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Monday Night Mayhem · The 3Ts: Tables, Tailgates, and Toploaders

• TB: Question out of nowhere, Sydney. Sydney: I'm ready. TB: All right, you gotta pick one of these two NFL positions to be on the football team. You either have to be the punter or the place kicker. Which one are you picking? Sydney: The place kicker. A TB: Yeah? Sydney: hundred percent. Because y I mean, is that the the same thing as like the long sapper? I mean what do what does the place kicker do? Just literally places the TB: No, this is the guy kicking the field goals. Sydney: ball? TB: No, he's kicking the field goals in the ex the kicker. The actual kicker, not the punter. Sydney: the okay, so it's the kicker or the punter. Okay. TB: Yeah. Sorry. I I was trying to be as specific as possible. Sydney: I feel like I would like to be the punter because they have a little bit less pressure on them. Obviously punting is still an important aspect of the game, but I don't think it's as important as a kicker. TB: Yeah, because if if you're under Sean McVay's wrath, you might not make it twelve hours after the big loss on Monday night. So yeah, punter it is. I think I think Sydney: Nope. No punters. TB: it could be a pretty good gig for life, right? Just being a kick punter on a NFL squad. Sydney: I guess. I mean I feel like I could do it. TB: And you still get a Super Bowl ring when your team wins, 'cause you're part of the team. So yeah, I mean Sydney: Yeah, exactly. But if I had to choose, I feel like I would be a long snapper, but I guess that wasn't an option. But I'll go with punter. Yes, exactly. Precisely. TB: The Reed Fergusons of the world. So you're on for like what? How many plays is that in a game if you're on a good team? Five? Not even? That's tough. But all right. I like it. I wonder Sydney: Maybe, maybe, yeah. Hey, that's a good life right there. TB: I wonder what the set the the minimum salary of a NFL punter is. But I bet you it's more than we're making right now. So seems like Sydney: guaranteed. Guaranteed. TB: a good place to start the show. All right. What is up, friends? We are back. The gang is back together. The two hosts are back in the same what do you want to call this? I don't want to say room because we're obviously in different locations, but we're finally we got the gang back together. How you doing down there in in sunny Florida? Any hurricanes coming your way this week? Sydney: not this week, but we did have one last week, which it was see, I didn't even think we would really get hit by it or like affected by it, but it was pretty terri like I'm not gonna say it was terrible because obviously there's a lot more people that were more affected than I was, but TB: Right. Sydney: the entire week it was bad driving to work. Like you could not get on the highway and not go, you were you're going 30 miles per hour. Like I'm not even kidding. Like it was so TB: Geez. Sydney: bad. And like the traffic was terrible because it was so backed up and everyone was driving so slow. And like the weather was just so bad. Like it was like pitch dark at four PM. Like it was just TB: Ha ha ha. Sydney: so bad. And now that it's beautiful out this week, it's like I've been revived. TB: It's been a chaotic week. Lot lot of stuff happening. Lot of stuff happening down there up here. But hey, the the hurricane wasn't all bad. You got to see your brother. He got to come check out the new the new digs, the new the new locale, the new two bedroom you got going on over there, the new podcast studio. Sydney: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was kinda nice because I mean our f last place it's like, okay, well, good night, you're sleeping on our couch. And then now it's like our guest bedrooms on like the other side of the apartment. So it's like when you disperse for the night, one person goes this way, one person goes the other way and it's like, okay, see ya. It's literally like it's nice. TB: That's that's Sydney: So we just feel better having people here. TB: No, that's great. And your TV setup, how's the living room look? How how was that living room rocking Monday night for the the Bills Rams game? Sydney: yeah. So we didn't have him here for that. He left during the day, which I was u TB: Right. Sydney: upset about, but so it was just me and Mike, but we that was a stressful one. I'm sure we'll get into it, but TB: Never never a dull moment in the world of the Buffalo Bills. But are you ready to talk some Monday Sydney: Yeah. TB: night mayhem? Sydney: Yeah, I guess so. TB: I mean, holy cow, the Bills win. They hold on in a I don't even know what you want to call it. I'm gonna give you one word to react to this thirty-seven, thirty-four overtime victory down at SoFi in Los Angeles. What word do you wanna use to react to this craziness? Sydney: Ugly. That was an ugly game. my gosh. TB: Okay. Sydney: On so many levels. The turnovers, the flags were terrible, the interceptions, like there was just so many aspects of that game that were just ugly. TB: I like it. I'm gonna go with exhausting. there may have been a point in the early to mid third quarter that I started to wonder if I was gonna make it for the rest of the game. I might have closed my eyes and and took a 30 second power nap. but once they Sydney: Yeah. TB: once that fourth quarter and obviously overtime hit, I was wide awake. And then I don't know what how how you process this stuff. I am not good with late night games, especially on a work night. but this sucker didn't end till almost midnight. And I usually get up at 3 30 in the morning. And so when when these games happen, I can't just automatically fall asleep because I'm so like wired and jazzed up. I don't know. How are you how are you able to calm down after something like this? Sydney: Yeah. For me it's the exact same because I don't know, it's just like all the adrenaline. And I deal with this too, like when we are in hockey season and I get home really late, I cannot wind down even when my body is like physically tired. It's like my mind just like is racing. So I I actually did fall asleep at some point in the game and I did miss James Cook's last touchdown. But I did wake up for the end. I wasn't out for that long, but I did fall asleep a little bit. But yeah. Yeah. So it TB: So you woke up just in time to see him fumble. it's crazy. Sydney: was just yeah, I didn't sleep very well either and I was so tired the next day. TB: Yeah, still catching up because I'm I was flying on like three, three and a half hours of sleep. So it was it was not not good. But do you think we witnessed a statement win for the Bills, a lucky escape or a little combo of both? What what do you think? Sydney: Honestly, I think this was a lucky escape for sure. I mean, there were there good aspects of the game. Yeah. do I think we particularly played well? No. I mean, thank God for Greg Rousseau. Because if that blocked button out or that block kick didn't happen, we're probably losing that game. So TB: Did you see up on on on first watch? So when it's live, did you see the ball the ball get tipped? Sydney: From Greg Rousseau. TB: Yeah. Sydney: Yeah, I did. TB: And I saw it get tipped, and I still thought the ball was gonna go through because you couldn't see like depth perception. And I'm like, my gosh, Sydney: So did I. Yeah. TB: he he tipped it, but this guy must have kicked it a billion miles an hour. His sucker's still gonna go through. And thank God Sydney: Yeah. TB: it was still short. But I was like, You gotta be kidding me. We finally get a hand on one of these field goal attempts and it's still gonna go through. But Sydney: Yeah. TB: yeah, yeah, they hang on to win. It was Exhausting, like I said, ugly. I like that word. The game was was back and forth, a little slow first half, kind of feeling feeling each other out process in the first half, and then offensive explosion in the second half, six lead changes, eight hundred, almost nine hundred combined yards, and Josh Allen's very first overtime victory in eight career overtime games. I mean, I know every Sunday. Or every month it seems he's breaking new NFL records. But that's one stat that I really couldn't wrap my head around. The fact that he's never won a game in overtime, which is insane to me. So I'm Sydney: Yeah. TB: glad that we got that out of the way. But the first overtime win in nine years, can you believe it? I'm like having flashbacks watching this game going, We're we're gonna freaking lose this thing. It was it was exhausting and just I don't know. It the the range of emotions in the last What five minutes of that game in overtime were just was just insane. So where where I Sydney: Yeah. TB: I'll give you the floor. Where do you want to start? You want to start with the offense, the defense, the special teams, the coaching? What what do you want to talk about? Because it's gonna be this gonna be a little crazy podcast. Life is insane. Sydney: Mm. TB: So we you know, I always we always discuss a a script, outline, and well, we might throw it out the window today. So where do you want to go with this game? Sydney: Yeah. I just wanna start with Josh for a second. And TB: Okay. Sydney: I wanna go back to, you know, two weeks ago. We had a a particularly bad game against the Chargers. TB: You're talking okay. Sydney: and we managed to win that game. I