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AFC North Betting Preview with Joe Pisapia · The Favorites Sports Betting Podcast

0:10
Speaker 1: Welcome to The Favorites, your go to NFL betting podcast.
0:13
Speaker 1: We are part of the Action Network family of podcasts.
0:16
Speaker 1: I'm Brandon Kraviit's your host. Back at it with the
0:18
Speaker 1: first lady of the pod, Kendra Middleton. On today's show,
0:22
Speaker 1: we begin our divisional previews for the twenty twenty sixth season.
0:26
Speaker 1: We are here, we are on the doorstep and we
0:28
Speaker 1: start True North with the AFC North Baltimore, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh
0:34
Speaker 1: and Kendra's Brownies. Kendra, how are you feeling. You're looking
0:39
Speaker 1: a little rough.
0:40
Speaker 2: I am feeling a little rough.
0:41
Speaker 3: I told you guys before our producer Gifford got on
0:44
Speaker 3: that I was wondering how ugly I could be for
0:45
Speaker 3: this show without getting in trouble because I usually when
0:49
Speaker 3: people come back from Peetown, they're throwing up because they
0:51
Speaker 3: party too hard during too much, did too much whatever.
0:54
Speaker 3: I had a bad half much Sunday, I think, and
0:57
Speaker 3: now I have been paying the price. I sent you
0:59
Speaker 3: guys photos of me throwing up in the car this
1:01
Speaker 3: morning with like a shopping bag strapped around my neck.
1:04
Speaker 1: So that was I felt like I was watching a
1:06
Speaker 1: scene from a horror film.
1:08
Speaker 3: When I saw never never question how much I love
1:11
Speaker 3: this show or you guys, well, well we love you too.
1:15
Speaker 1: We also love the third arm of this podcast. Some
1:19
Speaker 1: of you may have noticed that Stucky is not here,
1:23
Speaker 1: and as of right now, as we inch closer to
1:26
Speaker 1: the start of the season, Stucky will be hyper focusing
1:29
Speaker 1: on BBOC, Big Bets on Campus and the Action Network podcast.
1:33
Speaker 1: The Man has a newborn at home, so a little
1:35
Speaker 1: relief is probably a good thing. So it's just gonna
1:39
Speaker 1: be Kendra and I with Evan popping in as well
1:43
Speaker 1: as some guests week to week as we get into
1:46
Speaker 1: the NFL season. So I just wanted to say thank
1:48
Speaker 1: you to Stucky for helping us launch this new version
1:51
Speaker 1: of The Favorites. He brought a lot of credibility, a
1:54
Speaker 1: lot of in depth football analysis. He made us think
1:56
Speaker 1: every week with his questions that would go off the
2:00
Speaker 1: wall and directions I never thought I would bring up
2:03
Speaker 1: on a podcast platform. But we will miss you dearly,
2:06
Speaker 1: our good friend, and you're welcome back anytime soon. You're here,
2:10
Speaker 1: But we have important issues and matters to discuss here,
2:14
Speaker 1: like the AFC North, the beginning of our NFL divisional previews,
2:19
Speaker 1: starting with one of the most fascinating divisions in the
2:21
Speaker 1: National Football League, and who better to bring on than
2:24
Speaker 1: our good pal Joe Pisapia, writer and curator of The
2:28
Speaker 1: Fantasy Football Black Book AFC North Preview. As I mentioned,
2:31
Speaker 1: we're going to talk players, teams, coaching. Every stone will
2:35
Speaker 1: be turned. Joe, welcome to the show. Tell us about
2:38
Speaker 1: the Black Book before we get too far down the road.
2:40
Speaker 4: Well, first of all, it's a pleasure seeing you twice
2:43
Speaker 4: in a week's time. We just met last week, and
2:45
Speaker 4: of course, our bald brethren, we hit it off right away,
2:48
Speaker 4: as one is to do, and I'm happy to be
2:51
Speaker 4: here on the program today. We just launched a new
2:54
Speaker 4: YouTube channel as well, Fandom NFL, where I'm covering fantasy
2:57
Speaker 4: football and I'm covering wagering as well. The Fantasy Blockbook
3:00
Speaker 4: is the longest running best selling series for fantasy football
3:04
Speaker 4: every single year. It's over on Amazon right now. We
3:06
Speaker 4: do things a little differently there. So instead of like
3:08
Speaker 4: the cookie Cutter magazines, our stuff gets updated, we do
3:11
Speaker 4: digital cheat sheets that get updated every week or so
3:14
Speaker 4: depending on what's happening with camp and news and things
3:17
Speaker 4: like that. So you're going into your drafts with the
3:18
Speaker 4: most updated information you can, and I do a little
3:22
Speaker 4: something called relative position value, which really gives you an
3:25
Speaker 4: idea of just how much better certain players are than
3:28
Speaker 4: the fantasy league average at that position. Because running backs
3:31
Speaker 4: on a position of fantasy RB one is, RB two is,
3:33
Speaker 4: wide receiver three is. And understanding, how do you stay
3:37
Speaker 4: above that fantasy league average in your drafts, not overspent
3:40
Speaker 4: on that capital when you don't have to for guys
3:41
Speaker 4: that don't move the needle. That's how you win fantasy
3:44
Speaker 4: league's on a consistent basis. And people must be having
3:47
Speaker 4: success because sixteen years later, here I am still doing it.
3:50
Speaker 1: That's awesome and it's a unique way to cover it
3:52
Speaker 1: as well. We can all find lists and rankings and
3:55
Speaker 1: all of that online, but to put it into that
3:57
Speaker 1: context I think is important for people with preview. Where
4:01
Speaker 1: does this division rank for you in the hierarchy? I
4:05
Speaker 1: said it's one of the most fascinating in the league.
4:07
Speaker 1: That's not just podcast hyperbole. I do believe that it's
4:11
Speaker 1: probably in my top three, But what about you fascination hierarchy?
4:16
Speaker 1: Where would the AFC North slot in.
4:19
Speaker 4: I'm not sure if it's top three, but it's right
4:21
Speaker 4: on the fringe for me. I think what's fascinating about
4:23
Speaker 4: this division in particular is you've got one team that
4:25
Speaker 4: didn't revamp their coaching staff, right, So it's just the
4:28
Speaker 4: Cincinnati Bengals, of all teams, that's going in with the
4:30
Speaker 4: same crew from last year. And I think that matters
4:33
Speaker 4: because you're talking about a crew in the NFL especially,
4:37
Speaker 4: you know, continuity is important and as you grow together
4:40
Speaker 4: as a team, and you know, as a youth football
4:43
Speaker 4: coach myself, who is missing practice today to record a
4:47
Speaker 4: lot of shows, I will tell you this, it is
4:49
Speaker 4: something that is very important when that continuity is there
4:51
Speaker 4: every year with the same players, the same coaching staff,
4:54
Speaker 4: when you're working together and you're growing as a unit
4:56
Speaker 4: over time, I think that the Bengals, in a weird way,
4:59
Speaker 4: kind of have an advantage over everybody else because of that.
5:02
Speaker 4: Sure you get that new coach bounce that happened sometimes
5:04
Speaker 4: like you saw last year with Jacksonville when Liam Cohene
5:06
Speaker 4: came in. Maybe you get that in Baltimore. Maybe just
5:08
Speaker 4: a new voice, right that makes Kendrick very happy. I
5:12
Speaker 4: could see she's smiling ear to ear right now.
5:14
Speaker 1: Big Jaggs fan over there in the State of Florida.
5:19
Speaker 1: So this is very abuch to Jags podcast.
5:21
Speaker 4: But it's true, right, Sometimes you see that where an
5:23
Speaker 4: organization brings in a new coach, they get a bounce.
5:26
Speaker 4: And I'll be honest with you, the Ravens were a
5:28
Speaker 4: team last year that I thought would win the Super
5:30
Speaker 4: Bowl for some of those same reasons, because of the continuity,
5:33
Speaker 4: because of the you know, the coaching staff being long tenured,
5:36
Speaker 4: because you knew the personnel, you knew what ere going
5:38
Speaker 4: in with, and everything that could have gone wrong did
5:41
Speaker 4: And I guess we never know exactly what's happening behind
5:44
Speaker 4: the scenes when teams frey. But I think all the
5:46
Speaker 4: turnover in that division really leaves an intriguing opening for
5:49
Speaker 4: the Bengals, especially because if you look at the Bengals like, well,
5:52
Speaker 4: you know, in terms of Joe Burrow winning MVP, in
5:55
Speaker 4: terms of them winning the Super Bowl or getting there,
5:57
Speaker 4: it's it's a really fantastic number on both of those
6:00
Speaker 4: those things. And it's not impossible, especially when you consider
6:02
Speaker 4: how much time Joe Burrow's missed with injuries over the years. Too.
6:05
Speaker 4: If he plays a complete full season, his defense is improved.
6:08
Speaker 4: I don't know if it's elite I don't think it is,
6:10
Speaker 4: but it's improved. I think the Bengals are really fascinating
6:13
Speaker 4: in this division is the Steelers are in a weird
6:15
Speaker 4: rebuild without quarterback play, and the Cleveland Browns are still
6:18
Speaker 4: in search of quarterback as well.
6:19
Speaker 3: Okay, I want to set the table a little bit
6:21
Speaker 3: here because we are going to go team by team
6:23
Speaker 3: and get a little bit further into this, just so
6:26
Speaker 3: we know kind of if this is falling out of
6:28
Speaker 3: your top three, what divisions are you the most interested in,
6:30
Speaker 3: and can you give me your I want I guess
6:33
Speaker 3: hierarchy or rankings of the quarterback and coaching scenarios through
6:37
Speaker 3: this division before we get into it.
