Transcript of NFL Cover Zero: NFL Week 1 and Playoff Picks!

This is an iHeart podcast.

Nfl Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin is a production of the NFL and iHeart podcast. It's episode 2 of the NFL Cover Zero podcast. We welcome all the folks who listened to episode 1 or who just came upon this one as their First one, please like and subscribe. Maybe give us a rating, say something really nice. It's exciting, Drew, to have new listeners who are not from where we're from. We're both from Kentucky. I just got a follow on Instagram from the Chiefs Fans of Nashville, which is very exciting, very specific. If I ever go to Nashville and I want to watch a Chiefs game, I will go where those people say.

That's drivable. We could go meet up with the Chiefs Fans of Nashville if we ever need to.

Yeah, I like the Chiefs Fans of Nashville. I mean, I'd say maybe Taylor Swift's relatives would be part of it. So thank you to all those folks. You can follow us. He's Drew Franklin, K-S-R on Instagram. I'm KY Sports Radio, so feel free to join us. Now, episode one went really well. We did the watchability of all the teams, but there are actually games now. This isn't theoretical. We are recording this on on Wednesday afternoon. Games start tomorrow night. Are you feeling the excitement?

Oh, I'm very excited. I mean, I watched a lot of the preseason, probably more of the preseason than the average viewer. Got a good little taste of it, but now I'm ready for the real thing. As always, we have some marquees and games right out of the gate that I'm looking forward to.

I watched more of the preseason this year than every preseason in my life combined, which is I watched three quarters of a game because I don't watch the preseason. I always turn on NFL Hall of Fame game, get excited, and then say, This is awful. But I did watch some of it for the local announcers, et cetera. But now I'm ready for the regular games. I do have to ask you, I don't know this about you, do you do fantasy football? I don't. Hey, I got Lamar Jackson at quarterback. Do you do that? I don't.

There's a story. Ten years ago, we got together in a group. We did the draft. It was a thing. I had an incredible year. To I might have lost one week. A lot of it was luck. I think I had like- I think a lot of it's luck. Well, I think I had a running back. It's so far back. Maybe it was like when Steven Johnson was first put on the map, whatever the case. Steven Jackson, excuse me. But at the end of the season, I'm a runaway winner, and the commissioner says, No one paid at the beginning of the year, but you. I had to go person by person and be like, Hey, you owe me 50 bucks from September. Did you ever get it? No. I got three of the guys, but it completely soured me on fantasy, and I haven't done it since.

One of our fellow NFL podcasters, Bobby Bones, who I think does a podcast with the NFL with Matt Castle, he invited me to his league. It was him, eight of his college friends, and me. They had a draft. They drafted every year, and they used it like a lot of college friends would do. They talk trash to each other, et cetera. I felt bad because I didn't know any of these people. I did a whole year where, again, I never met any of them. I think I came in like, fourth or something in the league. Then the next came for the draft, and I was like, I feel like I really didn't participate. So I just came in and was like, You know, you suck to these strangers. You know what? Yeah, you can do that because you drive up a nasty car, and I don't think they liked it. I don't think his friends thought that I should be doing that since I didn't know him. So I didn't get an invite again for the next year. So I did two years, and then I got cut from the leak.

That's what I miss is the trash talk every week. Now it's become this big thing to have a bet. I'm just still so mad from my league 10 years ago when the commissioner didn't collect the money that I'm boycotting it. I'm jealous, but I don't do it.

So we're not in it, which means we won't be during the year talking about who's The two things I never want to hear anybody talk about, their fantasy team or a hand in poker. Anytime anybody talks about the two of them, I punch them in the face. And so we're not going to do that this year as well. What we are going to do is talk about the games. I think we got to get started. Thursday Night Football, you're going to have Mike Tariko and Chris Collinsworth live from the city of Brotherly Love, where they'll give out their gaudy Super Bowl rings. It is the Eagles and the Cowboys Normally, this would be a celebration of Philadelphia. We've seen over the years, though, sometimes the team that is in this game will get upset, but the Cowboys seem like such a rudderless ship that I feel like this is almost a gimme for the Eagles. Is there any reason, I'm excited about the game, but is there any reason it has any chance of being close?

I don't think so. I think the spread's a little high. It's like eight and a half. But the Cowboys, we all know the recent news. Not a great PR situation for the Cowboys as they come into game one of the new season. But just as a neutral observer of the NFL, I love a good rivalry game right here. Even if I don't think it's going to be very close, I love that we have Philadelphia, Dallas, first one up on our TV. Whatever you think of it, that's one of the better rivalries in the league.

I like Thursday Night Football because the NFL always, for the first game, they always bring a concert in. But it's usually not a huge star. They save those for later on. They'll come in, they'll be like, for the game, 98 degrees. Then they come out and sing, I swear, and people get really excited about it. But it's week one, so they can just give you anything, and you'll be excited.

We're getting anything but Micah Parsons.

Yeah, exactly. Every year, there's always one massive upset, and week one happens almost every season. Any chance this is the one? I mean, is there any chance that we get a Cowboys saying, Jerry Jones, middle fingers up, shirt off in the center of the field, getting a victory?

I won't write off an upset at all. That's why I think the spread is a little high. Rivalry game, game one. We don't know a lot about these teams. Eagles secondary What can they be? Maybe Dak goes back to his best form, has a great year. Or the real scenario, the Cowboys win this, get all their hopes up, and they fizzle out as the year goes on. That feels more Cowboys. That would be the most likely scenario.

There are two results I'm looking for. One, Cowboys win. Philadelphia fans, I like to see them frustrated, but they can't get that for us. They just won the Super Bowl, and they won a few years ago with nick Foll. So you can't really complain if you're the Cowboys. An upset is cool. But second, I want the Cowboys to lose by 35, because I have to tell you, I've said on these here airwaves before, nothing is more entertaining than a Cowboys' postgame show when it's over. Because there's two radio stations. There's one that's official Cowboys radio, and they'll come on and they'll go. I think if Dak just starts seeing the receiver better, he's going to be able to, Oh, next week, CD Lam will be more integrated in the offense. And then you go to the other one, and they're like, Jay Jones needs to be set off on a raft. The two combinations, it's so great how much they diverge from each other. I'd like to see a big route for late Thursday night, falling asleep to Randy team postgame show.

We root for the star in my household. It's not the numbers of your wife. Is that because of your wife? Well, I grew up a Cowboys fan because the Titans literally didn't exist. Then being from Western Kentucky, when a pro team pops up an hour from your house, you're allowed to pick up a new team. But I haven't forgotten When I was a child, my bedroom was decorated in the Cowboys stuff, so I haven't forgotten that. I still root for them as a secondary team.

I remember you used to walk around in Alvin Harper's socks and nothing else at the bar sometimes, and I was like, What are you doing?

I had this picture above my bed. It was obviously Photoshop, but it's like Texas Stadium welcomes Drew Franklin, like my grandmother found it in some catalog. But a big Cowboys fan growing up. It just died as time went on, like the Cowboys.

Yeah, I like the Eagles to win fairly easily, but I'm looking forward to it. I love Chris Collinsworth. Chris Collinsworth, to me, is the modern sound of football. I still forget that Al Michiels is not on the game. I think I've said probably 15 times Al and Chris. I guess he's now with Herb Street on Amazon, but I miss him. I feel like Al and Chris, they were good buddies. They both sweatered, vested together, and I miss them being on TV. Chris and Slida. I think it's Mike I like Mike Tariko.

Everybody likes the Chris Collins wear a slide, too, when he comes in from off screen. It'd be good to see that again.

