Two For The Win - S2.50 - Happy Veterans Day! No More TNF? & Rookies, Rise!

Awards, indictments, heartbreak, and a midseason sprint—this one moves fast. We kick off with baseball’s brightest: AL and NL Rookies of the Year who proved their worth over a full campaign, then tip our caps to managers who turned chaos into playoff berths. That celebratory tone collides with heavier news: a presidential pardon for Daryl Strawberry and the quiet absence of a World Series reliever mourning the loss of his infant daughter, honored by teammates and opponents with a simple “51” on their caps. Humanity has a way of cutting through the noise.

The mood shifts again when the Guardians’ bullpen makes headlines for all the wrong reasons. Live micro-bets, suspicious pitch data, and Brooklyn indictments bring the integrity of baseball under a harsh light. We unpack how betting markets, league policy, and on-field incentives intersect—and why public trust is the most valuable currency in any sport. From there, it’s a hoops gear-change: the NBA’s in-season tournament delivers real stakes and early clues. We talk group standings, who’s for real, Dallas drama, a young phenom finding his footing, and why LeBron’s G League stint might be the smartest development play of the year.

College football brings the chaos we crave: toe-tap winners, ranked teams wobbling, and a rankings reshuffle that tightens the playoff race. Then the NFL widens the lens: we honor a former commissioner, confront a heartbreaking mental health tragedy, and wade into legal sagas and front-office chess—a “poison pill” clause that changes trade math, and a lively debate over Thursday Night Football’s future. The game recaps are spicy—Europe fireworks, a blizzard grind, sideline tempers, rising contenders—before we look ahead with crisp picks and one very loud upset alert.

If you love sports for the stories behind the score, this one’s for you: integrity under pressure, leadership when it counts, and teams adapting in real time. Hit play, send this to a friend who argues back, and leave a review with your boldest take from the week. Who’s a contender, and who’s just loud? We’re listening.

Transcript

Opening, Sponsors, Show Map

SPEAKER_01 0:07

November 12th, 2025. Welcome back, everybody, for another episode of Sports Banter with us, and happy related Veterans Day to all you veterans out there, including our very own Mike. Uh, thank you for your service. We very much love you and appreciate you all. I'm Brian with an I. And I'm Mike. And we are two for the win.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Mike, what's cracking tonight, bro? Well, baseball's handing out some awards here lately. Uh, we got the NBA doing its Emirates Cup thing and talking about some interesting proposals for the All-Star Break, as well as college football and NFL, as we always like to do. We're gonna discuss some of that as well.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

In Zifoot. Well, before we get started here, though, let me thank all our sponsors and partners here. Body by D Gym, located in Yorktown and Gloucester. Deshaun's a very good uh community role model, business owner, building a very special business up there. He's a bodybuilding champion and training future bodybuilding champions, as well as many other things happening out of those gyms up there. Uh bravo, my friend. Uh our good friends Christian and Caden over at Solace Outfitters, two young athletes, basketball players, in fact, who also are building a brand of their own. Those guys are up and coming, doing a very good job, two great kids. And the Giving Tree chiropractic down here in Virginia Beach. Uh Justin's very good at what he does, very knowledgeable. Uh, and his the way he has his service set up makes uh chiropractic services uh accessible to pretty much everybody. So uh bravo guys, thank you for being our sponsors and partners, and we look forward to doing business with you more in the future. Mike, are you ready to start it, bro? Let's talk some sports, man.

MLB Rookies Of The Year

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Yeah, well, let's kick it off with some baseball because uh they've given out a couple awards here. Uh first we want to notably bring out the uh discussion of rookie of the year for both the AL and NL. On the AL side, they have announced that first baseman of the Athletics, Nick Kurtz. Now you might remember we had talked about Nick when he had won hell of a six for six game when he hit four home runs in the season. So he he got some attention from that, but it wasn't just that. He had a very good year overall and very deserving of that rookie of the year for the AL side.

SPEAKER_01 2:28

That's right. Congratulations, Mr. Kurtz, on rookie of the year and a great future to your baseball career, hopefully.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

For the NL side, we got Drake Baldwin of the Atlanta Braves catcher, who kind of gave the Braves a reason to kind of let some players walk in free agency. Uh because the kid was turning heads in spring training, and it was just like, well, maybe we got our catcher for the future. You know, maybe we got this this kid that's gonna do something. And he did. He showed up, he was constantly in the lineup in one way or another, either being rotated in the DH spot or actually catching and alternating catching with their other catcher. But he he both these kids put up a great season and well deserving of the honors. So congratulations to to Kurt and Baldwin for their awards. And we always like giving nods to players who good job.

SPEAKER_01 3:26

Bravo, both you guys, Mr. Kurtz and Mr. Baldwin. And uh again, a few hopefully a continued successful baseball career for you

Managers Of The Year And Playoff Fallout

SPEAKER_01 3:34

gentlemen.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

And one award that recently was given out that kind of gets overlooked at times, and it really shouldn't, but it does, and that's manager of the year. And of course, for the AL and NL, they each gave give one out. And this year's award winner for the AL is the Guardians coach. The Guardians coach Vaud. He he won it, and he deserves it because he actually took this team from being like 15 and a half points back in the standings to come back and win the division. So you gotta really be managing, and especially with some of the side distractions, which we'll get into that happened this year, he really had that team playing some good ball. So, you know, to overcome, you know, that Stephen Vault is the uh manager there in Cleveland, for him to overcome some of the adversities that the team faced, yeah, and still come away with the playoff spot and a division, that's amazing. Very good job. And of course, the Brewers manager took the other spot. And that's not to take anything away from him.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

I mean, you're you're talking about a bad choice, honestly.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

I mean, they they took the division and just the AL standings in general standings in general and ran away with it. Like they hands down, they were the best team on the NL side. And that's Pat Murphy, by the way. So congratulations to both those guys. They did a heck of a job, and you know, the Brewers were so close, they made it to the NL championship game to try to get into the World Series, they just couldn't, they got swept by the Dodgers, but there's no shame in the season they had, they had a great season. So interesting

Daryl Strawberry Pardon And A Somber World Series Note

SPEAKER_00 5:27

storyline. Oh I caught this not too long ago. Now, those of you who may never have heard of this player, Daryl Strawberry, kind of means a little something to us here in Hampton Roads because he was a Norfolk Tide way back in the day, and uh was a very good player. It was like one of the players that you know he came up to the majors and made a name for himself almost instantly. And you know, he was an eight-time All-Star, including including seven times with the Mets. So had 335 home runs and uh had a thousand RBIs and 221 stolen bases and 17 seasons in the majors. So he was he was a darn good player. Nice. Even even had a little bit of a cameo in a Simpsons episode. So anyway, so Daryl Strawberry has had some issues with his taxes.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

You know, he's he's not It happens to the best of us, brother.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

It happens to the best of us, but he was getting in some trouble for tax evasion, so you know it's getting serious. Well but recently can't do that. Recently, our president pardoned him from his tax evasion charges. So Donald Trump said, No, you're good, Daryl. I got you. So Daryl Strawberry got a pardon from the president. Not sure why, but I mean, I guess he liked watching them play in New York.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

It seems like you can get pardons like you can get Halloween candy now. They just handed them out. Hey.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

Look, all I all I can say is, you know, if you can get something like that, and you have the ability to get something like that, can't really hate on it. I mean, especially especially for something like tax evasion. I mean, remember, not like that not like the government doesn't get enough out of us in taxes anyway.

SPEAKER_01 7:20

Rule number one, children tax exemption is not illegal, tax evasion is exactly.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

Um there is a difference. So I'm kind of kicking ourselves, man. Why is that? We missed something that happened that was crucially important during the World Series. Now, granted, they were trying to keep it on the hush-hush. They were trying not to make a thing of it. On the hush hush. But keep it on the DL, you know, the downlow. There was a serious situation that happened.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

I don't know what the new age term for down low is, but we're gonna say the DL.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

So this is uh this is kind of a serious subject, you know, because life tends to overcome sports because when things happen in life, sports are secondary. Although sometimes sports can be a relief and

Guardians Betting Indictments And Integrity Of Baseball

SPEAKER_00 8:12

a release. Unfortunately, during the World Series, we did not see the Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Alex Pereza or Faza. I'm horrible with names. Anyway, he wears number 51. And the reason we didn't see him, and the reason they didn't put it out, he and his wife unfortunately lost their infant baby girl. Oh no. So he obviously went home and was with his family and with his wife mourning the loss of their child. Now, in case people may have wondered during the World Series, and it might have been something subtle that most people didn't catch, because he wears number 51, the Blue Jays players wrote 51 on their hats because they knew what was going on, and so did the Dodgers. So at one point, I remember one of the Dodgers players saying he was so mad when he struck out in game six, but when he looked over and seen the reliever had number 51 on his hat, he was kind of like, Oh man, I'm not mad that I struck out now. I'm kind of honored that they even recognize our fellow player. Yeah, and you know recognize that he's hurting.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

Very, very tragic, sad story. I mean, you never like to, you know, death is never a pleasant um subject. And then when you talk about, you know, the death of a child, you know. It's even worse. It just cuts a little deeper, you know. So our thoughts and prayers definitely go out to them and their family.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

Yeah, and it's and it just shows that like when push comes to shove, they're all kind of a brotherhood, you know, like they come they come together and they understand and they're they're supportive.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

You know, so I I I'm really glad to see that classy move because I was wondering actually when I was watching the games why they had 51 on their hat, and now we know.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

Yeah, now I know, and I I think that was a classy move as well, you know. And there's nothing better, whether you're an athlete or whether it's from your fellow employees at work or whatever you do, is nothing more heartwarming than receiving the support during a hard time in your life from your peers. Aaron Powell Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

Exactly. And speaking of classy, we got to move on to something that's a little classless.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

A little less classy. So You know, we live classy over here, so this is a little unorthodox for us.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Aaron Powell I remember I mentioned that the Cleveland Guardians had to come overcome some situations, and this is one of them. So the Cleveland Guardians pitchers, Emmanuel Classe and Luis Ortiz, have both been indicted by the prosecutors in Brooklyn for their betting scheme.

NBA Front Office Shakeups And LeBron’s G League Tune-Up

SPEAKER_00 11:05

Now, for those of you that might not be aware, you can make bets on just about anything when it comes to baseball, and sometimes you can do stuff live.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

Now the end of the world if you want.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

But here's the thing like these bets, like you can bet, you know, one team win or the other team wins. You can bet on a batter in in-game, is he gonna get a hit? And you can even bet if a pitcher is gonna throw a striker ball. Now you would say, Well, how how could you really tell if they're faking this or not? Well, I tell you, Vegas and a lot of these betting companies, they don't like to be cheated and they don't like for people to scam them. And when you have pitchers that have pitches being thrown that are bouncing five feet in front of the plate or thrown so way outside that it's not even remotely close as the very first pitch in the inning, plus the fact that you have bets coming in that are abnormal on a single pitch in a single inning, it does raise a little bit of questions and red flags.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

It does. Now, is this part of the same betting scheme that's currently haunting the NBA and could soon be haunting the NFL as well?

