- What do we want? - Popeye's chicken wings! - Why do we want 'em? - They're the official wing of watching football! - At $5.99 for six-piece, when do we want 'em? - When we're watching the game! - That's right, game time is wing time! - ♪ Bum, bum, bum, chicken from Popeye ♪ - ♪ And participating U.S. restaurants, prices may vary. ♪ - Hey Applebee's, congrats on becoming the official girl and bar sponsor of the NFL. How does it feel? I'm glad we'll be able to bring some extra heat. Any plans to celebrate? Yeah, we're gonna serve up America's favorite bowling swings for just $0.50 each to get it called "season." Limited time, price participation in this election may vary, tax number 2D excluded. - This episode is brought to you by Progressive. Most of you aren't just listening right now, you're multitasking, but what if you could also be saving money by switching to Progressive? Drivers you save by switching save nearly $750 on average and auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. So, multi-task right now. Get your quote now at progressive.com. Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates. National average 12 months savings of $744 by new customer surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. - When I do my picks with Forreo, we have our like, we call it like our Johnny Cash, you're dead in a gutter and like, you know, if you have to pick one more team, you're dying in a gutter, that's definitely going to win this week. I pick the Bengals. - Yeah, okay. - Oh, no, he's already dead in the gutter. - Seriously. - He took the Bengals. I took the Saints, I believe. One worked out. - Good job. - One did not. That was one of the biggest surprises of week one, the Patriots beating the Bengals, but we focus now on week two. This is the PFTPM Chris Simpson button picks podcast delivered by Little Caesars, the official pizza sponsor of the national football league pizza. - I like it. I like it. - You know, they do pizza pizza because their original hook was you got two pizzas. - Oh, I remember pizza pizza. - I remember. You're right. You're right. I don't know if I ever really put that together, but I do remember being young and the whole two pizza thing. And yeah, that's what led into that. I never tied that together. Thank you there, old wise man, you for setting that light on me. - Eventually that changed. And now people just think he is paying homage to Johnny two times from good fellows who got that nickname. - Get the papers, get the papers. - Twice. I'm going to get the papers. Get the papers. Okay. - Hey, wait, one other thing. One other thing, with the Johnny Cash thing, you know, dead in a gutter somewhere, right, we need to keep score of that too. Like, I'm dead once this year. I'm already dead. Yeah. So you're alive and I'm on my first death. So I think we should keep score that. I actually think that could be funny just as we go along. By the way, by the way, it's Jimmy two times. Oh, yeah. I had Johnny Cash in my head. It's Jimmy two times. Right. Johnny two times. Right. Gotcha. Gotcha. All right. So that'll be good. So yeah, we do rarely get those wrong. Rarely get those wrong. There's usually one game per week that we can look at and say, that's a lock money line to the extent that you wager. And we say if you do wager responsibly and only bet money that you can afford to lose. But those are the ones I usually feel good about. You did last week and it turned out. I'm dead and I got it. He was eating cats. Somebody was eating cats in Ohio last Sunday. That's all I would say. You're funny. You're funny. Hey, you should have been here yesterday. I think we made I think we made 50 references, some subtle, some not. So and let me tell you, all politics aside, if you don't see the humor in that, we can't be friends. Because there's just a base, not you. I'm talking about you. I got you. I got you. There's a basic comedy element to it. That if you refuse to accept that, move along. Okay. Okay. All right. Hello, everybody. Week two podcast. Last week, we disagreed on four games. I was three and one somehow somehow. I got lucky. I still strenuously object to the photo. Travis, he gets bumbling and hurt me airbrushed and painted by da Vinci. Damn. I was good. Well, it just went up. That's how I was made by the heavens. That's how I look. Okay. The heavens set me down looking like that. And you look like the shovel lawyer on the left. That's very fitting. Against the spread. And I never pay attention to against the spread because usually I suck. 10 five and one means you're making money. Oh, yeah. Maybe 10 five and one against the Jimmy two times. I don't like you this week. If you they're going to stop taking my bets, because you know, if you do too well, they shut you out. Even if you're not counting cards, sorry, take your business elsewhere. We don't want somebody who actually wins on a regular basis. You were three and oh best bets. Well done. I was two and one. Thanks for nothing Green Bay Packers. So, you know, you do have at least one little feather in your cap. Thank you. Thank you for giving that little feather. I appreciate that long year. Lots of fun. I love doing this pod. So this will be great. I feel good. I mean, my first thought is I'm 13 to three. I'm 10 games over 500. That gives you some cushion. I'll fuck it up. Good. You know, in the coming weeks. Sorry, Kristin. Okay, hold today. Go ahead. All right. Every week this season, by the way, you can play along with us. Draft Kings has set up the free $1,000 Florio and Sims pick and pull, pick every game against the spread for a chance at a $1,000 prize pool every single week. Download the Draft Kings app, click on the pools tab and enter the Florio and Sims free $1,000. Pick them pool to make your picks. And just like us, you've got to enter all your picks before kickoff of the first game of the week on Thursday night. Even if you think Kristin McCaffrey's playing on Monday night and you end up being wrong too bad, you can't change your picks once he's inactive. And I'm still pissed about that. Okay. Let's move forward. Thursday night football. Yeah. A big one right out of the gate. Amazon can't complain about the quality of the slate. Here come the Buffalo Bills into Miami. They have to be happy. It's not the middle of a day in September when they get melted on that sideline. That's true. Sun sits and bakes them and the dolphins are in shade. Everybody's going to be in shade. It's going to be under the lights tonight. Dolphins favorite. Now to talk about low is one in six against the Bills all time. Dolphins are favored by two and a half over under a 48 point five. The Tyree kill stuff from Sunday seemed to galvanize the team. Omar Kelly of the Miami Herald was on with me earlier. He said that they were going to arrest those guys. Tyree killing Clay's Campbell. They weren't going to play until the dolphins intervened and they were released. That would have been something on Sunday. But as it stands, the dolphins trying to make it two and oh trying to beat the Buffalo Bills and take over first place in the AFC East. Who do you like and why? Yeah. I do think it brought that team together. Right. It's one of those like in intended consequences of a very weird and odd odd situation that will rally a locker room together. Mike, the first thing I think of is the first thing you said. Sean McDermott and company have Mike McDaniel in the Miami Dolphins number. There's no doubt about that. He's one of the first people that kind of let's say crack the code to a degree on the, you know, Mike McDaniel awesome high flying offense and has found ways to slow that down has done really good. Right. I think I saw a stat that something like in the last three games they've played the Dolphins, I think they've only scored like 37 35 points against the Bills, something like that three three games combined. Maybe I'm maybe I'm wrong about that. But either way, it's a very real aspect that McDermott has good feel for it. Right. The other side of the ball, you look at, listen, I think the Dolphins have more talent on their team. It goes back to what we always say and what we always talk about. I like the Bills. You know that, but I still think they missed difference makers. Maybe Gregory Rousseau and Von Miller can really be that on the defensive side of the ball. They look good last week. Right. I just want to see if that can continue. I've seen Rousseau look good early in a season before and then kind of fall off. So with all that and what I'm saying, I'm going to pick the Miami