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God-bless football, Billy Gill.

God-blessed football, Mike Golec.

God-bless football, Mike Yee.

And God-bless football, to Stugas. You guys were so throwed off by Billy not wearing a hat today. I didn't recognize that.

I completely didn't recognize him. I'm so used to the hat.

And glasses. I know. Wow.

What's happening today? Well, I don't want to retell you because I told them what happened. That's why I asked. It's a long story, okay? There's a leak in.

My house.

It's the abbreviated version. There's a leak in my house in my refrigerator. My refrigerator was broken. I had a refrigerator repair person come. I had to put my dogs away in a room as a result of that. Then I went and I had to get my daughter. They fixed the refrigerator, forgot that my dogs were in the room. My dogs ate my glasses, so here I am with contacts.

I mean, very simple to say the dogs ate my glasses. -that's it. Because anybody who has dogs, I got three. My glasses have been eaten a couple of times by my dogs with no other story attached outside. I just left my glasses in the wrong spot at the wrong time.

And the.

Dog ate them, right? I like.

The idea.

You're a handsome guy, but it's a little jarring to see.

It.

Is. It's like.

Seeing a poodle.

That's shaved.

It's weird. So my dogs are actually both doodles and they are shaved now, too, so full circle.

There you go. There you go.

I'm with you every day. It's strange. You're not wearing a hat.

I'm.

Sorry, yeah.

I can get fake glasses if you want just to make you guys more comfortable. No, no, no.

You're good, Billy.

Either than that, you can just X out your video and just not.

See at all. How do I do that?

Let me see. You're looking right now. Mike, do you have a game this weekend? Are you calling a game this weekend?

I will be in L. A. Calling Bears at Charger. Listen, I thought it might get flexed out. It did not. And a lot because maybe of Justin Fields, but he's doubtful still as in practice, so we get more Tyson Baygent, who has a great storyline of his dad being an arm wrestling world champion. And saying that if he wasn't playing football, he would be a CrossFit fiend and his body would be ripped. It's just great stuff to talk about. But in all honesty, whoever heard of him or his college before he got into the game, he had to be, from a sports situation, the most Googled person when he went into the game, when Justin Fields got hurt to say, Who is that? Then when you found out who he was, go, What the hell? And where the hell is Shepherd University? Which we now know is in West Virginia. Kudos to that dude who said, If I don't have the senior bowl to show off my wares... By the way, he holds the NCAA record for 159 career touchdown passes. But still, we had no idea who he was, and here he is, maybe with his second start in the NFL.

Kudos to him. Harlan Hill trophy.

Winner, Mike. He's a super major man.

There you go. Yeah, Harlan Hill, award winner. You're right, D-Division 2 equivalent of the Heisman. So we're all done, Billy.

But here's our concern for you, Mike, and I feel comfortable speaking on everyone's behalf. After you tell that story and the arm wrestling story- Where do you go? -then you have three and a half quarters of nothing.

Listen, you hope for a good game. Listen, the bears have been playing pretty well. The Chargers are just that team you expect more of and you don't get just yet. I don't know what to expect out there. I really, really don't. Again, they can start flexing these Sunday night games, but a lot of it is, what are you going to flex to? Depending on other games. They are keeping this game. Listen, I call them NFL game. I don't care. I get to go out to L. A. I'll hang out with Mike, stay at his place again. Nice enough, he lets me sleep in the bed and he sleeps on the couch, which is not nice to do. What a great son. Then I'll go do our show from his house there or his apartment.

Mike, if you want, I can offer you my dog, refrigerator, glasses story that you can tell us your own, free of charge.

Yeah, I appreciate that. But I'll probably pass and make up a story of my own somehow.

Mike is hoping he never has to get to the arm wrestling stuff. He just hopes it's a close game.

That's what you're.

Talking about.

It's exactly right. That's the thing about preparing for a game, whether it's college or pro, you don't use 60-70% of the things you have, but you have to have them just in case you need them. A lot of times, I'm just done with the game. I'm like, Damn, didn't get to so much. But you hope it's that way because then it was a good game and you never got to get to that stuff.

Now, another thing, Mike, that you have been hoping not to get to, and we have avoided for weeks now, but the day is here. We have our first BCF of the season that we're going to unleash on you shortly. Very exciting. Yeah.

Today's the day.

Very exciting.

Before we get to that, Mike, though, you don't seem excited. You don't.

Seem like, Listen, people think I'm I'm playing a role by acting like I'm not excited.

I.

Hate this thing. Why? I hate it.

I haven't even heard it yet.

The most clever thing is the long lines you guys come up with of the letters to words. Right. It's the best thing about this thing. Okay. But my God. Just make it stop.

Sorry in advance, Mike, but it's coming at you. Hey, you like what I did there. Thank you so much. Well done.

Well.

Done. Mike, let's go over a couple of big games this weekend. It's a slow weekend in college football. There are two big games. I'd like your thoughts on here. Let's start with Oregon in Utah. What do you think there?

Well, I mean, this is one that Oregon... We keep talking about the Pac-12 and how they end up beating up themselves. Oregon has got to continue on to get another shot at Washington for the Pac-12. We're looking at basically two rematches in the Pac-12 and in the Big 12: Oklahoma, Texas, Oregon, and Washington. Utah is known for their defense, cameraizing, not coming back this year. We thought he was going to come back from Utah, the quarterback who blew his knee out in the Rose Bowl last year. Three weeks ago, we started hearing he's coming back. He's coming back. Now we shut down for the year. Utah always known for their tough defense, so that's the big test here. Not a great offense for Utah, but always known for the tough defense. Can you slow down this Oregon offense? Bow Nicks, they're only lost obviously to Washington. Bow Nicks has not been sacked a lot this year, so that's the matchup here. I don't believe that Utah has enough here to beat them. I think it's what? It's like a six-and-a-half point spread. I do like Oregon in this one. I just think too much is going to be put on that Utah defense and for a long, a whole game, that's tough to keep going for the whole game.

I like Oregon here.

Do you get Florida any shot against Georgia? No. No? Wow. You shut me down quick.

I know Brock Bowers is out. I get it. We'll see when he comes back and how much time he misses. No, I really don't. I just don't see Florida able to hang here at all. Georgia has started to look more and more like the top team in the country, then Michigan, and then everybody else, quite honestly, is where we're at. Even though now everybody throwing darts at Michigan saying the only reason they're winning is because of their sign stealing and such. But I just don't think Florida, even though you get geeked up for a game like this, even without Brock Bowers, I don't think they have nearly enough to contend with Georgia for the full game. This is a big spread. It's like 14 and a half. Don't know if I'd go the full spread on this because it's that rivalry game, but I could see it getting away from Florida. But yeah, I'd like Georgia a lot in.

This game. You seem to think the Michigan thing, even if guilty, you seem to think it's not a big deal.

We had Eli Drinkowitz, the Coach of Missouri, who they have a buy this week, and next week they're going to be Georgia.

They're good, Mike. Yeah.

That could be for the East, right? Yeah. In the SEC, if they could knock them off, they would take the lead there because they have the head-to-head. But we'll see. You had Deion Sanders come out and say, Hey, you could mail somebody the game plan, but you still have to execute it and beat them. That's true, but it certainly helps when you have the advantage of knowing what the signals are. As the coach Eli said from Missouri, Why wouldn't it be an advantage when everybody tries to do it? Michigan is not alone in this. It's just a matter of where you are in line stepping to do it. Whether it's right at the line of illegal or you've crossed the line of illegal or not, everybody tries to do something that gives them an advantage or a perceived advantage. There is an advantage to knowing the signals. Again, you still have to beat the guy across from you. But let me tell you what, if you know a play is coming like a sweep, I guarantee you your linebackers aren't getting cut off by the backers. Now, the point here is what's going to happen?

The NCA moves at a snare's pace, so we'll hear about this in 2026. Now, what can happen here? I believe the Big Ten, if they want to get involved, I believe their two ways of punishment are a fine, which who gives a shit about. You can have suspensions. Now, what would really hurt Michigan is your ban from postseason play. Now you're screwed in the Big Ten championship game and being in the playoffs. That would be a hell of a punishment. There's no way the NCA is coming down with that between now and the end of this year. No shot. Even if you get video, like they say there's going to be video of this guy, Connor Stallions, typing this. But then it's going to be, well, Michigan Coach, they're going to say, We knew nothing about it. He did it on his own. It's going to be, He said, he said. There's no way anything's going to be figured out here. All that's going to happen is like Spygait with the Patriots is, We feel you won underhandedly, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. At the end of the day, who cares? Who cares? If they go on and they win a title outside of there's going to be people that say, Oh, they won it underhandly, they're not going to care one bit.

Don't care. Then like I said, just like happened at USC years ago, where the NCA years later said, Hey, Reggie Bush, we know you were the best player in college football. Everybody knew you were the best player in college football, but give us that trophy back that says you were the best player in college football.