SPEAKER_00 12:21

Is this all part of the this is a totally separate situation? This is the only the only connection is the fact that I said Brooklyn, but that's where you know they're that's where they're doing that's where they're doing this prosecution of these players. These players were both excused from the team during the season for being investigated for it, but now they're being indicted on it. So indicted means that you know there's some serious things coming. Now, Ortiz is already claimed uh not guilty in this particular situation, but it's not gonna help them because this situation, they have evidence, they have reasonable you know, reason to believe that these guys are rigging the system based on the data, based on how they pitched and the amount of money.

unknown 13:15

Right.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

I mean, so you might be talking that they gave up millions for thousands here, you know, so it's gonna be really bad. You know, this kind of reminds me of the

In-Season Tournament Results And Trends

SPEAKER_00 13:25

Pete Rose situation, except for the fact that Pete Rose was betting on baseball when he was in baseball, but he was betting for his team to win. So he had a lot of faith in his team, apparently. I mean, he'd made some other side bets on other teams, but it was so frowned upon back then. Now you have people betting on actual game scenarios, like from pitch to pitch. Yep. And you're having these situations. I mean, we've had it in the NBA where a guy, you know, his his minutes or his points scored.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

Yeah, I mean, you have do you have the same scenarios with NFL betting and uh college football betting? Like it's you know, X number of touchdowns, X number of yards, all these different scenarios now that you can gamble on.

SPEAKER_00 14:13

Well, in this case, this is a situation where you know, for baseball, they don't like this because now, well, I mean, most of the organizations and and leagues don't like it, but but for baseball in particular, because they've had a scandal before, now you're talking about a situation where if you're questioning pitch to pitch, player to player, you're starting the the very nature of the game is that it's two teams going at it and it's it's all in the up and up. The second you remove that, and it's not two teams going against each other on the up and up, yeah, you're losing the integrity of the sport. So if they get found, if they are found guilty, they are paying for this a lot more than just being out some money. They might be going going to jail. This is that serious, and not not like slap on the wrist jail, no jail jail.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

Jail jail. Nobody likes jail jail. I believe that's called prison. Um, and it's not fun. Not that I've been there, but I've heard stories.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

So all I can say is don't do dumb things. Like just always think about things a second time and be like, what are the what is the possible worst outcome if I do this? You know, just give yourself that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

Well, here we go. Let you know, unfortunate news for for you know speaking of bad decisions. Yes, yeah. Let's move on into the NBA while we're at it. Uh, you know, early in the season, the Mavs wasting no time moving on from GM Nico Harrison. Um making Mavs fans happy. I'm sure that does. Yeah. I mean, what where did I mean I'm sure we know where this came from, but just for devil's advocate purposes, Mike, uh how long has this kind of move been in the works and why do you think maybe now at this point in the season, why not wait till they're almost done with the season? Or why not do it before the season even started?

SPEAKER_00 16:15

Well, because when you wind up landing a player like Cooper Flagg and you have a ton of veteran talent that's on the team that you kind of go and look at the roster and say, huh, okay, I see they got something going here. If they can make this piece together, this might be a good team. But you still can't get that taste out of your mouth that you traded away Luca Doncia. Don't the most like that's their favorite player as a Mavs fan. That's their favorite player. That's the player that you build around, and you traded him away because apparently he doesn't train hard enough.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

Yeah, and I mean I I agree. I think that's probably the biggest bad taste in everybody's mouth, probably what really was the cherry on top here. But I think um, you know, Cooper Flag has had uh an up and down start to his NBA career as well, and I think they expected him to come in and just play like a Pro Bowl, you know, like an all-star, but he hasn't quite done that yet.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

He's 18, man. Yeah, he's 18, he's still trying to figure it out, man. He's trying to he's trying to fill find his role within this team, and it's gonna take some time, but he you also don't have a full complement of players. And the other thing, Nico, he's being put on the guillotine for this, but the thing is, you don't make moves like this without ownership having the backing and the ownership wanting it to happen. Yeah, so part of me that's true too. Part of me thinks that you know he's the sacrificial lamb in this situation where it's like, oh, okay, yeah, that was all Nico. Nico did it. Well he had nothing to do with it.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

I I could see it, like, especially if it was Nico's, you know, idea, hey boss, I want to I want to trade him out, bring this guy in in the draft, we'll get set up for the next few years. This is what I want to do. And boss man, okay, sounds like you got a plan. Let's execute it.

SPEAKER_00 18:17

Well, let's let's be fair to that kind of talk, though. They didn't know they were gonna wind up with like the first pick in the draft. You know, that was just sheer luck.

SPEAKER_01 18:25

They didn't know it, but I have a feeling they would have gone after it. I mean, they had the firepower to from the trade.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

I'm just a Luca trade. I don't I don't I don't know if they had the firepower to do it, but they look the bottom line is it would everybody when that trade happened, they went, What? You did what? Why? Of course, Lakers fans are like, Man, stop messing with me. You didn't really that really happen? Hold up. And they check on their phones and trying to find out if it actually happened, and they're like, Oh my god, it did. What idiots.

SPEAKER_01 19:00

You know, speaking of the Lakers, LeBron actually, this isn't on our agenda, but he'll be, while he's working his way back from injury, we'll be playing in the G League.

SPEAKER_00 19:09

So that'll that'll fill some arenas. That should, you know, that should be interesting as well. Um yeah, NBA, they've been doing their thing, and and uh they got the Emirates Cup. They played a few of the games already, uh starting back on I I think it was Halloween.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

It actually started October 31st on Halloween.

SPEAKER_00 19:31

Yeah. That just kind of snuck in there, didn't it? It did. Yeah. That's a little weird. They haven't a little weird. Anyway, so let's kind of get a little caught up here because most recent Emirates games were played Friday, November 7th. So we had a game against Orlando Magic in Boston with Orlando Magic's coming out with the win.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

Oh yeah, and down here we got you know, Cavaliers uh get the win over the Wizards actually by a considerable amount there. 148-115.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

And then we have the Toronto Raptors beating the Hawks 109 to 97.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Yeah, and then the Pistons getting the win over the Nets uh in the next game.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

With that 125-107 win. Yeah, 127. Rockets falling to the Spurs, which is not surprising because Spurs have been pretty good this year with the 121 to 110 win over the Rockets, so that's not good for them, you know, starting out that way.

SPEAKER_01 20:39

No, and then we got the Heat beating the Hornets, 126-108. The Hornets actually hung in kind of

Group Standings And Early Power Signals

SPEAKER_01 20:45

good through that one there.

SPEAKER_00 20:46

And then the next game we have, we have the Memphis Grip Grizzlies pulling off the win against the much maligned Dallas Mavericks with the 118-104 win. Yeah, 118 rather close there.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

We have another decently gap here. The Bucks take out the Bulls uh 126 to 110.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

Which is saying something because the Bulls have been pretty pretty good to start off the season.

SPEAKER_01 21:10

But that's that's kind of a divisional rivalry there, a little bit of a and the Bucks, you know, they were a playoff team last year, so clearly carrying over, you know, some of that um, you know, um momentum, that chemistry from previous year.

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Yeah, so moving on to the next game between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Utah Jazz, with the Minnesota Timberwolves just taking the Jazz out behind the barn and giving them a whooping. Just it was it was 137 to 97. They didn't even crack the triple digits.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Yeah, it didn't even hit the century mark, just an absolute just beating there. Uh the Nuggets beating the Warriors 129-104. This is significant for me considering all the postseason drama they went through last year.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

Golden State has not been doing well this year so far. They've been they've been they've been losing games, you know, with almost a 14-point average clip in those losses. So it's it's not really a great look for them. Yeah, and their their star players just haven't been playing as well. And moving on to the next game, the Oklahoma City Thunder beating the Sacramento Kings 132 to 101. So that rounds out the Emirates Cup games from November 7th. Yeah, from last week. Now they're gonna hold off on the rest of these Emirates Cup games until I think it's the 14th.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

Yeah, it's called it's called the mid-season tournament for a reason. They played in parts. Uh you know, we had November 8s. We don't need to go through uh necessarily all of them, but you know, we had November eights, you know, they played on the 9th, and then we won't get the Emirates, we won't get the next round of in-season uh tournament until November 14th.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

That's what I thought November 14th. So yeah, so right now everything that's being played is for for the season, and uh we're we're getting some really good games. Some teams are are holding holding on steady as you know favorites, you know. Yeah, and unfortunately, you know, we're we're having some situations like the Bulls start out hot but are stumbling a little lately.

SPEAKER_01 23:17

Yeah, and also the in-season tournament, the Emirates games, those except for the championship game, those all count towards their regular season NBA schedule as well. Uh so those games are important to win uh to make the postseason, uh the NBA postseason as well. Uh November 8th, that was just the you know, there's a lot of games happening on the same day here. These were not in-season tournament games, these were just regular uh NBA schedule matchups. Uh starting out November 8th, you know, we had the Mavs beat the Wizards 111-105, narrow victory there for them. Everybody beats the Wizards, it feels like. Yeah, I mean that they're one of those teams, right? They're like the Rockies of the MLB.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

Yeah, Sixers doing their thing against the Raptors, 130 to 120.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

Yep. And then uh Atlanta Hawks taking off uh Lakers 122 to 102. Lakers slack it a little bit in scoring there that night.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Bulls fall to the Cavaliers 128 to one uh 122. So at least they put up a good fight. You know, they were they were holding it close.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Yeah, and then we had a scorcher, uh, you know, Portland, the trailblazers losing to Miami Heat 131 to 136. I know that said that weird, but I see what you said there. Yeah, scorcher, just keeping everybody on their toes, you know.

SPEAKER_00 24:36

With the heat and the Blazers. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I got you.

College Football Upsets, Finishes, And Rankings

SPEAKER_00 24:40

Good lord. Anyway, San Antonio Spurs, like I said, they've been staying hot. They had the 126 to 119 win over the Pelicans on Saturday.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

All right, and then uh two of my favorites once again, uh Nuggets beating the Pacers 117 to 100. Pacers barely cracking the century mark there.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

Yeah, Pacers just not playing as well this year after you know having that run to the finals.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

So Yeah, yeah, they they might be the odd man looking out this year, maybe replaced by the you know, maybe the Spurs. We'll see.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

Speaking of another team not doing so hot, the Clippers losing to the Phoenix Suns 103 to 114. You know, the Clippers just they're not playing like the team we saw last year. They're just no they're they've just been losing games left and right, and it just they they don't look like the same team.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

No, no, they don't here. And then moving into November 9th slate of games, uh, another good round of matchups here. The Rockets beating the Bucks 122-115. This is significant here because the Bucs are relatively they're a pretty good team, not only last year, but also coming in hot this year. And the Rockets uh are have been an upcoming team, and I think they're taking the next step this season. They seem to be playing pretty well.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

Yeah, they need to gel with KD and you know getting rattling off some early wins in the season will definitely uh set you for success later on. I'm very excited for for the Rockets and their fanship. And the battle of New York happened with the New York Knicks taking on the Brooklyn Nets, but uh really wasn't much of a game, I mean, because the the Knicks just beat down the Nets. I mean, the Nets have been much maligned, but it was a 134 to 98 victory, so it's just just sad.