don't think, you know, going back to that, I don't think anyone played great. and then going into the next week against the Patriots, I was like, No way we can have an of another bad week. Like We're gonna bounce back. We did not bounce back. It was another bad week. And then, yes, this week we pulled out the win, but was it any better than last week? No. Not in my opinion. I don't think it was. I don't know what's going on with Josh. He pulled through in the in the second half, but the first half, he looked absolutely atrocious. I I think his running was good. I don't know if you know, people are speculating that he might be dealing with an injury. I don't know if that's true or not. I don't think we'll ever know. He's not the type to ever talk about his injuries. He always says he's fine. He's very, you know, zip it and that's just how he does things. which I respect, but something's gotta be going on. I don't know. I don't know. He's chucking TB: Yeah. Yeah. Sydney: up passes, he's his accuracy is not really there. I it's just He makes these plays and I'm like, Why did he do that? And it's like not just one or two, it's like multiple times a game. He's done this for three weeks in a row and I'm like, Why did he do that? It's just very confusing. So I you know, I love Josh. I think he pulled it together at the end. He played well, in the second half, but my gosh. Three weeks in a row he has not played well. TB: It's weird because the game script to this game, specifically for Josh Allen, was very different from a lot of games. The fact that he only threw the ball nineteen times in the entire game and completing twelve passes, twelve of nineteen for two hundred yards, rough roughly, two hundred yards, that's not a lot. He was not even throwing the ball that much. Normally that's at least in the high twenties, thirties, but nineteen passes? I mean We're gonna talk about Nakua here shortly. Nakua had what 17, 16 catches? So, Sydney: Seventeen catches. TB: and and in the 20s for targets, Nakua had more targets than Josh had pass attempts. So I think there's a lot going on here. And I agree completely. The Chargers game was a disaster. They got lucky, right? the five turnovers combined was an absolute nightmare. And I know we've had some scheduling issues and things that you've been dealing with, things that I've been dealing with. We really haven't gotten to talk about this stuff. the the Chargers and the Patriots game. but yeah, that game was was terrible. And then the Patriots game, Mike and I talked last week that Drake May looked more like Josh Allen last week than Josh did. And he didn't run at all. I think he had less than five rushing attempts. Last game and coming out of the New England game, everyone was like, Josh has to be hurt. He's not even moving. And and then he has this game, and he has 121 yards rushing in this game. So any thought that I had going into this game that he was hurt, he kind of threw that idea out the window. But the fact is, 19 passes, and so I'm I'm trying to be objective and say, Is this a Josh problem or is this a bigger team problem? Obviously, DJ Moore didn't play. Skylar Bell took the field. He was completely ineffective. I saw Trent Shurfield on the there's a point I had to look up jersey numbers because I'm like, who the hell is on the field right now? Sydney: Yeah. TB: And I couldn't remember Schurfield's number. and Skylar Bell has never taken a snap of regular season game. So I was like, who are these guys? So no DJ Moore. yeah, I don't know what's going on with the offense. And we're gonna talk about coaching and Joe Brady here in in a minute. But but let me kind of put this Josh thing on a on a bigger scale. And I want to ask you a question. We we talked preseason that we we think Josh is is probably the best quarterback in the league, if not in the top two or three. Would you agree with that? Sydney: Yeah, of course. TB: Who is the next guy? Who's the next best guy? Sydney: I mean at the moment I feel like there's there's so many people, but I I it's so hard to say. TB: Gimme give me a couple. Give me a throw a couple of names out that you think are are Sydney: I mean TB: top tier. Sydney: Lamar is hurt. Joe Joe Burrow. TB: Okay. Would you put Mahomes in that category? Sydney: Yeah, right now I would. Bryce Young has been playing really well. but I don't like TB: So so the question is this. The question is this. Take Josh Allen off this Bills team and put any one of those top tier QBs on this team. How many wins after five weeks does that quarterback have on this team? Everything else is the same. So we get the same injuries, the same play calling. Obviously the play calling is gonna be a little different because most Sydney: Mm-hmm. TB: of these guys don't scramble as much and can run like him. But All things being relative, you put another top-tier quarterback on this team. How many wins is he gonna get? How many wins is Patrick Mahomes gonna have on this team? I I don't know. How many is Joe Burrow gonna have? Because have we really built this team to be the best team possible for for him? I I thought at the beginning of the year that this team was the best squad in years in Josh Allen's career. And thus far, through five weeks, I am seriously questioning that. In fact, I don't think it's anywhere close because it's the same problems over and over and over again. Now these guys, you take DJ Moore out of the equation. He's not on the field. Everyone has to elevate to that next slot. And no one could do anything. And Josh is scrambling around like a maniac, playing superhero ball again and again and again. So had he not rushed for 120 yards, we would have lost. Because I looked at the score and I'm like, we scored 37 points? How? How do we score 37 points? If you break down the the wide receivers, Dalton Kincaid, how many touchdowns or how many catches did Dalton Kincaid have in this game? Do you remember? One catch. Sydney: One, two, I think one, yeah. TB: One. How many catches did Keon have? Now it was for a tutty. I'll I'll give him that. Sydney: One. TB: One catch. And I'm like, what the hell is going on? Where is everybody? Who who is scoring the points on this team? And so I look back and I'm like, 37 points. How did that even happen? So, you know, I asked you, is this a lucky, a lucky escape, a statement win, or both? Lucky escape. my gosh. I have Sydney: Yeah. TB: no idea where these points came from. James Cook ran great. Josh Allen ran great. You take those things away? I don't know. I don't know. It's I'm struggling with this team right now. I gotta be honest. I I think we are so lucky to be at four and one. And we talked about it, I think we did a first five week breakdown a month or so ago and we're like, well, where do we want to be at the after five weeks? And we were all, the three of us were like, well, we'll take four and one. So we're sitting at four and one. Sydney: Here we are. TB: How do you feel sitting at four and one right now? Sydney: I don't feel good. I mean, if I I think if you were to ask me, and I know we talked about it, you know, would you feel confident with these five teams ahead of you? And we play Vegas next week. Am I confident going into Vegas? No. I know they got crushed last week by the Patriots, but prior to that, they played fine. I mean, I'm not confident going into Vegas. We always play down. So that's a worry as well. We also played played the Chargers and we we barely pulled out a win. And they're TB: Yeah. Sydney: might be the worst team in the NFL right now, which is did TB: Crazy. Sydney: not see that coming at all. But they literally might be the worst team in the NFL currently. And we barely, barely won. So I TB: Yeah. Sydney: don't feel confident at all. TB: Yeah, it's tough. It's tough coming out of that. And look, a win is a win. I will take it. It was exhausting. It was I don't even know if that was a fun game. Like I I I Sydney: No, it wasn't a fun game at all. That was the worst game we've had so far. TB: I don't know. look, I will say this. I think rushing wise, the offensive line is ridiculous. And I think we can we are one of the best running teams in the league. Bar none, hands down. Not even not even a question. But now we have this James Cook fumbling issue to to factor into this whole thing. And he can't seem to to hold on to the ball because he's already up to four fumbles for the whole year. and the overtime turnover nearly cost us the the dub. So, I mean, I don't know. I don't know how to objectively look at this game. Khalil Shakir, he was having kind of a slow night until the last catch. And he rattled up what was that 40, 35, 40 yard run after catch? Great run. Great Sydney: It was a great run. Yeah. TB: run. And it, I mean, the guy literally clips his cleat. So Sydney: Mm-hmm. TB: But prior to that, he was barely noticeable. He finished with 50 I don't know. I I can't remember, but that was like a 50 yard catch. He didn't have too many yards Sydney: Mm-hmm. TB: to go on top of that. But anyway, like where's Kincaid? I don't know. It's it's it's maddening to me, but but let's that's not even the biggest concern because the biggest concern is this freaking defense. And I'm trying to be patient. Because we talked about this too. I said, give it eight weeks, because right around eight weeks, obviously next week is week six. That's Vegas. And then we have the bye. So coming out of the bye, we have the Ravens. And I I felt like week eight would be a good, fair time to judge this defense with Jim Leonard coming in, taking over as the new DC, implementing a bunch of new changes. But holy cow, do I think we can get this right in two weeks? No way in hell. I mean, Stafford threw the ball 54 times on this defense. 