Dolphins. I am. And I'm picking them strictly because, hey, I think the whole tough thing, wind tough games is truly going to be a mantra for them. Yeah. The bringing together of the incident last week. Right. The fact that they've lost all these games to the Bills, I think it's going to, you know, put a little chip on their shoulder to prove them wrong there. And I don't think the Bills have enough playmakers when it's all said and done to hang with the Miami Dolphins. That's what worries me. But of course, Josh Allen and his greatness is the great equalizer. And that scares me on the other side. I'm going to go Dolphins 24 20 here on the Thursday night game. I actually decided to go with the Bills on this. You did. He's 7 23. I'm influenced by two of his struggles against Buffalo. The one win came two years ago. The day he had the back injury. Right. Remember that? That was the day Ken Dorsey went boncos in the press box and through stuff everywhere. He's no longer the offensive coordinator in Buffalo. It's now Joe Brady who took over last year and did a good job for me. What happened on Sunday? What was the difference for you? What happened on Sunday? I think it's the kind of thing we've seen this before. You have an emotional day, an emotional win, but it takes something out of you. Yeah, I hear that. There's a price to be paid on the back end. And it has been a distraction. You've got Tyree killed talking about it at length at press conferences doing CNN interviews, NBC night news interviews, Mike McDaniel emotional about it. There's just a lot of stuff that everyone's had to unpack and process on a short week. And that becomes a very real distraction. You didn't self-inflicted. It happened. It landed in your laps. You're dealing with it. And I think that makes it harder for the Dolphins to muster the same magic. And the magic almost didn't show up last week. I give them credit. Yeah. Starting with Javon Hall and punching the ball out of Travis ATN's hands. That is what turned it around for the Dolphins. And the Bills had to do the same kind of thing. A little bit of a magic trick. The Cardinals were up. Then the Bills were up. Then the Bills tried to blow it. But I just think the traditional mastery of the Dolphins by the Bills. Yeah. In recent years. Right. And you throw that that incident on there. Yes, it was fuel on Sunday. By Thursday, the tank might be a little empty. I think it's too much to ask for the Dolphins to be as focused and driven and together. They'll be together. But something's going to be missing. And I think the Bills take advantage of that 27-23. All right. It's going to be good. Either way, I think we get a great game tonight. We know that. And there is some studs on the field. And I hear you there. I'm going in the angle of just McDaniel's is going to be sick of getting beat by McDermott. And they're going to have something for them different tonight or maybe crack the code. We'll see where it goes. But I think your points are very real and things that I thought about certainly to go over to the Buffalo side. This one's to me is a toss up. It definitely won't be my best bet. And with the two and a half point spread, that's the clear sign, the shining signal that not even Vegas is quite sure about this game. That's what they always do with that one there. And this game is critical for the Miami Dolphins. Omar Kelly made that point earlier because if you lose this one at home to the Bills, you have to go there. November 3rd. Who knows what the weather will be that day right now. And if you get swept, you have to make up three games elsewhere to overcome the Bills because you're down to and they hold the head to head tiebreaker if you're tied atop the division when it's all said and done. All right, we moved to Sunday. The Baltimore Ravens get a little extra rest coming out of the Thursday night opener. Apparently, Lamar Jackson benefited from it. He didn't practice Monday. He's completely off the injury report, which is good news for the Ravens. There was some concern. He had a lingering issue from getting banged around with 16 carries on Thursday night. The Ravens are favored by eight and a half. It's the biggest spread of the week. The Raiders fell to the Chargers to start the season. There was at least one questionable coaching decision that day. And there is questionable quarterback play for the Raiders. I think we both believe the Ravens are going to win this. I don't think that's a stretch to say that they'll hold serve at home. The question is, can they overcome the eight and a half point? Yeah, I'm going to say yes. And of course, yes, I'm going with them. And I think they will cover. I think you're going to see a pissed off right a pissed off Baltimore Ravens football team. That's going to be mad that they then their eyes let one slip away, right? They were out by an inch. And who knows where the game goes. But but in all honesty, I think they're a team that is just on a different level than the the Las Vegas Raiders at this point, right? Can can Max Crosby and company and Christian Wilkins create some havoc and maybe create a few turnovers and do something like maybe. But I got to see it to believe it, right? I look at Baltimore and go, Hey, Lamar is on a mission. Certainly. I think that offense will continue to get better as we go here. They're not going to have to rely on him scrambling and doing all that. And then you kind of hit on it, Mike. The thing I worry about the most is the Raiders offense, right? It's it's one of the lesser starting quarterbacks in football. Certainly. It's not a ton of weapons at receiver. And there's no ground game that's proven or shown us yet to me go, Oh, they'll go go to Baltimore and be able to control the clock and run the football like absolutely not. So I worry about all those things. Let alone Baltimore is a tough place to play. I'm clearly going with the Baltimore Ravens 34 17. I'm taking them at home on this one. If anything, we've come to know about the Baltimore Ravens and John Harbaugh over the past 16 years has any relevance. They will not lose this game and they will win it convincingly. And this will be the way they get the bad taste out of their mouths for the opportunity that was missed last Thursday night. I feel bad for the Raiders. They're walking into a tough, tough spot. And I think they probably know it now. They got nothing to lose. Maybe they can surprise us. And if they would, all of a sudden we feel very differently about the Baltimore Ravens. But there's no reasonable basis to believe that the outcome will be anything other than a smothering victory by the Ravens. 27 to 10 is my score. So we both have that 17 point margin. I've just got fewer points than you do to get to the same place. Let's move on to the LA Chargers, six point road favorites, which is not surprising when you consider they are facing the Carolina Panthers who were blown off the field by the New Orleans Saints. The end of my power rankings this week, I had to share with you the hammer for the last three teams. I said number 30, the Raiders by Halloween. Devonta Adams is going to be wearing a Jets costume. 31, the Giants by Thanksgiving. Bill Belichick is going to be looking for property in New Jersey. 32 David Tepper by Columbus day. He's going to be throwing drinks on himself. So I like that. It was that bad. It was that bad last week. Oh, no doubt. I don't see it getting any better. Go ahead. I think we're going to be on the same page with this. I'm definitely taking the Chargers. I don't think anything's going to be sexy here, right? I don't know if the Chargers are capable of looking sexy with the new Jim Harbaugh style of football, but that's Hey, they've taken the mantra. We kind of talked about this on Monday on PFT, right? They're going to be a little bit like, Hey, we're going to play sound. We're going to play physical and we're not going to mess up and you'll mess up and lose the game. And when you do that, we'll take advantage of it. That's kind of what happened last week. It's kind of the MO of Jim Harbaugh. That's why it's never been. Oh my gosh. Look at their team. Look at their offense. Look at all these great plays. But what is there to look at a Carolina right now? They lost their best defensive player in Derrick Brown hands down their best defensive player. They got torn up in the past game by big plays last week. And they got a guy this week that, yeah, there's not a lot of weapons, but we know Justin Herbert can throw the ball down the field as good as anybody in the game. So those are working against the Panthers. Let alone, I mean, come on, how can you pick any game with the Panthers offense and Bryce Young at quarterback right now? That's just a simple fact of the matter. Let alone, I don't know the status of Joey Bosa. I know he got a little banged up in the game, but man, the D line of the Chargers and stuff, they were around Minshu last week. They look good. So I certainly think that's going to foster and bother Bryce Young, who is yet to really look comfortable in any game as an NFL starting quarterback. I am going Chargers 21 Panthers 13. 