SPEAKER_01 26:31

Bobbled them 134 to 98, like you say. Uh and then the Celtics get the win over Magic, 111-107. Magic keeping it relatively close there, but not enough to overcome Celtics. Still still playing kind of hot.

SPEAKER_00 26:45

Thunder still rolling with the 114 to 100 win over the Mavs, or the Grizzlies, I should say, not the Mavs. Good catch there.

SPEAKER_01 26:54

Uh, and then you get Detroit Pistons, Motor City taking out the 76ers, 111 to 108. Nice close matchup there.

SPEAKER_00 27:01

Edging out that win. And then you and that was in the uh Pacers' house, so that even better. So we had the Golden State Warriors got on the winning side against the Pacers, uh, 114 to 83. Pacers just take a beating in that one, man. Not looking like the same team, man.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

Um and then here we have the Timberwolves with the highest scoring matchup of that night, 144, beating the Kings at 117. I don't know if beating the Kings is really as big a feat as I'm making it sound like, but you know, Timberwolves put up 144 on them.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

Yeah, and that's just some of the past weekend matchups. Uh let's let's roll over here and and check out the groups as far as the Emirates Cups. Yeah, yeah. Let's see what we got going on here. Because we talked about the Emirates Cup games, a few of them, but let's talk about what the groupings are. So for group A, we have uh the Wizards in Group A. Wizards, Pacers, then the Atlanta Hawks, and the Cavaliers, and then the Toronto Raptors. Now, we did that backwards because that's how the standings are right now. Yeah. Right now the Raptors have two wins. Everybody else has at least one win or one win, or actually, we okay. We'll just starly in the tournament. Cleveland is one and one, Hawks is one and one, pacers 0-1, Wizards 0-1. I don't have much hope for those two teams because they're just not playing great ball. Eastern Group B is comprised of they're comprised of number five is the Nets, number four is the Sixers.

SPEAKER_01 28:45

Uh the Celtics sitting in number three spot there. And the number two spot is the Orlando Magic. And then the Pistons up there in the number one, of course. Uh Magic and Pistons are currently tied for the number one spot. Uh, and Celtics are a game behind because they have one loss already.

SPEAKER_00 29:04

Yeah, and the only reason they have the edge is because of points uh that they've scored and the differential.

SPEAKER_01 29:10

That's the only reason that's I have a feeling East Group B could be could be a tight race here in this one.

SPEAKER_00 29:17

Should be. So in the East Group C, we have the Charlotte Hornets. And number four, right above the Hornets, we have the Knicks. At number three, we have the Bulls at one and one. Number two, we have the Bucks. Bucks at one and oh, and then Miami Heat at one and oh. Awesome. And again, it's differential in points. It's the only reason that they're ranked ahead of them.

SPEAKER_01 29:44

You know, this is an interesting division here uh with the East Group C. And with Heat already starting on top of them, especially ahead of the Bucks. Oh, I think this is gonna be a very interesting division to play out as well. Let's move. On over to the west, group A.

SPEAKER_00 30:02

Group A starts with the number five Utah Jazz. They have jazz in Utah. Again, we went over this group. We went over this before. Head of the Jazz number four, Sacramento Kings. The Phoenix Sung come in at number three with one and oh. And then number two, our defending champions, Oklahoma City, Thunder at 1-0. And the Minnesota Timberwolves come in at number one at 1-0. Again, differential is the only reason points scored.

SPEAKER_01 30:30

If you only read five, four, and three, that looks like it could be the weakest division in this matchup in this grouping. If it weren't for the Thunder and who else is it? The Bucks. It's not the Bucks. Yeah, the Timberwolves. If the Timberwolves and the Thunder were not sitting atop that, that would be the absolute weakest division of all the groups, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_00 30:50

Well, there's still a couple more groups to go. Maybe there's one that's weaker. I know. I'm just calling it I'm calling it right now. I'm leaning more to this uh this group B in the West being the weakest one. But let's start it off with number five being the Dallas Mavericks. Number four ahead of them, New Orleans Pelicans. Number three is the Memphis Grizzlies at one and one. And then number two, uh LA Clippers. At one and oh, and the Los Angeles Lakers coming at at one and oh. So that's why I say I think that's I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 31:25

The Mavs could still turn around, even though they just fired their GM. Nah. The Grizzlies, you know, maybe you're right. That might be the weakest. You're right. That's not the greatest matchup. I changed my mind. The West Group B.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

So West Group C is comprised of number five Golden State Warriors at 0-1. Number four, my favorite this year, Houston Rockets at 0-1. And the number three uh Denver Nuggets at 1-1. And Portland Trail Plazers sitting at number two at 1-0. And the Spurs at top on the top with a 1-0 record.

SPEAKER_01 32:04

Again, they're leading only because you see a trend here, Mike. All these divisions have started out the same. The bottom two are 0-1, the middle team is one and one, and the top two seem to be tied with the exception of East Group A. The Raptors have more wins than all of the rest of them at this moment with 2-0.

SPEAKER_00 32:22

Yeah. And, you know, and the the Jazz at the bottom of their division with 0-2. So not a good look to start out that way.

SPEAKER_01 32:30

And the in-season tournament's kind of a good look at power rankings as well for the NBO overall.

SPEAKER_00 32:35

See who's going to do what. The thing I like about it is it gives a team that, you know, maybe maybe your team is not going to make a deep run, but you do have a chance in this because you could rattle off a couple wins and find yourself later in the tournament. So it's it very well could be a point of pride in the season where you say, hey, we didn't make it far in the playoffs, but we did win the cup.

SPEAKER_01 33:02

Yeah, and you know, and then you obviously not far beyond that, you have the the all-star games coming up as well. So uh seems like an action-packed NBA season ahead of us, and it's unfolding before our eyes. Uh let's jump into some college football, Mike. Uh yeah, we're just gonna go over, you know, nothing groundbreaking tonight, everybody. We just could go over last week's matchups, talk a little shit, and then maybe move on into the NFL. We'll see what happens. That was good.

SPEAKER_00 33:34

That was good. So the the one game that was really exciting, and and and I know it was kind of

Week 12 CFB Games To Watch

SPEAKER_00 33:40

downplayed by you, but it was the Indiana Penn State game. That was the one that I wanted to see. You kind of downplayed it a little. You were like, eh. You were like, Penn State, eh, they're not ranked. Let me hear the recordings. Anyway, the point of the matter is it actually turned out to be a really awesome game because of the outcome at the end, where Indiana looked like they were gonna lose this game, but they went down the field, drove down the field, and got a last second touchdown to win the game by one hell of a throw by Mendoza getting Cooper in the end zone, who had wherewithal to get one toe in because in college, one toe counts. That's all that you need. He got one toe in to get that win.

SPEAKER_01 34:26

Yeah, and I saw, is that the one with the catch at the end? Yeah, yeah, that was that crazy catch. If you didn't see it, go look at it. We'll post a clip of it later. Uh, that's pretty good. And how about Citadel taking a goose egg, beating from number six old miss 49 to zero? Whew.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

And of course, you know, Ohio State did Ohio State things they won again against Purdue.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

Can we give them a real competitive team? I mean, Purdue is actually well, Purdue's not ranked. They were ranked earlier in the season. I think you're thinking of basketball, dude. Yeah, you're just good in basketball. You're right. I probably get my sports mixed up, which I can't wait till this spring when we can touch some March Madness. Basketball version two, is what I like to call it.

SPEAKER_00 35:10

How about this rival rivalry between LSU and Alabama coming down to Alabama 20 to 9? That was a low screen.

SPEAKER_01 35:18

I I don't I'm sorry, I don't have much hope for LSU right now. You know, I I like LSU, but especially after firing the head coach and all this fiasco going around their shit. Um, you know, I'd like to see them get back on the winning train, but I just think that they're gonna be in for a rough season right now at this point.

SPEAKER_00 35:41

Eh. I mean, they they were riding high not too long ago.

SPEAKER_01 35:46

Well, not too long ago, they were doing good, but I I think with some of the distractions, they may take a step back. It's just, you know, a typical football team drama.

SPEAKER_00 35:54

Well, one team not dealing with much drama. The Georgia Bulldogs beating down on Mississippi State 41 to 21. Oh Lord.

SPEAKER_01 36:03

I know that one hurts. Maybe even worse than the Citadel game. I don't know. It hurts when you never put up points, though. And then BYU, uh, you know, well, sorry, Texas Tech number eight, beating down number seven, BYU, 29 to 7. Is this a sign because BYU was on the rise too here.

SPEAKER_00 36:25

Now, Texas Tech is really jumping up in power rankings here, as

NFL Remembrances And Mental Health Tragedy

SPEAKER_00 36:30

far as like hey, I mean, it's a it's close ranked teams going against each other late in the year. You never know. You never know what's gonna happen with those types of games. And you know, BYU just didn't didn't pull it off this time, you know. And and here's one game moving along to this other this other game between Oregon and Iowa. Remember, I said that that this might be a tough game for Oregon because they're going into Iowa, yeah. That looks like it was too. They edged out 18 to 16, you know, so like it's it's it's crazy how even though you're talking about a team that the rankings have them, you know, separated by 11 11 spots, yeah, but they still put up like they're a top-ranked team when they're facing a top-ranked team, you know, and especially in their house. I mean, I was it's not the most friendliest place to play.

SPEAKER_01 37:27

Yeah, like yeah, you see, and then Notre Dame getting the win there uh over the Navy 49 to 10, Navy taking a beating. Maybe they'll play harder when they get paid again.

SPEAKER_00 37:37

I don't know. And the upset of the week, Wake Forest beating ranked number 14 Virginia, 16 to 9. That's not looking good for Virginia's hopes of making it into the playoffs.

SPEAKER_01 37:49

And you know, UVA have been looking kind of like a powerhouse team the last week or two uh in their games. Uh they've jumped up considerably as well.

SPEAKER_00 37:58

And then Cal losing, or no, sorry, not losing. Cal beating Louisville 29 to 26 in an overtime win.

unknown 38:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:09

That's not looking good for Louisville and their their hopes.

SPEAKER_01 38:12

No. And then let's see here. We had a lot of good matchups this weekend.

SPEAKER_00 38:16

Vanderbilt had a had a close matchup against Auburn 45 to 38. And then you have Wisconsin beating 23 ranked Washington. Yep. Yep. Well, remember Wisconsin, you know, they were they were trying to edge into the bracket, or not bracket, the rankings. Into the rankings, yeah. And yeah, I mean, Washington, I mean, they got in there, but you know, still in there after this loss.

SPEAKER_01 38:44

I I know I'm jumping down a little bit, but give the army some credit, beating Temple 14 to 13. Uh just a grueling game, very low score game.

SPEAKER_00 38:53

Miami having an easy win against Syracuse 38-10. I wasn't even going to talk about them.