40 for 54. He threw for almost 400 yards and three touchdowns. Do you want to talk about Puka Nakua? I'll I'll leave you to talk about him. Sydney: I mean, the entire time they were taking huge amounts of time off the clock. I'm like looking at my watch, I'm like, are we even gonna get the ball back? I mean, the amount of time that they were taking was insane. And the entire time they're absolutely dogging our defense. Dogging TB: Yeah. Sydney: them. Every time he could have thrown Nakua the ball 16 times and he was gonna be open 15 out of 16 times. Like, how are you not guarding Nakua? I'm like, what TB: He Sydney: what are we doing? TB: he could have thrown it to him 15 straight times in overtime alone and just marched into the end zone because he had 24 targets in this game. He caught 17 of 24 targets for 138 yards. I'm like, this this guy is is either the best player to ever walk on a field, or we are so unprepared to guard him. I'm just like, what is going on? I Players are so far off the line. They're trying to pass players on and off to during the play, and they're just out of position. I'm watching guys literally run around like a chicken with their head cut off, not knowing what they're doing. It was absolutely insane. And we'll talk about the overall coaching of this game, but I thought I thought Sean McVay coached probably his worst game ever. He should have just Sydney: Yeah. TB: thrown the ball to Nakua the entire game, and this wouldn't have even been close. And then they got Sydney: Yeah. TB: cute in overtime. Why did he kick the field goal? He didn't need to kick the field goal. Just march down the field, Sydney: I don't know. I no idea. TB: keep throwing it to the guy that's uncoverable the entire game, and you win. Instead, he puts the the game in the hands of a I don't know, fringe kicker at best, and it's blocked, and we know the rest. But McVay is supposed to be one of the best, smartest head coaches. in football. I thought he coached terribly in this game. And Joe Brady, I'm not letting him off the hook. I thought he made terrible coaching decisions. So I I don't know. I don't know. But the defense outside of Greg Rousseau and Deion Walker? Like, who else is playing well? Some of the rookies, some of the rookies Sydney: Not a single person. TB: are on the on the defensive line have have rotated in and filled in well. And I think we are actually very sound against all these top rushing attacks. But I would never run the ball against this Bills team. Just throw it all over the field. I would, I would not run the ball a single time. Like, what's the point? Sydney: No. TB: No one could cover anybody. It was so discouraging and depressing. I've never seen the defense this bad in quite some time. So I don't know. I don't even know what you want to talk about with this. It's so frustrating. Sydney: Talking about the coaching, what happened with that 40 seconds that we just poof, it was gone. Like w what are we TB: Which part are you talking about? Sydney: doing the commander's game all over again? Like what the play where it was 40 seconds on the clock or or at least a minute on the clock and we wasted 40 seconds and didn't even run a play. And everyone's in the huddle just looking confused at each other, didn't know what was happening. TB: I don't know. It was one of the Sydney: Mike. TB: strangest weekends of football as far as coaching decisions. I I don't know. I don't know. It's like they watch the commanders and they're like, yeah, well, let's see if we can be even worse than Dan Quinn and and that fiasco. But I don't I don't know. I don't know what these guys are doing. And I'm starting to worry that Joe Brady might be in a little over his head. I don't know. Some of the comments don't sit right with me in his postgame press conferences and and all that stuff. I I want to give Jim Leonard a chance, but at the same time, I mean, we've gone from bad to worse. Like how have we reached this point? So look, I know we have injuries, but I I really don't even want to lean into the injury excuse because look what happened. We played New England last week. New England was missing multiple key players, and they severely outcoached us and outclassed us in that game. So I don't ever want to use the injury excuse unless like your entire 53 is made up of practice squad guys you've never heard of. Like that's different, but the core of the team is still there. I Sydney: Yeah. TB: it it's not it's not an excuse to use, well, Ed Oliver was hurt and blah, blah, blah, blah. And some of these guys didn't have the preseason. We're on week five at this point and they look just as terrible as they did against against the Texans. So I I don't know. Sydney: Yeah, and I'm kinda tired of the the trash talk from some of these players when you're awful. I didn't know how to feel about CJ Garner Johnson and I know, you know, he's kinda like known for that, but Dare I say he does not fit in with this team. We don't have any players that really do that. And then here TB: Yeah. Sydney: we go, we have CJ Gonner Johnson getting a 15-yard penalty. That was major. And then you have Bradley Chubb after the game gets punched in the face. I'm like, you guys literally did nothing during the game. You made us worse. And you guys are out here running your mouths. Like the thing he he said earlier in the season about. CJ Stroud didn't love that. Didn't sit right with me. And he does it after every game. He did it against the Patriots. TB: Yeah. Sydney: You're just bringing us negative karma. Like that TB: Yeah. Sydney: that doesn't fit in with our culture. I don't love that. You know, the last player we had that ran his mouth was Diggs. We got rid of him for a reason. He didn't. He just didn't fit the fit the culture. And here we are. Like, why are we doing that? We barely scrape by on a win. And you're running your mouth in the huddle with the other team and you're getting punched in the face. Like, okay. TB: Yeah, and even with Diggs, like it was never like this. He was never taking shots at at other at the opposition. Sydney: No, never. No. No. TB: He was never creating this bulletin board material. And that's the thing that I don't like, that I never want to welcome. Because look, he's not backed any of this up on the field. If he was a lockdown corner or a safety or whatever, I could see a pa a possible window to you being this boisterous and and and running your mouth that much. But The product that you were putting on the field on the defensive side of the ball for this Buffalo Bills team has been terrible. So your mouth then needs to reflect that. You need to be quiet and just stop talking because all this extra stuff is not necessary and it's not welcome. Sydney: Yeah. TB: And it it it it makes no sense to me. So it it's so frustrating. I I don't know. Thank God for Gregory Rousseau. He's having a heck of a year. And it's exciting to see him kind of come out of his shell and and be a little more like aggressive and just get after it. And I love what Deion Walker's doing. And some of these younger guys, like I said, on the defensive line, I think are are stepping up and doing well. But the linebackers and the secondary, yeah. Full, full eyes on you all. I don't know what what to make. I said last week I think Terrell Bernard's hurt. I don't think he is. Playing well at all. I think he looks lost. Dorian Williams, I don't know what's going on with him. It's only a matter of time before some of these guys are gonna get replaced. Cole Bishop, I thought was gonna step up. He's been terrible. Maxwell Harrison, I think you thought he was gonna be the defensive standout for the year. He's been terrible. Christian Benford can't stay on the field, and he's not been playing well when he is on the field. So it it's just a freaking mess. I don't know. I don't know what to do. I don't know. But there is one section of this team I think we should highlight, and that is the special teams aspect because hats off to them. They have been actually Sydney: Wow, who would have thought? TB: very good this season. Greg Dorch, newly acquired Greg Dorch, is the kick returner. Ray Davis has been great. Sydney: Yeah. TB: and look, everyone's favorite kicker, T Bass, Tyler Bass. Yeah, I'll I'll I'll get on him for missing an extra point here and there. But look, he nailed a 49 yarder to win this game, and he walked off like he was trash talking like CJ Gardner Johnson. And I'm like, there you go, T Bass. So look, I Sydney: He needed that. He needed that. TB: he need it. He made three field goals. yeah. I look, I'll give him a little grace for the mixed extra point, but it seems like a lot of these kickers are doing that now and again. Yeah. Sydney: Yeah, you gotta take what you can get at these p with these kickers. TB: But Sydney: I I don't know what's going TB: a 49 yarder and the and the game winner 45 yard I'll take it. So Sydney: Yeah. TB: I don't know. Hats off to the to the special teams unit, I guess. They're they're leading the