NFL Week 7 Preview: Major QB Changes, Running Back Returns & Games That Could Change Everything (Ep. 2287)
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
53 min
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Oct 23, 2026
Published
Fri, October 23, 2026
32
Player insights
26
Players mentioned
Topics
Christian KirkChristian WatsonJ.J. McCarthyJa'Marr ChaseSaquon BarkleyTanner McKeeBaker MayfieldBlake CorumBo NixBrandin CooksBrock BowersChase BrownChristian McCaffreyDeVonta Smith
Player analysis
Player insights
Baker Mayfield
NegativeProjection48:15
Alfredo flags Baker Mayfield's potential return for Tampa Bay as a key watch for Week 7, questioning whether he will be "good Baker" or "the one hand man that ends the Bucs season." The concern is whether Mayfield can perform effectively against a division opponent (likely New Orleans) missing both starting corners. If the Bucs lose again this week, the source suggests they may call the season. Emeka Egbuka's concussed foot adds uncertainty to the receiving corps.
Insight pageBlake Corum
NegativeUsage33:00
Corum has not received the 'insane usage' the Rams backs might be expected to get despite the team's offensive struggles; the source notes 'they've had the backs, but we haven't seen like the insane usage to both of those guys' as the Rams sit at 2–4.
Insight pageBo Nix
NegativeProjection42:30
Alfredo makes a bold call that Bo Nix will throw two touchdowns against Arizona, rating him QB17 in fantasy (later adjusted to QB15). The rationale: Arizona has allowed two or more touchdowns to quarterbacks in each of the last five weeks (including Jameis Winston and Drew Locke), and Bo Nix has faced top-five/top-eight defenses most of the season. When Nix faces defenses outside the top five, he becomes streamable; Arizona is allowing 21 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. The concern is Nix's ankle still bothers him, limiting rushing upside, so the source expects two passing touchdowns rather than a boom performance.
Insight pageBrandin Cooks
NegativeRole50:00
The source notes that Brandon Cooks, alongside Christian Kirk, is not a sufficient replacement for Mike Evans' production and role in the 49ers offense. The source's concern is that Cooks and Kirk together cannot replicate the separation and receiving opportunities Evans creates, leaving the 49ers one-dimensional without him.
Insight pageBrock Bowers
PositiveInjury11:21
Brock Bowers got into some practices, indicating he is progressing toward availability for Week 7.
Insight pageChase Brown
NegativeProjection18:21
Chase Brown's production has been disappointing through five games, but the source notes the Bengals faced four of the top eight run defenses in DVOA; however, there is concern that the Bengals may be scrapping their under-center rushing plans in favor of more shotgun looks, which could limit Brown's opportunities if the team believes Samaj Perine is a better runner out of shotgun.
Insight pageChristian Kirk
PositiveRole11:27
Christian Kirk may become the 49ers' number one wide receiver with Mike Evans out, creating an opportunity for increased role and targets.
Insight pageNegativeRole50:00
The source notes that while the 49ers will get Christian Kirk back from injury, Kirk and Brandon Cooks are not a sufficient replacement for Mike Evans' production and role. The source explicitly states "this isn't 2020," implying Kirk's current form is diminished compared to his peak. Kirk's return does not alleviate concerns about the 49ers becoming one-dimensional without Evans.
Insight pageChristian McCaffrey
PositiveRole49:00
The source identifies Christian McCaffrey as one of three reliable separation options for Purdy when the 49ers offense is functioning optimally with Mike Evans on the field. McCaffrey is part of the trio (Evans, Kittle, McCaffrey) that creates consistent third-down conversions and wide-open receiving spots. Without Evans, the 49ers' ability to get McCaffrey open and productive diminishes, potentially limiting his checkdown and receiving upside.
Insight pageChristian Watson
PositiveInjury11:07
Matt LaFleur reported no concerns about Christian Watson's ankle ahead of Week 7, clearing the wide receiver for the upcoming game.
Insight pageNegativeInjury23:00
Watson's ankle injury is expected to be a lingering problem; the source states 'Christian Watson has mentioned before that they don't have any expectation. The ankle is going to be a problem,' indicating he will be out or limited in the Packers-Lions matchup.
Insight pageDeVonta Smith
NegativeInjury5:51
Devonta Smith is banged up and has been injured on every outing for the Eagles; the source notes this is part of a broader injury situation affecting the Eagles' wide receiver core alongside Saquon Barkley's return.
