The Killer B's: Joel Blank & Jeremy Branham
09/27 Hour 3- Texans O-Line: Let's Not Talk About It, Be About It
[MUSIC PLAYING] After investing billions to light up our network, T-Mobile is America's largest 5G network. Plus, right now, you can switch, keep your phone, and we'll pay it off up to $800. See how you can save on every plan versus Verizon AT&T at tmobile.com/keepandswitch. [MUSIC PLAYING] Up to four lines via virtual prepaid card, a left 15 days qualifying unlocked device credit service ported 90 plus days with device ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card has no cash access and expires in six months. [SCREAMING] Welcome back to The Killer Bs. On ESPN 97.5 and 92.5. Now time to talk Texans with ESPN Texans reporter DJB NMA brought to you by Houston powder coders and the trafficking sports book at Golden Nugget Lake Charles. Joining us now, DJB NMA in studio covers the Texans ESPN ESPN.com. You can follow them on Twitter @DJBnMA. These guys watching the Vikings game live. I'm like, this is happening exactly how DJ said this was going to happen. Like, you nailed that game script. No, unfortunately, for the Texans, they lost by 27. But you kind of saw that coming. Nah, nah, in that big of a block. Fashion, but yeah, them losing, yeah, mainly because that defensive will get some issues. They jumped out on them early. It's going to be hard to come back against that defense on the road with that environment, that crowd. Like, that's a real home field event. I'm not going to lie to you. No, no shade to Texans fans. I think they're getting there. But there's levels. And I think that level was something that I couldn't hear myself think at times. You know, so playing against that defense, playing CJ going first time going against that brown floor scheme. No Jo mixing, not being around the ball. It would just say combination of bad things that was going to happen. Well, and your boy Sam played out of his mind again. So, I mean, because you told us, you know, at certain point, at some point, he's going to melt down. And yeah, it hasn't come to that yet. The slipper's still on. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, it's week three. That was week three. And he's a good for about three weeks. You go back to playing like. Let's hope he crams the bed and green bed. Yeah, yeah, I think against Green Bay, he'll go back to playing like crap. So you look at that. We've heard all the takeaways. You went from a Sam Darnold quarterback game. Now we're going to a Jacksonville team that seems like Trevor Lawrence is in disarray. Is there any reason to believe that there's going to be a whole lot of fight in that cat in this case instead of a dog and they're going to come out and they're going to really show that they're a different team? Or are we to expect that this is where the Texans get right? I think the Jags are going to come out fighting. I mean, most of you like, you're blown out and embarrassed. Especially on national TV, they usually show a lot more fight than next game. I'm obviously the testing got embarrassed too. But the Jags, I mean, before week three, and they just ran to a bus I like Buffalo's one of those teams that when everything is rolling, nobody can beat them. Like it's been a life for some years, but you know, they're never like that in the playoffs. But there's just, there's moments where they're rolling and there's nothing, there's literally nothing you can do and it happens and they're going to see that caught in that bus off. But week one, week two is Jaguars are very competitive. Obviously it's an Miami game. And Travis Easton is a fun with that, that pass. I mean, that carry in the end zone. It's probably a completely different game. Then the Browns game was kind of back and forth. I mean, obviously they had a shot to try to tie it at the end. They couldn't get in, they couldn't get in the end zone, let the Hail Mary. But I mean, I think it's going to be a tough game. Mainly because where they are, their strongest suit on defense is right now the Texas weakest point, which is their D line versus the Texas O line. Especially on the interior, the Texas interior O line, and it's still developing, still trying to get right. So I think that this week, I still think the Texas will win, but I don't think it's going to be a blowout. If they carry in a ball and they're facing a bunch of third and seventh and longer, then the Texans are going to be scrapping just to get past 21 points. DJ, you triggered me earlier today when you said football to defend the the Tank Dell injury. I am not a fan of playing, as you know, of playing starters whenever you're down by 27 with minutes left to play, minutes so they didn't do it. We see it in football. If you look at cross sport references, you know, NBA garbage time, best players out. You look at baseball, don't use leverage guys. Don't use their best players down late. Why? Why do we use football as kind of the word to defend some questionable, questionable decisions of when to leave starters in and out of the game? I mean, again, like, if the Mika knew the thing might have gotten her dinged up, if he would have left me, he probably would have taken him out. Like, I get it. You got to have the foresight, because I nature of the game is over. As if I say, I mean, yes, you could have gone out there with Xavier Hutchinson and Robert Woods and Steven Sims, but, you know, they wanted to give Davis some work and at least help him try to get to the end zone, try to get the officers to the end zone. Is that? I mean, I mean, is it worth it? No, but I don't think it's that big of a deal. I mean, yeah, he got hurt, but you got Stefan Davis and you got Nico Collins, you'll be fine. Would you rather have Tank or not have Tank, though? Because like, it's kind of-- The way they're using them right now, I mean, like, they're kind of using them like a gadget player, anyway, so like, they're not using them to the best of his abilities right now. I'm honest with you, Ben, so being without him this week isn't going to affect most of the game player. No, I would agree with that. I think they're going to be fine without Tank. I think they'll win this game, even though the Tank's not there. I think they're probably better suited for 12 personnel than 11 personnel right now, quite frankly, because of their offensive line. But it could have very easily been Laramie Tunsel. He was still out there. It could have very easily been Nico Collins. No, I think that's fair. I'm a high-money receiver. I think that's fair. I think, you know, I think it's a fair criticism, but I'm also not going to criticize the coach for keeping his guys in there and trying to make it like, you know, touch it on the board. Like, I get both sides. But it's always high in sight when it comes to that. No, I was saying it live in