charge here. So I think that Sydney: Wow. TB: they have consistently been playing the best of all three of the the Buffalo Bills units. So and I Sydney: Which is sad, by the way. TB: it's sad, but I like the fact that T Bass is building confidence early in the season. He's making Sydney: Yeah, yeah. TB: meaningful kicks. And obviously, this is going to help keep that momentum going, keep that confidence level growing. I think that that's huge. So, hey, if if that's what it takes, cause cause we are absolutely going to need him come playoff time. So Sydney: Yeah. I think he's definitely the type of player that needs that once in a while. You you can see when he kinda gets down on his confidence. TB: Yeah. Yeah, agree. So it's nice to see him jump up and down and run off the field after making a a a game winning kick. what else do we want to talk about in this game? Sydney: I mean, this was honestly like after we won, honestly, I I didn't really feel joy. Like I just felt I still felt depressed because knowing that we're going into next week and we still look like crap. Like I said, I mean Vegas is not bad. Kurt sa take takeaway last week. I I'm serious, takeaway last TB: Well, they got rolled by the Pats, so yeah. Yeah. Sydney: week, Kirk Cousins is low key balling. But he does this. TB: Takeaway last week, sure. Right. Sydney: He'll he'll be really he'll be really good at the start of the season and then he'll be awful. So maybe TB: Yeah. Sydney: he he could very well be awful. I don't know, but I I'm a little nervous. TB: Yeah, I I agree. I agree. But let's zoom the camera out a little bit. Let's let's pull back from week five and then let's let's kind of look at what do we know to be true with this team? Obviously Josh Allen can put still put the Superman cape on. We saw that with his rushing ability. I mean he single handedly rushed his way to the victory on Monday night. obviously there's stuff to clean up. Obviously I don't like the interceptions. it seems like he's chucking it way downfield and he's under throwing it and they're easy pickles for the other team. But let's let's look at the rest of the AFC specifically. What do we know to be true so far after five weeks? Who who who do you like? Who who surprised you? Who's right there at the at the top that you're like, man, this could be a problem. Sydney: I'm gonna go back to a couple weeks ago when we did our rankings. And I'm gonna tip the cap to myself. Because look at Jacksonville. Did anyone want to get behind me on that? Nope, not a single, not a single soul did. Here we are. That win in London or wherever the heck they were on Sunday was fire. I hate the Eagles. I was jumping up and down. Like that's what I want to feel when we win a game. That was fire. I don't know if you saw it. I don't think you I don't think you saw it, but TB: Well, you want to know what happened. I saw the Eagles kick the the field goal with what eight seconds left? And I turned the channel because the one o'clock games were starting. I'm like, well, the freaking T Law blew it again. So here we go. The Eagles survive in advance. And yep. And then next thing I know, I'm getting a text from either you or your brother. and I'm like, What? What did I miss? And I what the The next kickoff was run back the whole way. Or not the whole way, but but far enough to Sydney: De TB: to have Cam Little hit a eight bajillion yard field goal. Sydney: So me and Mike, it didn't really count because it was preseason, but me and Mike were in Jacksonville for the preseason game against the Steelers and Cam Little hit the longest field goal of all time. Seventy two yards. And obviously it's preseason, so it doesn't really count. But TB: Yeah. Yeah. Sydney: they might have the best kicker in the NFL. TB: Yeah, you're probably right. Dangerously good from long distance too. So yeah, I think I think they're sitting pretty. Sydney: Yeah. Mm-hmm. And him running into the end zone. Him running into the end zone and doing the the Jude Bellingham celebration. Elite. That was insane. TB: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they're playing well. They're four and one. they have the AFC's best point differential at plus fifty-three. So I think they're a legit, good, positive, early story. Can T Law hold on for the duration? We shall see. I wanna see it before I will believe it. So yeah, you're you're not wrong. who else we like? You want to talk Kansas City? They were on your your list as well. Sydney: Yeah, I mean that that was the next team on my list. I don't like it, but I mean they're still undefeated, so it's kinda hard to deny that. TB: Yeah. Sydney: I don't think we wanted to go into this season with another Kansas City, you know, in the back of our minds, but I think that's gonna be the reality of this this season. TB: Yeah, they're sitting four and They obviously had the early buy. So week five bye, that's crazy early. But yeah, I mean Sydney: Yeah. TB: they're four and they're looking much better. It doesn't seem like there's any issue with Mahomes knee. He's getting around pretty good. I'm still not totally sold on this offense and their weapons. I think their wide receivers aren't very good. and I I think they could be exposed as the season goes on, but But that's that's yet to be seen. So Baltimore looking okay. They they won last week on the backs of on the with with Tyler Huntley as a quarterback. Sydney: Yeah. TB: Lamar got hurt, he's got an ankle thing. It seems like we're dealing with this, some injury with him every year. But no one could stop Derrick Henry. And as long as Huntley plays average, this team can beat anybody. So they're they're looking good. But let's flip it to the other side. The Chargers 0 and 5? Who picked this? I think I picked them to make the playoffs. I drafted half their team in my fantasy squad. I'm like in I don't know, twelfth place out of 14 teams. I got one win. This team's terrible. What's the hell is going on with Capri Pants down in in in Chargerland? Sydney: I don't know. This is seriously so confusing to me. I really don't understand it. I think the bottom line is like Justin Herbert's terrible. I don't know if it's his the coach. I don't know if it's Harbaugh. I don't know if it's him. At the beginning of the season, Harbaugh said that Justin Herbert was gonna be the best quarterback of all time. And here we are, he's not, he's clearly not. if he does not start winning, he's gonna be a backup. I I'm not even kidding, he's gonna be a backup. TB: At what point does Mike McDaniel get fired in the season if they don't win a game? Sydney: I think they will start their backup before they fire him. That's just my opinion. I I he is playing so bad. Every time I look at the TV, he's throwing a pick. It it's actually crazy. He has more picks than touchdowns this year. TB: Yeah, he's terrible. I agree. But the offensive line is a disaster. Their running backs are terrible. Hampton was supposed to be the next great young up-and-coming running back. He's trash. Like Ladd McConkey can't stay on the field. He's busted up. The whole the whole team is a disaster. It's a dumpster fire. So I don't know. At some point they're gonna have to make somebody a scapegoat. And the only person I could see taking that heat is Mike McDaniel. So I don't know. I don't I don't I don't know what you do. and then Houston. Houston is one and four. No one saw that coming either. We thought they were gonna be a playoff contender. Now there's still time, but one and four and and five for these two teams we thought were gonna be in the mix. Not good starts. Just Justin Sydney: No. TB: Fields. CJ Stroud looks not so good. Sydney: No, and I don't I don't see him getting a new contract. How would he? How TB: Not not with this. Yeah. Sydney: would he get a new contract? I mean, there's gotta be guys coming out of college that are gonna play better than that. Like there has to be. TB: And he turned down fifty million and he bet on himself. Well, you made a terrible decision, my friend, because you're playing like garbage. So I I don't know. I don't know. You wanna flip it to the NFC? Who who you like over over in the NFC side? Are you you think Minnesota's for real? 