Transcript of An NBA Six-Pack, Belichick to UNC, and Million-Dollar Picks

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Sal has been absolutely out of his mind hot. I think he's 12 and 12 and 2 on best bets. And he's not shy about telling everybody that he talks to about how excited he is about that. So there you go. So on this podcast, I'm gonna do an NBA 6 pack at the top because I had some NBA thoughts even though we did a bunch of them on Tuesday with Goldsboro and Jacobi.

I have more NBA thoughts, So we're gonna do a 6 pack at the top. I talked to Seth Wickersham from ESPN who's been on here a few times to talk about NFL shenanigans and, Bill Belichick craft stuff. So Belichick went to North Carolina. We had to deep dive that, and we did it for almost an hour. It was really fun.

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I'm gonna open a 6 pack. 6 things I've noticed, 6 things I wanna talk about. We hit a little bit with Jacoby and Goldsberry on Tuesday night's podcast. Specifically, we talked about Jimmy Butler and Golden State and how from a Golden State standpoint, you saw it last night too. I think they have a 2 to 3 year window here with Curry and Draymond to compete for a title.

Whether they're gonna win a title remains to be seen, but they need 1 more offensive player, somebody who could take the burden. You saw you saw in the game last night, they're up 6 with 2 and a half minutes left, and just some of the worst possessions you could possibly have. They become very easy to stop at the end of game. So Jimmy Butler is somebody that makes sense for them and kinda fits in him, Draymond, and some role players. You can kinda see it.

It's not nothing. So he makes 48,800,000 this year, and he's a player option. The player option's key because everybody thinks that he's either gonna opt out at the end of the year and become a free agent, or he'll wanna do an extension of Miami, which Miami Clue doesn't wanna do because they had a year and a half to do it. Okay. So we talked about some of the apron stuff on Tuesday and how hard it is to make trades in the NBA right now.

And I was saying how, on the 1 hand, I kinda like it because it's a little more like the NFL. Guys are kinda stuck in their situations. You can't just decide you're unhappy in a month and be, oh, I wanna go somewhere else. You look at Brandon Ingram. You look at Zach LaVine.

These are guys that are actually well, Ingram just got hurt, but guys that were playing pretty well in situations that they weren't happy with because they didn't really have any other choice. And that could be how it plays out with Jimmy Butler. On the other hand, we've we've already seen that he can get a little frisky if he's not happy. I think Miami is feeling that pressure too. And if you're Miami, where are you going?

You're you're light years away from the Boston OKC Cleveland group. You're not even really a second tier contender. You're probably a second and a half tier contender. And maybe you could use Butler's contract. You could put Rogier with it.

You could try to create a new world for yourself where you're basically just paying hero and Bam and Duncan Robinson's last year, next year, and some other things. And you're under a 110,000,000 heading into free agency this summer with with a lot of options. You might just wanna blow it up and redo it. The problem is this apron stuff. And for Miami, it's not that bad because they, are not hard capped.

They're over the 1st apron. They're under the 2nd apron, not hard capped, which means you can actually make 4 for twos, 3 for twos, 4 for threes, all those kind of trades. But some of the teams that they would be trading with, it's just not realistic with the apron. Like, Shams reported he had Dallas and Phoenix and some teams that I just don't think there's any way, shape, or form that there's a trade to be had with either side because of the apron stuff and because of the lack of assets. And it but that did lead to, Jimmy's agent Bernie Lee getting really mad at Chombs, which I loved.

He's probably he's 1 of my the only agents that actually like anyway, Golden State. So Golden State is hard capped at the 1st apron. I swear there's not gonna be a test after this. And 1,700,000 under the 2nd apron, which is key because that means they can make 3 for ones, 4 for twos, stuff like that, as long as they don't pop over the second apron. I'm sorry.

This is so much math. Here's the trade. It would be Wiggins at Kuminga and Melton who's out for the year. Right? So that's 46,600,000, and Jimmy's making 48,800,000.

Well, that doesn't work for golden state. They also only have 14 guys. So if they do a 4 for 1, they would have to then sign more guys to get to 14 because that's the rule. Well, that doesn't work either. So I don't really know how it works with Golden State unless they dump 1 of their guys, Kyle Anderson, Gary Payton, Moses Moody, who they just signed to an extension.

They'd have to dump somebody to a 3rd team, and I always get suspicious when that when that, when that becomes in play. This is why Houston just seems like such the logical team to me. And I know they're on a high right now. They just made the NBA Cup semifinals with some help from Bill Kennedy. Great call.

Always wanna call that loose ball foul, when guys dive on each other, which never gets caught every. Definitely wanna decide a game that way. Great job by him. The problem for Houston right now is the end of the game stuff, And you saw it yesterday. They're as I've said before, they're probably my favorite league passing, but the end of the game stuff is where it gets a little dodgy with them.

And a lot of that has to do with Fred VanVleet, who just has not been that good this year. 16 points a game, all shooting stats are down. And he's also a team option for next year at 42,900,000. So you could actually use VanVleet as part of a mega trade. Right?

So they have Steven Adams at 12.6. They have Green and Tate, 87 and a half that are expiring. So they have a lot of options too. They also have a ton of picks. They have a couple Brooklyn picks.

They have a couple Phoenix picks. They own some of their own first. So they have a lot of flexibility and maneuverability. And the trade that I created, being the Picasso of the trade machine, if it's VanVleet and it's Adams' expiring and Tate's expiring and Cam Whitmore, who I actually like, who's just buried because he's got the Terra Twins in front of him, Jalen Green, and you get Butler and Rogier back and you put a pick in that trade, and Miami is saving 7,000,000 just on that deal, plus they get a pick, they get to look at Whitmore, they get VanVleet, they get to kinda stay peripherally competitive this year. They could still move VanVleet in a 1 for 1 trade if they wanted to, if it was a salary close.

That trade makes sense to me for both sides because it allows Miami to reboot. It allows Houston to end up with Butler, Brooks, Shangoun, Green, Rogier, Jabari, the Terra Twins, and Landau. And I already had them 3rd or 4th in the West anyway, and I like VanVleet. Oh, I forgot Shepard too. I like VanVleet, but, I think they could get by without him.

And you put Butler and Butler now becomes the end of the game guy. I think he'd have a chip on his shoulder. That's the trade I'm rooting for. I just think that's a fun trade for everybody, plus it would be, yet another Miami situation where they're doing a reboot, and it seems like it's bleak and they're done. And then all of a sudden, they're a 55 win team again because they make 2 moves.

Anyway, that is, number 1 leading to number 2. What the hell does Golden State do if they can't get Jimmy Butler? Because I don't I I I think it's to be really hard to pull off. You're gonna have to trade a pick in a Jimmy Butler trade. You have to trade another pick to get rid of, the contract you need to make it happen or put Pod Zemski, send him somewhere else to to create the thing.

Like, is it worth it to trade Wiggins and Kuminga and Mountain and a pick and then send send Podzemski somewhere else to get another asset to get Jimmy Butler? I don't think it is. My advice for them, the Brooklyn Nets are in a bizarre situation right now where they're playing really well and they're overachieving because Jordi Fernandez, has been a revelation as a coach. It really reminds me of, Will Hardy, that 1st year in Utah, Brad Stevens' 1st year in Boston. We see this happen from time to time where the coach is just too good for the tank.

So Brooklyn's gonna have to start sabotaging their own team. And they have Cam Johnson, who's having the best year of his career. He's 19 a game, 45% 3. I test looks the best he's been. 28 years old.

He's a little older than I think you think he is. But, if I was going to sit out at Audible and go after Cam Johnson and Schreuder and try to figure out, is there something we can do with Wiggins? Do we wanna put Kuminga in that? If we don't wanna pay Kuminga next year, could you turn Kuminga into Cam Cam Johnson, basically? Could it be Kuminga and Melton for Cam Johnson?

Is there some version of, would you rather pay Cam Johnson 22,000,000 than Kuminga for 30? Do you try to get Schroder in it? Could it be Wiggins, Milton, and an unprotected first for Johnson and Schroder? Does Kuminga even need that bit? It just feels like Brooklyn Golden State seems the matchup.

Seems like the matchup for me. So keep an eye on that. I don't think Golden State's gonna be able to get a second star. I don't see a scenario where they get LeBron and Bronnie back. LeBron and Bronnie making 50,000,000 combined.

They'd have all the same problems that they would have trying to get Jimmy Butler that I just laid out. On top of the fact that LeBron is in his 22nd season and doesn't play defense anymore. So Brooklyn seems like the spot for them. I'm still bullish on this Golden State team, but Curry needs some help. Next thing.

So the Wilt 50 club, which I just created 1 second ago, where you have to play 50 games, and you have to average 50 points rebounds and assists combined at least. And it is not as easy as you think, my friends. Just since, since the merger, Kareem did it 3 times. Highest was 56, 1971. Luka did it last year, 52.9.

Russ did it in his MVP season, 527. Bob McAdoo, 50.8, 1975. Giannis is doing it right now, 50.1. Harden did it in 2,019, 50.3. And Jokic, 56.1 right now, which would be the single highest number anyone has done since Wilt and Russell were playing.

So the reason it's the Wilt 50 club, Wilt has the top 6. Wilt has 10 in the top 11. Wilt averaged a 78.4 points, rebounds, assists combined in 1962. That's insane. Oscar Robertson did it 5 times.

Pettit did it twice. Elgin did it twice. Walt Bellamy did it once. We don't count Walt Bellamy. Jordan's highest ever, 48.9.

Shaq's highest ever, 47.1. Bird, 45.8. LeBron, 45.6. Kobe, 45.2. Just getting to 50 is really hard.

I like the 50 club. Let's create it. Jokic right now, 32, 14, and 10, and he's shooting 56, 50, and 81%. 33.2 PR. This season's just insane.

But, I don't know how high this goes because it's too high right now. It's not gonna lie. He's not gonna be continuing to do the stuff that he's been doing. It's not realistic. But could he end up 31, 13, and 9?

Could he end up 32, 13, and 10? I don't know. I'm prepared for anything because nobody in the team could score. So the 50 club, I think Jokic should Kareem is the highest ever, 56.0. I think Jokic could potentially set the record.

I'm in on the 50 club. Alright. They wanted me to do a superior take, and I have 1, of course. I've been thinking a lot about the fouling at the end of the game stuff because there was a Celtics Cavaliers game, which has now become infamous. I think it was a week and a half ago.

Celtics are down 4 with under 30 seconds left. There are 18 free throw attempts in the last 26 seconds. Both teams just were fouling each other. Everybody's like, nobody's gonna shoot a 3. Well, I'll foul you too, and it just becomes a foul off.

Final score was 115111. There were 20 points scored in the last 26 seconds because of all the free throws. And I think I speak for everyone. This sucks. The free throw parade down the stretch is abominable, and it feels like it's getting worse.

So how do we fix it? Well, I have a regular season fix for this. If you foul somebody in the last minute of a game, no matter what the score is, whether you're leading or trailing, the first free throw counts for 2 points. And that's it. And if you make it, you get basically the 2 points for the free throws.

The game keeps going. If you miss it, you still get to shoot a second free throw, but that only counts for 1 point. So when we have these foul offs at the end, Payton Pritchard gets fouled by Cleveland even though they're up 4. If Pritchard hits 1, now it's a 2 point game, and that's how it goes. And I really think it would work.

I don't know who would be against it. And, let's speed these games up because the other option's the Elam ending, which nobody really understands. 2 points for your first free throw in the last minute of the game. Let's try it in the regular season. Let's see if it works.

And if it works, we do it for the playoffs. That's my superior take. Alright. 2 more things really quick. Who could be next year's out of nowhere young contender?

So this would be a team playing right now that a year from now maybe would look like the Rockets right now as 1 of the best 4 teams in the west. The Rockets were 41 and 41 last year. Maybe it looks like OKC last year when they won 57 games. The year before, they were 40 and 42. Maybe it looks like Memphis in 2,022 when they won 56 games.

The year before, they were 38 and 34. So a team that's around 500, maybe a little bit lower, but has some pedigree, at least 1 young star with a chance to be, like, really great, need to be around 500, need to have some other fun pieces, and there's 2 candidates, 1 for each conference. The Pistons. This is a team Marcelo has been very focused on. I always admire Russell's love for, for weirdly compelling East Coast teams.

Detroit's 10 for 15. Played a pretty hard schedule. They lost to Boston twice, lost to Milwaukee twice, lost to Cleveland, lost to Houston, lost to Memphis, lost to Orlando, split with the Knicks. And they've been hanging around a lot of these games, and Russell has made this point in his pod. But these early afternoon, like, 4 o'clock games, you're usually stuck with, like, whatever the 7 PM EST.

