Transcript of 2026 AFC & NFC North Preview (feat. Ty Dunne & Tim Benz) New

Removing the Cleveland Browns because that's too easy. I'm focusing on the two Norths. Tell me two teams with those two divisions combined, Browns removed, that are not going to make the playoffs. It's time for No Playoffs for You, the Ty Dunn Edition. Two teams.

Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bears.

Oh, the Bears!

Whoa!

Indians! Oh wow, those are good ones to go out on. Ty Dunn, the regular season is drawing ever closer. Ignore the ongoing lie for your eyes that is preseason football. Yes, the time for talking is just about through for the football players. I mean, not me and you. We've got a lot of talking left to do. We got to figure out who's going to scale Mount Lombardi this season and make it to the playoffs. Why, by the end of this very episode, we'll have figured out which NFC and AFC North teams are going to be in the postseason. But first, we check in with our trusted allies, Ty Dunn from GoLong and Tim Benz of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review for some intel. We're not just rolling with vibes here, people. Plus, I gotta weigh in on Aaron Rodgers. Well, I don't gotta, but everyone else has, so I may as well. Point is, it's time to start the show. I'm sorry for the dark time in which we now inhabit, kids. I'm sorry that school is starting not just in September, but in August. But the point remains the same. The most valuable gift that football gives us ongoing is a distraction from that grim reality.

Labor Day and all of that, back to school, faah! At least there's football to distract us, right? Hi and hello, my fellow football Americans, school kids or otherwise. Welcome to Football America presented by DraftKings Sports, now in all 50 states. It's episode 77, Buddy Budowski. We have a lot to get to, but who wore that jersey number 77 best?

All right, I've got two guys that come to mind from, uh, from watching my, my, my heyday. It's gonna be Tyron Smith and Jake Long, who the Dolphins famously drafted right in front of Matt Ryan. God, I love that pick. And then in NHL, Dave, this is a great NHL number.

It's a great sneaky great NHL.

Phil Esposito, you've got Viktor Hedman, uh, there was two more. Hold on one second. Sorry, Paul Coffey.

Paul Coffey.

Yes, Paul Coffey.

And of course Raymond Bourque.

Yeah, Colorado Avalanche legend after 22 years. Luka Dončić, uh, new ownership for his team, George Mirosan. In the NFL, of course, Lyle Elzeyda, Willie Rolfe, and the running back, Red Grange. Times have changed, no running backs wearing 77. All right, listen, not a moment to spare, let's jump into it. We have to evaluate the AFC and NFC North and let's start it off with our guy Ty Dunn. Oh, now here we go. Let's get into it, shall we? He is the man from Go Long, the Go Long Substack focusing right now on the Kyler Murray project. Go Long podcast, talking with Ty and Bob in Real Football, all the rest of it. It's our old pal Ty Dunn. What's happening, pal? How are you?

Oh, Shecky, I love hearing that voice. It's been way too long. Since we kibitzed, as you like to say, I'm glad we're making it happen. Uh, how's life for you? It's been ages.

It's a little bit better with football season on the horizon, and you're out on the road all through August going here, there, and everywhere, but now you're back home in Western New York. So let's start there before we dig in too much. What is going on with that, uh, with that stadium? The early reviews are not real good from Buffalo Bills fans.

I know, it's, uh, yeah, they're— I mean, you've got to take these pictures as what they are. Some people are in their seats that they paid for, and if you paid a PSL for a certain seat and the sightlines are not what you expected, I'd be pretty pissed off too. I understand. But a lot of the complaining, I don't know, I don't know, man. I think anecdotally, people that I've talked to that have been in there, that have been to their seats, they, they love it. And I feel like it's one of those Twitter versus real life things. I'm sure there's real problems out there and some people are justifiably upset with where they're sitting if they pay for that seat. Everything else is just kind of, I think, noise that doesn't reflect the true experience. I hear people that love it, that are blown away. I don't know. But if I have a quibble with it, I feel like the Bills really should have gone the route of the Green Bay Packers and played off of the history and had more of like a— I mean, you know me, I go long Shecky. It's old school football.

You know, we got the old school quarterback in the logo. You go to Lambeau, it's kind of the same thing. Like the yard lines, they track right into the concourse. Like you're, like you're on the field exactly where you would be on the— and you got all the legends of the game, Paul Horning, Reggie White, Don Hudson. They're staring down at you. You get into the Bills Stadium and it feels kind of modern. I don't— part of me doesn't feel like it's, Buffalo. But that would be my nitpick because overall it's unbelievable. And overall people should remember that these could be the Austin Bills. Like, they easily could have just moved to another city. Uh, they didn't. They're staying in Western New York. So I think folks, uh, well, we'll look at the big picture when it's all said and done.

Yeah, but they got a giant ping pong table because they go through ping pong tables up in freaking Western New York. That's what they do for fun up there. That's their big honorific for their fan base is a broken— what are the— what are those folding tables? No, but the honor that is given— oh, it's enough with them.

I'm not going to beat up the Bills as an organization too. Well, that's not true. But, but the thing that they deserve credit for is not putting a dome on that when the pressure—

no, it's ridiculous.

Exactly that. Thank goodness.

Have fun moving a game to Detroit this year, Buffalo, when you lose a home game in your brand new stadium because you were too, too stubborn to put a roof on your stadium in Western New York. They're so stupid.

It's the Chargers are the team that doesn't want to go out there and play them. Dave, it's not an advantage.

Josh Allen's their quarterback. You don't want to play in the snow. You want to play on turf in fast environments.

This is getting outrageous.

Okay, you can't have a dome in Western New York. Come on now. No, you can't have a dome. It's not football.

You know what though, as, as the memory grows hazy for everybody, or people like Buddy who weren't around when it happened, It's funny that the Bills are a punchline team because they're the only team to go to 4 straight Super Bowls.

They lost all of them, Dave. They lost all of them. That's why they're the punchline. If they had just won one of them, they wouldn't be a punchline. They would be a historic franchise. But they lost all 4 of them.

If Jeff Hostetler— when Bruce Smith rakes his right hand with the ball in it in the end zone, if that ball pops out, I don't know how Jeff Hostetler had the superhuman strength to grip that ball and not fumble it away. Instead of a safety, it would have been a touchdown, and it would have been game over. And the Bills win the Super Bowl, and we think about them very differently. And then the team who vanquished them back-to-back, the Dallas Cowboys, we hold them up as the greatest team of the Super Bowl era. But that's not where we are. Let's talk about the Baltimore Ravens. Ty Dunn, um, the first concern I have— you've been knocking around Owings Mills this week, and the place I have to start is with a little bit of cynicism. You buy— and I can tell from your, uh, from the pages you make You think of Derrick Henry as borderline immortal. I'm on the other side of that. He's on the wrong side of 30 and has taken a beating. How is he holding up and do you expect him to do so once again this season?