Well, didn't they go Friday night? Always a wild card. They're in Brazil. Sal Palo One of the biggest cities in the world, they're going. I saw today, when people go to a foreign country, sometimes we forget just to be normal. So These American journalists would ask the players. They were doing the interviews and they were like, Hey, Travis Kielcey, can you spell Brazil? And you're like, You don't have to act.

Well, could he?

You don't have to act like you're going to a mystical land that no one's ever been to. It's just Brazil. But you get the Chiefs and the Chargers. Did the NFL hire influencers to go? Is iSpe, iShowSpe?

This would be a big game for him. This would be a big game for him if he's going.

I believe it's like the announcers are I Show Speed, Mr. Beast- now Michael's. And Alex Earle.

That'd get a lot of viewers, those three.

So it is on YouTube?

Yeah, I think so. Okay. Just regular YouTube, not YouTube TV. As I'm saying it in my own head, how does this work? Do you just log on YouTube and there it is?

I'm saying you laughed.

That's what I thought like about it. No, I know. As I'm saying it, I'm saying it, guessing myself.

Do I just go on the YouTube and search football game? Where is it?

I got my cooking videos over here, and then the Chief's Chargers pulled up.

I did find when Kelsey and Taylor Swift did their podcast, I got on YouTube and it was just there. That's what will happen with this game, too?

Yeah, no subscription required.

Who's on the... Who calls it? I'm not kidding. I think they have YouTube influence. I don't think they're the main announcers, but I think you can watch a game where Kaisanat just does back flips up and down the field.

I would tune in for that.

I mean, I think so. Do we know who's actually doing the game?

I'm trying to pull it up.

We'll get Billy, our producer, to look it up. I'm trying to talk to you. I'd like to know who's on it. It's Chiefs and Chargers, another division game. Last year, the field got all messed up. Presumably, that will be better. So this is a chance to see if the Chiefs can bounce back from what was a mediocre regular season last year.

I prefer the international games when I get to wake up at 9: 00 AM and they're just on TV. This one, I think we're maybe an hour off time change. Isn't that crazy?

I don't know. What's the Brazil time?

I think it's just an hour off. It's not like the London games where we get a little early morning football.

You have some information, actually?

Yeah, we got a little Rich Eisen and Kurt Warner in Brazil.

Oh, Kurt Warner? Nice. Rich Eisen, ESPN Network, or ESPN and NFL, and Kurt Warner. Am I right? It's YouTube, right?

It is YouTube. It is YouTube and YouTube TV exclusively.

Am I right that I Show Speed is in it? Isn't there a YouTube influencer thing? Yeah, Mr..

Beast, Ky Sonette, it's Speed.

I was just saying guys, they're all doing something.

When it's Speed, is in it, too? Yes, I haven't read the- Look at that.

See, you left it me.

They're doing something.

I literally named the only three people I know on YouTube, and they're all there.

All three of them are involved, yeah.

Just the NFL knows its audience. They know exactly who you wanted to see in this game.

I wanted to see KySanet, not show speed. Well, good.

And Robe Grill. Robe Grill? I just pulled it up.

Who What's a robe grill?

I don't know.

What does that even mean? Is that robe like wear a bath robe?

That's the person's name. 4. 15 million subscribers. Really?

What does he do?

Goes to NFL games in Brazil. Looking forward to it.

Okay, good. What about Todd Chrisley? Is he there? Actually, he just got out of prison. So he could be there.

I always wonder, and I actually heard a player talk about this recently. We consider the travel on the players, but he was talking about, I think they played a game in Ireland, and you have your routine of your diet, and maybe Ireland doesn't have what you go out and eat every meal. Some teams have to ship entire meal plans to these countries just to get ready for the game. How much got a samba?

You have to samba.

They have the Viva Xalas. What was the big World Cup thing they had there?

Yeah, where they going? No, that was South Africa. That's a different continent.

Well, World Cup was here. World Cup was there. Maybe they had them, too. They opened the World Cup in the stadium in 2014, so maybe there's still some paraphernalia hanging around.

I'm excited about it now that I know where to find it. I know it's on YouTube.

I'm excited about it.

I I won't be able to watch it. I'm going to Red's batting practice that night. They're letting me attend batting practice. I'm going to give Ellie some pointers. He hadn't hit a home run since early July. I'm going to tell Ellie Dale Cruz, Got to wait the ball.

While you're sitting there watching Ellie because it's YouTube, you can be listening to I Show Speed on your phone right there behind Home Plate.

Do you like the Chiefs in this one?

I don't love the Chiefs.

I don't either.

I like the Chiefs. I don't love the Chiefs. What's the spread? The spread is their three and a half point favorite.

Three and a half points, yeah. If I were going to bet, I'd bet the charges. I think I'm just going to call it.

I think I'm taking the charges.

Yeah, against the spread, I would definitely take the charges. As far as the game, it feels like whenever there's a premium showcase, when the world is watching, the Chiefs usually step up. Travis Kels me up being married to Taylor Swift, but I show speed is going to be there.

And Cousinet and Robes grill.

And more importantly, robe grill. Travis and Patrick are going to make sure they're ready. I will take the chiefs to win, but chargers to cover.

The chiefs also have a big advantage. I feel like here lately, the NFL is like, just put the Chiefs in this game. Last year, they played on every day of the week, on Tuesday. Christmas, yeah, just make it the Chiefs.

They always put them on Christmas, Thanksgiving. They make them play on Arbor Day.

That was too far, by the way. The Arbor Day game was completely unnecessary.

If they don't know what else to do with somebody, just send the Chiefs there and they'll take care of it. Now, throughout our gamepicks here, we also don't want to act like there's not news. We love news. News happens in the NFL all the time. Billy, our producer, is going to come in and give us in between games some news. Billy, I have not followed the headlines. Give me our first headline from the NFL news.

Yeah, here's a piece of news for you, Matt. Today, Roger Goodell was on the Today Show, and he confirmed that he is a swifty.

Who's on the Today Show? Roger Goodell. No, I'm not even like... He hosts every day? The regular host. Matt Lauer is not on there anymore.

Is this Hoda?

I think she retired, didn't she?

Well, then I'm behind on my Today Show.

Today's show, it's not Katie Keurick. It is not Deborah Norville anymore. Oh, Jenna Bush. Isn't she on it? George W. Bush's daughter?

Sure, she is. Correct. I'm usually watching Good morning football during this time.

Savannah Guthrie. Okay. Craig Melvin.

I've never heard of that person.

Al Roker, of course. What?

Al Roker still going?

Yeah. Good for Al.

If I had told you Al Roker was still on there, would you believe that?

I wouldn't have. Good for Al.

Wow. Who's Craig Melvin? Is that what you said?

Craig Melvin.

Never heard of that guy. Co-anchor. Who else?

Carson Daily. No, he's not. Jenna Bush.

Carson Daily is on there?

He's also the host of The Voice.

Wow. Carson Daily. What happened to Jesse?

For me, Carson's not doing TRL anymore. I used to rush home.

I'm not sure who surprises me more, Craig Melvin or Carson Daily on there. Okay, so he was on there. What did he say?

He confirmed he's a Swiftie, and then he hinted at the possibility of Taylor Swift performing at the Super Bowl halftime show this year. Said it was a maybe.

Well, everything's a maybe, I guess. It feels like she should do it. If you're going to do it, this is the year, you and your husband will be off knitting and going to pottery classes starting next year. This is the year she should do it. Then, of course, Travis is playing, he wins the game, they go off into the sunset, and she definitely- I think it's happening.

The internet even found she's all about leaving the Easter eggs and the nuggets everywhere, given hence. When she did the Kelsey podcast, there was a little Lombardi Trophy on the shelf and a few other things that the internet thinks might have been hence.

Isn't it also like her number is 13? Yeah. And this is his 13th year in the NFL.

Numberology, I think she calls Yeah, I saw on that podcast.

