The Fumblerooski Podcast
Mr. Worldwide -Ep 291 The Fumblerooski Podcast
The Chiefs beat the Ravens by a toe on Thursday night football to open up the 2024 season tonight. The Packers face off against the Eagles in San Paolo Brazil. Followed by that will have our game picks for week one of the 2024 season including our game of the week. You are listening to the Fumblers Keep Podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws back to back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a loose, loose scenario for both sides. You are listening to the Fumblers Keep Podcast by Power 88 Dean Radio and Secret Weapon Consulting. I'm Chris Kostich with me, Adam Wright, C.J. Madeeros as we have our first Friday episode of the season and it's week one and what a way to start week one with the game that we had last night between the Ravens and the Chiefs. A thunderstorm to start the game delaying the game by 20 minutes. And boy, I'm freaking tired right now just from having to stay up to watch this game. But boy, was it worth it. Chiefs going up by 10 Ravens crawling their way back to make this thing a game and give themselves a chance to even tie this thing up and it came down to a Lamar Jackson jump ball to Isaiah like Isaiah likely you would have thought it was Mark Andrews. No, who's Isaiah likely who had nine catches 111 yards and one touchdown. And it probably could have been two touchdowns. If he could have, if he just kept his big toe from being on that out of bounds line. Whoo. What a start to the season fellas. What are the, what are your thoughts? Wow. Um, well, my initial thoughts are they, the Chiefs may or may not have found their wide receiver one. I thought Rishi rice was incredible in this game. Every time the ball was in his hands, not only did he showcases speed, but he showed his quickness. He has great hands as well. This is a kid who I mean, they may have found their Tyree kill replacement. I don't, I'm not saying he's going to be as good. There are levels to being a wide receiver one. And I think maybe they found that guy, which is exactly what they needed in order to stay in content, tension for years to come. So it was an encouraging sign for the chiefs. And I think that's my biggest takeaway is they found a guy who can move the ball down the field for Patrick Mahomes. I completely agree. Three had three touches in those three touches, got himself 68 yards and two touchdowns. And he showcased that speed like a mother. That's for sure. See jagged thoughts. This was a game. I mean, I'm not going to lie. I was kind of expecting fireworks. And I feel a little let down a very well, not overwhelmed, not underwhelmed. And one of the games of all time. Oh, yeah, it was certainly one of the games. But the thing for me is that I know Kansas City won, but it felt more like Baltimore lost because just so they were just so undisciplined, so many misthrows, so many penalties. And I'm sorry, Ravens fans. That was not a touchdown. The amount of Ravens fans are actually saying, oh, no, they sure let it stand. No. Now, look, I am no all seeing ref guy, but it was likely not a touchdown. And on top of that, I mean, look, Lamar played well, but it's just they do not utilize Derek Henry as much as I figure they would. And I know they were playing from behind, but this guy is a proven playmaker. And look, he had 11 carries on the game. You may say, okay, it's a little underutilized. That doesn't sound too bad. Well, it does when you realize the eight of those 11 carries were in the first half. He toted the rock three times in the second half. That is unacceptable. And as for Kansas City, yeah, Rishi Rice might be that guy. And also, here's a shout out to the recently extended Noah Gray. This guy was making plays all night. And by the way, I would officially like to offer my condolences to any fantasy owners of Travis Kelsey and Mark Andrews. Wasn't you all night? I'm sorry. But overall, yeah, this is a good win for Kansas City. Obviously, I mean, even though I do think it was more Baltimore losing, there was, you cannot mistake the fact that Kansas City did take advantage of a lot of opportunities. And they didn't let any setbacks like the Rokwan Smith interception really, they didn't let that get to them and they were able to play good football. They almost folded in the end. But football is a game of inches. And for the Ravens, this is just like a measuring stick game. You can go toe toe with them, but it's still clear. You need a little more. And yeah, by the way, one last thing, Ravens fans, for God's sakes, work on your offensive line. I think Adam mentioned it last episode. Three fifths of the offensive line is gone. And it showed outside of Ronnie Stanley and Tyler Linderbaum, actually, let me rephrase that, outside of just Tyler Linderbaum, because it's a matter of when, not if Ronnie Stanley gets her, you're screwed. But Kansas City take the win, Saver. We'll see you next week. I just want to touch on a couple points that you just made there, CJ, that I think really outlines this game and kind of is what we saw in the AFC Championship game, unfortunately, right? Like Derek Henry only having 13 carries and three of them were in the second half. Look, it's the same thing that we saw in the ball in Baltimore in the AFC Championship game against the Chiefs. The Ravens feeling like they have to go to the past game all of a sudden and just strictly throw the ball when they don't really need to. They're down by one score, the majority of this game. And even being down by 10 with 10 minutes to go, I feel like you should still be comfortable with running the football. Yeah, you kind of have to have some urgency, but you still should be comfortable running the football with Derek Henry, especially Derek Henry in that spot. I mean, Lamar Jackson also had himself a lot of carries, 16 carries, 122 yards. But the reason you have Derek Henry there is to take the load off your quarterback, especially a guy like Lamar. So that's just me. And on top of the mistakes, they only had one time out and they ended up using, they only had one time out remaining by a time there was five minutes left in the game. And they used it with two and a half left. That's missed opportunity there. Yeah. And that might also come down to the offensive line as well. You, Lamar Jackson we want him to have a better throwing ability than he has. We know that he has a good arm. We know that from time to time, he can make very good throws. We saw it last night a couple of times. We saw some bad ones. We also saw some pretty good ones. You can't do that if you don't have an offensive line to give him time to sit in the pocket and find and find the guys who you went out and got. You signed, you used first round picks on Rashad Bateman and Zae Flowers. You have Isaiah Likley who had a pretty good game. You have Mark Andrews. You signed Nelson Agilor who's, I mean it's Nelson Agilor. It's a wide receiver three. Take that how you choose. It all comes down to the offensive line. If Derek Henry can't find holes to run through, if Lamar Jackson is forced to tuck and run every time, which clearly the Chiefs were completely fine with them doing. I mean, it's, he was able to run all over the team, but it looked like the Chiefs didn't really care about it because they're, they, they're