Transcript of Conquering Mount Lombardi, Airplane Rules & Broncos Grief with Brandon Perna

Oh my goodness, what happened?

We're less than a week away from NFL kickoff. I mean the regular season, and we still have a lot of hash left to settle.

We're going to head west times 2. Yes, we have to figure out who from the AFC and NFC Wests are going to make it up and through the regular season and onto Mount Lombardi, and who will be banished over to the Don't Matter Horn. 10-Day Tony's in to help us figure all that out. And from the Colorado region of Football America, one of our favorite Brandon Pern is going to join us to let us know how life's been since the Jared Stidham game. A mile high, still licking his wounds, I imagine.

Either way, let's start the show. Yes.

Hi and hello, my fellow football Americans, and welcome to Football America. We're presented as ever by our pals over at DraftKings Sports. Now in all 50 states in these United States of Football America. Be a dear, download, subscribe, feel, spread the good word. Unless you hate this show, then let all your enemies know about it and make it their problem. Either way, I am in Miami and I'm wearing, as you may notice, the VU shirt.

The same shirt you always do?

Not the same, no. I call it my go-to shirt, Buddy Badowski. I don't like the slap in the face. This is my favorite shirt. I think it looks best on me. Do you agree? By the way, Who is a guy dressed— you're a grown man, allegedly.

Yes. That's debatable.

I mean, in your little Florida Gators ball cap and starter jacket, and you're coming at me—

My Gator shirt, my Gator necklace. Just be glad I didn't wear my orange and blue shoes today, Dave, or my orange and blue socks, because I was considering doing that as well.

I'm sure your significant other is happy.

I figured that was one too many. Yeah.

Also, as I mentioned at the top, we've got our pal 10 Day Tony in here with us. A pleasure to see you, Tony.

Always a pleasure, boys.

There's Gino behind the glass along with our pal Jason running things. Brandon Pern is going to join us momentarily here. What do you think, fellas? Do we just get right to the mountain and, and, uh, not mess around here? I do want to say I'm going to mess around very quickly— not mess around. How about this? I'm flying in a couple of days ago, and they've already said, we're going into our final descent, flight attendants, take your seats and everything, all your laptops have to go away. And then a few minutes later, we're about 10 minutes from landing, the update from the flight deck, we've just heard from air traffic control, the Miami airport is closed.

Closed? You can close an airport? I didn't know that was a thing. Closed. Well, what the hell? What do we do?

Ground stops are the worst. And you know what else is—

it's—

I can't stand— like, I get a little nervous on airplanes, so I can't stand flight announcements because that makes me think that something is going wrong with the airplane. I was on a flight this past weekend as well, coming back from New York. There were so many announcements for such pointless things to announce. Like, you know, I've never heard this one before. The crew is going to be coming through the cabin, so please make sure you remain in your seats.

As if people don't usually scoot by the crew when they come through the cabin. thing now too.

Oh, and the credit card comes in for that about right before the initial descent. But there were like 7 announcements in the midst of this flight that was a little bit turbulent. And I'm like, I don't need all these announcements.

Buddy, you're a nervous guy on the plane?

Who would've guessed?

You know, the plane starts bouncing around in the air, man.

You know, a plane has never crashed because of turbulence.

Yeah, I know. Then I remind myself, I'm like, this thing's not just gonna—

Tony, how would you have handled this situation? I'm a man of peace. You know, I, I, I don't want trouble. But I had the whole row to myself, the rare gift from the sky gods. gods. I had the whole row for a cross-country flight, no less. Now, I'm not one to lounge about, laze all the way across the seats, but either way, I felt like I was in the lap of luxury until halfway through the flight.

Now, this wasn't right out of, you know, what didn't—

what wasn't like, is this seat available? When we were halfway through, we're probably over Texas somewhere, and a 65-ish-year-old cat, without asking, just plops himself down in the aisle seat. How say you? What did he do?

Did he take out his phone? Did he take out a magazine?

Had a phone, had a phone, out, didn't make eye contact with me, which I think was the bare minimum.

Good move by him.

Yeah.

Shouldn't he have—

like, I know he knows that I know that I don't own the airplane.

Yeah.

Nevertheless, I was there first, and he knew that he was stepping on my figurative toes a little bit. Do I— should he have at least said, like, can I— you mind if I sit here? Rather than just presumptuously plopping his big butt in the chair?

There is a couple schools of thought, right? If I go in and I ask you first, There's a chance that you may say, no, you know, somebody's in the bathroom. Then I have the embarrassment of, oh wait, maybe somebody's here. But if I was further back on the plane and I've been hawking where you're sitting and I'm like, I see this guy, he's just lounging in the lap of luxury. Let me go over there because I'm in this tight, sweaty, 3-person chair here. Like, I want to go sit in the lap of luxury too. Right now I go over there. I don't make contact with you because what I'm focused on is the aisle seat. Because it seems to me like you were in the window.

I Used to be an aisle guy, but I learned— well, the aisle used to be better because you're, in my head, like, you're the person in control of your half row, right? Because you are the gatekeeper when people want to go to the bathroom. But guess what? As it turns out, you don't get to dictate, you're not allowed to go to the bathroom right now, middle seat and window seat. You have to get out of their way.

And also, you dictate the window by sitting on the window, which is a huge thing, because if you're in a place where you don't want the light coming from the window, but there's a person sitting on the window seat.

I don't mind saying, hey, can you lower that? I don't mind.

See, I'm not— that's fine.

I take control of the skies.

I take control of the skies.

Well, I'm in control. I don't have to assert anything. I have the window seat, ergo I have the privilege of the up and down plastic thing, whether shading the window. That's a great point by you, buddy. And then the other thing I've learned in life is If you're— you're not very big, buddy, so maybe you don't struggle with this, but that cart will hit you sometimes.

You know, you'll get a—

you'll get a random elbow sticking out there and it suddenly is victimized by that cart. And it is a metal cart.

It is a metal cart. I don't know where they produced it. You could send that thing to war and it'll come back completely fine.

Right. And now when it's time for me to make water from the window, you gotta clear up.

Get out of the way.

Guy who just sat down in Texas, you have to get up.

And guess what?

I'm gonna say it now. I'm gonna admit it because I'm a man of peace and I wouldn't have done this face-to-face, but I, I took an unnecessary pee just to inconvenience that guy. Just to let him know that what you did here is wrong.

Yeah.

I had to go through you and I shouldn't have had to go through you.

That's right.