6:39
Speaker 4: Well, NFC North I think is fascinating, right because I
6:42
Speaker 4: think anybody could win it. I have my personal favorites
6:45
Speaker 4: in it, but I do see it as a wide
6:47
Speaker 4: open sort of race, especially depending on when Michael Parsons
6:50
Speaker 4: comes back healthy. You can even make a case that
6:51
Speaker 4: Green Bay somehow works their way back in. I'm fascinated
6:55
Speaker 4: by the NFC East as well, with Harball there now too.
6:59
Speaker 4: And you have get another offensive coordinator in Philadelphia yet again,
7:02
Speaker 4: and you have you know, the Dallas Cowboys who did
7:05
Speaker 4: revamp that defense, and they're kind of intriguing this year,
7:08
Speaker 4: dare I say so? And you know, a healthy Jayden
7:11
Speaker 4: Daniels was a guy that you know, was sniffing the
7:14
Speaker 4: Super Bowl two years ago as a rookie. So there's
7:17
Speaker 4: a lot of intrigue there. So I think the last
7:19
Speaker 4: one for me is when you start to go to
7:22
Speaker 4: the West and the AFC and the NFC, you know
7:23
Speaker 4: they're kind of tied for third because everybody thought, you know,
7:26
Speaker 4: the Rams were that lock last year, Seattle had something
7:29
Speaker 4: to say. I was very much on the over on
7:31
Speaker 4: the Seattle win total last year. I believe it was
7:33
Speaker 4: eight and a half if memory serves, And I bet
7:34
Speaker 4: the over right away because I thought they weren't accounting
7:37
Speaker 4: for how good that defense was. Everybody was so enamored
7:40
Speaker 4: of the week's schedule, the forty nine ers that nobody
7:41
Speaker 4: was talking about how good the defense was of the Seahawks.
7:44
Speaker 4: And I thought they could grind themselves to double digit
7:46
Speaker 4: wins and backdoor into the playoffs. And not only did
7:49
Speaker 4: they do that, they won the Super Bowl. And then
7:51
Speaker 4: in the AFC West, you're seeing the Denver Broncos looked
7:55
Speaker 4: like a potential class of the division. You're not just that,
7:58
Speaker 4: maybe the conference as well. You've also got a scenario
8:01
Speaker 4: where you have the Chargers with a healthy offensive line,
8:04
Speaker 4: a full season of Marie Hampton, Mike McDaniel, a great
8:06
Speaker 4: offensive mind who just has to worry about offense, doesn't
8:10
Speaker 4: have to worry about head coach, which is such a
8:12
Speaker 4: different position to be you have to worry about so
8:15
Speaker 4: many other things. I think it's good for him to
8:16
Speaker 4: focus on that. You have the Chiefs in a weird
8:18
Speaker 4: rebuild scenario, and when do we get Fernando Mendoza. So
8:21
Speaker 4: all that stuff leads the AFC North Town of like
8:25
Speaker 4: I said, right on that fringe kind of four and
8:27
Speaker 4: five for me.
8:27
Speaker 2: But I R you know, you're a bonex Truther.
8:31
Speaker 1: I am a bone You're gonna get lost in.
8:34
Speaker 2: This okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, well save it.
8:38
Speaker 3: Can you give me your rundown of the top quarterback
8:42
Speaker 3: and coach pairings in this division before by team?
8:46
Speaker 4: Okay? So in this division, you know, it's very difficult.
8:50
Speaker 4: I have to put Joe Burrow first again because of
8:52
Speaker 4: the continuity. So I'm gonna put the Bengals boys first,
8:57
Speaker 4: then second, just because of talent that has to be
8:59
Speaker 4: Lamar Jackson. Doesn't matter if I'm the head football coach.
9:01
Speaker 4: It just doesn't matter, you know, because it's about the
9:03
Speaker 4: talent at the quarterback position. The next it has to
9:06
Speaker 4: be McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers just based on experience and
9:09
Speaker 4: experience together. But Aaron Rodgers doesn't have left in the
9:12
Speaker 4: tank in many many ways. And last is obviously the
9:16
Speaker 4: Cleveland Browns grouping because I like Deshaun Watson. Experiment has
9:20
Speaker 4: to end at some point. I don't know when, but God,
9:23
Speaker 4: I wanted to end at some point here. I think
9:25
Speaker 4: it's dying a slow death in training camp already. It
9:27
Speaker 4: feels that way at least, so I'm hoping we're getting there.
9:30
Speaker 4: But that's the ranking tier for me. I don't know
9:32
Speaker 4: about what you all think.
9:33
Speaker 1: Well, the odds makers have the Ravens far and away
9:36
Speaker 1: in the front minus one twelve to win the division.
9:39
Speaker 1: They're actually the odds on favorites to win the AFC. Yeah,
9:43
Speaker 1: I know, plus plus four seventy.
9:46
Speaker 4: They were last year too, Just for the record, Brennan, well.
9:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then they won eight games. They've been They've
9:51
Speaker 1: been the model of consistency, a bounce back. I can
9:54
Speaker 1: understand where the books are coming from. As far as
9:55
Speaker 1: that goes, the Bengals are plus one eighty four and
9:58
Speaker 1: the Steelers at plus five ten and the Browns, if
10:01
Speaker 1: you are bold enough twenty one to one to win
10:03
Speaker 1: the division. Let's start with the Cincinnati Bengals. So I
10:06
Speaker 1: think they're a pretty easy read. It comes down to
10:08
Speaker 1: Joe Burrow staying healthy. Can the defense actually improve with
10:12
Speaker 1: some of the offseason acquisitions that they had, Dexter Lawrence
10:16
Speaker 1: the most notable, Jonathan Allen as well, some key additions
10:19
Speaker 1: on that side of the ball. And of course they
10:22
Speaker 1: were already dealt the blow of Shamar Stewart going down.
10:24
Speaker 1: Though it says, yeah that maybe he's not out for
10:27
Speaker 1: the season. After watching that video, I find that hard
10:29
Speaker 1: to believe. But the team is loaded and perhaps that's
10:32
Speaker 1: the reason that you'll find nothing but optimism out there
10:35
Speaker 1: for a team that won all of six games last year. Now,
10:38
Speaker 1: do you want to throw any water on the hype
10:40
Speaker 1: of the Cincinnati Bengals.
10:42
Speaker 4: I wish Brandon I wasn't throwing gasoline on it. I
10:45
Speaker 4: was throwing more water. But I get it because I
10:47
Speaker 4: think from the sharp outlook on things that again I
10:52
Speaker 4: keep coming back to that ecosystem right when there's trusting
10:55
Speaker 4: each other. And I think the finish of the year
10:57
Speaker 4: where you saw Joe Burrow almost will this team everybody
11:00
Speaker 4: recalls into the playoffs, like I think we all were like, oh,
11:02
Speaker 4: that's cute, right, But it's that sheer will of a
11:05
Speaker 4: great quarterback. When you have that, and it just changes everything.
11:09
Speaker 4: And when you have the coaching quarterbacks solidified, I think
11:11
Speaker 4: it's important. You're looking at, you know, plus two thousand
11:14
Speaker 4: for them to win the Super Bowl, like, all right,
11:15
Speaker 4: you know, Joe Burrow and some Marcus plus nine hundred
11:17
Speaker 4: for MVP. I get why everyone's coming back to the Ravens.
11:21
Speaker 4: I'm just trying to pump the brakes because sometimes new
11:24
Speaker 4: does take a little while to figure things out, and
11:27
Speaker 4: it does take a little time to jail. And I
11:28
Speaker 4: don't think they're going to change the identity of this
11:30
Speaker 4: team all that much, because the personnel should dictate the
11:34
Speaker 4: identity of the offense to a certain degree. But you
11:38
Speaker 4: mentioned the Dexter Lawrence edition. I think that one's really
11:40
Speaker 4: important because the last time they were really good and
11:43
Speaker 4: they made that run to the Super Bowl, the Bengals
11:44
Speaker 4: were terrific in the secondary. That was like the Jesse
11:46
Speaker 4: Bates era and those guys right, and they never replaced
11:49
Speaker 4: those guys when they left. What you're doing now is
11:51
Speaker 4: you're stopping the run. You're getting better up front, right,
11:53
Speaker 4: and I think that's going to take a little pressure
11:55
Speaker 4: off the secondary that's still I think a bit of
11:57
Speaker 4: a work in progress. So there's lots of ways to
11:59
Speaker 4: create a You could do it from the shutdown corners
12:02
Speaker 4: and you create you know, basically covered sex, or you
12:05
Speaker 4: can have those guys that get after the quarterback if
12:06
Speaker 4: you don't have necessarily, you know, those great cover corners.
12:10
Speaker 4: I think putting a little bit more pressure up front
12:12
Speaker 4: is gonna be good for them, and especially if your
12:14
Speaker 4: job right now is to beat the Ravens at least once,
12:17
Speaker 4: if not twice. For this division, you have to have
12:20
Speaker 4: an answer for Dereck Henry because that still remains the
12:23
Speaker 4: guy to beat there in Baltimore.
12:25
Speaker 3: Are you worried about this offensive line at all? Obviously
12:29
Speaker 3: it's caused Joe Burrow some struggles throughout his career. Or
12:31
Speaker 3: is there a position or a position group that you
12:34
Speaker 3: are more worried about on this team?
12:36
Speaker 4: I think when it comes to the Bengals, I am
12:39
Speaker 4: cautiously optimistic about the line. We want to see how
12:43
Speaker 4: they gel together in camp. We want to see how
12:45
Speaker 4: things go here. The offensive line has been the bane
12:47
Speaker 4: of Joe Burrow's existence for his career pretty much. He
12:49
Speaker 4: has played above and beyond without a good one. I
12:52
Speaker 4: would love to see him have a great one at
12:53
Speaker 4: one point in his career. Time will tell on that,
12:56
Speaker 4: and injuries will dictate it as well. If everybody stays
12:59
Speaker 4: healthy in this UAR, it gets through camp together, I'm
13:02
Speaker 4: cautiously optimistic again that I think there's I think what
13:05
Speaker 4: we're all coming down to is the value on the
13:07
Speaker 4: Bengals is really intriguing. Sure, it makes sense to look
13:11
Speaker 4: right back to the Ravens and go right back to
13:12
Speaker 4: the well there, but this is a team also that
13:15
Speaker 4: continue to get to those points in the playoffs and
13:18
Speaker 4: underperforming those big spots, whether it was against Patrick Mahomes
13:20
Speaker 4: or other teams. You saw it time and time again.
