had his second breakout. The third year breakout is even more of a breakout than the second year breakout, which you'd love to see. And I think it's gonna come down mostly to how well that offensive line will hold up the already catching a couple of injuries. But of course, they've got those two good running backs. If, if they could get some holes open up for those guys, they could get production. I like where the passing game's at and they still got a lot of young pieces on the defense. I feel personally the defense has been a little bit. Of a disappointment though thus far, but they haven't been horrible, so maybe they could get things together. They've got some really good young pieces on that defense. So if we get those guys you know, up to their full capability, I definitely think that this team could be pretty spicy. I see them more as like a playoff fringe team though. Okay.

Jason: 1:13:03

Okay.

Pershin: 1:13:04

And then I know you mentioned the Cardinals. I do agree with you that they're better than their record. They keep finding ways to lose, I guess Charlie Kirk or Charlie Kirk. Maybe you could just say that. Maybe you could say that other teams are just wait, Charlie Kirk?

Jason: 1:13:21

Yeah, dude. They're ING four since holding the memorial for Charlie Kirk.

Pershin: 1:13:27

Oh, wow. I didn't realize. Okay, well. Some people just don't need to get memorialized apparently. So imagine there are some stadium that just don't

Jason: 1:13:36

need to hold, said memorialized.

Pershin: 1:13:41

Yeah. I, I do think that they got particularly cheated out of this last game. They literally won the game on the final play. As the game was ending. Trey McBride is coming open at the back of the end zone. The ball is going to him and he gets held. So he doesn't get to the ball. They don't win. That's the end of the game. But the hold was very egregious and very not called. So it was, it was very frustrating to see the game end like that. But that being said, I still don't think, even though I think they're better than the two and four record, I still don't think that they're, they're a contender or anything. I think that they're. In the same league as the same, or the Seahawks kind of a, a playoff bubble team. Okay. I think that they're, they can compete, but yeah. I mean, I, I think they contend with, or like more, with just being

Jason: 1:14:31

in the playoffs. I don't know that they're a Super Bowl contender, but Definitely a wild card contender.

Pershin: 1:14:39

Exactly. Exactly. I, I think that it wouldn't shock me if they made it to the playoffs, put it that way. Even being two games under 500 as we speak. But the, the team that I do expect to be in the mix is the 49 ERs. This is a, a really good coaching staff here, and even though they. They have lost Fred Warner for the remainder of the season. They are going to eventually get back at you. They're gonna eventually get back Pearsall. They're gonna get Juwan Jennings Kittle I think might be ready this week, if not next week. Brock Purdy's gonna be ready soon. Most of the guys that they've missed are coming back and frankly. They've been competitive. I even, even without those guys hate, I think that they're the real deal. I know it. I know you don't like, like the 49 ERs. I don't blame you. I don't blame you. But I think it is true that they will be in the mix and, and you know, there's just nothing we can do about that. They would be in the mix. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Eagles will be in the mix, but I do think that your packers will also be in the mix. So I mean, oh,

Jason: 1:15:48

thanks, gee. Thanks. There's that. I am a Packers believer this year. Oh, well I appreciate that probably. And then the last, last couple teams, while we round out the episode here, I got the Eagles and the commanders from the NFC East. Look, I'll just go ahead and say this right now. The tush push is the dumbest play. I hate it. I agree with everybody else to stop football. You push pushed four times. You just pushed four times to get into the end zone or first down or whatever.

Pershin: 1:16:30

They, they are so shameless. They literally have no, and they, every time they're literally,

Jason: 1:16:37

it, it, it infuriates me like no other to watch a false start happen every time they run that play. The refs know about it, and yet they do not call it. It just aggravates me so much. I don't understand. Understand

Pershin: 1:16:53

how the league could come out with an official statement, recognizing the issue that they keep false starting yet, not a, that still can't not, I don't understand a single time that

Jason: 1:17:05

they've run that play. Has anyone called a false start? And yet we see videos after the game where the guy clearly false starts.

Pershin: 1:17:14

Like, it's so obvious, and it's not every now and then, it's almost every single, it's almost a 100% false start rate on this play. I mean, it's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. And I think that like at some point, like you can't count on Eagles fans, right? They're very biased. But at some point, NFL fans in general should just start shaming the Eagles for constantly using this play. You think the Eagles will, it's one thing if you're like, okay.

Jason: 1:17:44

It's the city of brotherly love. Probably not probably, but let's, let's be real. They're shameless.