Any conversation back and forth or when you came back?

Zero.

Didn't even look at him?

Zero.

The worst behavior on a plane is wearing flip-flops, right?

Oh wow.

Exposed feet on a plane.

I don't need men's feet exposed in any situation. I don't think we really talk enough about the way we all are willing to just adjust expectation and reaction to people walking around without their shirt. When you go to the beach, people are basically— you're seeing them in their underpants, but you're like, oh, whatever, we're at the beach, what are they supposed to do?

But in any other circumstance, you'd be like, what the hell? This person's almost nude and we're looking at it.

But at the beach, you just have to sign off on that. Makes me uncomfortable the older I get. I don't know why we're not doing something about it.

You want to go back to like the full trouser?

That's what I am.

Like, like the striped, like seersucker bathing suits and a striped shirt, maybe like an upside-down floppy hat inside out.

All right, here we go. Now, Gino, hello to you back there. And it's episode number 80, and I've been remiss in not addressing this earlier. We must honor the episode number by naming the player who wore that uniform number best. 80, go! Who's got the answer for us here?

We're finally into some wide receiver numbers here, guys. We've been in the dark ages. We've been in the doldrums of offensive and defensive linemen forever, it seems. But now we've reached some of the greatest numbers ever. Jerry Rice, Steve Largent is in here, Cris Carter is in here. I mean, there's got to be some more 80s that I'm not thinking of, right?

My favorite was Jim Smith, who was the 3rd receiver for the late '70s Steelers, who then would have become a star when Lynn Swann retired. But Jim Smith was offered more money, I think it was by the Birmingham Stallions, and he departed for the USFL.

So are there any non-wide receivers in here? I mean, I know once upon a time this used to be kind of a defensive lineman-esque number.

Branch from the Patriots wore number 8, right?

Steel Branch.

No, not that. Not the— no, Troy. That's Troy Brown.

I'm thinking of, uh, You said Branch, that's why I'm saying Deion.

I, I'm—

I think he was '81.

'81 sounds right.

Isaac Bruce wore 80.

Oh, Isaac Bruce, a good one.

Hall of Famer.

Um, Chris Collinsworth, Gator and Cincinnati Bengals. I was gonna say Donald Driver. Was Donald Driver— and, and who was the other receiver? Oh, and Greg Jennings.

Donald Driver and Greg Jennings, what a pairing for the Packers back in the day. Jordy Nelson. My guy James Jones.

Jordy Nelson was '87, right?

No, he was '87.

Yeah, but not a Hall of Famer.

No.

Um, all right, let's do it here before we get Perna in. And when Perna does show up, Gino, please, uh, have him join the conversation. It is time to return to Mount Lombardy. One last visit. We have covered, um, 6 of the 8 divisions so far. Now it is time to turn our gaze to the West.

I'm gonna have some surprises here, Dave. I wasn't here for the South last week, so I'm gonna have to find out Along with a lot of people. What's going on? What your thoughts on the South were? I imagine you have the Texans pretty high. I imagine you've got the Jags somewhere on there. I'm excited to find out what's been going on in Mount Lombardy.

We will start on the AFC side of things. We already know the Texans have claimed the top spot. The Bills are the 2 seed. Cincy's won the North and therefore are your 4 seed.

Oh, you have the Texans at the 4 spot.

The 3 spot is available. The Ravens are right behind the Bengals. As your 5 seed, Jags have claimed the 7th. That means the 6th remains available. 2 spots, 4 AFC West teams to get them. Let's start things off with the Las Vegas Raiders. Fernando and Kirk and Tom and Clint and Max, who I believe is still there. Um, I'm very confident.

Yes, he is still there.

I'm very confident Mendoza is going to be a high-end QB ultimately, and not just because I went to IU. I think he's going to—

he—

I'm not saying he's going to have a Brady career. Who would make such a prediction? But I do think he's cut from that cloth in terms of skill set and beyond. And Kubiak's a great hire to develop him. The O-line was fixed up a bit this offseason, and the D's now got Quitty Payton and Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker and Terron Johnson to go along with Crosby, who Buddy says is still a Raider.

He's still there. I can confirm. And apparently happy. apparently wants to be there.

Their problem is the division they're in, and not just because of that. They have the 7th toughest schedule in the whole league. So Las Vegas Raiders, let's learn your fate. To the playoffs? No.

Down to Bummer Hill.

Down to Bummer Hill. Am I going to pick the Raiders to go to the playoffs? Tony, how safe?

I would never. I like Fernando. The preseason I don't want to say worried me, but it gave me pause for a second. I'm like, oh, I—

he looked a little skittish.

He looked a little hesitant on some throws and, and some, uh, blitzes and stuff. It just looked a little odd. I like them long term. I think they got to get a better receiver outside. I love Brock Bowers, but I think they need an A1 guy for, uh, for Fernando. But I think the arrow is going to be pointing up on Vegas.

This schedule's tough, Dave. I'm looking at it here. You've got the NFC West. Seattle, San Francisco. You've got New Orleans on here, Los Angeles on here. The Bills are on here. The Patriots are on here. The Chiefs, of course, are on here twice. This is a brutal schedule, man, for a team, a young team that made some nice additions. I like what you were saying, some of the adds they made to the team. And I do like Fernando as well. I'm really high on him. Don't know when or if we'll see him this year, but there's gonna be a lot of growing pains for him.

We're certainly gonna see him. They just are the The opening slate after Miami is real rough. It kind of makes sense on that level to spare the kid, throw Kirk to the Wolves, and then throw Fernando in around week 7, 8. Yeah, exactly. Next up, the LA Chargers, who, as you know, if you've listened to me for any amount of time, you know they are what my— the football equivalent for me of my Holy Grail. I keep picking them to beat the Chiefs and all the rest of it. And as you know, I'm bullish on Jim Harbaugh. Every head coaching stop has seen his teams take off in year 2, save LA. They made the playoffs a year ago, but I redshirted that Chargers team a year ago because so much of what Harbaugh does is built around the O-line, and both his tackles were out last year.

Yep.

They have beefed up on the interior, and both those tackles should be back. Um, now with Mike McDaniel running the offense, I think Herbert still has a level yet to unlock. I think we will see that. He'll need to do that because the defense is probably going to dip a bit. Jesse Minter had it as a top 5 unit a year ago. He now resides in the Mid-Atlantic region of Football America. What's it all mean?