13:23
Speaker 4: So if you can't get it with Harball, I don't
13:25
Speaker 4: know if a year one coach is going to get
13:27
Speaker 4: them over the hump either. And that to me is
13:29
Speaker 4: where I struggle a little bit.
13:30
Speaker 3: I'm also in the camp that they're potentially in certain
13:33
Speaker 3: scenarios are addition by subtraction circumstances. Do you think that
13:39
Speaker 3: the Trey Hendricks and him kind of being a diva
13:41
Speaker 3: in before the season last year, do you think that
13:43
Speaker 3: him no longer being with this team is an addition
13:46
Speaker 3: by a subtraction situation or do you think that it
13:50
Speaker 3: was just good for everybody?
13:51
Speaker 2: See whatever.
13:53
Speaker 4: It's a really good question. I don't know if it's
13:55
Speaker 4: addition by subtraction, because I think whenever you lose a
13:57
Speaker 4: great pass rusher, it just ultimately hurts. No matter how
14:00
Speaker 4: much of a diva a wide receiver is or an edgrusher,
14:02
Speaker 4: then get the job done at the end of the day.
14:04
Speaker 4: That's just kind of the That's what it is. But
14:07
Speaker 4: I will say that it is I think they're remaking
14:11
Speaker 4: the defense, if that makes sense too, right. I think
14:13
Speaker 4: they're trying to say, all right, we're going to try
14:14
Speaker 4: to be really good upfront in the middle, and then
14:16
Speaker 4: we're going to filter things out the other way. And
14:18
Speaker 4: I think, once again, if you have creative defensive minds,
14:22
Speaker 4: you're able to do that. Now Minter did a really
14:24
Speaker 4: good job last year too. I want to point that
14:25
Speaker 4: out for the raven side of things too. In this
14:27
Speaker 4: kind of Ravens versus Bengals argument, we're having that Minter, clearly,
14:32
Speaker 4: you know, was able to do a fantastic job. He's
14:34
Speaker 4: forty two years old, he's a young head coach. I
14:37
Speaker 4: think that time will tell and you always see this overreaction.
14:41
Speaker 4: I know, Brandon you probably agree with this too, that
14:44
Speaker 4: we always have the overaction. You fire the offensive coach
14:46
Speaker 4: and bringing the defensive coach. Defensive coach fails to bringing
14:48
Speaker 4: the offensive coach. It's kind of hilarious. You could set
14:51
Speaker 4: your watch to it. In the NFL. I just don't
14:53
Speaker 4: know how that's going to take right away for a
14:55
Speaker 4: team that has really been very you know, very solid
14:58
Speaker 4: defensively for a long time. But also when you have
15:01
Speaker 4: Lamar Jackson playing at that very high, healthy level, it's
15:04
Speaker 4: it's absurd. He's MVP quality. I do believe though, that
15:07
Speaker 4: the Cincinnai Bengals to come back to that. It's not
15:09
Speaker 4: a matter of losing Hendrickson is good. It's a matter
15:12
Speaker 4: of we're just remaking this defense into a different sort
15:14
Speaker 4: of system.
15:16
Speaker 3: I cover the New England Patriots, and I've always been
15:19
Speaker 3: a ease of schedule means something Truther. The Bengals have
15:24
Speaker 3: I think the second easiest schedule this season as far
15:27
Speaker 3: as like a consensus output. Do you think that strength
15:30
Speaker 3: of schedule matters and does that contribute to your future betting?
15:37
Speaker 4: It does to a degree. I think where you're looking
15:39
Speaker 4: at win totals and yeah, the Patriots, my patriots, there
15:42
Speaker 4: you go, our Patriots? Perhaps no, no, okay, you.
15:45
Speaker 2: Just raise in Jacksonville. I just that's right.
15:48
Speaker 4: I forgot Jacksons. Jo Hey, I am mad at it. Kendri,
15:53
Speaker 4: I ain't mad at it. I think you do have
15:56
Speaker 4: to take it into account when you're looking at win totals.
15:58
Speaker 4: But at the end of the day, I think we all,
16:00
Speaker 4: if you've been doing this as long as some of
16:02
Speaker 4: us have, I think we all look at it and go,
16:04
Speaker 4: that's cute. And then one injury here. I mean, look
16:07
Speaker 4: how different it was to play the Ravens when Lamar
16:09
Speaker 4: Jackson was missing time? Right? Look out different? You know,
16:11
Speaker 4: when you have these injuries, everything goes out the window.
16:14
Speaker 4: I think for those of you betting on futures. For me,
16:17
Speaker 4: I look to easy things that I feel like I
16:19
Speaker 4: can bank on. I look at Baker Mayfield. We talked
16:21
Speaker 4: to this last week. You know, is passing your soul
16:24
Speaker 4: is absurdly low. In my opinion, it's basically saying he's
16:26
Speaker 4: gonna get hurt again. Okay, fine, I'm gonna bet against
16:29
Speaker 4: that happening and I'm gonna take the overar on Baker
16:31
Speaker 4: Mayfield playing for money. I think strength of schedule is
16:35
Speaker 4: good when you're looking at win totals in terms of
16:36
Speaker 4: like a good practice like last year the forty nine ers.
16:39
Speaker 4: It was a good one because we knew it was
16:41
Speaker 4: so weak. We knew it was going to be an
16:42
Speaker 4: opportunity there to go the other way. But those situations
16:45
Speaker 4: are few and far between. I'm not on the mind
16:47
Speaker 4: when you look at the New England Patriots necessarily or
16:49
Speaker 4: a team like that that, oh, the strength of schedule
16:51
Speaker 4: is so much better. Well, guess what. They have a
16:53
Speaker 4: really good quarterback and Drake may they have a really
16:55
Speaker 4: competent head coach in Mike Raybold. No matter what offseason
16:58
Speaker 4: nonsense is going on, they're going to come back to
17:00
Speaker 4: football at the end of the day because they're the Patriots.
17:02
Speaker 4: So with teams like the Bengals and the Ravens, again,
17:05
Speaker 4: I think this division is all about. At the end
17:07
Speaker 4: of the day, can one of those two teams beat
17:09
Speaker 4: each other twice? And if they can, they're going to
17:11
Speaker 4: be in pole position, I think, to win this division
17:14
Speaker 4: and punch their ticket to the playoffs.
17:16
Speaker 1: Okay, so let's let's do something actionable here. The best
17:21
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have a fill in the blank for you,
17:23
Speaker 1: by the way, for each of these both of you,
17:25
Speaker 1: Oh all right, the best way to bet into the
17:28
Speaker 1: Bengals this year. So just to give you a framework
17:33
Speaker 1: of what I'm talking about here, I think it's for
17:34
Speaker 1: them to win the AFC this plus ten twenty five
17:37
Speaker 1: for them to represent the AFC. It kind of feels
17:40
Speaker 1: like this is an all or nothing type of team.
17:43
Speaker 1: Some teams you want to bet their floor, some teams
17:45
Speaker 1: you want to bet their middle. Some teams you want
17:48
Speaker 1: to bet their ceiling. I think the Bengals are ceiling.
17:51
Speaker 1: Bet it either goes exceedingly well for them or they
17:55
Speaker 1: probably flame out and miss the playoffs again, which, by
17:57
Speaker 1: the way, they've been to the postseason since twenty twenty two,
17:59
Speaker 1: which feels weird. Yeah, I think it's.
18:02
Speaker 4: Just total injuries, right right, that's what you think.
18:04
Speaker 1: What about you, Joe, what do you think the best
18:06
Speaker 1: way to bet into Cincinnati preseason would be?
18:10
Speaker 4: I would agree that was gonna be my answer. But
18:12
Speaker 4: if I'm gonna, if we're gonna go all in on that, right,
18:15
Speaker 4: then chances are we're also looking at MVP potentially. And
18:19
Speaker 4: I think when you're talking about Joe Burrow plus nine
18:21
Speaker 4: hundred for MVP, that's a hell of a return. And
18:24
Speaker 4: I think that's one of those correlation pets too that
18:26
Speaker 4: you would look at and say, if I do think
18:28
Speaker 4: that the Bengals in a year where you know, the
18:30
Speaker 4: Chiefs are kind of taking a step back, and you
18:32
Speaker 4: know Josh Allen, God bless him, you know, something always
18:36
Speaker 4: goes wrong for the Buffalo Bills, I think this might
18:38
Speaker 4: be the year, Like this is it, Buffalo, Like you're
18:41
Speaker 4: in that window right now if you can't win in
18:43
Speaker 4: the down year, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs and you can't.
18:46
Speaker 4: You know, they already proved they could almost go into
18:47
Speaker 4: Denver and win. That was huge for me. But to me,
18:51
Speaker 4: you turn around, you just bet Joe Burrow for MVP
18:53
Speaker 4: because if he does go to the AFC Championship Game,
18:57
Speaker 4: and he does, you know, get to the super Bowl
18:58
Speaker 4: That MVP, I think, story wise is a lock. And
19:01
Speaker 4: remember it's a media award, right, and the media loves
19:04
Speaker 4: Joe Burrow. He's a good story. He always feels you know,
19:06
Speaker 4: when you're south of thirty. If you've won Comeback Player
19:09
Speaker 4: of the Year twice, the media loves you, right, And
19:13
Speaker 4: I think that's important, And I think that's something to
19:15
Speaker 4: keep in mind. They want to build a narrative for
19:17
Speaker 4: a Hall of Fame career for Joe Burrow, and this
19:19
Speaker 4: would be.