Oh man, doubting Derrick Henry. I'm not going to doubt Derrick Henry. I— if you doubt Derrick Henry, I feel like he might just turn around and look at you and just point A to point B, blast through my sternum like it's an old bull in the ring drill there. So I'm not going to doubt him in that regard either. He's going to be 33 in January. I hear you. It's insane that any running back— I'm trying to think of a comp. Like, there really isn't one. Curtis Martin led the league in rushing late in his career. Tiki Barber was pretty good late in his career. But a running back built like Derrick Henry, who moves like Derrick Henry— he is— remember the old Madden 64 game on N64? You create a player. We all did it. I mean, he is as close to that as we'll see. In today's football. I went back and was watching him last year, Shecky, and it's, it's nuts. He's averaging over 5 yards of carry, and Lamar Jackson's in and out of the lineup. They have all these injuries. The defense is terrible the first month and a half of that season, and he is still doing his thing.

It—

you can't take too much from a training camp practice. I get it. This isn't the AFC North in January when it's 0 degrees in Pittsburgh. But man, he moves. So I think his his feet don't get enough love. We think of a big back like running, running through you and, you know, stomping over your body. But his, his feet in the hole, the way he can make people miss in tight spaces is still elite. I feel like Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson in unison. We haven't seen it since 2024. And that, that's a team, that game against the Bills, it's still on their mind. I was talking to players like they haven't forgotten that. And the big picture, this is a team like Buffalo that needed a fresh voice at head coach. Uh, John Harbaugh was there 18 years, let alone 9 or 10 like Sean McDermott. They, they needed to get a Jesse Minter in there, get a Declan Doyle in there. What, 30-year-old offensive coordinator? I, I can just sense everybody is a little rejuvenated. Everybody's rejuvenated in August. I get it. It's real in Baltimore. I think everybody was a little tighter, a little more on edge with John Harbaugh walking into the room.

There's a little more oxygen room to room now for the Baltimore Ravens.

Well, I'm glad you jumped right in with that because it is fascinating, and because of when it happened— Harbaugh moving on from the Ravens and Tomlin on from the Steelers— it's wild that those two guys who were aligned for about two decades both move on in the, basically the same— was it literally the same week? Either way, what's your prediction, as much as you can pick up? Because the vibes are also very different in Pittsburgh too, more and more as even just training camp goes on. You're hearing more and more players say like, yeah, the way we used to be doing things wasn't very good. Um, but that was not the case a year ago at this time. It was the, it was the gold standard, the black and gold standard. Which head coach who has now moved on do you think we learned like, oh, that guy was holding the team back a little bit? Was it, was it John Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin? The answer could be neither guy. The answer could be both guys.

That's a phenomenal question. And that's why you're the one and only Shecky. You're making me filibuster and think. And, uh, go back and forth. I feel like both are damn good coaches. I know that's a cop-out answer. I, you know, Jon Harbaugh is needed with the New York Giants. Like, they need that structure, they need that discipline, they need order. Love Brian Daboll, and he might do magical things with Cam Ward. As a teacher of the quarterback position, it doesn't get much better than Daboll. We saw it here in Buffalo with Josh Allen, uh, but I think it was a little disorganized out there with the New York Giants. They need organization, much like the Buffalo Bills needed organization going from Rex Ryan to Sean McDermott. At a certain point though, I mean, the pendulum always swings back and forth. Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, Zay Flowers, Marlon Humphrey. I mean, go right down the list. Roquan Smith. They just, you gotta hear a different voice and they sure as hell need a different voice in Buffalo. I don't really know what the relationship was like between Lamar Jackson and John Harbaugh. I don't know if it was as oil and water as Josh Allen and Sean McDermott were.

But I would think it was down more that direction than the kumbaya end of the spectrum. I'll just say that Lamar knows Jesse Minter. He was there before. I feel like both Tomlin and Harbaugh will go down in history as two of the best coaches of their generation, without a doubt. But, you know, if we're pivoting to Pittsburgh, we've talked about this online, offline. It's just disappointing, right? It's disappointing that for everything we love about Mike Tomlin, everything we love about the Pittsburgh Steelers, that they're gonna fight like hell with Devlin the Duck freaking Hodges to stay in the playoff hunt to the regular season finale. Thinking that way is a little myopic. It's not seeing the forest from the trees. Sometimes you got to take a step back before you take 10 steps forward.

I—

as much as we all love the Mike McCarthy, Aaron Rodgers reunion. It just doesn't strike me as a very forward-thinking plan from the— from our Rooney. But, you know, at least to his credit, he tells everybody, we're not rebuilding, that's not in our vocabulary, they're never going to rebuild. I think fans— you tell me— I feel like fans would welcome, you know, a young coach and not a 42-year-old quarterback who, uh, is past his prime.

Well, Jesse Minter, as an example, would have gotten, uh, Pittsburgh, which loves its defense, they would have obviously gotten very excited about that. But he lands in Baltimore, and I think among the biggest decisions is an overarching philosophy where Lamar Jackson is concerned. You know, he's, he's still just— he's been around forever, but he's still in his 20s, rightly. He's 29. But I do think that— I don't know why Baltimore fans want to always argue with me every time I ever bring this up, but Facts are facts. Lamar Jackson has missed lengthy stretches in 3 of the last 5 seasons. That's not going to get it done. I do, by the way, where Harbaugh and Tomlin are concerned, I do wonder as we look back on that, in, in order to keep up with each other, did they compromise their approach to winning football in January? I mean, you know, there was a little bit of that element of playing a little bit scared, like Lamar, you're one of like 5 people who can do on a football field what you do. Don't do that because you might turn the ball over. And got him playing a little bit scared.

And I think the Steelers approach things in a 20th century manner deep into the 21st century, and I wonder if they ultimately limited themselves. But where Lamar's going, do they need to limit him now going forward given his age? Does he need to transition his style of play so that he's on the field in big spots or basically through the whole season?

I think that's the balance they're trying to strike right now. You can see it during practice. I mean, they're doing it in front of thousands of fans, right? Like, he's going to play under center more. It's not a foreign concept to Lamar Jackson. He's, he's done it, uh, but I think you'll see more of, of that. But you don't want to neuter his superpower either. We had the same conversation in Buffalo with Josh Allen, Joe Brady, Brandon Bean, everybody involved with the Buffalo Bills. They want Josh Allen in full, like, because that's what it takes to win a Super Bowl.

It's—

if you're telling your quarterback, if you're telling Josh Allen to be scared of his own shadow in any way, shape, or form, that's, that's going to prevent him from winning the games that matter.

We had this conversation a year ago or 2 years ago about Sean McDermott and Mike Tomlin and whatever class they were teaching at William Mary about scared football really took root with both of those guys, right?