It's time to find out. LA Chargers. Oh, I like that. Wow. Thunderstrike. I like that. The Chargers are your 3 seed in the AFC, buddy.

How say you?

Now, Dave, I know you're very high on the Chargers because earlier this offseason you picked them to go to the Super Bowl in an all-LA Super Bowl.

I did.

So are you sticking with that?

I'm, I'm allowed to amend that, and I still have time before the regular season kicks off.

So let me just say this about the Chargers. This 8-game stretch from Week 3 to Week 10, with a bye in Week 7 included— at Buffalo, at Seattle, home to Denver, at KC, at the Rams, home to Houston, at Baltimore— that is an— that's going to To define their season right there. That stretch might be the toughest stretch. We talked about the Bills schedule. That might be the toughest stretch any team will face in this season. If they can get through that, let's say 5-3, you're looking at a really positive season for the Chargers this year.

Tony?

I think I'm ready to declare today, noting that you have the Chargers winning the division, right? They're the 3rd seed. I think we are looking at an MVP season from Justin Herbert.

He's gonna put up some big numbers.

I think this is the year that things—

I didn't know where that was gonna go.

I didn't know, I didn't know if that was gonna go.

Finally, I picked the Holy Grail. I found it. It was, it was a cup. It was a Carpenter's Cup. Dave Damaschek. Yeah, didn't have jewels on it.

Not the fancy man. No, that away.

Didn't have gold. You didn't have any of that stuff.

You have chosen war.

Exactly right. He chose the one that was flamboyant, that was beautiful. No, Jesus was a carpenter. Humble cup. Now we look at Justin Herbert. He's got all these things, but I think the key is going to be Mike McDaniel, what he's going to be able to do running the ball in his scheme. Omarion Hampton, I think, is going to go crazy this year, but that's going to open up the back end. Ladd McConkey, QJ over the top. I think Herbert has an incredible year to like the year 1 and year 2 Herbert numbers that we saw, 30-plus touchdowns, you know, 4 4K-plus yards. I think we're going to see that in that offense and they're going to— I think they're going to whip up on everybody in the division. I'd like to see them go 6-2 in that stretch.

If they go 6-2, they're a Super Bowl contender.

Defensively, I think they're going to have some issues, but I think offensively they're going to be able to score enough to outscore other teams.

Right. Things have changed since last season. They are going to have to shoot it out a little bit more. Minter worked some magic with the pieces he had there. Can they find a pass rush? All the rest of that. I think the X-factor that you mentioned, I agree about Hampton having a big sophomore year. It feels like Ladd McConkey has to be more what he was in his rookie year. I mean, a lot of people are pointing that out, but I guess the question is, do you anticipate that, Tony? And you think Ladd McConkey looks more like he did 2 years ago?

Yeah, because I think they're trying to get him in space and Mike McDaniel does space better than anybody else as far as quick hitters, as far as, alright, let's get the ball out. Let's get our guys in space to be able to create yards after catch. I think Ladd is an absolute yak demon and we're going to see a lot of that. A lot of screens, a lot of crossers, a lot of zone busters to be able to get him in space and go.

When I think of Jim Harbaugh, the hyper-specific thing I think about his teams doing or the Niners doing at the height of their powers when they were making the Super Bowl run and all of that was they would beat the crap out of you with Frank Gore over and over. They'd bludgeon you with that and then have Vernon Davis work the seam and there was just nothing you could do as a defense. We only have 11 guys out here. We can't take away everything you want to do. I think David Njoku fits that role neatly.

I like that add a lot.

They've got 2 guys too. Aronde Gatson Jr., also another guy that is very formidable up the seam as a vertical threat.

All right, 1 spot left, but we have 2 teams.

Who will claim that playoff spot?

I'm Al Lombardi.

Does it belong to the Chiefs?

You may recall they missed the playoffs a year ago and Mahomes had knee surgery. And if you haven't seen him lately, Travis Kelce is doing his impression of Island of Dr. Moreau era Marlon Brando. What I'm saying is he's fat.

Yeah, okay, got it. Got you there.

Um, to the franchise's credit, KC seemed to grasp the need for an overhaul, and now they're one of the youngest teams in the league. They added the best runner Mahomes has ever played with in Ken Walker. But the schedule's a brute. It's 5th toughest in the league. And at least at the moment— and I do think it's a legit factor as a part of any team that is in the midst of a dynastic run is the mystique is at least a little diminished.

Mm.

You aren't making mistakes likely in 2026 that you were making in 2024 when you looked across the field and on the other sideline there was Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. That can cause you to see ghosts. I don't know that they have that working, um, as much as they used to in Arrowhead.

So to the mountain we go. Let's find out, Kansas City Chiefs playoff bound? Oh!

2 years in a row.

Back to day.

Back to day.

Umer Hill.

Wow.

Tony, explain.

I, I actually love this pick.

Oh.

I actually love this pick, and the reason why is, and this may be sacrilegious to say, I really want to see— I think, I think Patrick Mahomes is at a career crossroads right now because I think he's had an incredible first part of his career. We saw the same thing happen with Brady, right?

It's part of the same career, man.

Now we're looking at, all right, can he, can he rebound, reinvent himself himself in a way that he was so great with off-platform throws, with the timing going on. It's like, all right, I need to get out of here. I need to make something. Is Tyreek Hill down there? All right, I'm gonna find him. I'm gonna make these incredible plays that are off-script. Now you can't really be off-script. Does he trust his knee enough? Are the weapons enough for him to play off-script?

2 safe—

2 high safety shells, that's completely nullified what he wants to do down the field. I think we're going to see a huge year from Ken Walker.

Yeah.

I think they're going to want to feed him, get him touches close to the line of scrimmage. But I'm, I'm worried. There's only a handful of And I did the research last night because I was thinking about this and I wanted to bring this to Football America.

The thing that intrigues me is the— just from a fantasy perspective— the Ken Walker thing. Everybody assumes that he is going—

Super high on him. Yep.

Do you?

Yeah.

I don't know. I think he's a stay-away in fantasy.

Really?

I just don't know how he integrates exactly into this offense. I think they're going to try to lean on him.

We forget what it's like when Mahomes and this team kind of has a go-to guy in the backfield, right? Like, I think it just brings a dynamic that they've needed for so long. Somebody that can take the pressure off Mahomes.

It's a fascinating thing this deep into the run that the Chiefs have had that they now have— Right. Finally.

Right, exactly. I wanted to hear what you were going to say.

