Transcript of GBF- Clunker

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Com for details. God bless football, Billy Gill.

God bless football, Mikey A.

God bless football, Stugatz.

Thank you, Mikey A. We have a big weekend, the biggest weekend coming up right now. Since last weekend, the biggest weekend of the NFL season that you the divisional round of the playoffs. Adam Schefter, Austin Echler are going to join us on TV on the audio version of the podcast. You can listen to Chris Sims. You can listen to the Picks. We have all that over there. It is a big weekend, and I have a question for you guys. I was thinking about this. I have too much time on my hands, and so I wanted to start with a question for both Billy and Mikey yet.

Okay.

Guys, in a weird, weird world where the better team in the NFL playoffs could trade their quarterback for the opposing team's quarterback for just a game. Do you think Dan Campbell would trade Jared Goff for Jaden Daniels.

I have a follow-up question before we get to it. Can you only do it once per playoff year? Oh, my God. That's okay. It's not like every- Big Question. It's not every round, Dan Campbell has the opportunity to change quarterbacks. It's just he can do it once. Also, does every favorite have this or just the one seed?

I had it as every favorite, the higher seed of the two teams. So every favorite. Buffalo would have the ability to trade Josh Allen for Lamar Jackson before this game. But I like Billy's idea of you have this and you could use it once per postseason.

Well, here's where the gamesmanship comes in in this game, right? Because a lot of the teams probably would have to do it in the first round because if they were the lower seed in the next round, then they wouldn't have the opportunity to do it again. If there were upsets, then the further you go, you lose that ability to do so unless every team has it. And if you beat a team that hasn't used that, you take that ability from them.

Oh, I like that.

By the way, I just want to point out real quick. Today's episode of Godless Football is presented by DraftKings. Draftkings, the Crown is yours.

Yeah. I'm just imagining the NFC Championship game, and let's say it's Rams and lions, and Dan Campbell still has that Trump card. Does he train for Matt Stadford?

It didn't work out last time the Rams played or Stadford played the lions.

Now, McVeer has golf back.

Now, here's the thing, though. If you can only do it once, then you could have a situation where if Dan Campbell holds onto it, he could theoretically get Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, or Lamar Jackson in the Super Bowl.

Yes.

So does he hold on or does he think, you know what? Jared got us here this far. He can beat any of those quarterbacks.

Right. And he beat Matthew Stafford, right?

Or technically C. J. Stroud, I guess, is still in the mix in this hypothetical. Is C.

J.

Stroud the worst quarterback left?

Well, I don't know. Would the Chiefs trade for C. J. Stroud before this game? No, they would not. Stop. Come on.

What are you doing?

They would not. You know what? Billy makes a good point where I don't think if this ridiculous rule was ever implemented, I don't think you could do it during Wild Card Weekend. It's unfair. You're taking away. No, it has to start in the second round. It has to start right now.

I mean, the team that could have done it Wild Card Weekend would have been the Texans taking Herbert.

Yes.

But then Herbert pooped the bed, so you wouldn't have wanted to do that.

Right. And then the Steelers would have been able to trade Russell Wilson for Lamar Jackson. That's not fair. You can't do it. It has to start in the second round of the play.

Could you imagine if they did the trade and Justin Herbert through four picks?

Yeah.

They would be screaming. It would have been great. Wait, hold on a second. Wait, hold on.

Wait, I have a big correction. I have a big correction. Hold on. We're getting excited. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I brought this up now. We have a big correction. No, the stealers would not be able to trade for Lamar Jackson. I just stated on the front end that only the higher seat can activate the trade.

No, only the higher seat. But you You do have a situation where the Bucks have to decide do we want Baker or do we want Jade and Daniels. Right. But now here is a twist in this game, which is crazy. This is how we're starting this off because we have a national championship on Monday. We actually have national championship and the biggest college football NFL playoff weekend.

But let's do this.

We should probably talk about that. However, I have some breaking news. We're going to have a show on Monday, even though the company is off. So you're going to get your feel of national Championship talk on Monday. We'll broach the subject today, perhaps. But let's not put the cart in front of the horse. Also, I just want to point out, we're presented by Smirnov, the world's number one vodka. Please drink responsibly. Here's another hypothetical to this scenario, Studio God. I love it. If the Texans decided they wanted Justin Herbert on their team, next round, should they win? Justin Herbert is no longer on their team. C. J. Stroud is still their quarterback. Could you go and tell C. J. Stroud, Hey, C. J, throw us the ball every damn time you have it. Constant pick sixes and sabotage the other team so that you win. Just asking.

Just ask them the question. What's to stop Herbert from doing it, too, though?

Right.

It felt like that's what they were doing anyways, was having a contest.

This whole thing falls apart if we keep digging.

This whole thing falls apart if we keep digging.

I I really just wanted to know if Dan Campbell, if he had the opportunity in a crazy world to trade Jared Goff for Jaden Daniels, would he do it? That's really why he came up with it. I think he would. Yeah.

Okay. Then he'd use it this round, I guess.

Right. You have to make some incentives to prevent the tanking from happening. I understand what you're saying. Jaden Daniels goes to the Lions. He loses the game on purpose. The team, the players that he cares about, they make it to the NFC Championship game. Jaden Daniels goes back to the commanders the next week because that's them's the rules. You would have to make it some incentive for Jaden Daniels to actually go out and win that game for the commanders. He gets a ring.

In that scenario, the only way Jaden Daniels playoff continues is if he tanks because then his team moves on and he moves on with them, where if the lions move on, he doesn't. His season's over regardless. It almost incentivizes the tanking of the lower-seated quarterback because they will lose on purpose so their team and their playoff hopes continue. I think we need to think this through a little more. We'll work on this.

We do.

But imagine being- I have a wrinkle I want to throw in.

I have a wrinkle on this I want to throw in. You should imagine being nick Siriani and you trade for Matthew Stafford, you get rid of Jalen Hertz, and you lose that game.

Let me ask you something. We're going to talk to Austin Echler for the first time in a year. Yes. Dare we waste his time with this hypothetical?

I want to waste someone else's time with it.

Who?

Chris Simms. Oh, man.

He's going to be so mad.

I'll tell him it was Billy's idea.

I love when I get a text from him saying, Guys, I got to be out by a certain time today, because I know those are the days for these types of questions because I know he's not in the mood for them.

Did he give you that yet? Did we get one yet?

Oh, we did. We also got something that I've never seen on text before, which just says F-U Billy, not F-U, but it says F-U Billy. Somehow the font just gets bigger and bigger as I read it. It blows up in my face.

He's got that new iPhone.

Yeah, and it just says F-U Billy, like exploding in my face.

He loves you so much.

Yeah. I don't know about that. Hey, did you mention our fantasy league? You could compete against us in weekly fantasy contest presented by Smirnov, the world's number one vodka.

I didn't mention it.

He's been responsibly. You did not?

No, but go ahead. Keep going. I'm stuck on this Jaden Daniels, Jared Goff thing, and what I would do. That's all.

I thought I heard you mention it. You could go to dkng. Co/smirnov to compete against us. I finished right outside the money last week. I finished in 40th place. So close. This is my week, friends. The problem is, Stugatz, Mikey, and I'm sure you're running into this, and our listeners are running into this, too. The competition gets a lot tougher because there's so many fewer teams that so many of the teams that are in it have the exact same player combinations just with one small tweak or adjustment. And that's the difference between the Winners and Losers presented by Svrinoff, the World's Number One Vodka. That's a Monday segment. We're not doing Winners and Losers today. On Monday, we'll do Winners and Losers, and you will find out that I was one of the losers in fantasy again. So compete against us, win some money. Take it from me because I'm not going to win. I never do.

You really got to find a guy on a team at this point in the season for your daily fan. You got to find someone that no one is expecting to do anything, and they have a massive game.

Can I tell you who it never is, Mac Collins because that's always my go-to, and it's never Mac until I don't pick him, and then it's always Mac.

And then it will be. Could you just let me know when you're not going to pick him so that I can?

I've done it three weeks in a row, and I'm like, Mac, please just eight points. I'll take eight points from you. This 1.3 crap is not doing it for me. Just like, Can we get seven? Can we get eight? Because when I finish 40th, it's literally 2.7 points is the difference. If you get me 8 points, I may win the whole damn thing. Let's just do something here, but you'll see. I'm not going to take him this week. It'll be Mac.

Again, if you want to hear Chris Sims, that is on the audio version of God bless football. But coming up next, there is plenty of coaching news going on in the NFL. Deont Sanders to the Cowboys. Anybody? We'll ask Adam Schefter next. The great Adam Schefter is with us on God bless football. We have left him alone this season. I told him as my friendship blossoms with him, I tend to leave my friends alone. You also promised him you were going to get him a phone deal at the beginning of the season, if I remember correctly.

That's a good memory.

I don't recall any phone calls coming in about anything like that.

Yeah, you're right. I need to get on that. I'm on it. I'll have it done by next season, I promise you.

Okay, great.

You got a copy of the book, Schefter? Because I don't. How about you, Billy? You got a copy of the book?

I have it. I'm sure Schefter got one, though.

I think I put out something on like IG stories and tweet. I think I read. I don't know, whatever.

You did. You did say he's so busy. He doesn't have time to talk books right now, okay? He's too busy right now. Mike, I want to start with your question before I get to Deion Sanders and the Dallas Cowboys, because I think your question is an exceptional question, and I'm not certain anyone's ever asked Adam Schefter this question before. So go ahead.

Adam, do you ever get emotionally invested in some of these things? Are you ever getting tech and you read it and you go, Now, why are they doing that? Come on, don't do that. This is a terrible idea. I have to report it, but it's just terrible.

Well, I'll say this. A lot of times, when What comes to mind when you say that emotionally invested, people always say, who's your favorite team? Let me start by saying, my favorite team is whoever's on my fantasy team, first and foremost. Priorities. But once we get past that, honestly, you're rooting for people and people that you admire, respect. You're rooting for people. When you say emotionally invested, I always think of the draft. I always know there's a GM or a coach. They're all in on a certain guy. I could tell. They call me, they're like, Have you heard about this guy? No, no, no. Wait and see. And all of a sudden, boy, I hope this guy goes to this team. You're waiting to see. And I bet it happened. I've seen that guy go right before that coach was going to pick him. And I know how disappointed the coach is. There are some great stories with that, too, actually. I remember one year, I'm talking to the Rams, and they're telling me how much they love this tight-end out of, I believe, South Alabama named Jerold Everett. And I'm talking to 49ers, and they tell me how much they like this tight-end out of South I'm going to name Jerold Everett.