Yeah, I mean, I think so. There was a period of time where—

Don't make mistakes. That's the most important thing. Never screw up.

I know, exactly. Think about any creative. I mean, pick any example. If you're, if you're, you know, sitting Dave Chappelle down before a big set and you say, Dave, here are the 20 words that you're not allowed to say, here are the 20 jokes you're not allowed to make, like, you're, you're gonna get this blah version of one of the greatest intellectual comedians of our time who has made us all you know, peel over in laughter. And he goes places that nobody else goes. Josh Allen goes places nobody else goes on a football field. So it was always insane to me if when there were any comments like, we, you know, this scares me, that scares me, step out of bounds here, slide there. Look, you're gonna, you're gonna get the play that you saw against Denver at the end of the first half, a terrible play, right? And in retrospect, I'm sure Sean McDermott, Joe Brady, everybody involved would have just said, okay, let's just get to halftime here and maybe protect Josh Allen against himself. But that's going to happen. And when I sat down with Josh Allen this spring, I brought that up and I forget my exact words, but like, is that moment, that kind of play going to make you want to change your style?

The same conversation we're having now. And man, he was quick to say, hell no, I'm going to play the way I want to play until I can't anymore. And hopefully that is far into the future. So I think the Bills get it. I think these Ravens get it and they're just going to tweak the offense in a way to where maybe you keep Lamar out of harm's way with the plays you call. But you can see it. They're still— they still want explosives. They want explosives in the run game. And when you turn your back to the defense and you're pulling off a run fake and you turn the other way, that's a way to get that explosive. And you've seen Lamar as much as anybody. He is so good at avoiding the big hits. He is slippery. He's smart. I think you just trust the player in those situations and you, you don't try to pollute the brain with too much nonsense because then you're going to get a version of that quarterback— I mean, you're, you're paying these guys close to $60 million a year. You're gonna, you're gonna do that, tell them to not be themselves.

Let him do it, right? Don't get in his head at the critical moment, the most critical moments of the season, like, don't screw it up, right? I do think that rah-rah, what you see in a movie kind of head coach stuff, really results, at least in this generation, in this era, in creating a worse version. Like, what you want the message to be with players is go play free and loose, have fun to some degree, not like, this is the biggest moment of your career. If you win this game, for the rest of your days you should be hailed. Like, that's a lot of pressure to heap on somebody's shoulder.

Yeah.

Um, now we thought, you know, John Harbaugh, very recognizable at this point. Mike Tomlin, I suspect that Zach Taylor could walk down the streets of Cincinnati and go unrecognized. It's wild how long he's been there. Um, what was going on? What's your read on, and have they come through clean on the other side of it after summertime with Joe Burrow doing the emo act pressers at the end of last season? Yeah, no, man, I just don't know kind of thing. Are the vibes good there? Because Spoiler alert, I like Cincy quite a bit in this division this year.

I love the emo act. It did feel very emo.

It was weird, man.

It was weird, like, from Joe Burrow, just to hear him be like, yeah, you're a handsome devil, you're a multi-millionaire, all right, you're not on the best team, but you're not on a bad one, right?

I'm like, football's not fun anymore in the league, and I, I don't want to do this anymore. I'm Joe Cool, I'm the coolest guy. I'm like 28 years old, and maybe not anymore, you know. It was so weird.

So I talked to a coach on staff about that press conference, about that moment. The way he put it to me is that Joe was just a little moody that day. In that moment, he, he didn't think there was a big picture point to make. But Joe Burrow has absolutely made those big picture, you know, he's taken advantage of his press conferences to drive a point home. Let's just say that because he has made it clear to ownership that he wants Ja'Marr Chase under contract long-term. He wants Tee Higgins under contract long-term. They get it done, but through the process, they don't structure the deals in a way that gives you the flexibility to fix the defense. So I think that's what you saw. I mean, then all the injuries on top of that, it felt like Andrew Luck all over again. He had turned, I want to say he turned 29 that day of that press conference. Andrew Luck retired at 29. So of course we're going to go there. This seemed like an organization not taking care of its prized asset. It's embedded into who the Cincinnati Bengals have been in the past.

Carson Palmer has ripped them—

what he wanted, by the way. I mean, he— they gave him the receivers that he wanted.

So exactly, and that's what I'm getting at, is they gave him those receivers, and then into the spring, boy, eh, mafe. Brian Cook, the best tackling safety in football, and then you trade the 10th pick for Dexter Lawrence. Um, everything that I've heard out of Cincinnati is that Joe Burrow is rejuvenated, Ja'Marr Chase is rejuvenated, they see just 350-pound whatever he is, this igloo of a human, Dexter Lawrence, walking around. It's like, okay, all right, defensively we'll be able to stop somebody. And they don't need to be a top 10 defense, right? Be a top 17 defense and this Cincinnati Bengals offense will do the rest. Like, they know they're probably gonna have to win a different type of game. Those are the conversations they're having now offensively, is we're gonna be in a fourth quarter and it's not like we're down 10, down 14, scrambling to get back into it. We're going to have a lead and we have to run the ball to ice that lead. So it's a welcome conversation, I think, in Cincinnati with those defensive acquisitions.

All right. We have to go fast action. But before we do that, I want to quickly get your thoughts. So like I say, you're doing a whole series on the Kyler Murray experience right now. I know you're buzzing about Dallas Turner and I should say you're buzzing about those things on Go Long. Make sure you subscribe to that. Better insight for you than, uh, than just flipping around the dials as a football fan. Um, uh, where to go here— Kyler Murray. And, uh, and, and, you know, I keep saying, I think a lot of people are doing this simplistic sort of like, you saw what happened with Sam Darnold in Seattle. Well, I don't think Brian Flores's defense necessarily has the pieces that Mike McDonald's did, but I do get the math on all that. Where do you think these Vikes come down in a offense-heavy NFC North.

I love the Minnesota Vikings this year. Kevin O'Connell, Kyler Murray. Yeah, you can look at it on paper and say, how in the hell is this 5'10 quarterback who has been a creator, an improviser, color outside the lines, how does that fit into a West Coast offense? In the series you referenced, I talked to a ton of people about the schematics of it all, the X's and O's of it all, and how this quarterback will be able to see receivers downfield. But the way the Vikings can run their passing game. I mean, you're going to see wide zone and play fakes off of that. He'll be able to see things down the field. I'm not worried about that. And, you know, we get Kurt Warner's perspective, Warren Moon's perspective, all that in there. It's the— it's a human game though, Shecky. And Arizona coaches make this point when it comes to Kyler Murray. You got to get in his face and say, mother effer, throw him the ball. You got to let the F-bombs fly and he's going to let the F-bombs fly. And that's how you get the best out of him. I think at times in the past he's gotten bored.