They had Kareem Hunt for that one game against the Patriots where he had like 200 total yards and like 4 touchdowns. And we're like, oh my God, they have it. And then obviously, you know, the rest of the season—

Kareem Hunt was able to do— he was able to bring down that show. which is what you're gonna want Ken Walker to do. Ken Walker starts cutting you for 10 yards a carry, all of a sudden you got to go single high, get somebody in the box, and that side of the field becomes exposed. So do they have the burners for that?

We'll find out.

I see that our guy Brandon Perna is in the waiting room, so let him in here because we have the Denver Broncos.

I want to hear what—

wait, I want to hear what Tony was gonna say.

2 seconds and I want to get Perna's thoughts on this, too. I did the research on quarterbacks coming back from an ACL tear and what they did in that following season. Only a handful of guys since 2000 have come back to throw 30 touchdowns and throw for 4K yards. We're looking at Carson Palmer, we're looking at guys like, uh, who was it?

Did Rivers do it?

Rivers did it. He actually played with a torn ACL in the playoffs and then came and fixed it, came back that same year, threw for 30-some-odd touchdowns. Um, there's a bunch of really good names there, but it's like, is Mahomes ready to take that step with those weapons? I don't know if he's got 30 and, you know, 30 and 4K in Cyrus Allen, Rashee Rice, and Travis Kelce.

You want to talk about a tough stretch? this close to the season. They've got 3 straight road games starting on Thanksgiving night in Buffalo, where it's Buffalo, the Rams, Cincinnati, all on the road. They come host to— come home to host the Patriots on Monday night. Then they have the Niners at home, and then they go to the Chargers. That's another brutal stretch on the schedule there where that's gonna define their season. And it's the very end of the season. They finish at the end with the Raiders, but— Those are 5 of their last 6 games or something like that.

I'll tell you, if you look on DraftKings and you look at the season win total and, you know, odds to get to the Super Bowl and all of that, you're reminded, oh yeah, the Chiefs, playoff relevant.

Right.

And it suddenly occurred to me, are you really putting the KC Chiefs out of the playoffs for 2 straight years? The answer is yes. Yes, I am. And that's because—

Doubt Patrick Mahomes at your own risk.

Well, I hear you, but I have to put the Denver Broncos in there. And that leads me to this. Our guy from the Colorado region of Football America, a great star in the digital space on YouTube. I think he has 47 million subscribers on there, something like that. From That's Good Sports, our guy Brandon Perna. How are you, fella? What's the latest?

Um, it's, it's actually 147 million subscribers, so—

Oh, congrats.

Just get the numbers, the numbers correct. To start. And I agree, I am also keeping the Chiefs out of the playoffs as well. 2 years in a row.

I have good news for you, Perna. You've joined at the big moment here. Sit back for 1 second here as we make the case for the Denver Broncos. Yes, obviously they're going to claim the 6 seed as Mount Lombardi lays out there. Maybe not 14 wins again, but they're loaded, more loaded than last year. with the huge, if under-discussed, addition of Jaylen Waddle. Can't wait to get Perna's thoughts on his add. I know everybody likes to talk about how Bo Nix limits them, but the other side of the coin is he's just going into his 3rd year.

Who's to say he's not going to be better? Glass half full.

Bottom line, Denver has the fewest holes in the division, a dominant defense, and an elite O-line, and Sean Payton. Let's see them. Let's fulfill their destiny on the mountaintop.

There they are. Congratulations to the 7 teams in the AFC. For scaling Mount Lombardi.

Best wishes come January. Let's enjoy the next 17 weeks. And before we do that, let's enjoy some time with our guy Perna. How are you, man? How's the last 6 months treated you since what happened, the events of the AFC title game against them Patriots?

Yeah, I think, I think I'm good now. I think I'm over it.

I think, um, How long did it take?

It's probably one of the weirdest experiences to go through as a fan. Players have— they've been injured in the playoffs before. But to, you know, win a game in overtime against the Bills, to feel like, oh, our team has arrived, and then to only be able to enjoy that victory for— I think it was like 20 minutes before the news came out that Bo Nix broke his thumb. Is that even the way— I'm curious.

trying to replay it now as you're describing it. I, I almost feel like we knew the knee was injured.

Yeah, it was right after you guys— fans, we did it! I can't believe the Bills lost! I can't believe they knocked them down!

And we were like, oh my God, wait a second, he's not right when he took that knee in victory formation.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm just trying to do the chronology of— because yeah, it did feel like immediately after, before they were off the field, it was like, oh yeah, Bo Nix is done. Devastating knee injury.

Well, he broke his ankle, right?

He broke his ankle.

He, he was— we saw him like wincing a little bit on the, on the sideline, but there was, there was— he did a full postgame interview, uh, on the field. So when Sean came to the podium and said Nix broke his ankle and he was done for the season and people started like tagging me, I, I literally thought I was getting duped by like a fake Schefter account and I Double and then triple checked it and then watched the press conference. So it was, it was strange to only enjoy that for that short period of time. And the way I have coped with it is, is saying that had Denver went to the Super Bowl, it was just the Seahawks year. There was probably nothing any team could do to stop Seattle if they got to the Super Bowl. And it wouldn't have worked out in the long run. So now I'm just— I'm geared up and I'm going to assume this is, this is their season to—

What choice do you have?

But I mean, you watch like the Lions, finally they're about to fulfill their destiny, and then the ball bounces off of the DB and into Brandon Aiyuk and Dan Campbell and the broadcast booth and everybody else. Well, actually not Dan Campbell, to his credit. He was like, this may be This may be as high as we ever get here. The broadcasters, because they have to pretend they're great empaths, declare like, no, nothing to worry about.

They'll be back.

I don't know if the Lions are ever getting back. And that's what you have to face right now. Were you able, though, 2 weeks later to watch the Super Bowl, or could you not stomach it?

No, I really wanted Seattle to just beat the brakes off the Patriots, and they did. So I felt vindicated. And I didn't even hate the Patriots. I was just mad that the Broncos had to play them without their starting quarterback. And they lost by 3 points in a game where the second half of the game was a blizzard. And we had one of the worst snow droughts of the last century here in Colorado. And one of the few times it snowed this, this winter was in the second half of that game. So I think we were— I was just bitter for a lot of reasons. and wanted the Patriots to lose. So I did enjoy that Super Bowl.

Yeah, that's right.