And I'm thinking to myself, Oh, boy, this is going to be interesting now to see which of these NFC West rivals gets Jerold Everett. And I'm not sure if the Rams traded up that year or just drafted them ahead of the 49ers, but right before the 49ers picked. The Rams turned on the card, and it's Jerold Everett. The 49ers are obviously very disappointed that they didn't get the tight end that they wanted. So lo and behold, in the fifth round, they settled for another tight end from Iowa, George Kittle.

That's so good. But have you ever gotten like, Hey- I got 50 of those. Okay, so offseason, I want to do an entire episode on this, okay?

Because I'm wondering if Adam ever gets a text from a trusted source, Jets are talking to Arthur Smith, and he's like, Why?

What are we doing here?

No, I Guys.

That's for jet fans to react to, not me, okay?

You just care about your fantasy team. Go ahead, Billy.

Well, speaking of your fantasy team, Adam, has there ever been an instance where maybe you make a quick move on your fantasy team before you report a story that you know is breaking? Let's just say, You know what? This is not on the way, right? Let me put a quick claim here, and then I'll tweet out the news. I like that.

Well, I've learned over time not to make that mistake, where there was a year where all of a sudden I'm sitting at the dinner table at 6:05. I I had a call that the Cleveland Browns are trading Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts for a first-run draft pick. And I followed the story to ESPN, and I tweet it out, and then I go, my next move, of course, isn't to go to your sports center, but to go pick up Willis McGahee on the wire before anybody can get him. And by that time, one, Matthew Berry already had snaked him from me. And so I said, That's it. I'm not doing that anymore. From now on, we are picking up the player before we follow the news. Atta boy. We're not going to leave this to chance any longer. We're going to use that information and we're going to try to- Insider trainings, some would say, Adam. By the way, though, it was great because people would always pay attention in our league to what Mort was doing. Mort would always, all of a sudden, he'd pick up Tim Tebo or Andrew Locke. Or Brett Farr.

Mort would love doing that. He would love doing that. He'd like, Wait, wait, wait, wait. Mourt just picked up Andrew luck. What's going on here? What's going on here? He would do that to mess with people.

He had a sneaky great sense of humor, Mourt. He He really did. He would do that just to make you think he's coming back. Not sneaky.

Not sneaky. Drops sneaky.

Great sense of humor. Just a great sense of humor. Yeah. Wonderful man. I miss him. What's going on in Dallas with Deion Sanders and Jerry Jones? Adam, just watching Let's Go and seeing some of your reporting on this. This seems like it has a better chance of happening than not happening. Is that fair?

I can't tell because it depends who you speak to. There are people I've spoken to who say, This isn't going to happen. Then other people I speak to and say, Yeah, it is going to happen. And I really don't know what to make of it right now. All I can say is that the two guys have spoken. There's great respect, love, and admiration there, and we'll see where the cowboy search takes them. I do think they're killing is going to be in the mix in Dallas. There are people who think that that's the logical choice. I don't know if that is... Here's the thing. Teams change their mind. People change their mind on a regular basis. So what Jerry Jones and the Cowboys feel today might be different on Sunday or Tuesday or Wednesday. So these are moving targets that are fluid. I just think the safest thing right now, I know you want more, people want more. I just think Deion going to Dallas is possible. I don't know how possible. Maybe it's very possible, maybe it's not that possible, but it's possible.

So when they blocked Mike McCarthy from interviewing with the bears, you don't think there was any malice there? They were actually interested in negotiating with him at the time.

Well, I don't think there was malice, but I don't think they were interested in negotiating either. I think they were still trying to figure out what they wanted to do, broadly enough, because they never entered into negotiations with him. So you can't say that they wanted to negotiate with him when they never negotiated with him. I just think that they were not done with him yet. And honestly, I mean, I don't like it, but what was the rush? It wasn't like Chicago's job was filling up. It's not like they can do in-person interviews until after the divisional playoff round. It's not like that wasn't going to be there this week as opposed to last week. And I think Dallas probably recognized that. So yes, it comes across initially as petty, and why would they do that? But in the grand scheme of things, it really doesn't amount to very much in the end.

Adam, with Deion, just going back to the Cowboys, this is a job that he would potentially take because a lot of people just assume he wants to go to the NFL and coach his son. Well, that's true.

But I think that the love and respect that he has for Jerry Jones is such that if Dallas went in that direction and if Deion decided to do it, a lot of ifs, yes, I think he would go down. Yes. Amazing.

What are you hearing out of the Jets and what's going on there?

Well, I can't confirm the rumor that they're now thinking of putting in to interview Robert Salah. They've interviewed so many people that I think that they may submit the request. I mean, they've interviewed everybody else here, right? Like, everybody.

It's crazy. We're going to make the wrong decision, Adam.

It doesn't matter who it is.

It's wrong. I feel like it's going to be Aaron Glenn. Is that fair? Is that I think Aaron Glenn is getting a job.

I think Aaron Glenn is going to get a job in either New York or New Orleans. There are other places that are interested, but those are the two most logical ones. He's going to come out of this cycle with a head coaching job. The Jets are right there, and that would stand to be a logical conclusion to draw, but there's a lot that still has to play out.

We'll get you out of here in just a second. If a college coach was to make the jump from college to the NFL this year, who is the most likely candidate to do so? Is it Marcus Freeman? Is it Sarkisian? Who's the guy?

I don't see a college coach making the jump.

Okay.

Here's the deal. Basically, in-person interviews of coaches on teams can't take place until after the divisional playoff round.

Right.

Okay? Yeah. So these teams with six openings right now, there are six openings. They still haven't met face to face with the Joe Bradies, Kelen Mohs, Aaron Glenns, Ben Johnson. I'm just thinking of all the guys. I don't want to forget Cliff Kingsbury. I'm just going through this weekend, all the guys that are going to be coaching. There's a lot of guys. There's a lot of guys that haven't met with teams.

That's got to play out.

There are six openings, okay? Well, I believe two of them are going to go to Ben Johnson, Aaron Glenn. We got four openings. We got Brian Flores, we got Liam Cohn, we got Kelen Moore, we got Joe braided. We got a lot of qualified NFL people. I don't see a college guy trumping one of them. I just don't see it right now. Now, again, I want to be very clear, these things change. For all I know, somebody He's calling Sark or Marcus Freeman or Lincoln Reilly, whoever the hell it is. Whoever. I just don't see it.

But his point is there's a lot to play out. These playoff games need to play out. You don't know, maybe nick Seriani gets fired if he loses this weekend. Who It goes. Todd Malk.

And as somebody explained to me, Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson, they're holding up the moves, and nothing can really happen until these people start making jobs because I think there are a few places that would like Ben Johnson, and there are places that would like Aaron Glenn, and they're probably not going to move on to. We get answers, and we can't get answers for them for a while here.

What are you looking at over there, by the way?

We noticed you. What's breaking? What's something's happening. Something's something happening. Who's getting hired? Who's getting fired? What's going on?

Stugatz just got fired. He doesn't know yet, but he's going to find out. Pick up Billy Gill on your waiver wire. Very unexpected, but Stugatz just got laid off. It's unbelievable. I got a response to his text about it afterwards, but yeah, he just got laid off.

You're the first person I'll call for a job, and Mikey is right. Pick up Billy on the waiver wire right now. Stop reporting and pick up Billy right now, Adam.

Yeah, by the way, I do do that. I get that wire. I'm not going to make that mistake. I'm trying to think if somebody like that I picked up in a move. It happened this year with somebody. I forget who it was.

I picked up somebody. Listen, I know you love your job. I would only use that information for my fantasy team, all your information.

Well, fantasy is very important. In the grand pantheon of things, it means way more than it should. As I always say to everybody, and it's so true, fantasy means nothing and it means everything. Right. Sure.

Speaking of your fantasy team, you say every year you got a player going into the draft who you keep close to the chest, you don't tell anybody, This is the guy I want. Seasons over, who was it this year?

Oh, yeah.

Well, I really thought this past year... Well, I could tell you this. The guys that I drafted on my ESPN team that I was eliminated in... Was I eliminated in round two or one? Two or one, I forget. I was 11 and three during the regular season, 16 team league. On my team, I had Jaden Daniels, I had Brock Bowers, I had Terry McLaurin, I had Malik Nabors. I had a lot of rookies that really turned out. The guy that I thought was going to pop this year. A few years ago, my guy was Kyron Williams, and he broke his foot on the opening kickoff, and I told so many people, take Kyron Williams, take Kyron Williams, take Kyron Williams, and he did nothing all year long. Then the next year, Kyron Williams was Kyron Williams, and I was a year ahead of the curve. I thought this year, going in, I liked a lot of those rookies. I took a lot of those rookies, but I also took a... I didn't take them initially in my 16-team draft, but I I thought Audric Estamey in Denver was going to have a little bit more of an impact his rookie year than he wound up having.

Sometimes I'm a year early, so fancy football.

Next year, he's the guy to take.

Late round, Audric Estamey, late round. Has a chance. We'll see. I mean, it didn't happen this year. In fact, he was even inactive last weekend against Buffalo.

The problem was he was out the first four weeks of the season. He did pop a little bit towards the middle of the season, but you're right.

A little bit. It It was a little bit less than I expected it to be.

Yes. Adam, we appreciate the time. As always, we will do the hour long edition that I want to do with you about text coming in, breaking news. I had a commentary on it. Unless you guys think that I didn't notice it, I did. I called Get Up, Let's Go, I believe. That's a great show. You did. I don't know what's going on. Too much content out there. Schefter, thank you. I will talk to you This is a message from a sponsor, Intuit Turbotax.

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I'm curious to see what the new setup is because we haven't spoken to him since his new up.

Yeah. I heard it's a very modest apartment. We know he drives a... Well, no, there was a whole story about Austin and the modest apartment he lives in and the a clunker car that he's driving around in. Hold on a second. Hold on.

Hold on a second. Hold on a second.

Hold on a second. Hold on a second.

Well, let's wait till his camera works.

Hold on a second. Let me go back out and go back in.

He just logged out. He's going to come back.

He's never coming back.

Oh, my goodness.

Austin, we figured that you were listening to our conversation. I called your car a clunker, and you said, You know what? I thought I missed those guys. I heard that.

I heard that, by the way. It's not a clunker. Hey, let me get my camera working. Hang on. I got to use another camera.

I hope the camera comes on and he's got a giant middle finger up at you, Steve. Standing in front of a Ferrari.

I feel like Austin's given someone the middle finger maybe two times in his life, and he still regrets. He still He feels guilt about it.

He feels bad about it.

He's too polite.

I guess the guy had a reason to cut me off in traffic.

I like doing an interview about Austin without Austin just commenting on us talking about him.

We are back. The boys are back.

So you objected to me calling your car a clunker.