Like, if you try to tiptoe around reality with Kyler Murray, he's not going to be as engaged as if you're in his face. And so to me, this is— this could be Sam Darnold all over again if Kyler Murray's willing to work. And that's what was lost with Sam Darnold, is, you know, he's seeing ghosts and we all write him off as a bust, and that's, that's who he is in our mind. But, you know, he, he continued to bust, bust his butt year in and year out get better, go to quarterback rehab with Kyle Shanahan, go to Minnesota with Kevin O'Connell, better talent around him, better coaching. He is just a, he's such a portrait of stoicism, you know, just going in. It's not sexy. And Harrison Smith made this point when we caught up. It's, it's not going to be, you know, all, all over our podcasts and all over our websites, but you can just work on what ails you behind the scenes. And when you do get the opportunity with better coaching and better talent, maximize that opportunity. I feel like Kyler Murray contractually has every reason to have the season of his life, right?

He could earn himself over $50 million a year if he balls out. And then he's just a straight up competitor. This is somebody who never lost in high school, won the Heisman Trophy, number 1 pick. This is the first bout of adversity he's really had. Chase Edmonds, one of his best friends, made that point. And so we're going to see how he responds to it now.

I think people also forget that he, he was on some halfway decent teams and had some better moments. He wasn't— he is not a bust to this point in his career. All right, um, removing the Cleveland Browns because that's too easy, I'm focusing on the two Norths. Tell me two teams with those two divisions combined, Browns removed, that are not going to make the playoffs. It's time for No Playoffs for You, the Ty Dunn edition.

Two teams: Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bears.

Oh, the Bears!

Warriors! Indians! Oh wow, those are good ones to go out on. Ty, done. Good stuff. Go long. Like I say, multimedia success. Good for you. Independent journalism is the way to go. Thanks for the time, pal. And let's not be strangers, eh? Let's kibitz as we get into the season.

Any day, any time. And I mean it this time, we are making it happen. The first text I get from Shecky, We're hitting record, baby. Thanks for having me.

All right, so we go national now. He's been all over the place, and let's go hyper-focused, more local now with the Steel. All right, now let's get hyper-focused on the team that practices in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, specifically with the guy— he is the writer, really do-it-all. If you want to know about black and gold-based sports, Tim Benz is your one-shop-stop to go to. In the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the podcast Mondays with Madden, Breakfast with Benz, always a must, must-read. It's Tim Benz. How are you, pal?

Good to talk to you again, man.

How are you?

I'm doing fine. I'm doing fine. As long as we avoid the subject of the woeful Pittsburgh Pirates, let's instead look on the near horizon to football season. And let's start in the rearview mirror. The last time we saw football in Akershus Stadium, Tyler Luep of the Baltimore Ravens was missing a field goal that would have sent the Ravens to the playoffs, won them the division. The Steelers would have gone home a week earlier than they ultimately did thanks to the Houston Texans. If Tyler Luep had made that kick and put the Ravens into the postseason over the Steelers, would Aaron Rodgers be the QB today?

See, I still think he would. I know you're not one who shares that opinion, but I think that when McCarthy decided to become and was hired to be the Steelers coach, that changed Rodgers' mind, allowed him to open up his mind to coming back and thought maybe he could give it one more go. I think he wasn't quite ready to go out on that note. I think he felt like he had maybe one more year of football left in him, and that maybe turned into, yeah, I can do it. If it's with this guy because the familiarity. I don't think he was willing to break in a Jesse Minter, a Nate Scheele house. I don't think he wanted to go that route. But even though it might not have ended well with McCarthy the first time around, I think there was enough winning there. There was enough affinity between the two there. I think they made up enough that one time in Green Bay that he's talked about before that he thought, all right, yeah, if I'm going to do it I could do it in a place I already know, a team that I think is good enough to get back to where we were, which is at least get to the playoffs.

And I think he knows that with McCarthy for one year, if they were to win a playoff game, if they were to have a Tyler Loop moment in a playoff game, that would be seen as a conquering exit in Pittsburgh, and it would make his 2-year run in Pittsburgh not as worthwhile as it was in Green Bay, but everybody in this city would think highly of him too, like they did overall in Green Bay, even though it ended badly. They like it— it didn't end great in Green Bay, it didn't end great in New York. I think he'd like to go out on a better note somewhere, and I think you can see he can at least squint to see that path with McCarthy.

Super interesting stuff. And obviously the major inflection point was the week or the— in the days after that Texans loss, Mike Tomlin steps aside. And ever since then debate, at least on the banks of the Three Rivers, if not across football America, is Mike McCarthy's potentially higher ceiling with the team versus Mike Tomlin's high floor that he consistently delivered during his tenure. What's the vibes right now? I do see a lot of finger-pointing, not unlike we saw from the defenses, like, you weren't in the right place, not how you were the last couple of years under Tomlin and Terrell Austin. Um, but it does seem like there's more and more finger-pointing, like the scheme was no good. That's what, uh, that's what, uh, kept us down under Mike Tomlin. How say you on this transition?

Yeah, it's amazing how right the fans and the media were all these months later, right? You know, stuff we've been saying for 9 years about how things went towards the end of Tomlin's regime, and everybody within the walls of the building like, no, no, no, you guys don't know what you're talking about. Now everybody who's at least a year removed or even a couple months removed from Tomlin's last season, pretty much underscoring what people had said all of last year and the previous couple years about the defense, that it wasn't very imaginative, that it was stale, um, that it was predictable. And, you know, I don't think Patrick Graham has the greatest resume, and I don't think like his, um, his bona fides are to the point where you can just look at and say, oh, we hired Dick LeBeau or Dom Capers. But it's being talked about like he's had this great past when he's been a defensive coordinator a number of different places. Not a lot of places where they've had success. He's been with some organizations where things have gone wrong and gone wrong badly, like Washington and Vegas in the years that he was there.

The Giants weren't great, but he does have a ring from New England. So people are sort of homogenizing all the best of Patrick Graham and presuming that it's going to be better this year under him. But I think that's a great leap, and it's sort of talking ourselves into optimism. I think that's an example on the defensive side of the ball, what everybody is proclaiming with probably more merit about the offensive side of the ball. That you just look at McCarthy and his resume and his history and his track record with Rodgers, the offensive side of the ball just should be better. And they've added to the offense, and young people on the offense should get better. I think there's reason to believe that the offense will be better even if Rodgers is a year older. The defense is a little bit more of a, um, a little bit more of a coin flip.