You did have a rooting interest, as it turns out. You wanted to see the team that beat you delivered some pain in their direction. Um, yeah, man, that thing that I think we try to— with our fellow fans of a team, we try to make ourselves feel better by being like, everyone knows our starting quarterback was hurt and history will remember that. Only in your corner of history.

No one—

Nobody's doing that for the Patriots right now, right? The Patriots, we all kind of think Drake, he played, but we all kind of think he was hurt. Nobody's doing that for them.

They got—

I talk about it all the time.

Like, oh yeah, but, but you know, Allen Henderson was hurt in 1992. The Hoosiers would've won.

They'll be like, nobody cares about that. Nobody cares about the, the Fab Five and UNC. That's what we're focused on. Anyway, Perna, I don't know if you and I have had this conversation before, but you're, you're the closest person I have in my life to Denver fandom. Um, answer this one for me. Are Denver teams underachievers? Because we hear a lot about— much as Tom Brady was a 6th-round pick and Ryan Fitzpatrick went to Harvard and so on— you can never watch a team that involves a Denver-based team without them mentioning the thin air and the advantage that gives.

If it is such an advantage, shouldn't the Nuggets win every game they ever play in Denver? Shouldn't the Broncos be— have an extra touchdown attached to their side when they're making the spread for the game?

What goes on here with the— is it myth more than reality, or is it in fact an actual advantage for the Denver teams?

I think it's not a myth, but I think if you are a professional athlete who is in peak Cardio condition. I don't think it's as big a deal as we would like to make it to be. I think your average person, when they, when they come into Denver, they'll feel it. There is, you know, an adjustment to altitude, but I've never heard it brought up that way. I didn't know you were going with it with the altitude angle. Josh Allen, you know, they always think they've squandered this, this great advantage for at least—

Well, right. They've squandered it.

In the meantime, the, their visitors have squandered the excuse. If everybody can give Jesus credit for victories, shouldn't Josh Allen at the podium after the game be like, what do you want me to do? It was the thin air.

It was. Yeah, it was the thin air.

That's what made the—

that's why I fumbled the day. I can't hold on to the ball as securely with the thin air. I threw an interception that was definitely an interception. Yeah, thin air.

It's also a huge disadvantage for one of the teams that plays in Colorado. Like, the Rockies have never been good because they've never been able to have a good pitcher in their entire existence. Wow, I hadn't considered that. Because Coors Field is a launching pad.

It's ultimately a huge disadvantage for the Rockies.

At the very least, it feels like a huge advantage. Tony, you can attest as a Heat fan, the Heat, every time they go into Denver, it's for some reason on the second night of a back-to-back and we get our asses kicked every time. So it feels like You say they should never lose at home. It feels like the Nuggets do never lose at home.

Well, Perna's talking about peak athletic condition, but then I look at Jokic. Yeah, exactly.

How's he surviving?

Hey, Perna, as a Broncos fan, were you happy for Travis and Taylor this summer?

Yes, I'm very happy. You were? I hope, you know, I hope the more in love Travis is, the worse he He plays football. Like, what does he have to prove? You know, if he's happy in life and in marriage, I don't think he needs to put in the extra effort on the field anymore. So, yeah, I'm happy for him.

Magic story.

I think the more you learn about the wedding, that the— like, Adam Sandler officiated it. Like, that's kind of crazy. Seems more like a spectacle than a true wedding. But I don't know, maybe I'm just jealous that Adam Sandler didn't do my wedding.

And did Travis extend an invite?

No, no, no.

That's a real slap in the face.

You just ghosted completely.

Hey, um, I assume you would involve the Broncos in this on some level, so let's leave them out of this. Best uniform matchup in the AFC West without the Broncos as an option?

Oh, without Denver, I think that it's Raiders-Chargers.

I would go Chiefs-Raiders.

I, I've always said it's It's diminished because it's now under a dome instead of out on the old baseball field at the Big A. I mean, up in, up in Oakland in the East Bay. I love that dirt infield. But yeah, I think it's, I think it's Chiefs in the red pants at the Raiders, but hard to argue with putting the Chargers.

The Gators this year are debuting a blue helmet, orange jersey look for the first time, and it looks kind of like what Kind of like the Broncos throwback look, which everybody in Denver wants. I want to ask you this, Brandon. Everybody wants them to go back to that throwback look full-time, right? Like, that's one of the best looks in the league.

Yeah, I don't understand why they tease us with it. It seemed like such an easy decision to make, but, you know, I think when you rebrand or redo your jerseys, they're maximizing what they can sell, but But any, like, anytime anybody posts just a photo of those, those uniforms, it doesn't even matter if it's coming from like a Broncos fan, just the reception to it is unanimously positive. And I think you could probably make the case like the AFC West altogether has pretty strong uniforms. Like, I hate the Chiefs like with a passion, but I don't hate their uniforms. And the Raiders, like, they've never really even had to change their uniforms ever. And it's always just kind of been like a standard or a classic. So is the AFC West—

sorry, go ahead, Brandon.

No, he's right.

Pern is exactly right.

Yeah, he is.

The AFC West. In fact, I had this conversation 6 months ago with my fellow drip driller Mike Ryan. The AFC West has the best— is the best division for uniforms in football.

Are they the sneakiest, also historic division? Like, we talk a lot about the NFC North.

To young people like you.

But the AFC West, like—

No, people, people swoon over the AFL and the West and the shootouts and all that kind of stuff. Yeah, I guess so. Go ahead now, Perna. Here's your opportunity. I just made a case for them making the playoffs. I had them at the 6th seed with the Chargers taking the division. I want you, though, right now to make the case for the Broncos making a Super Bowl run this year. Wherever they're going to finish is wherever they finish in the standings. But do you see them fulfilling your dream of getting to the Super Bowl this year and why?

Yeah, I like it. It will be my dream fulfilled again. I think like if you're talking about the Chargers, they're already battling one of the issues that sort of derailed them last year, and that's injuries to the interior of their offensive line. Their injuries were on the, you know, the tackles last year, but the interior of their line was really bad and they lost their center. They have some other injuries going on there. So I would like to be higher on the Chargers, but I think that's going to be a real problem. So I'd say the Chargers are going to underperform a little bit.

Yeah.

With Denver, I think they, they brought back pretty much everybody. Their big loss was John Franklin Myers, and, uh, that, that was a— he was a very good player on the defensive line, but that's not like an impossible guy to replace. Other than that, everybody's coming back. I like the consistency. They add Jaylen Waddle, who's just the kind of receiver that they have not had in their offense for years. So I think that's going to open up things.