So I've actually watched some Detroit, and I've watched some Charlotte. And I I like what Detroit has going. Better than Monty Williams as a coach, which is the number 1 thing. But Cade's 24 points a game, 7 rebounds, 9 assists. He has hit every sort of ceiling you would have thought he was gonna hit at this point.

Shoot, almost 40% from 3. Like, he's just really good. He's somebody that you could build a team around. Beasley and Harris were 2 pretty smart free agent signings. They're averaging 30 a game and shooting 40% from 3.

Jaden Ivy's been good. They have rebounding. And I wonder, like, if I'm them, fuck it. Do I do a trade? Do I try to get, you know, Brandon Ingram's on a discount?

Zach LaVine's on a discount. CJ McCollum's on a discount. Do I think about Jimmy Butler? They're they don't have to worry about any of this apron stuff. This could be another Cam Johnson team.

This is actually kind of a perfect Cam Johnson team. I wonder if Detroit is gonna look at what happened with Orlando and OKC the last couple years and, what's happening with Houston this year and think like, wonder if we make 1 move here. Could our ceiling increase? Especially if Miami goes backwards, Indiana's already gone backwards. Could we be a top 16 potentially?

So I'm watching them. The other team is obviously San Antonio, who's 1212, which is surprising because I haven't really enjoyed watching them. Sohan, Castle, and Johnson shoot 27% for 3 combined. Chris Paul, better season than we expected, but he's old and who knows with him. But the foundation I like, they have Wenby and Castle and and Harrison Barnes and Paul's.

They have some good bets. They have couple heat check dudes, and they have a lot of picks. They have a shitload of picks. And I wonder, is that a Cam Johnson team? Probably not a Jimmy Butler team, but could it be like a CJ McCollum team?

I'm watching them to see, are they just gonna be happy to be a 500 team again? I don't know why they would be because they're gonna be too good to tank. They're not gonna be in the top 5 or top 6, so maybe think about going for it. Which leads me to the 6th and last thing for the 6 pack, Atlanta, a team that I really liked before the season. You probably remember from the over under pot.

House and I went all in on their over. A team that I mentioned last week when Haase and I, after $1,000,000 picks, we talked about NBA Futures. I doubled down when I was in Denver last week on FanDuel with the Atlanta over under stuff because it was 38a half. Right now, they're 14 and 12. They upset the Knicks last night, and it wasn't even really an upset.

I thought they kinda dominated them in the second half, and I I really do wonder if that was a playoff series. I would be super scared if I was the Knicks because they don't really have a way to to control the Trae Young dribble, slash and dribble penetration, whatever we're calling it these days. Their wings kinda match up against the Knicks wings, the Atlanta wings. They have rebounding. It's just I think that's a dangerous matchup for them.

They're 3rd in pace, which I like, and I wonder if Atlanta has a real chance to become this year's Pacers. The key for them, 2 things. 1 is the 3 point shooting. Daniels is only at 31%. Reese's Shea is 28%.

Trey's 31%, which is bad. Hunter's been overachieving. He's 45%. But can those swings start hitting more threes? Then secondly, what are we getting from Trey?

I think I think this is it. I think we've hit the let's figure this out once and for all moment with Trey, almost like a political candidate for an election. He's been dining off that conference finals thing for a few years now, which I think we all know happened because Embiid was super banged up. There were a couple fluky games, and Ben Simmons basically had a basketball mental breakdown and just completely lost it for whatever reason. Trey this year, 21 and twelves.

12 assists a game solid. 38% shooting, 31% from 3, which doesn't stop him from launching the 29 footers. Free throws are down to 6 a game. They used to be at 9. Turnover's highest they've ever been, 4.6.

And with all of that said, this is the perfect team for him. He's got swings everywhere. He's got a bunch of guys to protect him on defense. Daniels, whatever whoever the other team's point guard is, you saw it with the Knicks game with Brunson. Daniels can guard every team's point guards, small guard, whoever it is.

Mitchell, Garland, name a guy. You can put, you can put Daniels on him. They're playing the Bucks. He can guard Dame Lowered. He can guard anybody, in the league who's under 68.

And Jalen Johnson, you know, if you're ranking the swings, Jalen Johnson, Daniels, OJ and Anobi, and Bridges, I think I would take Jalen Johnson over the other 3 guys. And Daniels is gonna be a first team all NBA defense guy. So perfect spot for Trey. He's got rebounding. He's got shot blocking.

He's got lob guys. He's got tall, interchangeable shooters all over the place. And I don't I was thinking, like, what would the trade be? Should maybe they go get Cam Johnson? It's like, I'm not even sure they need to do trade, especially now that Bogdanovic is back and they have some 6 man scoring stuff.

It really comes down to Trae Young. How good is he? Because he is in the perfect race car for him right now. And maybe over the course of these next 2025 games, he's gonna start figuring it out. He's a guy that you saw in the next game in MSG.

The bigger the stage, the more he seems to like it, whether he's missing 29 footers or not. He's 1 of the him and LaMelo are the 2 irrational confident superstars that we have right now. And if if we're ever gonna find out that Trae Young can be a real piece on a team that wins 50 games and actually competes in a real way, it should start happening right around now. So maybe we'll see it maybe we'll see it on Saturday against Milwaukee in the NBA Cup. Anyway, that was today's 6 major things.

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Alright. We're taping this on Thursday morning. Seth Wickersham is here from ESPN. He's popped on here a few times to talk about big picture NFL shenanigans at the coach's owner scale and other stuff and the Patriots. And Belichick, shockingly, to a lot of people, goes back to college.

You wrote about it for ESPN today. I don't really even know where to begin, but I guess I'll start here. People see this story however they feel about Belichick is my takeaway, and I'm just judging it from the people in my life who are emailing about it. The people who love Belichick thinks he think he's a great coach. Like, I can't believe there was another NFL job for him.

The people who were done with his style of doing, thought he was a little overrated, or all like, see? Nobody in the NFL wanted him. And the truth is this story really hits both sides of that spectrum. Right?

There's no doubt. And I think that what makes that interesting is that, like, that reflects a lot of the coach, GM, and owner divide in the NFL. I mean, I think that like rank and file coaches, ask Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan, Sean Payton. Ask any of those guys if they think Bill Belichick should be coaching in the NFL and you won't even be able to finish the sentence before they say yes. Whereas at the GM level though and the ownership level, there's just so much concern.

And I think that part of it is his record. Part of it is, you know, that for, you know, the last half of the dynasty, certainly, you know, Robert Kraft made no secret that he could be impossible to work with at times even as they were winning. But I think that there's just a sense that even if Belichick is willing to be deferential to existing infrastructures and existing GMs, whoever they might be, there's a sense that, like, if you hire this guy, you gotta kinda let him do it his way and give him the keys even if he's not technically asking for it. And I think what changed 2,024 has been an interesting year for Belichick and we should talk about that. But what changed I think was that I think that he began to think maybe I don't really want this and I don't wanna take the risk and wait in January hoping that I might get 1 interview and might get 1 job when I can go to a program, that I've got a little bit of history with, have the space to win or lose on my terms, and and my career that way.

Alright. So there's 2 major things to unpack there. Mhmm. 1 is, how do I even know if I'll get a job in January? And then the other piece is, how do I know I want the job?

So let's talk about the league dynamics because I think that's such a big part of this. He had such a bad experience with the crafts the last 5 to 7 years, really starting with the stuff you were writing about in the mid 2,000 tens that I think, and I was 1 of them. A lot of the Patriot fans who had gone through Deflategate and Spygate, and then Mhmm. People were starting to write about the dissension between Kraft and Belichick and Brady. And all of us were like, fuck you.

There's no dissension. We're fine. But then, as the years pass, clearly, there was. But I I think the crafts thing got so dysfunctional the last 5 years. And if you didn't believe it, you just had to watch the Apple doc, which was 1 of the most insane pieces of sports content anyone's ever released, where it was just an absolute hatchet job that tried to erase Belichick, especially from the first 3 Super Bowls where I don't care where you stand on the Belichick versus Brady thing.

Belichick was a bigger reason they won the first 3 Super Bowls. It's a fact. The way he put the roster together, the defense he had, the game planning, and it was almost like they knew that, so they had to steer it toward everything that happened after that. And part of me wonders, was he just so disenchanted with his experience with the crafts that as he looked around the available jobs and you see father son duo, incompetent franchise, father son duo, and he's just looking around going, that looks awful. I was already in that situation.

Maybe I could have control over my own situation. So just the NFL infrastructure, which you've written about a lot, is it more dysfunctional than we even know about? Because there's maybe 7 franchises that are run smoothly and correctly, and then 2 thirds of the week at least are kind of a disaster.

Totally. And I think that yeah. It's first of all, to go back to, like, the early part of the dynasty, like, you know, you and I talked about it when my Patriots book came out. I mean, those were hugely formative years because Belichick finally had the the the people, the quarterback in place to do what he had had in his mind for so long in terms of, like, being able to create an actual team. And, you know, that's where that ethos started.

And I think that, like, Van, Wright Thompson and I and Van Nata reported on it a year ago or so that, you know, Belichick really felt like the crafts had eroded what he had built in the past couple years. Crafts, of course, were pissed off that he let Brady walk out and, you know, he told Kraft that Brady couldn't play anymore and he go anymore and he goes and wins the Super Bowl. But then, yeah, 2024, He gets fired by the crafts even though they call it a mutual parting of ways. Craft letter comes out and says that, you know, he was fired.

Well, and he was also telling everyone in NFL circles, like, yeah. I fired him.

Exactly. And then you have 7 openings, and only 1 team shows any interest in him. He meets with the owner twice. And then the next thing you know, you know, he's voted off the island as we reported about.

And You're talking about Atlanta.

Atlanta. And, like, he was willing to work with GM Terry Fontenot. He was willing to work with Rich McKay even though there's there's a lot of history there.

Yep.

But, you you know, at the end of the day, they not only went with Raheem Morris, but they made a decision against Belichick. Like, didn't finish in any of the decision makers' top 3 candidates. And And

they and they leaked

it too to make them look bad, which I thought was

really interesting.

It was

our reporting. I mean, I it's a little bit different than they leaked it, but, yeah, we learned about

right. Yes. But before you reporting it, you're finding out that that they weren't in the top 3. So they're telling someone.

So he gets shut out, then you have the dynasty comes out, which just, you know, really roundly dismisses his influence, you know, in in that team's historic run. So start this season. He's got his media gigs, but every week, he and a lot of the old patriots assistants who are also out of work would would do these Zooms, and they would get go through every team, every game, every situation, these high level conversations. And I think the subtext of it all is like, what teams and organizations sound good for us if the if the situation comes up? And there wasn't a lot of back channel communication with owners.

I think that the Brian Flores lawsuit has impacted that greatly.

Wait. Can you explain that? Because that's such a crucial piece of this. So, like, 5 years ago, there's texting, there's, hey. What's going on over there?

And you're just back channeling constantly, and the Flores thing just completely ended that?

Well, it's an ongoing discrimination lawsuit against the league and 3 teams, and I think that owners, you know, don't want to get wrapped up in that. They don't want to be part of that. They don't wanna violate the Rooney Rule. And so I'm not convinced that Belichick wouldn't have ended up with an NFL job. I just think we're we're never gonna know.

And I think that the ones that he thought he might have a chance at just didn't seem appealing enough. And I think that, like, on those Zoom calls, midway through the season, all of a sudden, the college game just seemed much more appealing to him. And he wanted to discuss certain programs, how it would would work if they tried to implement some of the Patriot Way at that level. And again, I was as shocked as anybody. I think you and I were texting about it when North Carolina, you know, came up.

And, you know, it's not Notre Dame exactly, but he felt like this is a good place to end his career the way that he wants to end his career, which is, you know, working with people that he cares about, that he likes, and winning or losing on his terms.

Well and he has a little bit of a a father legacy with them. It's a great place to live. Mhmm. It's a place that seems like they were willing to give him the car keys. I wanna go through those NFL jobs though because it's such Sure.

Such a crucial piece of this. Because there's gonna be a narrative like, ah, the league rejected him and and, you know, even your piece tapped into that. Did Belichick reject the league first or they already reject him? But if you go through the jobs, Las Vegas, assuming that becomes open after the year, I mean, they have 2 wins, but, I'm just guessing. Well, Mark Davis fired McDaniels.

He's a legacy kid. That's a franchise that's never, I I I would say, been stable the last decade, so he's not going there. Jacksonville, which is a team I thought.

I don't I don't think he, I I think consistently he he really didn't wanna go out west.

Well, and also they don't have a quarterback. There's so many variables to cross them up. Jacksonville is the team I thought made the most sense, but what do they have? They have the father son duo who's been pretty incompetent over the last 10 years. Like, he just dealt with that with the crafts.