the moment. Well, I mean, I'm not supposed to know that. I mean, I didn't know that you were saying that in the moment. You know what I'm saying? Like, I'm just saying, like, I'm just saying overall, though, like, it's a high in sight discussion for the most part, right? Like, when guys usually discuss when people get hurt. But when people are still out there and nobody's hurt, and everything's just going fine, and it's just a blowout, nobody says anything, you know what I'm saying? So, for me, it's always a 2020 high-side. Because it's not like people, for the most part, not saying that you don't, but not for the most part. People are, like, pounding on it while it's actually going on in the moment, you know? So... OK. I mean, it's passion. If you guys want to keep going, that's fine. My question is, one of the other glaring things coming out of the game was obviously the performance of the offensive line. I was never talking about it on the show. It isn't even so much about the penalties, but we've heard from everybody, it's about the continuity. It's about getting better. We're fixing it. Who fixes it? How do they fix it? And is it fixable by this week? I don't think it's fixable by this week. I think it's going to take some more time. More continuity between... I think... I'm very disturbing, correct. It's not like, can you green juice actually haven't played that many games together in, like... NFL, like, regular team football. I don't think it's what, the fourth game together. It's not like, juice played a lot last year. So, like, you have really, too, really, really young, inexperienced players on the interior. And, you know, they just have to... It's going to take, you know, some weeks before they can finally all get on one of Corey. Because they're not blocking this vibe. They're kind of blocking this individual guys. Because the chemistry and the continuity and just being able to pick, you know, pick up and block the right guy at the right time, you know? There's a lot of time where you see juice chasing blocks that he doesn't really need to chase when a guy crosses his face. But maybe if he felt like he was right next to him, pick up the guy that's trying to cross his face. Maybe he'll feel more comfortable. But, you know, he's going to just take more reps. Because it's very clear what team is trying to do. Obviously, I think Bobby took the curveballs at, you know, opposing teams. And instead of trying to run your outside zone, just start running power. Because with teams just trying to slam in, if you go power, one player was telling you that if we go power, what makes it effective against when a team slant inward is we can wash them down and get them out the way. Because everybody's going inward, it's kind of clunky. While you have, you know, juice and kenny greens pushing them down, you have Shaq pulling around. Now you have a, you know, a hole for the running backs to run through, you know, things of that nature, you know, run some more inside zones and things of that nature. They run some duo just to like get teams to back off of that. And then you can get back to your outside zone stuff. So, you know, a lot of it does also start with Bobby because you can't get it to where like, you're going to keep banging your head on the wall trying to like, you know, implement what you want to do. I think I do as best for the team. And obviously right now, I saw outside zone consistently and effectively isn't working for them. - I think quick passing game is important too. Like you see some of the things that works with them in the passing game. It's like, okay, if the offensive line's not going to protect, if they're going to have trouble with the stunts and the games that we were talking about last week, quick passing game, kind of avoid that at all cost. - Yeah. I mean, the other thing is there's seen a lot of stunts in the passing game when it comes against, like the stunts in the passing game, they're usually seeing it on third downs because CJ, you know, he has the second most dropbacks against third and long, like 30 to seven and longer, the second most behind the shot Watson. And I think CJ, like CJ is able to, I think he's like, it's completion percentage like 14 for 18 in those situations, but still like, there's a reason why they're towards the back half of like teams that can burn on third down. I think like third like in the mid twenties or like high twenties, but still like you're waiting to back and that's cause they have a lot there. - Didn't I see like seven of the eight third downs against Minnesota were more than eight yards? - Yeah, yeah, yeah, because it was, that's bad. - Yeah, exactly, like, you know, like that was, you just can't, it doesn't matter who you're playing. You can be playing, the Texans can be playing the two thousand- - Since they're in defense. - I was gonna say 2007 Detroit Lions. (laughing) Yeah, yeah, like they're, they're going to still, like the Detroit Lions will have a shot in that game because it's just too hard to always convert 30 long. It doesn't matter how good you are, it doesn't matter how good your quarterback's are. And I think it's gonna, they're gonna have to do a better job of getting into third and manageable. Because, you know, another thing too, that I've noticed on the film outside of the stunts is, that's why, you know, last time I said earlier in the week, a lot of it's gonna start with Bobby. Like it starts with Bobby because it's a lot of time where CJ is looking, looking to where the progression is taking him and it's muddy there. And he tries to look back left or try to get to his checkdown. And that's usually a sign that the defensive coordinator, at least early on, is being able to have a read and a beat on your offensive coordinator. And then that's when the pressure can get to you. But again, like it's a combination of a bunch of things, you know, even with, you know, it's a common in both things. Like there's one stat that's crazy. I don't think I tweeted it out, but out of all the quarterbacks, I think CJ is in terms of time to pressure. So as fast as pressure gets to you, it's at 2.52 right now, which is like seven fastest amongst all starters. You know what I'm being like, you know? So 2.5 is crazy, you know? Like that means, by the time he gets to the top of his job, like, say we're talking about, I thought he played well. I'd actually thought he played well in the Minnesota. Yeah, yeah, I think all that stuff. I think played well. And we talk about like from snap to release and how quickly guys got to get rid of it, you have no time at all when you're saying it's 2.5. Right, right. You're getting pressured at that point. You know what I'm saying? That can, that can be all it takes is to, you know, possibly potentially affect the throw. And then or you rush a throw or like, you're not able to get to that last guy or like, I remember there was one play where he looked right and then was trying to get all the way back to Cam. And Cam was wide open at the end of going out of bounds to the left side. Cam was wide open and I could have been for a lot of yards, but again, like the pressure is getting there so fast. You know what I'm saying? So, you know, at the end, I said like, it starts to bother you. You know, like, you know, fans when the Chris has to align penalties, et cetera, et cetera. But, and I think all that's fine, but I think it starts with Bobby coming up with better game plans. - We talked about it a little bit before we hit the air, but I saw you tweeting that Nico, thankfully practiced, Joe was the limited participant. Nico says he's gonna play, Joe. - It's questionable right now. Me personally, I would hold him out this week and the same for the Buffalo Bills game. 