Who cares? I like the idea of this smoking gun video that's going to shock the world. And it's like, Yeah, that's what the sideline looks like. Yeah, okay.

Yeah, there's guys giving signals and we take them. And now we learn this guy, Connor Sallins, has written a 500-page... He calls it, or people call it a manifesto. But to be a manifesto, as we found out on Gojo and Golec, has to be public or out to the public, and this was not. So really, it's this guy's diary.

I like the idea of people doing deep dives into this manifesto and in the middle of it, he just has ideas of how to overthrow the government. It's like, Whoa, buddy, just take the sidelines. We don't need all this.

All right, Mike, your favorite segment, it's that time. It is coming up next. We reveal our first BCS rankings of the year to Mike Golec. Billy, I'm concerned. We haven't started the segment yet, and Golec is already shaking his head.

Okay, guys, but we're starting this with very bad energy. If we come out and we tell Mike, Mike, this is going to be great, I think he trusts us.

No, I don't. I've seen this before. This song and dance has been done before. What do you mean? And I mock it every single time. What have you given me yet to make it think it's going to be any different?

Well, it's a new year. New year, new us.

New year, new you.

Are you suggesting we don't take this thing very seriously? Because we do. Billy and I were meeting, and Chris as well, at a meeting yesterday at Mikey. There's a committee. Well, Mikey was on Zoom, but we met.

No, the serious part of it is getting your words with the letters done and make that sound cool because that's the best part of this thing. Your rankings suck.

Well, you haven't heard them yet. It's impossible to know.

Give us a chance. I'm sorry. You know what? You're right. I'll wait to hear it before I tell you that it's not. Okay.

All right, let's get to it, Billy. I have a question about Florida State. We'll see how this goes, and I'll ask it after.

Yeah, maybe they're in there. You never know.

Okay, all right, I'll ask it after. But let's start here. What are we doing here? We're going.

O-l-i first. No, we always start with number one. You know what?

I am rusty. You are right. Number one, I have to get to it. I forgot.

That.

Too. I was like, You were definitely starting at the bottom. You were on the second page. Okay, wait.

Okay, so since everyone's a little bit rusty here, let's get on the same page here.

Thank you, Billy.

God bless football. We always start with number one, and as you guys know, our playoff is six teams. So we expanded before expansion was a thing.

You guys are ahead of the game there.

Exactly. And we have been for years, correct? So number one, Mike, in the in this year's first BCS standings, Air Force 7.0 out of the Mountain West, Mike, they lead the country in R, W, A, B, Red, White, and Blue. How about that?

Do you disagree, Mike?

I.

Will never say anything bad about one of our armed forces schools that I've played against many, many times. I'm just going to let this one pass.

That's not all they're leading. They also lead the country, Mike, in T-U-S-O-A, the United States of America.

Yeah, about that. So while they are not the number one team in the country, I will not argue this point because of who they are.

They are not done. They also lead the country in C, courage, right?

That's right. Yeah. I cannot debate anything you have said there, and I will not because I will not go down that road.

Yeah, one more important metric. -kudos to you. Yeah, one more important. Perhaps the most important metric, T-Y-F-Y-S. Thank you for your service. You tell them, Mike, Go ahead and tell them, Mike. I dare you. Go ahead and tell them, Mike. I dare you.

No, fine. Fine by me for you guys' rankings to put them.

Number one. Thank you. Undefeated, though. Go ahead, Chris. Number two.

Number two, not a shock here, out of the big 12, six and one record, we have Texas. We, of course, have Texas up there because they lead the league in TDIAA. They did it against Alabama. That's right. They've alsoalso very... Some say leading the country also in this AIJAPA, Arch is just.

A play away. He's got me, Mike. Watch out.

I like how you said this is no surprise. No surprise. You put them ahead of seven other undefeated teams. Who have they?

Who have they? Who have they? Who have they? Who have they?

Who have they? I'm in a big surprise. I'm in a big surprise. At least with Air Force, they're undefeated. Yes, right. You put a one-lost team ahead of seven other.

Undefeated teams. Those have yet to do it against Alabama. It's pretty simple, Mike.

Let's see how this plays out, Mike.

Are you guys surprised that Arch Manning isn't the guy?

Yes. Well, that's a discussion.

For another day.

That's why.

They're so high, Mike. No, no, no, no.

Okay, he is just a play away. You're right about that. You're right about that.

He was two plays.

Away before. For those wondering, Mylik Murphy will get the start for today.

All right, Mike, who cares? We don't factor that into the.

Rankings, Mike. Let's keep.

Things moving here. Two plays away and now he's a lot of.

Teams to get to. Number three in the initial BCS this season, Mike, seven and one in the SEC, Alabama. Oh, God. Very strong, STCETTAS, S-O-S-U. Somehow they've convinced everyone that they're some scrappy underdog. Also, Mike, S-H-S-W-S-M-E-U-W-A, somehow, some way, Sabin might end up with Arch.

Yeah, transfer away.

I actually like that one.

You like that word? You like.

That word? Amazingly enough. Now, while I would not put them number three because now you have now put two won-lost teams ahead of seven other -outside the box, Mike. Okay. The thought of how they are flying under the radar, which is stunning for Alabama, to be able to do, but they are just under the radar. Next thing you know, they're facing Georgia in the STC title game.

-stc, TTIA, S-O-S-U.

-that's the point. How healthy is Brock Bowers the best player in the country?

I think I have a solution to this, Mike. I think that you like this, but you're not 100 % on board with the numbers. So if you'd like, you can be part of our committee. Yeah, you should be. And then you can help out with this.

No.

Okay, just give it a little thinksy and we'll move on to number four.

All right. I thought about it and no.

Okay, good. We'll think about it over the weekend and get back to us again. Yeah, give it a long weekend. It's not sure what weekend, but... Mikey A, number four, please.

Well, listen.

Mike is right we.

Didn't.

Have too many undefeated.

Well, now we.

Bring in seven and a out.

Of the SCC Georgia.

And they, of course, lead the League in DIAA, not to be.

Confused with.

Tdiaa, do it against Alabama. Right. Well, you all said.

Yeah.

Don't forget.

They.

Also TMSB.

They missed Stetson, Beckhoff. Oh, they do. They do. They do.

They're the champion.

They lead the.

Nation in that. Mike, they lead the nation in missing Stetson, Bennett.

Tmsb.

They have won the last two national titles. Why is Alabama worried to them now?

Well, every year is different. Yeah, every year is a different season, Mike. Come on.

Yeah, what's that? Bmsb.

That's exactly. Well, listen, I'm glad I'm happy that the number one team in the country at least showed up in your top six.

Right. Yeah.

Number one is Air Force, Mike. Yeah, number.

Five is number five. Who's number five? I know I said they showed up in your top six. I know they're not.

Number three. Number five is Michigan, six and eight, no, excuse me, out of the big ten, Mike, another undefeated team. Hopefully that will make you happy. They lead the country in F. T. W. E. G, first team to win eight games. Wow. Yeah.

How about that? That's a.

Big one. First team to win eight. Little low.

Is there no comments about the alleged-Well, no.

They also lead the country in PS, play someone, and C, cheating.

Wouldn't that be low in the country in PS?

I thought that was courage.

Yeah, that was courage.

That was Air Force. C could.

Different things to different people.

So C+ for courage, C-minus for cheating.

Yeah, that's the typo here. They lead the League in C-minus.

Let me tell you. But saying they haven't played anybody, we're just waiting. They got two games: Penn State and Ohio State, and then they're going to throw it at Penn State against Ohio State. Penn State, God forbid the pass actually goes further than eight yards down the field. I don't see that being a trip up for them. It'll come down to that Ohio State game again.

-when they do that.

They'll lose the PS on there and then move up. -be them and.

They move them up. They'll lose the PS on there and.

Then- But not the C-minus. They'll never lose that. We'll see.

They're cheaters. So number.

Six, the number six team, the last team currently in.

Our playoff. Wow, exciting. We're all going to be exciting, Mike.

Mike, Golec said he wanted undefeated, we're giving him undefeated. Number seven and a no out of the Sunbelt, James Madison.

The dukes.

They lead the league in TC, PIT, PS, P-I-T, PSP-O-S-R-R.

Well said. Let me.

Do that again. They lead the league in TCPIT, PSPOS-P-O-S-R-R. They can't play in the postseason because.

Of some ridiculous rule. Yeah, not our postseason, though. It is stunning.

Thank you. I am with you because they've gone from FCS to FBS. This is our second year in transition, and you have to go through a two-year transition before you're eligible for postseason. That's the stupidest frigging rule, which is not shocking because it's the NCA that these guys can't play in the post-season. They have to wait for 41 bowl games to possibly pick teams and maybe not have enough teams before they could jump in to a bowl game. It's a joke. I love what they're doing. Obviously, number six, my God. I mean, you guys are living up to what you do, which is cool, but it is a horrific story that they're not eligible for the postseason.

Wait till he's finished.