sitting back and they're saying, unless we can get this guy to, to take the top off our passing defense, not a rushing defense or passing defense, he can do whatever he wants. And they allowed him to do that and they were still able to win by a touchdown. And that's something to look at because usually the, usually the Ravens have some pretty good offensive lines. This year, this year it looks worse than it has ever looked under Lamar Jackson. It's at a point we may be able to make a strong case they're Bengals. The rival offensive line is a little better this year, which is a lot to say because those Bengals offensive lines, even with good personnel, those teams suck because their coaching is also bad. It's, that was something to look at. And if you guys have anything else on this, I have another point to touch on if anybody else wanted to, I had points I wanted to make. So, okay, let me guess. Are you going to talk about Xavier Worthy? No. Oh, thank God. Xavier, listen, there's, there was nothing really to prove with Xavier Worthy. He looked, he looked solid, but we'll have to, we'll have to, we'll have to look at that later on in the season because it was too small a sample size. He had two catches and he had one hand off. Two touchdowns looked good, but not enough to say we found our wide receiver one. Rishi Rice is that guy right now. But my point was, did you guys notice Travis Kelsi in this game? No, he had like three catches. That was mostly, I noticed a lot of the time he was on the line blocking. And my point is, what did they really do to replace the left tackle? They just, I understand Donovan Smith was nothing, was not really much, kind of a bit of a nothing burger. But at least he kept from my homes on his feet. I know we, we're going to say a lot about this Raven's offensive line today. We already did. But let's not excuse that chief's offensive line that never replaced their left tackle in Donovan Smith. I get it. Highly, highly, very much penalized tackle. But again, what he did well was keep my homes on his feet. If Travis Kelsi has to stand on the line to be an extra guy to block, that's one less target, one less elite target I might add, where you need other guys to step up. And that could be, Travis Kelsi's days are limited. He's going to be, he's going to be out of the league in a few years, or at least past his prime. But if you're looking at just winning right now, that does affect him right now. Yeah, and yeah, especially when you're, you're going to have Hollywood Brown back maybe next week, if you're the chiefs, he's going to be starting to practice again next week, potentially going to play week two. So you're going to get one more weapon coming back. So, I mean, if that's the route that the chiefs go, that's the route that the chiefs go. And I feel like that even if you have no a gray or Travis Kelsi act as half a left tackle or whatever, half a right tackle, whatever you want to call it, they're still going to have like solid weapons to spread the ball around to, to the point where it probably won't be. What's the word? It probably won't be as big of a factor, but I mean, it's week one, we'll see how it happens. A lot of times teams will throw something out that's in week one, and then week 15, it's a whole other thing, and it's completely different. So you never know. Any final thoughts before we move on? Yeah, one last thing on the left tackle spot. Replacing Donovan Smith was the BYU rookie, Kingsley, Suumata, I believe it's pronounced. Yep. And here's the thing, you know that they don't have a lot of confidence in this kid if they're sending Travis Kelsi out to block. Kelsi is a notoriously lazy and just poor blocker. This is not news, but it's the fact that if you are having him block, you are truly in dire straits. And Suumata did okay, did allow a sack, and he did get away with a few holds, but you know, what else is new. But overall, I would say he did fine. I think this is just like a learning experience for him, but you better hope this kid pans out and pans out fast because oh my God, if he doesn't, it's actually going to be problematic. Listen, Travis Kelsi had a decent game blocking. I thought he was all right. It was good enough so that Mahomes, he had time to throw and they were able to run their plays with Pacheco with rushing plays. But I mean, like you said, we need this kid to pan out because they need Travis Kelsi out wide. They cannot have him on the line. I know we want those all around blocking tight ends as well. But there's no denying Travis Kelsi's best feature is his past his his receiving ability, not his blocking. If he can block great, but they need more help in that past catching core than they they've ever needed before. And if they're going to if they're going to if they're going to win three straight, be the first team to ever do that in the Super Bowl era, they're going to need Travis Kelsi doing what he does best. So that's that was the concern for me last night. I just I was like, why is this kid not out running routes? And then you notice on replays that he's out blocking. It's like, Oh, no, I mean, it seemed like they got figured out like I gets a Raven's defense that historically is always really good. So I think that, like I said, it's one of those week one things I think once we get to week 15, we're looking at a completely different thing. Yeah, those are the thoughts that I had, Rishi Rice, both offensive lines were something to look at. It was sloppy football play. Yeah, CJ CJ pointed this out before the episode. I mean, this was, I mean, it was a good game, but don't let the full, he said, don't let the score fool you. And I'm speaking for I'm speaking for him as he's right in the frame next to me on this episode. But I'm just doing it. Yeah, yeah, I mean, don't let the score fool you. It was kind of it was a little sloppy play. Yeah, there were some scoring, but the offense looked a little shaky on both sides. And that's just goofy early season play. So let's see, let's see what the, what both of these teams look like later on in the season. All right. And with that, we'll move on to tonight's contest, the Green Bay Packers versus the Philadelphia Eagles playing in San Paulo, Brazil. God, I hate the fact they're in Brazil right now. This is what a cluster frick this is, to say the least, nobody wants to be in Brazil. You got the two teams that wear the color green in a city that you'll get shot if you wear the color green. I can't believe that they did that. They can't even leave their hotel because of said potential to get shot because you're wearing green. There's a lot of sickness and a lot of violence in general going on in San Paulo. So they can't even meet their hotel room. I can go on and on about this, but I'm not. Spread is at two and a half in favor of the Eagles. I say that tonight is going to be the Eagles night. I'm going to go with the line here with, I think it's going to be the Eagles night, but it's going to be a close one. Jordan loves going to really show out tonight. Kind of what's the word? What's the word? What's the word? Only you can answer that, man. I believe in you. I don't know. Kind of continuing on from the momentum that he brought from the end of last season into this season. He's going to come out with a really good start to