'Cause if you can't run the ball against the Bills, you have no shot. Sean McDermott, like, that's why it does right now, it doesn't matter who they have in the back end, who they have at the linebackers. He's been there since, I believe, 2017. It's 2024. He's been there for, I mean, this is the eighth season. Like, there's a culture, there's a system there that they've been running for years. So like, like, you know, their system is jam-packed. Like, they know what to do, things I need to put on the plug and play, and they play extremely fast. So, if you can't, if you're just dropping back all day, you're gonna, you're gonna be, you're gonna be in hell. That's why, like, when they play Miami on Thursday night, right, the Dolphins couldn't run the ball. It's who ends up throwing, like, 300, and it's throwing three interceptions, 'cause he was facing a lot of third and longs. And, obviously, that one pick six, he couldn't get the ball out of, he couldn't throw it away completely out of bounds. But, again, like, if you're living in third and longs against the Buffalo Bills, they would eat your lunch. That's one of those defenses that would completely eat your lunch. So, I personally would save Joe for next week. Not saying, like, you know, I think you can win without Joe against the Jags. I don't think you can, I think your chances of winning against the Bills goals, drastically down if you don't have Joe. 'Cause I think there were some runs against the Vikings that if they had Joe, he would've been able to turn a one yard or a two yarder into, like, maybe four, maybe five. You know what I'm saying? Like, it still would've been tough sledding, but I think he would've been able to power through some runs, 'cause that was one of those games where you kind of need a power back. And, like, yeah, Cam was able to have some, you know, some nice runs. I don't know what he's able to use as a looseness, but that was one of those games, you had to kind of get in North and South and get mighty in, you know, 'cause the defense was humming. - And you're looking at third and five instead of third and seven there. So, like, back to the whole third and long situation, even if it's only two more yards. - That matters, though. - It's third and five. - Because it's easier to succeed than third and seven. - 'Cause defenses have to call, they have to call it differently at that point, right? Because if, like, any officers can call it differently, 'cause it's five yards, that's like, no one, one step, but they're like two steps, right? So, you can run, your whole playbook is open. When it's third and seven, third and eight, like, you know-- - What'd you say, two point-- - Yeah, two point five before you get pressure. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's just, it's a completely different ball game. I mean, I think CJ right now, I think he's had 10 unblocked pressures this year, fourth most, three unblocked sacks. So, like, a lot of them are just on third downs. - That's crazy. DJ, appreciate the time, man. - Yeah, absolutely. - The information is always good conversation. We'll talk to you next week. - Absolutely. - DJ, begin with me. Covers the Houston Texans, ESPN, ESPN.com. You can check 'em out on Twitter @DJBNME for all the latest Houston Texans use, great follow. All right, Texans are two on one. Why are so many people acting like they're worse? It is the bees on ESPN 97-5 and ESPN 92-5. (upbeat music) - Broadcasting live for the Veritex Community Bank Studios. It's The Killer Bees with Joel Blanken, Jeremy Branagh. - On ESPN 97-5 and 92-5. - My flankers wants to know, the Texans are two in one. Why are so many people acting like they're 0-3? 7-1-3, 7-8-0, 3-7-7-6. Blankers, why do you think that this is the case? - Well, I think because at the start of the season, a lot of people looked at the Minnesota Vikings and they knew that they drafted a quarterback that Sam Darnell has never been a good quarterback. And the expectation was that this was supposed to be an easy win. And I think people look past the fact that as DJ said, that was a loud building. That is a home field advantage. They have good skill position players. Aaron Jones might be a little longer in the tooth, but he's good. You didn't know what Bernard was gonna be. We saw what he could be when he was here. But overall, I think people were kind of looking past Minnesota and then all of a sudden, it's like the sky is falling because you had a bad week. Look, we know even last year with the schedule that you've had and the way that the season turned out, Texans had plenty of bad weeks and we rattled off. Atlanta and the Jets and Carolina and other games where they kind of laid an egg. But it just seems like people aren't considering the big picture. You're still two and one. I mean, it's week three. But yet, I just wasn't expecting this level of concern and this many people losing their mind. Maybe it's because they got blown out. And like the stat you mentioned, the fact that when teams win the Super Bowl, how many times did they get blown out by this many points? It just seems like it's been excessive. I get it to a certain degree, but a lot of people don't want to let go of it either. And that's why I think it's such an important game this week that they just get right. - Yeah, I don't really get the sense that people are acting like they're 0 and 3. I haven't gotten that sense. My sense of it's a little different than you. I also don't really care about the two and one a whole lot. Like, yeah, you are two and one. It is what it is. But to me, it's more about your confidence in the team going forward. Like that to me is how I feel. Like we were talking about the Cowboys and the Giants earlier today, like Cowboys won a game. How do we feel about the Cowboys? How do we feel where the Giants are going? So to me, it's not so much about the record. Yeah, the record obviously matters, especially at