The stats support your argument right there, Mike, because they're very strong in WN-GSFI. We're not going.

To stand for it. No, A-W-N.

Did you say it wrong again?

No, it's fine, Mike. I cleaned it up. He just is pointing out that you agree with - It's an analytic thing. -aw and GSFI. We're not going to stand for it. Yeah.

And they should. And they tried to actually appeal to the NCA, and much like the ridiculous Tess Walker situation in North Carolina, that took too long for him to be eligible. It's just another way to laugh at the NCA because James Madison deserves a play in the post this year.

By the way, also, they're very strong in S-B-M-L-T-F-B, some belt.

More like the fun belt.

Exactly.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm with you there. I like that.

Well done. Yeah. All right, O-L-I, Mike. These teams don't have a shot, okay? I know. I knew it was coming. I know I'd look it in and knock it on the.

Door, though, okay? That's exactly right. O-l-i. Now there's only one O-L-I this week, Mike. However, there's two O-OLIs, so we'll get to those in a moment. So the O-L-I team right now headed into this one, Oklahoma, 7-0 in the big 12. Mike, very strong T-S-U-U-C-F. They shut up UCF, arguably the most annoying fan base. But we can have that conversation later today. They're having a bad year, which helps us. It helps move them up in the rankings. That is UCF's having a bad year. So easy for them to lose some gains, but still, you don't want the UCF fan to be chirping a little bit. Very annoying. Also, they DWT-HTD. They did what they had to do. And again, SU-UCF. They shut up UCF. So that's why they're in the.

Ola right now. Yeah, you don't want to give UCF any chance to say they're the national champs.

That one rolled right off the screen. So, Mike, just so we're clear, yes, Billy, you nailed it. We're tired. Texas is in and the team that Texas lost to Oklahoma is out, okay? At the moment.

At the moment. It's early.

A lot of things.

I would expect nothing different from you guys.

Well, but if we're going to break the fourth wall here. We got to have some movement here, you know what I mean? We put things, and we'll tell you right up front, okay? Because that's something CFP won't tell you. We put people places where they could move. Exactly. We don't want to have the same list of everybody.

I'm jealous. I wanted to do.

This next one. I'm jealous. I'm very excited. The O-O-L-I, okay? This is knocking on the door, but they're walking up the pathway to the door. Right. Okay. So, Mike, yeah, go ahead. You have number eight?

Yeah, this is number eight. Yeah, out.

Of the pack, 12, also seven and a no, you got Washington. This comes from a Desmond Howard Analytics. They lead the League in BPE. That's Big Penix Energy.

Yeah, Big Penix Energy. Nice. Big Penix Energy. Come on, Mike. Come on, Mike. He hates us. He hates us.

It's official. Mike hates us.

Perhaps there is a way to get back in the good graces of one Mike Golec, Billy.

What could.

That be? With number nine, Mike, O-O-L-I, not knocking on the door, but walking up.

The pathway. The ring just went off.

Notre Dame. Notre Dame. Six and two. They lead the country, Mike. A W-J-W-T-M-Y-S-E-T-T-T-I-M-A-S. We just want to make you smile, even though this team is mediocre at best.

Whoa, mediocre at best. Hold on.

Wait, there's more. There's more.

There is a lot more.

They lead other things. A short one. T-g-t-b-u-s-c-o-y-f-m-f-m-b-o-t-t-h-w-w-s-t.

Mike knows what that is. Yeah, go ahead, Mike.

It's the most important message to me. Mike, what is it? It's the most important message. Mike, guys. Mike. Mike? Mike, yes. Wow. What do you mean?

Well, for those who don't.

Know, yeah.

I got nothing. Thank God they beat you at C or your friend Marcus Freeman might be on the hot seat. Whoa, who said that?

Oh, come on. Do not be saying Marcus in hot seat at this point.

Well, no, because.

They beat USC. No, but they might.

Because if not, I.

Have a metric.

He would not have been on the hot seat. But let me tell you.

What, I.

Was ecstatic when you can knock off USC when you're played at Notre Dame and knock a guy out of the Heisman who plays quarterback at USC. So that was a double barrel for me.

Check him out every day. Gojo and Golec 8:10 on the Draft Kings Network and wherever you get your podcast and Sunday Night Football. I'm sorry, Mike, the bear's in the charger. But he's on the game anyway.

Yeah, I'll try and make it fun. It is.

Time for this week's edition. It's Stu Yee-Gauds, presented by Draft Kings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL. Download the Draft Kings sportsbook app today. Use code Stu for a special offer when you sign up. That's code Stu, only at DraftKings sportsbook. College football week 9, Kansas plus 10 take it on Oklahoma, by and up to ten and a half. Oklahoma wins, Kansas covers. I'm taking Kansas, Oklahoma by six points over the Jayhawks. Bc minus 14 take it on Yukon, buy it down to 13.5. Bc wins by 17, they cover the spread. Florida take it on Georgia. Georgia wins, but Florida covers. They're plus 14 and a half. Georgia wins by six points on taking the Gators, they cover the spread. Utah plus six and a half taking on Oregon. By it up to seven points. Utah plus seven. Oregon wins. Utah covers Oregon by a field goal. Louisville take it on Duke. Louisville minus four over Duke. Louisville still has a ton to play for. They win. They beat the Blue Devils and they cover the spread. I'm taking Louisville by a touchdown. Minnesota, minus seven. They're taking on Michigan State. By it down to six and a half points.

Minnesota wins. They cover the spread. They win by 10 points. Nebraska, minus two and a half. Taking on Purdue, Nebraska wins. They cover the spread, the Corn Huskars by a touchdown. Tulane, minus 10 at Rice. Rice really bad. By it down to nine and a half. Tulane, sneaky good. I have Tulane to win and cover the spread. They win by 14 points on the road over Rice. Air Force, the number one team according to the BCS rankings. They are taking on Colorado State. At Colorado State, Air Force wins, and they cover Air Force by 17 points on the road. Colorado, plus 17 at UCLA. I have taken the Buffaloes here at Deion, Sanders. And how about this? 17-point underdogs. They win the game outright. How about that? Colorado, by a field goal. Take the Buffaloes. Oklahoma State, minus seven take it on Cincinnati, by it down to six and a half. Oklahoma State wins. They cover the spread. Oklahoma State by 10 points over Cincinnati. And finally, Oregon State, Arizona, minus three. Oregon State, by and down to two and a half. Oregon State wins. They cover the spread. Oregon State by six points on the road.

Nfl, week eight, Dolphins, minus nine take it on the Patriots. Dolphins win. They cover the spread. Dolphins by 17 points at home. Jacks minus two and a half at the Stealers. Jacks win. They cover Jacks by seven points on the road. The Texans minus three at Carolina, by a down to minus two and a half. The Texans win, and they cover the Texans by seven points on the road. Vikings take it on Green Bay. Vikings win and cover. Jordan Love, not good. Vikings, they win. They cover Vikings by seven points on the road. Dallas, minus six. Take it on the rams. Buy it down to five and a half. The Cowboys minus five and a half. They win. They cover the Cowboys by a touchdown. Seahawks minus four at home. Take it on the Browns. Buy it down a full point to three. Seahawks win, they cover the spread. They win by 10 points at home. Broncos, plus eight at Kansas City. This is dangerous. Kansas City wins the game. Broncos cover the spread. Kc wins by seven points on the road. Ravens, minus eight at the Cardinals. Cardinals, they are tanking. Ravens, they are getting hot.

Ravens win, they cover the spread. Ravens by 14 points on the road against Arizona. Bengals, plus three and a half take it on San Francisco. Buy it to four. Buy it to plus four. Bengals, they don't win the game. San Francisco does, but the cover the spread. I have the Niners by a point. The Chargers, Austin Echler, please win this game. Buy it down to eight. It's at eight and a half right now. By a town to eight, The Chargers. They better beat the bears by more than eight. The Chargers win by 17 points at home. Lions, minus eight take it on the Raiders. Bounce back game for Dan Campbell. Lions win. They cover the spread. The Lions by 14 points at home over the Raiders. Those are the picks, everyone. Good luck, everyone.

Billy, did you shave?

I did, yeah, and I have a contact. I'll start right there. I got a haircut too, but that's like, you know.

You just decided to go for the new man look, huh?

Well, I look like crap, so I decided to maybe a little bit.

Of an effort. Now don't be so hard, sir.

Come on now. Let me ask you a question, and I don't want to upset you. Do you shave your head by choice or are you follically.

Challenged up there? Yes, I shave it by choice because I don't want to be bullied about my hairline. -is it bad?

-oh, it's very bad. -it's not bad, Austin? You're a young man.

It's that bad. I was losing my hair at 16 is when it started. It just started right here. Now it's back in here, they're spotty. And so I can... You can tell there's a little spot right there. This is me without shaving a few days. You can see there's a little tint of hair back here, but it's nothing right here. I've just fully committed to the bald look.