'Cause their offense stinks. they Sydney: No TB: just happen to have the best defense on the planet right now, but Sydney: No, I don't think they're legit. I I I think that they're gonna get exposed very quickly, but maybe I'm wrong. I I don't know if I have a lot of faith in Kyler Murray. I think he's a good TB: Yeah. Sydney: guy, but I mean maybe we'll see. It'd be a crazy successor. TB: How about Brock Purdy and the five and San Francisco forty niners? How do you like them? Sydney: They're yeah, that's scary. That's really, really scary. Mike Evans still playing at this level is is pretty scary. I mean they look they TB: And did you see Sydney: look legit. TB: did you see they just signed Brandon Cooks, former Bill, late season Bill signing Brandon Cooks Sydney: Yep. Yep. TB: to the squad? Sydney: And I believe he caught a touchdown. TB: He did. So your boy had to pick him up for the fantasy squad because Sydney: Mm. TB: my team is a freaking mess. So maybe Sydney: Mm. TB: Brandon Cooks could catch a few more balls than he did for Josh Allen. he had the drop seas at the end of last season, but but who knows? I mean, yeah, it'll be interesting. How how are you feeling about the old NFC East and good old JD5's return? What the hell was that? Sydney: They are they're a mess. The entire NFC East is a mess. A complete TB: Mm-hmm. Sydney: disaster. I don't think the Eagles are legit at all. I think Jalen Hurts is a fraud. obviously we know the situation with the Giants. They're they're dealing with Jameis. I don't think I don't think they should have won that game. Or I guess tied that game. I don't think that should have happened. That was a solely reliant on that. decision that whoever was whether it was Jaden, whether it was Dan Quinn, I don't know. I don't think they should have won that game. And the Cowboys, take back what I said a couple weeks ago. The Cowboys look like shit. Crap. It looked like crap. TB: I I had I had them going to the Super Bowl. Sydney: that whole division is just a mess, which is honestly, it's good and bad. I think it is so up in the air for any team to to grab. I don't know. TB: Yeah, I I don't know. I think the commanders are d are terrible. and they let the Giants back in that game. They're they really shouldn't have been in that game. The commanders should have destroyed them. And I don't know how that game ended the way it did. I I think I texted you that Dan Quinn is not long to coach that team. I think I think if they're serious and they want a a stabilizing force I I hate to say it, but I think coach McClappy, Sean McDermott would be a good fit for that team. I think he could kind of come in there and settle down all the nonsense and some of the whatever crap they got going on and and and really right the ship there, but who who knows? Sydney: Yeah, it's their biggest flaw right now is honestly they have terrible play calling. I don't I don't know if you've ever sat down and watched a game, but it is terrible. It's TB: I've watched a couple of their games. It's not good. Yeah. Sydney: their play calling is awful. They have one of the most underrated receivers in the entire league. Terry McLaurin is very good. And they never use him. I it really blows my mind. Like he is never utilized. It's TB: Yeah. Sydney: just crazy to me. And don't get me wrong. They have a ton of injuries. They dealt with this last year. They're still dealing with a ton of injuries. which doesn't help them at all because I don't think they really have other than Terry McLaurin, they don't have really could you name anyone on their offense? I mean, they're not that great. TB: Bill. Sydney: Bill, and he's terrible right now. Rashad White is doing way better than Bill. TB: Stefan Diggs. Sydney: He's hurt last week. It's hurt. Yeah. So. TB: he's hurt. Yeah. Shows what I know. I'm not paying attention clearly. Sydney: It's tough. It's really tough. But yeah, I honestly if I'm the manager I would be firing Dan Quinn. I like Dan Quinn, but he's he's way too soft of a coach. Softer than Sean McDermott. And Sean McDermott was soft. So TB: I don't know if he was soft. He was Sydney: I think he was. TB: Agree to disagree. I think I think just perception would would lead people to believe that he's soft. I don't know if the operation he ran behind the scenes would be considered soft. So that I I'll Sydney: Yeah, and you know, we never know. So TB: just say that. But so which of these early season success stories or disasters Do you think are real? Like w what are which of these stories are sustainable? Do you think the the teams that are on top can hold on and the teams that are in the bottom are absolutely terrible or do you think there's gonna be any any movement? Sydney: Yeah, I think I think they will they'll we'll have a couple surprises. I think that's just the nature of this. But the Chargers, I I don't see them making a comeback. I really don't. I I think if anything that Justin Herbert gets sat. I don't think he he just has no light in his face. Like he looks like he just lost all confidence. And I'm like, how can you you can't have confidence when you're playing like that? He is awful. And I don't TB: Yeah. Sydney: know what happened because he wasn't bad last year. So I don't know what happened. I don't know if it's the coaching. I don't know if something happened behind the scenes. I don't really know. But I I think that's gonna persist throughout the season. I think they might get a couple wins here and there, but I think they're just gonna continue to to be pretty bad. TB: Yeah. Sydney: I don't think I don't I don't see the Vikings, you know, continuing this. I don't know. The Bucs are also pretty bad. I mean they they gotta a nice little win from their backup, which is kind of cool. A little success story, TB: Yeah, it was a cool story. Sydney: but I don't think they're gonna be good. The Panthers look better than them. and Tet McMillan and Bryce Young, I know this wasn't last week, but the week before, that was fire. I mean, the points that they TB: Yeah. He's playing well. Sydney: the points they put up in fantasy, I mean, holy moly, that was crazy. TB: I mean, Bryce Young is now I think the poster boy for hey, don't give up on these young rookie QBs too soon because sometimes it just takes players a little longer, but he's playing really well. And maybe he's starting to to find it and he can be a good quarterback in this league for for a while. But sometimes it just takes longer than. I mean, we we Sydney: Yeah. TB: expect these these high draft picks to come in and light up the world in the first few weeks or the first year. And it took him a couple of years to find his footing and really establish himself. But I think he's playing he's playing real well. But yeah, I think that's definitely a feel good story of this season. Do you have any others Sydney: Yeah. TB: outside of some of these other ones? a a feel good story, whether it's a player or a team. Sydney: Man, I mean, I think what's happening in San Francisco is really cool to see because last year they got decimated by injuries. And it got to a point TB: Mm-hmm. Sydney: where, you know, they could their backups could play so well, but that you can only do so much. I mean, TB: Right. Sydney: they lost almost every single one of their key players and there was nothing that they could really do about that. and I I like Brock Purdy a lot. I think he's a really good dude. And just kinda one of those people that, you know, when they're doing well, it's it's kinda cool to see. so that's a good story. Am I scared? Yeah, for sure. but is it kind of cool to like see them do well and I think they have a lot of good players on their team that are just good people. so that's cool. I can't think of anything else at the moment, but do you have any? TB: that's a good question. I I think it is. Carolina, I think they're playing really well. Sydney: Mm. TB: It's it's cool to see. I try not to root too much for AFC teams because they're all in competition with Buffalo. So while I think Sydney: Yeah. TB: Jacksonville is playing well, and I think it's a good story so far, they're in clear competition for that one seed and the Bills. So I don't want to give them too many props, and I don't wish any of these teams well. So Sydney: Yeah, it's tough. TB: It it's it's easier for me to root for NFC teams knowing that we won't have to see until until a potential Super Bowl matchup, if if it gets that far. But Sydney: Mm-hmm. Yeah. TB: I mean, I I hope the Chiefs fall on their face. I hope the I hope all these really good AFC teams stumble. And that's clearly Sydney: Yeah. TB: not gonna happen. yeah, I I I don't know. what about the Bills? So we're at the five-week checkpoint. What do you think? must improve before we sit here five weeks from now and look after they've played ten games. What what absolutely must improve? Is it the defense? Sydney: I could I feel like that's a cop out saying that because we knew going into this year that our defense was gonna be shaky. I mean, honestly. And I feel like I kind of went into the season thinking that our offense was gonna be pretty solid. And now I don't really feel that way. So it's really hard to win games when, you know, your offense can't score points. But we did score points last year, the last game. So I mean, like you said, like it's kinda like where did the points come from? But I do think that we just need to utilize more of our offense. I feel like that's consistently the issue. Like I love TB: Yeah. Sydney: that we have Ty Johnson back. I think that he is such a good player and he's so good to get involved because he's really good. Like he's TB: Yeah. Sydney: he's a very underrated player that I feel like we don't really talk about at all on the offense. But he's a very strong runner and he's hard to bring down. So utilize him more. Utilize Ray Davis. He's still a great running back. I know we have James Cook and he's great and he's, you know, one of the best in the league. But I think we need to utilize these players a little bit more. Bring in Dalton Kincaid. You should never have we talked about him being top five tight end and he's getting TB: Yeah. Sydney: one catch. How how is that happening? TB: Yeah. Sydney: You know, Dawson Knox, it is what it is. Like, you know, we're not expecting the world from him, but When you get these players involved, it just makes your offense run so much better. I think Keon getting more involved has been awesome. Like he he's been playing really, really well. He still had yeah, he had one