the end of the year 'cause either you win the division, you're in the playoffs, you aren't in the playoffs. But this early in the year, it's more, where do we think this team is? Where do we think that they're going and what is our confidence in them that they're getting to that point? So like at the start of the year, it's AFC South Champions, it's playoffs. I had them at 10 wins, Brian had them at 17 and 0. So it's like, where is our confidence with them? And then how does that waiver based on how the season is going? I was more confident, and I still think the Texans are going to win 10 games. I haven't wavered off my prediction from them, but I was more confident with the Texans at the start of the season than I am now because of their limitations on the offensive line. So to me, it isn't so much, oh, they're two and one, but it feels like 0 and three and the sky is falling. It's more, I have serious questions about how good this team can be and how much can they reach their ceiling based on certain things that I don't love about what I saw. - Maybe it's the wording of that to say that a lot of people jumped off the contender title for this team because of last week. A lot of people started questioning whether this team was truly good enough to be a team that could win some playoff games and be a potential AFC Championship game type team or be better in the playoffs than they were a year ago or live up to some of the billing that a lot of people had them in terms of where they saw them in the AFC instead of like treating them like an 0 and 3 team. There were people I had plenty of discussions with questioning like, are you serious? Like you're jumping off the bandwagon after one week and saying this team is not a Super Bowl contender. They're not an AFC contender. They're not nearly as good as we thought they could be. And I'm like, - I don't think that they are. Like how they have played so far through three games. I don't think they're anywhere close to the best team in the NFL. - I don't think they're close to the best team in the NFL, but I think that there's a lot of space between the best team in the NFL and a playoff-contending team that has the ability to go a long way still. This is week three and you're right. There's things to clean up. There's things that have me concerned, even based on what I saw because I saw a talented roster that I thought was talented enough to go at least as far as they went a year ago in the playoffs and possibly get to an AFC Championship game. But I'm not jumping off the bandwagon or bringing my expectations down or the belief in this team after one week because of the fact that you haven't seen Autry on defense, but you have guys, Mixon's been out. You have different guys too that are gonna help fortify. Now the line is obviously a big concern. - Yeah, see that, like my, it's for me, it's not one week. For me, it's how poor the offensive lines played for three weeks. Like it's not about one game. They've been poor all three. It was just hidden a bit because they won the first two games versus winning the, you know, losing the Minnesota game. Whenever we do the do not ignore in victory what you wouldn't defeat, even though the Texans were two and oh, I was banging on the offensive line. I think the offensive line has been dreadful. I think that they've put bad ball on play and that the way that they're playing right now limits the offense and because it limits the offense, I think it limits the overall potential of the Texans. To your point, it is week three going into week four and that stuff can be corrected. There is a lot of time to correct that and well-coached teams will correct it. I would also say because I believe the Texans offensive line is actually really talented that I'm not gonna rule out it can be corrected. I'm not saying that it's gonna be this bad all year long. I'm saying the way they're currently playing, they are not anywhere near the best team in the league. Can they get to that point by week 15? I think it's very much in play because they have a talented offensive line. I think they have to improve communication. I think what DJ was talking about with the continuity is vital. I think it's very important. You always hear offensive line has to play like one fist, not five individual fingers throughout the cliche and they have to be coached up on it. So if they can get this offensive line playing even just top half of the NFL, I think again, I would feel really good about where they could be at the end of the year. But currently right now, I just don't see it. - And the reason why I don't waver is similar to what you said but also what he said when we were talking about tank as well 'cause right now the way they're using tank isn't closely, anywhere close to what we thought they were gonna do with tank and using the talent of all three receivers and he's been more of a gadget play type guy. But I would assume and I would hope that between now and the late stages of the season, that's gonna change. He's gonna get more reps. I'm with you in the fact that that's why I haven't waivered. I just believe there's too much talent on this team. I believe the offensive line, the negative is that you didn't have the injuries of a year ago and you didn't have going into the Pittsburgh game, CJ running for his life and leading the league in sacks. But at the same time, you didn't have any injuries on the offensive line so far. So the line is what it is. It's going to be a combination of look at themselves in the mirror and then between coaching and themselves working in reps, figuring out how they get better as the unit to create that fist. - I think it's possible. Like I do think it's possible. I think and they have the time to do it but it has to happen. And in week three games into the year, like how many teams are clicking on all cylinders? Very, very few. Like Kansas City's not really doing much offensively. Quite frankly, they didn't do a whole lot offensively last year and then they turned it on in the postseason and then had one of the best defenses and then went on to win the Super Bowl. Like I only think one team is playing like at a juggernaut level right now and I think it's Buffalo and I don't trust Josh Allen in the playoffs. So no team should be perfect through three weeks. Quite frankly, you probably don't want to be perfect at three weeks 'cause you're peeking too early. But if the Texans do not fix this offensive line problem, they are toast and they still might make the playoffs. They still might win a bad division but they're a wild card divisional round team at best. - Yeah, your division sets you up for the playoff berth that we were wondering if they were going to win the division or get in as a wild card based on the expectations of other teams in the division that have been less