I'm going to ask Billy and Mikey this first before Austin responds. Does Austin go to the barber or does the barber come to Austin's house? What do you think, Mikey?

Austin does it himself.

Oh, really? Austin takes his own head. There's no question.

Austin or his fiancé, I think, handle that, I think.

Yes, indeed. You just get the five blade razor, throw some shaving cream on in there in the shower, and then slick it back.

But if you went to a pro, it wouldn't be so patchy. That's all I'm saying. That's it.

Well, it's only patchy right now because it's growing in, okay? Unfortunately, it's not the choice that it's patchy.

So this is Damn Josh Kelly stealing money from your charity again, taking your touchdowns?

He did have a ripper. He did rip a long one. Good for this guy, man. He's been a great player and getting his opportunities, and he took advantage of that one, man, in which we needed... Someone needed to step up, make him play. We needed some more of those. But that's what we got this week for.

Is he your best friend on the team, Josh Kelly?

Best friend on the team? I actually would probably say that'd be my running back coach. We have a really tight connection just because I think we see the world through a similar lens as far as just really heavily focused on mental toughness, moving forward, and trying to just relentlessly grow yourself and become the best version of yourself. So I would say Derrick Foster is my guy.

Is it tough now, like a two and four? Is this a trying time for you guys? I mean, you have a winnable game coming up against the bears.

And obviously, you can't take it. Well, I.

Would say all games are winnable.

Yeah, you can't take -Especially your games, right?

And you can't just put down wins and losses based on the opponent. Anything can happen any given week, right? But two and four is tough, I would think, right?

Absolutely. If we would have projected our rating coming out, our schedule coming out, I would not have said we were gone two and four. You have these standards and these expectations, and obviously there's a reality which is what you play and what you do, and the consequences will be your record, whether it's good or bad. And we're sitting at two and four. And I've actually been in worse situations before, actually. One year, we started at 0 and 4, and ended up the season 9 and 7. And there's plenty other situations where teams have gone on a run. And so the thing is, in this league, regardless, even if you're out of the playoff, playoffs, we are far from that. We saw everything in front of us that we can go accomplish. Even if you're out of the playoffs, for me and my mindset, the only thing that matters is that I put the best product on the field because my livelihood is at stake. Win or lose the game, playoff, Super Bowl or not, I have to go out there and try to provide as much impact and value to this team so I can show other teams or my same team that, Hey, I deserve to...

We want this guy on the field. Regardless, if we're and 16 and it's the last game in the season, I'm still giving everything I possibly can because my livelihood is at stake. And so for us, that's the mindset. There's a standard that's held, and we go out about it every single day. And it's up to myself and other leaders on the team to hold that standard. And for us, there's a lot of media, especially when you're going through it and your team maybe isn't playing to an expectation. There's a lot of media that tries to penetrate in and stir it up. And is it a disbelief? Who do we point at? That's what media wants. Where can we put the drama? And it's like it's not that. It takes a unit to go out there and win games. It's a collective effort. And so that's where I would say our mental is going in as two and for us to just continue, Hey, we got to get back to work and continue to try to put the best product on the field that we possibly can because we know we got talent.

That's fascinating, Austin, because you're a Hall of Fame. You've been to Pro Bulls, you've been to the playoffs, you've led the NFL and touchdowns, you're going to the Hall of Fame, and yet you still feel like every week is an audition?

Well, okay, I appreciate the compliments. I still.

Got a.

Long.

Way to go. Facts, they're not compliments. Those are facts, Austin, Declare.

I still got a long way to go in those categories. But for me.

It's.

Non-negotiable. That is the standard. My livelihood is on the line. The trajectory of my life, my career, the finances, the marketing, all of these things, my integrity is on the line for me to continue to show up and play. That's what you have to be. That's your mindset. It has to be your mindset as a competitor at this level. And if it's not, you're going to be exposed. And for me, that's where I'm at. And it's not just in football, it's just in my life in general.

It's interesting that you say that because we were talking to Andrew Hawkins earlier this week who used to play for the Browns, and he was talking to us about the Sean Watson, and he was telling us a similar thing. For him, he was always the underdog. He always thrived on being the person that needed to prove something to someone. And then once you reach that point of financial stability, whatever, you get a big deal, you're sometimes in a strange situation. He was saying that he thinks that just Sean Watson finds himself in a situation like that where he was always beloved. Now he's the bad guy. He hasn't embraced that bad guy role. He has this big contract where his money is guaranteed. He's good no matter what, right? But then you lose some of that drive sometimes because that's what you've needed the whole time to get to where you are. And then once you have that stability and you have to stop proving it, something's just off for whatever reason, and it makes things tougher.

Well, I think it really depends on what is your driving factor. Why do you want to push yourself to a really high level and go through all the stress that we go through? Because if it is money and you get money, then yeah, you got it. But if it's to always become a better version of yourself, then it never ends. You never stop trying to prove and trying to expand your capabilities ever, even when you're done with football. And that's what drives me. So from my perspective with my situation, I will never in my foreseeable future be in a place mentally where I'm like, I don't have to keep proving myself. That's what I always have to do. That's what I look forward to doing, is going out there and proving myself. And so it just depends on, I think, what is your driving factor? Because for some people, it might be money. And there's a thing where you might not love football anymore and you might not care about it anymore. So you need to find something else to continue to help you drive. But I am very like, grounded in my principles, and so my principles drive me.

And I use football, I use businesses, I use podcasts, I use all these other aspects to perform those principles, which allows me to be in a space where I get to practice my mental toughness, pushing myself, trying to add value to these places, whether it's with my foundation and so on. And football is the main one that I have. But to me, I'm pushed by the principle of becoming a better version of yourself and trying to expand and make a bigger impact. And then I define success is how many lives you can actually impact in a positive and forward-looking way. And so when that drives me, it never ends. It's non-stop trying to just continue to put great value out there. And it can be overwhelming, but it puts me in a space where it makes me better at playing football, or it makes me a better football player as well.

I was just thinking, you know how most people have cheat days, right? I don't know if you have a cheat day in terms of diet or whatever, right? For you, it almost seems like I wonder if you have a stimulation cheat day, you know what I mean? Where you have once a week where you're not just trying to constantly better yourself and stay mental because it seems like you need mental stimulation. If he has a.

Day where he tries to make himself worse, yeah.

Well, not make yourself worse, but I feel like I wonder if.

He watches bad TV.

No, you just unplug where you're just like, Let me just recharge and not because it seems like we've gotten to know you a little bit over the past.

Two years.

It's exhausting. You just need to constantly be doing something just because you're so driven.

Yeah, actually, I've never really talked about this before, but I am in a position where I have my team around me and we'll set up days and it's non-stop. There's stuff on the calendar every single day between football, media, businesses, all of this stuff. And there'll be points where I'll crash. I'll just straight-up crash, where it's like my team doesn't hear from me in a couple of days. They know, Okay, let's just leave them alone. I'd be like, Hey, let's cancel the calls today. Let's push them dead to a few. And I'll just do nothing. I will just sit down, I watch a show, I'll play video games all day. This is usually during offseason, and I'll just straight-up crash. And it's like I just need to reset. And the funny thing is the way I reset in that way is when I crash is I get pissed off that I'm not doing stuff. I'm going to get mad at myself. I'm like, Okay.

That's a good way to relax, Austin.

I get burnt out. I'm like, Okay, I need to stop. And then I get pissed off that I'm not doing stuff. I'm like, Okay, jumpstart. Let's go. And we'll go for another few weeks, a couple of months, and put it back and turn it back on. And that's where my energy gets rejuvenated. But there's definitely times where I'm just like, You know what? I'm over it today. I'm not doing this.

But in the spirit of making... Because you come across as a person who is not afraid to talk about your feelings and speak them out loud, do you see a sports psychologist? Because I think for me, the psychology of sports is fascinating. My daughter has gone through some of it, and so I'm wondering, do you even see a sports psychologist? Do you talk about this stuff with anyone professionally?

No, I never even thought about it. I talked about it with my fiancé. That's why I said, Derrick Foster, too, one of my best friends on the team, I talk about him. Talked to him. I talked to him about this stuff, too. I guess there's someone in my space where I can talk about this mindset stuff.

But to Billy's earlier point, do you ever wake up on a Monday and say, Fuck this, man. I don't want to go through this again. Enough of this. My body hurts.

What are you doing for? I was actually thinking on these days that you're crashing, you look in the mirror and you're eating a chocolate chip and you're like, You fat piece of shit. You're gross.

And then you're.

Motivated.

To start again. In that concept, that's the way it is. It's like, why are you being worthless with your time right now? You are not helping yourself. You don't need to be doing this. And I get mad at myself as I go through those days, but it helps me. It does help me. And so the psychiatrist, no, I haven't thought about that.

I want Austin to think of this as a safe space, so if anything's ever bothering him, feel free to tell us.

Look, there is no safe space when it comes to the media space.

Well, just pretend that no one's watching. If you ever think.