SPEAKER_01 39:00

Hey, it's a ranked team. I suppose. Let's see. ECU got the win over who up there? Scroll up just a little bit. Yeah, over uh over Charlotte, 48-22. Um, Duke and Yukon, battling it out. Duke, you know, 37. I mean 34, just barely losing the UConn at you know, score.

SPEAKER_00 39:23

That was a high scoring game. And Clemson getting onto the winning ways again, beating Florida State. Taking down FSU. How about Florida State? They were at one point they were looking pretty good this year, and they they've just fallen on hard times, man. They just have not kept it together. They have not. Sad, very sad. But with these outcomes, let's see how the rankings have shifted.

SPEAKER_01 39:47

Let's talk about the top 25. Actually, we'll start. We usually start at top 10. Nobody cares about below 10. But anyway, start at number 10, Texas.

SPEAKER_00 39:57

Coming in at number nine, Notre Dame.

SPEAKER_01 39:59

Number eight, Oregon, and all these past three teams moving up a spot. So good job at them. Texas getting the top 10. Number seven, Old Miss. Old Miss. Number six, Texas Tech. We were just talking about them. Coming in at number five, Georgia.

SPEAKER_00 40:13

Number five, Georgia. Number four, Alabama. Number three, Texas AM. Number two, Indiana. And as always, this year, it has been Ohio State at the number one spot. So not much change there in the top five.

SPEAKER_01 40:29

And let's see who's it's crazy because they're only nine and oh, and Indiana's 10-0.

SPEAKER_00 40:34

Let's see who has edged their way in and let's see who's made some transition down in the rankings.

SPEAKER_01 40:39

Uh, Tennessee cracks 23 from being unranked. They they were not, or maybe they were 25.

SPEAKER_00 40:45

But two teams that did crack in at 25, we have Cincinnati and South Florida. South Florida coming at 24, so they're up.

SPEAKER_01 40:54

Good job. Who fell the furthest? It looks like Virginia and Louisville did. Pitt. Pitt moved up two spots.

SPEAKER_00 41:01

So that's good for them. Iowa dropped a spot. And like you said, Louisville at 20, Virginia at 19.

SPEAKER_01 41:13

Both of them dropping five spots apiece. BYU always. BYU dropping out of the top ten all the way to number 12.

SPEAKER_00 41:20

So I mean, but they would still be part of the ranking. Or still, I mean not ranking, but they would still be part of the bracket. Yeah. If they'd still they'd probably still make the bracket. Possibly. Possibly. There's still, I mean, this is not the time of year you want to be having losses. You know, you want to you want to sit here and and finish out strong. I mean, you're not real the top five, they're probably not going to change much unless they

Legal Woes, Trades With Poison Pills, And TNF Debate

SPEAKER_00 41:45

have a disastrous loss to somebody.

SPEAKER_01 41:47

I could see Indiana making a run at swapping with Ohio one and two, but outside of that, I think you're right.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

I don't think that's going to happen unless you have Ohio just like collapse against a team, an unranked team, you know. So at just but yeah, I mean, if they keep playing the way they are, and you know, that that win this past Saturday, yeah. I I wouldn't bet against them right now. You know, they're looking too good with Mendoza, yeah, quarterback. That guy, that guy is making a Heisman push. I am drafting him in fantasy football next year. No, you're not, sir.

SPEAKER_01 42:22

I have a worse record than you. I'm gonna draft him. I'll draft him in another league. I'll just go to another league and draft him. But here we go. Week 12 matchups coming up. Mike, what's one that you're looking at here that you're looking forward to?

SPEAKER_00 42:35

Oh man. All right, all right, all right. Uh let's see. What we got here? What we got here? Oh, that wouldn't be a bad matchup to watch. Number nine, Notre Dame playing against Pittsburgh.

SPEAKER_01 42:46

I actually was just looking at that. I also like the matchup between um who was I looking at here just a second ago? I don't know. Who were you looking at? Oh. Uh I had one. I know I got my I was got my eyes crossed, but I do like the South Florida and the Navy game as well as the Arizona Cincinnati game. Wisconsin and Indiana might be an interesting. I would I think that's gonna be an interesting play. Uh let's see, or no, you already picked uh Notre Dame out there. Michigan and Northwestern. Yeah, Northwestern has had one or two pop-off games here. They're not they're not a ranked team, but they have had been responsible for a couple upsets. So I think Alabama. Now that'll be a good matchup. Oklahoma and Alabama taking on 3:30 p.m. I think that's Saturday.

SPEAKER_00 43:37

We got Iowa and USC.

SPEAKER_01 43:40

Iowa and USC, they're at the bottom of the rankings, but that'll be a good battle between them. Uh UVA and Duke. Uh that could be a high scoring matchup right there.

SPEAKER_00 43:52

Well, UVA really needs the win to get their playoff hopes. Yeah, and Duke realigned. Duke just came off of a high scoring affair. Ole Miss in Florida going against one another.

SPEAKER_01 44:03

That'll be a good one. Oh, there we go. Texas and Georgia, number 10 versus number five, 730 this weekend. That'll be a good matchup right there. Yeah. Let's see what the Longhorns do here. Oh, nobody cares about Virginia Tech this year.

SPEAKER_00 44:20

Well, we got UCLA against Ohio State. Now remember, UCLA played upset earlier in the year. Yeah. So if if they could catch fire and find a way to upset Ohio State, that would put a huge shake in in the rankings.

SPEAKER_01 44:34

Yeah, let's see how they do there. Uh, I kind of think Ohio may just Yeah, I think they're gonna take it, but I'm just saying, you know.

SPEAKER_00 44:42

Not just take it, I I think they could probably just be dominant. Upsets are always gonna be fun for people. Like when you think a team has no shot and they just come away with the win, it's like that team's that that school and their fans, they're just gonna go bananas. Like it's gonna be so cool for them. So I I kind of like that about college football at times. But I mean, from that, that's pretty much the matchups I see that are pretty much.

SPEAKER_01 45:12

Yeah, we got we we have some good ones. Last couple weeks have kind of been, you know, a little sluggish as far as matchups, but I think this week we can see we actually have some good firework matchups coming up with college football.

SPEAKER_00 45:23

And I I I like that. I like when there's stuff you can say, all right, I know I gotta be at the TV at 7 30 on the 100%.

SPEAKER_01 45:30

And they couldn't end up being underwhelming, you know. So I mean, usually these are the matchups we expect, but let's go ahead and move on in here to uh some NFL action here. Before we get jump into the last week's matchups, I want to go ahead and say, so we got two different tragic deaths here. I'm gonna address them separately in just a moment. First one, uh Paul Taglabu, longtime NFL commissioner, actually the was he the first NFL commissioner, wasn't he? Uh passed away this past weekend. Uh he died in this uh in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Uh he was 84 years old. Uh parent cause of death, you know, heart failure, complicated by Parkinson's disease. So he survived quite some time in his elderly age with these things. Um and you know, he's survived by his wife, a son, and a daughter. Uh, you know, born in 1940, passed away this year, just this past weekend in 2025. Um, you know, our heart our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family and the community affected by his loss. Uh, he was a pioneer, one of the early pioneers in the NFL. Uh so just, you know, the the Titans are being immortalized, Mike. That's that's what I call it here. And then uh very tragic uh passing, one we've been following for about a week now. Uh Marshawn Nealand, as you know, last week during the Cowboys bye week passed away uh while while in police was he in police custody yet? He was being pursued by police. Uh the details of what actually was going on was a little foggy. I know um uh somebody from the team actually called in a wellness check for him. He was running, I I've seen reports, he was in a police chase, crashed into a truck, got away on foot. The police found him a couple hours later uh at 1.30 in the morning, passed away. Uh, unfortunately, you know, the details of what I'm about to tell you maybe a little explicit, uh, passed away of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Uh so just very sad story. We're tracking it. Don't know all the details just yet, but we know mental health played a role, and his uh to throw, you know, you know, oil in the fire, um, you know, his girlfriend was

Week 10 NFL Recap: Europe Game To Snow Game

SPEAKER_01 48:05

is pregnant with what would be their what will be their firstborn. So just a lot of confusion here, uh, not a lot of clarity, but definitely truly a tragic situation.

SPEAKER_00 48:21

So uh yes, somebody from the team, uh director of security, Cable Johnson was the one who called in to law enforcement for a wellness check because he was saying he was saying things, they haven't really released like what he said. Yeah, but he was saying things in the group chat, uh you know, statements about like, you know, he can't go to prison or jail. Um just, you know, really was saying some concerning things. Obviously, people when they're asking for somebody to do a wellness check, it's because somebody is having an episode of some form. Now, granted, we probably probably did not know about the speeding incident, probably didn't know all that was going on with that.

SPEAKER_01 49:05

And, you know, you never know what they don't they don't know why he was being pursued by the police. They don't know why he was saying what that I think he had sent out a series of text messages to like 20 or so people. Um, so like just very, very concerning. I know his girlfriend actually told the police that he would quote end it all. Um so I'm sorry we don't have more details. There's just not a lot available out there.

SPEAKER_00 49:33

Um it's probably because it's still under investigation.

SPEAKER_01 49:36

Probably, and they're and the family may not be ready to divulge details yet either. Uh, but you know, just a truly tragic situation. And again, I want to highlight the importance of mental health. Uh check on your people, make sure they're okay. Uh, because mental health uh awareness is is not a joke, y'all. Uh, and we've already seen already numerous times this year what a huge role mental health plays in people's uh legal situations and their living situation, their personal lives.

SPEAKER_00 50:09

Every NFL team actually did a moment of silence as directed by the NFL before every NFL game for this uh tragic incident. And you know, again, always, always uh you don't know the power of just checking in on somebody, just making sure like just sending somebody a text like, Hey, what's going on with you? How you been, or just saying, Hey, I was thinking about you, I saw this, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:38

Or you just you never know what people are dealing with, and it doesn't matter who they are, right? It doesn't matter the uh military, especially active duty, it could be sports athlete, uh it could be your best friend who you work with every day in the shipyard. Like, it doesn't matter who they are or where they're from, doesn't matter how rich they are, like check on each other and take care of each other. Um because you know, I just can't stress how important it is uh mental health awareness. Uh you know, it it just it leads to so many things, you know, fighting depression, fighting suicide, uh you know, other things like that, substance abuse.

SPEAKER_00 51:21

So well speaking of uh issues, um moving right along, we're gonna, you know, move over into this uh somebody who probably does need a little bit of checking, and uh that's Antonio Brown, who is out on $25,000 bail and has a GPS monitor on him now because he's he's being uh he's being investigated for attempted murder incident where he shot it shot at a dude.

SPEAKER_01 51:55

You know, this is something we've kind of touched on, we've kind of followed as it's happened. Can I just say right now that I think it's hilarious that he ran to Dubai, still got picked up, and still got extradited back to the US. Um that that's a hard that takes skill, okay? Uh because the dude because Dubai does not always cooperate in extraditions. No, especially with the US.