Now he's getting the more incompetent version of the crafts. Trevor Lawrence, you'd have to really talk yourself into, and it would have to be a situation where they just gave him everything, but they've already proven they don't really work that way. The Sun runs the analytics department. And it just seems like that wasn't a match, so cross them off. New Orleans, no quarterback.

The Benson family, they're a mess. He's not going there. They're in Capel. You can't succeed there. That makes no sense.

Cross them off. The Jets, no quarterback, and he can't stand Woody Johnson. Took shots at him constantly all the way during the season in all his media places, so cross them off. The Giants were interesting because I thought that was another possibility. But it's pretty clear that he really likes Day Ball, and even in in some of the reporting was, like, telling them, like, you guys need a better front office, but you have a good coach.

He just didn't wanna shank Day Ball, so that's out. Plus then on the QB. Dallas, we won't know until January. Right? That's another father son duo, by the way, but won't know until January.

And he didn't want he couldn't wait that long because this North Carolina job was either gonna be there or not. So let that 1 go. Mhmm.

And

then the only other 1 I can think of before the 1 that you talked about in your piece, Cincinnati, if this ended badly, they didn't make the playoffs, and they fired Zach Taylor who has not covered himself in glory this year. That's a really good job because you have borough, Ohio. I get you know? But, again, you can't wait till January. So the only 1 that really might have made sense was Chicago.

And in your reporting, they seemed receptive to that 1. Right? But Chicago is just they want 1 of those offensive wiz kid play out play callers. Everybody has Ben Johnson linked to them already. So it just didn't seem like a fit.

And that was the 1 team that seems like they've rejected him kinda.

Yeah. And I mean, again, what what are those situations is interesting. I mean, Dallas is interesting to me because nobody can take a collection of talent and turn them into a team quite like Belichick. But again, you know, can the Jones share the spotlight with someone like Belichick? You know, I have no doubt that they could all get along, but I don't know if Jerry Jones values coaches enough

Right.

To, you know, go after someone like Bill. And so Well, he

had Jason Garrett for 8 years or 9 years, so we we know the answer to that already.

Exactly. And so I think that, like, again, you know, he he saw the Giants as a rebuild, but he also believes that Brian Daybell's done a good job. And so Yeah. Almost like you take yourself out of the running for that if they were even considering it. And, you know, again, this is all just I I think that, like and even Cincinnati, I mean, remember when he would go on his podcast or on the McAfee show, I mean, he was really critical of Burrow.

And, usually, when he does that publicly, you know that there's a lot more there, in terms of his private scouting report of a certain player.

So were you devouring some of the Belichick media stuff, try because you know him so well, and you know the trying to just, like, the little breadcrumbs he was dropping 1 way or the other. Was that, like, a sport for you?

I I loved it. You know? It was it was it was really fun. It was really fun. I mean, that's all we wanted.

Right?

Because Yeah.

What you what you have is the, you know, for all these decades, you knew you know, you had his his his public performance, which was, you know, very buttoned up. And then the things you would learn about what they were like behind the scenes and the way that they would really, you know, put so much thought into, like, all these decisions. It was just mind blowing. And so I loved, like, just getting a glimpse of that this year from him.

And especially, like, his disdain for certain things was really funny. Mhmm. Like sloppy special teams just like really really cut him to the to the Yeah.

I interviewed yeah. I interviewed I I I I was talking with Peyton Manning earlier this year, for my quarterbacks book and, you know, he was talking about how Belichick just loves coming on the main cast and and loves watching punts.

Right. Yeah. Like, Belichick, if there was a punt near the end zone and the guy screwed

it up

and fell into the end zone, it was like Belichick was being electro shocked on the sidelines. It was it was Absolutely. Worst thing that could happen to him is somebody's screwing up a basic play.

And then you watched him when when we had an Atlanta game, and I think he was on the Manning cast. And, you know, he's just ripping them for sloppy tackling

Yeah.

And things like that. And, you know, that that was a job. Obviously, they they made a point of making sure everyone knew why they didn't hire him. And so, you know, I I enjoyed that stuff quite a bit.

Yeah. He he seemed like he had an ax to grind against Atlanta. The Jets, he couldn't take Yeah. Willie Johnson shots enough. There there were a couple others, but, you know, I'm torn on this because I really thought him trying to be the coach GM everything the last couple years, which just wasn't sustainable anymore, and he wasn't good at it.

The free agent draft stuff the last 5 years, he was just bad. And you could see the results in the roster. He just didn't do a very good job. And I and that combined with I think he had a lot of trouble replenishing assistants. Once guys got plucked left and right, that becomes really hard to just keep replenishing these guys that you kinda taught your whole system to.

You get older, you don't have the same kind of motor. So, you know, I the way he did it in the 2000, no chance he was gonna be able to do that again. But I still feel like he was a pretty good a pretty, like, top maybe not top 7 coach, but in the top 10. What was interesting about last year, the team got sloppy in ways that were really uncharacteristic for Belichick. And I do think people around the league probably noticed that.

This wasn't, like, the same buttoned up overachieving thing. Now their defense overachieved and finished, like, I think, 6th in DBOA.

Some of

that had to do with the schedule. Some of that had to do with when you're playing a shit team. You're not necessarily throwing the kitchen sink at them. You're just trying to get through the game. A little some of it was smoke and mirrors, but at the same time, the team did overachieve.

They were awful offensively. They couldn't have been worse. And what the reason I bring this up is the irony of all of this is the best job for him, I think, would have been the patriots for 2,045 with, like, some pieces desperately needed, like, a stable hand, and they have an awesome quarterback. Right? Which is the thing he didn't have for 6 years.

And the funniest thing about all of this is that was the perfect job for him, but it never would have happened.

Never would have happened. So there was definitely no chance. And, you know, I think the

Although, Ben and J Lo happened, so maybe maybe there's maybe no chance it's too strong. There have been reunions that have been shut. The Eagles got back together, but that 1 would have been an all time shocker, I think.

I know. I'm trying to think if there's I mean, you just look at the toxicity of how that ended, and I don't know if there's a sports parallel where they could've, like, mended that again. I mean

Phil Jackson, Jerry Krause, Justin Cohen, the other thing I was thinking about.

Thinking about that and that wasn't gonna I mean, that it was it's it got pretty bad. I mean, you saw the body language at the press conference when they let Belichick go. You saw it at the Brady roast.

The roast was the best. He he just had complete disdain. You he couldn't hide it.

Couldn't hide it. And, yeah. I mean, I'm with you. Like, on paper in terms of, like, if you're looking at the situation that's kind of best suited for him where you're taking a team that, you know, again, needs to kind of, like, come together and play smarter, that might be you know, the Patriots might be his forte. But, yeah, that was never gonna happen this year.

Yeah. Because you look like Sean Payton. They gave him the car keys in Denver. Turns it around. Now he's younger than Belichick.

Harbaugh with the chargers this year, same same thing. Like, there's probably 7, 8 guys that could do that. But in those cases, those guys are also running a lot of the the front office thinking. And I think Belichick, with his last 5 years, probably lost that. With the perfect job, would have been, hey.

We have a good team. We ran our course with our coach. Can you just come in? That's why Philly became super interesting in September for a couple weeks there when it looked like Sirianni was gonna go badly. And that was, like, whoever's taking that 1, that's like a hired gun job.

Could he just come in, hired gun, hey. Just try to win as many games as possible, compete for titles, but then Philly turned it around. They won 9 to 10 games. So it makes sense to me that he did this because I do think he just wants to coach, and and maybe he started to realize the NFL isn't for him. Now on the other hand, could he do this for 2 years and then realize, oh, that job's open?

And all of a sudden, he's hopping back. Do you think the Schuler record's important to him? Because I've heard different different takes on this.

I think it is important, but it's not the thing. You know, it's not why he gets out of bed in the morning. It's not what really motivates him. And I think that, like, probably given a year off, you know, he was able to reflect a little bit on, like, what are the essential things that I enjoy about this job? And I I think that, like, you know, 1 of the things with the New York Giants, let's say he had gone there and he knows that it's gonna take a year to get that team back.

He would have been going through his 3rd straight coaching year. So 22, 23, and then Yeah. Next year with, you know, the media on him. And whether he's lost his fastball, a daily, you know, piece of speculation and content. And I don't think he really wanted to deal with that.

And I think that, like, it's 1 of you know, college football media is a little different than the NFL. And I think that, like, even though it's intense in its own way, it's like that's something that he won't really have to contend with, I think, when he's in North Carolina.

So the things working against him, the Crafts poise in the well, GM performance last 5 to 6 years was just bad. Mhmm. A known curmudgeon, which he tried his hardest over this with the 8 beauty jobs he had to really try to prove that he wasn't. And I'm in the camp that he's probably more entertaining than a curmudgeon, but I think if if if he's working for you and you're just a rich guy who wants answers, he's gonna be a curmudgeon. Brings a lot of, like, people that come with him.

Some would say they're cast offs. Some would say they're people that if it was for Belichick, would not be working in the league anymore. But he has a lot of those people. Right? And the irony of it is, this is the same kind of thing he probably despises with owners.

Like, why do I have to deal with your family? Why do I have to deal with your you know, now your son's telling me what to do. But this North Carolina situation is gonna he's gonna be in. He's gonna bring a lot of, like, his family with him, including actual family members.

Mhmm.

So And I I I but it seems like to me that was probably a huge piece of this for him, just working with people that he trusts and likes. Right?

Absolutely. And I think that, like, that was something that a year ago, when the Eagles, you know, were at at at at the highest levels were talking about, hey. Look. You know, he's available. Do we do we make a move here?

You know, that was 1 of the things that was considered is that, like, even though those group of minds for the longest time were just, like, so desired in NFL circles. Right? I mean, owners just could not wait to try to tap into his thinking until they realized, you know, that it's it's so singular. His system is not a playbook like Bill Walsh's. It's literally his decision making in real time.

You know, he did they they thought, you know, he doesn't necessarily have the best record of of developing coaches. And considering if he comes in, you have to kinda let him run it his way. Yeah. Are you doing this again in 2 years? Are you blowing up the building again?

Or do you give someone a 3rd shot at being, you know, a head coach or, you know, 1 of the people out of that group a second shot at being a head coach? And so those things were definitely on minds. I think that, like, with Belichick, just him having been in the NFL for half a century now and been in the public eye really for most of the last 30 or so years is that there's just enough material out there that if you wanna lay out a convincing conversation as to why you don't wanna hire him, it's there.

Yeah.

But his record is also there. And I mean, just imagine him going through what he went through last January February. And then having to go on his podcast and on the McAfee show and everything and explain to us and him trying to do it politely just how stupid some of the coaching is in the NFL. I mean, when they have to ex when they have to bring him on to explain what happened at the end of the Bears lion's cave.

Right.

And, I mean, you know, this is stuff that he knows how to do in his sleep. I mean, he is the 1 who, with the clock, you know, melting down against the Seahawks, saw confusion, saw personnel change, calls, you know, go line 3. I think that was the name of it. Butler goes in. All that stuff comes together in a way that I can't ever see being replicated again.

So much preparation and thought and execution and stones for lack of a better word. And yet, you know, you're watching these coaches screw up game situations all the time. And they bring him on to try to explain why. And these are the guys who have jobs right now.

Right. Well, this NBA has the same problem. Most if you have between those 2, there's 62 franchises, NBA, NFL.

Mhmm. Probably 3 fourths

of them are terrible at hiring coaches. And in the NBA, coaches just change all the time. The NFL coaches change all the time. We see situations like last year where he refused clearly, you know, that was gonna be risky to bring him back with the new QB. That could've gone either way.

Salah looked like he'd already run his course with the Jets. They talked themselves into bringing him back. But, a lot of the times you can kinda see it just from Mhmm. Not being attached, just from watching your TV, being like, that guy seems like a man. Like Brandon Staley last year.

Mhmm. Like, this there's no way. There's no path out of this. So I'm sure Belichick watches that too, and he's like, are you fucking kidding me? Like, really?

Absolutely. And I

I think a year ago, I think it was a year ago, there was a, you know, they have owners meetings and then they have the privilege meeting, which is just owners. And, you know, maybe they're family members, but it's not team executives. And I I think that it was in a privileged session where the league presented some data as to the total amount of money that owners are paying coaches that are no longer working for them.

Oh my gosh.

And it was a staggering amount. And, you know, then it prompted all this discussion about the value of coaches. Are we paying these guys too much? All this stuff. But the bottom line is that like, most owners are not good at this.