Like I can.

Get you in trouble. No, Austin, this is a safe place. Listen, we have you on every single week. And if we really wanted to, we tried to fraud you to say your coach should be fired or something. We don't do that to you. We're here for you.

Thank you. Safe space. Brandon, Staley's got to go.

We got these guys that come in and try to poke around. Like I said, they try to turn us into a reality TV show. Honestly, I don't give a damn about my feelings. I don't care whether I like something or I don't. If I got a job to do, guess what I got to do? My job is to help win games. I got to worry about me. I'm not worried about who likes who and all this bullshit. I'm trying to get out here and win freaking football games and try to make... So I am doing the best to help that. It's my job to make Brandon Staley look good. And so don't come about me. I don't want to hear about people's feelings and stuff like that because we don't give a damn inside of our building, inside of our locker room. It doesn't matter to us because we have a job to do. And so that's where people come in and people are like, Oh, what about this guy? How do you feel about this? Are you frustrated? Yeah, damn sure we're frustrated because we're trying to win games and we didn't win. I appreciate you guys keeping.

It going. I think all Billy is saying is moving forward here. We are friends. We're here for you. We're here to listen. If you want to sit on the couch, lay on the couch next week and just start venting to us, feel free to do.

It, okay? Anything, relationship advice, we're here for you. -we're here for you. -exactly, we're here.

For you. We've lived, Austin, and I'm an old man.

Oh, man. I'm sure we can definitely get some good stories out of that and get some good insight, some interesting insight. I don't know if it'd.

Be good.

It won't be good, yeah. It won't be because we love you and we care about you. But please don't lose to the bears because I don't want to deal with you on the Tuesday.

After that. Yeah, look, I'm going to do everything. Every ounce of my body and my energy is going to not lose, is going to try not to lose to these guys.

Yes, absolutely. Austin, the trade.

Deadline is coming up. Is that something you guys even notice?

Or does anybody get.

Anxious about it.

Because their name is being whispered in the media and all that stuff?

I have no idea. No idea.

Well.

You're not. I don't know. It's one of those things where I waste zero ounces of energy thinking about.

You're focused on controllables, right?

What else is there to focus on?

I know, but that's where they get off the beaten path, where they focus on the uncontrollable stuff and not on themselves and what they can do to get better, right?

I know. But here's the thing about me, and you guys see it and you guys know I have a maybe unhealthy, I don't know, but I have this burning desire to always continue to push forward in the realm that I am and in my avenue. And it's what's made me, it's how it's gotten to me, that's how I've got to this point in my life, and it's who I am. And so I can't change and I don't want to change. And so that's where we're talking about the uncontrollables. I get frustrated when people ask me about them because I'm just like, It doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter. Even though it makes good media for some people, if they can get a reaction. I don't care. I really don't care. All I care about is what is the job? What is the mission? How can I make it as best as I possibly can?

One last question on the way out here. Name the Bear's quarterback that you're facing this Sunday. I dare you.

I know he's like a guy from D2 that was undrafted and he ended up making the team. I don't know his name, though. Okay. I do know he's.

Come a long way.

I don't either.

I can appreciate that. Okay.

All right, man. Good luck to you. Let's get a W, okay? Let's get a W this week, so please. I want to get one against the gentle, boy. Yeah.

Well, that's like I said, every ounce of my energy this week, that's like every week, it's what it's going towards.

You're the best. You and Billy, you're kindred spirits, the two of you. It's amazing.

Appreciate it, man.

We love you, man. Anything about the charity on the way out here you want to promote?

Not as of now, but yeah, if you want to check out some of our projects that we have going on, we're about to renovate a new weightroom up in San Francisco. You can check it out at Austinecler. Com if you want to check it out there. Just continuing to put resources back in the community, as I said before, help people be a better version of themselves. So that is our mission.

All right, man. Hang in there. And listen, you're playing the bears, you're at home, you're in good shape, okay? So the season's not over as you know. Just hang in there, man. Hey, any.

Sunday off-season is far from over, man. What have we got? We've got double-digit games.

Yeah, we're rooting for you. Right up to the AFC Championship Game. Then we want you to lose because we want to call the Super Bowl with you. Just selfishly, we do.

We got some contradicting here, values here.

You know we're rooting for you. We appreciate you, man. We'll talk to you next week. Good luck against the bears. Billy.

Yes.

It's rare that I do this because you are an exceptional producer. You have me organized. You really do. You're great at telling me who we're talking to, when we're talking to them. But on this one, I have no idea who we're talking to and why we're doing it and where it's going to air. So what the hell are we doing right now?

We're picking some football games with Captain Lee from below deck. But I wasn't sure that you were going to be in on this and you're going to do this, so I brought in an expert to help us.

You did? Wow, an expert, right? Because you and I are not very versed. He's a captain of a ship, you're saying, right?

Yes, so I brought in an expert to help us do this today. Okay. Here we are, waiting for our expert.

There it is. This is our expert. Let me get out.

Of here. Ahoy, Lorentza. I'm going to let in Captain Lee. I am going to tell him, and I've told Stugart, you are our C-Captain expert.

I just love all things nautical, man. Give us your Bonafides, if you don't mind. Why are you the one? Why are you our experts?

I once went on a pirate boating excursion in Cancun.

Okay. So he's been on a boat. So there you go, Stuart.

I know where.

Port, Starbird, the bow is.

Jesus.

Okay.

All right.

Great. Hello, Captain Lee. How are you?

What's up, everybody?

Captain Lee, you look great. I got to be honest with you. You look younger than I do. How old are you, Captain Lee?

He's 74 next month.

A young 74, right?

Well, I hope so. Thank you.

Yeah. Captain, now my expertise, I've been on cruises and I've been on boats, obviously, but I'm not a boat expert. So we brought in our friend, Lorenzo, here, who is a nautical expert who's going to be helping us out with this. But you're also here to help us make football picks. I don't know how into football you are. I don't know your level of expertise on football, but the less you know, the better, honestly.

What I ought to fit right in. I know a little bit about it. I follow a few teams.

You're.

A Michigan man, right?

Yeah.

I find that.

The whole thing with Harbo, I find just like, Come on, guys.

Somebody- Feel free to say it's bullshit, Captain Lee.

It is bullshit.

Thank you.

Give me a fucking break.

Yes. Jesus.

I think back in the days with Bo Schembeckler and Woody Hayes.

Yeah.

They did just settle that at the middle of the field or some shit. There wouldn't have been any of this on the news or hitting the ESP and highlights.

Right. They would just punch it out, right?

Oh, yeah. No doubt in my mind.

Fist and cuffs. So you want Horbau to fight someone. Is that what you're saying?

No, I'm not saying that. I just think it's bullshit. It's football.

If.

Somebody knows that you're calling a blitz, do you think they're not going to prep for it and not use it if they know it? Fair point. If they can find it out however they find it out?

Now, let me ask you this question. What if it was Ryan Day, the Ohio State coach, then it would be cheating, correct?

Oh, absolutely.

Yeah. I love you, Captain.

Captain Lee, Ryan Day, we've asked directly, but we think that he's a liar. He claims that he does not dye his hair or his beard, but it is completely unnatural dark.

Yeah, you can tell that look. I've got a lot of friends that do that, and I'm just going like, What's wrong with you?

Well, they're not Silver Foxes like you, Captain Lee.

Suck it up and live with it.

Exactly. That's right. Right. It's the thud of the ocean.

It's the thud of the sea right here.

Captain Lee, you have a one-man show coming up in November. How do you prepare for a one-man show? And what should the fans of yours expect during your one-man show?

It's going to be in Vegas, and it's at the West Gate Resort and Casino. I know my script. I have a teleprompter in case I get lost. Or if, as my publicist likes to say, I start to get off a subject, which I have a tendency to do sometimes, and I'll just go up on my own, and she's back there going, Come on, come on, pick it up, pick it up. You can do this. And hitting my marks. I feel the same way about my one-man show when I go out on stage as I do when I'm taking a 200-foot yacht off the dock. I get this nervous feeling. There's knot in the pit of my stomach, and it's just there. The last time I did my show, I think I threw up twice before I could go on stage. Really? Yeah.

Captain Lee, when you were studying or training to be a captain, I can't imagine that you thought it would lead to you doing one-man shows in Las Vegas hosting couch talk with Captain Lee and Kate on Bravo, which you have to now watch all of the Housewives and comment on the weekly shows and happenings on Bravo and reality television?

That's.

Torture.

Is.

It really?

Which part is torture? Having to watch all the shows?

Generally, the first part of the five minutes of The Housewives, the first five minutes.

You're in.

The Bravo universe.

How is that? We have our sports fans. How are reality TV fans comparatively?

Just as... You might compare them to Philly fans.

Oh.

Yeah, yes.

Is your wife taking them back.

Which she's- You're at the Bravo-Con, and you're riding around a golf cart, and they start chasing it.

Really?