catch. That's that should never happen, ever. Like he I feel like he's getting more confidence back and he's starting to feel like himself. And I I just don't understand. We we utilize Shakir all the time and he's not our best player. Like we just have to get everyone on the same page. TB: I just think it's so hard. Sydney: So yeah the defense is what it is. TB: Yeah, it's so hard. And you could clearly see the difference that a healthy DJ Moore makes to this team because he takes the pressure off all these other guys and he changes the dynamic of this offense. The first two weeks with him in the lineup, being active, being all over the place, being that threat in multiple levels of the field, it really allowed for all these other guys to naturally fall into their Rightful slots in their better positions and not have to take up such pressure positions. And that's when you saw Kincaid thrive and you saw Keon Coleman and you're seeing Shakir in his natural position. and then he gets hurt, and it's just right back to last year. So it's just so frustrating because we we are one of the top scoring offenses in the entire league. And you look back and you're like, How the hell do we keep scoring 30 points? When things look so difficult sometimes, it just looks like it's so difficult. And look, it's tough because I watch a lot of these other games, non bills, and I'm watching some of these teams and they punt every other time, or they're punting three out of four possessions. That's not us. I think we had one punt in this game Monday. And our punter, even though he's a rookie, he's barely getting on the field, which is what you want. So we're scoring points, but sometimes it just looks too hard. And the the turnovers obviously don't help. So DJ Moore, we need you healthy. I if I were to bet, I think he's held out again this week. Give him this game, the last game, and the bye week, and he's ready to rock and roll for Baltimore. And my hope is that from that point in the season on, the offense just thrives. And we see more in line of what we put out there weeks one and two. So that's my hope. Sydney: Yeah. And I mean, TB: Mm-hmm. Sydney: it's no secret our defense is bad. Like that that just is what it is. But the offense is doing our defense no flavors. When you're not giving them any time on the bench and they're right back on the field, they're gonna be worse than they already are. I mean, our offense has to help. Yes, exactly. Our offense is not doing our defense any favors. TB: You mean like a th a quick three and out. A thr a quick three and out. Yeah. Sydney: They're already bad as it is. They that that can't happen. So TB: I mean, they're I just didn't expect them to be that bad because at some point you need them to be able to go out and make a stop. And they shouldn't be giving up 30 points a game. I used to think hey, if I score my team scores twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty points a game, I got a pretty good chance of winning. Now I'm not confident that that's even true. So most teams in this league can't consistently score twenty-eight to thirty points. It's just impossible. So the fact that we are able to score twenty-eight to thirty-five points a game. Is a is a blessing because if if we weren't, we would be and five. We would be the Chargers right now. I mean that offense can't do squat. It looks terrible. And we're leading the league and or up there in the league as far as points are scored. It just looks too Sydney: Yeah. TB: difficult and challenging sometimes. And it relies too much on Josh running around like a maniac and playing Superman and backyard football sort of sort of deal. So I don't know. I don't Sydney: Yeah. TB: know. Anyway. Anything else you wanna talk about with the league or with this Bills team after after five weeks? Cause you know, we still are four and one. And I'm very happy that we are four Sydney: Yeah. TB: and one because that was my goal heading. I think when we talked about it at the beginning, I'm just still mad that we lost the Patriots game. Sydney: No, me too. That that's it all it just had to be them. It had to be them. Like I we lost the Chargers. That's okay. It's not okay. But it's a little better. We lose to the Patriots? Come on. Come on. TB: Yeah. So frustrating. So frustrating. All right. Anything else you got on the the rest of the league or are you ready to to move on and go do a quick wrestling segment? Sydney: Yeah, I'm ready. TB: All right. Well, I I'm giving you the the the mic. 'cause it's time to talk some wrestling. So wrestling enthusiast, wrestling marks, you're out you're on the clock. How are we feeling after money in the bank? Sit take it away. Sydney: Yeah, so obviously I didn't watch this. I can't really remember the last time I've actually watched like wrestling other than the stuff that you send me. So TB: Don't don't tell the listeners, they might not like that. Sydney: I'm sorry, I'm so busy, guys. Ugh, I barely have time to do this. but so I know there was a big money in the bank event. Was this like a couple weeks ago? I'm pretty sure it was a couple weeks ago at this point. TB: It was Saturday. your brother your brother was in in town and this was in New Orleans. So he had just left Pensacola to flee. I'm actually kinda Sydney: Got it. Okay. Yes. TB: it was kinda crazy the timing of this. I was wondering whether they were even gonna Sydney: Yeah. TB: still have it with the hurricane coming through. Sydney: That's surprising. Wow. Okay, so I'm glad it happened. So obviously I didn't watch it, but could you give me your overall feelings about the show? Give it a grade if you don't mind. And kind of sum it up for me in one sentence. TB: one sentence. That's gonna be tough. I would say, how about one word? I will go with Sydney: Okay, one word, yeah. TB: well first my my score. So Mike and I were texting as we watched the whole show. And immediately after I gave it a 2.75 turnbuckles out of four. He he came he countered with a two point five. And having thought about it for five or six days, I I'm gonna lower my score and go 2.5 because I think the feeling and the word I'll use is underwhelming. I was so excited going into this show. I don't know if you listened to the last podcast, but I was so excited about the card and and the potential for these matches. And I just kind of was like, well, all right. Sydney: It's never a good feeling. TB: Was it bad? No, it wasn't bad. I just think there was a lot of sloppiness. Some of the matches weren't crisp and clean. There were a lot of botches and errors. and and we can talk about each match in particular. I don't know what questions you have for me, but yeah, I will just go underwhelming. Sydney: Okay, well you're not selling me so far, but TB: Yeah. Sydney: if you were to go back and watch a particular match from this pay per view, which one would it be and why? TB: let's see. I think the match I would rewatch would be Obafemi versus Bronson Reed. I was super excited about it. In fact, this came in as my number two most anticipated match of the night. The first match I was looking forward to the most was the women's triple threat championship match with Stephanie Vaker, who was the champion versus Becky Lynch versus Liv Morgan. That, yeah. It I didn't think it lived up to expectations, but my second favorite match that I was looking forward to was Bronson Reed versus Obafemi. I love seeing two larger than life characters just duke it out, two big behemoths square up, and we got all of that and more in this match. It was only 10 minutes roughly, but I thought it was exciting. It put both guys in a favorable light. The ending you could argue whether it made Bronson Reed look weak. Possibly. there was shenanigans as always with the vision and brass knuckles and he hit Oba Femi with a pair of brass knuckles and he even kicked out of that. So but still, it was a fun match. I thought it was well done. These are two of my favorite guys to watch. So I would say that that was the one I was I was most happy with. Sydney: Okay. And I did see a clip from this. TB: Okay. Sydney: not not this match specifically, but I did see in one of the women's matches that someone took a pretty bad fall. Is that do you recall that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. TB: the ladder match. The women's ladder match. And this was this was insane. So I was super excited about this because there were a lot of young up and comers that I was really looking forward to. So a lot of these women were new to the roster. They've been called up within the last six, six months, a year. and I was super excited for the potential of this match within the first four minutes of this match. Tiffany Stratton climbs the ladder and she's about to do a dive off the top of a ginormous ladder onto a group of women standing on the mat outside the ring. They didn't catch her. And she literally falls on the back of her head. And I'm like, my gosh. And Mike texts me instantly. She's like, and he says, I think Tiffany has CTE. And while it's funny in the moment, it's not funny. While the joke was funny, it's not funny because this was a terrible spill. And I'm just like, my God, they didn't even catch her. So this is always my fear. Sydney: Yeah. It looked bad. TB: It was terrible. This was always my fear when you have these matches. And I was worried because