And even if you're invested in a GM, like I don't wanna pick on him, but let's just say Terry Fontenot or what whoever it might be. Why not tell why not have an owner who says, look, I'm a keeping you around. I want you to absorb as much as you can from this guy while we have 2 to 3 years with him so that we can take the best pieces going forward after he sets the record and, you know, rides off into the sunset. Like, that would be some really strategic thinking on an owner's part. And

Yeah. But, Seth, you know how this works. These the rich guys just call each other. And then, you know, they they weirdly look out for each other even though they're all competing against each other in this league. And there's no way that Arthur Blank didn't call Kraft to ask for his take on Belichick.

I just refused to believe he didn't. And there's no way Kraft didn't give him a bad review. So then if

you're blank on it. Yeah.

Yeah. You have this if you're blank, you have a franchise that's worth $7,000,000,000 and you're trying to think, do I wanna give the car keys to the $7,000,000,000 franchise to this guy and his last employer is just absolutely, like, smashing them, you're gonna hesitate, and you're gonna go to the yes men. Because this is the other thing. Lombardi and I talked about this when he was on, I think, in August, September. You have a lot of people in these organizations, and I've dealt with this professionally too.

Job protection people, that their job is just to keep their own job. And they're always gonna, like, push blame on other people and undermine other people because that's how they're gonna keep their seat. And that happens in so many of these football. They we just saw it happen with the Falcons. The Cousins' Penex thing is probably a disaster.

Right? Are there gonna be repercussions for it? They're just gonna blame other people. Well, Cousins, he didn't tell us he was helping. They'll they'll figure out how to blame and keep going.

Rob Pelinka is the master of this with the Lakers. They fire coach every year. They trade they've traded all their picks. They've done everything. But somehow, everybody else gets blamed for it.

So I just think that's such a big part of sports now, and I don't think the common person who just roots for football, like, sees it.

And owners, You bring up 2 interesting points. I mean, number 1 is that a lot of them are kind of risk averse and conflict averse.

Right.

Which I think, you know, in within that context, it makes you realize just, you know, how, ballsy it was for Robert Kraft to trade a 1st round pick for Belichick back in 2000.

Right. Which is his hall of fame case, by the way. It's like he not only hired Belichick, he traded a 1st round pick. He was that convinced in the guy.

Absolutely. And then the the thing is though is that you're right. I mean, like, groupthink takes over. Like, even though these guys are, you know, in charge of these multibillion dollar, businesses, and even though they're all bosses in their own right of whatever other businesses they might own, like, when you see votes taken in the NFL, there's not a lot of close votes. Like, they're almost always, like, 31 to 1 Right.

Mike Brown never votes. You know, whatever it might be. Like, groupthink does just take over, and I think that, like, you know, like we said, they can they can use whatever excuse they want for why they don't wanna hire a Belichick, but it doesn't look good for for all of them. It doesn't look good that this guy left and went to college to a mid level program, while we're watching just, like, so much bad coaching every week.

Well, I don't think it's a mid level program anymore with the kind of money they're probably spending. I I think that for North Carolina, you always have to look like why would somebody do why would somebody spend I don't know how much is it's 30 for 3. I saw 50 for 5, whatever it is, plus all the other people in Belichick's life, plus the commitment to 10 AL. It's probably like a, I don't know, 40 to $50,000,000 commitment per year. But when was the last time anyone talked about North Carolina football?

Like, we just got Drake May from them. And all I read about leading up to Drake May is, like, we have no idea how good he is because his team was such dog shit in this last year. Right? So that's who you're getting. They so this writer named Molly Conley, who's I I think does a good job.

And he was on some of the reporting in this, but he wrote a piece today about, about when Bill Walsh went back to Stanford and how badly it went. And it went badly for a bunch of different reasons. College football was totally different back then. Walsh maybe didn't have the stamina or the motor that he thought he did. He tried to bring an NFL mindset, and it just went badly.

There was a book written about it. And, you know, I've been really like, Stuart Mandela, The Athletic, wrote a piece, like, this is going to be a disaster. Like, he was just, like, mark my words. Come back here in 2 years. This is gonna be a disaster.

I don't know whether I'm just, like, a a balicheck junkie at this point or a balicheck apologist. I I I don't know. I just say I I watched him do so many great things. I just really find it hard to believe he's gonna go to college and not be good. And yet the track record said he won't it says that he won't be good.

So where do you stand?

My gut tells me he'll he'll do pretty well there. Now look, I don't know what that means. You know? Does does that mean they make the playoffs? I I don't exactly know.

But I think when you have a legend who still feels like he has something to prove and Right. You know, is really sharp, I think history usually lends itself pretty pretty well to those guys. And I think that clearly, this was a space that in 2024 really just started to appeal to him. And, like, from the people I've talked to closest to him, again, in September when they started these meetings and they're going through all these games, I don't think that they were thinking, like, what what college program might, you know, come open that would be cool? It was really as the season went on and he became more intrigued with the college game that he asked these guys to look into some of these programs a little bit more.

Well, what would it look like if we took my methodologies and tried to adapt them to this? You know, how would that go? And, you know, is the ability to knowing that I'll be able to win or lose on my own terms worth the risk of not interviewing or, you know yeah. Yeah. We've been down for 10 years in a

bad day. Yeah.

Before any of those jobs come open. And and, you know, it was really kind of a resounding yes.

There was 1 thing that I read in some of the stuff that's been written about this already is with the with this college job, what he wants to do at North Carolina, I thought was fascinating where he basically wants to turn it into this football factory that trains people to go to the NFL. So this is something Cal Perry tried to do at Kentucky. Right? This was a big part of their mindset of like college sports is changing. The 1 and done era is coming.

We are going to be this factory that sends people into the the lottery, top 5 pick, whatever you wanna be. We're gonna train you to do that. And if you look at the success of the Kentucky guys that came in the NBA, like and there's other reasons for that. There were other people that were involved in that, that kinda chain. Like, people like World Wide West is now 1 of the people on the

Knicks.

But a lot of those Kentucky people did come into the league position to succeed, and they did. Mhmm. And they've had the most success, I think, of any college the last 15 years. So when I read that about Belichick, I was like, that's interesting that he's trying to reinvent himself basically as, you know, using North Carolina. Awesome awesome school.

Like, 1 of the top 25 colleges probably. ACC, you have a natural rival in Duke. You get to play big games. You have a chance to make the playoffs. But big picture, hey, if you wanna play in the NFL, you're gonna learn stuff here that maybe other places won't be the same.

That makes sense to me. Now whether he can sell that to some 17 year old kid and some, you know and their parents in Memphis, Tennessee or, you know, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, wherever he goes to recruit. I don't know if that's gonna work, but makes sense to me.

I it's a pretty good pitch. And I also think that it'll be interesting to see, you know, which NFL teams end up drafting out of that program most. Like, you know, when he had the first run with the Patriots, you know, when they win 3 out of 4 Super Bowls and then his system got rated around the NFL, He had some tough drafts there. And 1 of the reasons was because all of a sudden, what felt like half the league was looking for the type of player that only he was looking for before. And so all of a sudden, there was a premium on those types of players.

Now who knows exactly? I mean, it would be interesting to see like if the Chargers, if the Ravens, if

like Oh, teams that he has connections with?

Yes. Teams that he would have connections with. You know, the Giants, Denver. You know, if like those types of players those types of teams end up really looking hard at North Carolina players and wanting them because they'll have a better sense that they're mentally equipped to handle the rigors of the NFL. Name another coach who can get you ready for it.

I think that Jim Harbaugh at Michigan could probably do it pretty well. But name another coach who you can say, I will prepare you for what it's for what life is like in this league. And it's you know, as we all know, that goes way beyond schematics in doing your job. It it is a complete lifestyle change. Everyone talks about it, how different it is when football ceases to be, you know, your quote unquote job and becomes your real job.

And I think that he'll enjoy doing that. Like years ago Yeah. Years ago, it was in 2006. It was around the time the Halberstam book came out Bill wouldn't promote it during the year, but in the offseason, he did a couple events He did 1 at at Southern Connecticut and I, he received like a distinguished speaker award and I went to it and I was really curious on how it was gonna go and he was so at ease in that audience in front of those young minds and you know, he wasn't talking about football. He he showed some clips.

He kinda went to the film in kind of a funny way, but he wasn't like talking about football and using these kind of flat metaphors for how it prepares you for life and this type of thing. He was actually addressing these kids in terms of their passion and what they wanna do and how best to do it. And he was just on fire and he was inspiring. And I do think that like that's probably a muscle that he hasn't had a chance to flex as much in the NFL. And I think that he'll really look forward to doing that because he'll know that the vast majority of even his players won't play in the pros.

But I think that he'll enjoy preparing these people for life beyond football, which, to be honest, the it it is a even though we know that he can do that, it is surprising for Belichick because he's someone whose, like, self worth almost seems seems tied to, you know, the results of games.

Yeah. It made sense to me that he went to a school that actually is a strong academic school.

Mhmm.

Because the the other way this coulda gone that wouldn't have shocked me is if he just took over, like I don't know what jobs are open, but Amherst, Williams, Harvard, Yale, 1 of those just like he went full div 3. Now that would have been tougher for all the people he's bringing with him, and I don't I don't know if there's the same amount of money. But, but the North Carolina Duke, that kind of level of really good schools that also, have football at a pretty competitive level. Mhmm. It makes sense to me.

Now the thing he has to deal with here is if he's grumpy, curmudgeon, Belichick, every single person he's coaching is on a 1 year deal with this new college system. And that balance, that's why we've seen a bunch of coaches get out. They didn't wanna deal with it. Right? He's he's approaching it fresh, but I'll that that's the biggest x factor to me.

Right? He's yelling at whoever, and they're just like, okay. Cool. I'm gonna be at Ohio State next year.

So college is kind of a a combination, and maybe it's unofficially always been this way, of like raw NIL money

and, you

know, how much am I getting, and cult of personality. I mean, you see it with Deion Sanders. It is just such a cult of personality. Yeah. Even Saban, you know, he had reached that level and I think that like it's it's it's kind of interesting to consider but I mean it's like, you know, Belichick has reached a higher cultural place than any football coach for the last 2 decades.

I would hope so.

And and, you know, for as a as a cult of personality type of guy, I mean, you knew when when Kraft started marketing the hoodies with the sleeves cut off, you know, that something had changed in in the atmosphere. And, you know, a lot of the players that he'll be recruiting don't won't know you know, they wouldn't have been born when he was winning Super Bowls with the Patriots. But I think that, like, the culture personality will be strong with him. And I think that, like, that affords you a lot of the things that if you're a good coach at a good program, you know, makes this job so difficult. Because I don't think that he's gonna be married to his phone all day, texting every single position and making sure that they're not entering the portal after practice, metaphorically speaking.

Right. Well, I'll tell you this. He's gonna be going against certain coaches that he's going to be so overqualified competitively that it's gonna be kinda hilarious. And Mhmm. I'm in the camp of I think he's actually gonna do really well.

Because just like his attention to detail and the the game management stuff he'll be able to do is gonna be so far superior to some of these dudes that are in college. That's 1 of my frustrations when I watch college is I can't believe how sloppy and dumb and stupid some of the stuff is, especially late.

But here's 1

of the things imagine, like, someone like Dapo Sweeney. I mean, just to, like, you know, you've he's clearly an elite college coach Yeah. That had doesn't run the most sophisticated offense. And, you know, I think that, like, when Deshaun Watson came into the NFL, it I think Bill O'Brien did a great job with him, and Deshaun for a while there was, like, on the verge of being 1 of the top 5 quarterbacks in the NFL. I mean, they had to mesh a lot of what they did in Clemson with, like, the stuff, you know, pulling from, like, the Brady rookie playbook.

Right? Yeah. Of the of the Patriots offense. And, you know, he will take that stuff is a huge challenge. I mean, you know, the fact that that you essentially have, you know, great inflation in college with some of these quarterback numbers that are being put up.

I mean, he will take that stuff personally. But there's also that aspect too. The the, you know, the fact that, like, he is who he is. And I mean, Brady on Fox the other day was asked about Belichick in college, and he just, like, could not imagine him there. And it's a funny clip of him

Yeah.

Doing his impression of Bill giving his pitch. You know? Well, we don't really want you, but if you wanna come here, we'll see what you can do. I mean, that part of it is really kind of interesting because he's going to be the complete opposite of what every other kid hears.

Yeah. It's basically he's Bobby Knight in the, modern era. Exactly. If it's over, 302 wins for the NFL, 3rd all time. 31 and 13 in the playoffs, including not including.

13 buys. So 31 and 13 plus the buys, he's basically 44 and 13. 333 combined wins. Only Don Shula had more at 347. 6 and 3 in Super Bowls, 3 more as an assistant, so 9 total.

And really the only person with a chance to catch him with any of this stuff seems to be Andy Reid, who is 32 wins behind him and 5 playoff wins behind him and is probably gonna pass him.