She also said on that podcast that they asked Jason, Kelsey said, What do you do for fun? And she said, Sourdough bread, which I think is actually a really good answer because Unlike you all, I still occasionally, I'm single. So I'll have to meet somebody new. And inevitably, one of the boring first questions is, what do you do for fun? There's no answer I can give that doesn't sound I'm the most boring person in the world. I watch The Gilded Age.

It's seven hours of radio.

I read long walks. Sometimes when it's crazy, I play golf, but I I'm going to hurt my back. If you can answer something like sourdough bread, that's a unique...

Are you saying you're going to still tell us the answer? On your next day, you're going to say sourdough bread?

That would be bad because I don't know. But it would be nice to be able to have something unique like that. She said sourdough bread, and I thought, Well, that's a very unique answer.

Also a very homely answer for a mega star that can do anything she wants on the planet, maybe even on other planets, she has so much money. But she's like, No, I just like to sit at home and bake. She needs. Yeah, she need, bake. I like to have a little sourdough in her free time.

That's the thing, right? Need? Yeah, with a K. What does that mean? When you roll it?

Yeah, you're just needing the bread.

You're She just wanting it.

You're getting roughed up and ready to be baked.

All right. Well, good for her. I don't know what that has to do with this game, but I'm doing chargers. Excuse me. Chargers cover, chiefs win. You're doing- You know what?

I'm just going to go the upset. It's episode one for us of picking games. I'm not going to sit here and be the guy picking all chalk. Let's go chargers in Brazil.

Love it. All right. Sunday Night Football. I'm doing these games in order of my interest in it. Sunday Night Football, Ravens, bills. What a great game. Can't believe we get this. You can argue... I mean, this is probably the best game. Once again, they slide Tareco and Collinsworth back in. They get all the good stuff now. Lamar, Josh Allen, two most exciting guys in the NFL, probably. The game is in Buffalo. They started drinking yesterday. It's going to be awesome. Plus, my mom is going to be close to Buffalo at that time. I'm not going to tell you where she is, but let's just say it'll be 150 miles away.

Okay. Draw a circle around.

Yeah. She said to me, she goes, Do you think there'll be traffic? I was like, Not where you are, 150 miles.

From the stadium.

I think you're probably good.

No one's going to put you through a table.

You're going to be fine. They might be in a different time zone. I think you're going to be all right. But I'm excited about this. Who's more fun for you to watch? Lamar or Josh Allen?

That's tough. When this was announced, just thank you, NFL, the one game off Sunday night, wrapping up the weekend there before the Monday game, where you have essentially what could be an AFC Championship. I got burned on the Ravens pretty bad last year. I never make future bets. I hate just having the receipt in my account. But last year, I bet on the Ravens to win the Super Bowl. I really thought Lamar was getting over the pump. They had my guy, Derrick Henry, even though I want to vomit seeing him in that jersey. I thought it was their year, and they burn me. I'm not putting faith in the Ravens again. This year, I think I'm going to make a futures bet on the Bills. I'm going to ride the Bills to get over the hub. Somebody's got to get over the hub this season.

If the Bills don't win this year, it's never going to happen for them. I mean, this is the year. I think it's set up for them. They've got probably the best roster. They were the best team, I think, even last year, and they ended up losing a game at the end.

How about a week one game with potential implications?

No, this is definitely... This is a seating game in week one. This is crazy for a week one.

For sure. This is the first Sunday night.

Yeah, for sure. This is a seating game. I think for both these teams, they sit there and they look at how their season ended. Both teams ended with a pass dropped that if they won, they might have thought they'd won the Super Bowl. So I We can't wait for this. This will be the best game. Just so you know, we will go... We're recording episode three live right after this game is over on Sunday night. So it'll be in your feed probably Monday morning when you wake up. I'm going to take I'm going to take the Bills only because they're at home. The game is in Baltimore. I'm going to take them.

Baltimore, a one and a half point favorite here on the road in Buffalo. Really? Yeah. But I also like the Bills. As I just said, Ravens burned me last year when I believed in them. I do I think Henry is still Derek Henry, and they're going to be right in the mix at the end of the year. Why would the Ravens be the favorite? I'm not sure.

No, that doesn't make any sense to me.

I mean, a lot of people have Ravens as the number one power ranked team, but you're going on the road into Buffalo.

But the game is in Buffalo. So at night. I mean, I guess it won't be cold yet, but still, that's really surprising to me. That's my first they know something.

It's a little fishing.

They know something. What do you think they know?

The outcome.

Derrick Henry fell in love? He might already be married, Billy. Just for the record. I have no source. He probably is already married. But yeah, it feels like they might know something.

Yeah, I like the Bill's Year. Bill's Year. Okay. Josh is being married. Josh Allen first married Game, right?

Yeah, he married Haley Stanfield. Yeah. She's in- So he's laser-focused. She's in Sinners, right? Yes. It's great. It's a good movie.

First married, great for him.

She looks great in that movie. She's Josh Allen had to spend four years of his life in Wyoming.

And then he moves to Buffalo.

And then he moves to Buffalo. You know what? He deserves to be happily married to Haley Stanfield after all that.

His mind is probably blown on these road trips to LA and all these big cities. What is this?

That's right. He goes to New York. What? Golly.

Wants to play the Jets every week. What? New York City.

Haley, can you believe this?

Do you think he goes straight to the Applebee's in Times Square?

That's exactly right. They got pizza open all night. I don't know why that's my Josh hour.

This is what you all are going to get used to all season long. We're just getting started.

I'm just telling you, that's what I think Sounds like having spit Wyoming in Buffalo. All right, looking at the Sunday day games, there's a lot of matchups that are... But the 4: 30 game I rank fourth is Lions and Packers. For me, I put that fourth That's the fourth best game because I want to see... I think it's Mike, although he may not play. I got a lot of angry messages one podcast in from people telling me that Micah did not hurt his F4, F5. It was an L4, L5. They were like, An F4 is a plane. An L4 is a lumbar injury. I apologize to all the spine specialists out there that I screwed up in episode one.

We don't claim to be a medical podcast.

We are an NFL podcast.

We're a football guys. We don't know about L4s and L4s.

We don't know about spines, lumbars.

Another big one went with huge implications, though, for as the year goes on. I think this will be the closest division.

Yeah, this is But this is a division where I think teams are going to drop it because all the teams are good, or are potentially going to be good. Do you think Micah plays? I would think he should probably sit out. Wouldn't you have an L4? Yeah, I mean- Or even an L5.

I mean, he could play if it had just been his L2 or his F2, but being that for, you don't want to further risk injuring that- L4. Yeah, that too. Bingo. No, I think he sits out. I think he sits out.

Yeah, I do, too. I think he sits out.

And it just adds to the suspense.

I still am going to take... Well, actually, we went to week one last year in Green Bay, and they lost. They're not going to lose two years in a row on week one. So give me the packers to to win the game at home.

I'm going another upset pick. Going Lynes.

What's the spread? Is it an upset?

Green Bay's three-point favorite. The odds for that division actually changed with Micah. Lynes were a favorite to win. Now the packers are. But I'm sticking with the Lynes.

Why do you like the Lynes? I mean, you remember, lost both coordinators?

I know. They're my pick to win the division, and I think this game will go a long way in winning the division.

They do have Aiden Hutchinson back. He was out most of last year, but you lose two coordinators. That's tough. I mean, you lose the offensive genius. People talk about Ben Johnson like he's Todd, or McVay, or Shana Hand. You think they overcome it, though?

Dan Campbell is the type of dude that'll walk in and take a cheesehead off someone's head and just take a big bite of it and spit it out and get his boys fired up. Even though those were, I mean, obviously two of the best coordinators anywhere last season, I still think their operation will be just fine.