of the lack of experience, the like in in the this this group of women as a as a whole. When when your most experienced wrestler is Tiffany Stratton, and she's been on the roster a very short time, it maybe. It's not the best idea, but who am I? I'm not a promoter. I don't train these people. but yeah, that was just that was a scary spot. And there was another spot later in the match where the these two women landed on the the ladder, which was set up kind of parallel to the ring, and then the ladder like fell out of the ring. So they kind of slid out of the ring with it and took a nasty spill. And it was just it was crazy. It was Kind of I don't wanna say it was a total mess, but there were some spots in this match that it was just not it didn't flow. There wasn't a lot of continuity to some of this stuff. So yeah, underwhelming. Sydney: Mm. Okay. So you said that Stratton did end up winning the Money in the Bank title. TB: Which was crazy to me because she gets hurt in the first few minutes and then she wins. Sydney: Yeah. TB: I was wondering if she was even going to be able to continue. So they would have had to call Sydney: Right. That TB: an audible on the fly. Yes. She hangs on, she wins, Sydney: Mm-hmm. That was my next thought. That's crazy. Well TB: and then everyone's like, Really? Usually I don't care too much about winners and losers. For me, it's more about did the match work? Did they tell a good story? And then where do we go from here? This match ends Sydney: Mm-hmm. TB: with her grabbing the briefcase, standing on top of the ladder. And I'm like, what is the point of this? Because she's already done this. We just did this story recently when she won it two years ago, I think, and then held it for a while and cast it in on Nya Jax. And now it appears that this is going to be the same story. but just under with with different characters involved. So I don't know. I was I was kind of disappointed by by the the winner by the outcome of that. Sydney: Okay, so she was the women's winner. Who was the men's winner? TB: So the men's winner, surprisingly, was Penta. Now this match was I this match was this match was okay. At some point I'm actually I was actually watching this going, did they forget that this was an actual ladder match and that the point is to set up the ladder, climb climb it, and grab the briefcase which is suspended over the ring. I felt like a lot of this took place outside the ring and there was too much nonsense going on around the ring instead of in the ring. And then they wasted probably f a five to eight minute section of this match. For pure shenanigan nonsense. So one of your main youngest competitors in the entire WWE, Javon Evans, he's this high flyer guy. He's he's really good. He's ritter you know, he's very bouncy, as he says. Ya boy is bouncy, and he does all these high flying stuff. And everyone was I was super excited to see him in this match. Well, he gets taken out by Braunbreaker, just just annihilated. So they put him on a stretcher. And they end up taking him in the back and they load him in the ambulance and they're like taking him to the hospital. Well, five minutes later, the ambulance drives into the arena and comes all the way down and parks literally a foot from the ring. So you have your ring, and right next to it is the ambulance. And he comes out of the ambulance and he gets back in the match. Well, everyone's like, Why the hell is an ambulance now sitting next to the ring? This whole nonsense. Was to set up one spot in which they set up this ginormous ladder in the middle of the ring. It was probably a 20-foot ladder. I mean, the top of the ladder is literally brushing the briefcase. So Sydney: Mm-hmm. TB: it's crazy how high it is. Anyway, Javon climbs this ladder, and then here comes Braun Breaker again. He pushes the ladder. Javon flies off the ladder, over the ropes, through the top of this ambulance. So he crashes, and you could tell once you looked at it 16 times that the the the the roof to this ambulance obviously had been gimmicked or staged so Sydney: Yeah. TB: he would fall through it because we're like, Well, this is the cheapest ambulance you've ever seen. No one would fall through the the roof of this thing, and he comes crashing Sydney: Yeah. TB: through and it's this huge spot. But they took so much time setting it up, it I felt like it distracted from what. the other five wrestlers were doing in the match. So it was just, it was kind of weird. But anyway, getting back to it, Penta ends up winning. Now he's probably one of the most popular wrestlers in the whole company right now. sells probably more merch than almost anyone. we talked about it a couple weeks back. His match with Roman Reigns in Mexico City was fire. and Sydney: Yeah. TB: so it makes sense that he w wins the briefcase and and has a chance to to cash it in again on him. Who knows? I d I don't know where they go from here. Sydney: So I think it's safe to say that maybe you're not happy with those winners on both sides. You don't you don't seem to be like very I guess enthused by that. TB: women definitely not. I wanted Roxanne Perez to win. I thought that would have been a good story. The men's side, I kind of really didn't know which way they were gonna go with this. And I'm fine with Pencil winning. I think it could be a good story and and we'll see. Sydney: Mm. TB: He's already decorated the briefcase with his cool mask and stuff. So I think that's that's always a cool thing. I like when they put their own unique individual spin on it. That's pretty neat to see. But yeah, I mean, if he can use this and cash it in on Roman, which I'll believe it when I see it. if not, who knows? I I don't know what's gonna happen, but but yeah, I'm fine with Penta. Sydney: Okay. So taking what you just said, I think I know what you're gonna say, but out of those two winners, who do you think left feeling I guess more on top of the world, like more of a superstar character? Like, do you think that, you know, I guess first we'll have your opinion, but do you also think that the audience would feel the same with your answer? TB: they were definitely happy to see Penta win. He's like I said, he's a Sydney: Mm. TB: huge fan favorite. The kids love him. He's like this generation's Rey Mysterio. So, you know, Sydney: Yeah. Got it, okay. TB: it it's it's very similar. And yeah, I think that the crowd was definitely happy to see him win. Maybe a little surprised, but happy none nonetheless. Sydney: Mm-hmm. TB: but the Tiffany Stratton win, I think people were like, What? What? Why why is this happening? Yeah, Sydney: Yeah, just confused. TB: very, very confused, very confused. Sydney: Okay. Tell me a little bit about the Roman Reigns and La Night match, as you like to say. TB: I mean, I think this was a fine match. I think it was solid. I don't want to say this was a bad match. In fact, I was worried heading into the show that this was going to be the worst match on the card because I didn't know if they were capable of putting on a good match. I think the match was fine. my problem is he lost again. So every time La Knight climbs the mountain, he never can can get to the top. He's always knocked back down. So I Mike and I talked about it. And I asked the question last week. I said, if he loses, is this it? Is he gonna get another chance? And I really don't know if he is ever gonna get another chance. Just because how how many times can you keep getting opportunities? And so I don't know where he goes from here. I really don't. So I would have loved to see Sydney: Okay. TB: him win. it would have been shocked. I would have been shocked. But now that he lost, I'm kind of looking at it like, well, that sucks. It sucks for him because I don't know if he's gonna get another opportunity. And that that kinda that's kinda sad. Sydney: So do you think they use this match as kind of a way to push Roman forward? TB: I don't know how much more forward you can push him. He's already the king of the castle in every way, shape, or form. Sydney: Yeah. TB: And I don't know how much higher he can get. So I've talked about him elevating his competition, and I do think he's done that. But at some point You have to take advantage when other guys are hot. And you have to see Sydney: Yeah. TB: what they're capable of. And I think LA Knight was as hot as he's been since he hit the scene. So it's one of those things, strike while the iron's hot, right? And if you don't, then that iron's gonna cool the hell off. And that's what I'm concerned with. And when he drops down another couple of rungs, is anyone gonna continue to care? That's my that's my main concern. Sydney: That's sad. 