this season, but I don't think it's going to be enough to get his team to win for week one. And we've talked about this a lot on the show as well, how Nick Sierioni is coaching for his life. I think he starts out with a week one win despite that I think that there is a great potential. He is done by week five, but I think yes, the week one win puts a little bit of faith and affiliation. And I start out with a good start. Yeah. I I'm looking at this Packers team that finished the finish. The season is hot as any team in the entire league last year. They pulled off. They pulled off an upset in the wild card around and they danced with the eventual conference championship, the eventual conference champion San Francisco 49ers. They very nearly beat them. I'm looking at that. I'm looking at the fact that the Eagles, they didn't finish the season very strong. I'm just looking at purely at momentum right now. And I'm also looking at the fact that the Eagles added a lot of new faces to this team. Most of this Packers team is all returners. And you look at that, I think the Packers have a pretty good shot at an upset today. You know, you're going in and you're both heading into unfamiliar territory. It's all no one has home field advantage here. I think the Packers have a very good chance at winning this game. And I think that's I think Jordan love going into his second full year starting. Jalen hurts. I think I think this Eagles team is going to figure it out. But I think they're going to take some time in order to do it because not only not only did you have a really bad start to last last season, you also have some new faces on this team that you're going to have to figure out over time. That's not just going to gel together. That's not how football teams work. Can't just throw a whole team together and then just have it work out. I think this is a good Eagles team and they will be eventually and they will be eventual NFC champ NFC East champions. But I think they lose this game. Give me the Packers. CJ, let's say you we got one and one. Ah, yes, I get to decide the popular opinion. Very nice. So first and foremost, I think this is going to be a good game. I am actually expecting more fireworks than we got in Casey Baltimore. Watch the statement. Come back to bite me, but that's just my opinion. And they're coming to us live from beautiful Brazil, where the Fauna is as plentiful as the gang violence. I'm sorry, Chris. I had to. You stole my bit from me, but sorry. I don't know, but I'll be there. Okay, but all that aside. Billy, as you know, I have going to the NFC championship game and for that roster, absolutely. But there's going to be a jelling process, like I believe Adam mentioned, that needs to happen. And whereas the Packers are largely the same team they were last year, except for the fact they're now a little older, a little wiser. And Jordan Love got the extendo to borrow a word from our good friend, Chris. And I just I feel like this is going to be the true definition of a measuring stick game, at least on the defensive side of the ball, because the Eagles pass rush that front seven is nasty, ferocious even. But the back four is a wee bit questionable. I mean, look, you got big play slayed as cool. Wonderful. What? You got not one, but two rookies in Cooper, to Jean and Quinn, y'all Mitchell. And the Packers, like I said, I'm not the highest on their receiving room, but Jayden, read Christian Watson and Romeo. Dubs are all pretty solid on their own, right? And I wouldn't say that there's not a single guy in their top three that I would outright consider bad, not by any stretch of the imagination. I would consider underrated in my opinion. You know, I could give them that I need to see more, but underrated is an acceptable term here. And as for Philly, it's all going to come down to play calling because Philly has more star power, but it's all on Siri on his shoulders. Now they have a new OC and they have a new DC. Thank the Lord, because the others there, which is we're not getting it done. Even a blind man could see that. And say, Quan, he's the new guy. He's a new kid on the block for Philly, but he might hold the key to this game because you don't want your golden goose and Jalen hurts running all willy nilly and getting hurt. Tush push or not, which will they try it without Jason Kelsey? Let's see. And you're going to have to run the ball more because if you have just Jalen hurts, just ripping it 30 times a game, we learned last season that does not work. And I bring all this together to say that true, the defenses are going to be tested, but this is going to be a battle of coaches. Who is going to out coach the other? And just solely on that, I think the Packers will take the upset. I think that Packers head coach La Floor is going to out coach Siriani. It might be a close game and I expect there to be fireworks, but the Packers will be the one standing and walking out of Brazil, albeit very fast to the airports that they don't get shot. I'm going to, I'll make a mini prediction within this Packers team in the next couple of years. Between their trio of wide receivers, the young kids that they have Romeo Dobbs, Christian Watson, Jaden Reed, it's a matter of when, not if one of these guys turns into a number one target. Just history with this Packers team shows. Some of these wide receivers take some time. Jordy Nelson, Devonta Adams, neither of those players eclipse a thousand yards within their first three seasons. And then they then they just flip the switch and then they just turned it on. And all three of them have that potential to do it. So, and when you have an elite potential, I'll say potential so that nobody thinks I'm jumping the gun on Jordan Love, even though he looked amazing last year. They have a potentially elite franchise quarterback in Jordan Love to help him do it. So, you have a bright future ahead in Green Bay. And I think we're going to see that in this upcoming game tonight. And with that, we'll step aside from the Green Bay and Philly game and move on to our 1PM games. So, if you're taking notes from this podcast, bet the Packers bread and bet the over. That's basically what we're saying. All right, so we'll take a quick break when we come back. We'll get into our Sunday picks starting with the 1PM slot. You're listening to the Fumbarooski podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stat sheet, but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws back to back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spots. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a lose-lose scenario for both sides. You're listening to the Fumbarooski podcast, Chris Costich, C.J. Medeiros, Adam Wright, and we're all powered by Power 80-18 Radio and Secret Weapon Consulting. So, we move on to the Sunday slot. We have the first two games of the season out of the way and now we got the 1PM slot starting out with what will potentially be the worst game of the weekend. The Patriots versus the Bengals in Cincinnati, Ohio, since he has the spread by eight and a half over under 40 and a half. This one's a weird one. This one's a weird one, right? Got your code per set starting for the Patriots. It's whatever. On the Bengals side, you might not even have Jamar Chase hold in special, insincey. So, you know, this might end up being a better game than what most people anticipate. That's why I'm not calling for the Patriots to cover. I still think the Bengals are going to win this one by at least 10. It's Patriots team. I mean, the defense is still going to be fine without you on, but it's not going to be what they were able to do last year. Christian Gonzalez is going to have a tough task with covering Jamar Chase if he even plays, if he even plays, if he doesn't, then he's going to go up against T Higgins. We know what he can do against T Higgins, but like I said, this Patriots team, especially the offense, is not going to do a lot. So, I'm going to go with Bengals on this one by 10 at the very least 10. I'll keep it short and sweet. Give me the Bengals. It's not going to be close. It'll be, I'll rephrase. Bengals, the Bengals sometimes they have tough, they have tough stretches early on in the season, but I think for once they're not going to start Owen too. I'll just say that much because the Patriots, let's face it. They're a mess. And they're, they're not playing for this year. They're playing for one to two years in the future when Drake May is developed and they somehow, some way, find their wide receiver one and a competent offensive line to it to not get Drake May murdered. So, yeah, give me, give me the Bengals. It's not, it's, this isn't an easy pick. All right. This isn't a hard pick. So, for me, Adam mentioned it. Sincey is notorious for struggling out of the gate, and that has been an issue that plagued them, but on the flip side for New England, there's a talking head up in that region who described it as a quote, take your medicine year for the paths. Once again, you're not playing for this year. This is a, you're punting this year, right? So, as a result, even when since he's well documented for season struggles, I do not see New England pulling off this game. I don't even think they're going to cover the spread. I can see the Bengals by two scores, but mark my words. If it's close, like, even if Bengals win and it's, and New England covers the spread, that actually is going to make me panic for Sensi. I like it. So, basically, sincey all around the board, move on to the next one, Steelers Falcons. And this is one of those games where it's really going to come down to one offense and one defense. It's going to come down to the Steelers defense versus the Falcons offense, right? First games with Kirk Cousins at the helm. First games with all the very, very pretty toys that the Falcons got on defense. Steelers, first game with Russ. How, how great, how great. So Falcons, I'm going to take the Falcons and spreads at three and a half. I say Falcons by seven on this one. It, like I said, it's going to come down to the Steelers defense and the Falcons offense because the way the Falcons defense is right now, they were good last year and they're going to be really good this year in the Steelers offense, potentially worse than what it was last year. It is, but actually, not even potentially it is worse than last year. So, I'm going to go Falcons by seven. This could get, this has the potential to get ugly though. I'm going to agree with you 100% in just about every single way this Falcons team is better. I think the defense, it's close on the defense, but not that close. They have a couple pieces on that, on that defense and that's it. The Falcons all around have a really good defense. They have a good offense. That's something the Steelers don't have. They lost more than they gained this offseason. It's not close. Give me the Falcons. The Steelers, I just, they do not have the flash that Atlanta does. Pittsburgh got worse this offseason and now you have a bunch of Steelers fans crying into their breakfast of Primandys and Jim Beam screaming, "Stooors country, let's weld!" Yeah, no, I'm sorry. There will be no welding today. Give me the Falcons. And by the way, your OC is Arthur Smith. So, it's like, oh, but he's a step up from that other guy they had, whose name I'm blanking on. But no, it's not a step up. It's a lateral step. You have not changed and now you are sure one Deontay Johnson. It's over. They need the Falcons and they're going to win by more than three and a half. Matt Canada is the name you're thinking. Oh, yeah, Matt Canada. No, I'm sorry. I do not see a difference between Matt Canada and Arthur Smith. I just don't. Once again, not a step forward, a lateral step. I don't understand why they thought that was a step up. One coordinator who failed to utilize his star players to another who did the exact same thing over in Atlanta. This is a Steelers organization that's supposed to be one of the best in the league. One of the best in professional sports, but what the hell was that? Cardinals bills in Buffalo. Spreads at six and a half over under 47 and a half. Cardinals cover. Cardinals are going to cover, but I'm going to go bills on this one. I think it's going to be a one score game. Cardinals are going to come out flying in this one. I feel like that this Cardinals team has got a lot to prove. It is much better than one of as last year. I think they're going to shock some people, but not to the extent of beating the bills as well. I think that Josh Allen is going to have a really good game because let's be real. The receivers that he has this year, he basically has the same receiving core that he did last year. It's just fond takes the last half of the year was non-existent. Clients also. No Gabe Davis as well. You trade him out for Curtis Samuel. He's basically in the same position as what he was in last year, essentially. So who are you taking? What? Who are you taking? Bills. Bills. Yeah. Me too. Give me the bills. We're going to find out just how elite Josh Allen is. Obviously, you need a wide receiver one. So one of those guys who you have right now needs to step up. Curtis Samuel, Khalil Shakir, Keon Coleman. One of those guys needs to step up. But there's still going to be a solid team because as long as you have Josh Allen, you have a chance to be competitive. And we're going to find that out with against this Cardinals team that is still kind of in its rebuild process. They're working on it. They're working through it. They have some good players. They're not there yet. And the bills, I think they're despite all they lost, they're still a little closer. Also, this is a counterpoint, but I just wanted to make this point in regards to the entire season for the Bills. Last year, other players showed out under on Stefan Dig's watch because Dig's drew so much coverage from the defenses. Now Khalil Shakir is going to have a lot more defensive attention. Same thing with Keon Coleman. They were open because Stefan Dig was there. Now you're at a point where Dig isn't there anymore. He may have disappeared, but he was still a wide receiver one. And he is a guy who he's more valuable than the Bills think. So for me, I actually think it's going to be close. The Cardinals are going to fight tooth and nail. And this game, it's going to be a win for Buffalo, but it's going to be an ugly win. I've mentioned this on the show before. This is going to be that win that will raise more questions than it answers, but Buffalo will still win. So that's why I say Cardinals will cover on this one with the six and a half spread. I don't