Insight pageGeorge Kittle
PositiveRole49:00
The source identifies George Kittle as one of three reliable separation options for Purdy when the 49ers offense is functioning optimally with Mike Evans on the field. Kittle is part of the trio (Evans, Kittle, Christian McCaffrey) that creates consistent third-down conversions and wide-open receiving spots. Without Evans, the 49ers' ability to get Kittle open and productive diminishes.
Insight pageIsaiah Likely
NegativeRole4:12
With J.J. McCarthy taking over at quarterback for the Giants, Isaiah Likely and neighbors are expected to continue receiving targets; the source notes that head coach Jim Harbaugh would be irresponsible to move away from these two pass-catchers, though the offense may shift toward more RPO-based rushing concepts that were designed for Jackson Dart.
Insight pageJ.J. McCarthy
NegativeProjection3:00
J.J. McCarthy makes his 2026 starting debut against the Texans defense, which has underachieved through the first six weeks but is expected to show up and bring pressure at some point; the source expresses worry that the Texans will "bring the house" in McCarthy's first start, creating a difficult matchup for the young quarterback.
Insight pageNegativeProjection41:30
Fitzy makes a bold call that J.J. McCarthy will commit three turnovers against Houston, despite wanting to believe in a redemption story. The concern is that Houston's defense is "so due to play a good game defensively," and the source worries this could be an "empty Jameis game"—turnovers without compensating touchdowns—rather than a Jameis Winston-style performance where multiple turnovers are offset by multiple touchdowns.
Insight pageJa'Marr Chase
PositiveMatchup19:24
Jamar Chase has dominated the Baltimore Ravens throughout his career with 1,204 receiving yards against them, far exceeding his production against any other team (785 yards vs. Pittsburgh); the source notes Chase "always brings it against the Ravens" and that Ravens fans are likely not excited to face him.
Insight pagePositiveMatchup19:34
Chase has 1,204 career receiving yards against Baltimore, significantly ahead of his next-highest total of 785 yards against Pittsburgh; the source notes he 'just always brings it against the Ravens' and that Ravens fans are 'probably not excited to see Jamar Chase,' indicating a strong historical edge in this matchup.
Insight pageJared Goff
PositiveMatchup48:00
Fitzy highlights Green Bay vs. Detroit as a must-watch matchup, noting that Jared Goff and Jordan Love are "both playing magnificently this season." The source expects a shootout (over 53.5) that mirrors what was supposed to happen last Sunday night between Green Bay and Dallas but didn't materialize. Goff's elite play this season supports the expectation of a high-scoring game.
Insight pageJavonte Williams
NegativeUsage38:00
Williams is part of a Cowboys offense that has 'totally changed their identity' from last year; the team is now 'last in run rate percentage' despite having Williams in the backfield, indicating a shift away from the ground game that worked in 2025. The Cowboys have undone 'everything that was working for them last year' by changing motion usage, play action, and going from under center to shotgun.
Insight pageJordan Love
PositiveMatchup48:00
Fitzy highlights Green Bay vs. Detroit as a must-watch matchup, noting that Jordan Love and Jared Goff are "both playing magnificently this season." The source expects a shootout (over 53.5) that mirrors what was supposed to happen last Sunday night between Green Bay and Dallas but didn't materialize. Love's elite play this season supports the expectation of a high-scoring game.
Insight pageJordan Mason
PositiveInjury11:15
Jordan Mason is practicing in full and is expected to play in Week 7.
Insight pageJosh Jacobs
PositiveUsage23:00
Jacobs is expected to return to the Packers and is already ranked as a top-15 running back for the week; the source expects 12–15 carries with involvement in the receiving game, noting he 'knows the play' from preseason work and that the Packers' running back core is 'so bad' they won't baby him. However, there's uncertainty around his conditioning since being placed on the exempt list August 30th, and the Packers may ease him in to keep him fresh for the playoffs.
Insight pageKenneth Walker III
PositiveUsage29:00
Walker is expected to be heavily featured in a revenge game against his former team Seattle; the source describes him as 'a Ferrari that they've been driving around all season' and expects Andy Reid to 'force feed' him with 25+ touches and 'probably another two touchdown performance,' though the source acknowledges Seattle's run defense is strong. The Chiefs are coming off a bye week with extra preparation time.
Insight pageMike Evans
PositiveRole49:00
The source emphasizes that Mike Evans has "completely opened up" the 49ers offense, enabling consistent third-down conversions and creating wide-open receiving targets. With Evans on the field, Purdy has three reliable separation options: Evans, George Kittle, and Christian McCaffrey. Without Evans, the 49ers revert to frustrating patterns—poor third-down conversion, bad passes, and aggressive pass rushes. The source worries the 49ers could become one-dimensional without Evans, particularly in a potential letdown spot against Atlanta before their bye week. Brandon Cooks and Christian Kirk are not a sufficient replacement duo.
