Latest / Banter with the Boys / NFL Week 3 2026 Picks & Predictions | Ravens-Cowboys, Vikings-Bucs & More

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NFL Week 3 2026 Picks & Predictions | Ravens-Cowboys, Vikings-Bucs & More · Banter with the Boys

0:00
laced up let's go it's time for banter with the
0:05
boys welcome back to banter with the boys gridiron
0:17
updates this is smelty next to me is jake flock
0:21
yeah flock yeah fuck yeah buddy flock on Next
0:26
to me on the other side is Roberto, the other
0:29
co -host on this show. Skol to the bowl. You
0:32
already know. Kev, you're... That was not scripted,
0:36
by the way. We just did that, so we talked to
0:38
each other way too much. To start our Preview
0:42
and Picks episode, just in case you did not listen
0:45
to the recap episode, I have to share this. Dom,
0:49
who was on last week... Went 4 -4 again last
0:52
week, which brings his total now to 8 -0. So
0:55
he's definitely leading us right now. Everybody
0:57
else, I don't know. I didn't do the math. I think
1:00
he's using AI to make his picks or something.
1:03
Oh, Dom, did you hear that? Jake's calling you
1:06
a cheater. Or is he just using his resources?
1:09
Probably just using his resources. But anyway,
1:11
he went 4 -4 week one. So Kev, Europe, decided
1:16
that it was a good idea to use Dom's picks. So
1:21
he did. He bet 15 bucks on prize picks teams
1:23
and won 476. Yeah. And he sent Dom a little finder's
1:29
fee for him. So, I mean, they got a little thing
1:32
going on. Keep your lights on at the Nordic Lodge,
1:35
too. Hey, listen. That's right. That's right.
1:37
So if you want to make some, do I dare share
1:40
Dom's picks? Did he send them? I don't think
1:42
he sent them yet. No, he won't because I said
1:44
I'm not going to share them. So anyway, my point
1:49
being is if you listen to our preview and pick
1:51
show, message us on Facebook, comment on TikTok
1:55
or YouTube or whatever. Put it somewhere. Put
1:57
your pick somewhere. Hopefully we get the notification.
2:00
And me being so great at keeping standings and
2:03
everything, I will do that. Yep. Yep. I'll find
2:07
somebody to do that. Because clearly, if you're
2:11
watching on YouTube, I don't have a screenshot
2:12
of the standings because they don't exist yet.
2:15
But by week three, they will. But Dom's winning.
2:18
That's all you need to know. Jake and I played
2:20
like crap this week. Yeah, we did. Roberto went
2:22
two and two, you said. So if you want to play
2:26
with the boys of the banter here, message us
2:29
your picks after this episode drops so we know
2:32
who you're picking. You got to get it in before
2:34
Sunday. We didn't do a Thursday night game this
2:37
week. Drop it in the comments. Get it done. But
2:40
if they put it in the comments, then people can
2:41
take their ideas. We're only picking four games.
2:45
Game one's a doozy. I assume... You got the Vegas
2:54
odds pulled up on this game. What is Game 1?
2:57
Sorry, sorry, right. I'm not even sharing. It's
2:59
the Panthers traveling to the Cleveland Browns.
3:01
We're changing it up a little bit here. That's
3:03
right. I don't know if we've ever talked too
3:05
much about these teams. We talked about the Panthers
3:07
a little bit last year. But, yeah, Panthers traveling
3:09
to the Browns. What does Vegas say? Yeah, I can't.
3:12
Oh, not yet. Okay, right on, right on, right
3:14
on. I started thinking about something else.
3:16
What am I doing here? It's like Browns, check
3:19
out. Well, according to ESPN anyway. Two and
3:23
a half. Okay, that's what I'm seeing too. By
3:25
the Panthers. That's what I'm seeing too. Of
3:27
the Panthers, which, I mean, yes, we know it's
3:31
the Browns, right? But. If you know ball, you
3:36
know that that defense wasn't that bad to begin
3:38
with. And, yeah, you lost Myles Garrett, but
3:40
you gained Jared Verse to a defense, again, that
3:44
isn't that bad. So they're a little banged up
3:47
right now. They got a lot of questionable guys,
3:48
defensive guys heading into this week, unfortunately.
3:51
So, you know, Mason Graham, Grant Delpit, Tyson
3:55
Campbell, Quincy Williams. So a lot of big names
3:57
defensively for them are questionable right now.
4:00
Let's anticipate they play. The Browns are at
4:03
home. I guess I'm going to start this because
4:05
I'm already on a roll. Do it. Should I do it?