Do you feel like that was when they get Waddle, it falls on the, on the calendar in a place that I feel like there are some self-identifying football fans that maybe don't even know Jaylen Waddle is on the Denver Broncos? It was sort of so under the radar. I think this is a huge element to sprinkle into the AFC Super Bowl chase here, right? Or am I overstating it?

No, they needed, they needed a more explosive player in the receiving game. And Troy Franklin was, was kind of that guy. But him and, him and Bo Nix, one, they kind of have like consistency issues where I feel like they're not always on the same page. Franklin would drop some passes, or that's kind of the guy Bo would overthrow at times. Pat Bryant was, was kind of emerging as the number 2 target last year, and then he got hurt late in the season with like a lingering hamstring issue. But yeah, Waddle was signed right after that first major wave of free agency. And I remember it because I made a video about how the Broncos did absolutely nothing, like nothing in free agency. And I think like an hour later they signed Jaylen Waddle.

Ha!

But yeah, that was, that was a big get for them. And I think Broncos fans are excited about Pat Bryant in year 2, running back Jonah Coleman kind of being added to the mix with J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey. If Dobbins can stay healthy, and that's always the big if with him, then I feel very good about the running back room. And I think that the real difference though is Davis Webb is going to be calling plays for the offense versus Sean Payton.

Mm-hmm.

And I think that's kind of a change they needed to make. And I think a lot of Broncos fans are curious to see how long Sean Payton lets that happen. But— and I wasn't sold that, that he would, he would stick to this plan, but I heard him in an interview saying like he doesn't believe he's as good of a play caller now as he was when he was younger, which if you know Sean Payton, that feels like a very big thing for him to admit. But I like Davis Webb and his relationship with Bo Nix, and I think that's going to be the biggest difference that actually kind of makes their offense a little bit more dynamic or consistent.

I think it's overstated that Sean Payton is hiding Bo Nix. The bigger question is, is he in full health and ready to roll here in the first portion of the season? Glass half full, like I said 10 minutes ago. So for all the negativity thrown at this guy, he is learning at the knee still of Sean Payton. Year 3 has, I would say, a better than 50-50 chance of him being a better version than what we saw of him before he had the injury. If the Broncos don't win the AFC West though, Perna, who does? Oh God.

I mean, it's, it's probably the Chiefs if the Broncos don't win it. I would like to, I would like to double down and follow you with the Chargers because I'm a big Mike McDaniel supporter.

Mm-hmm.

I think like I want to see him succeed specifically because he's from, he's from the Denver area. He grew up a Broncos fan. He was a Broncos ball boy. So, you know, we're all rooting for him, but it'll probably be the Chiefs. It'd be the most bizarre thing that could happen. would be the Raiders winning, winning the West. And if you look at last year, there's got to be at least one team out there that, that flips. Like we saw it with the Patriots. They went all the way to the Super Bowl, of course, but they were, what, a 4-win team the year before? I don't think it can happen with the Raiders, but I'd almost be rooting for it to be the Raiders winning the division, if not the Broncos.

Yeah, it's almost—

Kirk Cousins is starting all season doing it.

Well, yeah, but the Patriots didn't have to overcome 3 presumably good teams to make the run that they made a year ago. Correct. It's funny, you always hear about like, oh, he grew up a fan of the arch rival, and then they're always like, oh, I really want to beat the arch rival. I want to beat the team my boyhood—

why you want to beat the team that you rooted for your whole life? Once I want to hear them say like, yeah, maybe I threw that interception, maybe it wasn't an accident, but they're my boyhood team. I wanted to see them do good. Look, all my Oh, my family was in the stands cheering for—

that's also a weird move when you get drafted by the arch rival and it's like, yeah, my dad's still rooting for the other team. Like, what the hell, old man?

I think it's okay to root for— your dad's rooting for the other team.

No, it's not alright.

As long as he stops playing.

As long as he stops playing, yeah.

If your child is on an NFL team, you by rule must root for them or you're a bad parent.

Pern, away.

Well, what if he's doing it while they're not playing that team?

I mean, I guess you can have 2 teams, but when they play head-to-head, you root for your child. For Christ's sake.

Yeah, you gotta root for the kid. Although I do kind of have a weird level of respect for the dad who puts the team ahead of his kid. Hey, I was rooting for this team before you were here. But you got to the NFL, so we, we could say maybe the emotional damage was limited. So the kid's gonna be fine. The dad can still be, be weird about it.

All right. Last thing, Perna, before you go. I like to ask everybody here right in front of the season to start.

Consider—

you could go— you can go cheap.

You can go Jets and Browns if you want to take the low-hanging fruit, or you can go bold here. I want you to tell me 2 teams that are not going to be in the playoffs in 2026.

Ooh, 2 teams that won't be in the playoffs.

I mean, like I say, you can go—

you can go— you can go Cardinals.

Cardinals, if you want to do that. No, but that's not, that's not going to be memorable.

The easy way out.

Yeah, I think like we're— I'm working on like an episode about like the Cardinals, the Dolphins, the Browns, and the Jets, and just like how bad each of those teams are. So that's like way too easy. Yeah. Um, let me, let me look through. Okay, I think I think one team— let me go, let me go for a wild one right now. The Green Bay Packers.

Oh, that's fun, that's fun.

The Green Bay Packers. Uh, we don't— you know, Micah's, Micah's got to get right. It's going to be a little bit before he gets back. They lost Jeff Halfley, who was a defensive coordinator Packers fans loved. He saved their defense. That's a big change for them.

I, I'm waiting for Josh Jacobs to have to sit down for some stretch too.

Yeah, exactly. He's— I mean, he's on the exempt list, so who knows how long he'll be out. I think kind of an easy one is saying the Commanders won't be in there again. And we were all very high on the Commanders.

That works.

So yeah, I'll go Commanders and Packers.

Packers is a fun one.

I like that. A Super Bowl 32 rematch, but they're not going to be in the playoffs, so there will be no rematch between the Packers.

And I didn't even go Steelers. I could have went Steelers. You could have tried to hurt my feelings if you had won.

I know you wanted to, but I appreciate that you didn't do that. Um, Perna, give my best to our pal Will, uh, who helps make, uh, That's Great Sports Dynamite stuff. And, uh, kudos to you. Your hair and mustache combo has never looked better.

I—

and I mean that.

Yeah.

I would just say nothing.

Haircut, but—

No, no, no, it looks good.