Yeah. I mean, he doesn't seem like an intellect to me to begin I feel like he's a man. I mean, no offense to him. But he feels like a manager, like a CEO type more than a X and O guy. Maybe he can find people who were as good or close to as good to replace him.

I remember when he débuted on Hard Knocks, we're getting the first look at him. I remember thinking, this is never going to work.

That's when he went.

Then he absolutely turned them around.

He was like, You know that Metallica song? Staring to the soul of the sea of the depths of the abyss, and then you look at it and say, tackle it in the ass.

You want me to clip that?

That was great. That was exactly what he said.

I think we leave it. Absolutely. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know if those were his exact words, but it was something like that.

Like an SNL character, breaking my character. We were just giggling at your Dan Campbell.

I don't think that was exactly what he said, but it was... I was paraphrasing.

That's another one to welcome our new listeners that don't understand us. Yeah, exactly.

So, Lyons. Ly. Packers. Oh, my. Billy, give us another piece of news now, so we can break that up into the next.

Yeah, so this news comes from the Pat McAfee show. Do you guys watch that at all?

Only if I'm forced to in a barbershop.

I'm familiar with it.

Well, Scott Hanson was on the Pat McAfee show.

I'm fine with that. I don't know why I said that. I would have been to a barbershop.

He said that the NFL Red Zone will contain commercials in some capacity this year. His new intro will be- Somebody has to pay for this podcast. Seven Hours of Red Zone football starts now.

I was amazed they for so long did it without commercials. I would just ask this. I understand you got to have commercials. I wish there was an option, though, where you could still get it without commercial. Speaking of that, do you have our logins for Red Zone? You need to ask them for that.

I don't know if I do.

Let's see if- We need to try to get that. But anyway, that's sad, though. I always thought, what was it, Scott, Hanson. Hanson? Hanson. Hanson. Then what was the other guy's name? Andrew Siciliano. The fact that they could stand there and not use the restroom for that long, I was always very impressed.

Yeah, it felt like it was heading this direction when they merged, but it does take away what made it so impressive was you knew exactly what you were getting on Red Zone. It was just nonstop. We just assumed they had catheters and we're getting fed through a tube there to get through the show. They're getting fed through a tube. Not the same tube as the catheter. I'm not someone that even watch Red Zone, but I've seen a lot of people there are upset.

I love it. You don't watch it?

Well, I get Sunday Ticket, and then I do YouTube, TV, multi-view.

It has made it hard for me to consume regular because I love it. I think it's one of the best products any sport has ever come out with, and I'm not even being a shill for it. I think it's awesome. I had the direct TV version, so I got Andrew Siciliano, and I thought he was great. Then last year, I had Scott Hanson. I thought he was great. It won't stop me from watching it, but it's a little bummer. It's a little bit of a bummer. It was the last thing where commercials hadn't- Oh, yeah.

I would subscribe and check in on it.

And DraftKings, no. I'm just kidding, but go ahead.

I would I would check in on it, but I got my routine. Main TV, Titans with Sound, and the Side TV with four other games on Sunday Ticket that I could rotate. That's every Sunday, you can expect that. Red Zone, it was just a little too fast-paced for me at times.

It's part of the reason I can't sleep at night. It's because of the red zone. I was so used to it. Well, now they have a commercial break. As somebody who's done a lot of radio, when I do I host an ESPN Sunday morning NFL Preview Show. Sometimes, you try to use the restroom during the break. One time, a couple of years ago, I jumped up there like a minute left, and I was like, I have to use the restroom. I ran and I tripped over the cord and hit my head on the couch. Then I come back and my head is pounding. I've cut it. I've got a little string of blood going. I'm like, it's It's Sunday morning. It was Matt Meyer, and you have to get through. Hanson and them having a bathroom break, got to be careful.

He said they're not going to miss a countdown. Does that mean they're going to look at every game and be like, Okay, they're all on the other side of the field?

Well, they'll show some of them on every day.

Because I don't want to miss Live. That's the point of it. You're bang, bang, bang.

But they've always missed some live. They'll come back and they give you... You're on one, and then sometimes they'll break in. I think it's a great product. The commercials are a bummer, but it won't ruin it for All right, my next one is Stealers Jets. Not because the game will be great, but the whole Aaron Rodgers, Justin Fields. Although I feel like Justin Fields has got to be like, I played for them last year, too.

No one has mentioned. I think you're the first person to mention him this week.

No one seems to care that it's the different for both. It's all Aaron Rodgers. I will be watching and booing Aaron Rodgers. I'm going to boo Aaron Rodgers. We We could have him as a guest on the podcast, and I would just boo him the whole time. So I'm all in on the Jets this week.

He's got to run it back with the American flag and just recreate the whole entrance, right? What are you doing? We got to redo this. My first big New York entrance didn't work. Let me try it again. Honestly, you're saying Justin Fields, I'm on an NFL podcast right now.

That's right. He's going back to that stadium where he did the flag.

He actually has to do that, right? Yeah, you got to just replay it all over, although he might have some bad memories from that. But if you're a Jets fan, you just got to be like this guy.

They have to. If you're a Jets fan, if he comes in and then plays well and beats you- Oh, especially if that happens.

I just mean seeing him, period, you got to have negative feelings, even though bad circumstances and It did not work there. If he comes back and plays well, and he has a great game, leads Pittsburgh to a big win, of course, that's even worse.

Have you ever been to a game at that stadium? I have.

Monday Night Football.

Yeah, I was at Russellmania there. I've told this story in the other outlets, but the New Jersey train system shut down. Somebody did not plan that 95,000 people would be trying to leave Russellmania. I don't know if you remember this, people got stuck in the parking lot, and But I loved it because I think it was the closest that if the zombie Apocalypse ever comes, what's it going to be like, the Metal Lands parking lot that night after Russellmania? Because people were physically assaulting each other, trying to get in cabs, and Ubers. As we drove away, I looked back and I was like, It's Mad Max. When they're all in the car and there's axes. I've never been in the Metallands outside of that scenario. I want to go to a game this year. I'm hoping the NFL will send us just so I could have a better experience of that entire thing.

I also had a very unique experience there. We were going to Monday Night Football, and it was four of us, and I was in charge of the tickets, but I was trying to wait till the last minute because they were all coming down. I'm on the train looking at tickets, and I lose service, and I think, Oh, I'm starting to cut this a little close. We get to the stadium. I buy them outside the stadium, walk right up to the gate, scan in. Four tickets. All good. We're inside. We get to our seat. The guy I bought him from had been scanning in at another part of the stadium. We both get to our seats. We both have the same ticket. He even says, These are my season tickets. I show him my money's gone. He shows he got my money, and he's like, Well, they're yours now, I guess. He ends up buying me a beer because we think it's so crazy. We both He did it on the same, too.

So he was going to not come.

He was sitting at a bar with his best friend waiting to see if the tickets would sell. We waited till 15 minutes for kickoff. So they just get up from the bar, walk over, and we entered at the same time and get to the seats. But after he saw that he had got my money and I'd paid, we just laughed it off, and he just wandered around our section. He'd come over a little bit and squeeze in. But that was my one MetLife experience.

Well, maybe in the NFL, we can go to a Jets or Giants game so that we each have a different interaction with the Metalands. It's not even what it's called anymore. What's it? Metlife. Metlife.

They still call it the Met. In general, it's the MetaLives.

Who do you like in this one? I will not pick the Stealers out of principle, so I'm going to take the Jets, which is a shame because I like the Stealers before this, but I will not root for them as long as he's on the team, so I'll take the Jet.

Remember episode one, we ranked teams on watchability. I had Pittsburgh at number 32. Not a big Steelers guy over here.