Mhmm. And

I'm sure Belichick's probably okay with it. And I

was wondering I wonder if that factored into it where he's like, even if I could go to Jacksonville and I coach 2 years and get the record, am I gonna hold it for remember, like, when, remember when Drew Brees was breaking all those records and you knew that he was only gonna have them until break you know, another half season. I wonder if he if that calculus went into things. You know, is that worth it for me?

Probably not. I mean, that it if it was Philly, if Serianni went sideways, and he's moving in midseason. But, you know, I I talked to I talked to his people about him doing a podcast, like, with Ring or Spotify because he, you know, they talked to everybody last year. And 1 of the things they made very clear to everybody who is discussing any sort of media thing with him is Belcek will be coaching in February. Right?

It's like, keep it low. Mhmm. But this is a 1 year thing. This is not a new career. He's doing this for 1 year.

He will be coaching February. And I I always thought that was interesting that they're so honest about it and Mhmm. Just like, this is he clearly wanted to do all the media stuff because he wanted to make money. But he was also trying to shift some sort of perception about him. And I think for the most part, it worked.

Because I think if you think about him in July, people just knew him as the all time coach curmudgeon we've ever had. Not not not the same now, I don't think. Like, he's inside the NFL. His humor came out a little bit. The Manning cast.

Mhmm.

I you know, there were some pretty dreary moments in the Manning cast, but there were some also some fun clips too.

And some edgy moments. So you got to see that edginess with him sometimes.

Yeah. He would did he would do that Jim Gray podcast sometimes, and he'd he'd start throwing darts at coaches and stuff occasionally. So there was a little more, I think, that most people thought. But for people like you and me who had been watching him forever, like, none of it was surprising. It backed up everything we had, we'd already heard.

But I always felt like his his sense of what his place was in football history and how he could shape that a little bit, I always thought he was way more aware of that. You don't let Halberstin do a biography of you. You don't let the NFL film crew follow you around for a year. Like, he did care about that stuff, I think

Mhmm.

A little more than people realize. Right? That was always my take.

Absolutely. I mean, legacy has always been important to him. And not just his legacy, but the legacy of of the things that he built. I mean, I always was told that, like, you know, back when he thought he would always leave the Patriots on his terms, he would never leave it if they were down. Like, he always wanted to hand over the team, a good team to his successor.

So that, like, no matter what you said about him, you could always say that he made decisions that he thought were best at were in the best interest of the team, not himself, but the team in the franchise and that was a lasting legacy beyond him, you know on the sidelines and watching him this year and even he was throttled, You know, you could tell there was moments where maybe he would've gone there a little bit more, but he had to restrain himself a little bit because he knows that he still wants to get back in, and he's not quite done with this. And it's not quite his personality just to rip guys onto

the phone. Fear with him doing a podcast with us. Yeah. Like, how far is he gonna go? Is he gonna hold back?

But the gap between him and most of the league was just painfully obvious. And

Yeah.

I get all the reasons that I I think there's a lot of people who thought that, like remember when Mike Shanahan sat out a year and teams started to fire their coaches early so they could get the inside track on him?

Yeah.

There was a sense that might happen with Belichick, but because of the rules that are in place, you know, that never really happened. And plus, I just don't think I think owners just had, you know, like we've talked about, all their reasons, as valid or not as as they may be, of of why they would rather bring in someone else. And, it's like it's kind of hard not to be happy for Belichick and, you know, that he's landed in a place that he seems legitimately stoked about.

Yeah. And even the crafts, they did end up with Drake May somehow. Right? They probably have 1 of the 4 worst coaches in the league. They have 1 of the, I think, 1 of the worst front offices in the league that just had a horrible draft and a horrible free agency.

But they do have this this guy now who has a chance to be 1 of the 5 or 6 best QBs in the league, and the the whole fan base is completely in on him. And now it's become I look at it and I'm just, like, Vrabel sitting there. Like, I don't understand. They if you go back and you look at Vrabel's Tennessee career, in 2021, he was 12 and 5.

Mhmm.

And go look at that team. Like, it's kind of, like, about to be washed up. Baby already was Tan Hill. They're gonna replace half the season. AJ Brown is about to get traded for Trelon Burks straight up or Trelon Burks, whatever his name is.

And they overachieve with that team, and then they trade they trade Brown. QB situation goes sideways. Vrabel starts, you know, battling the front office, and he's and he's gone. And now he's just sitting there. And to me, like, what we're talking about earlier about Harbaugh, Payton, there there's just, like, 7, 8 coaches, Tomlin.

7, 8 coaches that really matter. I think Vrabel's 1 of the 7 or 8. You have Drake May. I don't understand if these last 4 games for the Pats don't go bad. If they go badly, just admit the mistake and hire Vrabel.

He's a Patriot Hall of Famer. I think he'll come. Why wouldn't they do it?

Well, couple things. I think that, like, first of all, Vrabel is suffering from a little bit of the same thing that Belichick has. Like, you know, this perception that you gotta give him the keys and let him do it his way. I think that guy's an excellent, excellent coach. I actually think that I mean, it's obvious that Tennessee was better under him, and they were tougher under him.

I actually think that if you are trying to develop Will Levis, he was better for that because he knew how to protect quarterbacks.

Right.

Like, he knew how to run an offense that didn't put everything on them and took some of the pressure off. And, you know, I think he's suffering from a little bit of the stuff you see from Belichick. Would the crafts move on from Jerrod Mayo? I don't think so. I mean

I don't think so either.

I think Kraft has said publicly that he decided in 18 or 6 2017. Yeah. Yeah. Somewhere around that time that that he was gonna succeed Belichick. And it's unless there's something that's going on in the building that's so dysfunctional that hasn't come out yet that is just beyond intolerable, I would really have a hard time seeing Robert Kraft, you know, move on from from a coach like that after 1 year.

I agree. And yet, I do feel like this is 1 of those situations where it from everything we've seen this 1st year, there's really no glimmer of hope so far with the coach and the coaching staff and really any piece of this. And now it's like, well, we're are so now we're gonna and then a year from now, we'll change everything. That's why these well, I

just wanna say

these next 4 games well, these next 4 games are gonna be so important because Mhmm. Like, Arizona this weekend is a winnable game for them. Arizona, I think, has overachieved a little. They're not that talented. From a talent standpoint, not, like, crazy different than the Pats.

And May might be able to just beat them by

himself. Mhmm.

But if they they play Buffalo twice I forget who the last game is. But I feel like if they go 0 and 4, and it's like a bad 0 and 4, I'm prepared for anything. Because crap's old. These these owners get old, and they're like, fuck it. I'm that's I'm in my eighties.

Like, I I don't wanna go down this way.

And Preston, plus with Vrabel as prickly as he can be, they're used to that. Like, they're like, whatever. Like, you know, whatever, you know, Tennessee can't handle, they're like, it's fine with us. This is a beach. Like, we've been through worse.

Right. And and he's you know, and he's a good coach. He's a really good coach. It's a real

Well, the funniest thing to me is why Chicago wouldn't hire him. And and it's like they're enamored with Ben Johnson. He calls great plays. It's like, how how much evidence do we need that that might not be the deciding reason to hire a coach? Like, in the last, like, 15 years, Kyle Shanahan is the only real whiz kid new coach.

Even somebody like McVay, who I think gets credit for that. McVay's a football coach. He's he's doing everything on all sides. He's a he's a people manager. He's a strategist.

You know? He's not just like, here are my here's here are my 50 plays I'm bringing in the game. Fribal is like a culture changer. Chicago needs to, you know, they they they play in the worst weather probably in the league other than maybe 2 other cities. Like, they need to be, like, tougher on the lines.

They need to be able to protect Caleb. I don't understand how just hiring a play caller is gonna be the answer for them, but what do I know?

Absolutely. It is it's a little bit like Belichick. I mean, you know, he's a total head coach.

Yeah.

He can

go cut coach running backs if he needs to. And Vrabel is a very similar he learned, you know, from him and others, but, like, Vrabel is a total head coach. I'll never forget, Belichick's last playoff game. I guess we're saying last oh, the last playoff game with Brady

Yeah.

When they lost to the titans at home on that on that rainy night and, you know, the patriots need the ball back. They get a stop and you keep thinking you're thinking this is when, you know, we've seen this. Yeah.

You know,

all of a sudden they're gonna turn it on and Vrabel deploys that clock management trick that Belichick had used against the Jets earlier that year. And Belichick's just going nuts on the sideline and melting down and you can tell he is hot because But but Vrabel had learned like he had studied the guy and he knew in the exact situation When to use that that is next level coaching and when you watch like again the end of like the Bears Lions game, which is just like a debacle on every front. It's just obvious that there are some of these guys out there that are fundamentally coaching and teaching a different sport. And others are just kind of glorified play callers. And that would be my concern with Ben Johnson even though he's an imaginative play caller.

Yes. Sal and I talked about it a little on Sunday. I I just think being a head football coach and being somebody who specializes on 1 side of the ball or the other over and over again, I would just rather have the overall head coach who's he may like, Kevin Clark wrote a really good piece for us on the ringer. I think it was for the 23 season about Vrabel and all the stuff that he did for the titans. So people could go back and read it, but just about Yeah.

How he would grab different time with different you know, he'd just be like, oh, I'm gonna spend a half hour with the left guard because I don't like the way that he's stepping back on just every aspect of the team. And I think for the Patriot fans, like, the stuff we read and hear about mail, like, we're it just doesn't seem like that's happening, not to mention the media stuff's been bad, the game management stuff's been bad, the team is exceptionally sloppy, and Mhmm. I it's I'm waiting for a light at the end of the tunnel with him because it'd it'd be a hell of a lot easier for all of us if he was a good coach or had a chance to be a good coach, but these next 4, these next 4 games are gonna terminate. Alright. So you announced you have a new book coming in September.

It's called American Kings biography of the quarterback available for preorder now, and you just used your massive, media clout to just go get time with a bunch of famous quarterbacks and find out what's going on with that position.

Including Drake May. But, yeah, you know, I I I I want to write a book that, you know, takes the most encompassing look at this position I possibly could. You know, what's it like to do at every 1 of these levels? What does it build a new? What does it strip away?

What is it like doing in high school, college as a rookie? How did this thing become cool? You know, the answer as it turns out goes back to 18/85 and runs right through LA in the coming decades. Wow. And, you know, then what is it like to live with this the rest of your life?

In what ways is it is it incompatible with kind of future happiness? I you know, that's that's what I wanted to do And yeah, I spent some time with your boy drake maye, when he was at carolina and his family and the coaching staff there at the time and I really enjoyed You know spending time with him and I do think that like part of the reason he was appealing to the Patriots, there's a Brady factor there, where it's like you had the youngest kid in a family of achievers who had to fight for attention.

Yeah.

And, you know, when he decided to go to North Carolina, he knew, you know, right then that, like, it's not about whether you make it in the NFL or not. It's actually just whether you have something to say at Thanksgiving with your family around. You know, did you did you do something that year that that lets you have be part of that conversation? And, anyway, I had a great time reporting it and and working on it and, looking forward to September.

Yeah. I obviously was obsessed with that draft in April and reading everything, talking to as many people as I could talk to, and, and I was so all in on on May. I'd I but Manning, ironically, I was at a thing with him, and I was just picking his brain because he knew May a little bit. And I was like, I really feel like May is guy. And and Manny was like, oh, yeah.

That guy's the man. Like, that guy's gonna be really good. I was like, really? Like, I was like a little kid. Really?

You think he's gonna be good? But I do think part of and I'm sure your book taps into that is how the guys who have done it can spot things with the next guys. Like, oh, like, they just kinda know who has and who doesn't. And May's been it's been the opposite of, you know, some of the other people we've had in different sports over the years. May's just been he's checked every box.

It's crazy. Like, he even knows what to say in the press conferences already. It's nuts.

He has. And, I mean, I think we like to take right back what you said. I mean, I think there's an element of it where, you know, they think they can, and then sometimes they can't too. So, like, you know, what makes this job and these weird responsibilities it has so unique and so, hard you know, so mythologized and so hard to predict baffles these guys. I mean, Steve Young loved Zach Wilson, mentored him.

Right.

And, you know

What happened? What

happened to Sam Darnold? How does he go from it that's the thing. I think situations so much of it, which is why the Drake Made thing has been amazing because he's in a bad situation. He's got bad receivers and a bad offensive line, and it doesn't seem like his coaching staff's that great. Although Van Pelt might be alright.

But, with Darnold, holy shit. You look back at the situation he was in, and it was like, of course, he wasn't gonna succeed, especially at the age he was at. And And

to tie it all back and to tie it all back, Belichick used Darnold to to take another crack at the Jets.

Oh, yeah. He loved that.