You just go like, You're Never in a million years would I dream I'd be here. But there I am, and they're chasing after it, and they want a picture, they want this, they want that. You can't stop because you've got a next event that you have to go to. Right. You're a busy guy. They're not trying to train you on you to be there.

They.

Have the sidewalks cordoned off when you walk from the hotel to your limo. So you get your driver, so you make sure you get there on time, and then they have security to make sure that you don't get a cost.

I was.

About to say, does the stud of the sea have detail? Do you get protection?

Yeah, I call them my handler.

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah, you're a.

Big star, Captain, that's why.

I don't know about all that. You're an officer.

Of the O. You are, yes, but you are.

Is your wife ever taken aback at these events when she sees all these people faunting after you? She's like, This guy won't even take out the trash at home. He's not that special?

Come on, I have taken out the trash.

Last time you did it, Captain. Come on, be honest.

Probably a month or so ago.

There you go.

I don't know, I think it's something about the way I don't do it right.

Were you excited when scandal of all kinds ofdecided a little bit too, because that took over the world for a little bit?

Yes, scandalval. What a.

Oh, my God. Captain, I want to make this weekly. Billy knows it. He knows I want to have you on weekly. I mean, you.

Are a bad man. Not a Tom Sandalw fan. Interesting. All right, Captain Lee, let's pick five games here before you get out of here. So the first game is Eagles at Commanders. The Commanders are a seven-point underdog.

I think that's being generous. Oh, okay. Wow. I think Philadelphia is just going to walk all over them.

Steamroll them, right?

I really do.

All right, the Patriots at the Dolphins. Dolphins are a nine-and-a-half point favorite against the Patriots.

Patriots always play as well. I'll take the dolphins and I'd give up the nine and a half if I had to, but I'd be more comfortable at seven.

Okay.

You buy it down.

I'm going to change the line for you, Captain Lee. I'm just going to say you have the Dolphins at minus seven.

I think the captain should give whatever lot he wants, Billy.

Yeah, that sounds fair. We'll do that. We'll do it that way. Okay, so the Bengo is at the 49, so five and a half point favorite, but you can change it if you'd like.

I don't know, Cincinnati and the Niners, where are they playing?

They're playing at San Francisco. Bangles have a bit of a slow start, and the 9ers had a rough loss this week.

But Captain, just so we're clear, if you like San Francisco, you can make it San Francisco plus 10. If you like the Bangles, you can make it plus 40. Whatever you want to do. -i don't know about that. -within reason, I mean. Yeah, within reason.

Plus 40. I think San Francisco is going to do it.

Okay, even. Right, even though.

Even? Okay, we'll put even. All right.

Just to pick them.

Okay, pick them. I'm going to pick them. Okay, perfect. Okay, the bears are at the charges. The Bear threat the charges and charges are at eight and a half point favorites at the moment.

Yeah, I'd buy that.

What?

Okay.

Chargers. Okay, even- Chargers are giving up eight and a half.

You want to leave it there?

Yeah, I think that's good.

Okay, perfect.

You don't need to. Oh, wow! Okay, all right, because we're giving you free points.

If you want. Are they playing in Chicago?

No, they're playing in Los Angeles.

In Los Angeles.

Oh, yeah, easy.

Easy. Okay. Are you a fan of Austin Echler at all, Captain Lee?

I don't recall the name.

Okay, perfect. Well, don't worry about him. Raiders at Lions. The Lions are eight-point favorites.

I like The Lions in that one.

Okay, perfect.

We'll.

Bounce back to that.

He really surprised me this year.

The Lions.

Yeah, I was looking at the records the other day and I was just like, Jesus, where the hell did this come from?

Right. Dan Campbell.

Dan Campbell looks like a guy who could be a good captain, right? What? Dan Campbell, Coach of the Lions, looks like he could run a tight ship as well.

Obviously, he's doing something right this year.

Right. Belichick looks like a guy, right? That would love a good boat ride?

I don't know if he'd enjoy anything.

Yeah, seems like.

A winner. He could have enjoyed winning Super Bowels.

Captain.

Lee, I'm thinking, I don't think that Belichick would be your vibe, but I feel like Andy Reed would be someone that you'd like to go out on a boat with.

He looks like he'd be a lot of fun.

Yeah, hesays he wears those Hawaiian shirts at those NFL coaches meetings every year. He seems like he's down for a good time.

Yeah. He can toss back a few and surprise you.

We'll see if we can make that happen. How about Mike Golec? Are you familiar with him?

Yeah. I don't know.

He's a bit of a bore.

Don't worry about him. It doesn't get me excited.

Yeah, same.

How about Chris Sims? Have you heard of him?

Chris Sims. Is that -.

Bill Sims's son? Bill Sims's son, yeah. Less accomplished son, yeah.

Yeah, don't know much about him. Now, Grontowski would be fun to hang out with.

Yeah. Right.

Chris and Gord.

He might even be a little bit too much.

Yeah. Not for you, Captain. You could handle anything. All right, Captain, we'll talk to you next week. What do you think?

Yeah, sure.

All right, great. All right. Bye. I love you.

I love it. Thanks, guys.

All right, anything you want to promote on the way out? Did we do a good enough job promoting for you?

Yeah, just catch Saldy wherever you get your podcast at. I think that's appropriately named, and I look forward to seeing everybody in Vegas.

All right, and we'll see you next week, Captain.

All right, buddy. Take care.

Bfd with Mike Florio, everyday on Peacock, the Unbutton podcast. A football night in America as well, Bear's charges.

I mean, it's not like a marquis match-up. We know that. I'm not trying to sugarcoat it. I do think it could be a good game. Whether people tune in to actually watch it, I know it's not going to make people's blood boil, but the chargers, their defense, you guys know it's not very good. Okay, and the one thing I'll say about the bears, Right? Bayesian did a good job last week. He is a natural throw with the football. I don't think they're going to ask him to do too much. The bears have, and they're finally healthy and I think got the right five up there, have a very big overpowering offensive line to where I do think they can pose some with the charges running the football and chewing up the clock to where I do think we could have a very entertaining, close football game on Sunday night. I'll say that much.

Is Howie Roseman the best GM in football right now?

Well, yeah, he is. I don't think there's any denying that. The moves.

He made- Wow, you didn't even hesitate, Chris. You did not even hesitate.

No. The moves he's made the last three or four years to set this team up the way it is extraordinary. Like I said, it won the most talented team in football, I think, throughout the last two years. And you look at it, it's young, it's not going anywhere. And not just like the most talented team in football, too. You guys have heard me wax, poetically. We're talking about an offensive line when it's totally healthy that you go, These offensive lines only come around every so often. The defensive line, the same thing. When you talk about the top-end talent and the depth behind it, you go, These are defensive lines that only special teams throughout the history of the NFL have, and they got both of them right now. That's why there are a handful and they could handle an offense like the Miami Dolphins. Then they got the speed at the right positions along with incredible size on both fronts.

Were you at all surprised that Dan Campbell was happy that his own team got his ass kicked?

Well, I bet you there was a feeling, right? Football players are humans. I bet you there was a feeling last week of, Hey, we've arrived sticking our chest out. We're a Super Bowl contender. We're that type of football team where, yeah, this will make everybody humble everybody, pay attention to little details again, start to realize that it ain't going to be easy on a week-to-week basis. We got to keep fighting, even though we're five and one. Now, off of that too, like Stugats, the Ravens are the real deal. I've been saying, I think I said it to you guys last week, but on my podcast the last few weeks, I've said, The Ravens, I knew they were four and two, but I just said, When they played their best, I look at them on film and go, That's as good as anybody in football. Now, they hadn't done it for a consistent four-quarter game, right? In London, they dominated the Titans and let them hang around and made some mistakes. The week before that, I think, was the Steeler's game, where they kicked the shit out of the Steelers and probably dropped three touchdown passes and about 180 yards worth of passes throughout the air.

That were really the difference in the football game. But they showed moments to me of doing what they did last weekend. They're a tough match-up for the Lions. I think they have the best coach, most creative defense in all of football. Now their offense line is healthy. Then they have an offense for the first time ever that I go, It's not only the run game, they can tie the play-action-pass game, and their creative and the drop-back-pass game, let alone with OBJ, Rashad Bateman, Mark Andrews, and Zay flowers, you go, Whoa, they got some firepower too, and Lamar is throwing the ball as good as anybody in the game right now.

Is Jordan love good?

I'm not ready to say that yet. I'm not. No, he's definitely holding them back.

Chris, I'm not certain he's good.

That's why I'm asking. No, I think it's fair. I don't want to judge too harshly here. It's still early. But what I would say is for a guy that's in year four, and I know it's early and he hasn't played a lot, I would have expected him to be further along than what he is right now. Yes, 100 %. And I think they knew there was going to be an adjustment period. I get that. I think they thought they were going to be able to run the ball a little bit better than what they do. They've had some injuries at the receiver and haven't been the same there. And so that hurt them a little bit. But I think that they probably expected more to Jordan Love at this point. And I think Jordan Love at this point is holding them back in the fact that they don't trust them. So they have the training wheels on some as far as the offensive plays and schemes and things they're doing on that side of the ball.