So you're taking the Jets?

I'm going to pick Steelers.

Oh, come on.

As much as I If you don't want to see it, I just think the Jets are that bad. I don't know that Aarod is going to light him up and have a big game. I think he's a little too over the hill, but Steelers win and cover that.

Every week, I'll do the Big Five. So that was my Big Five. Now, let's do the second-tier Yeah, I'll watch them if it's on. Raiders and Pats, Pete Carroll goes back to his old stomping ground. The Patriots have Drake May, got a new coach, your guy, Mike Vrabel. I miss him. I don't know if this game will be interesting, but this feels like the game where the Raiders win. Then in week seven or eight, the Patriots might be pretty good, and you go, How did that happen? I like the Raiders here in a weird one o'clock upset. There is a guy, however, that does... There's a radio station that's called Serious like betting. They have good people regularly during the day. Then sometimes 2: 00 in the morning, I think they just let guys in off the street. Sometimes I'll be driving, I'll hear this guy. When I hear his voice, he has a very distinctive voice. It's like. The only thing he ever says when he makes his pics is, West Coast team going to the East Coast, they're going to be tired. I've heard that for years. When I see one o'clock game, West Coast team going to the East, it's just the serious XM 2 AM watch out pick.

I get it. I got to go with my guy Vrabel, though. I want the best for him. It's one of those breakups. It's like, well, at least he can be happy. I want him to go So you're rooting for it? I am. Even when he had the Titans rolling a little bit- She didn't read for Cal Perry when he went to Arkansas. Well, that's what I was going to say. Even when the Titans were rolling, we always knew we were borrowing Vrabel from the Patriots. I mean, He's one of their all-time legends. He was always a Patriot in Titans Closing.

So you feel him like maybe- I wanted to work for him. Like, Kansas fans probably knew at some point, Roy Williams was going to go back to North Carolina.

Yeah, we enjoyed him, but we always knew that when that opportunity opened, he would jump at it. Also, it's not quite Taylor Swift, but you got Cardi B might be there for Diggs, the Stefan Diggs debut. I enjoyed it on a serious note.

I thought- I didn't know they dated.

It's the second biggest relationship in the NFL of entertainment.

I've heard of Cardi B. What's her big song? Give me a Cardi B song that I would know. What are you laughing at? Before you look it up, Mr. Computer, what's the Cardi B song?

There's a lot of them.

Okay, why don't you name one, Smarty?

Is it appropriate here? Yeah, I was going to ask what's her rating. Wap, maybe? Wap?

Oh, she does WAP?

Yeah.

I know WAP.

She likes the one-syllable song.

Yeah, I know WAP. It stands for other things.

Drip, WAP, Up. I think we're starting to see a little routine here with the songs.

But yeah, she could be there. I only know WAP.

Watch the Patriots game.

Wap stands for Watch Our Patriots. There you go.

It's safe.

Don't look it up. That's what it stands for. You don't need to Google it.

Am I talking you into the Patriots here?

No, I'm still going with the raters.

Tred down Henderson in the preseason? Oh, yeah.

All right, so give me another piece of news. I'll go with the Pats.

Well, you may have heard that Roger Goodell was on the Today Show recently. He made a comment.

Craig Melvin's on there. He's good.

He made a comment and said that moving to 18-week schedule would be a really good move. And not shortly after that interview, the NFLPA Interm Executive Director David White told the Associated Press he hasn't had any conversations about expanding the regular season.

Yeah, but the Players Association is going to ask for something in return because you had an extra game. A lot of money, right? I mean, that's the money for the TV deal, and the players are going to want more money. I think that's reasonable. Do you like 18 games? I mean, we used to be... When I was a kid, it was 14, then 16 for a long time. Now it's 17. Eighteen would make sense, so you'd have the same amount of home and away games because right now, you get one more than the other.

Even though it's been 17 for a little bit, my brain still will occasionally, when I'm making a pick, eight and eight, doing the math on 16. So I never really have gotten all the way in on 17, so let's just make it 18 for being even. Would there still be a buy week? I'm never going to complain about more meaningful NFL games.

I didn't see that detail, but the current collective bargaining agreement doesn't end until March of 2031. So we still got a while.

So you got a while. My guess is they go to two preseason games and then 18 regular season games. That'd be about the same amount of time. Again, when I was a kid, there were six preseason games, which is crazy to think about now.

Didn't know that. That's a lot.

Well, I hope there's 18, but at the same time, there comes a point where these dudes wear and tear will start to add up.

You'll have guys up there just in a full cast trying to finish the year for their team. But I'm for more football anytime I can have it.

Yeah. Well, who knew? Roger Goodale. Who knew The Today Show? Provide Jenna Bush as hard questions.

I guess we need to tune back in.

Let's take a break right here. By the way, I just got a message here, Drew. So for people who don't know that are not regular listeners bars, we own a sports bar in Lexan, Kentucky. And we closed for a little while and reopened to revitalize. And one of the things we do, we got this system, which most people had 10 years ago, but we just got recently, where when things go wrong, we know why. So we just got the report of orders that are voided, why they were voided. Okay, can Can I read you the- Like a spill sheet. Well, that way you can fix what's wrong. For instance, one of them, server error. It was been dropping a tray. It was entered wrong, and so I had to void it and put the right thing. Got it? One of them was If the food was missing items, fix that, right? Okay. One of them was, Kitchen is backed up, had to leave. All those are reasonable. This one, this customer, it's I think it's on them. Customer changed mind. You don't get to change your mind after the food comes out?

Yeah, I was going to say, at what point in the process are you three bites in and you change your mind?

Did you just order- You can change your mind. You can change your mind while you're ordering, but you cannot. After you've ordered 10 minutes later, you know what? I was thinking about it. I'm glad they didn't in front of me. Here you go, Mr. Franklin. The customer is always right unless you're being ridiculous. You cannot change your mind.

Imagine being at a nice steakhouse. Here you go, Mr. Franklin. Medium rare, blue cheese topping, baked potato. Oh, it looks good. You know what? I don't want to change my mind. I'll have the spaghetti. Take that back. Eat that coffee.

I didn't like that. So you don't need to investigate that more. All right, a couple more mid-tier excitement. Bingo's Browns. These two teams, I feel like they open with each quite a bit. The Bingo's had some crazy streak where they had lost to them, like a ton, and now they've flipped it. This is one of those games, the Bingo's are so bad at the beginning of the year. I believe they've lost something like 63 straight season openers. I mean, they are bad the last few years. Can't lose this. I know it's in Cleveland, but Cleveland has my great uncle, a quarterback right now. Bingles, if they want to have a flip from the last couple of years, got to win this game, right? You nailed the last few years. I think it's the most pressure any team has in week one.

Yeah, the last few years, the Bingoals have really crippled their playoff chances by losing games that are favorite earlier in the season. This year, they start out with a couple of winnable games. They absolutely cannot lose week one, two. I think they're going to go to week three. We'll let them have that. But you got to be two and oh as a Bingles fan.

Wasn't it last year they ruined everybody's survivor league by losing the Patriots, I think?

The year before that, McPherson missed a chipshot extra point against the team they should have beaten. Bingo's fans can't be crushed this early. It's the Browns. It's an in-state rival. It's Flacko and everything going on up there. You got to get it done. Burrows healthy. You got the best quarterback-wide receiver duo in the entire league. This has got to be a win for them.

Got to win, right?

Absolutely. Sure, it's a road game. Doesn't matter. Got to win this.

