Latest / Sports History Network / We Predict Key Upsets: Chargers, Jets, and Commanders

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We Predict Key Upsets: Chargers, Jets, and Commanders · Sports History Network

• 0:47
  Hello my football friends.
• 0:47
  This is Darren Hayes of pigskindispatch.com welcome once again to the Pig Pen, your portal to positive football history.
• 0:52
  And welcome to our week five of the NFL 2026 prediction show.
• 0:58
  Joining me today, as we does every week, we have Ed Cleese.
• 1:01
  Ed, welcome back to the Pig Pen.
• 1:03
  Hello Darren.
• 1:03
  How are you?
• 1:04
  Ed?
• 1:05
  I am doing great and I am ready for some week five football because I think we have some games that are kind of interesting, maybe others that don't look so interesting, but they might just turn out to be.
• 1:15
  That's, that's the way the NFL works, man.
• 1:17
  I mean we're seeing it week after week.
• 1:19
  It is hard to predict.
• 1:21
  It almost gets cliche saying that.
• 1:24
  But before we talk about this week, I really need us to talk about our records because I really want to talk about that right now.
• 1:30
  I'm sure you do.
• 1:32
  As you know, we're doing two ways this year.
• 1:34
  We're doing straight up and against the spread and straight up we're both doing okay.
• 1:39
  I have a one game lead on you right now.
• 1:42
  I'm 10 games over 500.
• 1:43
  You're eight games over 500.
• 1:44
  I got 37 wins, you got 36.
• 1:46
  So we're really close there.
• 1:47
  But where we're not close right now.
• 1:49
  Darren, I had a big week against the spread last week and the most fun way to track this I think is if you had a.
• 1:55
  If you bet $100 on each of the picks we're making every week and you include the big or the, the cut for the house on the losses, where would we be?
• 2:05
  So if you would bet my picks up to this point in the season, you $100 a game, you would have made $530 so far.
• 2:14
  And Darren, if they listen to you, they would have lost 940 so far.
• 2:20
  So I've got quite the lead on you there.
• 2:23
  Yeah, I guess so.
• 2:24
  That's like $1,400 difference there, isn't it?
• 2:27
  Pushing a mortgage payment Here, Darren, for you here, let's go.
• 2:30
  It's more than my mortgage payment, I can tell you that.
• 2:33
  It's time to.
• 2:34
  It's time to turn it around.
• 2:35
  It's to time.
• 2:36
  Time for you to turn it around.
• 2:37
  So maybe, maybe this is your week.
• 2:39
  Okay, let's, let's hope so.
• 2:40
  It's got to change.
• 2:41
  I can't go get any worse, let's say that.
• 2:43
  Or maybe it could.
• 2:44
  It always, especially if it involves gambling.
• 2:47
  It could definitely get worse.
• 2:48
  That's why I don't gamble.
• 2:49
  But we'll pick them anyway.
• 2:52
  All right.
• 2:52
  So once you get us kicked off here.
• 2:54
  You bet.
• 2:54
  So we're going to start on Thursday as we always do.
• 2:56
  We have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Cowboys, who are eight and a half point favorites.
• 3:01
  It's so difficult right now to see Tampa Bay breaking through and actually winning a game.
• 3:06
  I just.
• 3:07
  Dallas has the biggest disparity in the league, maybe with Detroit in terms of one unit versus the other.
• 3:12
  I guess Minnesota also.
• 3:14
  Offense, defense, we've got some really big splits there.
• 3:17
  Dallas's offense is awesome.
• 3:18
  Their defense is really struggling.
• 3:20
  I think they probably get a little bit of a break against the Bucs, who are hurting pretty bad right now.
• 3:25
  So I'm going to pick Dallas to win sort of a lower scoring, ugly game, let's get it over with kind of a thing.
• 3:30
  So Dallas is going to win, but Tampa Bay is going to scratch and claw and cover that eight and a half.
• 3:35
  All right.
• 3:35
  I would love to sit there and say that Tampa Bay is going to perform the upset, that they're going to stay with the Cowboys, but I just don't believe it.
• 3:44
  I mean, CD Lamb goes off last week is probably George Pickens week.
• 3:49
  This week Dak Prescott's on fire.
• 3:52
  The defense, maybe they get better.
• 3:54
  They just got JPJ from the Steelers, you know, maybe that helps them out a little bit.