19:20
Speaker 2: It helps anybody likes a handsome guy.
19:23
Speaker 1: What doesn't hurt? What about you, Kendra? I know you're
19:25
Speaker 1: in on Cincinnati as well.
19:27
Speaker 4: Yeah.
19:28
Speaker 3: I have two bets already logged in this division, and
19:31
Speaker 3: one of.
19:31
Speaker 2: Them is the over. I got it nine and a
19:33
Speaker 2: half on the Bengals.
19:34
Speaker 3: I am very much in the If Joe Burrow is
19:38
Speaker 3: not going to pull in Andrew Luck, it has to
19:40
Speaker 3: be this season that he starts having some fun or
19:42
Speaker 3: it's over.
19:44
Speaker 1: Okay, quick answer, and then we'll move on to the
19:47
Speaker 1: Baltimore Ravens. Fill in the blank, Zach Taylor gets fired
19:50
Speaker 1: if blank Joe Oh.
19:53
Speaker 4: Zach Taylor gets fired. If they missed the playoffs. I
19:56
Speaker 4: don't think a slow start does it.
19:57
Speaker 3: I think, honestly, even if they we have a first
20:01
Speaker 3: round to exit, he gets fired. But if Joe Burrow
20:04
Speaker 3: gets hurt, I could also just see them stacking him in.
20:06
Speaker 2: The middle of the season just at a frustration.
20:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, just like we need to do something. Our fan
20:11
Speaker 3: base is gonna go nuts. We just need to take
20:14
Speaker 3: him out back. We need to old yeller him.
20:16
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think they got to make the AFC Championship
20:19
Speaker 1: game for him to keep his job. It's been a
20:21
Speaker 1: long ten year. Now let's move on to the Baltimore Ravens.
20:23
Speaker 1: First time in eighteen years, the Ravens will have a
20:27
Speaker 1: new head coach. Jesse Minter takes over at the head
20:29
Speaker 1: coaching position. He was the DC for the Chargers last year.
20:33
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson seems revitalized with the change. He also has
20:36
Speaker 1: a new OC in Declan Doyle, so we'll see if
20:40
Speaker 1: he's utilized any different. Win total a little rich at
20:43
Speaker 1: eleven and a half, but this is another team that
20:46
Speaker 1: strength of scheduleized sits inside of the top five in
20:49
Speaker 1: terms of favorability and Organizationally, they have been as consistent
20:55
Speaker 1: as it comes. So, Joe, where do you land on
21:00
Speaker 1: anybody bold enough to take the over. I guess I
21:02
Speaker 1: should start with that, because eleven and a half is
21:04
Speaker 1: pretty rich.
21:04
Speaker 4: Joe, I'm not because it already is that. And plus
21:07
Speaker 4: Vegas is telling you that they pretty much like the
21:08
Speaker 4: Bengals at the same which is one of those rare
21:10
Speaker 4: occasions where Vegas is throwing their hands up and saying, oh,
21:12
Speaker 4: I don't know, hell if I know. So that to
21:15
Speaker 4: me is always want to run away from because if
21:17
Speaker 4: they're confused, then you should be confused. And I think
21:20
Speaker 4: or they're if they're hedging, you should be afraid. It's
21:23
Speaker 4: one of those two things. And I like Jesse Minter.
21:25
Speaker 4: Like I said, I thought he did a terrific job
21:27
Speaker 4: with the Chargers defense last year. They were outstanding and
21:31
Speaker 4: I think an underrated unit too as the season went
21:34
Speaker 4: on and they really had to bear down and they
21:36
Speaker 4: grinded out a lot of games because they had so
21:38
Speaker 4: many injuries on offense and the offensive line and the
21:40
Speaker 4: running back position, and you know then you had Justin
21:43
Speaker 4: Herbert dealing with the hand issue and all that. So
21:46
Speaker 4: I mentor has the makings so potentially a good football coach.
21:49
Speaker 4: And Doyle is I think an interesting young guy to
21:51
Speaker 4: bring in fresh voices. All that stuff is cool in theory,
21:54
Speaker 4: I need to see it on the field before I
21:56
Speaker 4: invested it, So I'm a pass on that win total
21:58
Speaker 4: in the over right now, I thought that I don't
22:00
Speaker 4: think they can get there. I think this is what
22:02
Speaker 4: you wait and kind of see, and if they struggle early,
22:04
Speaker 4: you might end up getting a better number on it
22:06
Speaker 4: if you think that there's an overreaction to the market.
22:09
Speaker 4: So I think it's more of a wait and see
22:10
Speaker 4: monitor come October first and reevaluate they.
22:13
Speaker 1: Didn't actually favorite your favorite drama candidate and Trey Hendrickson
22:17
Speaker 1: Kendri So yeah, we will help us defense.
22:20
Speaker 3: I was going to say, my big issue with this
22:22
Speaker 3: team is when is this offense going to start showing
22:25
Speaker 3: its age?
22:26
Speaker 4: Right?
22:26
Speaker 3: Like Lamar Jackson shits himself at least once a year,
22:29
Speaker 3: he's sick, whatever, Like that's fine, we know that that's
22:32
Speaker 3: coming with him. He's going to miss a week or
22:34
Speaker 3: he's going to get injured or hey, sometimes both. But
22:36
Speaker 3: the thing is is that when is Derek Henry going
22:38
Speaker 3: to start looking like a running back who's six foot
22:41
Speaker 3: four over thirty in a tough division.
22:43
Speaker 2: Zay Flowers. Is he a number one wide receiver? We
22:46
Speaker 2: don't know.
22:47
Speaker 3: I don't think that tes Walker out of UNC has
22:49
Speaker 3: been the receiver that they thought that he would be.
22:51
Speaker 3: And Mark Andrews is old and dropping important passes. I
22:55
Speaker 3: just worry that this offense is getting a little too
22:58
Speaker 3: old to continue to compete in a brutal division in
23:01
Speaker 3: the cold. And I I love Lamar. He's my favorite
23:04
Speaker 3: player in the league. But once again, I think that
23:07
Speaker 3: him and Joe Burrow are both in places in their
23:09
Speaker 3: career where it is make or break. We're either going
23:12
Speaker 3: to remember you for the player that we think and
23:14
Speaker 3: know you can be. And it's like one of those
23:16
Speaker 3: situations right where like we know. It's like when you're
23:19
Speaker 3: dating someone and you're like, I know who you could be,
23:23
Speaker 3: but it's so hard to change myself that I can't
23:26
Speaker 3: change you too.
23:27
Speaker 1: That's Kendrew admitting that she loves the bad boys.
23:30
Speaker 2: No, I think that that is Kenjer.
23:32
Speaker 4: You can change him, I promise you can.
23:34
Speaker 2: You just need a girl. You cannot.
23:36
Speaker 4: You cannot, girl, I hear you.
23:38
Speaker 3: I know, And so I think that I know who
23:41
Speaker 3: Lamar Jackson can be, but it's hard enough for me
23:45
Speaker 3: to change myself.
23:45
Speaker 2: How do I work on changing him too? I can't.
23:47
Speaker 3: I can draft him every year in fantasy and sit
23:49
Speaker 3: here and go wee.
23:51
Speaker 2: But that's that doesn't mean shit, it doesn't mean anything.
23:54
Speaker 4: That's about the best take I've ever heard on anything.
23:55
Speaker 4: I just want to put that out there, Bernon.
23:57
Speaker 1: That's why would keep her around.
23:59
Speaker 4: Yeah, personal the higher as we mentioned earlier, they.
24:05
Speaker 3: Can we bet on if Lamar will miss a game
24:08
Speaker 3: for the Ships this year because I'm taking.
24:10
Speaker 1: The over Oh you know, the prediction markets have gone
24:13
Speaker 1: wild with some of the say never. Whenever somebody says
24:18
Speaker 1: is there a market on this, my automatic answer is
24:21
Speaker 1: never no anymore. It's never. It can never be no.
24:24
Speaker 1: There's always a possibility that that it's out there un
24:29
Speaker 1: to make a call. They did beef up the offensive line.
24:32
Speaker 1: They got Vega Yowanni out of Penn State fourteenth. Overall,
24:35
Speaker 1: he's a mauler and that'll probably help. As far as
24:37
Speaker 1: some of the age concerns with Derrick Henry, who I
24:39
Speaker 1: think is like Lebron James defeated Father Time quite successfully.
24:44
Speaker 1: It's Derrick Henry, Lebron James, and Shakira. It's like the
24:48
Speaker 1: Father Time taking l's across the board. As I mentioned,
24:51
Speaker 1: they are the odds on favorite to win the AFC,
24:53
Speaker 1: and perhaps that's the best way to bet into Baltimore.
24:56
Speaker 1: I'm trying to find a way I have not I
24:58
Speaker 1: don't have any preseas Raven's bets, and not that I
25:02
Speaker 1: need a bet on every single team, but just to
25:04
Speaker 1: get an idea of how would you bet into Baltimore.
25:08
Speaker 1: And maybe it's in the opposite direction, maybe in a
25:12
Speaker 1: bit of pessimism. Joe, how do you think the best
25:14
Speaker 1: way to attack Baltimore is going into the season.
25:19
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you go to the individuals, and I
25:20
Speaker 4: think you go to the props. To be honest with you,
25:23
Speaker 4: It's funny because last year, I want to say, I'm
25:27
Speaker 4: trying to remember. I want to say that Derek Henry
25:29
Speaker 4: number for rushing yards was nine to fifty and a
25:31
Speaker 4: half and I saw it, and I laughed out loud
25:33
Speaker 4: when I saw it, and I immediately threw a giant
25:37
Speaker 4: unit on it, and of course in cash, because it's
25:40
Speaker 4: like how many times do you have to do this?