know. It's all about the Cardinals this year. They definitely Adam, as you mentioned, they're still rebuilding here, but I still think they're going to turn some heads this year. Next game on the docket, Titans Bears. We got our first look at Caleb Williams and a Bears uniform. Keaton Allen and a Bears uniform as well. And they'll go up against Will Levis and the Tennessee Titans at Soldier Field. Spritus three and a half in favor of the Bears. And I don't know. I feel like this could be a good one as well. This could be a good one. Titans are sneaky on the rise. We know what the Bears can be capable of, but I'm feeling Will Levis big breakout season. And I think it starts with a big win at Soldier Field, which he won't get. I'm taking the Bears. But it's going to be it's going to be a damn close game now. Yeah, I this is I was going over these picks last night since we're doing this episode pre recorded in the morning. I was going over these picks. This is the one I had the most trouble with because these are two teams where they could either be very good or they could be very bad and neither of which you would be surprised with both of them in the exact same boat. So you can't it's very hard to predict how these two teams are going to be. But I think because of the flashiness and the overwhelming amount of talent the Bears have, they're going to come out with this victory whether they're good or not. And I've said this I've said this during the offseason over the summer several times. Caleb Williams only has to be average even somewhat he can even be somewhat below average in this. This Bears team will still be competitive because they just have that much talent. You have three potential wide receiver ones. That is and you have an offensive line that's in my opinion very underrated. You have a defense that's very underrated as well. And you're coaching we'll see how the coaching pans out how they how they handle this roster. But give me the Bears. It's not it's no shady shade against the Titans. But I think the Bears slightly. This is probably the most evenly matched game this week. And like Adam said with with Caleb Williams he doesn't even need to be like elite for Chicago to win just because of how many weapons he has. However I will tell you this. This is also something that Adam once said and I think he's right. We're gonna find out if Will Levis can play real fast. And Webis I think would have to do more to get the Titans the victory. And we need to talk defenses right. Because the Titans overhauled their defense. You now have Lajeria Smede and Chidobi Awuzzi. And the Bears you know you're locked up Jalen Johnson. So this is just and you could say that the Titans have more experience. I don't think it comes down to experience. It's going to come down to flash and skill and it's going to be close. But I think Chicago just eks it out. This was a tough one to call wasn't it? Yeah. Yeah that. Yeah Bears Titans is going to be this is probably going to be the best game of the weekend minus the prime time games. Texans Colts. In Indianapolis Colts hosting the Texans. But Texans are favored by three in this one. So we get CJ Stroud again and Texans in their brand spake and new unis as well. So they get to wear them for the first real time this season. And we get to see Anthony Richardson back in the pocket back under center for the Colts this year after being out for 75% of the season last year. So gonna be interesting to see how the Colts end up using Anthony Richardson. How much they actually really use him to run the ball. They said that we could see him in a camp big cam Newton role. But I don't think that's going to matter in this one because the Houston Texans are going to win this one. They're going to beat the Colts by seven. I'm thinking maybe we're going to see a good take del day. Maybe Anthony Richardson has himself a good game on the ground. Maybe he has a Lamar Jackson type of game from last night. Never know. Bucket Bucket. Anthony Richardson has a Lamar Jackson Thursday night game and take to over a hundred yards about a boom bad a bang out of what you said. Sounds like someone already set their parlay. I did it. I did it. That was literally just right off the belt. You know what? I've been picking the safe pick the all all episode. I'm actually going to go the opposite way. I'm going to go to the Colts. I think the Texans have a couple of new faces and they're going to have to figure it out with you have so many targets. You only have one ball and this team has so much pressure on them to be good. And I think they will. But I think this is another team that's going to struggle out of the gate. They're very young and they have to be able to handle this kind of pressure. I think the Colts have such lit so little expectations to be good that I think that out of the gates they're going to have a pretty good game. An offensive line that was that surpassed expectations last year. Pretty good offensive line. It wasn't always good. It wasn't supposed to be good and it ended up being ended up. It ended up out doing itself. Some pretty good targets. You have Michael Pittman. You have Alec Pierce. You have the other kid who's Josh Downs. Yeah, Josh. Did I get that right? It's off the top of my head. Yeah. Jonathan Taylor is finally healthy and he kind of looks like his vintage self. That'd be nice to see. A defense that looks pretty good. I think at home the Colts make some noise and maybe they're competitive this year. Give me the Colts. I think the Colts will be competitive but for me it comes down to defense. I'm not afraid of the Colts defense. They don't really have any playmakers that are going to wow me. While the Texans, you could argue too many mouths to feed, I just think they have too many weapons for you to deal with at once. Kenny Moore is a good corner but you only have one Kenny Moore, don't you? Meanwhile, Houston, you got Stingley and Will Anderson and they signed Aziz Al-Shayir and they grabbed another good corner. It's like the Neil Hunter too. Don't forget the Neil Hunter. The Neil Hunter. Yeah, no, it's like there's just a lot of guys for Houston to name and I think it's going to be a lot closer than what a lot of people are thinking but I trust Houston's offense against Indy's defense more than I trust Indy's offense against Houston's defense. So that being said, I'm going to lean towards Houston. I like it. I like it. Moving on to the next game. Dolphins, Jaguars and that brings us to our breaking news. Jalen Ramsey just signed a three year extendo 72 mill to the deal making him the highest paid cornerback in the NFL again after Patrick Sir 10 took over that coveted title. So Dolphins walking in Jalen Ramsey for an extra three in that regard and what a time to do it because in two days they'll host the Jacksonville Jaguars and well the dolphins we already know it they are they love to play at home. They love to run fast and I think they're going to run flying through Jacksonville this weekend. Put it on the board. Give me a 10 point win for the dolphins this week. Yeah, dolphins early season at home. This is a team that loves to play well in the regular season especially early on in the months of September and October and we're thinking are these team is this the team to beat? Is this the team in the AFC that's