Insight pageRashee Rice
NegativeInjury28:48
Rice is not expected to play for Kansas City in Week 7 against Seattle; the source states 'Doesn't look like we're going to see Rasheed Rice again for Kansas City' and later confirms 'Rasheed Rice not practicing after like the bye week and last week' with no expectation he will play, leaving the Chiefs without key receiving options.
Insight pageSam LaPorta
PositiveRole11:51
Sam LaPorta publicly stated on Barstool's Pardon My Take that the Lions are "not showing him the love" and that he is "cool playing elsewhere," saying "in three months, if I don't get to wear the Honolulu blue and play for the Lions anymore, it's going to be all good. I'll go get paid somewhere else." This in-season contract dispute signals a potential breakup and suggests LaPorta may not accept a re-signing discount if he leaves the team.
Insight pageSaquon Barkley
NegativeProjection5:51
Saquon Barkley is expected to return to practice and play against the Cowboys in Week 7, but the source expresses significant concern about his fantasy value given the Eagles' offensive line deterioration (from best in league to one of worst), new quarterback Tanner McKee, and banged-up wide receiver core; the source worries Barkley will "get smothered" and questions whether bringing him back this week is wise, suggesting there is more to lose than gain.
Insight pagePositiveRole37:00
Barkley is 'lining up' to play for the Eagles against Dallas; the source indicates he is healthy and expected to be available in a divisional matchup where the Eagles are trying to break a four-game losing streak.
Insight pageTanner McKee
NegativeRole37:00
McKee will start for the Eagles against Dallas; the source notes he 'is going to be the quarterback' and mentions some analysts are 'touting McKee a little bit and him being with the team and knowing the offense,' though the source expresses skepticism about his ability to elevate the Eagles' struggling offense.
Insight pageNegativeProjection39:12
The source expresses skepticism about McKee's ability to succeed against Dallas despite his familiarity with the Eagles offense. The concern centers on the Eagles' significantly weakened offensive line compared to prior years—without Jason Kelsey and Lane Johnson, the source doubts McKee can perform effectively. The matchup against Dallas's improved defensive performance (which nearly beat Green Bay) compounds the concern, making the source "not sure that Philly can win this."
Insight pageZach Charbonnet
NegativeRole31:00
Charbonnet is returning to the Seahawks lineup this week against Kansas City; the source notes 'It'll be interesting to see what kind of workload he handles' as he comes back from injury, with Kenneth Walker's heavy usage potentially limiting his opportunities.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human. Cash! Only on Underdog.
0:03Unleash your dog. 18 plus terms apply. Top Grails are extremely rare.
0:07What's up friends and welcome into the tailgate. I'm Chris Welsh.
0:10No Andrew Erickson this week. He got kicked out of the tailgate.
0:13He's gotta get out of here. He's actually over on Betting Pros hanging with some of our friends.
0:19So jumping in for our dear friend Andrew Erickson is Alfredo Brown.
0:22We've got Pat Fitzmaurice and we are talking about all the things under the sun for the NFL.
0:27We've got some of the big games. What are the games that matter most?
0:31We're gonna be breaking some of those down. We're obviously always making the calls.
0:35We've got things to watch and a little bit of news, but Alfredo jumping in.
0:40Alfredo, you've been doing a bunch of the tailgates.
0:42You are a regular in the tailgate as we create our big tailgate group that people can come and hang out with us in before games.
0:50Yeah, man, I haven't been to a real tailgate in years.
0:53So it's kind of nice to come to like one of these.
0:57There's not as much sun poisoning and, you know, the food choices are a little bit healthier because I'm doing this from home.
1:03But yeah, man, it's been great to be a part of it.
1:07It might be blasphemous. I don't know if I've ever actually like that.
1:11I did a tailgate when I worked in radio a long time ago.
1:14I worked the it was one like the Fiesta Bowl out here in Arizona.
1:18I might have been a part of it. I've never really gone and done a tailgate.
1:23I'm going to go out on a limb. Fitzy seemed like the person that might frequent a tailgate or two a week.
1:29Yeah, I mean, I'm from Wisconsin. And well, sure.
1:32Your wife is from Wisconsin, not that far from Green Bay.
1:35So this is a major it's a hole in your resume, my friend, that you have not been to a real tailgate
1:42to drink beer and eat sausage before a sporting event.