25:41
Speaker 4: Like this is the end of Derek Henry. Is the
25:42
Speaker 4: end of Derek Henry And it's not this year it's
25:44
Speaker 4: much higher, So I think we got to be careful.
25:47
Speaker 4: So if you want to go to that pessimism this
25:49
Speaker 4: time around in certain markets, it's a lot higher than
25:52
Speaker 4: that now. And I wonder if maybe this is the
25:54
Speaker 4: year where you start to fade the other side of
25:56
Speaker 4: it and look at father time catching up. It hasn't yet.
26:00
Speaker 4: If you look at the player prop right now for
26:01
Speaker 4: Lamar Jackson, thirty two hundred and a half in terms
26:05
Speaker 4: of passing yards. Now, he hit that two years in
26:08
Speaker 4: a row in twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four.
26:10
Speaker 4: It was down last year. But again I think that's
26:12
Speaker 4: a very small number. So that is to me a
26:15
Speaker 4: number of Lamar Jackson, at this stage in his career
26:18
Speaker 4: as a quarterback has evolved enough where that's a gimme number.
26:21
Speaker 4: As long as to Kendri's point, he doesn't miss some
26:23
Speaker 4: time with some stomach issues, I think we're gonna be okay.
26:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, that five seventy four on his rushing yards is
26:29
Speaker 1: that's that is intriguing to me. He can hit that
26:32
Speaker 1: with these Yeah.
26:33
Speaker 3: I was gonna ask you, guys, outside of Lamar Jackson
26:37
Speaker 3: and Derrick Henry on this team, who do you think
26:39
Speaker 3: is the best player, because for me, I would say
26:41
Speaker 3: it's Kyle Hamilton, and I know a safety to win
26:44
Speaker 3: Effective Player of the Year is a little nuts, but
26:47
Speaker 3: I bet that there is some return on that.
26:50
Speaker 4: I agree with the sentiment. He's definitely the best of
26:52
Speaker 4: the third best player on this team. It's just so
26:55
Speaker 4: tough for those guys now secondary to win. So and
26:57
Speaker 4: right now. The other thing that I've been talking about,
26:59
Speaker 4: and I think brand and I talked about it last
27:01
Speaker 4: week too, is I would bet Miles Garrett now before
27:04
Speaker 4: the Aaron Donald stuff comes up, because when Donald comes back,
27:07
Speaker 4: that mark is gonna shift everywhere. Garrett might even be lower,
27:09
Speaker 4: Donald might be towards the top two. It's gonna get mouddy.
27:12
Speaker 4: That would be crazy those two guys on that front.
27:15
Speaker 4: You're getting four to one in most markets on it.
27:16
Speaker 4: Right now, jump on that one, because if Aaron Donald
27:19
Speaker 4: comes back and Miles Garrett doesn't leave the league in
27:21
Speaker 4: sacks again, something's going horribly wrong and he's probably a
27:24
Speaker 4: lot to win that again, great media award narrative.
27:28
Speaker 1: I do want to touch on that you mentioned sacks.
27:30
Speaker 1: I think it's an important conversation that gets overlooked with
27:33
Speaker 1: Baltimore thirty first and sack rate last year. There's a
27:36
Speaker 1: reason they went out and tried to get Max Crosby
27:38
Speaker 1: that obviously didn't work out, and then they land on
27:41
Speaker 1: Trey Hendrickson. Not bad as far as a backup goes.
27:45
Speaker 1: Their defense shifted in terms of its overall quality when
27:47
Speaker 1: Matta Bouke went out. He's coming back. It's a serious
27:50
Speaker 1: nick injury, though he's been cleared from the pup list,
27:52
Speaker 1: but still you have to be concerned with something like
27:56
Speaker 1: that rearing its ugly head. We all love Kyle Hamilton
27:59
Speaker 1: on show, but is the defense good enough? And can
28:02
Speaker 1: they get after the passer?
28:04
Speaker 2: I was gonna say, I think I don't think it's that.
28:06
Speaker 3: I think it's if they shut down the receivers in
28:10
Speaker 3: that division. Think if the Ravens beat the Bengals twice
28:14
Speaker 3: and it's because he's locked down on those receivers, That's
28:17
Speaker 3: the only way I think it happens. I just I'm
28:19
Speaker 3: so out on this Ravens team that that is the
28:21
Speaker 3: only way that I can consider finding a way to
28:24
Speaker 3: bet on them.
28:25
Speaker 2: I just think that they're.
28:26
Speaker 3: Too old and I love Lamar, but I'm having I'm
28:30
Speaker 3: having a hard time you've you've done me dirty too
28:33
Speaker 3: many times.
28:35
Speaker 4: That's fair. The dirty birds, I'll tell you this much too,
28:37
Speaker 4: despite the fact that they were what thirty first you
28:40
Speaker 4: said last year on pressure, right, was it?
28:41
Speaker 1: Yep?
28:42
Speaker 4: They're still over the last three years second in sacks
28:45
Speaker 4: only to the Broncos. Broncos and I think are at
28:47
Speaker 4: one seventy three or something like that and they're thirty behind.
28:50
Speaker 4: That's what tells you where the Broncos have been right
28:53
Speaker 4: in terms of what they've been able to do last
28:54
Speaker 4: couple of years under different regime. But they still get
28:57
Speaker 4: after it. They still get to the quarterback and I
28:59
Speaker 4: think bringing in Hendrickson certainly is going to help with that. Again,
29:03
Speaker 4: but to Kendri's point, it does feel like, you know,
29:06
Speaker 4: there's a lot of moving pieces and a lot of newness,
29:09
Speaker 4: and for me personally, that's something I like to stay
29:11
Speaker 4: away from as a wager, especially when you're coming off
29:13
Speaker 4: such a disappointing season. I'm not saying it can't be good.
29:16
Speaker 4: I'm saying it makes it very difficult to invest in
29:19
Speaker 4: because you're investing in a theoretical Ravens team that has
29:22
Speaker 4: existed for the last couple of years. That is not
29:24
Speaker 4: the same team that existed the last couple of years.
29:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, so let's fill in the blank on them.
29:29
Speaker 1: At the end of the year, we will say blank
29:32
Speaker 1: about Lamar Jackson.
29:39
Speaker 4: Yeah, I got toilet paper.
29:41
Speaker 2: I'm going to say that he needs a change of scenery.
29:43
Speaker 3: And I know that Ravens fans probably don't want to
29:46
Speaker 3: hear that, but even heading into this season, I think
29:48
Speaker 3: that that would have done a.
29:50
Speaker 2: World of good for him.
29:52
Speaker 1: Yikes.
29:53
Speaker 4: I'm going to try to be optimistic and I'm going
29:56
Speaker 4: to try to say bounced back because last year was
29:59
Speaker 4: such a disaster. He tried to play through injury when
30:01
Speaker 4: he came back, and you could just tell he was
30:02
Speaker 4: not healthy. He was not the right guy. He was
30:04
Speaker 4: not the same guy that we've seen winning MVP two
30:06
Speaker 4: years ago. So I say he bounces back. The question
30:09
Speaker 4: is he still playing catch up in that division potentially
30:12
Speaker 4: with what Joe Burrow can do. And Joe Burrow's got
30:15
Speaker 4: to say healthy two. You know, this is a war
30:17
Speaker 4: of attrition of health in this division for those two quarterbacks.
30:20
Speaker 4: Because at the end of the day, I really have
30:22
Speaker 4: a heart the Steelers and Browns are just too hard
30:25
Speaker 4: of a sell for me to really be competitive at
30:28
Speaker 4: that level that the other two can.
30:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, the Ravens tend to have a pretty when they
30:35
Speaker 1: do make the playoffs, have a pretty predictable script that
30:38
Speaker 1: plays out, and I think we'll probably say, Wow, he
30:40
Speaker 1: had a great regular season and let us down in
30:42
Speaker 1: the playoffs. Marc andrews ow, that goes, so hopefully you
30:47
Speaker 1: can break through. Lamar. Let's move to the very boring
30:52
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers. It is the reunion that nobody asked for.
30:56
Speaker 1: Rodgers Mike McCarthy one hundred and seven wins together. There's
31:00
Speaker 1: seven in the playoffs. They have one super Bowl to
31:02
Speaker 1: show for it. That's not bad, but that was also
31:04
Speaker 1: one hundred years ago. Very strange to not see Mike
31:08
Speaker 1: Tomlin on the sidelines or at the press conference podium anymore.
31:12
Speaker 1: I could not be lower on this team if I
31:14
Speaker 1: tried Joe second oldest roster in the NFL. That rarely ends,
31:19
Speaker 1: well are you in or out? In general on the
31:23
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers, I'm out, I'm where you are?
31:27
Speaker 4: You're right. I like the reunion that nobody asked for.
31:29
Speaker 4: It's like the Cast of Bones is coming back. Everybody
31:32
Speaker 4: for a special like who cares. I don't know why
31:34
Speaker 4: was that show on for fifteen years in the first place.
31:36
Speaker 4: I can't tell. I don't know one person never watched it.
31:38
Speaker 4: Maybe I'm wrong, maybe you guys are big fans, but
31:40
Speaker 4: like I feel like it's that kind of thing.
31:42
Speaker 2: It's I don't even know what that is.
31:43
Speaker 4: I want what I mean?
31:44
Speaker 1: I think I watched the pilot and when this isn't
31:46
Speaker 1: going to be good.
31:47
Speaker 4: But I want to say that show ran for like
31:49
Speaker 4: more than a decade, right, and everyone was like, what
31:51
Speaker 4: how can that be? And that's kind of like the
31:54
Speaker 4: where we're at with McCarthy, Like it just keeps running through.