• 3:59
  And like you said, Buccaneers not doing so good.
• 4:02
  They have a whole infirmary of people at the hospital on Ninja Reserve.
• 4:07
  Anyway, so I think that Dallas is going to win this game and win a big double digits.
• 4:12
  Got it.
• 4:13
  Going back to London now we're in the.
• 4:15
  We're at the time of the year.
• 4:16
  We're getting the international games.
• 4:17
  We have the Eagles playing at.
• 4:19
  I say at in quotes the Jags, who are seven point favorites.
• 4:23
  That is a shocking number really.
• 4:25
  But I think it makes some sense based on what these two teams have done so far.
• 4:29
  I think Jacksonville is for real.
• 4:31
  It appears that the odds makers believe that as well.
• 4:34
  I like Jacksonville to win this game against the Eagles offense that is absolutely stuck in the mud right now.
• 4:41
  I am going to give the Eagles some credit for being able to hang in this game.
• 4:45
  So I'm going to go for the Jags to win and the Eagles to cover the seven.
• 4:49
  You know, I'm right along those same lines.
• 4:52
  I think this is almost going to be like a home game for the Jaguars.
• 4:55
  You know, many people are predicting someday maybe that might be the team that goes to Europe, if any current team goes.
• 5:01
  But they're well received there.
• 5:02
  They have A lot of fans there.
• 5:04
  It's going to be.
• 5:05
  Maybe they have more Jaguars fans in London than they do when they play in Jacksonville.
• 5:09
  Who knows.
• 5:10
  But I think the Eagles I've been to maybe too high on them.
• 5:13
  I think you've got them right there.
• 5:14
  They've got some problems there.
• 5:16
  I still think that those offensive defensive lines, you know, being that much bigger and not strong means something.
• 5:22
  So I think they're going to stay within the point spread but the Jags will win it.
• 5:25
  Got it.
• 5:26
  We get the Bears are a three point favorite in Lambeau.
• 5:30
  I have no reason really for picking this.
• 5:33
  No logical reason other than I guess we talked in the in the history pod yesterday about how the Bears are the first team in almost 30 years to win three of their first four games with three different quarterbacks.
• 5:45
  And while that's great for them, I also think it's got to catch up to you at some point.
• 5:50
  And while I am not impressed with Green Bay and I am, I don't think they're that good.
• 5:54
  I'm going to pick the mild upset here with the packers finding a way to beat their rivals.
• 6:00
  Yeah, that's always could be the case when you have these rivalry games.
• 6:04
  We saw some of those last week where the teams were upset having those divisional games and yeah, this could be another one of those cases.
• 6:12
  But I'm high on the Bears.
• 6:14
  I'm not sure who going to be playing quarterback and I guess I don't really care because I think they're all serviceable.
• 6:20
  If Caleb, you know, plays, you know, we definitely makes them a better chance to win.
• 6:25
  I love their, their coach.
• 6:26
  I love the way he coaches an offense and I'm going to take the Bears and end up beating the Packers.
• 6:32
  Okay.
• 6:33
  In Tennessee we have the Texans who are seven and a half point favorites at the Titans.
• 6:37
  This is my first absolutely not game of the year and what I mean about that is well in our house we have two TVs going.
• 6:44
  We always have one game on the main screen and then we got a four box on the other and we always debating which games are going to be where and this is absolutely not.
• 6:53
  I have no interest in seeing this game.
• 6:55
  I don't want to watch one play of this Texans Titans game.
• 6:58
  I'm just going to pick Houston to win and cover.
• 7:01
  They're obviously better than Tennessee I think but these are two 04 teams.
• 7:05
  It's not pretty.
• 7:06
  I'll say that Houston takes out some frustrations this week.
• 7:10
  Yeah, this is a weird but somebody's going to get Their first win and I think that's.
• 7:14
  I agree with you.
• 7:15
  I think it's going to be the Texans but I don't think they're going to cover the full point spread.
• 7:19
  I think the Titans are going to hang with them.
• 7:21
  Got it.
• 7:22
  All right.
• 7:22
  We have the Bengals who are a seven point favorite at the Dolphins.
• 7:25
  You know, the last couple of weeks, Darren, I've been picking the Dolphins to cover the spread because I said they won't go.
• 7:29
  Oh, and 17 against the spread and thanks to TJ Hawkinson going down at the one yard line at the end of the Vikings game last week, the Dolphins did cover the spread but I don't think it lasts forever.