going to that's going to beat the chief that we always jump the gun on the dolphins and there's a reason why because they play their best football early in the season when the weather's warm. They're going to do it again here. I know the Jaguars are also a warm weather team but they have some things to figure out and until they do that I'm I'm never going to put my trust in the Jaguars until they figure out their coordinator situation. They have good personnel but they have some stuff to figure out. Give me the dolphins. I also want to point out real quick before CJ gives his pick one more point that I wanted to make dolphins they really need to win some games early on because the last six games of the season holy moly. At Green Bay versus New York the Jets at Houston versus at home against San Francisco and then they're on the road against the Browns and the Jets to end the season and mind you we're talking about cold weather games here and the dolphins absolutely suck in the cold weather. So they need to really win the first half of the season here before they go through hell in the second half. CJ, you're picked. I just don't think the Jags can keep up with Miami and I've been harsh on Miami in the past I've called them all smoke and mirrors all sizzle no steak and it's true but I don't but we all know the thing about how they can't beat contenders and I'm sorry the Jags are not contenders ergo you can beat the Jags giving Miami it's not going to be particularly close. Panthers versus Saints at the Superdome Saints by four for the line and I want to go with Panthers. I'm going to go with the Panthers. I've just been seeing a lot of what they've been doing with Bryce Young over there how they're utilizing him correctly the way that he should be used. What a theory. What an idea. We use our quarterback the right way. What? What? So all right I'm thinking that this is going to be a dare car stink best as well. I think this is going to be a game where Saints fans are going to be pulling their hair out to an extreme extent because a dare car. Bryce Young is going to really turns man's in this one. I'm going to go with the Panthers. Yeah give me the Panthers. I like what they're doing right now in year two for Bryce Young. You know you had it you had Adam feeling great but you needed more than just that. So what did you do? You traded for Deontay Johnson not only that but you traded back into the first round the round that you traded out of in order to trade up last year to go and get Bryce Young but you went and got Xavier Laguette who a player who I think is one of the most underrated wide receiver prospects in this draft class. So you have that big three. One of those guys if not more will turn out to be a wide receiver one this year and give Bryce Young it won't require Bryce Young as much time to stand in the pocket in order to throw the ball. That's huge. So Bryce Young in year two I like this kid and against the Saints team that isn't all too much to write home about. Give me the Panthers. Week one upset. I don't know why the Saints are favored in this game. They are the definition of forgettable. Now we all know that New Orleans is home to a vibrant cooking culture. However that is ironic to me because if the Saints were a spice they would be flour. They're just so unforgettable and at least the Panthers are taking strides to be better whereas the Saints have been stuck in second year for as long as I can remember at least since 2019. So I'm sorry it's going to be the Panthers. Once again I don't know what the odds makers were thinking there but I'm rolling with Carolina. That was a crazy connotation about the flour you made. I never thought of that one before. It took him time to think of that. Yeah final game on the 1 p.m. docket Vikings versus Giants at MetLife. Geez. Come on you know his winning. Give me the Vikings. Vikings it's not close. I know you I know you have Sam Darnold but that whole team has weapons. Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hockinson, you went and got Aaron Jones. That whole team is loaded besides the quarterback position and the Giants aren't it's not complicated. Give me the yeah give me give me the Vikings. So the thing for me is that I can draw a parallel this week at least between the Vikings and their other their other brother in the AFC North the Bears. Specifically how my good friend Adam mentioned how Caleb Williams doesn't really have to do a whole lot to win Ditto Sam Darnold. If Darnold can just be a game manager that's all he needs to do then the Vikings will win and at barest of minimums I think he can be an okay game manager which is still better than Danny Durbs. So yeah not a whole lot of that required. Give me the Vikings. With that we'll take a short break. When we come back we'll get into the 4 p.m. slot. They're listening to the Pomerusica podcast. It may not have always showed it in the stats sheet but you can see him making throws when he needs to make the throws back to back games where he has three touchdowns. Someone's got to get that six or seven spot. He's an elite wide receiver as a rookie. Truly a loose, loose scenario for both sides. You're listening to the Fumblers called Ask sponsored by Power 88 Dean Radio in Secret Weapon Consulting. Chris Costich, Adam Wright, C.J. Madeeros get into the 4 p.m. slot as we start with in Inglewood, California the LA Chargers facing off against Las Vegas Raiders. Spread is at Chargers by three. I don't like that. I don't like that one bit. Give me the Raiders. The Raiders. I'll be on them. You have got some mint shoe magic for this one. I just don't really like the Chargers right now. I like the Chargers with Jim Harbaugh but I just don't like them right now if that makes sense. Somebody had an extra cup of coffee this morning. Holy crap. I didn't have any. You have some energy tonight. I need to bring some energy. I'm the one bringing the energy here, man. I mean, I had two cops but damn. But I don't know. I think the Raiders have a different energy about them. They got their guy at head coach, Antonio Pierce. We saw the way they played last year, completely different vibes from when they had Josh McDaniel's. I think it's going to carry over into week one this year. They're facing off against their division rival and the Chargers. Granted, the Chargers are also going to be coming back and trying to whip the Raiders ass for hanging up 60 on them last year. So I forgot about that. Yeah. I still think it's going to be the Raiders but a much, much, much closer game. I'm going to say it's going to come down to a field goal maybe by a point if anything. This game's not going to end up meeting much just because I don't think either of these teams are sniffing the playoffs. But I'm going to take the Chargers. I think you have an elite quarterback and you have now an elite coach. I think that's more important than having targets and having nothing at coaching. And also you have a little more time for Herbert to throw because you have you just added another tackle, which is huge. That offensive line has been bad for a very long time for Herbert. So I think in some ways this Chargers team is going to be a little better. So yeah, give me the Chargers. I don't think they're making the playoffs but I think they're making the right steps