23 7 is my score. Look, I know you mentioned Justin Herbert. And at some point, when we look at how the Chargers are going to play under Jim Harbaugh, yeah, it's a lot of money to pay to a guy that's going to be handing the ball. I know they're going to find something right. Especially in a game where they can in a game like this, you said it, Derrick Brown's out just overpower, run the ball, run the ball, pound them into submission, demoralize them, build a lead and force Bryce Young to do something. And I feel bad for Bryce Young, he shouldn't have been the first overall pick. No, that's exactly right. What the hell the Panthers were thinking and it put extra pressure on him. Right. And it allows him to be perceived as a failure. It's going to be harder for him to get his second chance when the opportunity for one inevitably comes because he's going to have this stigma of abjecting complete failure. He should not have been the first overall pick. And it's a shame. And they traded. I mean, they gave up the rights to Caleb Williams to get Bryce Young. It's as bad as it can be for Bryce Young. I've yet to see anything that makes us think he's going to deliver on the promise that made him the first overall pick. And I feel like the wheels are already off for the Carolina Panthers. And at least this year when they earn the first overall pick, they'll be able to use it come April. Yeah, I hear you there. Now, one thing I want to say is they weren't the only team with Bryce Young as their number one quarterback on the board. So, I will give them the benefit of the doubt there. All right. And as I as I've told you before and all that too, the Houston Texans would have took Bryce Young number one if they had a choice. I know they all everybody thinks they look like geniuses right now. But Bryce Young was number one on their board. They can say what they want. I know the truth. A lot of people know the truth. I think you know the truth. So yeah, but it hasn't looked good. And hey, partly is the team and all the things you said. Hopefully they can kind of get that going in the right direction. They made investments in that offensive line. Hopefully it plays better this week. Hopefully they can run the ball a little bit and help Bryce Young that way because he's certainly not capable of carrying the team with his right arm or doing anything like that right now. And let me just say this too. This isn't about Bryce Young because I think back still in 1999, you flipped on a nab in a Kelly Smith between the Bengals and the Eagles. And maybe a Kelly Smith is a fringe Hall of Famer and Donna McNab lasted two years in the NFL. If you pull Bryce Young in Houston with everything they have there and the coaching staff that they've had the last two years, maybe he'd be a lot better. It looked better for sure. I wouldn't. He got he got thrown into a a vat of dysfunction and it's going to stick to him. That's my point. They trade it up. I hear you get him. They gave up so much to get and they put so much into it. I feel bad for him. And I hope he gets a fair shot somewhere else when it runs its course in Carolina. Next up New Orleans Saints taken on the Dallas Cowboys and it's Tom Brady calling the game Cowboys two weeks in a row. I thought they'd send him to New England for Seahawks Patriots, but it's Saints Cowboys. For some reason I had in my brain, this game was going to be played in New Orleans. I'm glad that it's that it's corrected here. It is at the Cowboys. The Cowboys are six point favorites. And the over under is 47. Both teams won. Both teams were impressive, but the Saints beat the Panthers and the Cowboys won at Cleveland. Who do you like in this? Well, you know, this it's an interesting matchup. I saw some things on the Saints in that game, right? When I even when I went back and watch it that I was impressed with their old line is still very good there in New Orleans. And if Derek Carr is willing to stand in the pocket and throw the ball down the field and he's got some guys that can bring some heat now and stretch the field with Rashid Shahid and Chris Olave and company. They can be dangerous if Derek Carr continues to be good in the pocket and play with an aggressive mindset. And that's the thing I love the most. Alvin Camara still looks damn good on the optimism side of the ball. They got weapons there. So I and they look like they got a little attitude. Their defense isn't overly talented, but they got some players in the secondary and they're extremely well coached, right? I'm picking the Dallas Cowboys, but this is one that again, I don't feel real great. Like if there's an upset that could happen this week, I think this is one of the ones you put a star next to and go, I could see this one happening. Cowboys feeling great, right? Doing all that. This is going to be a different game plan. They're not going to get crazy blitzes all the time like they did in Cleveland and be able to expose it that way. And I think they're going to have a more functioning offense in New Orleans that they're going against unlike Cleveland last week where yeah, it'll feel positioned and things like that'll be an issue. But at the end of the day, I think Dallas is just more talented of a football team. I like what I saw from Mike Zimmer on the D and I think their offense has got enough talent there to move that ball in that Dennis Allen defense. I picked a 23 17. I see the spread is six. I'm going to go 22 17 instead. So I will have the Saints covering that six points. Threading the six point needle. But I I always tell people after week one, if you won the game, you have no idea how bad the team is you beat. So you don't know how much stock to put in the performance. I think the Saints fall into that category because they're arguably the worst team in football, just like the Vikings. They beat maybe the second worst team in football. The Cowboys went into Cleveland and embarrassed the Browns and you know, they're at home. Mike Zimmer and Michael Parsons have a great connection. It's still early. People are healthy. This just feels like remember how good the Cowboys were at home last year until they weren't in the playoffs. This just feels like one of those days. It just feels like one of those days when the Cowboys are going to have everything clicking and the Saints aren't going to just fold their tents and get blown out. It's going to be close, but I'm going to go 34 26 Cowboys win and just beat the number by a couple of points. And it should be an exciting game. It's one of the rare occasions that we have the Cowboys at one o'clock. Right. When I see that time, I'm like, what what? They're always prime time. They're always 425. But that's a rare in the cluster of one o'clock games. And it could be a good one. It could be a very exciting finish. Right. And again, it's another Tom Brady game. If you're inclined to pick which game you watch based upon who the announcer is, that's where you'll find Tommy on Sunday. All right. Anything more on that one? No, I think I think we hit it. Buccaneers at the Lions rematch of the division around game that we were at last year and the Buccaneers gave the Lions fits and but for some curious decisions, not to call time outs when the Lions were in the process of botching clock management down the stretch. One of the most under reported or discussed or analyzed moments of the year last year. It's like it never even happened. So the Bucks, nobody believes in them except me. They're going to Detroit. They're taking on the Lions who barely beat our Rams team that's already got seven guys on Ninja Reserve. Do the Bucks who are extra motivated by this, Baker Mayfield has talked about it. Can they go into Ford Field? They're not sneaking in the back door this time. They're kicking in the front door. Can they go in there and come out with a win? Right. And by the way, there's seven and a half point underdogs in this seven and a half points with an over under 51. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's interesting, you know, and the Bucks are one of those teams that like I know is good definitely, but to your point of what you just said about some of the other teams, I'm not sure how good Washington is, right? They're in a rebuild mode. We know that. You know, there's nothing special there. So I'm like, okay, that was a good win. Baker Mayfield was awesome. There's no doubt about that. I like their offensive line. Right. I like the way they attacked. And of course I like their receivers. How can you not? And I think Baker Mayfield is going to be even more comfortable in Erie too in Tampa Bay, even though the offense is slightly different, but not a huge change really schematically. Okay. So I like that. But Detroit, I still look at them and go, Hey, I know they didn't play great last week. But I think what you saw at the end of the game is closer to what they're going to be now, like this week. Hey, it got they got a few quarters under their belt. The offensive line started a steam role as that game went on. And we saw it in overtime, ran the ball every play down the field, I think, except for one throw. So I look at Detroit and still go, I think it's one of the most talented teams in football. I look at it and go, I think they kind of knocked the rust off last week. And I think they're good. I guess what I'm saying is I even trust their coaches a little bit more to take that divisional playoff game and find the new way to attack maybe more than I trust Tampa Bay. I'm going to go with the Lions here. And I'm kind of riding this spread. I'm going Lions 34 24. Like in a game that's really closer than that, but the Lions kick a late field goal to kind of put it away, something like that score being misleading. But I think points will be a punty in this one because of the styles of the offense and Jamison Williams out of the Lions. Watch out. Like I've been saying, that adds a different dynamic to their football team, but I like the Lions. Last Thursday, when we were in Kansas City doing the picks podcast delivered by little Caesar's pizza pizza, I accused you on a couple of occasions of allowing your narrative to inform your pick. I did it when you pick the Cardinals over the bills may have done it when you pick the Jaguars over the Dolphins fully aware of the admonition that I directed at you last week. I am allowing my narrative to inform my pick. Thank you. Because if the Buccaneers are going to be as good this year as I think they are, one of the necessary foundational pieces is to go up to Michigan and eat some cats. The Buccaneers, the dogs, the dogs will be eating the cats in this one. The seven and a half for an underdog will win the game 23 20. And I know you don't like to hear that. Buccaneers fans, Buccaneers players, Buccaneers coaches, you want everyone to be against you. You're not going to find that here. I believe in the bucks this year. And I think the commanders are better than we realize it's just the Buccaneers are very good. And my narrative for the year, Buccaneers are a final four team. One way to prove you're a final four team is to rectify the outcome of the final eight performance from last year. So I got 23 20. All right. Listen, I won't be shocked that way either. Right. Even like I said, with my 10 point victory, I'm not, I think it's like a close 10 points. If that makes sense. The other thing that I forgot to bring up that before we go to the next game is collage of can see, right? He didn't play last week. That bothers me. I don't know what his status is as we sit here and film this on a Thursday, right? But I have a hard time feeling that he'll be a hundred percent for the game. And that worries me against what I would call one of the top five offensive lines in the game in Detroit. Did not practice on Wednesday and look at what they did to the Rams defensive line. That's what I worry about a little order. Right. And over time, but we got to move on. But the fact that the Rams are the mass unit and the Lions still, still let them hang around. Like, the two playoff wins last year against the Rams and the Bucks were not overwhelming. No, they were not. And they didn't overwhelm the Rams this week. And I think they won't overwhelm the Bucks this week. And I think the Bucks will avenge the outcome from January. The Green Bay Packers home opener against the Indianapolis Colts. Jordan Love is out with that MCL spring. They hope he'll be back week for week five or weeks. Did they rule him out yet? I don't know. Matt Lafour said they did not rule him out as he yesterday. So I mean, I know I'm just I'm just throwing it out there just so we are transparent. That would be if he's back for week two, that would be something. He would be standing on one leg and or playing like Kirk Cousins. We'll talk more about that coming up. Yeah. But let's just assume he's not going to play. Right. Because it did not look good. I hear you thrilled. I'm told with the MRI results, they were the best they could have possibly expected right given the injury that occurred. And if you watch that video, you can see the knee something in the knee pops. It's amazing. He's going to be back as soon as week four. And if he would come back by week two, unbelievable, the Colts are favored by three at Lambeau Field. It's weird to look at that and process that the Colts who lost at home week one to the Texans favored by three points at the Green Bay Packers with an over under a 40.5. Who do you like in this? Well, it's easy to look at the Colts and just go, well, yeah, I'm going to go with the Colts, right? They did some good things last week, certainly. And yeah, the Green Bay Packers don't have Jordan love. I'm picking the game as if it's like that as well. I get that, right? But I think it's more even than that. And I think there's a little more complexity than that. One, I still think Green Bay is super talented. Anybody you go back and watch that game in Brazil last week, they should have been up significantly more points early on in the football game. They blew some opportunities. Yeah, we give the Eagles some credit to the field, affected them a little bit. They played sloppy, but I still think Green Bay is one of the better teams in the sport, let alone their roster is tip top two. I like the Colts roster, but as you've always heard me say and what I talk about, I still don't know if I think there's a ton of difference making player, player makers, play makers, excuse me on either side of the ball. I have all the respect in the world for Shane Steichen and what he does as an offensive coordinator. But ultimately, the thing that scares me is the thing that's maybe their greatest treasure or greatest, you know, gem. And that's Anthony Richardson. Just like last week, there's no sustained consistency. And I think it's hard to just go, well, yeah, he's going to miss 10 or 15 just slam dunk completions, but he'll make two or three wild plays every week. And that's how we'll score our points. I don't think that's realistic. And then you go up to Green Bay and with this defense, and they're a little more creative on what they do on that side of the ball than the Houston Texans were who just kind of do Seattle scheme. And this is what we do. I don't like that for Anthony Richardson too. He's young. He's developing. He still hasn't seen a lot of defenses and everything there. And the other aspect of this is the Packers traded for Malik Willis. Now, yeah, I wish he'd be there longer. But I will say Malik Willis played really well in the preseason in Tennessee. I think he fits this offense more than actually he fit the Tennessee offense. I think this is perfect for him. Pay action pass, throw the ball down the field. That's who he is. Very Jordan Lovesh. And I think they'll know how to manage him. I'm going to go with the upset here. I'm going to go with the culture of the Packers and what they are as a football team and being at home that they pull off the upset 20 to 17 and get to one in one. I got 17 13 Packers. Look, wow, you did it too. Wow. I didn't think you would. I mean, you're right about Anthony Richardson. He had that incredible throw where he's like flipped and cranked it. And it hit Alec Pearson stride, but you're right. It's not there on a consistent basis. It's going to be a little overwhelming for him at Lambo Field. You know, I look at the Jonathan Taylor returning to Wisconsin and maybe that gives him a little kick in the ass, but Josh Jacobs knows he's got to do more than he did last week. It's impossible to read a lot