• 7:42
  So I'm going to go with Joe Burrow and the Bengals offense to do enough to win and cover in Miami.
• 7:48
  Yeah, I think that's questionable if Jamar Chase is going to be playing in this game.
• 7:53
  I know he said got injured last week's game.
• 7:56
  I don't know if they're going to be and if he does play, he's not going to be at 100% obviously.
• 8:00
  So T.
• 8:00
  Higgins might be the number one no matter what but he's also pretty talented and so is Joe Burrow and I think that yeah, they're going to just blow out the Dolphins here and carry more than seven and a
• 8:11
  half on that.
• 8:12
  Raiders are at the Patriots home team is three and a half point favorites.
• 8:15
  I actually really like this game.
• 8:16
  I think this is a bad spot for Vegas.
• 8:18
  We talk a lot about west coast to east coast and noon game and it's also coming off a very hard fought emotional loss against a rival team.
• 8:26
  Whereas New England, I think they probably feel a whole lot better about themselves now.
• 8:31
  I'm not convinced that the Patriots are just going to go on a roll like they did last year but.
• 8:34
  But I think this is a good spot for them, a bad spot for Vegas.
• 8:38
  New England wins and they win by seven or more.
• 8:41
  Well, I believe in a little bit of parody and I a balance in the NFL and I think that the Patriots having that big win, it's going to be the roller coaster and start to bring him down a
• 8:51
  little bit.
• 8:52
  Just like we saw after they beat the Steelers.
• 8:55
  They came back the next week and got destroyed.
• 8:58
  I think the Raiders are have their trend.
• 9:00
  You know they that gave them a little bit of confidence staying with the Chiefs like they did and taking it right down to the end.
• 9:05
  I think the Raiders are going to go in and win this game outright.
• 9:09
  Okay.
• 9:10
  The Vikings are one and a half point Favorites in the Superdome against the Saints.
• 9:14
  The suddenly very disappointing Saints after their first two weeks.
• 9:18
  I was very high on them.
• 9:19
  A lot of people were and they have really come down the last two weeks with two kind of bad home losses.
• 9:25
  I, I'm going to go back to the well one more time though.
• 9:28
  Even with that stellar Vikings defense, I think the Vikings offense catches up to them this week and the Saints kind of pull one out and give the Vikings their first loss of the season.
• 9:40
  Yeah, I think I tend to agree with you because the Saints have been having that slow start and having to come back in the third and fourth quarter.
• 9:47
  That's how they got their wins.
• 9:49
  That's also how they suffered their losses.
• 9:51
  Atlanta just buried them and, and there was no coming back from that.
• 9:54
  But they really haven't had much of a running game.
• 9:57
  Okay, Camaro scored two rushing touchdowns this past weekend but they're not going to run the ball against the Vikings.
• 10:03
  But they don't need to because they rely on that passing game and I think they win it with that this week.
• 10:09
  Browns are at the jets.
• 10:10
  The home team are two and a half point favorites.
• 10:13
  I have a feeling that the public betting and the people are going to really think that the Browns are going to keep rolling.
• 10:19
  This is a pump the brakes game for me with the Browns.
• 10:22
  As impressive as it's been with their three game winning streak, I actually think it comes to an end in New York on Sunday as I think these teams are actually probably more kind of equal.
• 10:31
  Even though Cleveland has outperformed the jets so far.
• 10:34
  This is just sort of a hey, this is the NFL.
• 10:37
  I'm going to go with the upset here and take the jets to beat the Browns.
• 10:41
  Yeah, I was leaning that way but I don't think that that's going to happen.
• 10:45
  I think the Browns are for real.
• 10:47
  I think desean Watson has has them going in the right direction and I think they're going to end up beating the jets by, you know, that's take the points.
• 10:56
  Got it.
• 10:57
  The Colts are at the Steelers.
• 10:58
  Pittsburgh is two and a half point favorites.
• 11:01
  I don't this is another game that actually is not going to be on my watch list.
• 11:05
  I think it's kind of a boring matchup.
• 11:07
  I don't particularly enjoy watching the Colts for sure.
• 11:12
  I'm just going Pittsburgh here.
• 11:14
  I think Pittsburgh is probably teams are probably about equal.
• 11:17
  I think Pittsburgh's at home.