SPEAKER_00 52:21

But they probably seen the stuff that Antonio Brown has done, and they're like, we don't want him crazy. They're probably like, you know what? Take him back. We're good. Keep you you you can have him for free, actually. Yeah, how about you keep him? We don't want him. Anyway, so yeah, we'll see, we'll see what happens in that saga.

SPEAKER_01 52:39

Yeah, yeah. I mean, you know, $25,000 bail, which basically, if you drop a zero because it's the tenth, the only $2,500 bail. Um, honestly, considering it's attempted murder, it's it's rather almost kind of low to me. But depending on the evidence they presented and you know how the magistrate feels, I guess that's what they said it at. But good luck to him moving forward in that case. It seems pretty ugly and nasty. I'm not here to talk shit about anybody or their situation, but you know, good luck to him and what he's dealing with there. Um and here, the next thing, you know, this I thought this was interesting, Mike. Here let's talk. We're gonna revisit the Micah Parsons trade here for a minute. And I know y'all are getting tired of hearing about this, but this was an interesting uh tidbit I picked up from Adam Schefter here. Not that I I don't know him personally, I just follow his feed. Um so they the mic you don't know him personally? No.

SPEAKER_00 53:43

I thought he was your close personal friend. No, I thought you just had his number.

SPEAKER_01 53:47

We would have way better information for this show if I did.

unknown 53:52

Damn.

SPEAKER_01 53:53

But anyway, so the trade with Michael Parsons between the Cowboys and the Packers actually uh included what's called a poison pill, which I don't hear about this happening often, but only Jerry Jones is capable of uh you know fathoming something of this and making it come to life. So basically, uh, you know, the Eagles did try to trade for Michael Parsons last year and were rebuffed. Uh the Cowboys said no, go to hell, you're a divisional rival. So basically, the uh quote unquote poison pill is if the Packers decided to trade Mark Michael Parsons to a team in the NFC East, that being the Giants, the Commanders, uh, or the Eagles before I think the 2028 season, basically in the near future, there's no specifics on there. Uh essentially, Green Bay owes Dallas its 2028 first round pick. So they're saying, hey, if you trade him again to our divisional rival, you're giving us a pick. A high one. And Green Bay agreed. And honestly, I think Green Bay got the short of the stick because Parsons hasn't been particularly great for them here to this point.

SPEAKER_00 55:11

Uh I wouldn't say that he hasn't been great. I would say that like he's definitely put pressure on quarterbacks. Just because he hasn't gotten the sack numbers doesn't mean that the production isn't there. Well, his his run other teammates have been getting numbers because of him.

SPEAKER_01 55:23

Well, he's been solid in run defense, but you're right. He's he's traded sack numbers for run stops pretty much.

SPEAKER_00 55:30

Well, and and pressures and yeah, forcing quarterbacks out of the pocket, forcing them to make throws that ends up in picks.

SPEAKER_01 55:38

Yeah, and I mean, like you say, like maybe he just needs a little more time to gel into their system and what they do, but you know, been a little bit up and down, but not not to say this has been bad, but he he you know hasn't been what he was in Dallas. So I thought that was an interesting tidbit. Give it some time that they put what's a so-called poison pill.

SPEAKER_00 55:57

Uh I'll have to rethink another name for that because I don't know that you need to call things poison pills and I don't think they need to call it that either, but I mean that's what they that's their terminology. Hey, we're not we're not too far removed from the time in the 80s when people were like poisoning, you know, Tylenol and stuff. So like let's

QB Changes, Sideline Fights, And Contenders Emerging

SPEAKER_00 56:20

uh let's let's come on. Some people still remember that stuff, some people might be sensitive to poison pill.

SPEAKER_01 56:26

And you know, of course, you know, the last thing, we'll jump into week 10 recap here soon, which we have more storylines to follow as we go through those matchups. But real quick before we jump into that, this is an interesting tidbit here. This comes from John Gruden himself, okay? Uh he, among several others in the league, believed that we should scrap Thursday night football, uh, saying it's not fair to the players, it's not fair to the fans, it's not fair to the league, uh, because now you have players playing on a short game, a prime time on a short schedule in a primetime game where they're expected to not just win, but also put on a good show. Like this is kind of about showmanship a little bit too. Um and I mean Thursday night games have been kind of sluggish more often than not. Uh so Mike, you know, I'll give my opinion on this a second, but do you agree, Rick Gruden? Should we get rid of Thursday night football? And if we do, would something replace it? Would we just scrap it? What do you what do you think here?

SPEAKER_00 57:30

Okay, so I see a couple of things. You know, when you scrap Thursday night football, that means that less teams will have a chance to be in the forefront of unless you're a Sunday night game or you're a Monday night game, then that means your team is not getting any real prime time exposure. So your players are not getting exposed to the average fan. So you're gonna lose that aspect. So players will be like, well, wait a second. If I have a showcase night in a Thursday night game, people figure out who I am. I make more money, you know, I'll get more endorsements. So that'd be one impact. The other impact of them saying, Oh, yeah, the product's not as great. We've had better Thursday night games this season than we've had any other year. And I think that's due to the fact that they're actually scheduling these a little better. They're scheduling them around people's bye weeks and trying to schedule them to where it benefits the teams a little more. Unfortunately, the one aspect I do agree with Gruden on, it is a shortened week. So then you just played Sunday, now you're gonna be playing Thursday, so everything is sped up. Your game planning, your practices, your film study, all of that is sped up because you no longer have from Sunday to Sunday or Sunday to Monday or Monday to Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 58:49

Yeah, and it just, oh, I I see where it can create some problems with the schedule. And it's funny, I think it's also interesting, I didn't even think about this. The exposure for all teams. I think part of why they brought back Thursday night football was so every single team could have a primetime game because this was becoming an issue actually, because teams were complaining they weren't getting picked for the Thanksgiving or the Christmas slate, they weren't getting picked for Sunday night or Monday night football. This gave all teams an opportunity to get into that prime time slot to make those prime time bucks.

SPEAKER_00 59:24

And when I was growing up, there was no Sunday ticket, there was nothing of that nature. So, unless the Niners were the prime game on the four o'clock window where they were playing Sunday night or Monday night, I wasn't seeing my team. I was basically watching the little ticker at the bottom of the game trying to figure out what my team was doing. So I had to watch either Washington or Dallas because I was usually the teams playing. You know, unfortunately, in this area, if you're not a uh a Washington fan or a Dallas fan or a Pittsburgh fan. Then you're probably not from here. Then then all you're watching is those teams, and it it, you know, when you like teams elsewhere, it's kind of aggravating. I remember those days.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:12

You'd get two games, one on Fox, one on CBS, then you'd get one game at 4 30 if it wasn't blacked out.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:20

Now, granted, it used to be you would get two on each. It would be two each each network. But then they changed that when they started doing, oh, we're gonna have the Thursday night game, and we're gonna, you know, try to make this You know, you're right. I remember the duh that double.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:39

I'm like, oh man, I feel like we've been lacking so much football on Sunday. I couldn't put my finger on it.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:44

Yeah, because the whole point was they were trying to force you to buy the Sunday ticket.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:48

It's all about the money. That played into it too, which by the way, uh, YouTube currently owns the Sunday ticket contract through 2033. So if they were to scrap this, you're still talking, what we're only in 2025, you have eight years.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:03

So plus Amazon, they paid a hell of a lot of money to have that Thursday night. They ain't giving it up.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:09

Oh, wait, yeah. Amazon owns. I said YouTube. Oh yeah, YouTube owns a ticket. Amazon owns a Thursday night uh football. Uh so I mean, I think that contract I think is good through like 2028 or 2029, but plus let's not forget they just got a new studio for the analysts for that, and they have all the analysts that they're paying for that, and they've kind of they've built it up into being something more than what it used to be. Hopefully they revamp the the the game uh score block and all the animations and stuff, because those were poor for Thursday night football.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:47

I don't know. I don't I don't the only thing I I I disliked is when you have games like what happened this last Thursday when we had Raiders and Broncos, and I have to say it was probably the worst game of the year. It was piss poor play by both teams. Yes, both teams were sorry. I mean sorry. This game, the Broncos just survived the game. It wasn't that the Broncos won the game, they survived the game, they made less mistakes than the Raiders. That's all.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:26

Yeah, you just didn't see it uh play out. And speaking of the Broncos, by the way, that win, uh during their NFL best seven-game winning streak, which is what they're on right now, the Broncos seven wins, they're on win number seven right now, uh, in a 39-day span, tie the 73 Dolphins and the 21 Pac 2021 Packers for the most in NFL since 1935. So basically, and now so basically they have the most wins in a consecutive day period uh tied with those two teams, and up next it gets So the So like a streak. It's like a streak, and they get even it gets even sweeter. Uh so the Broncos now will play only one game in the next 23 days because I think they have a bye week and then they host the Chiefs November 16th. So if they can win against the Chiefs, which is a very real possibility, they will have the longest winning streak in NFL history on days wise consecutively. Does that make sense? Sure. It's a weird stat, but it's actually kind of crucial. Um so and then we going down here, we had a Berlin game. That was, you know, Sunday morning's game. If you're on the East Coast, it was Sunday morning. If you're on the West Coast, it was Sunday. Early, early morning. Probably Saturday Saturday night still. No, it was it was early, early Saturday. You're probably just getting home from the club.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:00

But uh that would have been 6 a.m.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:01

game. No, we had a high-scoring affair here. The Falcons actually hanging in with the Colts pretty well. They're putting up 25 points on arguably the league's best defense. Colts edging them out 31 to 25.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:14

Yeah, with Taylor scoring three times in that game.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:17

By the way, the Falcons actually almost won this game. The Colts started out rather sluggish. I thought the Falcons were gonna win.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:24

This is this is this is what we were talking about. You never know what you get with this Falcons team. This week, exactly. We were they put up 25. You watch. Next week they put they play the Panthers. Let's see what they do.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:36

And the Panthers will beat the hell out of them.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:38

You'll watch.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:39

Yep. And then the the Saints, the you know, directionless, they do have a direction. They're just a little sad right now. Their direction is getting a top draft pick. That's right, Kellen Moore was that number one overall. But the two and eight Saints, the now two and eight Saints, come up to beat the now five and five Panthers, 17-7. The Panthers a little streaky too. Not as bad as the Falcons, but the Panthers have been a little streaky too. One week they're bad, one week they're good. They should have lost this game. I I agree. I don't think they should have lost this game. Um, you know, it it it just it just goes into that. And then the Giants here, uh just another late game collapse, man. Just they had this one in the bag.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:24

Uh they wind up losing to the Bears 24-20. Yeah. You know, Caleb looking a

NFC West, Lions Surge, And Divisional Stakes

SPEAKER_00 1:05:30

lot better under the Ben Johnson system, you know, this this Bears team in a in a snow game, mind you. So our first snow game of the year, which is always fun. And the Giants, like, they just man, and you know in this game, you had their young quarterback, Dart, and concussion get another concussion. In concussion, probably he's hurt again. So in seven games, he's been looked at what is it like three or four times? Four times. Four times for concussion. And you know, Mr. Dable, he knows his future was riding. Mr.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:06

Dable, now that he's fired, he's a mister. Okay, okay. I like this.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:10

Oh, I'm glad you alluded, you didn't even allude to it, you just went right to it.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:13

No, I've been waiting for that.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:14

After this game, he gets fired, and at what is this, the fourth time he started out two and eight?