into what happened last Friday night because the field was so bad. Exactly. It was so bad. Guys slipping all over the place. It was embarrassment for the NFL. And I said this recently, Chris, the NFL was lucky because they had the full Saturday college football bright shiny objects and they didn't have weekday talk radio shows. Yeah, it could have killed them for allowing that game to proceed under those circumstances. Then by Sunday, it was more bright shiny objects. By Monday, that's what we were focusing on what happened on Sunday. They were lucky. They didn't get it worse for that. They should have. So that game, I throw it out. The Packers are still an elite team. They're my NFC Super Bowl team. Even without Jordan Love, they got enough there to beat a Colts team that is still a little too up and down for my liking 17 13. By the way, the spread was Green Bay minus five before the injury. So we had an eight point swing from Jordan Love going out. Browns at the Jaguars over under a 41 and a half. Jaguars favored by three. Both teams are 0 and 1. Jacksonville should be 1 and 0. Browns had no chance at all on Sunday. Who do you like in this one? Well, it's interesting. It's it's desperate time. You know, I don't want to say desperate, but when you're both all in one and you're looking at a team, they go, well, I'm I'm competing for this team. They're an AFC playoff spot man to go 0 and 2 and all that. You know, again, I don't want to say desperate, but this is a big football game for both teams. Jacksonville, they played each other last year. Jacksonville showed the propensity to be able to move the ball on the Jacksonville on the Cleveland defense as good as it was. They made some plays. They had a they made a few mistakes too, where Trevor Lawrence messed up a few things and certainly but I don't expect to see that Trevor Lawrence in this one. I think Jacksonville is going to be a better football team. And I think we saw a glimpse of that last week, let alone some of their west coast principles and how they play that. I do think we'll help against some of these butts packages that Cleveland does. Cleveland's got to readjust a little bit. It's two games in a row that teams have kind of showed. Hey, we know how to make some big plays and do some things against all this aggressive stuff. Are they going to continually just play like this? I think it's something to watch out for. And then ultimately, you got to be encouraged with Jacksonville's defense last week going back and watching that. They gave the dolphins a hard time. The dolphins could not get going at all. Right? They got talent Jacksonville at all three levels of their defense. And when you couple that with I don't fucking trust Deshawn Watson in the Cleveland offense to do Jack Diddley shit right now. Yeah, I'm going with Jacksonville in this one. I'm a believer in Jacksonville still. I'm taking them 28 to 16 at home. I got 27 20 because that was enough to cover the spread. And I don't need to have Browns fans anymore riled up at me than they already are, although many are happy with me because we've been at the forefront of the reporting and analysis that could result in the Browns getting out from under the remaining two years after this season of the Deshawn Watson contract. But Watson was rough last week and talk about distractions. He gets sued on Monday. They've had to deal with it all week long. He got peppered with questions about it yesterday and he's got to worry about what happens next. He's got 92 million dollars riding on whether or not the NFL suspends him if if this potential claim wasn't on the list that was given to the Browns when he signed and I can't get a straight answer as to whether it was on the list, which tells me it wasn't on the list and he's facing possibly having the guarantees void. That's a lot to process and you're going into play a better team and you've got all the concerns about your confidence anyway. I think it just becomes an avalanche potentially. I could see a blow out here by the Jaguars over the Browns. We'll see how it goes. 27 20 is my official pick. 49ers at the. I don't know. We're going to be blowing the horn much on Sunday. We saw it last year on a Monday night. Best game of Kirk Cousins career. Crack the code on the San Francisco defense. Beat the hell out of Brock Purdy can custom, not intentionally, but it just happens. When you dive over the line of scrimmage, you're possibly going to get hit in the head, which he did play different after he took that concussion. Maybe should have had a closer evaluation and been taken out of the game, but the Vikings found a way to win held off the 49ers. Now the 49ers come in. Short week, five and a half point favorites. Vikings home opener over under 45.5. Who do you like? Well, you know you always pick first one of the Vikings. Come on. I mean, it's five years together. Pick the fucking game. You know what is this works. Paul Allen was on with me this morning when I was. You know, hosting PFT live alone because I've been abandoned on Thursdays and and Paul Allen was making the case for the Vikings to win because that's kind of what he's paid to do. The short week, I think. I mean, when you consider Brandon Iuch held in, didn't practice until recently. Trent Williams held out, didn't practice until recently. Jordan Mason, 28 carries and he said to Christian McCaffrey during the game, I don't know how the hell you do it. If McCaffrey can't go, I mean, this could be a 49ers team that it's a little, you know, a little beat up, even though they man handled the Jets, that hurts, right? Doing what they did, you're going to feel it the next day and you got to fly from San Francisco to Minnesota on a short week and the Vikings have the home opener and they had an easier day, week one against the Giants, right? I could see, I could see it happening. Now, we don't know about McCaffrey's status and, you know, we thought we knew last week, but this week, who the hell knows, I, I still can't, I still can't blow the horn for the Vikings on this one. I'll believe it when I see it. I am going to try to have it both ways, 20 to 17 Vikings cover, but I feel like at the end of the day, the 49ers find a way to win and move to 2 and 0 and the Vikings should feel good about the effort, but I can't imagine them winning this game. I mean, this won't be a best bet for me. I can tell you that. I don't. I look at this game and like I said about a game or two before, this to me is a coin toss game. I do think Minnesota matches up. You mentioned some of the things that make sense. And at the end of the day, too, the number one thing is, I think the Minnesota Vikings are one of the best coach teams in all football. And that's where I like it. O'Connell has shown the ability to kind of know this defense. Now this defense is a little different. And I think Soreson has a few little changes to things here on the defensive side of the ball as compared to just the normal Seattle scheme stuff that they've done there so much. So that, that influence him, Brandon Staley, I think you'll see a few new wrinkles from that 49ers defense. O'Connell's amazing though. I think it's going to be an incredible match up there. And Minnesota's all events in a lot of ways is is built between the receivers they have because the 49ers aren't super talented in the secondary. And then they have one of the best past protecting old lines in football. You know, other than Dexter Lawrence last week, nobody else could get close to Sam Darnell. So that's where you look at it. And then the other side of the ball, B flow, Brian Flores, is definitely one of the best D coordinators in football. If there's anybody that can match Wits with Shanahan, it's him. And you talk about McCaffrey. Why would they play McCaffrey? I'm, I'm took the game like they, they're not going to play him. And then I, yes, definitely like, is he going to be what we think he is? Yeah, I don't know if he will be Trent Williams was awesome. I have no doubt about him. I'm going to take the 49ers though, just like you and a last minute field goal 23 21, like I said, but it will not be my best bet. It's funny. I thought about 23 21 as a score. Thank God. I didn't, although based on last week, if we have the exact same score, take that when that's what happened. Right. 