Well, that's ironic, and disappointingly so for a lot of people out there because it is such an expensive defense. I think a little more bullish on it than you are. But, um, regarding the offense, the, you know, the, the obvious absence the last couple of years that they just never solved the con— the con artist. And Mike Tomlin never found a starter-level second wide receiver. Again, it's not Calvin Austin's fault that he was Calvin Austin, but when he was on the field, he was an ongoing tell for defenses. He's going to run a go ball, everybody. That's what Calvin Austin is capable of in NFL football. How much do you think, as much as people want to express cynicism about where Michael Pittman is, in his career. How much do you think he frees up DK Metcalf and the rest of the offense?

I certainly think he helps with Metcalf. Uh, he is more of an established presence than Austin. I think he will— he will draw more eyes. He's a bigger body, bigger target, um, an easier guy to find in a scramble, keep the play alive, move the chain situations. Smart enough to be in the right place at the right time. Um, 9 yards down the field on a 3rd and 8, 6 yards down the field on a 3rd and 5, right? I think you're less inclined to call plays that are 3rd and 5, run from the shotgun, have a guy run underneath, and hopefully he gets 1 yard after the catch. You know, those short of the sticks passes that would drive me insane, that they were trying to get Calvin Austin, his speedy nimbleness, into yak yards when just run 1 more yard beyond the sticks and throw it there with Aaron Rodgers' arm. You should be able to handle that. I also think he's going to open things up for Pat Friermuth a little bit. You know, if you got DK running down the field, um, and you got Friermuth and Pittman both capable of using the middle of the field, it's harder to cover all three patches of grass there with those two guys, let alone one more eligible either coming out of the backfield or from the other slot position or something like that.

Um, you know, Jeremy Bernard, wherever they deploy him, or Roman Wilson from outside the numbers, however they do it. I just think they're going to be a, generally speaking, harder offense to guard. Now Pittman hasn't splashed that much at camp yet. I think some of that is a matter of circumstance. Both DK Metcalf and Aaron Rodgers have spoken openly about trying to get on the same page more often this year than they did last year, rightfully so. I think that's essential, and I also think that they're doing everything humanly possible to warrant the selection of Roman Wilson, even though that wasn't this coaching regime's choice. They want to see what they have there, and if they don't have much, then make sure that Jeremy Bernard is up and running and ready to go 4 weeks in. But they're going to try to make it work with Roman Wilson while Bernard gets up to speed, I believe.

Sean McVay gets a lot of credit, rightly so, for putting multiple tight ends on the field last year and really sort of being the rabbit. And now a lot of teams are copycatting that specifically. But of course, a decade ago, the Steelers were doing a lot of that two-tight end formation. I think they're kind of built to do that, given that they want to run the ball. And overall, the thing I've been saying for, you know, 6 months, 8 months now is I think the Steelers have the best roster in the AFC North, as long as you carve out the most important position at quarterback. And so it's a little bit like giving Dennis Rodman too much credit for being a great rebounder. Yeah, if you don't do anything on the other end of the floor, namely score the ball, It's a little easier to focus on that one element. That said, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, better than the Steelers quarterback. What chance do you think they have of offsetting that disadvantage with the rest of the roster?

Good enough to be 9 or 10 wins if they win the right 9 or 10. I still think that they're somewhere in this ballpark that they were a year ago, you know, to harken back to my earlier point, if you can kind of just see where the lines and the axis are going, I think it's arrow up for the offensive construction and offensive coaching. It's probably arrow down on the quarterback's capabilities athletically and physically. But for him personally, what he's going to be allowed to do, he's arrow up as well, all things considered. So whatever natural decline that you have in Rodgers, I think it's offset by the other offensive elements around him. The downward part might be the aging defense. Now, if they do come up with different ways to involve Nick Herbig and Jalen Ramsey when he gets healthy, and, you know, different ways of deploying the young defensive linemen up front and Black and Harmon to try to get more out of them than just run pluggers—

by the way, to me, it's Derek Harmon. This is the X-factor of how that defense really elevates this season, is if he comes on in his sophomore year. Sorry to interrupt.

No, but I think there's, there's some, uh, I don't say risk factor, but there's some willingness to experiment with what he can do in year 2 as far as getting upfield and getting after the passer too. I think, you know, his presence, and rightfully so when he was healthy, against the run was viewed as such a difference maker. The stats pointed to that. Tomlin sort of mockingly said, I guess it's all about Derrick Harmon. I think that was just a way to keep the rookie's ego down. He and Kaur both love to do that, but There's a lot of evidence to suggest that the run game defense was much better when Harmon was in there than it wasn't, that he became viewed as, you know, a Casey Hampton, and he's not that. He wasn't drafted to be that. I think he's more— he's got more all-around capabilities, and it's just, do they want to free him up to get up the field more often like they eventually do with Cam Hayward when he was starting to make Pro Bowl pushes and eventual All-Pro pushes?

Um, the big thing that people have talked about above Everything else, it seems, with the possible exception of, uh, of, uh, Yinzer being the head coach, which by the way, I spiritually will always advocate for. I love a Pittsburgh accent from the head coach at the podium when Tim Benz and the rest are asking questions. The big question seems to be, are they going to keep 4 quarterbacks? Let me just say for the record, I refuse to believe that they would do this. Obviously a team that thinks— whether or not I agree is besides the point. I don't think they're a Super Bowl contender, but if they think that they are, there's no chance they would risk turning the season over to a guy who's never played in a regular season game. How say you?

I think they're—

Rudolph, in other words, as their backup.

Yeah, I think they're more inclined to keep 4. Now, how creatively they do that, I really don't know. I mean, I think they're in wait-and-see mode with it. I think they're priority is to get to week 1 of the season where all 4 are at their dispense. You know, like all 4 are within reach of them for whatever they want to do. Now, after 4 weeks, if somebody is hurt in the NFL and they want Rudolph, or if they want Howard and they don't think Howard is all that good, or that Aller is closer, yeah, then deal them. Um, if they get to the trade deadline, similar scenario, then okay, yeah, deal them. But I also think that they want the ability to have all 4 cards to play if Rodgers suffers the cataclysmic injury that he suffered year 1 with the Jets. If Rodgers suffers the cataclysmic injury that I think a lot of us presume that he would last year when he managed to skate through everything and dance through the raindrops and only miss a game and a half, which was still a surprise to me, all things considered. But One thing that I do think they will be hell-bent on changing from last year is they're not going to have the same chuck-and-duck offense they had a year ago.

I think they know— McCarthy knows his offense can't work with Rodgers getting rid of the ball in the fastest time-to-throw rate in the National Football League, certainly not as fast as last year. Um, he doesn't have to hold on the ball forever. It doesn't have to be like Ben in 2014. Um, he can get rid of it quickly in this offense, but It can't be just get rid of it and barely catch the ball and hardly have the laces to throw it. So I think they want to keep all 4 at their disposal. If they come up with a phantom injury for Aller for the first 4 weeks, okay, then they might have to get creative pulling them off of injured reserve short term. But I, I do think that the goal is to have all 4 because just in case Rodgers gets hurt quickly.