4:11
I have no idea, but you're going to do it. I'm
4:13
going with the Browns. I'm going with the Browns,
4:15
which my gut's telling me the Panthers. So I'm
4:18
going to use my head and go with the Browns because
4:19
that's never wrong. But Deshaun Watson getting
4:22
his first win last week, and who knows, Godwin.
4:27
I don't know. I mean, yes, Baker Mayfield didn't
4:29
look great. I would say that is an argument towards
4:32
that's why the Browns won. Baker just seemed
4:34
off all game. Turnovers. That's right. But I
4:40
don't know, man. I think the Cleveland Browns,
4:42
this is the start of the new chapter for them.
4:44
Whether it's with Deshaun Watson or not past
4:47
this season, I don't know. Are we talking wild
4:49
card? Whoa. I don't know. That's a bold statement.
4:53
It is freaking week three. There it is. Settle
4:56
down. Cleveland Browns is going to make the wild
4:58
card. But check this out. Check this out. They
5:00
play at home against the Panthers, who I'm picking
5:02
them to beat. Schedule's favorable. Then they
5:04
have another home game against the Steelers,
5:06
which I'm not a big fan of right now with just
5:08
how that offense looks. Possible dub. They travel
5:11
to the Jets right now. That's a toss -up for
5:13
me, which has not been in the past. But the Jets
5:15
are kind of vibing a little bit. And then they
5:18
got to play the Ravens. I mean, we don't know.
5:21
We don't know. The Ravens just lost the freaking
5:23
Saints. But the Saints are also trending upward,
5:26
more so than the Browns, I would say. Yeah, I
5:28
think Saints are underrated. Fair enough. I was
5:33
hyping Saints at the beginning of the season.
5:36
You're right. Yeah, that's right. That's true.
5:39
I think Jake was a little more bold than I was.
5:41
But I am officially picking the Browns to pull
5:45
this off. For funsies, I'm going to say... They
5:50
win by at least seven by score. Okay. By TD,
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though, not a field goal. Seven. Jake, send it
5:58
away. Fire away, Jake. Did you say seven? That's
6:01
a lot of points. For the Browns to win by? Yeah,
6:06
that's a lot of points. Yeah, that's nine and
6:08
a half. Did you know that the Panthers are averaging
6:11
35 .5 points per game right now? I did see that.
6:14
Good for them. That's absolutely ridiculous for
6:16
that particular team. That was part of my notes,
6:18
actually, that I didn't put in. Nice. Anyway.
6:24
Sorry, I threw you off. You did. You did throw
6:27
me off. I think it's an interesting game, which
6:33
is why we picked it, because it's just kind of
6:35
like... We played the Falcons last week. We don't...
6:38
Well, the Panthers made the playoffs last year,
6:41
right? Yeah, they did. It was a wild card, right?
6:43
Or did they win the division? No, they lost their
6:45
way in. That's right. So we're seeing the Panthers
6:54
growing here because Bryce Young is continuing
6:57
to play better. Just his overall stats. I mean,
7:03
it's a two -game sample size, but he's only thrown
7:05
one pick. It's 648 yards. So he's slinging the
7:08
ball around. Their run game is something to be
7:11
desired. Chubba. Chubba needs to step up and
7:14
get some more yards. But it's what? Jalen Coker
7:19
is stepping up, and then you've got Tedaroa McMillan.
7:22
Like right behind, too. Like they've got a really
7:26
good receiver pair, and then they still have
7:28
the – The Bayou Boy. Oh, Leggett? Yeah, Leggett.
7:35
Thank you. So they have a lot of talent at wide
7:39
receiver. If they can just run the ball, I think
7:44
the Panthers have a really good shot of actually
7:47
winning this game. And it's the Browns. Oh, my
7:55
God. Mike Tomlin's on record of saying this.
7:58
It was two weeks ago. And I kind of agree with
8:01
them. Whereas, like, the Browns are going to
8:03
Browns. Todd Munkin. Todd Munkin. Was not thrilled
8:09
about that. No, not at all. He was like, F that.
8:13
And then stormed off. But the Browns have to
8:17
prove something. They've got to string some stuff
8:19
together. A game against. A floundering Buccaneers
8:24
team right now doesn't really... That lost some
8:26
pieces in the offseason, right? Yeah, it doesn't
8:28
really wow me that much. Doesn't wow me either.
8:31
So I don't have a lot of confidence. I'm taking
8:33
Panthers over Browns. Panthers for Jacob of the
8:40
flock. Yeah, this is like a... for the Browns,
8:44
this is a game that can change their trajectory
8:47
of the season to get them to near 500. I still
8:51
don't believe that they have enough in Watson
8:55
to, he still looks not amazing. Yeah. At points.