SPEAKER_01 1:06:20

Listen, every time I look at him, I think of donuts.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:23

Is put answer that question. This is like what, the fourth time? What? Fourth time he started the season, like two and eight?

SPEAKER_01 1:06:29

Yeah, well, not just that, but the Giants seemed to play well, and then they just collapsed down the stretch. So I'm sure there were a little bit of politics to go into this decision. You know, the scatterbo injury, the Jackson Star. I mean, I I think at one point Dable really thought he was gonna save his season.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:47

Oh you know, it was was it it's funny, but not funny at the same time. Somebody did like, you know how like with celebrities, people would be like, Oh, we spotted, we spotted Jay-Z at the coffee shop on on 23rd Ave or whatever, whatever. You know, like they TMZ will tell you where these people are at. Somebody did like a paparazzi thing with him where it it was Dable and he was standing out front of his house. And it like it literally was a picture of him outside of his house in a hoodie. And it's like, that's a low plow. Like, come on, man. Like, we know where he is.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:24

He's not with a team, he's at home. He's at home now that Dable's been let go. Uh obviously they'll probably wait till the end of the season to find a replacement. But who do you think is a good coach candidate? I know some names, and we talked about this with Miami. John Gruden seems like he's trying to get back in the coaching scheme here. How would you I it just doesn't seem like a fit to me. I don't think Gruden would fit up there in New York.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:51

He would love to do it, and he's he's you know I don't I don't think that he the NFL wants to be in the Gruden game anymore. I I think if anything, he's gonna wind up in college. And the the place I would most think he would wind up is is with Arkansas, because they have money, they've already shown because they put a bunch of money in their basketball program, that they would probably put money in to bringing in a name like Gruden to help lift the college program up as well. So much like name power, much like what UNC did by bringing in Belichick, which no, Belichick is not gonna go to the Giants, so we can just stop with that whole BS.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:33

No, I don't think I don't think there's an NFL team out there.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:36

They've already asked him that, by the way. Yeah. And he was like, I'm not interested in talking about that.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:41

Well, yeah, he it's it's because he can't because you already know what he's gonna say.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:45

He can't have full control. No, well, that's where he started his NFL coaching career was with the Giants. Yeah, he was part of that 80s Giants team with Lawrence Taylor.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:55

Well, yeah, that too. Yeah, yeah. You also have that fag, which I'm sure he doesn't want to go back there. It's you know, it's different for everybody, but I don't think Belichick's coming back to the NFL. Um, Gruden, I think, has a higher chance than Belichick coming back to the NFL, and I don't think he's probably actually gonna come back to the NFL. No. Oh, you know, unfortunately, something now. What do you think? Have we seen the last of Russell Wilson here? This is the last thing we talk about with the Giants. They this is a big subject tonight. Yes. Uh, is this the you saying yes to Russell Wilson?

SPEAKER_00 1:09:26

This is the last time we're seeing him.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:27

You think he's out? He's out because they're shaking up the depth chart here. They're starting Jameis Winston.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:33

Okay, let's let's understand something. Uh, yes, we're getting Mr. 30 for 30 and uh Jameis Winston, but here's one thing you always get with Jameis Winston. You always get enthusiasm, you always get a guy that is beloved by his teammates, and you always get him doing that eating them W's that's right that he talks about and you get that beautiful puppy dog smile. Look, this dude, this dude is he is just like an SNL character come to life, you know? That's really what he is. So I love watching him and hearing him talk because he is so funny to listen to, and a dude, it's like I don't think he has a bad day. Like, even if he's having a bad day on the field, he will he will say something funny, he will get his teammates cracking up. Like you'll see him at practices, he'll be like walking past teammate, and he'll just kind of nudge him and give like a little dance and like get him laughing, you know. So, like, that's what it is. He's gonna give some juice to the team, he's gonna give a little bit of that, you know, charisma into the team to make them lighten up and be like, look, guys, let's just try to get his win. Like, let's go out there and do this.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:44

Yeah, I I think he's one of the more outgoing players, regardless of the scenario he's the NFL is better with Jameis Winston being on a team and playing. I think so too. I think so too. And he probably doing some things behind the scenes there in the Giants' mediocrity season as well. But here moving on, another high-scoring affair between two mediocre teams, we could say. I mean, the Jaguars have a winning record, the Texans almost have a winning record.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:11

Uh well, that this game, what this game you should take away from it is the fact that the Texans,

Look-Ahead: Week 11 Picks And Upset Alerts

SPEAKER_00 1:11:20

they were down in this game. Like it was not it was not like the Texans blew away and kept a lead. No, they were down in this game, and despite them not having CJ Stroud and start starting Mills at quarterback, they still managed to come back and win this game. Yeah, and they were doing it by just you know, whatever means necessary. Everybody was putting up something, some numbers. Like you had all the running backs on the depth chart putting up some runs, giving some numbers. How about that kid Willie Marks? And we still have it. By the way, what is Nick Chubb injured with again? I think you should just leave it there. You said Nick Chubb injured again.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:02

Yeah, I mean they've never really given a status on what he's dealing with, but I do know Willie Marks is putting up pretty good numbers.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:09

At this point in the season, everybody's dealing with something. They're everybody has an injury of some sort. It's been the worst year. But the the fact that the Jaguars, who started out with such a great defense, has just kind of collapsed these last few weeks. Well, they lost the city. Or they just they're just not the same. And and you know, to add insult to injury, Hunter's down.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:30

Hunter with knee surgery. I was just about to say that. They're already down their starting tight end, Bretton Strange.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:36

Um his 21-day window just opened up, so he might be coming back in the next few weeks. That'll be good.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:42

Brian Robinson Jr. can't do it all by himself.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:45

Well, he's also been dealing with a little bit of a high ankle sprain. Well, not a high ankle sprain. He's had some low-grade ankle sprain that he should be coming back from and that's maybe playing this next week.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:55

Yeah, he's had some things to deal with as well. So the offense has just been kind of sluggish, dealing with injuries. They've had some defensive injuries as well.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:02

I mean, they've they've gotten some good production out of ETN this year, which they haven't in last year's because he was hurt and playing hurt and wasn't doing as well, but now he's playing more like what they've seen. So it just Jags are just kind of they're kind of the like the Falcons, up and down, up and down. You just don't know what you're getting out of them.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:22

And that was a good divisional matchup, high scoring divisional matchup between them. Congratulations to the Texans, though.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:27

Yeah, hard fought win and doing it with your backup quarterback. I mean, yeah, hats off to them. They they really they really showed their heart in that one.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:35

Yeah, I mean, they're there are better teams and worse teams, but they did pretty good against the Jaguars.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:42

But how about the WTF of the week? The Dolphins and Bills game. The Dolphins and Bills game.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:50

Dolphins, look, where are the I don't even know where to start.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:57

If you guys had this in you all this season, where's this been at?

SPEAKER_00 1:14:00

I'll start it. Here's the thing what is it with Buffalo and when they go and play a divisional opponent in their house, for some reason it's like they forget to play football. They forget how to play football.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:15

I'm pretty sure Atlanta beat Buffalo as well. Like, they've been losing to some bad teams. I don't know how this team is six and three right now. The three teams they've lost to have been teams they should have beaten.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:27

Well, in fairness, they did lose to the Patriots, and the Patriots are leading the division. But look, going into that matchup, they were the favorites.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:37

Yeah. So but the Patriots, nobody saw coming what we're seeing now.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:43

Well, excuse me, sir. I think I did point out a lot of the free agent pickups and a lot of the signings that they did to kind of revamp every level of their team on both sides of the ball. You did. And you kind of were like discarded it when I said it, and I'm like, no, I'm telling you, this is a big deal.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:00

It was a big deal. But like what I'm saying is when the Bills and the Patriots faced off just a few weeks ago, the Patriots were still on that fringe of are they gonna have a good season or not? Like, really, what's going on with them? They were just starting to break out. The Bills, who are expected to be Super Bowl contenders, I would have expected them to beat the Patriots in that matchup. Now we were corrected, the Patriots won. And looking back, I think the Patriots should have won as they did.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:30

But well, the Dolphins just for whatever reason, I mean, if you got nothing to lose, screw it, throw it up. And they did. I mean maybe they figured something out. Just throw it up. They figured out without Tyreek, we're just gonna throw it to everybody else.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:46

We're gonna throw to Waddle and we're gonna throw anybody else who gets open, Washington and and even though Darren Waller's down now, um, have you noticed since Tyreek Hill has been out, the Dolphins have run slightly their offense has been running a little smoother. They have been making plays, they've been putting up points. Um they've had points put up on them. Well, that's gonna up until recently. Well, that's gonna happen in one of arguably the worst defenses.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:13

But yeah, but how about how about their defense though? Had a nice little punch out on a Josh Allen like QB sneak to get on the ball late in the game.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:24

That's right, when he tried to run that, and Allen almost had a huge chunk of gain there.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:29

Oh, so that was a good heads-up play by them.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:32

Not so heads up by his teammate that was just kind of standing there watching for whatever reason. Well, that's why they lost. You know, you know what's even funnier about this win? The fact that after that game, their their coach, Mike McDaniels.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:49

This is a there's a bar too.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:52

There's a bar that's in Fort Lauderdale, and mind you, Fort Lauderdale is kind of like right next to Miami, but there's this bar over there, it's called the Elbow Room, and it's known for Bills fans that come down for the game.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:07

They kind of is there plenty of elbow room?