• 11:18
  I think their defense is probably the best unit in this game.
• 11:23
  So I'm going to say the Steelers win and barely cover so it's going to be a close game.
• 11:27
  Steelers win by three.
• 11:28
  I look back at last year, the Colts came in red hot into Pittsburgh.
• 11:33
  Pittsburgh was sort of like they are now, sort of mediocre, fighting their way through, trying to figure out who they were, and the Steelers ended up winning that game at home.
• 11:41
  I think it's going to be the same result here and they will cover the points.
• 11:45
  Giants are at the Commanders.
• 11:47
  The Commanders are 3 1/2 point favorites despite being 1 and 3 and the Giants being 3 and 1.
• 11:52
  I can tell you right now there is a reason for that.
• 11:55
  A lot of teams are banged up in the NFL, but I'm not sure any team has had the level of injury impact that the Commanders have so far.
• 12:03
  When you go to your third quarterback two series into your fourth game, that's very difficult.
• 12:10
  They were also missing their two best offensive linemen and their best wide receiver.
• 12:13
  So it was very difficult.
• 12:15
  And most of those guys are coming back on Sunday.
• 12:17
  Jaden Daniels is going to be back and this is a backs against the wall game for the Commanders.
• 12:22
  The season is probably over if they lose it, and I'm not sure where they go from here, but I don't think the season ends on Sunday.
• 12:31
  I think Washington handles the Giants.
• 12:33
  They beat Jameis.
• 12:34
  They win this game.
• 12:35
  I won't say easily, but they will cover the number.
• 12:38
  Yeah, I think I agree with you because I think the Jameis Winston story is he has those high games, but he also has those low games.
• 12:46
  This might be one of those low ones, especially going on the road into the Commander's den.
• 12:51
  And I think they're going to show their fans what they're made of because it was kind of embarrassing when they went over to Europe last week.
• 12:57
  Got it.
• 12:58
  Moving on to the late window games, we've got the Broncos, who are three and a half point favorites at the Chargers.
• 13:04
  I guess here's my biggest upset of the week.
• 13:06
  I don't really know why I'm doing this because I've watched a lot of Charger football this year and I've been as unimpressed as ever everyone else has been.
• 13:13
  I do think they got maybe a little something going at the end of that Seahawks game.
• 13:17
  They did fight back and I mean, I keep telling you, I.
• 13:20
  I go back to this a lot.
• 13:21
  Darren, are the Chargers going to go Owen 6, 0 and 17 this year?
• 13:25
  No, there's probably.
• 13:26
  There's got to be a market correction somewhere.
• 13:28
  And I'm going to say it's this week against the Broncos offense That's been pretty, that's really struggled and hasn't been very pretty themselves.
• 13:35
  So I'm going to say the Chargers find a way to win this one outright and of course cover.
• 13:39
  Yeah, I, I think I agree with you here.
• 13:41
  I think they're going to end.
• 13:43
  The Chargers are going to finally figure it out and get a W in the column because I don't believe they're going to be an 0 and 5 team.
• 13:49
  They take it one to the Broncos this week.
• 13:52
  Okay.
• 13:52
  Lions are 4 1/2 point favorites at the Cardinals.
• 13:56
  I am so unimpressed with the Lions overall.
• 13:59
  That defense is just abysmal.
• 14:02
  They can't get and the back end is embarrassing.
• 14:05
  They just can't cover at all.
• 14:08
  And it's week after week and I don't know, at some point it's like, yeah, I know you're missing some guys, but there are no adjustments.
• 14:13
  Nothing's getting better.
• 14:14
  It's bad.
• 14:15
  That said, their offense is very good.
• 14:18
  The Cardinals are not a good team.
• 14:19
  I think they are fighting hard, but I think as the season goes on it's going to get harder and harder for Arizona.
• 14:27
  So I think this is going to be a decent bounce back spot.
• 14:29
  I'm not confident the Lions will stop the Cardinals, but, but I think they score enough to win and cover.
• 14:35
  I think that the Lions are going to win, but I think the Cardinals are going to stay just close enough with those points to take that part.
• 14:42
  Okay, 49ers.
• 14:44
  Maybe the game of the week at the Seahawks, who are two and a half point favorites.
• 14:47
  This one really makes me nervous.
• 14:49
  The reason it makes me nervous is because I really, really like the 49ers this week.