9:02
But I want to give a big shout out to Devin Lloyd.
9:04
I mean, the guy played absolutely amazing last
9:07
week. He had, I mean, probably one of the best
9:10
linebacking days that a linebacker can have.
9:14
It'll be really interesting, Mac. You got T -Mac
9:16
versus Ward. Like we did say, Cleveland does
9:19
have a bunch of pieces still. They picked out
9:21
Mason last year, their first rounder out of Michigan.
9:24
And then they picked up offense alignment on
9:27
the left side. It's whether Cleveland can establish
9:30
the running game. Jenkins came back last week.
9:35
He was a difference maker in that offense, you
9:37
can tell. He just gave them a little bit of juice.
9:39
And it's up to the receivers and Watson to stay.
9:43
in the game which is interesting on the other
9:46
side of it bryce young yes he looks like a completely
9:49
different player he does look like that first
9:51
round over possibility as a franchise quarterback
9:53
there for a while coker fancy football pickup
9:57
if he's available definitely he's getting a ton
9:59
of looks because t uh t mac is getting a ton
10:03
of double teams are you know on the outside Chubbard
10:07
has been the Aaron Jones for the Panthers so
10:12
far this season. Brooks hasn't really showed
10:15
me much that he's different yet. That run game
10:20
needs to prove it to me, though, for the Panthers.
10:22
That's the big key. But what's proving it to
10:25
you? Like 105? Maybe, yeah, because Chubba Hubbard,
10:30
I mean, the average is low. The averages are
10:33
low the first two games for both Hubbard and
10:35
worse for Brooks, which surprises me. I really
10:38
want Brooks to work out. I want to see flashes
10:40
of that Texas Brooks. You know what I mean? Yeah.
10:44
Was this something that we missed on the get
10:48
ready for it tent talk? Oh, shoot. Brooks is
10:51
going on IR again. Is he? Oh, I didn't. Yeah,
10:54
we did miss that then. Is he? I think so. God,
10:58
that sucks, man. That sucks. But I think for
11:01
the Panthers to beat Cleveland, Hubbard's got
11:03
to go over 85 yards. Yeah. Okay. Over 85. On
11:09
the ground alone. Trying to at least hit four
11:13
plus a carry. At least, I mean, it doesn't have
11:16
to be game breaking. It just has to be enough
11:18
to take. Effective. Yeah. Right, and so far it
11:21
has been enough, and obviously they've been focusing
11:23
more, it seems like, on the pass game. But I
11:25
think against that Browns defense, if you can
11:27
get that run game, like you're saying, established
11:30
for sure, then they have that chance to probably
11:33
win the game. But I just don't see, like again,
11:35
I just don't see it happening this week. I don't
11:37
know. It's something about that Browns defense.
11:39
Go Dawgs, I guess. Yeah, we did miss it. They
11:42
put Brooks on IR for a core muscle injury. Man.
11:48
No good. No good. So their backup now would be
11:51
A .J. Dillon. Packer fans know him. Yeah, buddy.
11:57
Yeah, and they weren't that upset when he left.
12:00
But to finish my thing, I'm going Panthers. Yeah.
12:05
You went Panthers. That's right. I think it's
12:08
going to be a cool one. Yeah, throw it out there.
12:10
Panthers for Kev. Unbelievable. Rawr. Rawr. All
12:14
right. Game two. Titans at the Giants, the Jackson
12:21
Dartless Giants. Man, this was going to be a
12:24
better game. This was a better game when we decided
12:26
on it before the injury happened. You're not
12:29
vibing with Jameis? Jameis is going to be good.
12:32
Jameis is a 30 and 30 quarterback, not an ESPN
12:35
special, but he had 30 touchdowns, 30 interceptions.
12:41
So for every positive thing that he does, there's
12:45
usually something equally as catastrophic that
12:48
he'll do. Catastrophic. I love it. You go with
12:52
it. You're already rolling. Yeah, I'll roll with
12:54
it. So I think the Titans defense is figuring
12:58
itself out and how Robert Sala wants them to
13:01
operate. Because they were flying to the ball.
13:04
They were ball hawking. They got two picks on
13:06
Jalen Hurts. last week. And right now, Kim Ward
13:15
is really being a game manager. He's not being
13:18
asked to do much to win the games, which allowed
13:21
them to at least stay close to against Philadelphia
13:24
last week. And they were winning and Philadelphia
13:27
kind of had to like pull it out of their behinds
13:30
at, at the end of the game. Um, so I loved how
13:34
Tennessee is starting to look and grow with that
13:38
young team that they have. The giants, I mean,
13:42
Jameis has been there for a couple of years,
13:44
but it's new scheme stuff. I think that we're
13:49
going to see a lot more of the run game, what
13:53
Greg Roman wants to do. So it's going to be like
13:55
Scataboo. Camp Scataboo and Devin Singletary
14:00
and Najee Harris trying to run the ball, take
14:03
pressure off of Jameis and not necessarily having
14:08
him throw it to Malik Neighbors or Isaiah Likely.