It's not a clunker. It might not be the most flashy car, but it's modest. It gets me to A to B. I got I got some tint on it, some black rims, some 22s. There's a little style in it, but also keeps it within the budget. Actually, funny story, not really that funny, but I didn't have a car in my rookie year, so I Ubered to the facility for the first I don't know, month and a half until I actually got some game checks. Then my first purchase was go get a car. Then I finally got my car, and that's the car I had in my rookie year. Still got it eight years later.

Austin, he called your car a clunker. Meanwhile, his has been in the shop for months, and I'm sure it's a much more expensive car than your clunker.

Hey, yeah. At least mine works. So hey, it's still out there. There you go. No or shine. It's getting there.

Billy was pointing out right before you came on how much life is changed for Austin Hecler since the last time we spoke to him.

It's crazy. The world has changed. Austin is married since we spoke to him last. Austin, and we haven't spoken about this on-air offer or whatever, but there's a documentary that was crazy about your wife and her sister that was out there. We've spoken to you for years, had no idea any of that was going on. You have switched teams now. You're in the playoffs. Everything's different from you. East Coast? Yeah, you're East Coast living. You have your clunker car, your modest apartment that you got called it earlier.

Still has that guitar, though. I see it right there.

How are you feeling, by the way? Because you also dealt with concussion issues and injuries this year. How are you? A lot has happened since we spoke.

You'll listen on everything since the last time we spoke, Austin, Go ahead.

Life is lifeing. That is 100% a thing. It is moving forward. There's ups, there's downs. As you said, I had dealt with injury this year. We've had an amazing year as a team, though. Got married, which has been amazing. Definitely the best decision of my life so far or the most impactful, I should say. It's been a lot of good, mostly good. I think it's more perspective of just trying to find the good in all the stuff. I mentioned with my wife and her sister and all that stuff with the documentary. If you haven't seen it, it's called Dance with the Devil on Netflix. It was number one for two years. She got into just a bad situation still in that, so that's still going on. But yeah, right now, we're in the playoffs. The car still works, and I'm healthy back on the field and looking forward to playing the lions here in a couple of days.

Wait until you get a new car. That's the best decision in your life.

That'll be the next best.

How is Mary in your life, man? How has it changed you? In what ways has it changed you?

In what ways has it changed? I think it has 100% made me a better person because Mel is very family-oriented, where I have not even close to her. She's actually helped me get closer with my family just because it's part of her routine. Now it's filled into my routine. I now learned to put the toilet seat down, things like that. You know the basics?

Got to clean up my side of the sink, even though she got all this product and all this stuff on her side.

She doesn't like my beard trimmings on there. So normal married stuff.

So you were a free agent, and you ended up going to the Washington Commanders, and then you won the lottery because you guys got Jade and Daniels, and you had no idea you were going to have him as soon as you signed with Washington. Look at you now. Second round of the playoffs.

Hey, it's been one of those things where you go into a new environment. There was actually 60 new free agents on the team on the 90 roster. And so new ownership, new coaches, new GM, 60 new players. It felt like it was a whole new environment for just so many people. So I think that's what helped us come together because we were all new. There was no existing culture that was there that you were getting acclimated to. We were creating the new brotherhood, creating the new culture. So that is, I think, what really helped us get off on the right foot of being like, we don't know what the hell happened last year, but this is what we're doing now. And that It was really great for us. And then obviously, Jaden coming in and making all the plays he's made with a lot of older guys like myself coming around and supporting him has definitely been a method to win. So here we are.

Is this one of those things that really worked out the best way that it should have for you? Because when we spoke, you had it in the free agency. You told us, I don't see myself as an East Coast guy. You didn't say it, but you were like, The Raiders wouldn't be bad. Tom Tulaska is going to be there. I'm from Las Vegas, and it It seemed like that may be a good landing spot for you. Now, look at how the season's played out. Again, you're in the playoffs. Tom isn't even in Las Vegas anymore. Tom Brady's there. They just got rid of their coach. That seems like it's more of a rebuild situation. It seems like things worked out in the best way possible for you, even though that's not necessarily what it seemed like you wanted at the time?

Well said. But I think life has a funny way of teaching you lessons. I think, in general, not to get deep here, but as humans, we tend to go towards the things that we find comfort and familiarity in. But it's not always the best thing for us. At the time, I didn't really know what was the best thing. Both were directions, both were options. I was more comfortable with one. One was more unknown. I got put in a position where I went to the unknown route, and it ended up working out for me. That doesn't always happen. I would say, actually, most of the time, it doesn't happen that way. That's why we tend to go to the things that we go and find comfort in. And so this is one of the cases that for me as a person, I'm still not an East Coast person as far as when I live here long term, play football, grind it out during the season, yes. But I don't know if you saw that me, I had to swipe like four inches There was a snow off my car the other day. I saw it. And I was like, You know what?

West Coast don't sound so bad.

I'm wondering how long it took before you realized like, Oh, man, I need some new clothes.

Yeah, it was 19 degrees this morning. I'm like, You know But the playoffs is about the only thing that makes me excited to be out here right now as far as, Hey, this is the reason this is worth it being out here. Other than this, take me back to the warm weather, and I'll come back out here in the summer.

Austin, just back to Jaden Daniels for a second. I remember talking to Dominic Foxworth. He was at a Raven's practice. I called him. He was nice enough to pick up the phone, and he was watching a very young Lamar Jackson. I remember saying, Is he any good? And he said, Do you know how difficult it is to be the best athlete on a field full of world-class athletes to be able to stand out like that. I'm wondering, is that a similar feel you have for Jaden? How long did it take you before you realized, Oh, this guy is different?

Well, you don't really know the caliber of different until you get a few games in because you got to think when we're in training camp in OTAs, there's no full speed, so you don't know. Did they sack him? Did they not? We don't know. We blew the whistle because the defense got him, got him, touched him or something like that. You get into preseason, he gets some opportunities. He doesn't get many. He's playing in the first quarter, the first few plays, and that's it, you're out because they're anticipating starting him for the first game. And so we move through Marcus and him. Marcus is starting for a lot of training camp and OTAs, just taking that leadership role. And so then Jaden starts as we get closer to the first game, get to a position where he's starting to take some of the reps with the ones. And then we eventually get through preseason, get to the first game. And then the man is dynamic, running, sprinting for his life out there. I think it was just him being in his first game. He ran the ball like 19 times that game. He was just taken off, taken off.

And That's when it came alive of like, Okay, this guy is extremely fast. He's running real fast and dodging and ducking and diving and all that. Then with him throwing the ball, I guess that's another thing where, Okay, you're a runner, but now you run to throw. So that's one of the things that he's learned to do. Instead of run to run, now he's running to throw. Hey, you're the quarterback. Let it ride. Let these guys that are paid to run, run for you. Even though you can, now he's starting to unlock some of these tricks that he has. And so as he's been going through these games, we've seen that. We've seen him be a runner. We've seen him run to throw the ball. We've seen him run and get out of scramble, make plays down the field. And so now our offense is taking the shape of, Okay, let's get Jaden's legs activated. And then also, hey, he can sit in the pat in the pocket and throw it, too. We've seen some amazing throws to Terry. So I think as time has gone on, it's been like, oh, yeah, he's good. Oh, he's really good.

Oh, shoot, this guy is Rooky of the Year good. Like, Oh, this is next level good. So it's been awesome, man. It's been so cool.

Billy mentioned the concussions, and there were some stories written. You had short term memory loss, which is terrifying. I can't even imagine what's that like. But this is different for you now because you're married, so you have a lot of to take into consideration? Did you have discussions with your wife? Because there were a lot of people saying, Hey, Austin, you had a great career. Call it quit. I don't know how you feel about people having those opinions in that conversation, but we had a similar thing going on down here with Tua, and Tua said, Yeah, of course. I spoke to my entire family about this. They're the important people in my life. How do you feel and how do you feel about the conversations revolving around your future, your career, and what you should do?

Yeah, I think it's actually good that people are talking about it just because I think brain health and concussions in particular are a good topic to make sure that people are educated on, especially when you're going through them. For me, this was my second concussion of the year. This one, obviously, I said, had memory I lost, knocked out. I remember running out in the field, and then all of a sudden, I started remembering things, and I saw Mel, my wife, sitting next to me back in our locker room, and I'm like, What the heck? What just happened? That Yeah, definitely freaks my wife out. She thought I died on the field. That's literally her word. She's like, You were laying there unconscious. I thought you were dead. And so obviously, that's not great for her to go through. And her mental health and her mental health affects my mental health and my mom as well. Colin, she wasn't even at that game, so she was terrified. There's a lot of emotion that goes into that. Then I went and just continued to educate myself around concussions and learn from a few experts out there and felt comfortable at a place where, hey, I didn't have any long term sustained damage as far as being able to recover.

There was no permanent damage. There's nothing, no bleeding on the brain, no fractures or anything like that on the spinal cord or stuff like that. It was a concussion. Just because I was knocked out doesn't mean it was any worse than any of my other concussions, what you determine it with is how many symptoms do you have? I had some blurred vision, stuff like that. Progress through that at a normal pace. Based off of that and all the information that I gathered was like, Hey, if you're progressing, coming back at a normal rate, and there's nothing permanent. You're at a position where, hey, the fact of you getting a worse one is probably still really close to the same type of odds as if you didn't have that concussion in the first place. So with that knowledge, I was like, okay, I'm not any more risk than anyone else is right now. I feel comfortable coming back to play. So that's what it went into all that.

So having spoken to all the experts and knowing that you've gone through this, talking to your family, all that stuff, the fan out there, the people that don't play the game that don't go through and say, well, why doesn't Austin just put on a Guardian Cap? That's supposed to help. Is that something that you have those discussions with, or is that something that's just like it throws off the way that I play? That's not something I consider. You just realize in talking to the experts, it's not really going to make that much of a difference one way or another?

Both. So, yeah, I had the conversation. And the thing is, it's not like I felt like my equipment was unsafe. I'm out there and, oh, I don't have the best equipment. My helmet's really good, rate's really high. My equipment is solid. And if it wasn't, then I would upgrade it. And then also on top of that, the Guardian hat definitely does affect your performance. I remember wearing that thing a couple of years ago when they first came out with it, and I just felt top-heavy. It's just like an extra pound or so and a half of weight on your head. Just even me as a runner, keeping my balance and all this stuff is definitely thrown off just a little bit, running with this thing on my head, being a little bit more top-heavy go down probably a little bit more easy. I remember I actually had a neck guard one time because I got a spear in the face, but I couldn't put my neck all the way back. It was a couple of inches that I lost of mobility. Anytime I would go down, I could feel myself tripping running forward because I just couldn't pull my head back.