And then the salt and pepper's coming in real nice on you.

Yeah, people remind me that in every video. Like, dear God, you're getting so gray. Thank you.

You've been doing this for a minute.

Like we always talk about anytime we connect, I first came to know of you 15 years ago when you would— not just you would berate me, um, like, why NFL Network?

If you have Damashek, you can certainly make room for me. And then all his fans would jump on him like, who is this Perna cat that he has this many people that he is in command of, that he has that these attack dogs I'm impressed by it.

I was just jealous. I was like, look, there's a funny guy on the NFL Network. Like, I could do that. Let me do that too.

And now look at this.

That's how it works. Just ask for it, right?

And the circle's now complete. And, uh, and you're thriving like a few others are in the YouTube space, the digital space. That's good sports. Brandon Perna, support him. Always nice to support good people doing anything. And Perna is one of the good ones. Thanks for the time, pally, and best to your Bronx this year.

Thank you. Thanks for having me, Dave. Good luck this season.

Thank you.

Thank you. There he goes, the great Brandon Purne, everybody. And let's just keep this train moving here and get right back to Mount Lombardi, the NFC side of things.

This is where it gets fun, Dave.

It wasn't fun earlier?

I mean, it's always fun, but this is where it really gets—

Brandon could be a younger brother of yours, by the way, Dave.

You guys got to have a watch. I could see that being a slap in his face. Um, all right, let me get to, uh, to my teams here. Um, I have some thoughts on each of these teams. Oh yes, Arizona, we have to talk about.

Oh, we do? Do we have to? Well, the team that was in a contract dispute with Jacoby Brissett this offseason.

It's because I have, I have bad news for the Arizona Cardinals.

Oh no.

You're a great resource for fantasy football drafts, but in that division you've got zero shot of making the playoffs. In fact, I regret to inform you You're banished for 2026 to the Don't Matter Horn.

Oh, that's brutal.

There you go, Aaron.

Is that Woody Johnson?

Well, he's on the Don't Matter Horn. Yeah, he's the face of it. Deshaun Watson hugging Jimmy Haslam there. The Browns.

I like that you use the old Dolphins logo.

The Titans. And now the Cardinals. Let's move along. Chin up, Cardinals. Those all-white getups you have are very strong. Now, among the teams who do matter, the LA Rams, who I should point out are good at climbing mountains. That's a factor here on Mount Lombardi Rams.

Mm-hmm.

You know, that's what they do with themselves. Um, and, uh, and, uh, that is merely the tip of this iceberg. Let me go all the way in here. Easy to make the case for them. 4 points from the Super Bowl last year with the NFL's number 1 offense. They've still got league MVP Stafford, Nacua, and Adams. Then they added 2-time All-Pro Trent McDuffie and his old pal Jalen Watson and reigning defensive MVP Myles Garrett.

And now Aaron Donald.

And be sure you're looking at the whole defensive front because Braden Fiskie and Byron Young, who had 12 sacks, and Kobe Turner had 7 last year.

So they are loaded up. Aaron Donald is officially a luxury item.

My big concern, the lack of depth at receiver. Davante Adams is old and Puka Nacua is coming off an all-time weirdo offseason. So if he gets hurt, I mean, yikes.

What are they going to do? They'll figure it out. It's Sean McVay.

They'll figure it out. I get it. But the QB is not a spring chicken himself.

He also had a Also had a bad back a year ago.

It didn't get better over the last 365 days.

Yeah, but then he won an MVP in between there.

All right, but he's still got a bum back. Um, I do though, ultimately, I like them better top to bottom when I compare them with Seattle and San Francisco. Seattle's great, but they lost Clint Kubiak and Kenneth Walker. San Francisco might bounce back defensively with Bosa and Warner healthy, but the offensive line is sketchy even by shanty standards. Enough talk about it. Rams, are you on Mount Lombardi? Here we go. LA Rams, everybody's pick.

They have to be, they have to be at the top.

No, here come the Rams up. Where are they?

Oh, they did it.

I was real close. I was real close to rolling with another team in that slot. Ultimately though, it's the depth, because the thing people, the cynics who are trying to take down the Rams in their brain at least, are saying, well, they are old. And I made the point about Puka Nacua, and they really would be jammed up if he got hurt. I don't buy Adams still being Davante Adams. If Nacua went down, it wouldn't be like, well, you just bump up Adams. I don't think that would work, Tony, as a 34-year-old man.

I agree, but I think you're also downplaying their tight ends. I like Terrence Ferguson a lot as a vertical threat. I think there's pieces they could put in place. If you lose Nacua, he's probably A1 1A or 1B of the best receivers in football right now, I think undoubtedly. But if they keep everybody healthy, it's basically Rams versus the field.

You feel good about the Rams, right? That's right. You can draw me into the cynicism. Like I just said, I almost went with another team to win this division. First of all, like I say, Donald's a luxury item because they are loaded up on the defensive front. They did not need to get him and they did not need to get Myles Garrett. If you get one or the other of those guys, they're in good shape. But to your point, it's very easy to make, you know, to make the point that I and a lot of people make is the teams that are healthiest, the good rosters that are the healthiest once you get to January, are the teams that are going to make the run. But what if they are healthy? What are you really going to do if you're playing the Los Angeles Rams? Change the game. If Garrett and Donald and those other studs are all out there? It's going to be an unmanageable situation. There's not an offensive line out there that's gonna be able to stop that pass rush for 4 quarters. So you better jump on them real fast out of the gate or I don't know how you are gonna beat the Rams if those guys are all healthy in a big spot.

If there's one thing that can prevent them from having home field throughout the playoffs and getting the No. 1 seed in the NFC, this stretch after the bye to finish the season: Green Bay, Kansas City, at San Francisco, Dallas, at Seattle, at Tampa, home to Seattle to finish this regular season.

I can make a case that a lot of those teams, I feel like, are dust at that point in the season.

That could be a point.

You're right.

By the end of that season, yeah, yeah, yeah. And San Francisco with Seattle and Los Angeles. San Francisco, I think, is dust already. Yeah, I know you do. I know you do.

I'm off the San Francisco 49ers. I know they're coming up on Mount Lombardi here, or maybe not, but—

Oh, let's find out about it right now.

I think it's a great place to end our campaign, our our odyssey up Mount Lombardy with just one spot left. Let's do it with the 21st century's best NFC rivalry. Side by side, the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. You are both in the barrel.

There they both go, spinning, spinning. Oh!