14:16
Likely? Give me Titans over the Giants. Right
14:24
on. Titans over the Giants. That's right. Giants
14:27
are favored by three. I didn't even know what
14:29
the spread was. Two and a half. They're favored
14:31
by three. Oh, you're seeing two and a half. Okay.
14:33
I saw three. When I printed it. Right on. Roberto,
14:39
go for it. Yeah. I mean, this was a completely
14:42
different game with Jackson Dart playing. So
14:45
the injury. james has been in the league for
14:49
a while uh it's whether he settles down and not
14:52
makes any you know like catastrophic mistakes
14:54
which he seems to do um so they need to start
14:57
off hot it is at home so they're at least going
15:00
to have the crowd behind them um yeah it's whether
15:05
you got the sala versus the john harbaugh um
15:08
so it'll be an interesting matchup such that
15:11
they were talking about the titans defense whether
15:14
you know i think that with Jameis, I think they'll
15:18
apply a ton of pressure to him and make him make
15:20
a lot of quick decisions and try to make him
15:23
make mistakes. Tennessee definitely needs to
15:25
get that running game going a little bit to help
15:27
out Cam. Tate, decent little start for their
15:31
rookie. Has Ridley done much? None of the receivers.
15:37
They need a little help out of that. This is
15:42
going to be a tight game. I'm going to give it
15:44
to the Titans just because they have a starting
15:46
quarterback. But I can be like a 16 -13 ugly.
15:51
Weird one. Probably barely going to watch this
15:53
game. Hey, fair enough. Of course, it would be
15:59
more interesting with Jackson Dart in the game.
16:00
We know that. Titans are, even though they're
16:04
0 -2, they're kind of trending in the right direction,
16:06
right? Yeah, they played a really great game
16:08
last weekend against a team that. A lot of the
16:11
people that get paid money to do what we're doing
16:13
right now say that are still a contender in the
16:15
Eagles. So they took them. They took them on.
16:22
But they're not winning this week. I'm sorry.
16:26
They're not winning this week. Even if Jameis
16:28
Winston, you know, leading that offense. I'm
16:32
very concerned about the Giants offense. Don't
16:34
get me wrong. I'm not as concerned about their
16:37
defense. Yes, they played a really good Rams
16:39
team. Burns, if he's out, that changes it. Burns
16:42
is questionable. Tyler Newbin's questionable.
16:46
God, there's one more that was questionable off
16:48
the top of my head. Yeah, they got pretty banged
16:50
up yesterday. But if that defense is healthy,
16:53
I feel like they're going to give Cam Ward a
16:55
whole lot of problems to deal with. And now Cam
16:58
Ward is ready for it at this point. So this is
17:01
the time for him to step out, and they need to
17:04
win this game. The Titans need to win this game,
17:06
you know. But I just feel like that Giants defense
17:09
is going to stand up, you know, NFC's pride,
17:12
I guess. Yeah, Giants for me. Yeah, you just
17:17
love Jameis too much. I mean, he didn't look
17:19
great, though, right? He didn't look great at
17:21
all. So I hope with another week of preparing
17:24
and knowing that you're the starter this week
17:27
that it'll look better. God, he just always looks
17:31
like a deer in headlights, man. But I love the
17:34
dude. Yeah, if you didn't see that video of Jameis,
17:37
you know, swimming in Cologne. Coach picked some
17:41
up this week. He said it's a pretty good smell.
17:44
That's right. It's called, I don't even know.
17:48
I was going to come up with some crazy crap,
17:50
but it didn't work. Calvin Klein. Is that what
17:53
it was? I don't know. You're just, okay. We're
17:55
moving on. We're moving on to the third game,
17:58
the least important of the four we're talking
17:59
about this week. Flocking. The Ravens are flocking
18:04
to Rio to play the Dallas Cowboys. Rio, Rio.
18:08
This is an important game. This is an important
18:11
game, actually, for both teams, really, to be
18:13
honest with you. And I always ride the Cowboys.
18:16
Three and a half when I printed it for the Ravens.