The little things like that that affect us as an athlete to be able to have balanced speed, nowhere where our body likes to cut in the positions we like to be in. I think they still have a ways to go with just making that more efficient and just a better tool because I can definitely see it being something that continues to be progressed because I get the intention, what they're trying to do. It's great, but I just don't think it's ready yet.

If you left it just up to Mel, it was her decision alone, would she have retired you?

Yes. Really? Yes, she would have. I would not be playing football anymore if it were just strictly Mel. Mel was like, I want you to be done. That's where she's at because that's... When I tell you she thought I died on the field-Yeah, it's crazy. She's like, I don't want to ever see you out there again. It All right.

You're married, you're recently married. She wants you to stop. How do you convince her, no, hey, Mel, I'm going to be okay?

It wasn't really me convincing. I had her come to all of my second opinion meetings with me. She was in the room listening to the doctor, hearing all of those things. It's definitely eased her mind. But at the same time, she still doesn't want me to have to go through any of that again and doesn't want me to risk that. That's where she's at. That's why she's like, Okay, yes, I get why you're going back. Still makes her nervous as hell.

I figured, Hey, just look at my quarterback. No, I got to keep playing.

I don't think that's how that works.

Unfortunately, she does not care about the quarterback. I don't think she cares.

You can watch football at all before me since she doesn't care about the quarterback, what team it is, or anything like that. Yeah, but you care. You're two games away from the Super Bowl, my man. I care.

Yes, I care. I want my team, the team that I'm on, to be the best. Absolutely, I care, and my teammates as well.

When you look at the Lions. Holy crap. You can't think that going up against it, but holy crap, the lions.

Billy, this is a tall task. I think it's his second time going to Detroit. Mikey was telling me right before he came on. This was a vastly different organization the last time.

I looked it up. The last time you were in Detroit was with the Chargers in 2019, and I think they finished three and 15. So I think it's a little bit of a different team that you're going to be facing from the last time you were in Detroit.

Holy crap.

I couldn't watch that old film. That's the only film I watched. I'm just No, you got to put respect on their name. 100 %. They have earned that respect, and rightfully so. They have a lot of dynamic players. They're about culture, they're about brotherhood, and I know that's what we've been built on this year as well. It's going to The awesome heavyweight battle, two brotherhoods that are really intertwined with each other going at it Saturday night.

It is crazy. Listen, your life, as much as it's changed, and it's changed a lot, okay? But my life has also changed since the last time we spoke. Because we only have a couple of minutes to go here.

So you're going to make it about you.

Well, no, I'm going to ask Austin.

I got to catch up, too.

Let me hear what's going on.

Well, did you see what happened with A. J. Brown during the Eagles game? Did you see what he was doing?

Oh, he's reading a book on the sideline. That was wild.

That was wild. Before we ask you the wildest thing you've seen a teammate do on the sideline, that was a Mikey A question right there. I have written a book, Austin.

Okay. Wow.

Okay.

It is Stugatz's personal record book. Yes, I wrote it. It's doing very, very well. And I'm wondering if I get one of these to Madison or I get it to you, if I get it... You already know. He's leaving.

I don't know if it's going to... My old clunker car, it doesn't... Yeah, it doesn't fit.

I put too much in it. I throw the whole thing off.

It might be too much weight to have in my car.

How much money do Give me the charity donation I need to make. I'll buy you a new car. I mean, tell me what I need to do.

A new car.

Did you see what happened in the book A. J. Brown was reading? I did. It went from 5,000 on Amazon to number one. So I get it. Five in the new car.

Yeah, I would.

Look, I think the NFL should open up. Hey, there's opportunity for guys on the sideline to hold a product or something. Hey, we're always looking for... Instead of selling something to Netflix, we can do that and also do this on the side, too. Make some extra cash. All right.

If I send it, will you at least take it under consideration? At least just put it on the field with you and just think about it. That's all. If the moment's right at the end.

If the moment's right, you're winning, you're on the NFC Championship game.

The clunker car comments really hurting your chances here.

I'm sorry.

It's really a compliment because it speaks to as much money. No, this is how I'm going to spin it. I can't wait. Because you're a very responsible spender, okay? Austin is always trying to teach people something. He's trying to teach someone something somewhere. What he's trying to do is, Hey, look at much money I've made and I'm continuing to make, and yet I still keep my expenses low, right?

Right. That's right. Me and Warren Buffet, we We're driving the same car, live at the same spot. Life is about finding happiness, keeping maintaining that. I'm just going to keep my clunker car, and I'll let you keep your book over there, and I hope it does well.

I I don't want to put you a blast, but I noticed-I regret saying it. I noticed you didn't even update the colors on your AE30 shirt there, which is a little bit disrespectful to your current team. But hey, it's a good shirt. Never forget your roots.

Never forget your roots. Look, I was on the chargers for seven years. I owe a lot of respect to that fan base, all that. Still love them out there, so never forget it. This is the foundation. We've done a lot of stuff out in LA, and yeah, just keep it going.

Is there a small part of you, just a tiny small part of you that is happy happy you're still playing and they're not?

Just tell us.

Absolutely, I'm happy we're still playing.

I'm a competitor.

I hope everyone loses.

All right, man. We hope to see you in New Orleans. Not joining us on Radio Row, but playing in the actual Super Bowl.

Hope not to see you, honestly. If we see you that things didn't go well.

Make sure to bring the book then.

Let's save the book for the Super Bowl. Austin, now we're talking. There it is.

Well, hey, guys, it feels like we haven't even skipped a beat. It feels like we've been talking every week still. We still got the same energy, same vibes, man. I'm glad to see you guys still going strong.

We're going to do this through the Super Bowl, man. So I'm looking forward to it. So thank you so much. It was great catching up with you, man. Yes, likewise. All right, boys. I'm happy you're in a good spot. I'm happy you're feeling and two games away from the Super Bowl, man. Let's go get it.

All righty. Take care, you all.

It is time for this week's edition of Studio Gotts, presented by DraftKings. The Crown is yours. Nfl divisional round, best week of football we have all year. Four and two a week ago, 83, 53 on the season. One for the ages. Here we go. Four games, Chiefs minus eight and a half. They're taking on the Texans. I got to be honest, right before I sat down to record this, I was taking the Chiefs. And then Fuentes got into my head, into my ears, and now I'm taking the Texans. How about that? Fuentes did such a good job convincing me that I am now taking Houston. Chiefs are minus eight and a half. I'm taking Houston plus eight and a half. Chiefs win the game. The Texans cover. If I lose, I blame it on Mike Fuentes. I mean, how Club has a win-win for me? Amazing. So I'm taking the Texans here. Chiefs win by four points at home. Commanders plus nine and a half. They're at Detroit, take it on the Lions, buy it up to 10. Detroit wins, Washington covers, the Lions by three points over the Commanders. Rams plus six at Philadelphia.

Ram's going to win the game outright. I have been telling you, I would not be shocked if the Rams make it to the Super Bowl. I think they might make it to the Super Bowl. Ram's going to beat the Eagles. Win the game outright. They get to cover the Rams by four points at Philadelphia. And finally, game of the year. Game of the year. Two MVPs, must-win games for both of them. This is for the right not to hoist a Lombardi Trophy. It feels like it should be. This is for the right to go play Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. Oh, that's terrible. This game feels like it should be for more. I am taking Buffalo here. I am so tempted to take the Ravens. Fuente is trying to talk me into that one as well, but I'm not. I am taking Buffalo here plus one and a half, buy it up to two. Buffalo going to win the game by seven points at home. Those are the picks, everyone. Good luck.

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Co/audio. Look who it is.

There he He is very aggressive with Billy. I mean, Jesus, just a- Is that aggressive?

I mean, saying Billy? I mean, that's the usual part for the course, ain't it?

I mean- I just assume everything you say to Billy is somewhat aggressive.

Yeah, exactly right.

I mean- Exactly right.

Yeah, exactly right. You know what? You know what, Chris?

You know what? You, actually.

Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Oh, he threw the shirt in the door. Oh, my God.

Take off that big-headed, stupid hat you got on. It looked cool from the side at first, but now I look at you from the front, you look like a bobblehead. Holy crap. He spiked your jersey. He did. He spiked my jersey. It's done.

He sent us a text that said 11:15. We get it, okay? You need to be out at a certain time. We got it. Then a couple of seconds go by and it dawned on you that you had not greeted Billy the way you greet Billy every single day, which is, you Billy.

Exactly right. I just wanted to make sure we started off the day the right way, and I get them warmed up and ready to go here for the pod. That's what he's doing. Let's go.

Then you keep us waiting, and you're late after all these rude messages from you this morning. I know.

I'm sorry about that. I had to do one more thing that I had forgotten about, so I messed that up. But it's okay. We're even. We've I did it on Sue Gotts plenty of times before.

Don't lash out at me, since I didn't spike your jersey.

Chris, you will love this because we're not going to let him live this down. We had an interview before this, and we were all waiting and just started without him because he locked himself out of his house.

Dumb how I'm not surprised. Nobody was. Not a single person was surprised. How does that even happen? You don't have a garage code either or nothing? No, we did. It's 2024.

I want to explain to you what I have 25, but close to my garage. He's still a 24. Are you still writing 24?

Probably have. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm like, I probably have written 24.

You have to march to correct that, I think. Right.

That's what I figure.

So, Sims, I have a loner, and so the garage clicker that I have, I don't have it with me because it's in the original car. And then it's so cold down here that the... Now, this happens, Billy, I'm not sure if you're aware. No.

It's like 63 the most.

The keypad I have on my garage, it froze. It's frozen.

That's impossible.

That is the biggest bullet that I've ever done. Hold on a second. I woke up today in 18 degree weather and my key code worked. I don't think that was a problem.

It's built for the cold weather. 63. Your key code is built for the cold, though.

63. Yeah, that's right. Even key code are soft in Florida is what you're talking. You're telling me. That's what you're telling me. They can't play in the cold weather.

I mean, stuff happens in Florida. You get in your car, it's 61 degrees, and it says you have a flat tire. I mean, you need tires.

Yeah, I know. I got some family in South Florida I was a close cousin, and they're like, the other day were texting me, the kids thought it was so cool because we had to turn on the seat heaters today in the car. They hadn't done that. I was, Oh, you're rugged South Floridian Floridians dealing with that horrible The weather.

It is currently 68 degrees in Parkland.

Oh, my gosh.

Right. Frozen.

The whole country wants 68 degrees right now. We're freezing our ass off. The garage code froze.

The keypad. It's built for warm weather.

It's an anomaly. Somehow things freeze at 63 degrees in Florida, somehow. So good.