towards doing right by Herbert and putting them in contention, which is where they should be with an elite quarterback like this. So the thing for me is that look, I know the Chargers don't have weapons but let's not act like Jim Harbaugh is some great unknown. He's coached in the NFL before. Heck, he took Colin Kaepernick to a Super Bowl. So like I said, let's not pretend he's green behind the ears. And he's one. He's coming off a championship win with the University of Michigan. The Raiders, look, Antonio Pierce is solid. Menchoo is solid. But I just I just think this is going to come down to coaching. And I don't care how long he's been out of the league. I think that excuse me, that Harbaugh is still a little bit better than Pierce. I would not be shocked if the Raiders won, but I will concede that it's going to be a close game. It's going to be a gritty win. So it's not going to be a sexy game. But at the end of the day, the Chargers will be the ones left standing, but barely. I can care. I could care with that. Next game on the docket, Bronco Seahawks spread Seahawks by six. I'm going to see the first game for Bo Nix in a Broncos uniform as he's the week one starter going up against Geno Smith, starter for the Seahawks. And look, I'm just going to keep this straight and arrow. Bronco's are a bottom five team in the league. They're a bottom five team in the league, giving the Seahawks. See, I think the Broncos are going to be a little better than we give them credit for this year, just because I think they found a decent guy in Bo Nix from what we've seen. He's on the older side. He's on the older side for a young quarterback, but he for a guy who's what you would call the one of the older rookie quarterbacks, he looks exactly how you would think. He looks more polished right out of the gates. And Sean Payton, I think is he found the right guy. They were celebrating on that reach of a pick at number 13. There had to be some merit to that. Therefore, I think this is going to be a moral victory for the Broncos and the Seahawks are going to win this one. Not even saying that the Broncos are going to make the playoffs, but I think there's going to be some reason for optimism over in Denver. So the Seahawks, they win, but very narrowly. I think those Seahawks are good for winning games. And now the Broncos are good for games in the future in 2025. I am so unimpressed by both teams. I really am. But I do like the new head coach, McDonald for the Seahawks. He's going to make the defense a lot tougher. And as it sits right now, I just think that with what's his name there, Kenneth Walker and DJ or DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, I just don't know if the Denver defense, which doesn't have squat outside of Pat Sir Tan is going to have an answer for it. I think Denver will keep pace. And I think that Denver is going to cover. But this is the Seahawks game to lose. And I am choosing them here. And now we move on to America's game of the week, Cowboys versus Browns. It's going to be the first game with Tom Brady in the booth. And Browns getting to Sean Watson back, CD lamb, fully secure thing that was pissing me off this entire week, including last week after CD lamb signed that extension was on fancy football. He still had the big red O next to his name for out. I'm like, brother, you just signed an extension. Just rule them available. Anyways, I think this is going to be a repeat of last year, if anything, in terms of Dallas, not playing well on the road against teams that are actually good. So I'm going to go with the Browns on this one spreads that two and a half. I think the Browns cover, but barely cover. So I'm going to go Browns by three on this one. The Browns rather, the Cowboys tend to play their best football early in the year. And they still have the star power to do it. I understand last year they weren't the best road team, but they are also a very good early season team, just like the dolphins, except a little better than the dolphins. Give me the Cowboys. I think the Cowboys, again, they have some things to prove their star quarterback is still looking for a big deal. And CD lamb just got paid usually quarter, usually wide receivers still play well after they are paid that big extension. But Dak still has a chip on his shoulder. And so does Michael Parsons. I think this Cowboys team is going to be very competitive this year. And it's going to show on week one against the Browns. Give me the Cowboys. When I just look over this Cowboys team, I don't see how the Browns stack up. And Chris said, you know, the Browns are getting to Sean Watson back by Brown's fan. I'd rather Joe Flacco. And this has got to be a very frustrating game for to Sean Watson. Because let's face it, Dallas is not a masseuse, meaning talent wise, he can't touch them. So I'm sorry. I think that the Cowboys are going to whoop the Browns. That is just the truth. That's why it's America's game of the week. A lot of differing opinions. I love it. I love it. Last four o'clock game. Well, technically 425 game on the docket, commanders and the bucks in Tampa Bay and some potential thunderstorms, which is wild considering the Buccaneers were the worst run team in the league last year. So they're actually going to have to really pound the ground with Rashad White in this one, most likely. But there's also a lot of people saying that Bucky Irving could potentially be the next guy up for Tampa Bay as well. Other storylines, Jaden Daniels making his NFL debut for the Washington commanders. And a lot of good stuff over there in Washington right now, a lot of high praise for Jaden Daniels. But I think that this is going to be the bucket New Year's time in this one. You know, there's a lot of rookie quarterbacks don't usually get that week one victory. I'm going to say that Jaden Daniels is going to be one of those guys. I mean, look, Washington definitely got themselves improved compared to last year, especially over the offseason. But I'm thinking that it's going to be Tampa's day this Sunday. So give me the box. Commanders, I'm taking commanders. Jaden Daniels is playing around a team as far as personnel goes, that is still pretty darn good. And when you look at it that way, and given again, Jaden Daniels age, he was part of the intrigue to Daniels at the top of this draft was that he was closer to big league ready than a lot of the other quarterbacks in this draft. It's going to be the same same way here as I thought with Bonix except it's not going to be a moral victory because there's a better team around Jaden Daniels and he is impressed in camp and in preseason. So I think the commanders get off to a decent start and they pull off the upset. I have the commanders pulling off the road victory. This is just a strange game because I am higher on Rashad White than most for Tampa. But I also think that even though he's more known for Super Bowl meltdown, Dan Quinn is the better head coach here. I just, this is a game that could go either way and I know that Tampa is favored and a lot of people have told me, hey, this is the definition of a trap game. But I don't see it for one reason. Defense. I know that Dan Quinn is supposedly the defensive mastermind but there is not a single person in that commander's defensive backfield that scares me. Meaning