18:20
It's pretty tight. You started Titans and Giants,
18:23
right? I did start Titans and Giants. What do
18:26
you got? Well, I mean, it's... two teams coming
18:30
off completely different weeks you know first
18:33
week for the cowboys getting destroyed at giants
18:36
and then coming out last week and just putting
18:39
out huge numbers against a wounded commanders
18:43
team um so i guess this is what dallas cowboys
18:48
team's going to show up and this is a very difficult
18:51
team to just see which one it is we'll see whether
18:55
um how effective the Cowboys are to stop against
18:59
the run, which is a huge issue for them last
19:01
year. But also on the flip side, for the Ravens
19:05
in the back of their secondary against this high
19:07
power to A1 receivers with a decent enough running
19:13
game, you know, it's just kind of they run the
19:16
same thing as we're talking about with the Vikings
19:18
and Carolina. There's a guy that just kind of
19:21
do enough, 85 to 100 yards we're looking for.
19:26
But I'm going Ravens here. I think Lamar will
19:30
be too much of an issue, especially if the Cowboys
19:34
want to play a lot of man, which is really difficult
19:37
against a mobile quarterback like that. And with
19:40
a lot of those receivers sitting back in that
19:42
deep shell might open up a lot of the running
19:44
game. So I'm going to go Baltimore on this one.
19:47
But I think it's going to be a high 31 -30 style
19:49
of game. And I think Cowboys will cover, but
19:53
Ravens will get it done. Yeah, I'm right there
19:57
with you on the Cowboys' run defense being a
19:59
pretty hefty concern, especially going up against
20:03
King Henry. But, but, Dak Prescott and company
20:11
really are regular season killers, you know,
20:15
when they're feeling healthy and they're grooving.
20:17
Champions. And they're, you're at regular season
20:19
champs, that's right. And they're grooving after
20:22
that Commander's win. Yes, Jaden Daniels. But,
20:26
oh, God. I mean, when that offense is actually
20:30
working well, Dak Prescott, again, I've said
20:33
it before, I'd take him in purple. He's just
20:36
another Kirk Cousins, really. But he's better
20:39
than Kirk. He has his moments. He just can't
20:41
get over that hump in the playoffs and just doesn't
20:44
ever really show out in the playoffs. But because
20:47
he's so damn good in the regular season, I got
20:50
to go Cowboys by. By like three. It's going to
20:55
be really close. I think this is a babble. Coach
20:57
with the boys. Every time I do it, I never win.
21:02
That's why I picked the Ravens. I don't know
21:04
why I keep riding with America's team. I got
21:10
to go Dallas. Nice. Good pick. Good pick. Yeah,
21:14
I know. You're not picking them. He's just setting
21:16
them up. Yeah, for sure. Something that wasn't...
21:22
discussed. They are playing in Rio, so they're
21:25
going to be in Brazil. So there's travel, right?
21:28
That's right. A little bit further for Baltimore.
21:31
I did a little bit of research on this because
21:35
I was critical with Sean McVay and the Rams and
21:40
their decision to fly to Australia late. Okay.
21:44
You did a little sleep study? No, I didn't do
21:47
a sleep study. 21%. No, silly. I was like, what
21:56
are we talking about now? All right. We're flying.
22:00
You guys are taking a bus down there? What was
22:04
Baltimore's travel plan? What is Dallas's travel
22:10
plan? So I pulled it up. Information is publicly
22:14
available, so no secrets here. Both teams are
22:16
actually flying down Thursday night. So tomorrow
22:18
night, because it's Wednesday today, we're recording
22:21
a little off. We're a day late. Sorry, fans.
22:24
Thanks for smelting. It's all right. Things happen.
22:27
Got to make money. Things come up. Yep. But anyway,
22:30
both teams are traveling Thursday night after
22:34
practice. So they're going to do like an early
22:36
Thursday practice, get to their airports, fly
22:38
down. It's a 10 -hour flight, and it's only a,
22:43
well, it's a two -hour time zone difference for
22:47
us in the Central. For Baltimore, it's one. Dallas,
22:50
it's two, whatever it is. So it's not, like,
22:52
super significant, like the 18 hours it was for
22:55
Australia. But, I mean, a 10 -hour flight, that's
22:58
still long and exhausting. So it'll be interesting
23:01
that both teams are doing the same travel plans
23:06
or have the same travel arrangements. No excuses.
23:07
Yep. So we can't be like, oh, they were tired.
23:12
Both teams will be tired at that point. What
23:15
did your research find? My research found that
23:18
Zay Flowers also did not practice today. Okay.
23:20
So I am going to speculate that he's not going
23:24
to be playing, but that's okay. You heard it
23:26
first here on Banter with the Boys. I thought
23:29
Rashad Bateman played really well in the absence
23:32
of Zay Flowers last week. Mark Andrews was around
23:36
and very active as well. Catches everything.