Oh, God, I deserve it. Chris, we were talking right before you came on, quitting Quin Ewers and him opting in for the NFL draft. I'm not certain if that's the move now for guys because we've seen it with other guys who opt in. Carson Beck just did it, opted in, got the deal from Miami, got back out of the draft. We think it's pretty stupid that Quinn Ewer opted into the NFL draft. We think he should take the money to stay in college for another year. What do you think?

I agree with you there. That's really what I would have thought. Now, what makes me think is, did he not have people offer him the amount of money that maybe he thought he would get? I don't know. But yeah, if you told me like, oh, wait, and this is where you're right, college is different now, and you can maybe keep a guy around a year longer where it goes, wait, I'm not going in the first round, and I can collect a better check staying in college here than I can in my first two years or three years in the NFL. Why don't I do that? I was expecting that. I was. I was expecting him to sign on with another team. I've told you guys before, I didn't think there was any way he was coming back to Texas. That wasn't happening. But yeah, To hear the draft thing, I was surprised the other day. I really was. And surprised, and then yesterday, I should say. And surprised just because one of what I just said, but two, to what I think you're saying. I mean, we're talking about a guy here that I think is going to be viewed as a fifth-round pick in the NFL, somewhere in that range.

I don't think it's going to be anywhere near day one or day two. And that's where, of course, I thought he would stay in college, too.

What do you make of Sarkis Nantesian and the NFL rumors? We talked about this last week. You told us you thought he would be a good NFL coach. He's probably the most qualified of the college coaches right now outside of Belichick. So what do you make of that?

Well, he's capable. I just would want to be like, why? Why would you want to do it? Why would you want to go in the unknown of the NFL? You're in arguably the greatest college job there is in football right now, or certainly one that's at the top five. Then they're one of the few colleges that can pay you like NFL money for a long, long time. You finally got the program exactly where you got it here. I mean, gosh, we lost a ton of studs in the NFL last year. It didn't miss a beat and just went, hey, we're one of the three or four best teams again this year. And I think that's going to continue to roll. So I'm sure there's been some calls to his agent and all that, but I've never heard anything where was real tangible for many of the people I know in the NFL to think that Sark was really a high-level consideration for one of the six jobs that are still open.

The thing that I don't understand, I guess, between the difference between the college and NFL right now is the coaches that are leaving are usually the older coaches that are like, I'm not used to this world where we have to pay the players and all of that. But even in this new world of parody and college football, where any team can reach out and give a quarterback $3 million, hypothetically, Texas can still outpay the majority of the teams out there. That's so much more of an advantage than you would have going to the NFL, where every team can pay every player whatever it is that they want. Even though more teams can come in and take your players, you're really competing with 12 to 15 that could actually steal your players.

I don't even think it's that many, really. I think your point is very real. It's a good one. That's why you saw the head coach of Boston College, Jeff Hathley, leave Boston College and go, I'll go be a coordinator in the NFL somewhere because he knew at a school like that, he just can't compete with the way the current status is in college football. Chip Kelly at UCLA. Wait, the hell with being the head coach of UCLA? I'll go be an O coordinator at one of the teams Billy is talking about that can sway the pendulum in their favor year after year after year because of their big money. Hey, college football, I think we're going to dive down into Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, Houston, Astros territory It's going to be the same four teams every year. That's what we're going to... I know there's commissioners in certain conferences that are already like, I don't know about the NIL. The SEC is sweating their ass off. They've been getting an advantage by stockpiling rosters forever. I saw this even at Texas when I was there. We could have third string linebacker that would start in the NFL, but he couldn't start our team at Texas, and they couldn't transfer because you know back in that day, you basically lost two years of your life trying to transfer.

So now rosters are spread out throughout college football, Georgia, Texas, whatever. They can't keep a third string awesome linebacker on the roster. He goes, How the hell would that? I'm going somewhere else. I'm going to make money. And then on top of all that, they wanted to make it paying legal. Again, everybody knows the SEC was a little more forthcoming with paying players under the table. We all know that. What? Yeah, exactly. What? But Now all of a sudden, the first year paying players is, Oh, everything's even. Oh, the SEC ain't that good. Oh, shit. They better watch out because none of the SEC schools other than Texas have the amount of money that Michigan, Notre Dame, or Ohio State have. I just think you're going to see that Notre Dame is going to be printing money, printing it. This is the greatest gift ever to Notre Dame. They're like, wait, we have very high academic standards. We've missed out some people because of that, but now we can pay you a ton of money to come here, and now you'll be like, I'll go to school, and it'd be a little harder to school for that money, and we'll be a top four team in college football every year.

I mean, Notre Dame is going to be a powerhouse now from here on out. And I think those four teams that I mentioned, add another team or two into that, are just going to dominate college football.

Pft with Mike Florio every day on Peacock, The Unbutton podcast, Football Night in America. Nbc has Rams eagles on Sunday. We will get to that game in just a second. Chris, how much money did Sam Darnold cost himself the last two weeks?

$10, $15 million.

Jesus, man.

I would say so. He still can get a good payday. He certainly can do that. But maybe getting a 30 or $40 million one-year type of deal or a two-year, $60 million, something like that. I don't know if he's going to see that. Where if he played well the last two weeks, I think he might have got to go to a place maybe and they'd be like, Hey, you're the starter. Now it's going to be like, We'll bring him into the starter, but I don't know if we want him long term. Maybe we should draft a quarterback, too, just like we saw him do in Minnesota. So that's where it's tough. It is stuff. The Detroit game, guys, he played really bad. I am not going to defend him much. I told you guys last week, it was like, whoa, I'd throw it. He's open or he's open, and damn, how did you miss that throw? Last week, I'm not going to put as much on him. I watched that film on Tuesday. There wasn't Jacky in that open, that game. The Rams were all over Kevin O'Kunal and that passing offense and what they wanted to do, let alone they tricked them with some blitzes, too.

So that one, I'm going to put a little bit on everybody, even though he wasn't his best. But yeah, he certainly cost himself maybe a better positioning as far as a quarterback and then just the money itself, Stugatz.

Along the same line the past couple of weeks, Russell Wilson probably cost himself the starting job next year in Pittsburgh. Did he not? Because when we spoke a month ago, it was you found your guy. You got to lock him up, give him a baker deal. He's good enough. But the last couple of weeks, you found out he is not good enough. And this is probably his last starting chance, I would think.

I would think so. Found your guy. I know I certainly was, Hey, he's playing well and all that. Even when he was playing well, I was like, I don't know how much long term I want to commit to him, but I mean, either way to what you're saying there. There's no way. There's no way he's going to be done as a starting quarterback. It's three teams in a row now where you hear the locker room doesn't love him. Have you guys watched Hard Knocks? I mean, let alone from what I've heard from people. You watch Hard Knocks and all his talking to the players, it falls on deaf ears. They're literally not even listening to him because he's so robotic in what he says, and it's so just cookie cutter. Hey, we got to play better. Hey, we got to play Hey, we got to play better. Hey, we got to play better. And you're like, Did he just say that four times in a row? That's all he said. Hey, shake it off. Hey, shake it off. Hey, shake it off. And you could see the team literally like, Yeah, okay. They're like, nodding their head like, Yeah, we hear you.

Great, great. No way he's back there as a starting quarterback. No way he's the starting quarterback anywhere in football. Is Mike Tomlin done in Pittsburgh? Because there are people, especially in Pittsburgh, that want him gone. But it feels like they're just slow dancing in a burning room between the two of them, Pittsburgh and Tomlin, where neither one really wants to end it. They're just going to let it crumble around. Well, something has to change there, drastically, right? Because they're stuck in this meddling of, We just get in the playoffs, but we're not really a contender to get to the Super And I think a little bit is that because they try to get to the Super Bowl and they put band-aids on their roster, and they never really tear it down to go, Okay, now let's rebuild it. That's a problem. Yeah, all the talks about he's lost his last five playoff games and all that. I understand that. All that should be there. I get it, right? Certainly do. 2017 and 2018 were probably the last two years where you went, Man, the Steelers could go to a Super Bowl and win it. 2017, they blew that game against the Jaguars, remember, and Blake The Portals, that was a big deal because they were already talking about their Championship game matchup with the Patriots.

That was a mess up. The next year, they missed the playoffs, and it was one of those teams where they were banged up during the year and they got hot late, and you were like, If they get in, they might win the Super Bowl. They didn't get in. That was the last time they've been legit. Now, what I will say with Mike Tomlin, and you heard me say, drastic, something on the roster drastically has to change. That's the big thing. I mean, one, they can't get the quarterback issue right, that's sure. If you want to blame Mike Tomlin for offensive coordinator failures or stuff like that, okay, I understand all that, too. But the way his team plays and the way they compete and the way he manages games, I have a hard time looking and blaming Mike Common. And Mikey Ye. They have a clear pecking order there. He coaches the team. They got a front office that picks the players. The players aren't all that special there. That's the other thing, too. You take away George Pickens, who the fuck cares about anybody else on Pittsburgh's offense? Who cares? Let alone, we don't even care about him that much.

And I would condone as far as drastic, trade him. He's one of your best assets. He's a pain in the butt. Get him out of here. Get some things for him. On the defensive side of the ball, it's the same thing. It's like, okay, T. J. Watt, Now, Kam Hayward has some moments. After that, who the fuck cares about anybody else? And that, to me, is not Mike Tomlin's problem. So that's the thing, too, Mikey A, where I hear you with that, and I hear Steeler fans say that, but they haven't stepped on a field in a playoff game since 2017, where I've gone, Well, yeah, they should win that game. I mean, you've heard me for three years now. They're one and done. They're going to lose this week. It's over. So there's no chance to win some of these games. And a lot of the times I'd go, I'm not sure they'd in the games if it weren't for Mike Tomlin to begin with.

Chris, I asked you last week, and I ask you again this week, would you be surprised if the Rams made it to the Super Bowl?

Yes, I would be. I would be surprised.

Still, you would still be surprised? I It would be. That team is so good, Chris.

I know they're so good. They are. This is not a good matchup for him this week. I will say that. I mean, it's hard when you turn on the film from the previous matchup and watch a guy run the 26 times for 255 yards. Let me just tell you, there was another four or five runs where you're like, he's about to break it for 70. They just tripped them up. I mean, he could have broke the NFL rushing record that day. He was this close. Right. So I had That's where I just this weekend is where I don't want to ever put anything against McVay and Stafford because they're special, they're battle-tested, they're Super Bowl winners. They can come up with game plans. But man, Philadelphia, as you guys have heard me say, I think is the talented team in football. They're well-coached. It's going to be about 18 degrees in Philadelphia on Sunday, and I expect Philadelphia to be ready to go with Jalen Hertz and company. And yeah, the Rams are going to have to do so much They're going to have to really change the way they approach that game and really get out of their comfort zone on the defensive side of the ball, which could lend to them making some plays and keeping the game close, but it could also lend to, Oh, shit.