Got to win. I think they will. So I will take the Bingoes. The other mid-tier game I have is 49ers Seahawks, another game that will have implications, potentially at the beginning of the year, you look at these two teams. They have two of the easiest schedules in the league. And really, especially the 49ers schedule, we went over it the other day. I mean, the 49ers schedule is just absurdly easy. This on paper is like their second hardest game of the season, and it's the one they open with. If they win this, watch out. There could be a run where I don't even know if they're that good and they have an amazing record. I will say the 49ers and Seahawks play this game at 4: 30, nine different weeks during the season.

I thought it was just on the loop. They're like, Here you go, the 49ers Seahawks.

Listen, lines packers is your main game. We will now switch you to 49ers Seahawks. We'll take you out live. Please join Matt Versagian. But I think this will be a good game. Interesting to see what happens with Sam Darnold. Who are you liking this?

The 49ers receiver room is held together by the tape right now in band-Aids, but I'm going to take them here. They need to win. I think They're more of the 49ers we saw in the Super Bowl a couple of years ago than the team that went 6-11. It was crippled by injuries last year. They got to start fresh this year and get back on the right track after last season. I'm going to take them to win. I guess Ricky Pearsall might be the only receiver that's healthy, but He's a pretty good one.

I'm going to take the Seahawks. I still think the 49ers are going to have a great record, but I think in this particular game, setting and all this, I think I'll go with the Seahawks. Billy, let's get another news item.

Yeah, some big injury news today coming out from Jets, right guard of Elijah Vera Tucker. He is out with a significant arm injury. It looks to be a tricep injury that will likely hold him out for a significant time this year. A 26-year-old was a first-round pick in 2021, and in 2022, he had the same injury, but on opposite arm.

That's bad luck.

That's bad luck.

So we'll see if- That's insane because you see that sometimes with ACLs because you end up putting too much weight on the other one. I wonder if that happens with triceps.

In some ways, It's like, Well, I've already been through this. I know the rehab. I know exactly what I have to do. But that is crazy to be the same injury.

Elijah Vera Tucker?

Yeah, he was just named a captain for the first time as well, too.

Yeah, so it's on the jet. Same thing they have with Aaron Rodgers. I mean, different injury, obviously. But I I don't know that I will ever... There's never been a moment in my life that I was strong enough to contemplate a tricep injury. I'm not sure I've ever used a tricep.

I have one. You never put it through much.

Yeah, I have one, too, but it's been pretty sleepy. Most of it's... My trip to say I would have to do something to get... Is there any tricep exercise except the one thing where you just Just go backwards. What is this, Mario? That's not. That's a different exercise. Isn't that a tricep exercise?

That's why I don't do it.

On podcast, people can't see what I'm doing.

Just watching you do that.

That looks hard. Well, it stinks for him. It stinks for the Jets. They just always have constant bad luck.

Yeah, especially in injury. I mean, the season's about to start, and it's the same injury you've already had on a different limb. Awful news for him. It makes you think about, was it Rondell Moore, freak injury in back-to-back preseasons just a few weeks ago. You hate it. You're right here at the edge of all the work you put in, and you're going to have to miss the year.

If I put 32, if I put every team's right guard in front of you, what are the chances you would have any idea who any of them were. They don't have their jersey on. They're just in normal street clothes. I give you all 32 starting right guards.

I would certainly fail the test. I'm trying to think if I could even get four or two. I don't think you could get one. I could get the Titans.

What's his name? Souratsky.

He was a draft pick a few years ago.

And you think you would recognize him not in Titans gear?

Yeah.

Okay. I'm challenge flag.

I couldn't even do my own team, Tampa Bay.

I don't know that I've ever known a right guard ever. Come on. For any team. Okay, again, Smarty Pants, give me some right guards of the past.

Yeah, I'm sorry, I don't have it.

I cheated instead of left guard, too, knowing you wouldn't catch me.

So you don't know a right guard either?

Not one that I would recognize by place.

What is Quint Nelson?

He's a guard. Ali Marpet, that's my one. He's retired.

I thought, wasn't she a lawyer on a television show? Ali Marpet? Oh, I don't know. Sorry, that was somebody else.

I got another one. Zack Martin. I heard about him. I could spot him easily.

Yeah. I couldn't. No, I certainly couldn't recognize him. Of the people you've named, I've heard of one, Zack Martin.

Big beard cowboy.

Yeah. Okay.

Quentin Nelson.

I said Quentin Nelson. Were you not listening? I'm sorry. Is he a right guard or is he a left guard?

Now we're getting in. Now you're getting.

I know Quentin Nelson because- Yeah, you said that.

Sorry, it popped in my head.

Dan Orlowski would always tell me, People don't understand what Quentin Nelson means to the coachs. And I was like, No, they don't. Why would anyone understand that? Listen, our guy- He went to Notre Dame. I know way too much about Quentin Nelson. So if he's a right guard, that's one.

Our guy, Freddie Maggard, who covered Kentucky sports with us here in Lexington, he covered Quentin Nelson's draft. He talked about Quentin Nelson, like Quentin Nelson invented the sport of football.

You know, Dan Orlowski has triplets. And Dan Orlowski, I think, have had the choice, would have named them all Quentin Nelson. That is how much he- Why can't you be more like Quentin Nelson? I'll say it to all three of them. All right, let's go through these quick. Cardinal Saints.

Cardinals are... I think They're set up to have a good year. Offense is improved. Kyler, if he can quit playing Call of Duty, I think he'd have a good season, and I think the Saints are going to suck.

So I'm going to go to Cardals. Saint's stink. I'll go to Cardals. Dolphins and the Colts. This is a loser. Their coach gets fired.

Got to go.

I mean, these two are good chances for first coach to get fired. Mike McDaniel, if he loses this game at Indianapolis with Daniel Jones at quarterback- That's my thing.

I can't pick the Colts with that quarterback situation. It is on the road. I know the Dolphins aren't exactly knocking on the Super Bowl's door, but I cannot pick Daniel Jones in an NFL.

I'll take the Dolphins. Giants at the Commanders.

Commanders by a lot.

Commanders. You You think things are going to go well for Russell Wilson?

No.

I think Daniels-He's married to Sierra, right? Correct.

Yes. I think the Commanders are going to come down just a little bit, but they won't be threatened in this game.

Russell Wilson I've noticed, changed his swag. I don't know if you know, now he's like, dressing like he's, he's dressing like Sierra clearly got his closet. He was like, out go the polos. And then comes Versace. I don't know what designers are, but Versace. Name a designer of choice. You better be careful.

Jackson Dart is still in all the attention in that room. I saw a guy tweet. It was a reporter. I don't know if they're in the locker room or sideline, but the Giants, Colts, Dable, just went up to Jackson Dart and hugged him and said, I love you.

Who said that?

The coach, Giants Coach.

That's not good if you're Russell Wilson.

You got Dart already.

When the coach is saying he loves the backup quarterback, And then you've got Jameis in the corner eating his Ws. I saw a picture online of somebody who have Alex Smith and Patrick Mahomes, and they were like, Russell Wilson. Let me ask a question. Why does everybody think Jackson Dart? Why is he supposed to be so great? He He's pretty good at Ole Miss. But remember, that offense, you don't make any decisions. Lane Kepfin tells you who you're going to throw to before the play. Why are people so confident he's going to be good?

I think the report is that he has aura.

He's one of the stars of the preseason.

I have auras, too. I have to take medication for it.

Different one. If there is such thing as being a star of a preseason, he was one of them. If you look at the Risers, everybody does their stocks after the preseason. He's great hair.

He's great hair. I don't know how much that's playing into everybody's thing. I think part of it, I think when you're handsome, people want you to be good.

Got an X in his name.