'Cause I know obviously Roman's been so big in the company f I mean for at least ten years maybe at this point. I mean he's been around for a long time, so and he's been continuously at the at the forefront of everything, so that's interesting. TB: And this bloodline reign, I mean it's it's up there with, you know, tops all time with his success. I mean, the last four or five years, Sydney: Yeah. TB: this character development and and leading the bloodline, being the you know, the put your ones up, you know, Roman Reigns. I mean, that version of him Sydney: Mm. TB: clearly like is ridiculous off the charts. Sydney: Yeah. That's crazy that he's still TB: Yeah. Sydney: around and and it's at a high level as he is. But I know you said you talked a little bit about the Liv Morgan match and she did win the women's world championship. So what do you think that means, her winning that means for the division? TB: Yeah. And that's why I wanted to see Roxanne Perez have the brief briefcase because with them being both in the same judgment day faction, I think the story for them to tell would have been awesome with Liv being the champion if they were going to put the belt on her and Roxanne having the briefcase in the same stable. I think that would have been great. And seeing the dissension there and the worry from Liv and telling that story of her constantly being in fear that Roxanne would cash it in on her. and turn on her, I think that would have been a great story. Can they still get there? Yeah, but they they passed up that opportunity. So I don't know. And and now I feel like they're they're hot shotting the title with Liv. It's on, it's off, it's on, it's off. I don't know. She's great. Don't get me wrong. She's Sydney: Yeah. TB: great. I'm a Becky Lynch fan. I would've loved to see Becky Lynch win. But maybe we go and it's Becky Lynch one on one verse versus live now. Who knows? I don't know where they go from here. It'll it'll definitely be interesting. Sydney: Yeah. So did anything happen within this pay per view as a whole that changes the WWE going forward? I mean, you don't seem to be very happy with this whole thing. TB: Well what they've done now with these pay per views is they've condensed them and they've made them short. So while there were five matches on Saturday, there's still all these other storylines that are continuing to go on that didn't really have a didn't participate in the show on Saturday. So kind of like two parallel lines. So you still have, you know, the Usos and the bloodline going against the new rival faction that's led by Royce Keys and company. that story still taking place. obviously didn't really have any place on the card on Saturday. But yeah, I mean just to keep going back to the LA Knight thing, him getting knocked down and and not winning, I I don't know what they do with it. So I'm interested to see there. And then with Penta winning the briefcase, is he gonna cash in on Roman? Is he gonna go to what is it? Smackdown and and go after Sammy Zane, but Sami Zayn has all this competition over there between Kevin Owens and Randy Orton and Sam Punk. So it would kind of make that even more crowded than it already is. I it's it's one of these weird times where I have no idea where they're going. Sometimes that's good and I like it not knowing. Other times it just becomes like, what the hell is going on? So that's kind of where I stand. Yeah. But they have this. Sydney: Interesting. So do you think that sorry, go ahead. TB: No, they have this Crown Jewel pay-per-view coming up in a few short weeks, which is always like champion versus champion. I'm not really sure how it's usually kind of like a throwaway show, if I'm being honest. And not really much storyline progresses during this thing. But the next I think major pay-per-view is gonna be Survivor series. That's usually in November. And that's usually a big like five on five thing. And I think that's where this USA O bloodline storyline versus Royce Keys and his group, the nine four six or nine four seven or whatever the hell they're called are really gonna go at it inside the cage. and we'll see some some other some of these other stories play out. But what what was your question? I'm sorry. Sydney: Yeah, I was gonna say just as a whole, do you think that they might be a little stale creatively? Like do you think they're stuck right now, maybe not sure like where they're gonna go? Do you think that where they've been currently with the the storylines is good? Like what are your thoughts on, you know, everything kind of playing out together? TB: Yeah, I mean, I think there's good parts. I think there's good pieces. And obviously I'm not the booker, right? So I I I don't know everything. And some some of the time, most of the time I get my predictions completely wrong. does it get stale? Yeah, there's been times where I just sit there and fast forward through the whole show and wait for the results of the matches and just to hear the promos and to see where we're going. And this is exactly the same as last week with a slight twist. And it's just like, come on, let's let's let's inject some new life into this thing. Let's let's play Sydney: Yeah. TB: this story out. Like, where are we going? Like there's a lot of side quests going on right now, if that makes sense Sydney: Yeah. TB: to you. So a lot of a lot of I think another issue is the roster is very big and it's split in half with SmackDown and Raw. And there's only so much T V time. So there's only so many stories you could tell in a two, two and a half hour block, and not everybody gets on every week and and that's okay. but you gotta make the most of it. And I I don't wanna see the same story over and over each and every week 'cause that causes me to tune out. So Sydney: Yeah. Is there any storylines at the moment that you're excited about? You're excited to see them play out. You're excited to see them, you know, kind of acted out in the next few weeks? TB: Yeah, I want to see where Oba Femi goes next. Obviously, he's got his sights on Roman Reigns at some point. I just don't know when they pull the trigger. Is that gonna be WrestleMania next year? he won the King of the Ring tournament a while back, so that he's guaranteed a title shot against the champion at any time. And I don't know how long they hold off on that because that is the money match. That's the marquee match, Roman versus Oba Femi. It's only a matter of time. And so they've set up these smaller storylines to kind of occupy his time. So he started with Braun Breaker and then obviously on Saturday he fought Oba Femi. And I love the storylines there with Paul Heyman lurking in the background and what he he's doing and how he's adding life into that storyline. The SmackDown Sami Zayn thing, it's it's a mess. There's just so many people involved. I just don't know where they go. It's just like there's like six, seven people involved in this. So I I don't I don't know. it's interesting, but at the same time, if if you're always like I don't even know who's legit in this thing, it it's tough to take it seriously. Sydney: Yeah, that's tough. Okay, so all that being said, I think I know what you're gonna say, but TB: Right. Sydney: did I miss a good show or am I good to just skip? TB: I I think you could catch the highlights and walk away thinking you're you're good. You're good. It's it's disappointing because I was so looking forward to this show. So looking forward Sydney: Yeah. Yeah. TB: to this show. But it is what it is. So I get it. I think they've done a really good job with their shows this year. I've usually left every one of them being very happy. And I think part of the problem was it's like it's like expectations going into a Bills game. You think they should throttle a team Sydney: Yeah. TB: and then when they barely squeak out. a a dub, you're like, well that was too stressful. And so my expectations Sydney: Yeah. TB: for this show Saturday were were through the roof. And maybe I shouldn't have set them so high. But sometimes it it doesn't it doesn't come to fruition and and that's okay. That's okay. That's life. Sydney: Yeah, that's life. We move on and just hope for the best. TB: That's right. But I think that's a good breakdown. I thought we were gonna keep this short. We did not, because I told you we were gonna skip the top loading portion of the program and we're still at an hour and twenty minutes. But hey, that's okay. We got to catch up on a lot of football and and a recap of money in the bank. So you got anything else you wanna talk about before we put a a bow on this bad boy? Sydney: I don't think so. More to come. TB: Hey, let's let's see if we could get in some sort of rhythm with this thing now. Some of hopefully some of these big life events are kind of behind us and we can settle in and and get rolling here. So yeah, I almost said Oakland, LA. geez, what's wrong with me? Las Vegas Sydney: Yeah. TB: Raiders, Sunday, four o'clock. Give me a quick a quick prediction score. Sydney: I think we win. I wanna keep this high scoring on our end, not so much their end. I'm gonna say let's twenty-eight to six. TB: Okay. I'm going thirty-two seventeen. I think we win pretty handedly. and we go into the bye riding high at five and one. So yeah. Yeah. But we shall see. Sydney: I love it. Hopefully. Don't wanna go out on a loss. TB: You wanna you wanna close this out? Sydney: Yeah. Well thank you. TB: Ha ha ha. Sydney: Well, thank you guys for for listening and I know it's been a little all over the place, but happy to be to be back and hoping that we can keep this going the next couple of weeks and hopefully come back with a win before the buy happens. but yeah, super excited for for what's to come. Obviously I think we're a little focused on the the downside of things right now but there is a lot of good to come in the future and I'm excited for for us to talk about all these dubs that we're gonna get. so thank you so much for for tuning in and we will catch you later. Go Bills. You TB: Go Bills. We will see you later. Sydney: later