There's A. J. Brown, 101, TD, Oh, They're going to be blitz, and they tossed it outside to Saquon, and now nobody's there. Oh, shit, a shutdown. We're down 21-nothing before we even got warmed up in the game. That's what I would worry about if I'm the Rams.

But Chris, selfishly, from a fan perspective, you agree with this, right? Because I When the playoff started, I was thinking to myself, there's going to be nothing better than whatever the AFC Championship game is going to be. It's going to be Chiefs versus Bills or Chiefs versus Ravens in all likelihood. But if the camps, get past the Eagles, and Detroit wins their game, I'm not certain that NFC Championship game wouldn't have more story lines and be more intriguing than the AFC Championship game, where you have Stafford going back to his old team and trying to prevent them from going to the Super Bowl.

It would be awesome. It would. It would have great story lines. It certainly would be a great matchup. Again, we've said this a lot. A team can be better than another team in totality, but it's a matchup league. The Eagles are a tough The Eagles are a tougher matchup for the Rams than the Lions are. Because of the Lions and some of the issues they have on the defensive side of the ball, that's one where I go, Yeah, the Rams defense is in trouble versus the Lions' offense. But I look at it and go, Well, I think the Rams offense will be able to move the ball on the lines defense, too. So that evens the playing field. This is one where I could see them having a few drives moving the ball against the Eagles defense. But man, the Eagles just won so many battles physically up front. The Rams, really, the more you break them down, the more you realize Pukunaku is really their only real threat on the offensive side of the ball, other than Kyron Williams in the run game. In the past game, Cooper Cubs is not the same guy he used to be.

I would expect the Eagles to double Pukunaku in some certain situations, take him away, and make somebody else beat them. I just don't know if they have enough weaponry there to mess with the team that I call the best roster in football in the Eagles.

Chris, a lot of people are saying that Texans defense. It's funny how things change after a single victory, and the other team has a bye week, so you haven't seen them play. But now a lot of people are saying the Texans could keep it close because of their defense with Kansas City. And Kansas City has played a lot of close games. What are your thoughts?

Yeah, I do, too. I mean, they was close the first time around, right? When they played the Saturday before Christmas. They're a team that... They're extremely talented. And this is a Chief's offense that we know is not super exposed explosive and does play some close football games. The big thing here is, can the Chiefs protect these two super freaks coming off the edge? And protection has been an issue for the Chiefs all year long. So can they block? And then are Hollywood Brown and Xavier worthy ready to take the next steps and become really big-time, explosive playoff-type receivers. Hollywood Brown's first game back was that first matchup, so he'll be a different player now. Xavier worthy has gotten better and better as the year went along. The Texans played them some man-to-man in the football game and really gave them some issues when they did it. So I would think they're going to be emboldened by that, too. But the Chiefs are the team that are going to be like, Well, we got something for you. And then we know how Mahomes is, and you play him a certain way and too aggressive If you see me like, How dare you play me like that?

I'm going to throw a bomb over your head. You can't do that to me. That's disrespectful. That'll be interesting, that chess match. Then the Texans' offense, the first time around, they protected okay. You saw last week, it's something I've been calling for for the Texans offense, three-step drop passing game. They don't protect well. Why are we holding the ball for five and six seconds waiting for people downfield if you don't protect well? They change that. That's going to be interesting to see what it does to Kansas City or whatever. But I think they hang around and are a pain in the ass, but I'm going to pick the Chiefs. I picked them 27-17.

I want to say Detroit is going to blow out the commanders, but man, Jaden Daniels is special. I can't do it. I can't get myself there because that guy by himself can keep them in the game.

They're hard to blow out. And like we've said, it's just like they do everything with him. He's so mature in how he plays. He's surgical. He can make big plays when he's there. He can scramble when it's there and do all that. The big thing to me is the Lion's defense can't let Washington go on these 15-play, 60-yard drives that chew up seven minutes. Or like last week, it was a 17-play, 90-yard drive that chewed up seven and a half minutes. That's That's what they can't do. And that's where it's incredible and how mature and surgical Jaden Daniels is. But that, to me, would be the thing that would bode well for an upset. If they can control the clock, get down there, score, touch down, oh, Ram's offense is a little off kilter because they can't get on the field and get a rhythm going. And all of a sudden we're in a nail biter, and we know Washington is very comfortable being in a nail biter. My thing with Detroit, though, is I don't think they'll let that happen. Detroit has shown in these kinds of games that they'll be aggressive on defense to either force your hand and create a turnover or yet you go down and score, that's fine.

But our offense is getting back on the field. Let's get in a shootout and see what happens. I think they're a pain in the ass, but I took the lions, I believe 30, 40, But 21, Stugatz.

All right, let's make Chris's head explode. In a weird world we were discussing earlier, okay, if the higher seat, the better team in the playoffs, could trade their quarterback for the other team's quarterback back, do you think Dan Campbell this week would trade Jared Goff for Jaden Daniels?

No.

Why?

Because Jared... I mean, this is why. Because Dan Campbell is like, he's loyal to a fault. He loves his Jared Goff. He loves his attitude he brings to the team. He embodies his toughness and leadership that he wants for his team. So that's why. I understand the question. I get it. I mean, every coach is going to go, damn, I wish my quarterback had Jaden Daniels skillset other than the coach of the Bills or the Chiefs or the Ravens. Everybody else is going to be like, I'd like one of those right there. Where can I get that? Is that on aisle 5? Where can I get that? I mean, certainly.

Chris, I just think it's an intriguing I'm making an idea. Fast forward to the conference Championship game, okay? So the Chiefs are the better team. They could trade Patrick Mahomes for Josh Allen or Lamour Jackson.

I know. They ain't going to do it, okay?

Or Dan Campbell could trade golf back for Stafford.

Yeah, I know. It's a fun idea. It's cool. But then, Jared Goff, you go into that stadium in that city. He is so loved, and they're so behind him. He's a big part of why their culture is the way it is.

Ravens and Bills feels like it should be for much more than the right to go to Kansas City to face Patrick Mahomes. It doesn't feel right, but it's going to be such a great game. Chris, it feels like so much is on the line for this game, but is it really when you consider they have to go to Kansas City the next week? One of the guys is going to be the guy that still can't do it in the postseason until next week. Then that guy is going to be the guy who can't get it done in the postseason because he lost the Mahomes.

It gives you the opportunity to take that man-to-man and take it on. That's what the big thing is. They both are going to want the opportunity to go there and slay the beast of Mahomes, realizing that, yes, they could lose, and they're still going to be that same bullshit aura around them or talk around them. They can't win the big game. The games, I cannot wait for this one. Yeah, it's the two best players in football this year, and they're the two biggest players that have the most pressure on them in the NFL playoffs. So that's why you love it because they both have that, oh, they can't win the big game, which is a bunch of bullshit. I mean, as we know, Josh Allen in his playoffs, his statistics are as good as anybody in the history of the playoffs. Lamar, we know, is special as hell, but he's got a losing record in the playoff, so that's crazy. They're both like first ballot, upper tier with Deion Sanders type Hall of Famers, in my opinion. They're just missing some of this right here. So this a little bit, not to the same extent, but this is a tough matchup for Buffalo.

Buffalo has a hard time stopping big teams that can run the football. Then you couple that with a team that can throw the football as well. Mcdermott is going to have to have one of his most creative game plans of the year. And Josh Allen the Bills' offense, they're going to have to play their best game of the year. I'm going to be interested to see what they do. Do the Bills go, Hey, we're just going to attack with Josh Allen, and we're not scared to get in a shootout with you? Or do they go, Let's control the clock. Let's run the ball. Let's let Josh Allen do what we just said with Jaden Daniels, five yards here, seven yards here, quarterback run, James Cook there, and keep Lamar on the sideline, right? I could see it going either way. So So that'll be interesting. I do think the Bills' offense is going to be able to move the ball on the Ravens, and I think the Bills' offense will be able to run the ball on the Ravens. The Ravens' run defense is overrated to me. It's the number one run defense in football, but that's because everyone played the Ravens and went, well, passing the defense, I can throw for 350 every game.

Why would I run it on them? So that's where it's a little skewed. The first matchup, the first time around, Buffalo moved them in the run game, but they got two pass happy and got away from it and then got down on the scoreboard and couldn't get back into I think it's a close football game, Stugats. I do. I think it's a lot of fun. I'm going to pick the Ravens to win with a last second field goal to win the game 30 to 28.

Wow. It's going to be a great weekend. We'll get you out of here. What are these three guys, Burro, Allen, Lamar Jackson, maybe, too? They're going to be Dan Moreno. I agree be the first ballot Hall of Famers in the Deon class, but one of them has to be Dan. There's not enough time and enough Super Bowl to go around for all four of them.

I know. I'm hoping that they don't become Dan Marino, and they can become like John Elway at some point, where it dealt with some early career struggles, play-offs, but then started as the years went by, got to win one or two late in their career, at some point in their career to get off the schneid because they are Super Bowl winning quarterbacks. They are. They're that caliber. They're as good as anybody we've ever seen. Yeah, They're in a tough spot. This is their year. This is their chance, and we'll see if they can do it, whoever wins this one, and then if they can beat the Chiefs the next week, if the Chiefs beat the Texans.

Real quick before you go, who in the NFL or who will be drafted this year that is the next Chris Sims in the NFL?

Gosh, that we drafted this year?

Well, who's- Or current quarterback.

Who's big and white and is just an above-average athlete with a really strong arm? Who is that?

I don't know. Quinuers?

I have a stronger arm than Quin Ewer's, and I think I'm a better athlete. So I can't give it to him there. But I don't know. When we get to draft time and all that, I'll give you a better answer there. I'll have some more clues on that, all right?

All right. He had to get that hit. He's an asshole.

He is an asshole. Who, Chris? No, you with the big Dolphins helmet on.

All right, Sims. Enjoy the weekend.

I was about to put it back up, but never- No, you weren't.

I don't want to be up in your house. Screw you. All right? If that number one jersey is going to be in that room, then I don't want to be in that room with it, all right? Oh, okay. I'll see you later. Funk is back.

Offly happy to see me, Mike. He wasn't the same on that episode I listened to last week, though.

Did you? What did I miss last week? What did I miss?

What do you mean did I? You know I review every episode. You see this notebook, Billy?

Even the ones you're not on, I mean, That's weird. I saw Mike Rauhlas has a travel show where he's visiting Alaska.

Yeah. Oh.

They beat it to their goal.

You're in Alaska now or you already filmed it?

No, already filmed it. The episode is out today on Prime Video.

All Well, the wanderer.