23:39
Yep. No concerns with the passing attack. I believe
23:44
that the Ravens are going to get back to what
23:46
they should be doing, which is running the ball
23:48
with Derrick Henry. It's the thing that I keep
23:50
repeating. 20 plus touches. 20. 20 plus. Listen,
23:56
Baltimore. Give him the ball. Let him run the
24:00
ball. Because, yeah, I. question whether or not
24:03
Dallas is going to be able to stop the run that
24:05
many times. With a guy of that size continuing
24:09
to... And he always continues to wear on those
24:13
defenses, and then his yards per carry just increases
24:16
over the course of the entire game. Dallas needs
24:21
to figure out how to establish a run to at least
24:25
keep Baltimore from playing more pass defense.
24:30
Yep. Because they'll probably just be like, well,
24:33
they're not going to run the ball, whatever.
24:34
We'll end up playing nickel and dime the entire
24:36
time. J. Wells got it. And try and cover C .D.
24:39
Lamb and George Pickens as best we possibly can.
24:43
And Ferguson. Valid. Valid point. Ferguson down
24:47
the middle. Two tighties last week. Cowboys passing
24:52
game does worry me some, but I don't think that
24:56
they're going to be consistent enough with their
24:57
own run game. And I don't think they'll be able
24:59
to stop Derek Henry as long as Baltimore continues
25:02
to give him the ball. So, yes, I am picking Baltimore.
25:06
Shocking. I know. Are you fucking kidding me?
25:11
Right. Right on. Yeah. Not a big shocker there.
25:14
But how big do they win? I'll say 10. 10? Yeah,
25:23
I'll say 10. And the reason why I say that, this
25:27
was something that I heard on my drive here.
25:30
Lamar was asked about the Cowboys being America's
25:33
team and what it's going to be like playing against
25:35
them in Rio. And he's like, they may be America's
25:39
team here in the States, but we're not going
25:41
to be in America. Yeah. Good line. Good line.
25:46
And one last thing. I mean, Lamar is 25 -6 against
25:49
the NFC, so I'm still going to take those odds,
25:51
even though he ate one against the Saints last
25:53
week. Right on. Right on. Let's move to our final
25:59
game. Final game. Final. The Vikings traveling
26:05
to Tampa to take on the Buccaneers, who are 0
26:08
-2 currently and struggled last week. Kyler Murray's
26:15
starting. He is. There's that. Go for it. Yeah,
26:18
you start with the leg. That's exciting that
26:20
Kyler Murray's starting because we don't know
26:21
what kind of quarterback Kyler Murray is in the
26:24
actual Vikings offense. So it would be really
26:27
interesting to see how well he plays. One and
26:31
a half is the spread for the Vikings. Brian Flores
26:39
and that defense are just humming right now and
26:42
he's being aggressive with them. I think they're
26:45
going to continue to keep attacking. Unfortunately,
26:48
Baker Mayfield has been struggling to be an effective
26:52
quarterback and like not turning it over because
26:55
he's had four turnovers now over the two games.
26:58
That's a big thing. And I, I feel like Minnesota
27:05
is still going to. Well, with Aaron Jones a little
27:09
banged up, they may not be as effective with
27:11
their running game, but I think that's going
27:13
to be enough. Yeah, I'm just everything to seven.
27:22
All signs to me point this is Minnesota's game.
27:26
Looking at Tampa Bay, I don't know if there's
27:29
anything really great that I can say about their
27:32
team right now. They've got to figure it out,
27:34
and until they do that, for me at this point,
27:37
it's going to be Vikings probably by seven. Right
27:40
on, right on. Well, at least for me, Minnesota's
27:43
offense still hasn't felt. you know, like it
27:46
has broken out by any means. Like, yes, they
27:49
put up a big number against Green Bay, but watching
27:53
that game as a whole, I mean, there's a... it
27:56
still doesn't make me feel good about the offense.
27:58
Like, yes, we know we have playmakers and stuff,
28:00
but, like, to your point, we got to see what
28:01
Kyler Murray can do. There's a couple lucky throws
28:04
by Carson in that Packer game, so it's just like,
28:06
okay, no offense, Carson, you know, but you had
28:09
your time. You're an MVP player until that knee,
28:11
man. But seriously, his rookie season for the
28:16
Philly was crazy. He was humming. He was humming.
28:21
But, yeah, that Tampa Bay offense in general,
28:23
I mean, Bucky Irving scares me because that dude
28:26
is so damn shifty. And, you know, if he gets
28:28
a little bit of space, he just turns on the Jets.
28:31
So as long as they can limit him, just force
28:34
Baker to make some difficult throws because the
28:38
easy ones didn't look easy for him last week.