31:56
Speaker 4: And I will say this, we know he's a good
31:59
Speaker 4: football guy, Micha McCarthy knows what he's doing. He has
32:02
Speaker 4: taken teams to the Promised Land, and he has coached
32:05
Speaker 4: Aaron Rodgers before. This version of Aaron Rodgers at this
32:08
Speaker 4: stage in his life is even more material, I'm sure
32:11
Speaker 4: than he was ten years ago. So it's difficult. I'd
32:15
Speaker 4: like the Rico Dowbdell addition because I think it fits
32:18
Speaker 4: the limitations of what Aaron Rodgers is in this career.
32:21
Speaker 4: The low A Dot all that stuff where He's going
32:23
Speaker 4: to be dumping a lot of passes off between him
32:24
Speaker 4: and Warren Pittman Junior. I think is very capable. DK Metcalf,
32:29
Speaker 4: You're going to see a couple spike weeks, but other
32:30
Speaker 4: than that, I think a lot of inconsistency. And then
32:33
Speaker 4: when you got the defensive side, look, they've gotten names.
32:35
Speaker 4: It's just where are we at with t J. Watt
32:37
Speaker 4: in the stage of his career, right, He's taken. He's
32:39
Speaker 4: been on the field so much, he's given us so much.
32:41
Speaker 4: We're starting to see that beginning of that downturn for him.
32:45
Speaker 4: You know, he's had some health issues last couple of
32:46
Speaker 4: seasons being on the field, and again it feels very
32:51
Speaker 4: much like just another you know, eight win team at best,
32:54
Speaker 4: and I think we would all be better off to
32:57
Speaker 4: not see them back door their way into the playoffs.
33:00
Speaker 2: I think McCarthy is a fraud.
33:01
Speaker 3: I think Aaron Rodgers' wife that's letting him play another
33:04
Speaker 3: year of football is chat GPT And I think that
33:07
Speaker 3: this team is old and I McCarthy is the biggest
33:11
Speaker 3: fraud of all time.
33:11
Speaker 2: Like you got lucky in a season.
33:13
Speaker 3: That you had Aaron Rodgers who had an easier position
33:17
Speaker 3: to get to a super Bowl and win a Super
33:19
Speaker 3: Bowl than I think that you deserved. You go to
33:22
Speaker 3: the Cowboys, you suck, and now you think that you
33:24
Speaker 3: can be reunited with the guy that brought you to
33:27
Speaker 3: the Promised Land. For what purpose? This team is just old.
33:30
Speaker 3: The only person I stan is Pat Fryarmuth. Shout out
33:33
Speaker 3: Massachusetts everybody else.
33:36
Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe that's the best way to bet into the Steelers.
33:38
Speaker 1: Just Pat Fryarmouth anytime touchdowns.
33:40
Speaker 2: That's exactly what I like.
33:42
Speaker 3: That's the thing is like, Okay, you can add all
33:43
Speaker 3: of these additions, but who's going to be throwing them
33:45
Speaker 3: the football? Aaron Rodgers is eight thousand years old, and
33:49
Speaker 3: you want to know what pisses me off? I think
33:51
Speaker 3: that we talk about the quarterback sixth sense that you
33:53
Speaker 3: get as you get older, where Matt Stafford's the best
33:56
Speaker 3: I've ever seen.
33:57
Speaker 2: He's the best I've ever seen do it.
33:59
Speaker 3: He know that someone is coming for him in the
34:01
Speaker 3: pocket before anybody else. The thing with Aaron Rodgers is
34:04
Speaker 3: that he has that, but he still thinks that he
34:07
Speaker 3: can throw the deep ball like prime Aaron Rodgers, and
34:09
Speaker 3: he throws stupid picks for it, and he never learns
34:13
Speaker 3: from it. And I think that that's my issue is, Okay,
34:15
Speaker 3: you can have these receivers that can help him out,
34:17
Speaker 3: but you can't fix that his brain is scrambled from Mayahuasca.
34:20
Speaker 4: I'm sorry to her point, Brandon, I want to say
34:23
Speaker 4: that it does feel like McCarthy is a guy where
34:27
Speaker 4: he was a very good football coach for the I
34:29
Speaker 4: think the era he was coaching him. But it feels like,
34:31
Speaker 4: especially if you go back to the Cowboys days when
34:33
Speaker 4: they got absolutely trucked in that playoff game a couple
34:36
Speaker 4: of years ago by Green Bay. To me, that was
34:38
Speaker 4: exposure of a head coach that was kind of getting
34:40
Speaker 4: out of his depth and what the league is now,
34:42
Speaker 4: and that's my biggest concern. And we see this in
34:44
Speaker 4: the NFL, right, Guys would get hired multiple times and
34:47
Speaker 4: they were great in one era, but they don't learn
34:49
Speaker 4: to make the adjustments as time goes on. And then
34:51
Speaker 4: that's why we've never seen a coach go and win
34:53
Speaker 4: a Super Bowl with the second team after winning a
34:55
Speaker 4: Super Bowl with a team. It's never happened. So Bill Parcels,
34:58
Speaker 4: I think was the only one who got back there
35:00
Speaker 4: right because he was the Giants. He won and then
35:02
Speaker 4: went to the Patriots and went there once. But no
35:05
Speaker 4: head coach ever has been successful won a super Bowl
35:08
Speaker 4: with one organization and then had gotten back on won
35:09
Speaker 4: a super Bowl with another organization. I think that tells
35:11
Speaker 4: you sometimes these guys keep getting jobs sometimes and they
35:14
Speaker 4: don't make enough adjustments. And Mike McCarthy reachs it out.
35:17
Speaker 2: To me, embrace debate. Is Mike McCarthy Aaron Rodgers' wife?
35:21
Speaker 4: Oh God, that's a hell of a reality show. I
35:23
Speaker 4: think I want to watch that. If it is, it
35:25
Speaker 4: feels good.
35:25
Speaker 1: We haven't figured out who it is yet. Mike McCarthy
35:28
Speaker 1: felt like an awful hire. I'm not even going to
35:32
Speaker 1: attempt to take the opposite side of this argument. Sixty
35:34
Speaker 1: two years old, but even eleven and eleven in his
35:37
Speaker 1: playoff career, the franchise that he now coaches has been
35:41
Speaker 1: mediocre for years, and this doesn't help the matter. Here's
35:46
Speaker 1: the thing, though, and I'm not positive on the Steelers.
35:48
Speaker 1: One of the first bets I made when the schedules
35:51
Speaker 1: were released was or when the wind totals were released,
35:54
Speaker 1: they should say, was the Steelers under eight and a
35:56
Speaker 1: half wins? But if I mean there's always a possibility.
36:01
Speaker 1: This team does have talent that they could be a
36:02
Speaker 1: lot better than we are making them out to be.
36:05
Speaker 1: I did some offensive line rankings. They're second in the division.
36:09
Speaker 1: Defense rankings second in the division, and they do have
36:14
Speaker 1: the highest paid defense in the NFL. So I'm not
36:20
Speaker 1: optimistic on this team. But Joe, is there a world
36:23
Speaker 1: where you can best case scenario in reality what they
36:27
Speaker 1: could be. What's the positive I don't think, because I
36:32
Speaker 1: do think it's at least possible that this team makes
36:34
Speaker 1: the playoffs.
36:35
Speaker 4: The positive spin is that something? I mean, if you're
36:39
Speaker 4: writing the worst script ever, then it is these two
36:42
Speaker 4: guys put aside some of the negativity of the past
36:45
Speaker 4: and they find each other again. It's like it's like
36:47
Speaker 4: the worst rom com ever, right, and they come back
36:49
Speaker 4: and they somehow, you know, in the old age home,
36:51
Speaker 4: they find each other again, and the and the romance blossoms,
36:54
Speaker 4: and we're yeah, but it is very difficult because you're
37:00
Speaker 4: asking a quarterback in his forest to stay healthy the
37:02
Speaker 4: whole time. To Kendri's point, a guy that does not
37:06
Speaker 4: have the same arm strength he used to, you can
37:08
Speaker 4: give him some more weapons. And they've done that a
37:10
Speaker 4: little bit and that's a positive. But at the same time,
37:13
Speaker 4: I just I find it very difficult to believe that
37:16
Speaker 4: more than eight wins is their ceiling. I think that's
37:19
Speaker 4: about what they are. And for the Pittsburgh Steeler fans
37:22
Speaker 4: long term, you should want this team to bottom out.
37:25
Speaker 4: You should look for them to get to the top
37:27
Speaker 4: of the of the draft next year and get one
37:29
Speaker 4: of these quarterbacks because it is going to be a
37:30
Speaker 4: much better quarterback draft than this past season. So many
37:34
Speaker 4: a Pittsburgh Steeler fan in my family and friends groups,
37:37
Speaker 4: and they are rooting for failure, I can tell you
37:39
Speaker 4: that much. So I think as an organization they should
37:41
Speaker 4: have an eye to that too, because why they would
37:43
Speaker 4: even I get why they brought Aaron Rodgers back. But
37:45
Speaker 4: at the end of the day, man, this is going
37:46
Speaker 4: to be such a difficult sell here. You want them
37:49
Speaker 4: to be bad if you're a Steelers fan, because you
37:51
Speaker 4: need to turn the page because in the last couple
37:52
Speaker 4: of years, I mean, Mike Tomlin became Marvin Lewis just
37:56
Speaker 4: one and done every year in the playoffs, and everyone
37:58
Speaker 4: makes one of Marvin Lewis forar but nobody makes one
37:59
Speaker 4: of my Ta for it and went on for what
38:01
Speaker 4: seven years? How many years?
38:02
Speaker 1: That's because he was good at the podium. We love
38:04
Speaker 1: Mike Tomlin at the.
38:05
Speaker 4: Good at the podium. And he did win, you know,
38:07
Speaker 4: he did get there and win.
38:08
Speaker 2: Never went below five hundred.
38:10
Speaker 4: That's the King, I guess.
38:11
Speaker 1: So he had some bad medoc.
38:14
Speaker 4: The King of five.
38:15
Speaker 2: Would never have kept his job in a bigger market ever.