The wanderer. The idea behind it was, and this was totally true, we had no idea where we were going. They came to our house to film here in Phoenix, and 20 minutes before we left for the airport, they told us we were going to Alaska. So we had a little bit of time to empty out the bathing suits and pack some warmer clothes. And then we Even then, we still had no idea what we were doing every day. We went out there. We just went with the flow and wherever it took us, that's what we did.

Was it you and your wife?

Yeah, me and my wife. Yeah.

That's awesome, man. No, mistress. You're on the Well, you'll have to watch to find out.

She's pregnant. Honey, I'm cheating on you. Here she is. And Alaska.

I signed up for one of these platforms where you can see people post social media jobs.

It's actually this platform is how we found this TV show. So they post places where you can audition for either social media collaborations or TV shows or movies. There's a lot of these reality TV shows that's like, Honey, I'm cheating on you. Or, Do you have a big secret you're keeping from your wife? I just think, who is signing up for that? Hey, you want to go on this show that we keep big secrets from each other?

Well, before I answer that, how much does it pay? Do you know?

Yeah. What's that website also?

Yeah, what is the website? Ask me for a friend.

Yeah, what is the website? Backstage. Backstage I think. I mean, I have the app, the backstage app.

We're all right now.

So would you- I've looked at my wife and been like, Are you sure our marriage isn't on the rocks right now? We might need to go to this show right now.

You thought you were going on The Wanderer. You said you were going on Honey. I have a secret for you.

The Wanderer could mean a few different things.

No, but I'm telling you, if I had this discussion with my wife Hey, Abby, I just have to tell a big secret about our marriage, but we're going to get paid a half million dollars to do so. I'm going to tell when I'm cheating on you. She'd be in on it. She would.

Most wives probably would, I would think.

I don't know about most wives. No, I don't think so.

500k, though, Billy.

I can think of at least one that would say no.

I love going through those scenarios in your head. What paycheck would it take to- Where's the line?

It's what paycheck would you be willing to do it with a smile on your face, I think, right? I think a half million tax-free upfront does it for I don't know.

Yeah, that's a nice pay.

Yes. How about $100,000, though?

That's pretty good.

I mean, that's- Wait, Rolls, we're making up a story here. We didn't actually cheat on our lives.

Right, I know.

It's the damage. It's a damaged reputation. Now I'm starting to think, what if I did actually cheat on my wife? How much would someone have to pay me to reveal the secret?

I mean, but here's the thing. If you want to get out, you now have your out and you have a nice paycheck to start this new life.

That was great. Yeah.

But also, you can create your own image of how you want it to be presented, too.

You control the airwaves. I got a big secret. My wife is cheating on me. How about that?

That's good. Save your reputation, still get the paycheck.

Who cheats on Clooney?

I can't believe she did it.

Kfung, last week you were not here, and I don't know if you heard what the ruling from Carl was. The ruling was- That wasn't a ruling from Carl.

That was Mike Yee. And that's not acceptable. So let's just move on. Well, it is.

It is acceptable.

Hold on a second. You know why I wasn't- Let Billy explain it first. I already know. I heard that- But Billy explained it first.

I already know.

I heard that Billy was to explain it to the audience.

Yeah, for the audience.

I didn't watch the show- Yeah, exactly.

Last week.

Do you think today is the first day on the show?

You were in a last He was in a gob of football today on a random-The wander. Well, okay. Here's what happened, Mike, and anyone who was not listening last week when KFunk was out. Because KFunk was out and he didn't give us notice that he was going to be out, the ruling was decided that KFunk would have to forfeit the games last week. And because Mojo normally does opposite KFunk, Mojo was looking at an undefeated week just because KFunk was getting all forfeited losses. Now, because he's a man of integrity, Mojo made the picks last week, and Mojo, in making the picks, still went five and one. So he only cost himself one game by not assigning KFunk all of the forfeits. However, I believe the forfeits still stand, and Karl confirmed that.

Not true, but okay. All right.

Not true what? That Karl confirmed it? He did. You were here.

Do you know how many people have showed up and not made pics on this show?

No.

Who? Name one. Yeah, name- Every other week, Sharebar every other week.

No, they make pics.

They make pics.

I still get the pics.

Carl missed a week.

That's all right. They always send in their pics.

They always send the pics in.

Would you like to know where I was? I told Billy, so.

No, it's okay. No, we don't want to know.

Wait, it's okay.

No, I don't want to know.

Listen, this is not the time to shower us with guilt. I mean, we feel for you. We love you. We care about you. Mikey said all that already. That's who it is.

Mikey is the asshole because it was his idea.

After what I said. Hey, guys, I got an idea.

Hey, How about K-Po's zero?

That's him. That's his voice.

That is my voice. It sounds just like me.

You know what? Where's Carl? I need to talk to Carl.

Well, he's working. But I have his pics. Yeah, I have his pics.

He's got a job.

No forfeits. I know where your head's at. He's not forfeiting. I also have Gordie's pics.

Yeah, he's working, too. We have Gordie's pics as Mojo coming in here. The wanderer should be you in Alaska in your bathing suit. That's what the show should be.

Well, I will say this, a little teaser. I do end up in even less clothes than a bathing suit. If that's... I'll let your imaginations run wild.

I'm in.

Unfortunately, I lost a bet. I think back to the whole Seinfeld shrinkage episode. Oh, jeez. Hold water and sleep clothes.

He lets Mojo when he's in.

Rollis in the Wild. How about that? Billy, are you Are you hearing this? Rolls was naked in Alaska.

Hold on. I want to watch tonight.

A spoiler alert.

It is family-friendly.

It is family-friendly.

Yeah, but you're naked. Oh, Mojo. It's so good to see you.

I've been listening backstage for about 10 minutes now with inability to say anything.

Okay, so listen, Mojo, hold on. Don't say another word. The floor is yours. I want all your thoughts on everything you heard over the last 10 minutes. Go ahead.

Well, yeah, I guess putting football aside for a minute, I heard a whole conversation about $500,000 in fake cheating on your spouse or something. I don't know. I came in like halfway through that, so I have a lot of I have no questions on that front, but I don't care about any of that right now because I think the thing I want to start with is just an apology and a thank you from K funk.

Okay.

You want him to thank you and apologize to you?

Yeah, I think I earned that. I stuck up for him last week. I gave him a chance. I mean, honestly, it's probably worse in the end because I let him pick opposite Mojo, which is suicide. That's a terrible idea with how Mojo, the spread master, picked. But it did open the floor for us to throw this in his face one more time. We almost missed the opportunity to do that. But, Funk, you're welcome, pal. I just would like to hear the words.

Yeah. Nothing was said about opposite Mojo. But I would like to say is thank you for the week before your '69 week where you had zero wins. That was pretty cool.

You should have done. That was a tough one. I should have realized that as a married man and a father now that the '69 jokes have expired my window there. I should have gone a different way on that one. You live and you learn.

The window is shut.

Well, hold on a second. I'm glad you brought that week up because we had a bit of a controversy last week, and we were trying to figure out what we were going to do there because you decided to hijack the show, KFunk, as I remember, and make everyone pick college games, but those were only going to count if you did well. Now, I was going through the record. I didn't say that. That is 100 % what we agreed on.

No, Mojo said If I didn't do well, it wouldn't count towards me. I didn't say shit about that.

How many more can you suggest to make to try and help you, KFunk? Are you hearing this? If you lose, it doesn't count. If I lose, it counts triple. What am I offering right now?

It's odd.

It's like that, Black Jack, free play. It's like free play.

Yeah. Business gracious, dude. Have some respect here.

Have some respect. I'll say this. Mojo was 0-5 when we were just doing some of the games. But if we included some of the college games, he was one and six. Now, the story of that week was Mike Rollis, who went eight and one if we included all of the college games. Yeah.

Good job, Mike.

Jay I have you as three and four, but I have two games missing that I'm going to have to track down because you were doing things or you were changing games after we recorded and you were picking some games. We also said Gordie didn't make pics.

He made picks. It's all right. This whole season is a wash when it comes down to it.

A wash? It is most definitely not a wash.

I would say it was a wash if I picked as bad as you did. Really?

You even said on the show last week, you're like, we just make stuff. You said it on the show last week. You're like, We just make stuff up. We make KFunk lose. We make Mojo win.

I don't think that ever was said.

We don't need to make you lose.

You would just fine on your own.

Yeah, you're killing it.

You know what? Do we have fact checkers on the show because I'd be very curious. If we looked at all the sports podcasts in the world, if there's a person on the planet that has picked worse than KFunk, because I don't think that person exists.

What What are we talking about here?

In any sport, in picking anything. It doesn't even have to be sport-related.

You're saying any sport, anywhere, anything on the planet, no one has been worse than K-Fun this year.

Well, Share Bear has been worse. We're going to have to call it.

We love Sherbert. That's correct.

The last two seasons, I went to number one.

I went to the freaking poker table.

I think, correct.

The thing is, Share Bear doesn't take this thing so seriously or personally. I don't either. Oh, get out of here.

Fuck, get out of here.

No, we all know that's not true. You have a notebook where you take notes that you just showed us.

You'll see.

Listen, you'll find out about this notebook later. This is for exit interviews for the seasons.

Exit interviews for the seasons. Are you our HR Department?

Well, no, but the legal team will take a look at this.

Can you give us the legal team? Can you give us season end grades? Can you do that? Is that notebook also your diary?

Worry about it. How do you find it? Where did you are in yourself in your pics every week?

Where's Carl?

He's in sports.

He's working, yeah.

Week 11. This loud pitch voice made me feel bad today. Sad face.

Mojo was so mean to me this week.

You guys are- Remember the week we were really nice to him?

Yeah. He was overly nice to everybody.

He didn't like that either.

He lost every game.

I used to help out at- Nothing else. I used to help out at WWE tryouts. I would demonstrate the drills and stuff like that. There was this one time, there was this drill I was really bad at. I was doing a handstand bump. You do a handstand, then fall on your back, and I just couldn't get it. I did it like, okay, but the coaches and the other talent that were helping out really made it seem like I was doing really bad, but they were trying to be really nice and encouraging me. It got to the point where everyone who was trying out started encouraging me, like, Come on, Mike, you can do it. It made me feel It was so much worse that there was these people who were just trying to try out to get to where I was, and they were encouraging me like, You can do it. That's what it reminded me of that week we were nice to K-Fuck.

Well, I would say that this isn't anything like that because at least your handstand bumps were bad. Like, funk is pure, full bad. There is no, it's just all the way in.

Fair enough.

Also, just to end up here- Write that down.

I have I'm going to hop off in two minutes, unfortunately. So it goes without saying that all my picks this week will be opposite funk. Unless, if K-Funks needs me to pick first so he can go opposite me.