Jackson. Yeah, I think that helps. His name's dark. I think it's a really good point. If it was J-A-C-K-S-O-N, I don't think people would have- Where's the headband? But the hair is key. Handsome gets you a long way when you're a quarterback. To be honest with you, I want my quarterback to be handsome. I mean, think about the great quarter. Payton's the only ugly one. I mean, no offense to Payton, but I got a big for it. But Tom braided, Handsome, Aaron Rodgers in his prime, pre-vaccine stuff, Handsome, Mahomes, handsome. Montana, handsome. Rothsberger at one time probably had- Walthsberger.

As Tom went on, I think a bit- His head got bigger.

Yeah. No, but in his prime, Handsome. Burrow. Oh, come on. Jalen Hertz. Handsome. Jaden Daniels. Joe Namoth.

Who are the ugly quarterbacks?

Well, Payton.

Payton catching strays over here.

Was John Elway good-looking?

I wouldn't say that.

Make or play- Oh, I'd John Elway was a good-looking guy. You think so? Yeah. I'm just going to rank the hottest quarterbacks here. Is this what people want on camera?

Yeah, I think this is what people want. I think people want to know.

What about way back in the day when the guys looked like they were 50 years old?

Why a Tittle was not the most handsome quarterback in the world. He played with a horseshoe. He was bald. He played with a horseshoe.

Ken Stabler. Stabler.

Stabler. Stabler. Stabler. Stabler.

Stabler. Stabler. That was my country coming up.

I think that once TV started. Terry Brad Maybe not, but Eightman, handsome. I think there's something to my theory. So I think Jackson Dart, that's partially why people are excited about.

Yep, in New York, and Brian Dable loves him. Jimmy G.

Well, he hurts because he's too handsome and thus not good. But by the way, I'm a Jimmy G. Trusher. I think he's going to do well with the Rams. As a matter of fact, let's just go ahead and get to their game, Rams, Texans. I didn't put this as one of the games. It could have been in the mid-tier games. It's hard for me to ever get excited about watching the Texans, but both these teams could be good.

Yeah, at least the Texans picked to win their division, even though I might go against that. I like the Rams here. I think the Texans are due for a little bit of a come down. Afc South is terrible. I don't even know if they'll win that division.

Yeah, I'm going to go. I'm going Rams. Even with Jimmy G, he's probably going to play, right? I'm going to go with the Rams. Let's do Panthers Jags, the Chris Myers special. Liam Cohen makes his debut. I'm excited to watch. I actually will watch a little bit of this one just to say hi to Chris Myers. I always miss him during the offseason. I'm going to I think Liam gets a W in his first one. Give me the Jags.

I'm going with the Liam Cohen experience. Well, I think he'll be good for Trevor Lawrence, and you have to turn this game on just to see what they're actually doing with Travis Hunter. If they're truly playing in both ways, that's going to be pretty insane to watch.

You think he will?

They'll do it a little bit. I don't think he can consistently do this for a career even this season. But I think early on, they're going to try it out.

It'll be fun to watch. See if he does it.

When's the last time you're like, Man, I want to turn on a Jags game? You I haven't. But I think Travis Hunter now has made it to that point.

Yeah, my news note here is Travis Hunter was listed as the starting wide receiver, but backup corner on the Jags depth chart that just came out.

Starting wide receiver, backup corner? Yes. I could see they play him at wide receiver a lot, then doesn't get much action at corner. But gets enough so that you're able to say he plays both. Who's the last player? I know occasionally they would throw Deion out there at wide receiver, but not regularly. Has there been a guy? Who's the last one?

I can't think of anyone to do what he's trying to do. I mean, where they've put a corner wide receiver here and there to try something.

Sometimes you got a special- On a heel, Mary, they would put a receiver in to try to- But listing a guy on offense and defense on your depth chart, I don't know. Doesn't happen. Titans Broncos. I'll let you take the floor.

I love them. I don't have a lot of faith. Maybe Kam Ward can be something special and have a Daniels Commander's surprise a year ago, but I don't think he has the pieces around him outside of Calvin in Red Lee, so I'm going with the Broncos here on the road.

Yeah, I'm going with the Broncos, too.

It's like the one time the Titans aren't on at one o'clock, too.

Yeah, four o'clock game. This will be on in exactly 3% of the country. It'll be on in my house. But Broncos are the pick for me.

Spreads eight and a half, though. I will say. That's pretty high.

Then Monday night, my bears make their debut. Jj McCarthy starts for the Vikings. Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson. Kael's got all the weapons. It feels like a perfect time for my team to get their heart destroyed. I want the bears to win, but I will pick the Vikings because it's the game where we get our hearts broken.

I'm going to believe in you. If you won't believe in your team, I will. Thank you. I actually believe in the McCarthy Viking experience, but I say in this first game one, it'll be too much for him. And Soulja Phil will eat them up on Monday Night Football.

I love it. I hope you're right. I wish I could go, actually, but maybe I will go. Why not? Life's short. What are you going to do?

I'll go.

Yeah. All right. Those are what? Any other news items?

There's one more. You guys didn't mention the Bucks Falcons game, and Tampa Bay Bucks Right tackle. Luke Getake just signed a four-year, $90 million extension with 50 million guaranteed this week.

I forgot to mention Bucks Falcons.

I mean, that's for the NFC South, you could say.

Maybe I should have mentioned that. Well, that's the thing. You never know if you're going to get to all your games mentioned. Here, who signed an extension?

Luke Luke. Get a key. It is the right tackle for the Bucks.

That's really a big news item.

Well, you got to invest in your offensive line.

You just wanted to say that because you're a Bucks fan.

Four year, 90 million.

No, you're the Bucks fan. Are they winning?

You can't forget the Bucks. Yeah, they're winning. They're at home.

Okay. I'll take the-It's in Atlanta, but it's close to them.

That's a great start. It's drivable.

I'm taking Atlanta. Hot Atlanta. I think Falcons win. Another game that couldn't pay me to watch, but I'm going to take Atlanta. What do you got?

You're going against maker play field right here?

Yes. This is Michael Penix Jr. It's time for him to make his name.

Again, just like I picked your bears, I'll pick Billy's Bucks here. Even though we're not exactly sure where it is, I think they'll handle the Atlanta atmosphere well.

They're actually, it's going to be somewhere in between. They're going to play in Mobile on the way. All right, so now it is time for our official... Let's do it. Let's do our official NFL Cover Zero playoff picks. I'm going to go first. I'm going to do the NFC. Let's start with, Philadelphia Eagles will win the NFC East. In the NFC North, I'll take Green Bay. In the NFC South, I'm going to take the Atlanta Falcons. And in the NFC West, because of the schedule, I'll take the 49ers, my wild card teams. I'm going to go with the Commanders as a wild card team. I'm coming out of nowhere. The Bears, even though they lose in week one, will be one of my wild card teams. And then I'll take the Rams as the final wild card team. Those are going to be my seven teams. Lions missed the playoffs for the NFC. Give me your NFC.

I will start with the NFC East with our defending Super Bowl champs. Even though the commanders will give them a fight, I think the Eagles win the NFC East. Nfc North, this one's going to be a little closer. The packers are favorites that flipped with the Micah Parsons trade, but I'm sticking with the Lions. Yes, the packers will be better with Micah, but it's still the Lions division. I will go to the NFC South with Billy here. I will pick your Bucks. There you go. That's probably just because I watched an entire preseason game with the Bucks, and they look good beating in my Titans. But I actually think make or play filled in those runningbacks will have them win in that division. And in the West, it's a little torn between the Rams and the 49ers. I'm going to go with the Rams. Devante experience will work. I don't know what Matthew Stafford will be, but maybe your guy Jimmy G leads them to the playoff and wins the division.

Wild Card?

Wild Card teams. Packers, as I mentioned, they'll be in contention with the Lions, but won't win that division. 49ers, I just said, and then the Commanders. All right.

You're going chalk. I went a little bit off the beaten path.