Well, you're, you're the eyes, you're the boots on the ground. What are you seeing? A lot of talk about Will Howard. I've never bought that. I do think Drew Aller has a chance under the tutelage of Mike McCarthy of maybe becoming a viable starter. I don't necessarily think either is ever going to turn into a franchise, but you're looking at it.

Yeah.

What do you see?

I'm seeing a lot is advertised, honestly, and I don't think it's self-affirming. I think you see exactly what was predicted of Aller. He will have days, or he will have throws within good days even, that just make no sense. Like, they'll do that drill with the net that has the multi-targets on it, and they'll say like, hit for the— hit the upper target, and the first 3 quarterbacks will, and he'll miss the net entirely. And then I'll hit the upper target 3 in a row. Uh, he had a practice— I think it was the 2nd or 3rd practice up at St. Vincent College where he did exactly what Penn State fans remember, which is he had a really good throw down the field. Then he had 3 that were completely off target, and then he closed practice by hitting Tanya in the back of the end zone on a bullet for a touchdown. Now, the throws in between, they were either misreads or completely overestimated what his arm could be and tried to throw it through a brick wall. And, you know, threw it into traffic and the ball got batted up in the air by Holcomb and Wilson made the interception.

Um, he's had days like that moments. The night practice was another one that I could think of where he, you know, had a couple of off throws and then made some great ones. Howard, on the other hand— Howard, everybody looks at, uses the phrase high floor. I think that people assume that's Howard and then he just doesn't have the high enough ceiling to be worth keeping. Um, I think there's a little bit more truth to the opposite of the scouting report for both these guys. Like, I think Aller is smarter and a little quicker to learn than what people want to give him credit for. And I think Howard has a little bit more athleticism and quarterback ability than people assume. But yeah, I mean, if you wanted to put it into a box and give the dime store analysis, what you hear is true. Yeah, um, Aller has better tools but no toolbox, and Howard is better from the neck up, but is he ever going to be, uh, Tom Brady or Ben Roethlisberger? No, he's not. You know, that, that's— there's a lot of truth to the basics, but they're a little bit closer in between than what people give him credit for.

All right, I have important work to do. I have to tell everybody which AFC and NFC North teams are going to make the playoffs. But quickly, I have to get provincial here. Big debate rolling forever. You're a Syracuse, Syracuse guy, so you're about as objective on the subject as you can be. Pitt could choose one of its two rivals for an annual showdown— Penn State or West Virginia. Be Penn State, right? There's not even a conversation here. How say you?

Oh yeah, they choose Penn State. Yeah, because there's more money in choosing Penn State. It's higher profile.

I'm talking about history, friend. I'm not—

history too. Yeah, but I mean, the practical element is choose Penn State because they're on a bigger platform. They're going to bring in more people. Um, now if, if they do it and they play it 20 years in a row and they're 4-16 against them, and you say, all right, we've gotten our brains kicked in here for two decades, let's bring back the backyard brawl and forget about Penn State, then maybe they'd do that and they'd come up with some self-defeating reason why. But, you know, I, I do think it's Penn State. You know, they, they sometimes like to play the game that Penn State plays with them about West Virginia— we're bigger, we're badder, we're better— which is not really true, but they, they presume it to be the case. Penn State, though, is a bigger ticket and it seems to mean more.

Okay, now I don't know, that, that backyard brawl got ugly a couple years ago. I remember that thing. Like, those fans hate each other, man.

Oh, they hate Yeah, and it's a great rivalry. Um, and I— but I think part of that is West Virginia cares about it more than Penn State.

Oh, kind of true. But we used to go to Old Pitt Stadium, and my mother, like, we, you know, the— she always would root for the opponents because Pitt was really good. And we would sit— we sat behind the, uh, the opponent's bench. And so she would always be like, Temple would score a touchdown, or Syracuse, Joe Morris would score a touchdown. She'd be like, I'm happy for them, look how happy they are on the sideline. They're not going to win, so I'm happy that they get a down here. We'd be like, will you keep it down, you weird old bat? You're embarrassing us. But the one place you weren't allowed to talk trash was against West Virginia. You should be like, don't, don't talk any, don't say anything.

Oh no.

Yeah, they're crazy. They're drunk. They drink whiskey and stuff like that before they go to the game. So I wasn't allowed to even look in their direction.

Well, let me put it this way. I think what you're getting at, Sheck, is, and I'm speaking, this is, I was a Pitt fan growing up, so, and I know how I feel on the inside. I I'd rather go 4-6 over a 10-year stretch against Penn State than I would 6-4 against West Virginia. Like, people are gonna remember the 4 wins against Penn State more than they are the 6 wins against West Virginia.

All right, so maybe a little bit of a homer. You didn't have to include that part at the end, but great work as always, Tim Benz. Dynamite stuff. You know I'm a faithful reader of yours. Let's, uh, stay in touch as we dig in on football season, on the games that actually matter, aka the regular season.

You got it, Sheck. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it, man. Good catching up with you again.

All right, there goes Benz. I feel like I filled my head, at least, Buddy Budowski, with a lot more information. I'm now fully ready.

Oh yeah.

To look at Mount Lombardi and see who will scale it and which teams, 7 aside, will reach. I'm going to focus in on the 2 North. Like I keep saying, I am ready to tell you now who is going to make the playoffs and who is not going to make, make the playoffs. From the NFC North. Anything stand out to you there, buddy, from either Ben or Dunn that has altered any opinions you have?

Yeah, one from each guy. First of all, when did we get to a time and place where winning a playoff game in Pittsburgh makes a guy a hero? Like, that's just insane to me. That's not the black and gold standard that I grew up with, Davey, let me tell you. And then the second thing is Ty saying that the Bears are not going to make the playoffs. I mean, they're a hot pick to, you know, everybody loves the Bears. Ben Johnson said the other day he wants to be the highest-scoring NFL offense of all time. I'm super high on the Bears, but it does feel like maybe we're a little too high. Maybe they had one great year a little early and they got it. But I still think they're going to make the playoffs. To say they're not going to make the playoffs, it's definitely a hot take.

That's a great place to start with the Quest to Scale, Mount Lombardi. Let's talk about the Chicago Bears. They won the division a year ago. Let's lean in there. And of course, if you remember on Price is Right, I think they still do it, the mountain climber, the yodeler. Yodel.

I was—

what were we talking about?

Can we get some? Come on, Dave, give us some of that yodeling, that beautiful deal.