Yeah, K-Funk. You want him to go first? It's only four games. We can go through it quick. You want him to pick first?

You want to do it quickly here?

Do all four Mojos right now.

Okay. All right, let's go, Mojo. Here we go. Texans at Chiefs, Chiefs minus eight and a half. Who are you taking?

Wait, Funk, say it again. You need me to do the pick so you can go opposite. You're scared to make your own pick. Is that what you're saying?

Just make your pick for second time of the season.

Go Well, Mojo, it's up to you. It's your call. You can make the pigs or you can just go opposite K, Funk. You can do whatever you want, Mojo.

I'll tell you what. Funk, left or right?

Mojo, just go.

I don't need a- They Say left or right. I only have a minute. Say left or right.

I'm not playing this game. Go ahead. Say left or right. Just say it.

Left or right.

Middle. Meet me halfway. Say left or right.

Mikey A, say it for him.

Left. Let Mikey A pick. Yeah, there you go. Mojo He's number one fan. Go ahead.

You said left. All right, I'm taking all the teams on the right. That's what I'm doing. You're right or K-Funks right? We're in the Ryan eagles's bills. There you go. Even though that... I don't like to pick against the Ravens, but Funk said it. Whatever. I don't care.

Okay.

I'm trying to give you an opening here. Dude, I just went five and one.

You went- You took all the favorites also, though, Mojo.

Okay, then I'll go the other side. I don't care.

Why did you just go opposite K funk?

Yeah, we'll just do opposite K funk. Opposite Funk.

I'll see you guys next week.

Opposite Funk. All right. Bye, Mojo.

I'll see you next week. We love you, Mojo. We love you, Mojo. We love you, Mojo.

We love you, Mojo. And Funk's 0 and 4 again.

Bye, Mojo. Thank you. Great appearance.

He shows up for four minutes and he wins everything. It's unbelievable.

All right, KFunk, sorry about that. Back to you.

Let's get to the games here. Billy, you have Gordie's picks and you have Carl's picks, right?

I do. I do have Gordie and Carl's. All right, let's go to Texan's.

Let's go to Texas Let's go to Texans at Chief. Chiefs are eight and a half point favorites. Sherbert, going to start with you here. Chiefs at home, Arrowhead Stadium. First game of the weekend, minus eight and a half. Take it on Houston.

I'm going to go Houston.

I think I'm going with the Chiefs to win, but I don't think they're going to cover. I'm going to go Houston.

All right. Taking Houston. Mike Rollis, are you taking here?

I think I'm going KC. They seem to be hitting their stride right now. I think that, honestly, the last week, not totally fluky, but when you get back to back pick sixes like that, it's going to run the score up. But I think KC wins comfortably.

All right, Billy, who did Gordie and Carl take here?

Gordie took the Chiefs, and Carl took the Texans plus eight and a half. He says it Kansas City will win, but it's too many points.

He gave you commentary, huh? He did. That's very nice.

I love good commentary.

K-funk, who are you taking here? You have Texans at Chiefs, Chiefs minus eight and a half.

I'll take the points here. I'll take Houston. They looked pretty good last week, and that's a lot of points. Casey hasn't covered much this year.

Give me that one.

One time they did cover is when they beat the brakes off the Houston Texans.

Yeah, it's tough to do things twice, so buddy. Tough to do All right.

Right side so far for Mojo. Okay, here we go. Next game, guys. Commander. Saturday night, Commanders at Detroit. The lions are nine and a half point favorites in this game. That feels like a lot to me. That's just me, though. Let's go to Mike Rollis first.

Yeah, I agree. It's just too much. I think the Lion's super impressive last time we saw him against the Vikes. But, man, Jane Daniels just keeps doing it. They just keep putting up points, and I think they keep it close, but the lines win. So give me the commanders.

All right. Share Bear?

I was going to say it's too many points as well, but I have one of those feelings it's going to be close, close, close, and then at the end, something's going to happen and lines are going to break away and it'll end up being 10, 12 points.

So I'm going to go with the lions.

All right. Taking the lions, Billy. Who does Carl have? Who does Gordie have?

Carl and Gordie both have the lions.

All right. They both took the lions. Okay, Funk, where are you going here?

Yeah, I mean, that's a lot of points. I'm the same way. Washington and Houston were my biggest bets last week. I want to say I'm going to take that again, but give me the lions.

Okay. Taking the lions. I'm So you have the lion, so we have Mojo with the commanders. All right, let's get to the next game. We have the Eagles taking on the Rams. The Rams are six-point underdogs at Philadelphia. I could see the Rams playing in the Super Bowl. Sharebear, who are you taking?

It's like one of those things when you got Hurricane Katrina, you got all the craziness, Boston in the years. It's like you hope for the city.

Let's go with the Rams. I mean, there's ever a time to put some people together, I guess. I think this is the year with all these crazy disasters. You never know they're going to happen. So it's safe to say I think the statistics are a little bit more likely for the Rams to win than what the LAs has dealt with. So let's go with the Rams.

All right. Take taking the Rams there, plus six on the road. Mike Rollers, are you taking here?

I mean, plus 6, it doesn't seem like much compared to the other games, but that's a lot of points still. The Rams are playing good ball. I think I I can't root for injuries. I just can't go that far. But as an Arizona Cardinals fan, what I can root for is, Ram's gone on a magical Super Bowl run and everybody just retires. They've had it. Mcvay, Stafford, they all call it quid. So I'll go Ram's here.

All right. I like it. Billy, who does Carl have and who does Gordie have?

They both have the Ram's.

All right. They both took the Ram's. Kfonk, are you taking here? Yeah. It's a tough game, KFonk.

Nobody likes the The Eagles.

I'm more with Shera here. When something like this happens, it could be... I'm not saying they're going to win the Super Bowl, but they look pretty damn impressive last week, and they had a lot going on. The only thing that bothers me here is the weather. I think it's going to snow most of the game, they said.

18 degrees, they said, in snow. Yes. Yeah.

I'll take the Rams.

Okay. Taking the Rams. So Mojo has the Eagles. Well, someone has the Eagles. It's Mojo.

There you go.

All right. Final game. It's the game of the year until next week's AFC Championship game. But it is the game of the year. It feels like it should be the AFC Championship game. Ravens. It could be a Super Bowl matchup. Jesus. Ravens, Bills, Bills, plus one and a half at home. Two of the best quarterbacks, top five quarterbacks of the NFL. Who are we taking here, Share Bear? Bills plus one and a half at home. Take it on the Raven.

In 30 plus years, the Bills' Sport Super Bowl run, I think they had a chance. I'm going to go with the Bills. It means their year.

All right. It's the Bill's year. Wow. Okay. Who are we taking here, Mike Rollis?

I'm with Share Bear. It might just be their year. I mean, you look at the last time these two teams saw each other, Baltimore just ran it down their throats. Absolutely blew them out. But I think this is at least a toss up in my mind. I maybe favor the bill slightly. So at the end of the day, give me the one and a half.

Let's go to Gordie and Carl, Billy. Who did they take?

Gordie took the bills. Carl took the Ravens.

Why I'm so toward on game. All right, K. Funk, who are you taking here?

It's tough.

It's tough, man.

What I think should happen, and there should be some agreement, is after that second, the buzzer, this game's over, the MVP should go to the winner of the game. That's what I feel like. Forget the voting. Whoever wins this game, in my mind, is the MVP. I'm going with the guy at home. Give me Josh Allen.

Wow. All right, taking Josh Allen. That means Mojo has the Baltimore Rivas.

That's good. I think you wanted them. We're sorry, KFunk, I have an offer for you if you'd like to accept it. Would you like to accept it? Before you even know it, do you trust me?

No, of course, I don't trust you.

You might want to hear him out. It's an offer. You could say no.

What's your offer, Billy? I'd love to hear you. I want to hurt my feelings I know the way that your brain works, and I know the way that you operate, and I know that you're thinking we should be picking the National Championship game on Monday, don't you? I didn't say that.

You are thinking it, though. You want to pick the National Championship game, Ohio State versus Notre Dame, Ohio State is an eight and a half point favorite in this game.

I actually don't want to pick this game because I hope to spice both these teams.

All right. Okay, then we will make this very special. Yeah, but you have a chance to take someone- You will make this very special. You will be the only one picking this game. And if you get it right, it counts as five wins. But if you get it wrong, it counts as 10 losses.

Fine.

10 and 10. You're trying to get your 10 losses for something.

If you get it right, you get 10 If you get it wrong, 10 losses. Okay. You're going to win the damn thing.

Come on. You can catch up to Mojo. I hate the game, though.

I hate the team. I hate the game.

Yeah, but 10 wins.

Ten wins, five losses.

You got to take that, Buck.

I'll do 10 wins, five up. But I'm the only one picking?

Yes, you're the only one.

All right, what's the line?

Eight and a half.

Wait, so Mojo does not get opposite of this?

No.

Hold on, because if he gets opposite and you get 10 wins, he could get 10 losses. You could really, really make up ground.

So just me and Mojo?

Just you and Mojo, and you are in control of who has what game here. What team?

That's what I don't want. This game's terrible, dude.

I'm nervous.

I am, too. This is a big one. This is our biggest game ever.

What's the line?

Ohio State is eight and a half point favorites against Notre Dame.

Take it. Oh, my God.

I hate both of these teams.

If you get this right, you make up 20... You make up 20 games on Mojo.

He wants in.

Because it's a 10 win-swing and a 10 loss swing for him. This is a 20-gain swing for you.

All right. I'm not going to win this because I know who I want to take, and I'm going to take the opposite of who I want to take.

Oh, no. What are we doing?

That's a great way to set it up. Yeah. To win-win then.

There's no team I probably hate more. I mean, I'm a gator, so I'm a gator, so I'm like, your rivalry team, Florida State. I can't stand Notre Dame. I hate them. I always bet against them. Obviously, they're having a hell of a season this year, but they always choke. They always choke in the big game. With a lot of preamble.

Yeah, exactly right. Make a pick.

He's always making you a great offer.

Give me Notre Dame.

Notre Dame plus eight and a half. Now, if you win, you get 10 wins. If you lose, you get five losses. If Moja wins, he gets five wins. If Moja loses, he gets 10 losses. We are all in agreement on this. Yeah. Okay.

I have nothing to lose except go lower than Shareman here.

Well, you can do that this week regardless of this extra game, so don't worry about that. All right, so 10 wins, 10 losses if you lose.

All right. Go fight an Irish.

And I'm picking the team I just hate.

Okay, perfect. All right.

Thank you. Have a great weekend. We'll talk to you next week. Rollis, stay dressed. The Wanderer.

The Wanderer.

Can't wait to see the shrinkage. God bless.

Mike Ballis.