He sent out a few clubs. He loved mentioning that every team wanted wanted to keep Darnold and liked him except for the Jets. So

Right. Alright. Well, I look forward to reading that book. It's a great idea. Seth, awesome to see you.

Read his piece today if, you want even more information on this, but, I hope all is well.

Thanks, man. Good to see you.

Alright. Joe House is here. We're gonna do some $1,000,000 picks in a second, brag about our record, do all that stuff. But NBA Cup is, the semifinals are Saturday night. The odds on FanDuel, OKC's plus 115, Milwaukee's plus 270, Rockets 4 to 1.

Atlanta, a feel good super fun bet at plus 550. My instinct says just lay the plus 115 with OKC and call it a day.

I kinda landed the exact same place as you, what we saw in terms of how they handled Dallas. And I really enjoyed the breakdown, you, Jacobi, Kurt Goldsberry. I felt like it took you guys too long to get to the part where Luka sucked. He sucks sucked. He just was a flat out no show.

He couldn't go up and down the court. And then what was crazy to me was in the previous 3 games, he looked fine. He looked like he was all the way back, but I don't know if it was a a setback. I don't know where his head was at. He was out of that game before it even really got going, BS.

Yeah. It seemed like that OKC team is kind of a bitch to go against with all those swings they have and all those athletes, and they just seem like they knocked him out of his rhythm in the first half, and that was it. It shouldn't have been that easy, though. But if I'm OKC, we talked about it Tuesday night. Like, that's such a good outcome that that's the team.

That's 1 of the hurdles you needed to get over in the west, and now you just feel like you can go at those guys. So they're playing the Houston Pit Bulls on Saturday night, who are just the classic. I don't know why I love this team so much because their last few minutes of their, offense is so you know, it's just it's just a chore, which is why Jimmy Butler shakes. Yeah. I talked earlier about a Jimmy Butler trade, but they just desperately need somebody who can get a really good shot.

Doesn't appear like it's gonna be Jalen Green. But, I just like the I think it's gonna be an awesome back and forth game. We saw it 2 weeks ago. I loved it. The Atlanta game.

Atlanta, Milwaukee with that weird goofy Milwaukee team. And I know Giannis can just have the 3819 and just overpower them, but I can't I talked about it earlier in the pod. I continue to be infatuated by this Atlanta team, and you feel the same.

You know I do because we bet heavily on them in the preseason.

We did.

We we imagined this possibility with their size and their versatility. And lo and behold, you know, every once in a while, we get a couple things right. And this was the team we thought for sure that Dejounte Murray was, an enormous addition by subtraction because what they got back in Dyson Daniels and Larry Nance junior, like, it's a mindset. It wasn't just, you know, the sort of the player aspect of it, but they are long. They can they defend from from side to side.

They defend full length, and they they are a team that can score late in games that I'm not worried are going to get good looks. The shot selection No. You get you get

worried about the 29 footer from Trey. So I said earlier in the pod, Trey is at this really, really interesting inflection point where I feel like it's either gonna happen or it's not. You know? Like, statistically, all these signs that he's going a little bit downhill as a scorer, and yet he's on the most fun Hawks team he's ever been on, the kind of team we would create. We're trying to create a team for him, where he's got lobbers and lob lob targets and shooters, all these things, people to protect him on defense.

And now I wanna see him elevate, and I think both of us are suspicious that it's in there.

Well, I I was gonna ask you to clarify what you mean, whether, it's gonna happen or not. Because my my immediate response is, it's happening. We are seeing it.

This is But not statistically for him, though. I guess that's the difference is could he become with all these weapons, could he turn into, like, a 24 and 12 guy and a 40% shooter and all the stuff we need?

The only stat that matters is the assists. Like, if he continues to lead the league or be right up there top 3 in in assists with this set of assets, then I would say, yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, this team has the composition of a team that can make some noise in the playoffs. They were so tough against the Knicks.

That's always you don't know whether a team's gonna show up and be prepared to have that bully instinct. They bullied the Knicks. They've 10 more offensive rebounds. Yeah. They kicked the Knicks right in the in the in the front and the back of the lower section there.

Yeah. I thought it was a moment. You know? And I I think Trey is such an interesting guy to discuss and watch, and there's so many things I don't like about his game. Like, that Lakers game, he just took a couple horrible shots, but then he'll make a shot.

Right? But the thing I do like about him is the the swagger and the competitiveness is there. Like, you knew at the end of the game, he wasn't gonna be afraid of the moment. And the guys that he has around him, even that Reese O'Shea.

Mhmm.

And we watched him before the season in that Brooklyn exhibition game. And both of us, you were at my house, and we're just watching going, what's up with this guy? We kinda like this guy.

Maybe. Yeah.

Yeah. And, you know, I I I just think it's a bunch of dudes that Bogdanovic comes in. He's not scared. It's a bunch of guys that aren't afraid. So I'm I'm kinda leaning toward liking them in that Milwaukee matchup as an underdog.

They are plus 148, plus 3a half. I'm on record.

I'm on record. I I bought the gambling pot. It was, already up. I I played them on the money line and the points. I'll take them both ways.

Yes, sir, please.

Oh, wow. Okay.

A double helping of hawks. The the Milwaukee team continues to be you know, it's just everything they can extract from Giannis, and they need a good game, good to great game from Dame just to be they lost by 15 points a week ago. Now no Middleton, but, you know, okay. And, Dame shot very well from 3, had 25 points, and Giannis did 1 of his 38 nineteens, and they still got their ass handed to him. It's just a bad matchup, I think, for Milwaukee against this Hawks team.

I couldn't agree more. Because Giannis could still have the 3817, and they could still lose. They're gonna put Daniels. They're they're gonna try try to take out Dame McDaniels and some of the other swings. Somebody like Trey has always been a problem for this Bucks team with how to guard these shifty point guards.

So if Trey plays well, they win. I I almost feel like you could do, the Hawks' money line with some sort of Trey overbet. Alright. Let's talk let's talk some some football.

Let's do it.

We're we're doing really well on $1,000,000 picks.

No. I'm not gonna do

it with your favorite $51,000 last week. We are up 1.764 $1,000,000. That's pretty good. This is 1 of my favorite weeks of the year. It almost scares me a little.

There's just it's playing all the hits for me. I love good to decent teams, 3 points are under. I love Mike Tomlin getting points. You could probably guess what my picks are gonna be. There's, like, an easy teaser.

So we'll go through some of it. Steelers, Eagles. Steelers plus 5a half. I'll let you take the floor because I heard what you said on the ringer gambling show today, and you had some a couple points on this game that I just wholeheartedly agreed with. Do your what good defenses Philly played thing.

Yeah. Well, I I went through, their list of wins, and and please don't misunderstand. A 9 game winning streak is outstanding. It's it's excellent. But when you go through the teams that they've beat, I don't think you can get to a top 10 defense.

I think you're hard pressed to get to a top 15 defense. Now they they Wait.

Can I give them quick? Please.

Please.

Cleveland Cleveland Giants, Cincy, Jaguars, Cowboys, Washington, Rams, Baltimore, Carolina. And it's not like they were throwing up 40 points a game either against those defenses, but that speaks to, like, just nobody even remotely approaching what Pittsburgh has.

Yeah. And I would I guess Cleveland would be the best out of out of that group, but right. So the thing about Pittsburgh and why I think it's gonna be a shock to the system is their ability to bring a pass rush that these Eagles have not seen this entire season. And the the, Steelers are really rounding into form in terms of, you know, their quick pressure rate, their ability to disrupt, and they have health at the linebacker position, both Herbig and Alonzo Highsmith healthy. And I I just think yeah.

So we already know that this Eagles defense is 1 dimensional. They are the the least passing team in the NFL, the fewest number of attempts and completions in the entire NFL, Jalen Hurtson, it's Eagles passing defense.

31st in a passing league that has some horrible quarterbacks. They're 31st out of 32.

So you wanna you wanna give this Steelers defense a 1 dimensional look? Do you think that they'll load the box and and and say, please, try and run on us? And, you know, I think this is finally a a matchup where the Eagles' very excellent offensive line. Again, don't misunderstand me. They're that they're they're they're gonna meet their match in terms of what this, Steelers' defensive front 7 can bring to the table.

And Pittsburgh is a way better special teams. Yes.

Like, Pittsburgh has 1 of the preeminent special teams of this decade. The season Boswell is having, I think Boswell might be having the greatest fantasy football season by a kicker in the last 15 years. I had him on the vote out league that I'm in with Sal and Hensch and those guys, and I didn't make the playoffs. My team sucked. And I felt bad.

I almost felt like sending Boswell a letter. I'm sorry I let you down. You did everything you could. This wasn't your fault, Boswell.

You should've figured out a way to put him on a on a contender. I mean, you know, I I understand the dynamics that are at work, but, like, does is Jon Hamm still alive? He could've done something nice for you.

He might have over 200 Fantasy points this year. Just outrageous. But that's like the the kickers don't do that. The top kicker is usually 160, 170. So they have him, the Tomlin factor, Tomlin as an underdog, Philly's first rushing offense.

Pittsburgh's 4th against the run-in the entire league.

Yeah. It's great.

And the only thing that worries me is the Pickens part. That's it. Sure. They're not gonna have Pickens.

That's a that's a viable concern. And you're you're not imagining a game script here where, Pittsburgh tries to get the ball way down the field, which has been, you know, the 1 of their pathways to success with Russell Wilson. He's been throwing a very nice deep ball, but that's not the way. The way that they win this game is field position, special teams, defense, long roster. Under.

You're just laying out unders left and right.

You're absolutely right.

I think this has been a season about the general public underestimating things. Mhmm. And Pittsburgh is, like, the leader of the pack with that. People have underestimated them before the season. As the season was going, people kept looking for reasons.

And then this is the most offensive line of them all. Like, the Eagles could win and and win by 14. I still think the line's offensive. I think it's a 3 point game. I can't believe it's 5a half, especially with how the Eagles looked last week barely beating Carolina, having some sniping after the game.

And this is, like, where Pittsburgh loves to be. Like, it it's gonna be the weather's not gonna be that bad, but it's a Pennsylvania game, so not not long travel. And it to me, it just feels like a 20 to 16, 19 to 16, 21 to 20. Perfect. So I was looking at different bets.

Like, the the other thing is the Steelers are 5a half. So Vegas is like, we don't know. We're put throwing this to Vegas zone. Steelers plus 4a half on FanDuel is is even money. Okay.

Steelers plus 5a half is, like, minus 1 13. If you do Steelers plus 4a half with an under of 45a half, that's plus 198. It's almost 2 to 1.

Great.

And I guess my question to you is, so how many points become unrealistic for a game like this? Because we we if we don't think the Eagles are gonna be able to run the ball, that might actually lead to more long passes. But I don't think the Steelers are gonna be able to get the same explosive plays that they used to have. So the model for them to win is just run the ball, run the ball, control it, try to wear the Eagles out. And then on defense, the Eagles stubbornly try to run against them for half.

It doesn't work. And then maybe it opens up second half, but, I was looking at that. Steelers plus 5a half under 47a half is plus 163.

Another great 1. As many of these as you wanna do, I'm here for it.

Steelers win the game outright with under 45a half is plus 328. So there's there's some Great. Good ones. But I, normally, my instinct would be to pull the Steelers up over 7. I don't think I think in this 1, like, this is this feels like a 3 point game to me.

And they've played these games all year, and I think I think they're gonna have a chip on their shoulder. And this might be a team they see in the Super Bowl, FYI.

I I couldn't agree more with any of of your, handicapper assessment there. I I wanna just add a couple other layers. You mentioned the special teams thing. Tell me how many field goals Jake Elliott has made of 50 yards or longer this season.

Oh, god. Probably, like, 1.

The answer is none. 0. He is o for 5. So if we're talking about if we imagine a game script where it's tight, it's it's, you know, field position kinda game, Those 50 yard field goals start to become important. And then the last sort of element of it is, like, who do you trust more in a game like this?

Nick Sirianni or Mike Tomlin? And, you know, that that that would be matters.

What's the best unit in the game? And I I would say it's Pittsburgh's defense. Now if if Philly can run the ball on them, we'll know within a quarter and the game's probably over. But I think this to me, this feels like a close game. It feels like a field position game.

Special teams will factor it in, and I just I like some combination of maybe it's all the way up to 47a half. Maybe it's Steelers plus 5a half with the under 47a half, something like that. Fine. I think that's the move.

Fine.

Next 1, Lions Bills. So this is Lions minus 2a half, which is just a complete f u to the Lions defense by everybody. People are like, you didn't fool us last week. Your team spent 38 seconds calling every play on offense and just doing everything they could to keep the defense off the field, then now you're gonna play Josh Allen. We don't trust you.