27 20 all because of Isaiah likely's big toe. The Seahawks at the Patriots are rematch of Super Bowl 49. The Seahawks are favored by three and a half in New England. Both teams are one and all. Both teams will first year head coaches over under of 38 and a half. Who do you have and why? Well, again, Jared or Jared Mayo, Gerard Mayo, excuse me, he can coach some defense. And there are some players on that defensive side of the ball as far as the New England Patriots. So I don't look at it and go, well, Seattle is just going to be able to do whatever they want on that side. Now the encouraging thing with Seattle is I think their offensive line is good enough this year where they actually might be able to run the ball with Kenneth Walker. I know he's a little banged up and mispractice yesterday, something like the oblique or whatever. And that does scare me. Right. Seattle is clearly the more talented football team, but on the road in New England, that defense and what New England did, run in the football. And I think they're going to play that style of football, run the football two clock up, limit the other team's possessions, do all that. I'm going to take the Seahawks, but I think this is a close one and a low scoring football game at that 1917 Seahawks on the road. I'm glad that I don't look at the lines before I make the picks now because I don't want the lines to influence my first, your first, yeah, that happened that happened last week and it worked out. I don't want to be, I don't want to be tainted by the line because if I would have seen the line, I've been, I probably would have been more inclined to take the Seahawks. I think the Patriots win this game. I mean, the Seahawks were at home against a rookie quarterback and you really can't read a whole lot into that. The Patriots went on the road to Cincinnati and they looked good and they played tough physical football, opportunistic, great running game. I think that home opener, this new era, and Tom Curran did a great job explaining today on PFT Live how they're different but similar to how they've been in the past. How many guests did you have on the damn show today? Damn. You're like, I had to fill them out. That's just your heart. I had to fill two hours because I was abandoned. I like the Patriots to win this game 16 to 13 because the Patriots are just different enough from how they were in a good way to get to two and oh and then that sets up a hell of a game next Thursday night against the Jets. Speaking of the Jets, they came home from San Francisco and now they go to Tennessee short week at the Titans. Jets favored by three and a half. Titans should be one and oh, Will Levis had the Kartsen once moment that handed the game to the Bears over under a 41. Who do you like? Yeah, I like the Jets, right? But I don't feel like totally comfortable about it. I have them covering the spread but again, I'm not really ready to bet on that and do that. I'm not. I mean one, see what scares me the Jets defense we know is super talented but this is the problem when you face Shanahan week one. Shanahan now has laid a blueprint now and expose some of the things the Jets do on the defensive side of the ball. A guy like Bill Callahan, the offensive line coach of the Tennessee Titans, he's going to pick up on some of that and realize exactly schematically what was being done, what they did and as we know it becomes a copycat league and when you see positive on film against another really good team, it starts to give you other ideas that are maybe not exactly the same but ooh somewhat similar and we could do this like the 49. So that scares me a little bit in that aspect and I still am not looking at going oh man, they got Aaron Rodgers and they're just going to take off offensively. And Aaron Rodgers, it was good but I didn't love the way it looked. I'm not sitting here ready to go. He's ready to take over the league or like Tom Brady says he's a top five quarterback. Get the fuck out of here with that comment. He's no way. All right. So all right, I'm going Jets on the road because yeah, I don't trust Will Levis and that offense versus this Jets defense and I think Aaron Rodgers then will just do enough. I'm taking the Jets. Sorry 20 to 14 on the road. So you have the Jets winning and covering as do I 24 16. I think this is one of those games and I hate the call week two must win. But if the Jets are going to weather this storm of traveling all over the place, they got to get a win. They've got to get a win. And this is a game that we would have looked at going into the season saying they should win it. Now the Titans were better than we thought they would be week one, which gives me some hesitation. And I agree with you completely. There may be some stuff that the Titans have picked up from Monday night that they can use. But I think this is if the Jets are going to be anything close to be this year, they have to win this game. They don't. Oh, they don't the pressure up here will be enormous. It'll be W. F. A. N. Just, you know, boomer and G. O. People like God, there's Rossella's got to get the hell out of here. Rodgers got to get the hell out of here. All right. Next game Giants at commanders. Well, I'm talking right to it. Oh, because it's the G. Man. And you keep touting the commander. So I let's get after it, kid. Here we go. Well, look, I'm a big believer in the commanders making it to the playoffs. Yeah, this year. I know you. And I don't put a lot of stock in what happened to them in week one, because I think the Buccaneers are really damn good. I don't like the fact that Jane Daniels was still running the ball when the game was decided being merged from it healthy as far as we know. And I know that they play each other tough, but this whole Giants thing is crumbling. And there's going to be a line right back to the off season hard knocks. They destroyed Daniel Jones confidence. And I think that it's already an avalanche. I think the commanders win the game. And let me just confirm my score. I had the window open 24 to 10. I like the Wow. Banders to win this game 24 to 10 in their home opener year two of Josh Harris. All right. No, I'm going with the G men here. All right. I'm going with it. I'm going with the G men a little bit for the opposite reason you're saying that this is like almost a must win. I'm telling you the world's about to turn on the Giants up here. Daniel Jones, I think if they don't win this week, I wouldn't be shocked if he's bench for a week three. That that's that's it's that big. If they were who for who drew lock, right? They know it'll be it'll be drew lock. It'll be drew lock. But I think this is big this week. I do. I think it's that desperate. I think of the day ball is going to feel it. I'm telling you they're there. I'm the brink of calling for everybody's head in New York here with the Giants and the way they looked in that first game. That was a disaster was an embarrassment. I think they're going to bounce back. I think their D line can be an issue for Washington's O line. I do. And I don't think Washington's D line is good enough to just totally expose this giant so line. That's better but not great as we know. And I don't think Washington's very good in the secondary and the Giants do have some heat at receiver. I'm going the Giants 17-16. I'm going to say desperation pulls off a tight one. Well, okay. Yeah, how that plays out. Now we have to take a break. I'm multitasking. I'm working on something in one of the big cases currently in the NFL that Sean Watson thing I'm going to post about it right after the show. So I've got a little distracted there because I have a development development development that will be documented at PFT as soon as we're done. When we return the late games from Sunday afternoon of week two, including the Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs. That's next year on PFT PM and Chris Simzonba. What do we want? How about digging wings? Why do we want them? They're the official wing of Washington football. At $5.99 for six-piece. When do we want them? When we're watching the game. That's right. Game time is winged. Time. At participating U.S. restaurants, prices may vary. With the Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card, you can earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases you want and purchases you need. That means you earn 2% cash rewards on what you want, like season tickets to watch your favorite team and 2% cash rewards on what you need, like paying for parking. That's the beauty of the Active Cash Credit Card. It's ready when you are with unlimited 2% cash rewards. The Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card, that's real life ready. Terms apply. Learn more at Wells Fargo dot com slash active cash. Hey Applebee's, congrats