38:18
Speaker 3: If he existed in New England and New York, any
38:21
Speaker 3: of the California markets, forget about it, he would have been.
38:24
Speaker 2: Fired years ago. Talk about a personality. Higher love him,
38:28
Speaker 2: one of my favorite coaches of all time.
38:30
Speaker 3: He would not have survived in a big market by middling.
38:33
Speaker 1: And the Steelers don't like firing coaches. By the way,
38:36
Speaker 1: that eight and a half still available minus one thirty,
38:38
Speaker 1: so juice to the under. But it sounds like pretty
38:41
Speaker 1: much consensus here. You got getting a nod from the
38:44
Speaker 1: crew under eight and a half best way to bet
38:47
Speaker 1: into the Pittsburgh Steelers in twenty twenty six. Let's move
38:50
Speaker 1: to the Browns as we wrap up the AFC North.
38:52
Speaker 1: They made their intentions for twenty twenty six quite clear
38:56
Speaker 1: when they traded Myles Garrett. They brought in a well
38:59
Speaker 1: and I would view in the same lens as the
39:02
Speaker 1: Steelers and Mike McCarthy, a Bridge coach, and Todd Monkin.
39:07
Speaker 1: I'm sure they hope and pray that they didn't waste
39:10
Speaker 1: all of that money on Deshaun Watson, but they're gonna
39:12
Speaker 1: be pleased to overdraft Arch Manning next spring if it
39:15
Speaker 1: does come to that. They are tough at home. Dog
39:18
Speaker 1: pound is unmerciful. I think the roster mostly stinks. Kendra
39:22
Speaker 1: is all over them. It's Kendra and Jimmy Haslam, the
39:25
Speaker 1: Brown's owner, the only two people I know taking the
39:27
Speaker 1: over on them this year.
39:29
Speaker 3: Do you want to talk to when I picked the
39:30
Speaker 3: Panthers to they're over last year and them to win
39:33
Speaker 3: the division?
39:33
Speaker 2: So suck me, Kravitz.
39:35
Speaker 1: I did come around on Carolina, Uh, you nailed that one,
39:39
Speaker 1: but that does not change my opinion that the Browns stink. So, Joe,
39:42
Speaker 1: do you want to talk any sense into Kendre? Are
39:44
Speaker 1: you with her on thisting? No?
39:47
Speaker 3: No, no, no, no, don't do this to me. I don't
39:48
Speaker 3: think the Browns are gonna be good. I see the
39:50
Speaker 3: Browns are gonna win six games, don't that's right?
39:51
Speaker 1: I get that. I think that's a bad.
39:54
Speaker 4: She's only over on the five and a half, then.
39:57
Speaker 1: I am not. I'm not trying to overrate your love
39:59
Speaker 1: for the Browns, but yeah, I don't think that's a
40:02
Speaker 1: good bet. Joe, where do you land on the Browns?
40:05
Speaker 2: At least it's the Falcon super Bowl future, Well.
40:08
Speaker 1: Let's save that for the NFC South episode. We're going
40:11
Speaker 1: hard into the paint on the Atlanta Falcons.
40:13
Speaker 4: Go ahead, Joe, that's what they call it teas in
40:15
Speaker 4: the business, everybody, so make sure you continue to listen.
40:19
Speaker 1: I've been waiting all off season for my Falcons episode.
40:22
Speaker 4: I'm gonna be listening to that one. I gotta tell
40:24
Speaker 4: you now that we're such good friends, can they win
40:27
Speaker 4: six games with this defense? Yeah? I think they can so.
40:29
Speaker 4: To Kendra's point, I don't think it's impossible. And I
40:32
Speaker 4: do think there's a world that we might live in
40:34
Speaker 4: where the Cleveland Browns somehow end up with a better
40:37
Speaker 4: record than the Pittsburgh Steelers just because it's the NFL
40:40
Speaker 4: and weird stuff happens. I think that would mean Shador
40:43
Speaker 4: Sanders starts the whole year, makes enough progress with some
40:46
Speaker 4: of these young wide receivers. I'm not the biggest Casey
40:48
Speaker 4: Conception you owng guy. I actually like Denzel Boston quite
40:51
Speaker 4: a bit in the process that with the guy that
40:53
Speaker 4: I preferred of those two guys, I thought Concept she
40:55
Speaker 4: Own had some drop issues, and I still worry about
40:57
Speaker 4: his size. But if they can find clever ways to use,
41:00
Speaker 4: if you can can stick with the run game and
41:02
Speaker 4: Queen Shawn Judkins can stay healthy, if Shador Sanders can
41:05
Speaker 4: make small improvements every week allah sort of what you
41:08
Speaker 4: saw from Tyler Shuck last year. Sure they can hit
41:11
Speaker 4: the over here. It's minus one oh five.
41:12
Speaker 1: I see.
41:12
Speaker 4: That's the best you can get in the market. There's
41:14
Speaker 4: still not a playoff team. They're still not winning this division.
41:16
Speaker 4: They're still not winning this conference. There's still not anywhere
41:18
Speaker 4: near where they need to be. I do think, though,
41:21
Speaker 4: it's gonna be real tough for them to get to
41:22
Speaker 4: the very one spot. I think the Dolphins are the
41:24
Speaker 4: team that is really just gonna be absolute shits this year.
41:27
Speaker 4: Like that's the one to me where inexperienced quarterback, first
41:31
Speaker 4: time head coach, bat offensive line, no wide receiver cord
41:33
Speaker 4: what could go right? I mean, what could go right?
41:35
Speaker 4: I don't see what. But coming back to the Browns.
41:40
Speaker 4: There are a tough team to invest in, and you know,
41:42
Speaker 4: maybe look for some Jared Verse props maybe on some
41:44
Speaker 4: sacks that might be fun. Maybe some Queen Shawn Judkins
41:47
Speaker 4: over on some of the rushing yard totals too. Those
41:49
Speaker 4: might be some individuals. Whenever you can't get a beat
41:51
Speaker 4: on the team, go directly to the players in the
41:54
Speaker 4: individuals and if you want to get involved in a squad.
41:58
Speaker 2: I have been talking about the Browns so much. I
42:00
Speaker 2: think people are sick of it.
42:02
Speaker 3: I think that they got decent rookie production last season,
42:04
Speaker 3: and the rookies that they drafted this year is going
42:06
Speaker 3: to help them o on the offensive line and the
42:09
Speaker 3: receiver room. I'm really big on Casey conceptsio and I
42:11
Speaker 3: think that he's a locker room guy, which I think
42:13
Speaker 3: helps and that's something that they need. I also agree
42:16
Speaker 3: Denzel Boston probably a better fit for this offense. I
42:19
Speaker 3: just think if they get a decent amount of rookie production.
42:22
Speaker 3: Once again, I don't think that there's any drop off
42:24
Speaker 3: between whether it's shudor DeShawn, Dylan Gabriel, whatever, they're all
42:27
Speaker 3: mid they're all kind of the same whatever. I think
42:30
Speaker 3: that this team could surprise people and win six games.
42:33
Speaker 2: Do I think they're gonna be world beaters and win
42:34
Speaker 2: a Super Bowl?
42:35
Speaker 3: No, But I think that they're going to surprise some
42:37
Speaker 3: people and actually weirdly have some chemistry as a team.
42:40
Speaker 4: I'll tell you this. To Kendrick's point, on a weekly basis,
42:43
Speaker 4: watch some of those big numbers against the Browns, I
42:45
Speaker 4: would be on the other end of that. I think
42:47
Speaker 4: they could keep some games close with that defense too.
42:49
Speaker 4: Toddin doesn't ye, Yeah, Todd Nkin doesn't cite me as
42:53
Speaker 4: a head football coach necessarily. I've seen enough Tod Munkin
42:56
Speaker 4: in my life to know pretty much what Todd Monkin is.
42:58
Speaker 4: But he is one of the grinder guys, and he
43:01
Speaker 4: is going to keep things closed. And I think they
43:02
Speaker 4: will have some good game plans, and I think they
43:04
Speaker 4: will have some they will play good defense. And if
43:07
Speaker 4: they play good defense and run the ball effectively to
43:09
Speaker 4: Kendri's point, then I think there's a lot of covers
43:12
Speaker 4: coming in their future too, which is gonna I think
43:14
Speaker 4: turn some people's heads as well.
43:16
Speaker 2: They also allegedly had the sixth easiest schedule. That was
43:19
Speaker 2: something that we looked at well. I looked at allegedly
43:23
Speaker 2: with the Panthers. They do, so, I mean, that's that's all.
43:27
Speaker 3: It's all subjective, you know, But I think that the
43:30
Speaker 3: easy schedule will really do them some favors. And it's
43:33
Speaker 3: truly just I think that they might be able to
43:35
Speaker 3: weirdly find some chemistry with the rookies that they brun
43:37
Speaker 3: in this year.
43:38
Speaker 1: They're winning percentage since the year two thousand and thirty
43:42
Speaker 1: four percent. That's the lowest in the league over the
43:45
Speaker 1: last twenty six years. So if you just simply fade
43:48
Speaker 1: Brown's optimism, you tend to be on the right side
43:51
Speaker 1: of history. By the way, a quick update for you,
43:54
Speaker 1: Baltimore has extended Zay Flowers since we're in the middle
43:57
Speaker 1: good in AFC North episode for years one hundred and
44:00
Speaker 1: forty million dollar extension. It includes one oh eight guaranteed.
44:05
Speaker 1: I'm kind of with Kendra. Do we even know he's
44:07
Speaker 1: a number one wide receiver? Lamar Jackson thinks so, But
44:10
Speaker 1: quick a side Joe on Zay Flowers, Are you a
44:12
Speaker 1: Say Flowers guy?