• 14:54
  But from what I'm seeing, it seems like most people do and that makes me nervous because that means a lot of people are doubting these super bowl champs at home.
• 15:04
  That's kind of scary.
• 15:06
  But I go back to that playoff game last year where the Niners got embarrassed in the divisional round when they were so beat up going to that game.
• 15:12
  This is such a big game.
• 15:14
  I, the 49ers have looked fantastic.
• 15:16
  Purdy might be the MVP up to this point and I think they kind of keep it going and win a very, very hard fought game in Seattle.
• 15:25
  Well, I would say that too, except this is another one of those divisional games.
• 15:29
  Anything can happen.
• 15:31
  I'm going to give the advantage to Seattle being at home with that 12th man and you know they'll be looking at that super bowl banner hanging up there and they're going to remember that 49ers game, too.
• 15:43
  And I think maybe Seattle has their number.
• 15:46
  And I think I'm going to take Seattle and even overcoming the point spread.
• 15:51
  Got it.
• 15:52
  Sunday Night Football.
• 15:52
  For the third week in a row, we have the Falcons on primetime, and all of a sudden that doesn't look like such a bad thing.
• 15:57
  The Ravens without Lamar Jackson, it appears, are at the Falcons, who Atlanta is now 3 1/2 point favorites.
• 16:05
  Falcons can really run the ball.
• 16:07
  They can tote the rock, no doubt.
• 16:09
  That's impressive.
• 16:10
  Yeah, very impressive, but I'm not totally sold yet.
• 16:15
  And Snoop Huntley is a gamer, right?
• 16:17
  He's the kind of guy that can definitely fill in.
• 16:19
  I'm going to give a unenthusiastic vote for the Falcons to win this game, but I think the Ravens keep it very close and cover that three and a half.
• 16:29
  Don't be surprised if they win it outright.
• 16:32
  Yeah, I, you know, I would love to see, you know, the Falcons win this game big, and I think that's.
• 16:39
  I don't think they're going to win big, but I think they're going to win and cover this point spread at home because I'm not sure that Snoop is going to do that well under this new offense that the
• 16:50
  Ravens are running because he kind of struggled a little bit last week when he came in there.
• 16:54
  You know, the Ravens won the game, but he didn't look like he did a couple years ago when he came in for Lamar.
• 17:00
  And I think the Falcons are starting to find their stride a little bit.
• 17:03
  They're getting a little bit of confidence.
• 17:04
  They're going to be at home.
• 17:05
  Their fans are going to be going crazy.
• 17:06
  They're going to win this game.
• 17:07
  They're going to win it, like, by a touchdown.
• 17:09
  Got it.
• 17:10
  Monday night is awesome.
• 17:11
  It's the Bills at the Rams, the home team with two and a half point favorites.
• 17:16
  I'm fairly confident in this one, actually.
• 17:18
  I think the Rams are just better than the Bills.
• 17:23
  I think last week was a really big step for the Rams.
• 17:25
  They're getting a little bit healthier.
• 17:26
  It looks like Naku is all right.
• 17:28
  I think this is kind of like a big spot for.
• 17:30
  For la.
• 17:31
  They've had a brutal schedule so far.
• 17:33
  They've been in Australia.
• 17:34
  They've been at Philly.
• 17:36
  They've been, you know, they've been back and forth and now they're back at home.
• 17:39
  I just like this spot for the Rams.
• 17:41
  I think they win this game.
• 17:43
  I won't say easily, but they're going to win this game.
• 17:44
  By like five, six points like that.
• 17:46
  And they're going to hold off Josh Allen.
• 17:48
  Well, I think, you know, I don't think Miles Garrett's back, right?
• 17:52
  He's, he's on ir.
• 17:53
  He's not eligible to come back.
• 17:54
  I don't know that Aaron Donald's going to play in this game.
• 17:56
  He didn't play last week with that injury.
• 17:59
  And I don't know that they're going to be wanting to face a Josh Allen team.
• 18:04
  And also, you know, the running game that the Bills have and the Bills got the, you know, they got a little chink in their armor last week and I think that's going to sort of set their pride on
• 18:15
  fire here and I think they're going to come out to prove something and they're going to do it against the Rams and they're going to win this game.
• 18:21
  All right, well, that's our, that's, that's your slate for the week, your picks for the week.
• 18:25
  Yeah.