on becoming the official grilling bar sponsor of the NFL. How does it feel? I'm glad we'll be able to bring some extra heat. Any plans to celebrate? Yeah, we got to serve up America's favorite bonus wings for just 50 cents each to get off the season. Limited time price participation in this election may vary. Tax number two would be excluded. Draft King Sportsbook is the number one place to bet touchdowns and new customers can bet $5 and get $250 in bonus bets instantly plus get one month of NFL plus premium download the app and use promo code PFT live when you sign up. Draft King Sportsbook to crown is yours and please as always bet responsibly. Okay, late afternoon Sunday week two LA Rams at the Arizona Cardinals. Sean McVay has had the Cardinals number through a variety of different coaches over the years. Cardinals are still favored by one with an over under of 48. Rams have seven guys on IR, headlined by Puke Nakua, multiple offensive linemen from the starting lineup or on IR, do the Rams who nearly pulled off the victory over the Lions with all those injuries. Do they beat the Cardinals in Arizona, Chris? Well, I, I, um, this is a, this is a coin toss game here, too. Tell me, this is going to be a close one. I liked a lot of things that I saw about Arizona. They blew a few opportunities. They certainly got to get Marvin Harrison, junior involved in the offense better. That was a little concerning, right? I mean, again, the things that we were worried about kind of in the draft process kind of showed up in that game. And I don't know. Maybe there was an injury there because you see some of the other stuff about like how fast he was running on the field and it was very slow to say the least. The injuries with the Rams bother me. They do. They're bread and butter of their football team right now. Is their run game O line and that running back and then the two receivers they have, they don't have that. And with this week, like this is not Josh Allen, this is Matthew Stafford, Josh Allen won that game last week because of his ability to get out of the pocket and make things happen. Stafford's not going to do that. I'm going to take the Cardinals at home here to win this one 27, 24 and get to one and one. And the Rams will be 0 and two, which I can't believe I'm saying really. I think the Rams are going to be in every game as long as Matthew Stafford is able to roll out of bed and suit up and play. Yeah. He had a quote yesterday about the injuries. He doesn't care. He's not going to shrug. No, I know. Next man up and they have guys like Tyler Johnson who came on and he was kind of forgotten. Yeah. It was a rookie back in 2020 with the Buccaneers made a big catch in the postseason. Who's he? Here he comes, Pooka Nakua out. No big deal. Hooper cup, big game from him. I think the Rams will be fine. I think Sean McVay understands the urgency of this one. Matthew Stafford realizes it. They're used to having success against his team. I think they win 24 22. Steel is at the Broncos. Russell Wilson getting a chance for Oh wait, Justin Fields likely to start with the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Denver Broncos Steelers, favored by two and a half over under a 36.5. That's the lowest of the week can the Steelers who found a way to grind it out with defense and field goals last week go to Denver and get to two and Oh, Chris, I think so. I'm not going to take the rookie quarterback against this Pittsburgh defense in his first home opener. I just can't do it. And again, it was, it was, you know, not, they didn't look good last week on Denver's offensive side of the ball. He looked like a rookie quarterback that was like, whoa, you know, the regular season defenses and the first team defense is a whole different ball game here. And again, I don't think Denver is so talented on that side of the ball that they can just overcome it and the rookie quarterback and do some of that. I do think the Broncos defense will be a pain in the but certainly, but this just seems like the most perfect stealer game ever. It seems like we're going to be just like we saw last week and the way their defense looked, yeah, I'm going to go with it. And I like the way they ran the ball. And I think Justin feels a good better. I'm going Steelers 1913. I got 1914. And as I was sitting here, I was and of 19, how the hell do we both land on 19? I see four field goals. And I thought about changing 14 to 13 because it's like, are the Broncos really going to score two touchdowns? That's kind of what I did. That's what I did. Right. You know what? You know what? They'll score one and wait, they'll go for two and not get at. Never mind. Either way. Okay. Thank you. 14. I'm confusing myself. Yes, you will. Maybe they'll score one go for two and get two field goals. That's how we get to. That's how we get to 14. 1914 and 1913 Steelers two and oh, Bengals at the Chiefs. Bengals a little desperation. Joe Burrow one and eight in week one and week two in his career. And now he's got to go to Arrowhead Stadium with that. We talked about this on PFT live when you weren't there with me. The constant movement of the wrist constantly. And he's got an explanation for it. Nothing to see here. I think something to see here. And we know the Chiefs are something to see. They're five point under or excuse me, five point favorites with a few days extra rest. 47 and a half over under. I have a feeling we're both picking the two time defending champs. Although the Bengals are your Super Bowl picks. So are you going to make a pick that manifests your narrative? No, I'm not because my narrative would be that the Bengals get off to a slow start and then make a late charge anyways, right? That's what the Bengals do. I mean, one and eight in the first two games of the year is crazy. That just tells you it's coaching and the team's not ready to go. I got mad respect for everybody there. But yeah, their offense is less than to start years. That worries me in this one. And then again, with the T Higgins thing and Jamar Chase and all that, that's still going on here and heading didn't go away. I like the way the Bengals looked on demons. I certainly do, right? I don't think that the Chiefs will be able to run on the Bengals to the same capacity that the New England Patriots did. But I think they'll be able to run enough to where they have to respect it. And it's going to open up some of this down the field passing stuff. I'm going to go with the same score I had last week. I'm going 27-20 once again with the Kansas City Chiefs at home to go 2 and 0. 30 to 17 chiefs with that extra rest firing on all cylinders. They're extra rest. This timer, they won't let the other team hang around. They've got to know how to deliver the knockout punch. And I think it would be easy with the Bengals because it does continue that well-established narrative that they struggle the first two weeks of the season. All right, we take a break. When we return, the primetime games for week two, including our first look on a Sunday night at a great quarterback that we rarely got to see on TV or otherwise in 2023. That's next year on PFTPM and Chris Simms on PFTPM. First of all, congratulations on becoming the official grilling bar sponsor of the National Football League. How does it feel to serve up the NFL? Man, it's a real dream come true. I'm glad we'll be able to serve up some extra heat this season. Do you have any plans to celebrate? Absolutely. We're going to serve up America's favorite bonus wings with just 50 cents each to kick off the season. Any of our sources, whether it's in restaurant or to go, it don't matter. It's all 50 cents all the time. Are you worried at all about any competition this season? What competition? 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Just go to indeed.com/nbcsports right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed. Introducing Wendy's new Salsy Nugs. The nugs you love covered in your favorite sauces. So no matter what flavor you're craving, Wendy's has you covered. Grab Wendy's new Salsy Nugs today. Open till midnight or later. At participating U.S. Wendy's, ours may vary by location. DraftKings Sportsbook is the number one place to bet touchdowns and new customers can bet $5 and get $250 in bonus bets instantly. Plus get one month of NFL plus premium. Download the app and use the promo code unbutton when you sign up DraftKings Sportsbook. The crown is yours. The crown is yours in victory is mine. At least it was last week. Sunday night football, we agreed. And thank God we were eight no across the board. We all had the lions. The lions bailed us out in overtime. That would have been a bad way to start the regular season. I have a feeling this week it's going to be another eight no clean sweep for everyone on football night in America. I can't imagine anyone taking the bears to win at Houston given how they looked last week. Although they did win. The Texans won two. Great effort from Joe Mixon. Great effort from CJ Stroud. Six point favorites. 