28:40
So I think it's really going to be the Vikings
28:43
defense that just... It chokes the Tampa Bay
28:47
offense, really, is what it is. I don't have
28:50
a lot of confidence in Minnesota's offense. But,
28:52
again, the playmakers are there. I think there's
28:54
going to be enough plays to be made. I like the
28:57
seven points, to be honest. I'm going to go 10
29:00
to be different. But you know what? You know
29:05
what? No. You're going to say 14, aren't you?
29:07
No. It's going to be 21 -10, Bikes. 21 -10. Well,
29:12
I got a couple different ways here to start.
29:14
I got a buddy that lives in Tampa, so he's a
29:16
Tampa fan. I kind of messaged him on the side
29:18
to see what his view of it. Insider information.
29:21
Not a fan of the new O .C. Zach Robinson at all.
29:25
Running game is about their only positive right
29:29
now. Didn't like to see Watson complete 70 %
29:33
of passes against that defense. Just watching
29:36
the film, kind of watching what they're doing.
29:38
They do have Alizone. anzalone anzalone and then
29:43
they have rookie trotter so you'll see them in
29:46
there a ton especially with the vikings go with
29:48
the 12 personnel with two tight ends i saw that
29:51
a lot against that's what the bangles ran against
29:53
them in cleveland So on that aspect, you're going
29:58
to see heavy Sean McVay -style offense. You're
30:01
going to see a lot of misdirections, a lot of
30:04
multiple in motions that way, a lot of counters
30:08
back the other direction. They will take their
30:11
shots. They do like to run in a lot of things
30:13
that are horizontally, and then that allows them
30:16
with their cutback scenarios. You'll see them
30:19
try to get Mbeke and Buka the ball quickly. They
30:23
even get Godwin. junior in quickly didn't see
30:26
haven't seen really a ton out of their tight
30:27
ends yet um tampa guy mentioned also that the
30:31
tight ends have been killing the linebackers
30:33
you know with trotter being the rookie second
30:35
year i think out of georgia if i remember i can't
30:39
remember so that's a style and then defense todd
30:42
bowles runs their defense so they kind of run
30:44
a three four heavy blitz scheme um so it'll be
30:48
interesting we don't know we haven't seen kyler
30:50
run our offense yet so who knows we had 12 plays
30:54
we had 12 plays but we didn't look great full
30:56
spectrum but for the vikings it's really gonna
30:59
matter is the running back who's gonna run the
31:01
ball if aaron jones can't play right now we already
31:04
have um What's his face? Mason out for a couple
31:08
weeks on the IR. They have the rookie, Claiborne.
31:11
Which he hasn't got a lot of tick yet, so I'm
31:14
wondering what they're not liking. I'm assuming
31:16
they're not liking his pass pickup protection,
31:18
which most rookies struggle with in the NFL.
31:21
They did have that DJ Dallas they picked up.
31:24
He's a big body, by the way. DJ Dallas. That's
31:27
a big deal. He had that goofy photo that everyone
31:29
on the internet loves. Everybody loves it. So
31:32
I'm going to look for, hopefully, Kyler Murray.
31:35
Our weapons can really attack that secondary.
31:39
The matchup between Jefferson and who's their
31:43
big McCall? Zion McCall? Is that how you say
31:47
it? Yep, Zion McCullum. That'll be the interesting
31:50
matchup there if we can take advantage there.
31:52
So I'm going to see a ton out of Addison this
31:54
game. They still have... when uh winfield jr
31:58
in the back secondary but it's not the same tampa
32:01
bay uh defense that we're used to yeah evita
32:04
vase bought him and winfield are all the only
32:07
guys left from the super bowl team so um they
32:10
have uh who's the outside darby uh edge rusher
32:13
has been pretty good and then they also have
32:15
bane jr yeah the rookie first rounder they pick
32:18
up i didn't see it didn't see a ton of flashes
32:21
in on tape yet so far but um The Vikings running
32:26
game. I'm going to go. This is going to be closer.
32:29
I'm watching the tape with the Buccaneers. They've
32:33
been actually moving the ball pretty effective
32:35
up and down the field. It's just the untimely
32:38
turnovers. If it ain't Baker fumbling the ball,
32:40
throwing a pick, Bucky Irvin putting the ball
32:43
on the ground. So that's been their Achilles
32:45
heel and why they're 0 -2 right now. But the
32:48
Vikings defense, I think, is going to give Baker
32:51
some fits. But their quick, fast passing game
32:54
is a good effective. counter against a heavy
32:58
pressure. Maybe we won't see a ton of pressure
33:01
and a little more falling back like we did this
33:02
last week. Maybe a little more of that action.