SPEAKER_00 1:17:10

Well, it's the place where all of the all the Bills fans kind of like congregate. It's kind of like it's their bar when they go down there. So it's like AJ Gators. So mind you, he had to drive out his way to do this. Mike McDaniels went down there and kind of rolled past the bar with his windows down, you know, chirping at the Bills fans about their win as he's just strolling past in his nice car. And it's like, all right, all right. I kind of like the way to way to gloat, Mr.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:42

3-7. Way to gloat.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:45

But you know what? Even if they say, hey, you're three and seven, yeah, but one of your losses is because of me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:52

Hey, well, they say you just gotta win the division, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:17:56

Hey, which typically kind of bragging rights when you beat your divisional opponents.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:01

Yeah, especially if they were expected to uh do that. Oh sorry, let me know. I messed it up. Anyway, the next week we have coming up.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:14

Wait, what did you do to this thing, man? You screwed this thing all the way.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:19

That button on the side messes me up. Just go to go to games. Good lord.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:27

Good lord, this dude. He presses one thing and then it gets all fuckered up.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:31

Yeah, this'll work. We can use this. This is just a little different format. I just keep scrolling down.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:36

No what no, no, this won't.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:39

Oh, this is from week 10. This will not work. I mean, this is from the upcoming week 11 that we're gonna be getting into. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:47

Sorry anyway. Anyway, moving on ahead here. Uh moving on to the Ravens and Vikings with the Ravens coming away with the 27-19 win.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:58

And the return of El Gato Lamar Jackson.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:02

Didn't he play last week? Did he play last week? I don't I don't record. This is his first week back, I think. Is it? I could be wrong. Anyway, this was a game that neither team really needed to lose because they needed to get this win to keep their playoff chances alive. Now, the Vikings are fortunate that pretty much the rest of their division has been playing kind of down these last few weeks. So they're still kind of in it. But the Ravens really needed to get this win. So both teams four and five after it, keeping them in the hunt. Believe it or not, at four and five, they're still in the hunt for their division. We'll get to why here in a minute.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:43

But uh forgettable matchup, you know, 2B's best, you know, scheduled matchup. Oh, Jets and Browns.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:50

Hey, hey, don't don't hate on it. Look, they got another one. Jets two 27-20.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:57

Two two and seven teams playing like they're trying to practice for play ball playoff contention. You think the Browns go to Shador now? I think they are gonna go to Shador because I know they said he'd play the last five, but they're talking about starting him this next game.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:14

Well, there we go. Moving on to the next game, which was the Patriots and Buccaneers, which, hey, I called this one. They're just rolling on they're just rolling. I called this one. I said the Patriots are probably gonna win it, and they did. They they're eight-2 now on the season. And Buccaneers, nothing to, you know, they're beat up. They're six and three. And remember, yeah, their wide receiver core is designated.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:39

They're just decimated. And Doug Martin is down. They just have

Closing Thanks And Sign-Off

SPEAKER_01 1:20:45

no offense right now. Doug Martin? No, not Doug Martin. White? Sorry, Doug Martin passed away.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:52

Yeah. I was like, what are you talking about? We did we just time warp 10 years ago? Anyway, no. No, Bucky. Bucky's still down.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:00

But he did return to practice today. So. Yeah, they'll be getting him back. That's a highlight. Now, the Cardinals, this is one we've got to talk about here, okay? The Seahawks, 44 to 22. Uh less.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:12

This game was over. Over before half, dude.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:16

Yes. Less surprised by the Seahawks' ability to score points, more surprised by the fact that the Cardinals are probably going to part way with Kyler Murray.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:26

I'm not surprised by that. Because when your backup comes in and he runs the offense more efficiently than you do, that is not a good look.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:36

Brissett was, I mean, this game aside, Brissett has been operating the offense relatively decently.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:43

Brissett is a backup, period. No, anybody that thinks that he's not a backup is fooling themselves. He's not a starter. He is the kind of player that you bring in. He gets you a few wins. Like if your quarterback's gonna be out four weeks, he gets you a few wins, maybe get you two and two over that stretch and keeps you in the hunt. He's not the guy that's gonna get you to like, you know, 10 and 17 and in a in a wild card spot.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:09

What do you think about where do you think, okay, we're we're assuming that the cards are probably gonna part with Kyler Murray, most likely via trade. I don't think they just cut him. Um he still brings some value, at least for now. Uh where do you think he lands at if they if they part ways with him? Regardless of how that happens, Mike, where are you where do you think are some teams he could land on?

SPEAKER_00 1:22:36

Two spots Raiders, Jets. Not the Dolphins. No. They have way too much invested in Tua, they're gonna keep riding it. I think Tua's out. I think they part with Tua.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:52

They eat it. I don't know. Mike McDaniel's on the hot seat. I think if Mike McDaniel is out, Tua is also going to be out. I think Tua might be moved on from anyway. Uh unless he just starts balling out these last few weeks.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:08

Hey, hey, we've seen we've seen teams do it. We have seen teams do it. I don't think he goes to the Browns. They've got enough quarterbacks. They they don't need another quarterback. I know they're for a while there, it looked like they were playing Pokemon, got to catch them all. Yeah. You know, and have as many quarterbacks as possible.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:27

The Raiders, you know, they'll probably be in the market for a quarterback, but I don't see him and Pete Carroll being on the same page. Oh, so I mean, it's interesting to follow that. But you know, uh, once again, the Seahawks pummeled the Cardinals 44-22, not terribly big surprise there.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:47

Can I say one thing though?

SPEAKER_01 1:23:49

Yes, you have my permission.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:51

How about Sam Darnold? How about that? Like, this dude, look, this this guy is what the new Baker Mayfield, you know, because Baker Mayfield was kind of sent to the trash heap, like, oh, he can't win with them, he's not good, and then all of a sudden he gets to the Bucks and he is the guy. I think now you have Sammy Darnold who kind of had his little round. He came over to the Niners and sat as backup, then goes over to the Vikings, does what he does, and then he gets his permanent home with the Seahawks, which he looks like the guy.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:25

Is it his permanent home? I mean, I think he's more like the new Ryan Fitzpatrick uh or Alex Smith. I mean, they're well-known NFL journeymen, and they had a lot of success almost everywhere they're at.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:38

Probably Fitzpatrick a little more than Alex Smith, but honestly, with the way he's delivered some of these down the field passes on the money, I can't really say that this guy is not the guy. You know, like his talent is there.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:52

I think they're gonna keep him. I'm honestly flabbergasted that Minnesota moved on from him. They had such a good, I mean they have JJ, which they have, but shit, looking back, hideside's 2020, maybe they should have traded JJ at this point. Sam Darn, again, another New York Jets quarterback, swiftly cast aside, now has performed at top level in two teams, uh, now doing it with the Seahawks. Uh here we go, the Rams and the 49ers. I know you don't want to talk about this one. They the Rams beat y'all similarly to how the Seahawks beat the Cardinals. Uh, 42 to 26, just a few more points scored there and there, Matt, in that matchup. Um, I don't really have much to say about this. The 49ers defense is kind of beat up. Y'all have a little bit of a beat up offense too. The Rams are almost 100% healthy.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:45

Yeah, we're we're kind of operating with a majority of our starters injured, but but you're only a game behind them, though. Let me let me ask you this. Is the Rams the most fakest tough defense in the NFL?

SPEAKER_01 1:26:03

Here comes the trash talk.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:04

No, no, no. I'm I'm serious. I'm serious.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:07

Oh, yes, 49ers fan.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:09

No, listen. You saw that you saw look, you saw Majorita's game with me. Did you want to see Jared Verse get a sack? He's shaking his head no. And the reason I bring that up is because they didn't really get much pressure on Mac. And he actually had one of the better passer ratings all Sunday. He was 80, he was like 84, 85% completion percentage for the entire game, and they put up 26 points. Now, mind you, the Rams took advantage of the fact that our secondary and our pass rush is decimated by injury. We lost Fred Warner, we don't have have uh Bosa, you know, and we're on to like God, rookies, rookies on our secondary. Yeah. So you can't really sit here and look at this win. I mean, mind you, we also don't have a lot of our our top receivers as either. So this win is kind of like, okay, you got the win, but you shouldn't have been able to let us score the way we were.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:22

Yeah, I mean, the Rams field a pretty good defense, but I mean, y'all being six and four with everything you're dealing with is still quite a nod to your coaching and the players on your team. Uh, because it's not hard to still maintain a winning record uh with some of the things you guys got going on. I mean, look at my team, for instance, we're freaking obliterated, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:45

Yeah, which consequently is the next game we're gonna talk about. The 44 and 22, the 44 and 22 uh game score there with the Lions getting 42 and the commanders getting 22. Uh yeah, man, that was uh that was not a not a great look. No words, next match. No, no, no, no. There's words. There's words, and they were had Mike. No, there were many words, and they were had on the field between your defensive players and some of the offensive players of the Lions that ended in uh suspension.

SPEAKER_01 1:28:20

I mean, I I think this is a similar problem that what people complain about with the Chiefs. I mean, the refs don't always catch what happens in between plays. I know Duron threw a punch at Amon Raw St. Brown. Amon Raw was drawn and and you just stuff too. But but you gotta be in the match. Like the refs are never gonna call them for jabber jawing. But the moment you throw a ligament at somebody, they're gonna call you. They're gonna eject you.

SPEAKER_00 1:28:52

When you say throw a ligament, are you saying like they're pulling out a ligament and throwing it at them? Or do you mean that they're actually throwing punches? Like a chicken bone straight from the sleeve. Good lord. Throwing punches, man. Come on, throwing punches.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:05

Yeah, well, I mean, throwing punches, kicking, pushing, shoving, spitting, you know, as often. Yeah, that's that's a new one as of this year. I know, right? Thank you, Jalen Carter. But anyway, anything like that, yeah. The refs are gonna pick it up and you're gonna be toast. But they're they know players talk, they know players talk shit, they know players instigate. These are mind games, okay? You have to be better, okay? Yeah, mind the game, don't do it. Exactly. You just gotta what do you say? Lose your cool, lose your judgment, and he lost his judgment. I I don't know what to say. Uh, horrible game for us. Let's move on.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:45

Spoken like a true upset fan. So speaking of upset fans right now, the Steelers fans are gotta be like, What the heck happened? Because the Chargers came in and made Aaron Rodgers look silly. He Just looked silly in this game. It one point getting sacked for a safety. You know, like you had the 25 to 10 victory with the Chargers beating the Steelers. And it just it was it was Chargers the whole game.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:15

Like they the Steelers just looked at the Chargers, the Chargers just rocking and rolling, man. 7-3. The Steelers. I mean, that's to be expected. I think they're a mediocre team, even with an aging Aaron Rodgers.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:28

They have like the worst run game in the NFL. Their run game is ranked 30th.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:37

Yeah. 30th. Yeah. Well, I mean, they just they're not getting much going over there. I mean, Aaron Rodgers is kind of the focal point of the offense right now, but even he, like, I mean, they have a winning record. I think they should be grateful for that. And it's a not and it's a huge testament to Mike Tomlin's coaching. This team has not really had a losing record under his coaching since he's been there. I think last year, last year were the first year.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:05

I do love the post-game interview though, where somebody asked him what he thinks of Rogers' performance. And he said, Well, what do you think? Well, what do you think? I like how I like how Tomlin operated. Well, what do you think? Because he probably don't know what to think either. Talman's like, I don't need this. I don't need this. I got a good team to coach. Get off my back.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:25

And then uh, you know, oh, by the way, just speak of the Steelers, free agent quarterback Samuel is joining them. So they're gonna get a little bit of help there in the secondary. Um you mean Asante Samuel Jr. Asante Samuel Jr. Yeah, should have gone to Alfredo. Leto, Junior, Sanchez, ooh.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:44

Well, he had he had a multitude of teams he was going to, and it was like he had a meeting Thursday, a meeting Friday, a meeting Saturday, a meeting Sunday with all these different teams, and the one he wound up choosing is the Steelers.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:58

So maybe they got something in store, maybe losing them, maybe they just offered more money. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:03

He should have came to the Niners.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:04

Yep. And then here we have Monday night's matchup between the Eagles and the Packers. I expected a much higher scoring affair, but then again, these two teams have two very good teams.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:17

The defense said you can take your scoring and shove it. Yeah, the Eagles they were not having any of it.