than. But at the same time, they have, again, a lot of teams are looking to go, have to go outside of the organization to try and find solutions. I think the solutions lie within the building. I think that you have enough to fix it and be that caliber of team by just staying within your building because I don't think you have the season ending injuries. I think you do have between coaching and continuity. You have things that can be corrected on the practice field. You have guys that are coming back like Autry, like Joe Mixin and then however you're going to start using and utilizing talent differently. So that's why I'm not even close to changing the fact that I still believe this team is talented. I have to go a long way. But I did, I've had conversation and I did see a lot of it that suddenly it was like the end of the world. - Yeah, I agree with you that they don't really need to add the pieces and that's probably the good part. It's just go to them up, go to them up, get the communication better. Obviously you're going to get continuity is going to improve because they're going to be on the field, talk on what they don't get hurt like playing in block games late. But yeah, I do think that they have the people. I do think that they have the players. It's just you got to correct the issues that are going on and they all know, they know that the offensive line has been keeping them back offensively. Bobby Slocke was kind of throwing his offensive line into the bus yesterday. They know it, they got to get better at it. All right, busy money, busy money's been killing it. We've been dominating, we've been winning a lot of $60. But we're in the black, we're in the black. We're going to continue to give you winners next. What are the killer bees putting their money behind this week? It is the bees on ESPN 97.5 and ESPN 92.5. Hey, before we go to the break, a word with the big weekend coming up of college and pro football, like we were just talking about, for my bookie.ag, my bookie.ag is the place you want to be. If you want to put money down on games that you're going to be watching or that you have a vested interest in or that you just feel like you know something about and you might want to cash in on, try and make a little extra change because that little extra change, you can make some before you even start betting. 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But now you can use their patent pending lightning adjust feature to change the height 10 times faster. It's so easy and fun to do. Check out the new lightning adjust feature at pro-dunk.com. The best basketball goals on the planet, pro-dunk.com. - Mommy, mommy, mommy. - Do these guys have any idea what they're doing? Probably not. But that won't stop them from making picks. This is busy money. - Three-door guy needs to get fired. He's about as accurate as a weather man. We've been killing it. We've been killing it with busy money. Last week, the bees went four and two, year to date. These are nine and six, year to date. Killer bees have won 60 bucks. We do have the luxury of not playing the VIG. A Brian's five and one. Brian's belt, fire. Brian, everything that Brian touches in September has turned to gold. He's undefeated and who said it? He's five and one in busy money. A Branham's in second place, three and three, and in dead last sitting in the cellar at the very, very bottom. Is Joel Blank? - Overselling it. (laughing) - Yeah, why would he ever lighten up on something that's negative towards me? - Because Blankers is in dead last, we're given the opportunity to go first, because we feel bad for him and his bad picks, although he's two and one and I'm three and three. What is your, what's the first game you're selling to us? - I'm selling Cincinnati at Carolina. I'm not buying it in one week that Carolina has completely turned it around with the Red Rocket Rifle. I believe that Cincinnati, as bad as their defense can be, their offense has been really, really good. Burrow and Chase are gonna be fine. And I believe that Carolina at home, getting four and a half points isn't enough. I think Cincinnati needs to make a statement. I think that offensively they are going to make a statement. I think they cover the four and a half at Carolina. - Where did Andy Dalton begin his career? - Cincinnati, this is the Andy Dalton revenge game. I'm just kidding, I'm on your side. I think the Bengals role in this. I think the Carolina and the Red Rocket were a good story for one week, just to prove how bad Bryce Young is. Cincinnati's desperate. Carolina's not very good. - Although I'm not sure the Bengals are very good, but they're better than Carolina. Even though it's a road game, the travel's not crazy. I like Cincinnati to cover the four and a half too. - Yeah, the Panthers aren't going up against the Raiders this week who are already calling their players out for making business decisions. - A lot of guys on the injury report. - In week three. - And a lot of guys on the injury report for the Raiders this week. - Yeah, exactly, so more business decisions being made. So yeah, this is a step up in competition. I never loved the needs it more because everyone needs it in the NFL. But in this case, I think it applies. The Bengals have to get a win or they're done. So I think they cruise. I would take the minus four and a half to. - Three, three, three, eight, since nine and six would barely make the playoffs, killing it, LOL. If you bet a million dollars in all of these games, you'd be up 60 million dollars. What do you mean we're not killing it? Get a bigger bankroll, bro. All right, first game that I'm going to sell. - Oh, we got a place for the game. - I got distracted. The texture triggered me and it took me off of my footing. We all picked it, right? 50 bucks on the Joe Burrow, blonde headed burrow. - 40? - Softies. - Yeah, I'm soft to 40. I'm soft boy at 40 on this one. - All right, $40 on the Cincinnati Bengals. First game I want to sell to you guys. I didn't love these slates, by the way. And then let it be noted that I picked the last three all. I got to cherry pick all the good games. I took the Colts. - Do you game? We're getting there early. - I'm taking the Colts over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Colts are getting a point and a half at home. Yeah, the Colts haven't played good football. Steelers haven't really beat anybody though. I know that they're undefeated. I think they're getting the undefeated push, even though they haven't really beaten anybody good. I think the Colts win this football game outright. They're getting a point and a half. Give me the Colts to hand the Steelers their first loss of the year. - I'm with it. I didn't like many of these games. I don't like this one because two quarterbacks I don't believe can throw the football. And one thing I know is