33:07
I think the Vikings still have the ability. Kyler's
33:10
back. Running back scares me a little bit on
33:14
that. so I'm going to tighten up the game a little
33:17
bit, but the Vikings are going to pull up by
33:19
a field goal. Do they put, and this would be
33:20
stupid after he went out with a concussion, but
33:22
do you think they, because of the running back
33:24
situation, do they have design runs for Kyler
33:26
Murray more often this game than you normally
33:29
would? But it makes you nervous, right? I don't
33:32
think it would necessarily have to be a design
33:34
run so much as maybe you're going to see him
33:36
get him into some bootlegs and just be like,
33:39
if it's there, throw it. If it's not, just run
33:41
for a few yards. But unfortunately, I called
33:43
for that. Get him outside the tackle. See what
33:45
he can do. Well, he did. Yeah, but he got cracked
33:48
up. Well, that's because he wasn't running. He's
33:52
got to learn to run smarter. He's been in the
33:54
league long enough to know that maybe I shouldn't
33:58
be taking these hits and I should be trying to
33:59
get out of bounds. Well, to be fair, he was sliding,
34:02
but you're saying slide earlier. Too late. Yep.
34:04
Slid too late. Don't try to time it up perfect.
34:07
Yeah. And, yeah, I mean, we can have hour -long
34:10
conversations. Of course. Oh, yeah, yeah. And
34:12
Murray just needs to take his wins, you know,
34:14
like when he can get them. He doesn't need to
34:16
do the 12, 15 -yard route. It's all, you know,
34:18
take that three -down check down. Like Caleb
34:19
Williamson. You're saying Kyler's always looking
34:22
for the big play? Yeah. Because the Tampa guy
34:24
I talked to, he's taking the over on Hutch this
34:26
week on prize picks because that's how bad the
34:28
linebackers for Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay have been
34:32
so far. this season um let me just see here only
34:37
because i forgot i did send out the pics this
34:39
week did dom ever send his you said you weren't
34:44
gonna tell him i wasn't but since he's undefeated
34:46
i'll let you know he never sent him he's waiting
34:49
until the episode comes out what a fella i'm
34:51
pretty sure look at that look at that exactly
34:54
how i want it dom way to listen buddy uh anyway
34:59
You're 8 -0, Dom. So I'm curious to see what
35:03
comes of that. I'll have an update on the standings
35:05
next week, but I'll actually do it so we can
35:09
see how far off the pace we are from a guy like
35:12
Dom right now who's 8 -0. Again, if you want
35:15
to pick with the boys here, put it in the – sorry,
35:21
I'm blank. Sorry, did you pick the Vikings? Yeah,
35:23
I did pick the Vikings. Okay, good. Sorry. Whatever.
35:26
I picked two purple teams this week. What the
35:29
heck? That's right. That's right. One of them
35:32
is the right purple, too. I know. But anyway,
35:34
if you want to play with the boys, that's not
35:38
it. If you want to pick with us, message to Facebook
35:41
or comment, whatever, wherever you listen to
35:45
the banter. Comment or message, you know what
35:47
I mean? And I'll get your pics on there with
35:50
an appropriate username, please, so I can put
35:53
it up on the YouTube screen. I don't want, you
35:57
know... Manglazer? Yeah. You know what? No, I
36:01
want him to send us our pics. If it's even to
36:03
him, we don't even know. Manglaze? Yeah, Manglaze.
36:07
I'm going to go with it's a man with a manglaze.
36:09
You would think, but... Fair. You never know.
36:12
Yeah, we won't get into it. All right. Anyway.
36:16
Roberto, thanks for being here. Week three in
36:18
the books. Yes, sir. About to be in the books.
36:20
So, Jake, we're off to a hot start. Right. We
36:25
are. We are. We're hitting the ground running.
36:27
That's right. Kev, was there no Kev message?
36:33
I don't think there was because my computer died.
36:34
Your computer died? Yeah, I left it open to make
36:37
it look like it didn't, and now that I just said
36:38
it, it doesn't matter. How do you get an outro?
36:41
Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe wherever
36:43
you listen to The Banter, whether that's YouTube,
36:45
Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, or TikTok
36:48
now. And put your pics in there to see if you
36:53
know more than us because everybody says so on
36:55
the Internet. It's time to put some... Recease,
36:58
baby. Yeah, that's right. Put your picks in.
37:00
Oh, my God. I'm done. What a day. Unbelievable.
37:03
Let's get out of here. Bye, Kev. Bye. Skol. Skol
37:06
the bull. You already know. Peace. Don't forget
37:09
to follow, like, and subscribe. Tune in next
37:13
time for more banter with the boys.