• 18:25
  So what's your feeling on how the NFL is going so far?
• 18:29
  You know, the, the one, the couple things stick out to me this week, Darren, and one of the things that, that really sticks out and I'm, you probably hear the hope in my voice is I wonder if this
• 18:39
  is finally the death of the Eagles.
• 18:42
  Meaning, you know, they have been a pretty, you know, a high profile team now here in the league for, for several years now, obviously won the super bowl and have been a major contender and every time in the
• 18:54
  over that span that it's looked like maybe they're going to fade, they bounce back in sort of a big way and they kind of find the Eagles way to win games and I'm thinking now that might be over
• 19:05
  because their offense is just bad going back to last year.
• 19:08
  It doesn't seem to be.
• 19:09
  They can't find any answers and the defense just isn't as good this year.
• 19:14
  And sometimes it's hard to explain why because I know it's the same players.
• 19:17
  They're just not as dominant.
• 19:18
  They're.
• 19:18
  They're not as, they're not dominating up front like they were.
• 19:22
  They're not kind of finding the ways.
• 19:24
  And like I said in our earlier, I cannot believe that the Jags are favored by seven against the Eagles in a neutral site game.
• 19:32
  And like I said, I just think there's a reason for that.
• 19:33
  And I think, Philly, this might be the end.
• 19:38
  Hold on just a second.
• 19:48
  Hold on.
• 19:51
  Okay.
• 19:52
  Sorry.
• 19:53
  No, you're good.
• 19:55
  Yeah, I don't think, you know, you might be right about the Eagles, but they still have Sirianni.
• 20:02
  And I know you don't, you don't care for him, but he is a good coach.
• 20:04
  He really knows how to take the most of his talent and get these guys up for games.
• 20:10
  I think they're going to rally a little bit and make a little bit of a comeback.
• 20:15
  I don't think they're just going to go off into the, the dust and the sunset here.
• 20:19
  They got too much talent on that squad, and I know you'd love to believe that, just like I'd love to believe that the, the Bengals and the Ravens fall off the cliff.
• 20:28
  But it's not going to happen because these are good teams in there.
• 20:31
  And I think the Eagles are one of those that will bounce back a.
• 20:34
  Little bit, I guess.
• 20:35
  But, I mean, they're gonna have to figure something out offensively because it's been really, really bad and they've been unable to come up with any answers.
• 20:44
  The other game that I, you know, it's funny who, who would have guessed that I'd be interested in Browns jets, but to me, Brown, this game for the Browns is almost more important than the Steelers game for their
• 20:55
  fans because it's like, hey, we're three and one now, and we have a very, very winnable game right in front of us here in New York, right?
• 21:05
  This is as winnable as it gets for a road game in the NFL.
• 21:08
  And if we win, we're 4 and 1.
• 21:10
  And then if you're 4 and 1, you kind of got to be taken seriously.
• 21:14
  So what I see coming, Darren, is the, oh, my gosh, we're still the Browns.
• 21:21
  That's what I think is going to happen on Sunday.
• 21:24
  I think they're gonna have, and I remember I picked them to beat the Steelers on Thursday night, all right?
• 21:28
  So I, I, I picked them to win that game.
• 21:31
  So I'm not just a Browns basher, but I think they come back down to earth.
• 21:36
  I wouldn't be surprised if either one of two things happens.
• 21:39
  Like the jets either kind of win that game surprisingly easily or if the Browns choke it at the end, like they've got it wrapped up and they do something Brown.
• 21:47
  So my big prediction this week beyond the jets winning is that the Browns do something that somehow makes their fans really frustrated, even though they're going to be three and two afterwards.
• 21:59
  I was kind of hoping that moment would have happened last Thursday when they were up 21 to 10 at the half and they had to come back and, you know, kick that field goal at the end with a
• 22:09
  great drive, you know, great.
• 22:10
  Watson, a great job of leading his team on that.
• 22:13
  That scoring victory drive that they had.
• 22:17
  But, you know, they.
• 22:18
  I.
• 22:18
  I think there's a little bit of belief, and I think he's got something to prove.
• 22:20
  He's still trying to win public support in Cleveland.
• 22:24
  These people still don't like him, don't trust him, and he's sitting there trying to say all the right things, and he's kind of in a really awkward position.