that Pittsburgh runs it. And Indianapolis isn't great at stopping it. So I was a little hesitant on this game overall. And the fact that I thought the Colts might be maybe not favored at home, but I thought, I don't like the spread. I didn't like the game a whole lot. So I'll leave it up to you guys. - So you don't have a pick either way? - I think Pittsburgh's gonna, I think Pittsburgh, if I had to pick, I'd pick Pittsburgh. - That's kind of the way I'm leaving too, because if there's one side of the ball in this game that I think could win the game, it's Pittsburgh's defense. And for that reason, I wouldn't bet it, but I think I would stay away. - Okay. - That's kind of my, that's my lane. - You guys are gonna be watching this game Sunday, be like, man, Brandon knows ball. - I'm sure we'll get about it, which is 301. - I'm sure everybody says all the time. She'll listen to Brandon. - All right, my first pick, we just talked about the Las Vegas Raiders are already mailing it in seemingly, already making business decisions, ending up on the injury port. They're favored minus two and a half at home against the Cleveland Browns. Wrong team is favored. I do not like, I don't understand why Vegas is favored. They just got hammered by the Panthers. I know that Sean Watson sucks, he's even worse than Andy Dalton, but the Browns defense is elite. I don't think Vegas is gonna be able to do anything against the Browns defense. Wrong team favored, Cleveland wins outright. - Do we think Cleveland's defense is elite? - I don't think they're elite. But I think they got an elite pass rusher. I guess some-- - They're elite enough to shut down, they're elite enough to shut down Las Vegas. - Oh my gosh. - Devontay Adams not playing, although Brock Bowser is just gonna eat. - Much ahead of his out. - I'm gonna play. - After he was the guy orchestrating what everybody had to do and how to do it. - I saw somebody on Twitter today said, you know how they list in parentheses, like why they're out. It said Devontay Adams doesn't want to be there anymore. Out. - I believe that. - 'Cause he had a lot to say. - No lies detected. - Yeah, I had Cleveland in this game too. I actually had the Raiders in this game. I had the Raiders winning by three. The home game, I think the Browns are awful. I think to Sean Watson's terrible. Personally, I stayed away from it all together, but I think both of these teams are schizophrenic, and I don't like betting games in which two teams are schizophrenic. - I don't like this 'cause I don't like Cleveland's running game at all, and I don't like to Sean Watson, and I think that Vegas has enough to, I think, score some points against Cleveland. I didn't like it at all. If I leaned one way or the other, I-- - Where's the tiebreaker? You gotta make the call. - I would lean Las Vegas at home. I think that you're gonna get-- - You guys don't do the music if we want. - We didn't have great results doing that. - Okay, all right. - And you've been hot, so we kind of have to feed the hot hand. Like, we're role players, blankers and I. We get rebounds, we pass the rock. We let you take all the shots, Brian. - Thank you. - So we're gonna leave 'em. - I think we should just not play. - Okay. - I don't think we should flip it on, because he's been better than we have been. - Yeah, that's fine. - You know what I mean? - Yeah. - If anything-- - 'Cause I didn't like the game either, but yeah, that's fine. - Yeah, they just just, no, let's just no play. - All right. - Let's no play. I didn't bet a whole lot of games this week. I'm a degenerate and usually play lots of games. I only played four games against the spread this week. - Yeah, there was a couple I was thinking about early and then just doing a little bit more. I'm like, eh, I just can't. And even though a game that I ended up picking, I'm curious how you guys feel about it. - What'd you got? - Second game I had was the Philadelphia at Tampa Bay, kind of playoff rematch. I think Philadelphia's got a lot to prove. Yeah, they gotta win against the Saints. I think they're too talented to not be way better. And I believe that Tampa Bay has overachieved the first couple of weeks of the season. They're gonna start coming back to reality. - Tampa Bay at home is getting two points. I think Philadelphia wins this by at least a field-glumling and more like six. I think the Eagles are gonna make a statement at Tampa Bay and win the game. - Tampa Bay really confused me last week. I was feeling really good about Tampa Bay two weeks into the season. And then Tampa Bay last week confused me on who they are. I don't know in 2024 what a buccaneer is. I just don't. They got hammered at home by Denver. After beating Detroit the week before, after beating a pretty good commander team, the week by four, the week before. - On the road, no less. - Yeah, so I don't know, Washington was at home. Detroit was on the road. - That's why I'm saying Tampa went on the road and beat a pretty good Washington team. - No, they played Washington at home. - They beat Detroit at Detroit. - Okay, Washington at home at Detroit, but the better team they beat on the road. So I don't know what a buccaneer is in 2024. I think the buccaneer is a little confused in 2024. But I like the Philly side of this too. I don't feel uber confident about it 'cause I think the buccaneer at times can be really, really good. - Well, I'll go Philly. - Yeah, I'm Philly by a little bit. - I was gonna stay away just because we already know Devonta Smith is out. AJ Brown's a true game time decision. And if both of them are out, I wouldn't bet on Philly, even, especially as a favorite. So my vote is stay away, but it sounds like we're going to Philadelphia. - You gotta go light on Philly. - Yeah, I don't. - You get to stay in Philly, so we go in 20? - Yeah, I think we should go light on 20. 