Pershin: 1:17:52

We need to edit that out. That doesn't sound right. Look, look, I, I, I think you make a fair point. They probably don't even give a shit if we shame them, but I care and I just, I, I wanna see more people than just myself shaming them.'cause it, it's, it's like. It is one thing if it's like, okay, this playoff game is on the line, that's the end of the game and we got this cheap ass play where we're going to fucking kind of false start on purpose or whatever the fuck they're doing, right? It's one thing if you use it in a pinch like that one time. That's already kind of like

Jason: 1:18:35

people who use Michael ful on online Madden, but the

Pershin: 1:18:41

Yeah. And you know, good, well, you, you don't even throw the ball unless every, unless they do a fucking goal line defense. Otherwise you ain't throwing the fucking ball you. It's, it's so cheap, it's so shameful. Like I understand what, what your point is. They probably don't give a shit as long as they keep winning games and the Eagles fans, we can't count on them to turn on their team or anything like that. But the rest of us, the rest of us should all be on board. Man, that I think we all are on board. It's not that it should be the play itself, it. It's not that the play itself needs to be banned, it's that it needs to get officiated. Right. And these motherfuckers are so fucking cringe for using it four times in a row in a regular season game. Make it out of here, man. Especially when you have just football. Yeah. Well, you got a stacked fucking team because you keep kicking the can down on on your fucking salary cap. I can't wait until they're pissed. They're in the saint status, bro. Pissed. He

Jason: 1:19:44

goes. Pissed me off.

Pershin: 1:19:45

I, I cannot wait till all the checks, you know, start bouncing and they gotta actually deal with all of the fucking VO years and all of these dudes contracts, man. Yeah, for sure. It's just, they are so fucking cringe, man. They

Jason: 1:20:00

are so, all right.

Pershin: 1:20:03

They ran a cheap play where everyone, including themselves, know that they're going to cheat four times in a row just because. They could get away with it. Like, you're so fucking cringe, bro. Yeah.

Jason: 1:20:15

Stand that. Can't

Pershin: 1:20:16

stand that. So like,

Jason: 1:20:18

well, and that's, that's all we got on this past week's. Let's look forward to next week's games. The, the games that I got on my radar are the Packers versus the Cardinals. Just because I'm a Packers fan and honestly, the Cardinals are due for a win. They're due for a win out of all these close games. So I'm hoping that we can justify our defense and Michael Parsons gets up in that ass. And then looking at the Rams versus the Jaguars, both four and two. This is a big time game. Raiders versus Chiefs, just because I wanna see how the Chiefs do with, with Rashid Rice coming back and that they finally had like a pretty, pretty solid game under their belt, in my opinion. So to see if they kinda go back to chiefs of before or move on, and then another game we're looking at is the Colts versus the Chargers. Colts 5 0 1 Chargers, four and two, just, just another big time matchup. And then the Buccaneers, let's go. The Buccaneers versus the Lions. You could be, that's a potential NFC championship game matchup right there. So just, just gonna be fun to, to, to watch that. Any games you're looking forward to that I did not mention. No good.

Pershin: 1:21:39

No, I'm, I'm mostly interested in that Colts Chargers game because I need the Chargers to lose some games right outside of the Broncos. And I think the Colts, yeah. I need the Broncos to win. I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be interested in that game. Well, they're playing, that's about, they're playing scatter the

Jason: 1:21:56

human. Dummy, the human test dummy.

Pershin: 1:21:59

Yeah, I know, I, I don't believe in this Jackson Dart thing right now. Dude,

Jason: 1:22:05

you need to believe Jackson Dart is fun to watch

Pershin: 1:22:07

him play.

Jason: 1:22:10

You need to.

Pershin: 1:22:11

He's not, he's not actually like doing normal pathways, which is

Jason: 1:22:15

fine. He doesn't need to do normal pass plays right now. All of the

Pershin: 1:22:18

shit, it all feels like smoking mirrors and gimmicks and shit. I don't, I don't know, man. I, I think, I think that we're gonna be able to shut that off fire day ball now. Can our offense do anything? Who knows? We'll see. But

Jason: 1:22:33

it, it should be a fun weekend nonetheless. The last thing that I have to say to leave you guys on is. I hate Monday Night Doubleheaders. I hate it. Like why? Why do we need two games playing at once on Monday night? Like Stop, Monday night was supposed to be sacred for one game and one game only. You started doing the two games thing and that was fine, and now it's every week there's a two game Monday night game and you're taking away the, the. And, and we get manning cast and, which is the only way I watch more than that football. So

Pershin: 1:23:16

we got the buys going on and they're still doing it. Yeah. It's, it's

Jason: 1:23:20

stupid. Like, why, why do we need two games? We don't need Dan or Ky ever calling a game, ever. He never needs to call a game, like ever in his career, ever again. And thus we don't need it. With that being said, we got two teams on by Bill's, Ravens. Bill's probably need it. Ravens probably need it, so you know, we'll see what happens there. With that being said, as always, we will post our bets that we love this week throughout the weekend, Thursday night, Saturday, Sunday games. And you can always check out our favorite spots@signupexpert.com slash pine pony and just, you know, throw some, throw some things out there and maybe, maybe the luck will find you as, as. That's the way I like to look at my bets anyway. But nonetheless, adios, were out.

1:24:27

S.