45 and a half over under. Who do you like? Yeah. This bears defense is better than the Colts. So that's the first thing to say. The bears defense is definitely going to give the Houston Texans more problems in that manner. But man, that Houston Texans offense, like we discussed last week, not only with the receivers they have, CJ Stroud is one of the best quarterbacks in the game. And when they're offensive lines healthy, it's one of the best in football too. It's up there. So you couple their ability to run and then Bobby Slow, you know, you got all these Shanahan play action passes. Watch out. I mean, their potentials limit list with how they look if they can get that run game going. I do think the bears will be a different team this week on the offensive side of the ball. I watched that film back a little bit. I know we talked about it Monday. They didn't really give Caleb Williams much of a chance to succeed. You know, he wasn't perfect. I get it. But man, was he under pressure a lot? Their interior O linemen got dominated by the Tennessee defense alignment, let alone. I think they were like, Hey, let's bring them along slowly. Let's get them going in and Tennessee was ready for that. And he did not have many opportunities to attack or get after that that Tennessee defense. They know they can't win this week unless they open up the offense a little bit. They're not going to be Houston playing. We're going to manage our rookie quarterback style of football. Absolutely not. No way. I think they look better. But yeah, I'm with you. They're not going to beat the Texans at home who I think are one of the best teams in football. Texans 24 16. So you have the Texans winning and covered 23 14 Texans winning and covering. I just think that this Texans team is special. They've got just that glow to them. Everyone's healthy for now. They've got some great pass rushers that can get after Caleb Williams and you know, your points are well taken. But the question is have the bears acknowledged that that's what they need to do. Or they're just going to try again. I hope not. They did last week. It's hard to change on the fly like that Monday night football. Falcons at the Eagles. Just like last year, week two Kirk Cousins had to go to Philly in prom time. It was Thursday night last year. This year, it's Monday night. The Eagles are favored by six and a half. They get the extra rest from Friday to Monday coming back with the victory that didn't look like it was going to be a victory over the Green Bay Packers in Brazil over under a 47. And Chris in making your pick, please delve into what you said yesterday about Kirk Cousins. There's been a lot out there about the fact that either his right leg is unhealthy or he doesn't trust it enough to drive off of it and it's showing up in his past. Yeah, it definitely is. There's no doubt about that. Now I know there was a lot made about, you know, him standing in the shotgun with two feet next to each other. I don't think that's an Achilles thing. I think that's an offensive philosophy thing. They're getting in the pistol, right? They're running the ball out of those formations because I think they don't want him underneath center in case somebody steps on that bad foot or anything like that. But when you're in that and then the pistol, right, if you have your feet cockeyed, if there's certain runs that will be weird to hand the ball off if I have one foot behind the other run. So they're I think just doing that because of they're going to be there. Bijon Roberts is going to be behind and to have the equal stands makes it more suitable for some of the design runs they'll have off of that. I think that's the reason. But his right leg is not the same. It's not. And he's not pushing off with that right leg. Just like we talked about in OTAs when we saw some of the videos there. It's a fake push. He's doing it with his upper body. He's overcompensating with other areas of his of his body to create force and power with the football. And within that, he's losing control of the ball. Let alone, he's not throwing with the same force or power. And as we always know too, and this happened to Rogers as well. When people got close, he's going, wait, I have a bad leg. I want to get the ball out of my hand. So he's not willing to stand there and throw the ball. That concerns me a little bit. The interceptions were bad. I'm taking the Eagles. I think the Eagles are one of the best teams in the game. You know that. But I do think Atlanta can be a pain in the butt because I think they, at least physically, are not going to be overwhelmed by the Eagles up front. But I'm still going Eagles at home 30 to 21. I like the way they're new. Oh, look, they're D scared me a little bit. Vic Fangio's got some work to do on that side of the ball. 28 20 is my pick and it might not be that close. The Falcons are fortunate that there was an overabundance of Steelers fans on Sunday at home. It'll be interesting to see next Sunday night on NBC and Peacock Chiefs at Falcons. How many Falcons fans are there? Because if it looks rough again, prime time on Monday night, you could start to hear the ground swell for the eighth overall pick in the draft. And we, we've known this since late April that this was a possibility. And maybe we now know why they put Michael Pennix on ice after one preseason game. Just in case, cousins can't get it done. We need to be ready with the quick hook before the season is lost. All right, the show is almost completely exhausted when we return our best bets plus the false and prison blues pick in which I lead one to nothing. And I'm not giving up that lead because I'm never wrong. Be right back. Welcome back to the PFTPM Chris Simpson button picks podcast delivered by a little Caesar's the official pizza sponsor of the NFL. We have to go into a hyperdrive for our three best bets. Chris, you're up. Go. I'm going Ravens. I think the Ravens, I'm going to ride the points eight and a half. I don't care at home, pissed off extra time. Ravens win. Yes. Thought about it too much for me. Chiefs given five to the Bengals with the extra rest and the Bengals looking shaky early in the season. I like the Chiefs to win and cover. I'm going. Five and a half is too much for me. I got the 49ers. One of the last second field. I will not be shocked that the Vikings pulled off the upset here. I do think the Vikings cover the five and a half point spread. I thought about taking the bucks covering the seven and a half, but I like to go with favorites that I think have too small of a spread. Commanders only given one and a half to the Giants. I think the commanders are significantly better than the Giants. I know they play each other tough, but what's one and a half points? You're going to win by one point. They're going to win by more than one point. I got the command. How dare you screw you? Okay. Okay. Now I'm going to the Jags here. Jags. I'm taking the Jags. I don't trust the Browns. I'm taking them to cover that three point spread. I'm going to go to Monday night and take the Eagles given whatever they're given. I can't even remember what it was, but it wasn't enough that I feel comfortable. The Eagles are going to cover that spread with the extra rest of that. All right, both some prison balloons. I go with the Raiders. I'm going to be alive. Both of us got the Raven. All right. All right. See you next time. Enjoy the get out. Loryo's a jerk. Hey Applebees, congrats on becoming the official grilling bar sponsor of the NFL. How does it feel? I'm glad we'll be able to bring some eggs to heat. Any plans to celebrate? Yeah, we're going to serve up America's favorite bowling swings for just 50 cents each to get off the season. Limited time price participation in the selection Mayberry tax number 2D excluded. Introducing Wendy's new saucy nugs, the nugs you love, covered in your favorite sauces. So no matter what flavor you're craving, Wendy's has you covered. Grab Wendy's new saucy nugs today. Open till midnight or later at participating us Wendy's hours Mayberry by location. [BLANK_AUDIO]