20 or 25 though. - 20 or 25, either one you call it. - Yeah, 25. - Let's go 25 then. - Let's go 25 on the eagle. - All right. - Yeah, don't be soft. No soft boys around here. All right, second game I want to sell. Again, I don't love any of these games, so I'm already going to put a little bit of a ceiling on the cost of this one. I really like Sean McVay. I know the Rams have tons of injuries, but the Rams found a way to beat San Francisco, another team with tons of injuries. But the Rams are going on the road to Chicago. I said Chicago, a young football team. I don't think they're well coached. Don't love rookie quarterbacks unless you're CJ Shroud last year or Jaden Daniels. This year, I think the Rams are better than Chicago. I think they're better coached than Chicago. I think the Rams are going to go into the Windy City. I got dumped for that one, so I got to be careful saying city. I think the Rams are going to go into the wind, not even Brian, the Rams are going to go into the Windy City, and they're going to win. And they're getting three points. Give me the Rams plus three over Chicago in the Windy City. - Yeah, I like the Rams in this game as well. I don't like the coaching staff. I don't like that Caleb Williams, no matter how many weapons he's had around him, they haven't been able to do nearly what people thought that they were going to do when they were the sexy pick via playoff team in the NFC. I think the Rams are well coached. I think they have a ton of talent. I think they have the better quarterback on the field for right now with Matt Stafford. I like the Rams. - Yeah, the Rams, I mean, it's hard to figure out where they're at because obviously their offense and lines banged up. They're without their top two wide receivers, but then they just beat the 49ers last week. So I don't love a team with the bad offense line on the road facing the good defense, but -3 is pretty big. So I would agree with you guys. The Rams plus the points. - 25? - Yeah. - 25. - Yeah. - I don't love this game. - No, I really don't love this game. - There's not many to love in this bunch of games. - They get starts to wiseen up though around week four. Like you start, I remember last year, I didn't love many games after about this point of the year. They start to really wiseen up. That's why we take advantage in the first three weeks. All right, what's your last game, Brian? - Another wrong team is favorite. Tennessee at Miami, Miami is a one-point favorite. Like, Will Levis sucks, but whatever Miami puts a quarterback time or Huntly Pro Bowler is going to be even worse. I think Tennessee has got the better running game. I think they're going to be able to - - We saw Zach Charbonay. - Well, Zach Charbonay is a pretty mid running back. - Zach Charbonay? - Yeah. - It doesn't play on either one of these football teams. - No, I know, but I'm talking about the Miami Rush defense. So the Miami Rush defense, they gave it up to James Cook a few weeks ago, got crushed by him. Zach Charbonay is a pretty mid running back. They got crushed by him. I think Tony Pollard does a lot in this game. We saw DeAndre Hopkins finally wake up last week in the loss to Green Bay. And loss in the picture is they obviously should have won the game of Chicago, obviously, and Will Levis throws the horrible pick. And they're right in that game against the Jets till the very end. Again, another Will Levis terrible pick. The difference is I don't think Miami's defense is good enough to do to Will Levis with Chicago and the New York Jets did. And I think the Tennessee run game is able to move the ball quite well against Miami's run defense. So I will take Tennessee plus one. - Brandon, you're gonna decide this one because I see the exact opposite of this. I see the fact that I don't-- - Bet no tire, honey. - Yeah, because of the fact that Will Levis is gonna do whatever you just said about all the different matchups. Will Levis is gonna do whatever he can to turn the ball over and give it away and not play well. - Bears defense, Jets defense. Way greater sign than Miami defense though. - Okay, but I believe too that there, you've got a really good offensive mind in McDaniel with a whole lot of weapons that he can still use in Miami and at home. This is a must win for the Dolphins. I just like the Dolphins. - I love that you're gonna put it on Jeremy to defend his boy Will Levis. - I mean, do my Will Levis impersonation. I'm gonna hit that camera with this ball. (laughing) I actually, I hit the camera. I actually have the, I have the Titans winning this game. - There you go. - I wouldn't, here's the thing. I'm not betting on Will Levis on the road. Like this was a no play for me. Branum analytics do have the Titans winning a low scoring game 20 to 17 over the Dolphins. I agree that the Titans will win this game. I, the Dolphins are a mess. The Dolphins are not very good. Although they are turning, like you said, I think, to a Pro Bowl quarterback. - Tyler Huntley. - Tyler Huntley. This is a no play for me. I'm staying away. Staying away. - There you go. - I got Faded twice today. - Yeah, Faded twice today. - Buck into my world. We played both of your games, dude. - No, last year. - I'm staying. I went in the first couple of weeks. We did it. - We played both the games for last place and Faded the two for first place. - I have been great. I understand it. - All right. So the Killer B's have played three games this week. Four and two last week, nine and six on the year, up 60 bucks. If you were betting, you know, million dollar units, you would be a multi-millionaire following our picks. We're on the Rams minus three for 25, equals minus two for 25. And then since he minus four and a half for 40 doll hairs. All right, when we come back, mean text, our car record today, every Friday, it is the B's on ESPN 97.5 and ESPN 92.5. In about 24 hours, we've got a big one at TD ECU Stadium. Tomorrow night, six o'clock, 18th ranked, undefeated, Iowa State comes into Houston as the Cougars look for the upset in their big 12 home opener. And Houston has a deal for you tomorrow night. It's not too late to get in on this. The Family Night Special. You're looking for entertainment for you and the family. That's always hard to do, especially if you're on a budget. Well, you have H's got you four tickets, four hot dogs, four drinks for just $80. Where else can you get that kind of entertainment? Family entertainment for just 80 bucks. Lock in the deal at uhcoogers.com/tickets or 713 go Cougs. Not only is it family weekend, but it's also Hispanic heritage games. A lot of fun out of the stadium tomorrow night. Come out and celebrate on campus as the Cougs host the undefeated 18th ranked cyclones. First ever matchup, by the way, on the gridiron between these two teams. Kick off at six. Weather's gonna be unbelievable tomorrow night. Come out early. Cougar walk beginning at 3.30. Plus, they're expanding the Bud Light Backyard beer garden, which now features food, drinks, tailgate games. Come on, hang out before the game. Night of thrilling plays, hard hitting action, unforgettable moments and the weather's gonna be impeccable. $80 takes care of a family of four with the Family Night Special. Four tickets, four hot dogs, four drinks, just $80. Go to uhcoogers.com/tickets or call 713 go Cougs to get that Family Night Special. Come early, be loud and wear red. (upbeat music) - You're back with a Killer B's on ESPN 97.5 and 92.5. Live from the Veritex Community Bank Studios. Here's Joel Plank and Jeremy Brand. - Brian didn't play the Astro starter music. ♪ When you taste love ♪ - You feel like the Astro's playing? - Because I knew what day it is. - We're now Blanco Day. Blanco, what is we're now Blanco doing for the Astro's? ♪ I eat pitches, five innings ♪ ♪ And he gives up ♪ - One run. - Will you watch the