that Mike Evans and Chris Godwin are going to eat and so and so will Rashad White when he breaks into that next level. So I'm going to have to go with the bucket nears and it's not going to be like a route but it'll be a respectable win. Yeah, I'm not expecting this to be a route and if the weather does go away that it's showing according to Accuweather 90 degrees in thunderstorms. I mean they're not going to play a thunderstorm but if it's going to be wet then it's definitely going to be a closer game than what most would probably expect. With that we move on to the Monday night game. Jets 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Niners have the spread at four and a half and I'm going to go with the Niners on this one. I just don't think the Jets stack up as well as most people would think. The Jets just don't really impress me even with Rogers. There's nothing about them that I necessarily think is a Super Bowl contender. Give me the Niners. I wasn't going to pick the Jets but you kind of forced my hand here. I'm taking the Jets. I'm forcing your hand. I'm forcing your hand. I think so, yeah. I think I think they're a very competitive team this year and they completely revamped their offensive line. You add an elite quarterback who if he is completely healthy and his normal self he's perfectly fine. You have Garrett Wilson. You added Mike Williams as a wide receiver too. You still have Alan Lazard and you have an elite defense and you have Robert Sola a decent, a decent head coach. I have the Jets winning this game and if they don't then they're still going to be competitive this year because I am very much higher on this team than you guys are. I'll give you credit on Lazard. He is good. I wasn't going to pick the Jets for week one. I wasn't going to have him but you know what? I'll do it. You got to be different, don't we? So the thing for me, I just, I'm like Chris the Jets don't particularly scare me and I've been called foolish for this take but Garrett Wilson has never really scared me. Breece does a little bit but is Roger still going to be MVP Rogers? Maybe. I mean from his MVP season to the very next season there was a noticeable drop off and I don't see that improvement. Maybe if he can be a game manager just he can't keep it close and I know the Jets have an elite defense. The only issue for me is that the Niners just have too many ways to attack you. Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, the newly extended Brandon Iyuk and Debo Samuel. I mean I know the Jets have a really tough gritty stingy defense but and I do think it's going to be close but are you familiar with the phrase death by a thousand cuts? That's how the Jets are going to meet their end and I got the Niners. This offensive line has gotten significantly better for the Jets. John Simpson they added from the Ravens Morgan Moses same thing Ravens tackle. Olu Fashanu they got in the first round. Tyran Smith has been a very good tackle for years. This offensive line is not only better than it was before but it has decent death to it as well and I think that is huge for a team that needs to do a better job of protecting Aaron Rogers. Can't have this guy getting hurt three plays into his Jets career. Can't have that happening but they added weapons for him. They added to the offensive line and if this kid if if this guy is the same guy that he was with the Packers then I have them I have them being a very competitive team this year. How competitive is going to Matt is going to depend on if Rogers still has it or not and I think he does. My only counterpoint is Leonard Floyd, Javon Hardraven, Nick Bosa we'll see. I think it'll be a good game. I think it'll be a good game but I just don't think that the Jets are going to really get it done. It's the most simple terms possible. A little short on time so we're going to get right into our Fumblerooski game of the week. The Sunday night game the Rams versus the Lions the NFC wildcard rematch. Matthew Stafford making another return to Detroit and I'm going to bet you it's going to be just as loud as it was for that wildcard game where the Rams went to town and I'm going to go with the Rams on this one. They're going to get their revenge on the Lions and now here's the thing with the Rams. Obviously you lose Aaron Donald and that's going to be that's a huge loss so their defense is definitely going to be reeling for this year and trying to fill that gap basically and the Lions did improve a little bit on defense compared to last year but I'm calling it right now this is going to be an absolute shootout an absolute shootout by these two offenses that the Rams pull out with a victory in. It was roughly four years ago the Fumblerooski podcast had just begun just it was it had been only a month old when this trade was made between the Rams and Lions and it's I can't believe this ended up being a tie I mean the the Lions are in contention right now and the Rams are still kicking around in competitive and they already won their Super Bowl and I'm so glad that they are both that they are both competitive in that they they face each other while being competitive it's awesome and this is I'm so glad that this is the game of the week I hope they they meet again in the playoffs and it ends up being another thriller but here I have the Lions I think they have the most momentum here as you mentioned that Rams defense has lost a lot since their glory days of 2021 they it's lost a lot and that's a huge problem for them and the Lions their defense got better they saw their weaknesses their run defense in their secondary was highly flawed they addressed both of them this offseason and now it's hard to find the weaknesses here it really is and so the way I look at it this Lions team is going to be a juggernaut this year give me the Lions I don't see the Rams winning because the Rams their offense has improved you know Kyron Williams is coming back you got a Cooper Cup comeback Puka we know what he can do it's just without Aaron Donald the engine of that defense you're lying on a lot of young guys and they're they're too far removed from you know their glory days like Adam said you know where they won the Super Bowl so at this point in time these are just two teams on opposite trajectories I think that the Lions have passed them out right and this game is going to reflect that I like it I like it well that we'll do it for our Friday review for week one anything else that you fellas would like to add before we end the show I think they had plenty our audience got plenty for our hour and 11 minutes of of coverage of week one and boy did we need all of it oh football is back and I couldn't be happier oh yeah that'll do it for the show tonight thank you for listening new episodes out Tuesdays at 7 30 Fridays at 5 the Friday episodes are officially back be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel we also we also have all our episodes available on Spotify, Spreaker, Apple podcast, iArt radio, Google podcast and so much more be sure to follow our Instagram Fumblerski_podcast in our TikTok Fumblerski pod to keep up with our podcast and the latest coverage on the NFL otherwise from Chris Goss, Hitch, Adam Wright, CJ Medeiros and the rest of the Fumblerski crew you say so long we'll see you on Tuesday over and out