44:14
Speaker 4: I really like Say Flowers the human and I like
44:16
Speaker 4: the player, and I think that there's more coming for
44:20
Speaker 4: Zay Flowers this year. Look he's not a J Brown physically, like,
44:22
Speaker 4: he's not that kind of dude. I would have liked
44:25
Speaker 4: to have seen them add somebody this offseason who can
44:27
Speaker 4: compliment him in the red zone, especially because I am
44:30
Speaker 4: in agreement. I think Mark Andrews is, you know, we
44:32
Speaker 4: might be in the end of days there with him,
44:35
Speaker 4: so you wanted somebody else in that red zone, especially
44:37
Speaker 4: let Isaiah Likely walk. I thought that was kind of
44:40
Speaker 4: why they extended the old tight end who seemed like
44:42
Speaker 4: he was going in the wrong direction, and then let
44:44
Speaker 4: the young guy walk that seemed to be the next coming.
44:47
Speaker 4: These are things that I can't understand, and then you
44:49
Speaker 4: could tell why the general manager and the head coach.
44:51
Speaker 4: I think there was some you know, clash over that.
44:54
Speaker 4: I will say, I think I understand what they're doing.
44:58
Speaker 4: A lot of money getting thrown around. Jean got it
45:00
Speaker 4: tended today too. This is the nature of the beast.
45:02
Speaker 4: If you have somebody that you believe in, you want
45:04
Speaker 4: to maintain them, especially if the quarterback has a good
45:06
Speaker 4: rapport with him. Uh is then overpay probably a little bit,
45:10
Speaker 4: but that's where we are. This is what the NFL is.
45:12
Speaker 4: Everybody's gonna get overpaid because I want to keep raising
45:14
Speaker 4: the bar for everybody else. And that's just the player's
45:16
Speaker 4: union math.
45:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, he is a good player. He just hurt number one.
45:20
Speaker 2: He's a great player.
45:22
Speaker 4: He's not an Alpha. He could be a number one
45:24
Speaker 4: if you if you had Rock Bowers in this offense. Yeah, okay, Like,
45:28
Speaker 4: because now you're you're talking about there's a yin and
45:30
Speaker 4: yang that you got to deal with if you had
45:32
Speaker 4: somebody else who you know, I'm trying to like and
45:35
Speaker 4: kwm Bolden at the end of his career on the
45:37
Speaker 4: other side. Yeah, Like, that's a really good compliment. I
45:39
Speaker 4: just don't think they have that currently as their constituted
45:42
Speaker 4: as a roster.
45:43
Speaker 1: I like the kwm Bolden reference. I haven't thought about
45:45
Speaker 1: him in a while.
45:46
Speaker 4: That's right.
45:46
Speaker 1: Let's finish the Browns. Fill in the blank here. Blank
45:50
Speaker 1: starts the most games at quarterback for this team.
45:52
Speaker 4: Joe Shit, Dor Sanders, Please Lord, let it beat your
45:56
Speaker 4: Dor Sanders. And I never thought I would say those words.
45:58
Speaker 4: I need to see more should door Standers, but I
45:59
Speaker 4: can not pop more Deshaun Watson, and I can't watch
46:03
Speaker 4: any Dylan Gabriel either.
46:05
Speaker 2: Bendre I lean that way.
46:09
Speaker 3: As well, but it does give me a little bit
46:12
Speaker 3: of HM that they drafted Tailing Green.
46:17
Speaker 1: I think they want I'm very curious to see how
46:19
Speaker 1: they use Tailing Green in the preseason, but I don't
46:22
Speaker 1: think he sees it.
46:23
Speaker 4: If Taylor Green starts more than two games, you take
46:26
Speaker 4: that under, you slam that under hard. I just think
46:29
Speaker 4: you're just getting to be way out of their depth.
46:30
Speaker 4: If that, unfortunately happens, it's not gonna kid, It's just
46:32
Speaker 4: a bad scenario for him.
46:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't think they drafted him to be a quarterback.
46:36
Speaker 1: He's one of the rare quarterbacks out of college that
46:38
Speaker 1: was kind of okay with the idea of just you know,
46:41
Speaker 1: put me anywhere, let's uh, let's do this the I
46:45
Speaker 1: think it's Deshaun Watson. They probably want to see if
46:47
Speaker 1: they can get any juice out of that orange.
46:50
Speaker 4: But it's the all time worst move in sports, however,
46:53
Speaker 4: not just NFL. I think in sports the gary without it,
46:58
Speaker 4: we should all collect after the show, we should all find,
47:01
Speaker 4: you know, get to his agent, because whoever could get
47:04
Speaker 4: that much guaranteed money for a guy with that much
47:06
Speaker 4: scandal around him in a place like the NFL with
47:08
Speaker 4: a salary cap. But just It continues to blow my
47:10
Speaker 4: mind years later how that deal went down. Mind the
47:13
Speaker 4: flag and it set up.
47:15
Speaker 2: I'm trying to plant my flag here. Okay, you're really
47:17
Speaker 2: planning your flag in that day.
47:19
Speaker 1: All right, guys, let's plant the flag on the division.
47:21
Speaker 1: So now we've we have previewed all the teams, it
47:24
Speaker 1: is time for our best overall divisional bet first place,
47:30
Speaker 1: exact order, win total prop your absolute favorite bet in
47:35
Speaker 1: the AFC North Kendra, We'll start with you.
47:39
Speaker 3: I have given these out time and time again. You
47:41
Speaker 3: can take your pick between the Bengals over. The nine
47:43
Speaker 3: and a half is still available out there. I think
47:45
Speaker 3: it's probably going to disappear rather soon, and it's a
47:48
Speaker 3: minus one sixty, and then I'm going to go over
47:50
Speaker 3: on the Browns. Those are two of my favorite things
47:54
Speaker 3: that I have logged so far, other than my Drake
47:56
Speaker 3: may prop.
47:57
Speaker 1: Yep.
47:58
Speaker 4: Yeah. To Kendrick's point that nine and a half over,
48:01
Speaker 4: I'm in on. I just hate the juice. So if
48:04
Speaker 4: I'm gonna be in, I'm all in. Give me the
48:06
Speaker 4: division winner plus two oh three. That's the best odds
48:08
Speaker 4: that I'm seeing right now on the board. So I
48:10
Speaker 4: would just go to the two to one there and
48:12
Speaker 4: just say, hey, this is the year of the Joe
48:13
Speaker 4: Burrow bounce back.
48:16
Speaker 1: I think, and I would take it a step further.
48:18
Speaker 1: I would take them to just win the AFC. We
48:20
Speaker 1: know that Joe Burrow can perform at the highest level
48:22
Speaker 1: in the playoffs, and so if this team is that good,
48:25
Speaker 1: then I'm gonna like them a lot going into the
48:27
Speaker 1: playoffs too. But plus two plus two three for them
48:32
Speaker 1: to simply win the division I like. So I was
48:35
Speaker 1: originally gonna say that my favorite bet was the Bengals
48:38
Speaker 1: to just win the AFC at plus ten twenty five.
48:41
Speaker 1: Then I saw this one out there. You can bet
48:45
Speaker 1: Ravens Bengals finish top two, not in any particular order.
48:49
Speaker 1: This is not an exact outcome. This is just that
48:51
Speaker 1: those two teams will be first in second place in
48:54
Speaker 1: the division at even money, and that is my favorite
48:57
Speaker 1: way to fade the Steeler in the Browns. So that,
49:01
Speaker 1: to me, is the best bet in the division even money.
49:03
Speaker 1: Ravens Bengals finish one and two.
49:06
Speaker 2: Do you not worry about the health of either of them?
49:08
Speaker 1: Though of course I do. That would be the but
49:11
Speaker 1: that's the only concern. And if these teams stay healthy.
49:14
Speaker 1: I don't see how the Steelers in the Browns keep up.
49:17
Speaker 3: It's giving parlay without giving parlay, and I think that
49:21
Speaker 3: that's my issue.
49:22
Speaker 2: You need two things to happen.
49:24
Speaker 1: Are these parlay vibes? Joe?
49:26
Speaker 4: Yes, sure, I just want to go with the good
49:28
Speaker 4: vibes of the show.
49:29
Speaker 1: Let's see. Okay, thank you, thank you, Joe. Piece upy
49:32
Speaker 1: tell people how they can find the Black Book.
49:34
Speaker 4: Well, first of all, thanks so much for having me.
49:36
Speaker 4: This was super fun. And and Kendra is a soldier.
49:39
Speaker 4: She's a stud for getting through the show under the
49:41
Speaker 4: weather to get the ways basket, bucket and all.
49:45
Speaker 3: I don't think people read right times where I don't
49:47
Speaker 3: know if you guys saw me like box breathing for
49:49
Speaker 3: a second, I was really struggling, so.
49:51
Speaker 4: Good shout out to her, just soldiering through Today. You
49:54
Speaker 4: can find the Fantasy Football Black Book twenty twenty six
49:57
Speaker 4: over on Amazon, and go find fandom NFL than a
49:59
Speaker 4: YouTube channeling just launched two weeks ago. Or I got
50:02
Speaker 4: a couple thousand subs already, so we're just flying out
50:04
Speaker 4: of the gate there in just a couple of days.
50:07
Speaker 4: Fandom NFL over on YouTube and wherever you get your
50:09
Speaker 4: podcasts as well. Great talking football with you. This is
50:11
Speaker 4: super fun. Hopefully we do it again soon.
50:13
Speaker 1: I'm positive that we will. Joe the Favorites will return
50:16
Speaker 1: on Thursday. Right here on the Action Network YouTube page,
50:20
Speaker 1: we are previewing one of Joe's favorite divisions, the NFC
50:25
Speaker 1: North Special. Thanks to Joe, piece of Pia Goo and
50:27
Speaker 1: check out the Black Book. To Kenda for powering through
50:30
Speaker 1: the episode. To our producers David Payne and Gifford Gold
50:33
Speaker 1: five star reviews. People to see you next time.
50:36
Speaker 3: Please.
50:45
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50:55
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