Amin Elhassan tried to take me to task that I don't know what yodeling is. And then he said, yodel-ay-ee-hoo, as though that's representative of yodeling. As somebody who is a veteran, on sick days from school, I would— I would hear that mountain climber. It was the best game there ever was. Maybe the putting one too, when Bob Barker used to make the putt. But that, with the possible exception, or also when they would have the 10 chances to write the right number on the card. Remember that one? But anyway, the mountain climber is the best 'cause the yodeler, yodel-ee-lo, yodel-ee-yo, yodel-ee-yo. So let's see if the Chicago Bears will scale the mountain. Caleb now with Ben Johnson. I love Roman Duse going into this year. Oh, Loveland, here he goes! Ah, they got the 7 seed! They made the playoffs! They got in! Sorry, Ty Dunn, they are making the playoffs, barely by a whisker.

Barely.

Strong offensive line and run game made stronger by Ben Johnson's design. The defense is definitely suspect, but if there is one point that I want to make about the NFC North, I think that it is going to be wall-to-wall offense, and I think if you have a defense that can rise up a little bit That will provide you with the edge. We talked a week ago about the Detroit Lions. Let's take a look there. I am not high on them. I think this is a big year for Dan Campbell without Ben Johnson. I do not love the defense, the, the state of it. I do not love their rebuild offensive line. I do not think it is ripe and ready to roll here. The Detroit Lions on Mount Lombardi, will they be able to— oh, That's not going to be good for, uh, for, uh, Dan Campbell. How about the Packers? You know, in a division of loaded offenses, they go out and get Javon Hargrave at age 33, and this was their big get for the defense, a year removed from Micah Parsons. He's 2 or 3 years removed from his best years. Like I say, Micah Parsons is coming back, but not at the start of the season.

Josh Jacobs, a lot of question marks around him after Week 11's bye. They go— how about this— at Rams, at Saints, Bills, okay, Dolphins, at Chicago on Christmas, Texans, Lions. You better do a lot of winning before the, before the bye there. Let's see if they'll win enough. The Green Bay Packers, will they scale Mount Lombardi and be around come January?

Another bold one, Dave. They are another bold one.

We have to call that— we have to name the other mountain. By the way, you want to watch this on YouTube for the, for the visuals that are a part of the actual scaling of the mountain. I'm not doing a very good job of painting a picture for the audio listener, but so far we have the Bears in as the 7 seed. The Lions and Packers have now moved off onto Bum Hill. I don't know what we call that.

I like Bum Hill.

Bum Hill.

Is it a bunker hill?

Bum Hill.

Bum—

Bumker Hill.

Oh yeah, close enough. Yeah, Bummer Hill. Um, all right, we've dug in here a little bit. I think we've just tipped our hand here. The Minnesota Vikings, let's see where they land on the NFC North side.

I know you're high on them.

Here we go.

Oh wow, the King of the North, Dave!

I didn't realize how long that was.

Let's hear from the King, Kevin.

Kevin O'Connell, who the day before he announces what we all knew all offseason, or the day they signed Kyler Murray, you knew Kyler Murray was going to be the starter, but KOC was still playing coy with us the day before the announcement. Take a listen here.

As you start looking at 300 reps or so, it's pretty darn close to 50/50, um, and, and, and I think it's really shown us a, a wide variety of things that we can coach off of— improvement, comfort in the scheme, comfort in the experience in the scheme, and then how we project that moving forward is going to be based upon, you know, ultimately what decision we make.

All right, we don't need the coy crap, KOC. We knew which way you were going. That set aside, I do believe in KOC. I don't care that he wanted JJ McCarthy. Everybody has it. No one's perfect. Everybody makes their mistakes. His record with quarterbacks and getting the best version of them bodes well for Kyler Murray. Now, like I said to Ty Dunn, the Vikings defense ain't the Seahawks D, but Brian Flores is real good. And a couple other little personnel things. I think a guy who we've kind of forgotten about where he is right now, their third receiver, you know, Jordan Addison and Justin Jefferson, but Jawan Jennings is their number 3.

It's a nice option.

And they have both of their tackles back in Darius Slayton and Brian O'Neal. And you give Brian Flores, it may not be as mighty in terms of personnel as what the Seahawks have, but Caleb Banks, Caleb Banks Now joins an Andrew Van Ginkle, and they do have some pieces there in Minnesota to make the difference in, like I say, what figures to be an offense-heavy NFC North this year. Real quick, because we had her on last week, Mina Kimes weighed in on the Lions and made me feel good about my posture towards them. I think they're going to be more mediocre than great this year. Listen to what she had to say.

Lions fans have been really giving me a lot of grief for not ranking them higher in my power rankings, but I think that defense has so many problems right now with injuries. So it's— I still obviously see some really incredible talented offensive players, and I'm optimistic, cautiously, about Petzing. But I do think, you know, the team isn't the dominant sort of NFC powerhouse that they were, uh, at pretty recently. Dave, you mentioned that it's a big year for Dan Campbell. I think it's a big year for Kevin O'Connell as well, right? Like, he's gonna have to show that it wasn't just Sam Darnold thing. Like, he has this magical QB dust that a guy like Kyle Shanahan has, right? Kyle Shanahan got his Mulligan too, right?

Right.

But Kyle Shanahan had his Mulligan. He, he drafted Trey Lance 3rd overall, right? Is, is, is J.J. McCarthy basically KOC's version of, uh, of, of Trey Lance? Like, that's going to be a big, uh, you know, it's a big year for KOC to kind of prove that, hey, I can still get this done. I just picked the wrong guy. And listen, if they win, if they're the 3rd seed in the NFC this year, they go on and win a couple playoff games, nobody's going to remember that he drafted J.J. McCarthy and it was a mistake.

Hey man, you're absolutely right though. If Sam Darnold continues to play great in Seattle and Kyler ain't the guy and we're 6 weeks in, yeah, you're right, KOC is not going to look good. I'm giving him all the praise now. That will change come October if you end up being right. All right. Flip it, my guy Danny B behind the glass there. Now it's time to go at the AFC North and figure it out. Spoiler alert, I'm not going to engage in the Cleveland Browns. If they don't have enough respect for themselves that their QB battle is between Deshaun Watson and Sha'Dur Sanders, I don't need to talk about their playoff chances here. Let's start instead with the Baltimore Ravens. We're going to learn about them in midseason, late October through November. This is a rugged run that they have. Cincy at Buffalo, Jacksonville Chargers at Carolina, at Houston. Yikes. Jesse Minter, I do believe, is going to have a Mike McDaniel, Mike McDonald type of an impact on Baltimore's defense. Again, like I've said about the Vikings versus the Seahawks, I don't love all the pieces top to bottom in Baltimore. Lamar's got to play a little bit differently.