Also, I got a button. Do you all hear me all right? My sound went out over here, so I didn't hear you. You're doing great. Okay, just make it.

You're doing great. I'm going to go to the AFC. Bills, win the East, easy. In the AFC North, Ravens, easy. Afc South, South. Jacksonville Jaguars end up winning the South. Liam Cohen and Trevor Lawrence surprise everybody and take it. In the AFC West, I'll go with the Chiefs, my My wild card teams are going to be the Broncos. I'm going to go back to the north and get the Bingles. And then the last one can go a lot of different ways. I'm going to say the Texans even squeeze in and get the last one because the Titans The Colts are so bad, they'll add up those wins. Those are my wild card teams. What about you?

All right, I got my sound back, so I can actually hear myself. I'm pretty chalky in the AFC, but I'll start with my upset pick, which you also just picked. I'm going to go with Duval in the AFC South.

Look at that. Both of us picking Jackson there.

I just think the Texans, they're not as good as they were a year ago. They're fluky. They took advantage of a bad division. The Jaguars have come up. They're going to take that one. And then East, got to go with the Bills, heavy favorite. North, going with the Ravens, sorry, Bingles. And then West, Chiefs also there. My wild cards, I'm going to do two out of the West, Chargers and Broncos. And then I do have the Bingoes making the playoff as the other wild card.

Neither one of us pick the Patriots. No, Pat. That's interesting. And you don't even pick the Texans in the playoff.

No, no, no, no. I had two West teams in the Bingles.

All right, there you go. Okay, every week, we're going to do a couple of predictions for the week that we will keep score of. We'll start with, we're going to try do a survivor league. I ran a 50-person celebrity survivor league last year, and it was over after week four because everybody missed so many games week one. You look at this week one slate, there are almost no gimmings. I mean, Trying to just get through. I tend to want to pick the Eagles, but I don't want to be out night one. That would be the worst, to be in a survivor league. I very rarely make it past week one. I'm going to take the Broncos over the Titans. That is That is going to be my survivor league team. Now, the rules of this are once I pick, Drew can't pick the same team, and then Billy can't pick that one. Then next week, Drew can go first, I'll go last, et cetera. I'm going to take the Broncos over the Titans as my survivor league. Of course, I can't use the Broncos for the rest of the year. Drew, I will let you go.

What do you got?

I'm going to take Washington playing the Giants.

I like that one.

Washington's got It's a pretty tough schedule. If I'm going to use them, let's just go right out of the gate with the team that I think is going to be pretty terrible. You're at home, so I'll take the Commanders week one.

All right, Billy?

Yeah, he took my pick, so going to have to scramble here. But you guys got me on the Liam Cohen train a little bit. I'm taking Jacksonville at home.

I mean, that's a lot of belief. You might be out right here, Billy.

That's fine. If Bryce Young can get it done week one, then he's made a believer out of me.

Wow. All right. Billy takes... None of us picked the Eagles, which is probably... I would say the Eagles are probably going to be the most common pick. The Eagles, I guess maybe Commanders will be the other one that'll be the most common picks in this league.

I'll be honest, the thing that deters me from the Eagles is being Thursday. I don't want to be the first person eliminated, and then you got to wait two days. That would be awful. Same with Friday. So I think it's hard to pick those early Thursday games. That's right. It's just embarrassing to be out before the weekend.

Definitely is. Then the other thing we want to do is guaranteed TD. So to add little wrinkle. When Drew picks one, I'm going to let you go first this week. When you pick one, you are picking a person and a position. So if you pick a quarterback, then Billy or I have to pick a running back or a wide receiver and vice versa, and it score a countdown. So if you throw it as a quarterback that doesn't count, you've got to actually score it. So going first, you get to pick the player and you take the position off the board. We will tally over the course of the year how many people The position thing is an added wrinkle. I'm counting for purposes of this, tight-end as a wide receiver. Tied-end as a wide receiver. And if you want to pick a defensive one, here's what I will say. If you want to pick a team to score a defensive breakdown, that is also available, and you get two points if you pick a defense and they score a countdown. There's some value in reaching out and trying to get a defense. There you go.

You're quarterback, running back, wide receiver, slash, tight in, or defense, but defense is worth two points. Drew, what do you got?

Earlier in the show, I mentioned I don't play fantasy. My fantasy is anytime, countdown bets. I love it. I bet one every single game, one o'clock, spray the board. I have a player in every game, and I already had picked one out. I've already bet this, and it was my first NFL bet of the entire season. That's how much I like this. We're going to Ohio, where Joe Flacko will find in Joku against the Bingles for a countdown. So that's a tight end. And it's a little bit of a long shot. It's plus 250 for a countdown bet. That's some good odds.

I don't trust- I am shocked that you could pick anyone and you're picking Njoku.

I'm going odds. Listen, as the season goes on, anytime- But you don't get odds for this.

This is just a point.

This is my life. I've already bet it. It was the first bet I made of the entire NFL.

I cannot believe you're going with Najoku.

Buckle up. Anytime, touch downs is what I do. You all can have your-Unbelievable. Take your Saquon Barclays, take your Derrick Henrys. Don't want it. No, it's I'm having fun picking Saquon Barkley to score a touch down. I'm having fun. Flacko hits Najoku against that Bingo's defense.

By the way, you can only pick a person once during the year, just for the record. So you can't ever pick N'Joku again. Do you want to waste your N'Joku pick right here?

I can't stress this enough. I've already made the bet. I bet it before any overs, unders, any week one bets.

I am on Flacko throwing it. Billy, what do you got?

I'm not going to overthink this. Christian McCaffrey scored in 16 straight NFL games. It's an NFL He's coming back from injury. I think he's got to score week one.

Interesting. I like that pick. All right, so you got McCaffrey. Well, that leaves me, I can get a quarterback or I can take a run into defense. The unders are pretty good in the first game of the year, but I'm not going to take a defense yet. I'll only do that if I get behind. I'm not going to take a quarterback. I'm going to go Jalen Hertz, right? If you're giving me a quarterback to take, he's playing against the team. It's not very good. Pushy-washy. So I will take Jalen Hertz with my pick as well. So there you go. You got Najoku, McCafee, and Hertz. And if you want, we could do... Should we do an anytime parlay for NFL cover zero?

I have so many Touchdown parlays on Sunday.

Well, we should do it. Najoku. So I'll tell you what, if you're a listener to this podcast, if you bet the Najoku, McCafee, Hertz, Touchdown Parlay, and it wins, you can be happy. I'm not I'm not going to give you anything because I don't know how many of you are going to listen to this. So it might be a lot, but you will have won a lot. I mean, that'll probably be... I don't know. That'll pay very well, don't you think? That'd probably play what? 30 to one, maybe, if you got all three of them?

Yeah, I was trying to pull it up on the fly. It's a little harder to do than I imagined, but I got a bit of a long shot in there for us, which is definitely going to hit.

Yeah. So there you go. That we'll be keeping that competition. Guys, looking forward to it. We will be Sunday night here, late at night, typing the next episode. And that was a lot of fun. I hope everybody feels completely... Has all the news they need to get ready for the week.

I feel like everyone can now watch the games. They were excited but didn't know what to watch. Now that they've heard Cover Zero, okay, Aaron Rodgers is going back to be great.

And now they know what Dan Campbell sounds like. They didn't know before that.

That was the highlight of this podcast, to be honest.

It wasn't hot quarterbacks for you.

No, I didn't get a hot quarterback rate. I mean, maybe one week we'll just write them. Yeah, some Wednesday. Historically hottest quarterbacks. Thank you very much. Don't forget to like, subscribe, review, tell your friends, wear it on a billboard. It's NFL Cover Zero. Nfl Cover Zero with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin is a production of the NFL and iHeart podcast. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

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