Astro's this weekend? - I will glance at them. - I'll watch them. I'll watch the condensed games. - I'm gonna record them and then-- - Yeah, I'll probably fast forward through it. I'll watch them whenever a football's over. - I think Blanco throws 65 pitches today. I think they want them available for next Tuesday. Just in case, like what if it's a tie game? You use all your leverage guys, it's the 11th inning. I think they would like to turn to Renelle Blanco in that spot. So I don't think they're gonna go Renelle Blanco too long today, and however much he'll go, is the maximum amount for him to be available on Tuesday. - Part of the reason they moved them from Saturday to Friday as well. - Absolutely. - Yeah, five's too much. Probably more in the ring. - Well, if he goes 65 pitches and five, I think it's possible. - I think he likes to throw a lot of pitches. - He does. - I might be three and a half four. (laughing) - I'll be three innings. Yeah, I'll take that for her now. Just get out healthy. Get out healthy. Get out where you're available next Tuesday. Okay, let's get it to our mean text, all the mean things that you've said to us the last couple of weeks. Branham thinks he's right about everything. Bro is a bad word. Very punchable face and voice too. I am most of those things. - Well, I'll agree with that. But I am usually right about it. - You're a bad word. - The bad word he used, I think is fair. - Okay. - I don't think the bad word he used is fair. I don't think that he was talking too much out of line. I think he was a mostly accurate text. - You've heard it before. - He was a mostly, yeah, not even the worst I've heard. Not even the worst I've heard. I'd be okay with losing Tunsel. He cost us when he's on the field anyways. People were so mad at Laramie Tunsel that they were okay if he would get hurt in that game the other day. - That's a bit much. - Right? - Yeah. A little bit much. - A little bit of cutting off your nose despite your face a little bit. - Don't we think so? - Oh yeah, that's, yeah. No, even more. - They're a little bit. - They're a little bit. - Laramie Tunsel's one of the best left tackles in the football post snap. - Who are you replacing him with? You're gonna have a better chance. - Like Fisher. - No place right tackle, don't you? - Yeah, he's more of a left tackle. But I think he will be moved to right tackle. He's played both. He's a swing tackle. Like if either tackle got hurt, Blake Fisher would be the guy that replaces him. - Brandon, please stop with the football. You're coming dangerously close to sounding like the untalented Paul Galant. He's a clown. - I made it. I didn't see that finish. - Was that more insulting to me or Paul? - I would say the latter. Yeah. - I don't like Paul. - I don't like Paul. - I don't like Paul. - Man. - I was gonna say he's not a clown, but then you played that. It's like, he's, he can be clownies. - I mean, he's got a point. - He likes to clown around. - Makes sense. Killer B's acting like B-words. - He's got to be more specific after the Twitch. - He's got to be more specific. What were we being B-words about? - Yeah. What was that in reference to? - I don't remember. - I need to start putting the context here. I mean, the killer G's kind of call us that. They call us the angry B's. It's kind of the same thing. Kind of the same thing. But they say we complain a lot. - We talk a lot of baseball. - Complaining-- - Which Paul hates. - Complaining a lot is more like the B word than angry B's. But they say we complain a lot. So I was complaining, I think it's synonymous with acting like B-words. - Sure. - I mean, maybe the killer G's texted at the end of the show. - This is quite possible. - I like that conspiracy theory. - Plot twist. Chasmic Cormac follows the same diet except he eats 2,500 calories multiple times per day. It was a fat joke. - Hmm. - It was a fat joke. - With the banana pudding. - Yeah, I said he's fat. 'Cause he was the Derek Henry thing where he-- - Yeah, we were talking about he doesn't need til after five. - I think it's called the gladiator diet. - Should we call it the Titan? - Not bad. Someone called me a wuss. That's just where I crossed the line. That's just where the-- You crossed the line. You can say all these things about me, the moment you call me a wuss, you've gone too far. And I'm not a wuss. - You're gonna meet 'em on the playground after school? - I'm not a wuss. What's that? - You're gonna meet 'em on the playground after school? - I'll show you where I'm not a wuss. What'd you say? - They didn't play soft. - Well, they don't not. - So the difference between soft and wuss. - They were wrong, calling me a wuss. I'm not a wuss. - I'm pretty soft. - I'm tough. - How long did you play football? - What's that? - How long did you play football? - My parents didn't let me play tackle football. I played flag football, I had a pick six. - Soft. - Against Josh Warren. Maybe CJ Stroud should go back and listen to the advice he gave Kayla Williams. That one got me, because there was that whole dynamic. - Yes, I saw good enough, old enough to be giving advice to Kayla Williams. Sam Darnold's giving him advice. - Yes, a lot of people were on that on Twitch after the game of, I mean, on Twitter, of Sam Darnold running to give CJ advice in the handshake. - So funny. I think Laramie is just a narcissistic bad word. That's all it is. Hopefully Sunday was a much needed kick in the tee. Like when a schoolyard bully, me, like to that guy who called me a wuss, finally gets popped in the mouth and it changes his perspective on bad word. Cash or trash, Joel can do a whole segment without saying the word fact. - Fact. - There we go, that does it for, for mean tags. All right, it's gonna do it for us. Hope that you all have a great weekend. Brian, good job doing the hard work. It caught September, hot September. Hope October's as good for you as September was. He's blank, I'm Brad, I'm coming up next, Hall of Fame, that's Brad Gilmore, and then the Jabroni Booker T, comic cast coming up at eight o'clock. We'll talk to all of you on Monday. Good night, y'all. (upbeat music) - ESPN, nine seven five. - Owning a rental property sounds like a dream until you realize how much work goes into getting it ready. Determine a competitive rent price, market the property, schedule the showing screen, turn it the lease at a rent collection, handle maintenance request, maintain communication. - Whew, sound complicated? Renters' warehouse is here to take the hard work off your rental to-do list. Qualify tenants, check, rent collection, check, maintenance coordination, you got it. Go to runnerswarehouse.com for a free rental analysis to find out how much your home can rent for. Or call 303-974-9444, because from now on, the only thing you need on your to-do list is to call runners warehouse.