My counter is that the Rams showed what to do against Buffalo last week. They ran the ball. They ran the ball. Then they then play action or quick passes, and they just got first downs, moved the ball. And Detroit has a better offense than the Rams do.

They have a better offensive line. I don't know how Buffalo I just feel like they're gonna get pushed backwards the whole game. I think that's Buffalo is a team that needs the lead, and I think the lines are just gonna push back, push him back. Maybe there's a scenario where Josh is chasing the cover late, but I this defense looks like an awesome match up for the lions. So I'm I'm more focused on their offense and less the defensive deficiencies.

What are you looking at?

Yeah. So this is, again, kind of a razor thin coin flip kind of game, and so you're trying to find the the teeny tiny slices that might tip it 1 way or the other. And, you know, if you were wanted if you wanted to back the Bills and grab the points, you would talk about Detroit's secondary being susceptible to explosives, and Yes. The Bills are getting back both Coleman and Kinkade, this week. They're supposed to both be ready to play.

And we saw through through, you know, the the tremendous comeback against the Rams. Shaquir was incredible. Allen is at the absolute peak of his powers. And if he is out of structure, you don't you don't worry about Josh Allen out of structure getting the ball down the field. He is the best quarterback that Detroit will have faced this whole season with a pretty healthy offense.

And what I I'm 1 of the things I'm interested in, I'm looking at it right now, James Cooked These Nuts over because I do think that they are going to try and establish a little run. We're gonna go Cooked These Nuts over 52 and a half rushing yards, but that's just a side play for me.

So That would be the kicker for the loss. Win this, would it think 30 points for them at least?

Oh, I mean, the points are gonna be abundant.

I I don't So and I don't wanna do this, but I'm just saying, like, if you're if you're taking the lions if you're like, I wanna take the Lions plus 2 and a half, I would take Lions money line and do over 50 and a half. Something like, over 50 and a half Lions money line is plus 206. I would do something like that. This is not gonna be a 24 to 16 type of game. I think there's gonna be points, but I feel like there's a been a few times this year where Detroit's offense got discounted a little bit.

Okay.

Even Green Bay last Thursday night, we all love Green Bay. We ended up, actually, I think we end up winning that bet.

We we won our bet because it was, you know, we got the 3a half.

Yeah. But Detroit, 34 points, probably could have more. I to me, this is just a just don't overthink it. Lions are home. They need the game.

That's the other thing. It's not like they have a 3 game lead in the NFC. My Minnesota's 1 game behind them. And, their offense is just way better than Buffalo's. Even though Buffalo's offense is really good, but, like, Detroit's plus 27 in touchdowns this year.

Buffalo's plus 18. Detroit's net yards. They've scored almost a 1000 more yards than the other team or gained a 1000 more yards. Buffalo's had 300. Buffalo's had weeks where they they just looks like they've they're like, that Baltimore game, the game, last week where it just feels like you can go up and down the field in them.

And, I like the matchup for Detroit.

Here's the thing that really tips it for me. If it's a tight game, we're in the Q4, and it's time to strike start doing some math about the the most efficient way to produce an outcome. Yeah. I don't we just watched it. Sean McDermott just has too many in on force errors in in this regard.

Yeah. And Dan Campbell never makes a mistake. It is like Dan Campbell and the Lions are at the same level as the Chiefs in terms of, like, it's an end of game scenario, and I've got it mapped out, and I know the correct call to make. We might not execute, and we might lose the game because of a failure to execute, but I know the call I'm gonna make, and it's the right call. And that's how we're gonna win.

McDermott just gets it wrong so many times too often, and I don't wanna be in that position of watching this great game back and forth, back and forth, and and the Bills have the ball, and Dum Dum McDermott makes a a a a dumb dumb call, and then they're like, goddamn it. Why did I invest in this team?

Muscle not pot like, Detroit really needs the game. Buffalo, they're either gonna be the 2 or the 3 c. There's urgency, but not, like, crazy nuts urgency. Why? You think they could drop the 4?

No. I don't think we're I don't know if we're gonna get to the Chiefs, but I'm I'm not after what we watched in that game of

Oh, you think they get to the 1 seed?

No. Yeah. Yeah. I'm not ready to to cross off that that Bigger game ability. Detroit.

Detroit has to win this game.

Fine. Fine. That's fine. Home game 2. Campbell and Goff at home.

Last couple seasons, incredible against the spread.

With that said, I hate betting against Josh Howe.

Sure.

We, we'll take a break, and then we'll hit the rest of the games. Alright. Come back. More games that I like. Well, there's 1 I don't that I stared at, that I wanted to throw in.

Chargers minus 3 at home against the Bucks. And I had them written down all week. I kept looking at it, kept looking at the injury report, and this seems like a week to stay away with the chargers. I just there's something I don't like about it. The McConkie's not healthy.

Dobbins is out. Herbert now has this sprained ankle situation again, And I feel like this line should be like chargers by 4, and the books are trying to tell us something. So Buzz being a 3 point underdog, like, I I they didn't even look good last week. So Right. Right.

It says stay away to me, house.

Yeah. And it is a 100% the injury uncertainty. It was trending in a way that let me go ahead and get a little bit down on the charger's minus 3 because I think it's a great number for the reason that you just laid out. I mean, the Bucks have a a a bunch of wins against, nobody teams. They beat the Giants with Tommy DeVito.

They beat, Carolina in over

5. The NFC South.

Right. Right. I mean, they they they handled the Raiders because Aidan O'Connell broke his leg. Like, you know, there's a bunch of wins. Now, again, you win you got to play the games under in front of you on your schedule.

Congrats to them, but brutal spot. What's the status of Bucky Irving? That will, impact the handicap. And then what's the status? McConkie was running drills on Wednesday, so I started saying, well, this is part of why I I went ahead and get got down a little bit on that chargers minus 3.

Yeah. We're staying away.

Can't have Herbert, under any circumstances, impaired at all because the the the what Tampa has been doing these last 3 weeks very successfully against bad teams is blitz, blitz, blitz, blitz. They've greatly increased their blitz rate, and it's been successful.

I know I'm coming on the ringer Sunday pregame on Sunday. I could see being back in on the chargers on Sunday. I'm not doing it now on a Thursday afternoon. Great. Here's a game I do love.

Houston minus 2 and half against Miami.

Okay.

Texas off a bye. Miami's past defense kinda getting semi shredded by Aaron Rodgers, who's who's been done for 3 years. D'Amico Ryan's versus Tua. Raheem talked about that on the ringer gambling show today. There was a San Francisco game with Tua that was not awesome for Tua.

Houston's defense, 7th against the pass, 2nd in sacks, 2nd in tackles for a loss, most importantly, house. We're kinda due for a good CJ Stroud game. We're just due.

And I know this overdue. We are I

I know that's a good thing to say, but he's got his receivers back. Nico Collins is back. They're coming off a bye. It just feels like this is a first quarter where they come out swinging, make a couple big plays, they hit 2 a couple times. I don't think Miami is good.

And I I think if the to me, this is a gift of a line. This line should be Texans by 3a half. People don't trust Houston. I get it. Not even sure Houston's that good.

But if they can't win this game, we might have to take their AFC South title house. Just give it to somebody else.

Well, the Colts are are, you know, sort of hovering around. Interesting, match up against the Broncos. But, I understand your point with this, Dolphins team. I I just can't unsee what the Jets did to them. It looked like, you know, Davante Adams was open on every play.

It looked like Wilson was open on every play. 9 yard outs

over and over again.

I just and it the the, second day, it's

almost looks like shit in that game, didn't he?

Right. Yes. Yes. They they put him on an island, and they're they're just they just cooked them. The Houston Texans do not deserve to be trusted, but I think we finally might be in a situation where you you outlined it properly.

We're not laying a ton of points. They're at home. It's off the buy. We're dying for a CJ Stroud game. And, you know, we saw a version of Houston at the beginning of the season where Joe Mixon was super effective.

We're like, oh, look at this you this Houston team might be a an 11 or 12 win team. They went through their injuries and stuff. Their offensive line is the issue. They can't really be trusted. But I like the spot for Houston.

I'm I'm in your direction on this.

You know what I like the most about this game? So if the Jets just finished the game last week, that stupid game that they gave away. Yes. And the Dolphins lose to the Jets last week. What's the line on this game?

Right.

Exactly. It's at least 3a half. It might even be 4. Yep. So instead, we're at 2a half because the Jets just decided to actually have, like, a stroke on the field.

They were so stupid. Houston's 4 and what here's another reason to be suspicious to Houston. They're 4 and 1 against the South, a terrible division. They've also beaten the the text the, Bears, the Patriots, and the Cowboys. So this might be the best win they have in a while.

Well, let me put this to you. Because you're you'll go through the stats, and you mentioned this, them coming out fast. They are 1 of the top 5 teams in the NFL in terms of scoring in the first half. Yeah. And they don't have to lay very much in the first I we we can look at the FanDuel Sportsbook to see what the first half spread is.

Yes. They're 1 of the

worst teams. They're 1 of the worst teams in the NFL in the second half.

A bottom Yeah. I saw the second half stuff is terrible with them. Right. Yeah. I hate doing those first half tests.

You don't you don't like the exotics. You don't

wanna split them up. 1a half. We saved, like, a point. You know?

Okay. Alright.

I listen. You made me you did make me think. Do you think 2 is good?

Yes. Yes. I do. I do think

it's good.

I do.

So you're in the pro 2 account?

I am a pro 2 guy. Yes.

I just can't get there.

Under the right circumstances. When he's playing either indoors or in Miami when it's 80 degrees, I think he's good. And I do think that the DJ has created a playlist for him. He's they're spinning some some some smooth sounds down there, where he can be super effective with those weapons. But, like, under any kind of adverse conditions, as soon as they go outside, we watched it, forget about it.

Yeah. Well or if he's getting pounded by the passer.

Yes.

Okay. Last straight up game, Seahawks, Packers. Still the stupefying line to me of the week, the the lack of respect for Seattle. Pittsburgh and Seattle were the 2. I was like, wow.

What do why am I seeing this so differently? Seahawks are plus 2a half at home against the Packers. On the, gambling pod today, but I don't feel like the defense thing is a mirage. There was real reasons why they started to struggle defensively. All of their guys are back now.

They're actually, like, playing really good defense. McDonald's been there for a while. They understand what he's trying to do. And then the other thing that jumped out, especially last week, is they the blocking for their offensive line went from horrific to pretty passable. Like, they ran the ball down the throats Arizona last week.

Their last 4 wins have beat San Francisco, and they won 3 road games last 4 week at San Francisco, home Arizona, at the jets at Arizona. The other thing on Lighthouse, they're 3rd they they basically have the 3rd best passing attack in the league, and that's been a weakness for Green Bay. So I'm trying to think of how Green Bay goes in there and just waltzes and beat them. It would have to be a pretty extraordinary Jordan Love game, and I I think Seattle's defense can actually contain him.

Yeah. I mean, you went through those games that they won, including the road games. Those are all high leverage games. Those are all, like, season determining games. They lose, like, really any of those, and they're probably out of of the playoffs.

And it's a real testament to McDonald, and they did get healthy at the right time. The buy couldn't have come at a better time for them. So since the buy, 50%, you know, disruption rate. We saw it against the Cardinals. You've never won impact I do because top 5 disruption.

That means that they're going in and not letting, the offense get itself set into a scheme that that you know, where they could execute what they have in mind, and that they're certainly not letting the quarterback get set up. But to me, you mentioned all the offensive side that, you know, they they they had a zone blocking scheme. We saw Zach Charbonnet looked like the guy that, you know, was like, hey. Yeah. Zach, look at him run the ball.

They they that was really, effective. It takes so much pressure off of Geno if they can run that way. And, look, Geno, from a clean pocket, 9 touchdowns, 2 picks. It's it's like the diametric opposite under pressure. 5 touchdowns, 10 picks, but the packers don't generate any any pressure.

They're 22nd in pressure rate and 26th in pass rush win rate.

Pass pass rush?

You you do it. You could do it.

Well, they lot the last few games, they lost to Detroit twice. They came back and beat the Bears 20 to 19, Eberflus' last win. They killed the San Francisco in the game when, which was a good win for them, but, also, San Francisco had a ton of injuries. And then they beat Miami in that Thursday night. And I like the Packers.

I think they're I think they're a good team, but, but I don't think they should be favored in Seattle. If it was the Seattle from 5 weeks ago, I get it, but not the Seattle we've watched last month. So to me, that's I I think Seattle should be favored. And the rule is if if you if you feel like you're getting so many more points than you thought you might be getting. Anyway, there's a couple things we can do with this.

I think Seahawks' money line is the play. Oh, okay. Fine. But Seahawks in a teaser is kinda fun.

That's 1 of my favorite legs of the week.