SPEAKER_01 1:32:23

Eagles just edging out the Packers, 10-7. Uh, and by the way, uh the Eagles Alexander, uh, what's his uh Jair Alexander Jair Alexander? Wait a minute, didn't he just get traded?

SPEAKER_00 1:32:38

Yeah. He got traded from the Ravens, right? From the Ravens to the Eagles, and now he's gonna step away from football for a little while to deal with his mental health as well as healing from injury. So And maybe that bad breakup. Look, man, this this could have been his get back game against the Packers, but apparently, I look if he's got stuff going on that is bigger than football and he needs to step away, I mean by all means, do so, get yourself right.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:09

Jair Alexander has had a had a pretty good career so far. And like you say, as long as you keep yourself in shape, you can come back. I say handle your stuff, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:20

If he needs some time, that's fine. Because Clyde Edward Tilaire of the of the Chiefs did the same thing. Yeah. He's back with the Chiefs. So it's not it's not like his career is over from doing this, it just means that he's taking some time to get right.

SPEAKER_01 1:33:33

Yeah. And I I mean my hat's off to him uh for that. Uh so you know, and that was last week's matchups. We'll just run down this upcoming week's matchup here. We're running a little short on time. Uh, starting out tomorrow night, Jets, Patriots. I got the Patriots all the way for this one.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:52

Yeah, that's not an that's not exactly a stretch there. No. Jets are not gonna put up much of a fight there. Moving on to the Monday morning game from Madrid. Sunday morning game. Sunday morning, sorry.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:06

From Madrid. I'm taking the Dolphins all the way. We can't stop shit.

SPEAKER_00 1:34:10

Oh, you you don't have faith in your commanders?

SPEAKER_01 1:34:12

No, I'm taking the Dolphins. Okay, you heard it here. That's right. I'm taking the Dolphins because we can't stop the run, we can't stop the pass, and we also cannot throw a pass.

SPEAKER_00 1:34:24

So kicking off the Sunday slate of games in the afternoon, we have Panthers Falcons, which, you know, if anything, if the last game was any tell of how the Panthers will play, they'll beat the bricks off these Falcons.

SPEAKER_01 1:34:38

You know, whenever I hear the term go birds, I always say, you know, the Falcons really are an up-and-coming team. Uh, I agree with you, because I know go birds is a Philly thing. So I I love to piss them off. Oh Lord. I'd be like, you know what? The fat or I'll be like the Eagles or the Seahawks. Well, you know what? Yeah, the Seahawks really are up and coming.

SPEAKER_00 1:34:58

So moving on to two teams that took a loss last week but really need to get on the winning side of football. Tiebreaker. That should be a spicy matchup right there.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:11

If the Bucket the Buccaneers, yeah, if they get some of their players back, I know they'll have um Bucky back. Uh K Dotten has been filling in. They got it, they got Buka back last week. So, you know, we'll see what happens. You know, the Buccaneers can get their offense going. I think we have an explosive matchup there.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:30

Yeah, if the Bills can get their run game going against them, they'll be a force. But moving on to the next game, we have the Chargers and Jaguars. I see Chargers all day in this one.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:42

I see Chargers here, but they need to be careful. If the Jaguars show up, they could have some trouble there. Yeah, we do remember when the Jacksonville Jaguars knocked them out the playoffs. Yep. And here we have the Bears and the Vikings.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:54

Honestly, bro, I know the Vikings are trying to figure it out, but I think the Bears are divisional, divisional matchup. You can never really, especially in this division, you can never really tell, even when the teams are bad in that division, which mind you, I mean, they're not that far back from them. They're not that yeah, they're six and three, Vikings are four and five. They beat them in this game, then they're five and five.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:17

I just think the Bears are red hot, and I I even think that the the Packers are fledgling a little bit. I even think the Bears can overtake the Packers.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:25

But this is this is in the Vikings house, so they're gonna have to go back to the street.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:30

So they're playing, so they're playing indoor instead of outdoor, which should be even easier.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:34

Yeah, easier for the for the Vikings. For the Bears.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:38

Nah. Anyway, uh I mean they won in the snow. I'm sure they can win in a nice uh temperature climate-controlled.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:47

So Packers are gonna get the game against the Giants. So we'll see if Jameis Winston can fare against the uh defense of the the Packers.

SPEAKER_01 1:36:57

I'm taking the Packers here.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:59

Look, if you play in the IDP league and you know Jameis Winston is going against the Packers defense, I'm just I'm just saying the man was 30 for 30, so you might get some points. You might. Uh and then here we have the Bengals and the Steelers. Again, divisional matchup. Remember, this the last time they played, it was points galore. They just started trading back and forth for a little while.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:24

Yeah, it was it was a hot ticket matchup. Uh I don't know. I think Steelers have no run game. Chase Bound's been running well since Flacco's been under center. Oh, I I think the Bengals are gonna edge them out here.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:38

I think so too. Moving on to Texans and Titans, the Twitter the divisional game there, but I think for sure we're gonna wind up with the Texans coming away with the win on Texans.

SPEAKER_01 1:37:52

This is almost a classic matchup because the Titans are like the classic Texans, even though the Texans are the new Houston Oilers.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:00

Yeah, the Titans were the Houston Oilers until they moved to Tennessee. I take the Texans in that matchup. Yeah, Texans Cardinals.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:06

I think they got that. They played hard this last week. I think they're gonna keep it rolling.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:09

So Niners Cardinals is the next game.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:12

Which, by the way, Cards Harrison is out versus 49ers due to appendicitis.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:18

Yeah. You mean Marv Marvin Harrison Sr. Yep or Jr. Yeah, Marvin is retired.

SPEAKER_01 1:38:25

Yeah, Marvin Harrison Jr. is out due to appendicitis, which is kind of random, but I hope I wish him a quick recovery. I know he'll recover at some point.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:33

Yeah, that's not that's not all they have. I mean, there's there's quite a few players for them that's gonna be out um beyond just Harrison. Uh they also announced that Mac Wilson Jr. is going to miss the game because of a rib injury suffered against against the uh Seahawks last week. Yep. And linebacker Braun Browning is gonna be out because of concussion protocol. And receiver Simeon. How do you say that one? Sime Fijoko. He's gonna be out. Zay Jones is starting his IR, so he's gonna be out four weeks. So yeah, they're they're down quite a number of players, and that's just a brief rundown of some of them.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:28

Every team's down like 10 to 12 people, if not more. And speaking of the Seahawks, we have seven and two Seahawks versus seven and two Rams. I think the Seahawks can edge the Rams out here.

SPEAKER_00 1:39:39

That has to be the best game for the late look pairing.

SPEAKER_01 1:39:44

The Rams are going to have to keep track with Seahawks. The Seahawks are gonna score every possession, okay?

SPEAKER_00 1:39:51

I don't think the Rams have played a team that is fast as the Seahawks are. Yeah, the the Seahawks are the Rams are gonna get a rude awakening. This might turn into one of those low-scoring games where the final win is like, you know, 16 to 13 or something like that.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:07

I don't know. They they better be careful because they already had a boomer and Jackson Smith Jibba, and now they just picked up Shaheed, who they're implementing into the offense. And you know, they have a couple other pieces. I just think JSN is an absolute monster. I regret trading him in fantasy football. His number, his numbers are showing that. Yeah, I I mean, like I said, I traded him in fantasy football and I regret it immensely. In the offseason, because I didn't think he was gonna do anything. Well, they struggled behind DK, then all that shit happened.

SPEAKER_00 1:40:38

So another divisional matchup between the Ravens and Browns next. So uh I'm feeling Ravens on that one.

SPEAKER_01 1:40:46

As long as Lamar Jackson's under center, I'm taking the Ravens, brother. El Gato stays.

SPEAKER_00 1:40:50

So we have Chiefs, Broncos is the next matchup, and this is a crucial matchup for the Broncos because if they can get this win in their house over the Chiefs, this will put them at 9-2 and push the Chiefs to five and five, pretty much eliminating their chances of trying to win the division.

SPEAKER_01 1:41:09

And again, getting that record for the most consecutive wins in consecutive days.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:13

Yeah, so it has multiple meanings behind it. I think but it's very crucial for them to get this win for the Chiefs because if they want to keep pace with the Broncos and the Chargers and keep themselves alive, because they've already they've already lost to the Chargers. And I believe I believe didn't they lose to the Broncos too? The Chiefs? No. No, the Broncos lost to the Chargers.

SPEAKER_01 1:41:41

The Chiefs lost to the Chargers in game one. Yeah. So the Chiefs? Yeah, that was in Spain or Mexico. Anyways, the very first game of the year. It was the very first game. But I like I like the Broncos to get this. I know the Chiefs are trying to find their footing, but I just think the Broncos, uh, just like the Seahawks, they're they're hot, man. I think they're just gonna keep on rolling. Um I think it'll be a competitive matchup, but I think the Broncos get the win here. They're just a more complete team to me right now, which is weird to say, given it's the Chiefs.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:11

Right. So Sunday night football, we have the Lions and the Eagles. Another good matchup, in my opinion. Yeah, I'm taking the Lions. Even though I hate them. Why would you hate them? You hate them more than you hate the Eagles?

SPEAKER_01 1:42:27

No, that's just why I'm taking the Lions.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:30

Oh, okay. Okay, yeah. Okay, well, I want to see the Lions I want to see the Lions beat the Eagles as well.

SPEAKER_01 1:42:37

Doesn't mean that'll happen, but doesn't mean it, but I I think that the Lions have a more high-powered offense than the Eagles do.

SPEAKER_00 1:42:44

And how about this Monday night game? Who cares? Cowboys and Raiders. I like the Raiders.

SPEAKER_01 1:42:51

I like the Raiders who have two wins all season to get the win against the Cowboys. Wouldn't that be something? That would be. Now the Cowboys are weird, right? Because they actually have a very explosive offense, but they're only 3-5-1. But their defense is horrid, uh, which is probably a big contributor to their record. Uh, if the Raiders can score, if the Raiders can outscore the Cowboys, which I know everybody's laughing right now, but if the Raiders can outscore the Cowboys, I think the Raiders can get this win.

SPEAKER_00 1:43:22

Well, remember their quarterback last week, Gino, was getting was limping around the field. So he wasn't doing he was hurt. He might still be rolling into this week hurt. Look, Pete Carroll will get in there and throw passes himself, okay?

SPEAKER_01 1:43:36

Now I'm sure smacking that gum the whole way. That's right, and hitting them targets all day long. Uh any bold predictions before we close this thing out, Mike? Uh no. Not really. Yeah, I don't have any either. Like I said, my boldest prediction is that the the Broncos will knock off the Chiefs. Um, sending the Chiefs into an uncontrolled downward spiral. Um, and you know, here we are at the end of the show, everybody. Uh I'd like to go ahead and thank our sponsors and partners once again, Body by D Jim, Solace Outfitters, and the Giving Tree Chiropractic. Thank you everybody for joining us. Once again, a happy belated Veterans Day. I'm Brian with an I. And I'm Mike. We are two for the win. Thanks, everybody.