Whoa!

We're all on the same page about the Niners here, Devo.

The Seahawks are in.

Let's talk about them. On the one hand now, over on Bummer Hill, are the Niners, winners of 12 games last year. Now back, Bosa, Warner, and George Kittle. Old pal Dre Law back— Dre Greenlaw back in the fold. They've added Mike Evans, uh, Osa O. They keep Purdy, CMC, Trent Williams, and Shanny. Then we've got the reigning champions, the darlings of Hard Knocks. It's the Seahawks. It might be unsatisfying to hear, but kind of the opposite of what you were just saying there, Tony. I think that this hash that we're debating feverishly here in early September won't really start to be settled until the holiday season. Literally Christmas Day, primetime game between the Hawks and the Rams.

Oh, what a game.

Before that, we'll learn a ton about the Hawks in the month of October when the Hawks go 3 straight primetime games, a trip a mile high being one of those games. By the way, the Rams have to make that same trip to Denver, so no advantage either way there. It feels It feels almost like a hot take to say the Hawks are going to be right there with the Rams, and that's the team I almost took. I am putting the Seahawks in there as a wild card, just behind the Rams and the Niners, just barely falling away. Tony, your final thoughts on Mount Lombardi?

Worried about the loss of Clint Kubiak for the Seattle Seahawks offense. That, to me, is one of the biggest things. I think running backs are replaceable. Ken Walker, obviously, the Super Bowl MVP. I think Price is gonna be a decent fill-in. Charbonnet is gonna come back at some point. I think he's starting on PUP to start the season, but Kubiak was the thing that kind of held everything together. We looked at Sam Darnold, we were like, OK, KOC had him. He was alright. He was OK, and then obviously becomes a Super Bowl champion. JSN, one of the best receivers in football, but Kubiak is the glue that makes everything stick. Without him, how are we gonna see this offense play out?

Well, my pushback to that is, and it's It's sort of anecdotal, or maybe it's just something that I believe is true and there isn't any evidence to support it. But in my head, this is the reality. And I guess it's supported recently by what happened to the Eagles after they made it to the Super Bowl. Both their coordinators leave and they have a kind of a down year, but they didn't really come apart, if you recall, until December. And that's just one example. I think that when you lose— and by the way, you heard me, I'm on the Chargers as well. despite losing their difference-making play caller on the defense with Minter. I think that loss doesn't really start to hit until the season wears on a bit. I think there's muscle memory or whatever you would call it from what you were doing. If you're not completely departing from the philosophy of that play caller, I don't think it really sets in until deep in, in that first season away from the guy.

That's true.

So I think that the Seahawks are going to be relevant. And right there, I do think come playoff time, That's the factor, and that's why the Chargers don't go to the Super Bowl either, is because they don't have that difference maker making the playoffs.

It's basically equating it to, alright, we're scripting the first 15.

That's right.

Once we get the first 15 out of the way, we gotta get creative here because they know what we're running. Now when you get to November, it's like, we kind of used all of our stuff that was prepackaged that we were really working on. Now we gotta get creative with stuff that— we had the creative mind and he left. So like, how do we fill this in? With the Rams on the schedule, with the 49ers, with all these teams that they're going to be playing. I think they play the Patriots to open up the season. There's a lot of games that they'll have that muscle memory, but now getting into the creative part of the season, where are you going to be?

Well, what's crazy is that game on the Week 1 schedule, if the Patriots beat the Seahawks, that will flip a lot of the things that we've been talking about here with Matt Lombardi. Both of those teams in pretty much both conferences, because if the Patriots are going to be a factor on the AFC side, that'll shake things up considerably as well. Listen, Tony, we've appreciated you joining us pretty much all the way here as we've been going up Mount Lombardy, buddy. Great insight from you along the way too. Tony, don't be a stranger. The season's about to kick off. We need you.

Whenever you need me.

More than ever. Let's, uh, keep on yapping about, uh, the great game of football. We made it, everybody. Everybody keeps saying it, but we really did make it.

You know, there's college football this weekend, Dave. A lot of it.

Before we check out, buddy, go ahead, tell us your favorite game.

Really excited about Ole Miss and Louisville on Sunday night. I think this is gonna be a great matchup. Huge playoff implications here because Louisville, they kind of rebuilt their entire roster, but that's been Jeff Brohm's thing, and they were really sneaky good last year. If they can improve this year, if they can have it all right in the first week of the season against a tough Ole Miss team— Pete Golding, I know he won 2 playoff games. Let's see him do it over a full season. Well, listen, really excited about this game. This is a very fun Week 1 game right off the bat.

I'd be worried about a Johnny SEC outfit. I, I mean, like, Because for real, there ain't that many good teams in the SEC this year, and Ole Miss is supposed to be one of them.

So if they lose to Louisville, it's going to screw up the whole SEC case for we need to have half the teams in the playoff every year.

They haven't won a national championship in 4 years, the SEC.

I heard about it.

So the Big Ten's won the last 3. So certainly the Big Ten is the big dog in college football right now. But that opening night matchup, and of course can't wait to watch my Gators. Hopefully the Canes lose on Friday night.

That would be really funny.

Sorry, Tony.

One exciting bit of programming before we get out. It won't be this coming Monday. Happy Labor Day. I don't celebrate Labor Day. I'm not the dupe of a man. I'm not gonna— of the man— celebrate work. Labor Day.

It's a day that honors work. Fair. I'm not doing it.

I'll be working, but we can't do a show. show because all these suckers are like, oh, we got the day off.

Yeah, to celebrate the man.

Yeah, go, go celebrate Dan Le Batard. I ain't celebrating the man. I'm not dancing. I'm not, I'm not some mindless fool. Anyhow, enjoy your Labor Day, I guess. But then after that, then it's on, and we're going to be talking about football. And the week after that, Monday the 14th, we go live, 12:30 PM every Monday, right after the Dan Le Batard All through the season, we're going to be coming at you live. I think that'll really capture the good vibes coming off of Football Sunday. Tony, we expect you to be in here.

I'll be in here every Monday if you want me to.

Awesome. Great stuff. We'll be back with more stuff for you. And as always, on the YouTube page, Football America with the exclamation point is where you find that. Some fantasy tips on there for you currently. A great episode with Jessica Smetana from last week.

Check it all out.

Subscribe. Spread the good word. And we'll talk to you on the other side of the football weekend. Until then, thanks so much, my fellow football Americans. It's been a thin slice of heaven.