That four-year stuff you just said is interesting because he hasn't played until this year, but he had three years to learn under Aaron Rogers, learn that system. And yet it looks like guys like C. J. Straub look more NFL-ready than Jordan Love.

That's the thing. And again, I didn't expect them to come out and light the world on fire, right? Even when Aaron Rogers sat for a few years and took over for Brett Farb, it wasn't perfect, but it was good. And you were going, Oh, this is a guy that's good, and he just got to play a little bit. But they didn't have to curtail the offense or do anything. He just needed to play a little bit. Right now with Jordan Love, though, it's more than that. It's more than that. It's like you're go, whoa, what was he seeing there? And whoa, why did he throw that type of ball there? Then like I said, I think when you start to do and make decisions where the head coach is like, Oh, crap, I don't know what my quarterback is doing out there. He starts to get scared because his ass is on the line now, and he starts to call, Let me call a basic play that I know he knows how to read it and understands it. And of course, as we know, when you're week seven or six in the NFL or whatever, those basic plays, every team and football has seen them a thousand times by now, and they don't work as effectively as they did in training camp, preseason, or back in OTAs.

P. F. E. With Mike Florio, everyday on Peacock, the Unbutton podcast, football night in America, Sunday Night Football, bears in charges, are the chargers the most confusing NFL team you've ever witnessed?

Well, they're frustrating in the sense that their defense has more talent than what they do on the football field. That's where it is. That's what bothers me. I mean, to be the 31st defense in football, and we all can sit here and rattle off six, seven, eight guys in their defense where you go, Those are pretty good players. You shouldn't be the 31st ranked defense in football with that group right there. So that's where that's frustrating. The offense, they don't run the ball very good. The offense is good. It's not great. I don't look at it and go, Oh, wow, they're reinventing the wheel over here with the chargers offense. Then the other thing I'll throw on top of that is their only guy that scared you that could separate and make big plays down the field was Mike Williams, and he's not there anymore. Kenan Williams is still a good player, I mean, Kenan-Allen, excuse me, but he's more living in the 8-10-yard range. Let me work over the middle. I'm a good route runner, and I got some size, and I can do that. He's not putting the fear of God in the defense.

It's like, We got a double Kenan-Allen, or he's going to run for a 70-yard bomb over us, right? That's not happening. They don't have separation receivers. They have a lot of big receivers where they go, Hey, if you throw it high, my guy will get it, or even if he's covered and you put it in the right spot away from the defender, they'll get it. So Justin Herbert is not necessarily throwing to open receivers all the time, and he's off rhythm a little bit himself right now to where when they are open, he's missed a handful the last few weeks, which is a little concerning or not what you expect from him.

Chris, if they lose Sunday night at home, to Tyson Bigot on a national stage and they're two and five, will Brandon Staley be fired the next morning?

I think there's a chance. I don't wish that upon anybody.

That would be the spot though, right?

I would think. Well, I think so, too. I think if we're all going to sit there and look at one guy right now that we'd look at and go, Oh, hot seat time is here, he'd probably be, I think, everyone's number one candidate. Am I wrong about that? I'm just thinking off the top of my head. No, you're right. But I think it's him and then probably Ron Rivera, a little bit the same way. We'll look at it and just go, Those two teams got too much talent to look like shit as much as they look like as much.

The Vikings are back in. Just hear me out on this, okay? Because they have Green Bay, the Falcons, the States, Denver, Chicago Raiders. Those are the next six games, okay? They're at three and four already, and they'll get Jefferson back at some point here. So the Vikings, is that a team? Are they good enough to make a run in the playoff? Because they're certainly back in playoff contention.

They have a better chance of making a run in the playoffs this year than they did last year. I know. They're better than they were last year. They just got to get rid of the disease of fumbling. They've messed up games just because of that. You saw them go toe to toe with the Eagles, right? They fumbled what? Three times in the first half as they were moving the ball? One was on the one-inch line, going into score, and ended up being a touchback, right? I mean, you look at that, the Buccaneers in the early part of the year, the first game in there, they messed that game up too. They outplayed them and made some crucial mistakes on that one. The Chargers, I think you could look at it that way a little bit. That was a little bit like either way. Yeah, this is where they're to me are dangerous. One, Kevin O'Connor, Stugots, needs to be put up in the class of play-callers with shanehan, McDaniel, Ben Johnson, right? Really? Yeah, he deserves to be in that class. He's phenomenal. Now, he's not as sexy with all the pre-snat motions and all that, but how he attacks you, the plays he calls according to the defenses, the way he teaches Guy to run routes, the nuance according to the coverages and all that might be the same play, but on cover three, I need you to run the route like this against cover four.

I need you to run it like that. Those little things go a long way. They attacked that 49ers defense as good as anybody I've ever seen other than the Chiefs last year who put up 45 points. They knew the rules of that team, the 49ers defense. They knew how to stress them out that way, like you hear me talk about all the time. All right? They can pass-protect as good as anybody in football, right? They got another guy here with Jordan Adderson to go along with Justin Jefferson when he gets back. That's going to make them dangerous. So you got that and the tight end. And then the reason I said they're better than last year, and I know the record doesn't show that, is their defense is formidable this year. Bryan Floriz is they're creative. It's not just like, Hey, we line up in this and you can kick our ass all the game. They do a lot of different stuff, game plans specific on a weekly basis. And that's where I actually think they're more dangerous than they were last year.

Billy is scared to ask, but he wants to know if Kurt Cousins is better than Troy Akeman.

I mean, that's a fact.

No. What? Troy Aickman. Troy Aickman was so much better than people realize, right? That Troy Aickman is one of the most underappreciated great quarterbacks of all time. We know they had a great team, right? They didn't put up great stats. They weren't a throw-first football team. But you might have heard me say this before. It's not necessarily always easy to go, Hey, run on first, run on second. Hey, it's third down. Troy, we need you to throw a laser in there to Michael Irvine or J. Nova check now. And that's what they did with him, let alone they weren't necessarily big on like, Hey, here's a screen, or here's a system play. He played a different style of football that we don't really see much this day and age. He's a really good... I mean, Troy Ackman, when my dad retired, that was my guy. I love Troy Ackman.

How the fuck are the Steeler's Fort?

You got me. I've never seen a team that gets outplayed more and wins a football game in my life. I mean, it's unreal. And that's because of the coaching. That really is. The offense sucks. The defense just mucks the game up and makes it ugly, and they just go, We're going to outhit you or make some crazy play with our defensive scheme, and we're going to tip the scales back in our favor. They're unbelievable that way. I've never seen a team get outplayed more thoroughly in three games and then still win them. It's incredible, and it's a testament to Mike Tomlin.

Pft with Mike Florio, every day on Peacock, the Unbutton podcast, football night in America, Sunday Night Football pregame show, half-time, he's all over it. Quick game here before we get you out of here, okay? Because the NFL is so crazy and I want to show fans how crazy it is, okay? I'm going to ask you a handful of questions. Just tell me if you would be surprised, okay? Okay, yeah. If the giants beat the jets this week, are you going to be surprised?

Absolutely not. Okay, go. No way. This plays right... This is their matchup. Right. Offense, 14-10 football game. This is how they play. They're going to be very comfortable with this type of game.

If the Stealers beat the Jaguars this weekend, are you going to be surprised?

Chris, you can't with my Tomlin.

You can't. I guess, no. You're right. I don't think they're in the class of the Jacksonville Jaguars. I'll say that.

If the Panthers, who are winless, beat the Texans this week or three in three, are you going to be surprised?

I think I would be surprised. Okay, good. That would surprise me.

You're allowed to be surprised, by the way, just not with.

Tomlin, okay? Yeah, right. No, I would be surprised. The Texans, the way they've been playing defense, that Carolina offense still makes me want more.

For.

Sure. And we know how good CJ Strat is. Yeah, that would surprise me.

Let me see how far I can push this. If the Commanders beat the Eagles this weekend, are you going to be surprised?

Yeah, I will literally fall off the chair, crap down my leg, whatever you want to say. The Commanders, you just heard what I just said a minute ago. Other than Brandon Staley, I would think Ron Rivera would be candidate number two to be on the hot seat here. They're too good to be playing the way they are and then to get annihilated, really. They had no business being in that game the other day against the giants. The giants messed it up. They should have won by three scores in that game.

Right. North Carolina football fans are blaming you that you jinks Mac Brown, that the show jinks Mac Brown. How do you feel about that?

Well, I feel like Mac Brown was the one that was asking to come on with me, so they need to look at Mac and say he jinks himself. He shouldn't have been asking to go on with Sims. Sims plus Mac Brown doesn't equal good things in a big game, so you shouldn't do that.

You have experience.

First-hand experience, okay?