Seahawks Seahawks minus 2a half is plus 154.

Sure. Great. In. So maybe that's the money line. Yeah.

Maybe the maybe play the money line and then put them in a teaser. So teaser possibilities. I'm just insisting on 1. The Chiefs are minus 4a half against the Browns. So it's it's more of a money parlay than a teaser, but, the Chiefs are only minus 4a half in Cleveland.

Bad weather. It's the Chiefs. Nobody trusts them anymore to cover anything. The Browns are horrible. The Browns should be 1 I went through their schedule.

The Browns should be 1 in 12.

They're not horrible.

The Browns horrible. 32nd in DVOA this year. They're last. They're dead last with DBOA. They're getting more and more injuries every week.

Now Greg Newsome is out. Yes. They can't run the ball at all. They can't run the ball problem. At all.

That's true. And to

beat the Chiefs, it's just gonna have to be Jameis doing stuff every week.

Well, you know who who we didn't think could run the ball at all? The LA chargers. Now I'm not gonna sit sit sit here and say that Justin

were not gonna make the case for the Jameis. Are you?

I I like the Browns. I like the Browns quite a bit. In fact, I think this is the Browns Super Bowl, and I think there's a decent

chance what?

To to to to validate their season. If they have a season where they beat the Ravens, they beat the Steelers, and they beat the Chiefs They're terrible. They're not terrible. Their defense is finally

last week against Pittsburgh. They're terrible.

That that was those were short field mistake driven, scores. Like, they held Russell Wilson to under a 160 yards.

He didn't have he didn't have the Eagles.

Short field. I understand. But this this Chiefs, situation is busted. And I I said on, 1 of our shows this week, I can't wait to find the opportunity to fade them in the playoffs because I promise you I'm gonna fade them in the playoffs.

How about them in Cleveland just to win and beat Jameis Winston in a team that's missing a a gazillion guys?

I'm not doing it. I will yeah. I I can't endorse it. I think that the the variance with with with Jameis

hanging out with JJ too much.

No. I I just I just can't that secondary for the Chiefs is a has no solution. You you can't name the, like, 5 of the guys that the chargers had on the field catching passes last week, and it and it just didn't matter. They were all open. They were open every time.

It's why the chiefs had to run the Anaconda offense at the end of that game to to win. They they had to strangle the chargers for 5 minutes and get to a field goal and kick that field goal. It was their only chance to win because the chargers otherwise would have gone down the field and won.

Maybe the chargers are good.

They could be, but you can't name the guy that were catching balls, at at tight end or receiver for the chargers.

I could name them. Josh Palmer, Quintin Johnson, Chris Disley.

They're so bad. Disley got hurt. You know, it was it was so smart.

So you don't you don't trust the Chiefs, and yet I do not. I heard you earlier today talk about how much you like the Cowboys in a fucking tease.

Wow.

The Cowboys are reprehensible.

Look. You So

you now you trust the Cowboys?

To getting 8 and a half against the Carolina Panthers, yes.

I just need the Chiefs to beat the Browns. They can win by half a point, and I win the bet.

I hate it. I hate it. You you you could say that about every team that the Chiefs every bad team that the Chiefs have have have won by the the tiniest, you know, hair on their ass in each of these last they're they're 1 and and 7 against the spread.

But Go ahead. Yeah. I know all those stats. But in a weird way, you're proving my point. The Browns have Jedi mind sustainable.

But the Jones have the Browns have Jedi mind trick people into thinking they're not terrible, and they are. They're not. 32nd in DBOA. They're they have a worse DBOA than Carolina, New England, Tennessee, Las Vegas, and the New York Giants. Worse than everybody.

That number has so much Deshaun Watson spilled all over it.

What about did you see what did Javis do last week that you liked other than just sail the ball over people's heads and make terrible plays?

They had the backdoor cover staring them in the face. It was right there.

Oh my god. The other tease I like is the Vikings against the Bears. Just because I'm tired

of Yeah. Yeah.

Oh. I'm tired of of passing on Sam Darnold.

But Now you're talking. Now you're talking. Yeah. And, look, you you know, if you wanted to go ahead and and grab my team and and go from 7a half down to 1a half Not against Spencer Rattler. Team.

I don't trust your team.

Spencer Rattler?

I don't trust your team.

The the the the the closest margin of

victory your 27th defense against the Saints just running the ball, like, 200 times against you. Makes me nervous.

Alright. Fine.

I don't trust your team. I'm sorry.

That's fine. I I'm not I I just wanted to put it out there. I'm not gonna try to make the case.

Vikings minus 7 against the Bears. The Vikings' weakness is you can kinda throw at them, and the Bears are 30th pass.

They're they're that's a dead man walking team. I I will very much like this.

4th in sacks, not to mention all the Flores, blitz stuff, Chicago 32nd. Yeah. The only case for the Bears is just that they played the Vikings pretty well a month ago. Yep. But now that Darnold, Jefferson, Addison, they're all humming again.

Did you see that there was a a long video of Kirk Cousins saying goodbye to everybody in Minnesota after the game? Did you see this? I think I sent this to you.

You didn't. But I love to stop this. Yeah. I'm dying already.

It's a 4 minute video. All the Vikings, all their players, coaches stuck around in the field to to say goodbye to them after the game. And Because his career's over? No. They loved him they loved him so much that it was just guy after guy coming over, hugging him.

Hey, man. It's great to see you. He just seems like he was the most beloved teammate ever.

He's a gamer. I mean, he's a

because he's

$200,000,000 by being a gamer. Not very good, but a gamer.

So you're down on Vikings minus 7.

Oh, a 100% down. And what if I

talk to you into KC Money, Minnesota, money?

Doing anything with Kansas City. I'm telling you

right now. Money, Minnesota money, Seattle plus 8a half is plus 150.

I you can do that on your own. I'm not endorsing anything with the Chiefs.

Mad about it.

I I'm not mad. I

What is it about the ringer gambling show that, the shitty teams and the bad quarterbacks are like fucking catnip for you guys? I don't get it. I laid 3 and

a half points with the Chiefs on Sunday night, and they showed flaws that are unlike the Leafs who've seen out of them. Yeah. So I'm not I'm out on them. They are super beatable. They keep telling us who they are.

Every single week, they're they get down to a single moment, a single score, and they've been on the correct side of the outcome. I'm not betting on that. I'm not betting on that anymore. I'm done with the Chiefs.

So there's a Minnesota tees possibility with Seattle.

Okay. In.

I still like that Seattle minus 2 Seattle minus 2a half plus 154.

Great. Love it. No argument. I think that defense is super legit. Like, Green Bay in in Detroit got a version of a Detroit defense, and we were like, oh, Detroit.

They're really banged up. This is gonna be a hard spot for them. And, you know, they they they were they were gamers. It wasn't that that, you know, Green Bay went out and went and flew all over them. But this this Seattle defense is a different deal, and we're outdoors.

Now I respect, you know, Green Bay's outdoor acumen. I'm not suggesting that they're gonna have a problem playing outdoors. It's just a different, kind of situation, different speed.

Alright. I think I know what we wanna do for $1,000,000 picks. Alright. It's time. $1,000,000 picks week 15.

We are staying away from niners, Rams tonight. As much as, we usually like throwing a little something on the Thursday night if we can get the pot up in time, to me, it's just an abject stay away, Rams, niners, staying away. So apologies to both of those teams. We did not wanna wager on you tonight. Here's what we do wanna do, and we're up $1,764,000.

We won $551,000 last week, House.

Pretty good.

First 1, Steelers. We looked at this all different ways. We thought about MoneyLion with the under. We thought about Steelers plus 4a half on FanDuel's, even odds. Like, all kinds of machinations.

Both of us feel like this line is 2 to 2a half points too high because the Steelers' defense, how good it is.

Such a good defense.

Don't trust the Eagles' passing offense? Do not. Love Mike Tomlin as an underdog? Love The mo the most underappreciated discounted team of 2,024, the Pittsburgh Steelers plus 5a half in Philly. We are putting $200,000 on that 1 even though George, don't call me Carl Pickens, is not playing.

So there you go. That's our first 1. Second 1, Lions, minus 2a half at home against Josh Allen and the Bills. This is a straight backing of the Lions' offense. We are going in eyes wide open.

Could be a fun live hedge live hedge house near the end. Goes down 14 late. Just jump on Josh. Try to middle it.

You have to get Sean McDermott out of there, but yes.

Who's your who do you think is the best team right now? Just in general? Is it still the lions for you, but

with defense? Detroit. Yes.

Detroit. That's how I feel. Alright. Well, we get them under a field goal at home in a big game. Great.

And by the way, the Bills don't necessarily need the game. They're either gonna be the 2 seed or the 3 seed unless Casey loses in Cleveland this week. If you missed the first part of the pod, House wouldn't let me put KC at a teaser parlay even though Cleveland's 30 second DBOA. Cleveland sucks. They're terrible.

I don't think they saw it.

Like a layup, and House threw his body in front of it. So I get to just send him m f or text if if Casey's up by 20. Next bet, Texan's minus 2 and a half at home against the Miami Dolphins, who came very close to losing Aaron Rodgers, who gave up a 300 point game to or 300 yard game to Aaron Rodgers, which, should get you kicked out of the league at this point. Texan's minus 2a half coming off a bye, winging the ball around.

Yeah. We have to see whether Tarana Armstead's even able to go for for Miami. Overtime game for Miami, all those extra plays, Houston off the buy, rested, and really ready to put their stamp on the the bat bat back half of the season. They they have a really tough schedule. They have to win a home game like this.

We are banking on this being a, hey, CJ Stroud. Welcome back to the season game combined with, if the Jets had just take care of business being the Dolphins last week, there's no way this line would be minus 2a half. And, we're grabbing Houston 200 k on that. Now we're putting a a little, little teaser with Minnesota and Seattle. Minnesota's minus 7.

Seattle is plus 2a half at home against Green Bay. So we'll we'll nudge that up 6 points. We're putting 200 k on that. We don't understand the Seattle line at all. Minnesota at home against Chicago, we believe in this Minnesota team.

Still lingering, still hoping the Lions stumble and they can just hop up and grab the 1 seed. Sam Darnold, would you take him on the, on the Commanders if you didn't have Daniels? I think he would.

Oh, if we didn't have Daniels, sure. He he would be immediately be 1 of the the the best quarterbacks of the past 25 years in Washington.

I would take him on the Pats if we didn't have Drake made the future of the NFL on our team. I understand. I like him.

It's a great bounce back season.

And then we're gonna do a little 50 k parlay of the Pittsburgh moneyline combined with the Seahawks minus 2a half on FanDuel, which is, plus 142. You put those 2 together, plus 638.

That's juicy, baby.

Pittsburgh moneyline, Seahawks minus 2a half. We're gonna put 50 k on that. I really was trying to figure out a way to work Drake May in a $1,000,000 picks in Arizona because I think they actually may be dumb enough to beat Arizona this week, but we'll stay away. We don't need it.

Good job.

Those are the $1,000,000 picks for week 15. House, we could see you on the ringer Sunday pregame show. I might be stopping by.

Can't wait. Look at the forecast. Who's your

underdog, Peggy? It's just gonna be Pittsburgh. Right?

It might be. I mean, I I the 1 of the other guys might jump ahead of me, but there's a lot of great, choices, including the Cleveland Browns.

I hope you're dumb enough to take them.

We'll see. We'll see.

You know who I was looking at as a possible underdog? I wouldn't bet it, but just for if you're forced to take an underdog for that segment? The Riddler and the Raiders going against Atlanta in Vegas.

Does it

does it feel like the Raiders have 1 more dumb win in them?

It's the funniest outcome, for sure. It it would it would be hilarious. And I do think, you know, the guys the defense for for the Raiders will will be playing because they know they are really auditioning for the next head coach

Right.

Of the Raiders. They're not playing for that guy any longer.

Yeah. But I thought that 1 jumped out to me. Seahawks are somehow underdog. I'm sure JJ will take them. I don't mind that Pat has an underdog pick though.

Anyway, House, great to see you. Enjoy the NBA Cup this weekend. I will see you next week. So thanks to House. Thanks to Seth Wickersham.

Thanks to Saruti and Kyle and Gajau. Don't forget to rewatch what's coming on Monday. Don't forget you can find all the clips from this podcast on my YouTube channel, and I think we're running video for this podcast as well. So if you're on Spotify, just flip your phone. Just look.

You might just see me in house right now. I will see you on Sunday. Enjoy the week. Must be 21 plus in president select states for Kansas and affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus in president DC. Gambling problem, call 100 gambler or visit rgdashhelp.com.

Call 188-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chatinconticutorvisitmdgamblinghelp.orgofmaryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 247 support, Massachusetts, or call 18778 hope n y or text hope n y in New York.