• 22:32
  Any other quarterback, any other place would probably, you know, be put on a pedestal by now by the fan base, but this guy's did a lot of damage, and he's had, what, five years there and basically got paid,
• 22:45
  you know, mega bucks to really do nothing until last few weeks.
• 22:50
  Yes.
• 22:50
  And that's kind of the other reason I'm leaning that way is because I just don't see this ever being a happy ending for Deshaun Watson and the Browns fans.
• 23:00
  And if they keep winning, obviously it will be.
• 23:04
  So that's kind of where I'm.
• 23:05
  That's kind of.
• 23:06
  Be careful how you say happy ending in Deshaun Watson.
• 23:09
  He's trying to get public support here, Darren.
• 23:13
  That might be the best.
• 23:15
  The best quit that we've had in, like over two year.
• 23:18
  Over a year and a half now of doing the pod.
• 23:21
  Well done.
• 23:23
  And I think Robert Kraft would probably agree with that as well.
• 23:26
  So good job.
• 23:27
  Good job.
• 23:27
  Or not.
• 23:28
  He may deny it.
• 23:30
  Very good.
• 23:31
  So I will talk a little bit, you know, homerism here about my team.
• 23:36
  You know, it's funny because people say, hey, it's the NFL.
• 23:39
  No excuses.
• 23:41
  And if Washington winds up having a bad season for the second year in a row, then at that point, I think you'd have to say, yeah, no excuses.
• 23:48
  You can't have two bad years in a row and just excuse it all away.
• 23:52
  But through.
• 23:53
  In a vacuum, through four games of the 2026 season, the reason they are 1 and 3 is due mainly to injuries and luck.
• 24:02
  That is the main reason.
• 24:03
  Because, yes, there have been other teams that have the same volume of injuries as Washington does, but probably not the same impact, you know, and then you lose.
• 24:13
  You know, they were.
• 24:14
  They came out very sharp against the Colts.
• 24:17
  They look great.
• 24:18
  Mariota goes, Mariota goes out.
• 24:20
  You're on quarterback three.
• 24:22
  He's a rookie from Rutgers.
• 24:23
  You.
• 24:23
  He actually plays okay given the circumstances, but it just messes up the game completely.
• 24:30
  You're missing your two best offensive linemen.
• 24:32
  You're missing your wide receiver, number one.
• 24:34
  So you don't have guys to help them.
• 24:35
  And it's kind of been like that all four of these weeks.
• 24:37
  And the one week where they kind of got a few bounces to go their way, they beat the super bowl champs.
• 24:44
  So I think there's still a season to be had in Washington, but it has to happen on Sunday.
• 24:51
  If they, if they lose to the Giants and Jameis with Jaden Daniels back, the kind of no matter why, then at that point it's just kind of over probably.
• 25:02
  And that would be very depressing thing.
• 25:04
  So I'm very hopeful that my guys get it back on track this week and I kind of think they will.
• 25:10
  Yeah.
• 25:10
  You know, there's a lot of people that look at the NFL and they look at it just like they do a game.
• 25:15
  They look at it by quarters.
• 25:16
  You know, if you win the first quarter doesn't mean you're going to win that game because there's three other quarters to play.
• 25:21
  That's sort of where you're at.
• 25:23
  I know it's 17 games season, it's not 16 game anymore, but people still think that way.
• 25:27
  So even for the 04 teams, if you win your other 2/4 of the season and you get that bonus game and maybe you can pull off one in there too, you could come out having a pretty decent record.
• 25:39
  You know, you could be an 11 and 5 team or 10 and 6 or 9 and 7 has made the playoffs more than once over the last few years.
• 25:47
  So there's still hope for those teams that are 0 and 4.
• 25:49
  They're 1 and 3, you know.
• 25:52
  So I, I think if you look at it that way and play your games within those, those little four game segments and people forget all about your, your poor short.
• 26:04
  Yeah.
• 26:04
  And I think, I think if you just to your point, we see it every year in the league and sometimes it's hard to remember how long this season is and, and how things can change.
• 26:13
  I mean just look at the Falcons.
• 26:15
  They looked dreadful in the first two weeks.
• 26:19
  Dreadful.
• 26:19
  Like, like I, I really thought, Darren, that the Falcons could be like a 2 and 15 kind of team for this year.
• 26:27
  And then boom, they get Penix back.
• 26:29
  He plays pretty well.