Oh, my God. I've been dying to ask you this because you live right next to Adam Silver, right? You're pretty close to him, right? How does he do Halloween? I imagine that's the house to go to for Halloween, right? Adam Silver. And he doesn't need to wear a costume.

It's amazing. Well, you're funny. What happened?

I.

Live in an area of Greenwich, and you guys know enough about Greenwich. It's the richest damn town in America, right? I mean, it's beyond rich. I can't even tell you. When you guys hear me joke and I go, I'm the poorest man on my street and my street is eight miles long. I'm not joking. I am the poorest man on my street. It's not a debate. I'm not being silly. It's nothing. The guy across the street from me has a mansion and he has five golf holes on his property. And not like, Oh, it's a part three. He takes his driver out and hits it as far as he can and gets in a golf cart and then goes to the next ball. So you don't understand where I'm living. Nobody comes to Halloween where we are because everybody is on an estate that's 10 and 15 acres. It'll take you 45 minutes to visit three doors. So nobody. He has a house, Adam Silver, that is very hard to see from the street. I don't know what it looks like with decorations, let alone everybody has a big stone wall and a gate. Because you know why?

They're all f*cking rich, okay? You can't see some of these houses, all right? I'm the only guy in the neighborhood that doesn't have a gate, all right? I'm literally just bringing down the value of the neighborhood. I'm just letting you know.

Right. It's the first time I've seen Billy intrigued the entire segment. He perks up right there. He was.

Like, Damn, that's crazy. He's like, I got to see this street. This street is good. And yeah, you have no idea. You guys know who Leona Hensley is? Do you remember that name?

Yes.

Her castle is right down the street from me. I mean, castle. She left $10 million to her dog. I don't know if that's how rich we are around in this town. They leave 10 million to their dog when they die. I mean, it's insanity.

All right, BFT with Mike Florio on Peacock, the Unbutton podcast, football night in America, Sunday Night Football, pregame half-died, bears, Ed Chargers. And if they lose that game, Brandon Staley will be fired on Monday morning. Chris Sims, we appreciate it, sir. Thank you for your time. We'll talk to you next week, man.

Talk to you next week. Always fun.

Billy, that's it for the day? I know. Not enough for you and Billy. I'm very.

Disappointed by that. Very, very convenient. I don't get asked about the dolphins this week.

You were all in on them, Chris.

I felt bad. Wait, 200 yards passing. Nobody talks about them. 500 yards passing. The whole podcast is about to a. Okay, I get how it works. I hear you. All right, up yours, Billy. See you, Mikey. Yeah, see you, Stugats.

See you, Sims. All right, time to make our picks here. Karl Douglas already sent us in. He sends us weird text at weird times of the night to both me and Billy. He takes this thing very seriously. Billy will tell us what is TikTok. Where is Gord, K-Funk?

Gordie, we last had communication with Gordie at 7:00 PM, around 4:00 PM. Around 4:00 PM, he was blacked out. Yesterday was Wednesday. He was telling me he's flying to Tampa today. He thought today was Friday for an Alesso concert and a birthday party.

Are you concerned about him? Right. Are you concerned about Gord? Anyone? Either of you? No, not really. Sherbert, what are you shoving in your mouth while you're driving 95 miles per hour?

And you're trying to talk on the.

Show, Sherbert? Jesus. That's why I asked him. I wanted to hear him try to talk.

Time management is the.

Only thing you got in life, and I'm just trying to be efficient. Right. But what are you eating now? What is it? A tropical smoothie, quesadilla. Okay, interesting.

Is that healthy?

Right. But, K-Fuck, you saw what I said. It's in the back seat of his car. He's reaching back.

He's reaching back to shovel.

In his mouth. That's so great. All right, let's get to the games this week, guys. Billy, again, has Karl's pick, so he'll give them to us. Let's start with The Jets at The Giants. What a dreadful game. Jets at The Giants are plus three. Who did Karl Douglas take, Billy?

Karl took The Jets.

All right, so Karl has The Jets. Sharebear, go to you first here. Jets, giants, giants, plus three. I always like to stick with the host.

And I'm going to go with the jet. I'm going.

To support you. Okay, well, thank you. That's very you. I appreciate it. K-funk, are you taking here?

You would think I learned from Fading the jets, but I have not. I'm taking the giants.

On this one. All right, good. Next game is Vikings at Packers. Packers are plus one at home. I have no idea if Jordan loves any good. The Vikings have won three straight. K-funk, I go to you first here. Who are you taking?

This was my toughest game.

It's a tough game.

It is. I'm going to go with the home team here in Lambo. I'm going to go with the Packers, but it's a tough.

Game for sure. Okay, Share Bear? I'm going to go with the Vikings. I like to go with the cold weather.

Yeah, and the bank stadium.

Who did Karl take here?

Karl took the Vikings.

Okay.

I'm going to have Gordie a text us some picks. We'll allow that, right, for later?

If he's alive? I mean, that's up to Billy. Yeah, whatever. I don't know. Okay. You're accepting this?

I.

Mean, Gord. Leave Gordie alone. Why doesn't someone just pick for him? He's having a rough day.

Well, having a rough day, he seems to be in Nashville and he was at a tequila brand launch.

He's supposed to fly here today.

I don't know. Or tomorrow. We don't know what day it is. Exactly, right.

He doesn't know what day it is.

Neither do we. It happens.

Is been on.

The road. He's been on the road for 28 days. Does he.

Have a house? Does he live anywhere?

That's a great question. Does he own a home?

I think he has a couple of places. I know he has Airbnb down here, and I think he has a spot in Boston. But I don't know if it's just maybe like a condo or something.

Let's go to Ravens at Cardinals. Ravens playing very, very well, perhaps their best game, and I don't know, I want to say like a year last week, the Ravens were really good last week against the Lions. They're at the Cardinals. Cardinals are plus eight at home. K-funk, are you taking?

That was my favorite game last week was the Ravens. They destroyed the Lions, and that's why I'm taking the Cardinals.

Okay. All right. Share Bear? I was out in Arizona last week. I was but he's literally.

Walking distance from.

That Cardinal Stadium in Glendale, a little desert.

Diamond casino, a.

Few other.

Adult establishments out there. I'm going to go to Arizona. I like Arizona. All right, great. You had a good time out there. Always. Okay. Who is Karl taking for this kid?

Karl went with.

The Ravens. Okay, Karl. Karl takes this very seriously. Yes. Brown's at Seahawks. Seahawks minus three and a half at home. Brown's coming off a big win. Seahawks coming off a big win. Seattle is at home. Sharebear, who are you taking? Billy. Billy knows all about the Space Needle.. Did you know that, Billy? I knew that. So you're taking the Seahawks. All right, K-Fuck, who are you taking here?

It's all about Starbucks on this one, guys. I'm going to.

Go to Seattle. Okay, Seattle. Who is Carl taking?

Well, it's all about the Space Needle. He went with the.

Seahawks also. He knows. Everyone knows. It's all about the Space Needle. Let's go to a Bengo... I love you, Share Bear. Bengo is at 49ers. 49ers minus three and a half at home. K-fuck, who are you taking here?

I am taking the Bungles in this one. What's the line?

Three and a half, minus three and a half. So Bengo is getting three and a half points.

No.

Brock, Purdy. Yeah, well.

We'll see. He's in concussion protocol. He's not going to clear it in like three days.

He'll play probably. But I'm going to the Bungles.

Okay.

You're convinced he's not playing, though.

I'm with you. I think he's playing. But Billy's convinced he's not playing.

If he plays, something needs to be looked into.

Okay. All right. Sherry, you're right, Billy. Bengo is at 49ers. 49ers minus three and a half. Sherbert, who are you take it?

I mean, same thing.

There are certain places that it's hard to escape with a win or something positive. And really tough to escape from Alcatraz and tough to get out of San Francisco Stadium with a win. So I'm going to Niners. Right. That was well done by you, man.

They don't play on Alcatraz. You know.

That, right? Yeah, but we get the point. Leave them alone. It was rolling. The Sears.

Don't play on Space Needle. It's all about Space Needle. They don't.

Play on the Space Needle. Yeah, exactly.

They're with.

Starbucks in their hands. What's the matter with you? Who did Carl thank, Billy?

Carl initially took the 49ers, but the Brock party news change, he went with the Bengals.

Oh, God. Once I make a pick, that's my pic. I do not change my picks. I can't.

Do that.

So officially the Bingles. I learned my life from there.

Right. Why? You had a bad loss?

Remember when you talked, you shamed me from changing from the jets.

That one was shamed me. Oh, that's right. Yeah, but I thought you made an actual bet with a lot of money and.

Changed it last minute. Oh, yeah. I do do that too.

We know you did. All right, we love you guys. If you get in touch with Gord, tell him we hope he's okay and we will talk to you guys next week. We appreciate it, fellas.

Bye.

Bro.

All right, see you. God bless football.

All right. God bless football. Okay, Fog.