Derrick Henry's old. Let's see where this lands. The Baltimore Ravens on Mount Lombardi. Party. Here we go. There's their black helmet. The climb begins, and they are going to make the playoffs. They're at number 5. That makes them a wild card. That means they're not winning the AFC North. Well then, that means Dave the Homer has the Pittsburgh Steelers. And listen, not a lot of flaws on this roster, like I keep saying. They have a chance to get to a real good spot based on the schedule, but coming off the bye Here's their bugaboo: mid-November at Bengals, at Philly, the Broncos, the Texans who embarrassed them in the wildcard round, at Jacksonville, and then Baltimore. Yikes. The factor of how high they ascend or where they don't ascend to is on the shoulders of the 43-year-old quarterback. Let's take a look in the rugged AFC North. Will the Steelers repeat? As division champions. Their quest begins now. Ah, at the, at the foot of Mount Liberty, they go, they're on the Bummer Hill. To Bummer Hill go the Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm sorry, Jens, that's how I'm seeing it right now. Don't give me no pleasure to say it.

And that means with the Browns out of the picture, let's stay with Ohio's other team, the Cincinnati Bengals. Dexter Lawrence, Boye Mafi and Jonathan Allen, that's no jive as a front. Imagine if they get anything from Shamar Stewart. Chase Brown is no jive either. He is a legit running back. That run game behind what is a highly underrated offensive line at this point. Zach Taylor, anonymous though he may be, he stands as the, uh, as the tenured guy in the, in the division right now. Cincinnati Bengals. Let's learn your fate. They climb, they're climbing.

Oh my God, all the way to the 4th seed, Cincinnati Bengals. Dave, having the Bengals as the King of the North in the AFC, it's pretty bold for me, I gotta say.

You disagree? Go ahead, make your—

uh, yeah, I, I think the, I think the Ravens are probably the team I would lean towards here. I But you did just kind of talk me a little bit more into the Bengals. Like, yeah, I'll be chalky and I'll pick the Ravens here. You did talk me into the Bengals a little bit. That defensive roster is better. I still don't know how much I trust it. I personally think that Joe Burrow has a little bit to show me. They haven't made the playoffs since, I think, 2022. Um, you know, I know he's been hurt in that time and, and had some injuries, and the defense was really bad last year, but Joe, if you're that guy, like, you got to overcome all of that. If you're that guy that's in that tier with Mahomes and Allen and, uh, Lamar Jackson, like, you got to overcome all that and get your guys at least into the playoffs. He hasn't done that. So for me, like, I want to see him kind of take over and become the guy and, and will his team into the playoffs one way or another, whether the defense ends up being better or whether the defense continues to struggle.

I want to see him really Because right now, like, I think Joe Burrow has fallen out of that tier. Like, I think there's 3 guys in that first tier. It's Allen, it's Mahomes, and it's Burrow— or Jackson, excuse me. Mahomes, I would still put as first, but whatever. Point being that I think Burrow is into that next tier now because he's got to have some success. He's got to like, will his team show me you are that guy? You are that guy that got to the Super Bowl in your first full season in the league. Like, that's what I want to see from Joe Burrow this year. And if he does it, I'll eat I'll eat shit, I'll eat crow and admit it that, hey, he's back in that top tier. But until then, I got to see it to believe it.

How about you just not fall on your face coming out of the gate for once, Cincinnati Bengals?

Well, definitely that. Yeah, that would be nice.

Start the season. Okay, that quarterback's in his prime. Lamar Jackson rightly is in his prime, and I think that's what gives those two, their two teams, an edge over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Everybody has weighed in on Aaron Rodgers and his sit-down with Pat McAfee and where Rodgers Rodgers is at this stage in his career. Everybody's weighed in. I figure I may as well too. Um, old baseball fans will remember the zany Red Sox and Expos pitcher Bill Lee, who now officially, we must make the point, is not to be confused with the Steelers' old QB, safe space man Aaron Rodgers. Listen, if Aaron wants to keep embarrassing himself with conspiracy theory dorkery, he's more than welcome. It's one of the best parts of free speech. Like I always say, it lets the fools tell on themselves. Oh yes, he's a great rebel taking down ESPN on ESPN. What a badass. Just remember though, he's also a victim. Aaron doesn't like it if you talk about him or his alleged wife or really anything unless it's when he mandates something be discussed. Because if you disagree with his dipshittery, you're getting in the way of his truth.

That makes you mean. I hear a lot of this from Steelers fans. Dave, you just hate Rodgers for his politics. First of all, I don't hate any football player for how he footballs or what he thinks. He's more than welcome to say whatever he wants. I have no idea though what Aaron Rodgers' politics are other than he's right no matter what. Oh yeah, he's super brave about shooting his mouth off when he's got the home field advantage, when he's surrounded by guys who agree with him and fans who just hope he makes their football team play good this year. But it's a delicate flower if anybody dares push back on him. How do I explain this faux courage? It's easy. He's insulated. For the last 20-ish years, he's been slapped on the back everywhere he goes, and not just by fans. He's not just a multimillionaire football player, you understand. He's one of the all-time great football players. And now he's got tenure. Obviously, his 25-year-old teammate in an offense Rodgers is calling the shots for isn't going to argue with Aaron Rodgers. Even if he makes them dress up like a cowboy from the Village People.

He did that over the summertime. Now, I'm guessing it's hard for him to fathom objective people over whom he has no leverage now not liking him. Basically, he wants to blame everybody else, but the reason he catches so much crap is him. He's the reason. Maybe it shows why he loses. If we're living in a world of conspiracy theories, I get to have them too. He likes being the man, but he doesn't like carrying the responsibility in the most significant moments. In other words, he's emotionally brittle. He wants to be the host of Jeopardy, but refuses to live in shared reality. Better to create a new one where he's a champion of free speech. May as well, because he hasn't been a Super Bowl champion in 16 years now. He's RFK Jr. and the rest of that crew of very masculine tough guys who shoot evil cans of beer and cry about who gets cast in a movie about a myth, but in their world, it's everybody else who's the snowflake. In shared reality, though, they're hypocrites who got the vapors because Colin Kaepernick took a knee. Aaron loves to puff his chest out because he's read medical journals.

You see, in Aaron's brain, he knows better than people who've devoted their entire lives to medicine because he's smarter than everyone else. Well, aside from the smack addict RFK, who's giving everyone measles and diarrhea salads and whose boss can't fix a swimming pool. By the way, you know they can teach a chimpanzee to recognize words too. It doesn't mean they understand them. But you know, let's just keep it to football. Maybe if Aaron weren't a conspiracy theorist, he would have taken a flu shot and not been sick for January's wildcard game. But I bet that's someone else's fault too. Anywho, I think we've said it all here. We've told you who's going to the playoffs and who isn't from the two north We'll be back to cover the rest of those. Great thanks to Ty Dunn and to Tim Benz for the time. And thank you. Until next time, my fellow football Americans, thanks so much. It's been a thin slice of heaven.