• 26:31
  They, their defense all of a sudden starts playing better and they go from dreadful to extremely impressive in, in just, in a three week span essentially.
• 26:41
  And like, you know, you look at the Colts last year, they got off to the hot, hot start, wound up losing however many in a row and they lose their quarterback.
• 26:49
  So you get some bad luck.
• 26:50
  It's going to happen man, there's going to be some, some of these teams that are off the hot starts are going to cool down.
• 26:56
  Some of these teams are off the bat starts are going to heat up.
• 26:58
  It's the way it goes and it's hard to envision it in real time, but we know it's going to happen.
• 27:04
  And the best prognosticators, the ones that can kind of see it coming a little bit.
• 27:10
  So we'll, we'll see how it goes.
• 27:11
  And I would agree with you to tell everybody not to panic, except maybe if you're the fans of the Titans, Bucks, Dolphins.
• 27:20
  I kind of feel like at, at this point, there's no lifeline for 2026.
• 27:27
  At this point, I don't think.
• 27:29
  Yeah, I happen to have a conversation with a Dolphins fan today and somebody I didn't know before today and, and he said he was a Dolphins fan.
• 27:37
  It was kind of, you know, he's proud of it.
• 27:38
  You know, you got to be proud.
• 27:39
  You got to support your team.
• 27:40
  And I, I asked him, I said, well, I said, I know your team's not having a very good year, but do you find any comfort in where Mike McDonald is and what he's doing in San Diego?
• 27:52
  And he said, oh, absolutely.
• 27:54
  He said on many forums and things like that, that's the, the comforting feeling that they know that maybe be even a worse 04 team is what his feeling was, which I don't know how you can be, but I
• 28:05
  guess it's possible.
• 28:05
  But I mean, Dolphins fans might want to check themselves because Mike McDonald as about as successful of a head coach if they've had since Don Shula.
• 28:16
  Yeah, I mean, I mean, you know, I mean, he got him into the playoffs.
• 28:20
  That's, that's better than a lot of the other Dolphins.
• 28:22
  This has been a really rough run for the Dolphins here for 30ish years now.
• 28:29
  So poor Mike McDonald, if he's still catching strays from the Dolphins, he might want to remind the Dolphins fans that there's at least a blip there where they look like they had things going.
• 28:37
  Well, this guy ended up reminding me, he said that he did a whole study and I didn't lay it out and I didn't really look at it that close that he laid out two his first couple years or
• 28:50
  first season with Mike McDonald's offense.
• 28:53
  And he's comparing it to Herbert, I guess maybe the first four games.
• 28:57
  And he said Tua looked like, you know, the MVP all world quarterback compared to Herbert's numbers, which it might be.
• 29:06
  Yeah, I mean, Herbert.
• 29:07
  You know, we know he got it.
• 29:08
  We know he got engaged, right?
• 29:10
  To, to, to, to the, to the singer, actress.
• 29:13
  And, you know, I, you got, sometimes you got to go back to Rocky, right?
• 29:17
  The Rocky movies.
• 29:18
  What did Mick tell Rocky Darren?
• 29:20
  He said women weaken legs, right?
• 29:22
  So maybe that's, maybe that's what's happened in la.
• 29:24
  I don't know.
• 29:26
  Well, for Travis Kelsey, it looks like he found the fountain of youth because he looks like a much better player than he did last year.
• 29:31
  Same with Josh Allen.
• 29:32
  So maybe it's.
• 29:32
  Maybe it's just LA.
• 29:33
  I don't know.
• 29:34
  Or maybe it is Mike McDonald.
• 29:35
  Poor Mike McDonald.
• 29:37
  Yeah, that's for sure.
• 29:38
  All right.
• 29:39
  All right, Ed.
• 29:40
  Well, I think we covered that.
• 29:42
  You know, I.
• 29:43
  Hopefully your predictions will come true, but maybe not as good as mine.
• 29:48
  Hopefully I gained a little bit of ground, but we had a lot of similar picks this week and I guess we'll see when we do next Wednesday show where we talk about the history of week five and of
• 29:58
  course, our predictions next Thursday morning on the podcast.
• 30:02
  So, Ed, we thank you for joining us once again and we will talk to you again next week.
• 30:06
  All right, Darren, thank you.
• 30:08
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• 30:11
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• 30:15
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• 30:28
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• 30:29
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• 30:41
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• 30:49
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• 30:52
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• 30:53
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