1:45My only tailgate is this tailgate, though I do the Arizona Fall League, you know, 200 people going to these like minor league baseball games.
1:52And the other day I saw people tailgating out at that two hours before.
1:56And I was just like, this is dedicated. This is love of the game.
2:00This is love of the tailgate to do it when you're going to go hang out with one hundred and fifty other people.
2:07And you account for like two percent of the audience that you're out there.
2:11I can appreciate that. But I don't have a tailgate in me.
2:14Yeah, we went to I went to FIU in Miami.
2:17And our problem was that everyone went to the tailgates, but no one went to the actual games.
2:22So much so they actually had to outlaw the tailgating because all the college kids were getting way too rowdy at the
2:29tailgates, never showing up to the games. And they thought that would force the students to go to the games.
2:35Nope. They just partied elsewhere. Well, we'll see how rowdy we get here through the rest of this one.
2:40Prepping you guys for all the games. Let's jump into some news.
2:44Thank you guys for hanging out with us as always.
2:46And there's there's just a litany of weird news across the board.
2:50And it starts with actually a little bit of NFL based stuff.
2:53The Giants have made a quarterback change. It is no longer James Winston.
2:57J.J. McCarthy, after being treated, didn't take long. Thought it might have taken a little bit longer.
3:02Did not take long. James Winston and J.J. McCarthy had that second half.
3:06He looked pretty good. And he is now going to be the QB one versus the Texans.
3:11Pat, your expectations. I'm a little bit hesitant. Texans defense.
3:14You know, they haven't been what we've known of them in the past, but they have definitely kind of found themselves a tiny bit more as of recent.
3:22J.J. McCarthy. Is he up to the task to take this Giants offense and move them forward through the rest of the year?
3:29I'm inherently skeptical. I don't want to be because I like a good redemption story.
3:33And this would be a great redemption story. And it would also be kind of fun to see what the Giants would do at quarterback next year.
3:41If J.J. McCarthy played well over the balance of the season and then Jackson Dart comes back from his injury.
3:47And all of a sudden, the Giants have two promising young quarterbacks.
3:50So I'm hoping it goes well. But man, you know, the Texans defense, which is underachieved through the first six weeks of
3:57the season, they're going to show up one of these weeks and just bring it.
4:01And I worry that it's going to be against J.J.
4:04McCarthy in his 2026 starting debut. Yeah, they just bring the house, just go all out.
4:08Alfredo, any thoughts on what this does for the offense as a whole?
4:12Like, you know, can he do some of the things?
4:15I mean, some of the things that James Winston does, only James Winston can do.
4:19There's a McCarthy-ness that vibes a little bit differently.
4:22But like, how do you think the offense is going to work?
4:26Are you concerned about any player? Maybe an Isaiah likely disappearing a little bit more.
4:30Can neighbors continuously get the targets that he does?
4:33How do you see this vibing with McCarthy or QB?
4:35Yeah, I think both those guys still get their targets neighbors and likely just as a head coach, it would be.
4:42I mean, granted, they've already done some irresponsible stuff, but it would be so irresponsible to go away from those guys and
4:48not have play calls designed for them. What Jim Harbaugh has actually talked about, though, is that now they do have the
4:54opportunity to go back to some of the RPO stuff that they designed for Jackson Dart and they were trying to utilize
5:01early in the year, made the offense simple, made the offense efficient.
5:04And then they kind of went to this heavy volume based, less efficient offense that you naturally get with James Winston.
5:10So we might be going back to a more efficient and just RPO based rushing offense that we could see with with J.J.
5:17McCarthy here. Does that mean that we're going to see less targets for these guys?
5:21No. But I think it has an interesting wrinkle here because the Texans have been good against average to bad quarterbacks and then struggled against the good quarterbacks.
5:29This is going to be one of the first times where it's like there's not a whole lot of film on what J.J.
5:36McCarthy is doing in this offense that they can utilize for this week.
5:40So I think that's going to be an interesting wrinkle.
5:43The Philadelphia Eagles have not had a lot of good news as of recent.
5:47It's actually been bad, stacked on top of bad and then filed under bad.
5:51One piece of good news that did come out as of today as we're recording is Saquon Barkley has returned to practice
5:57and NFL Network's Mike Graffalo had reported that Saquon is expected or is at least in line to be playing against the Cowboys.
6:04So this is big news for that offense. Fantasy football perspective, that's solid.
6:08But with a new quarterback and a banged up wide receiver core, Alfredo, where do you think Saquon is going to be
6:14able to either open this up for McKee? Do you think is this is going to be a big struggle?
6:20I mean, this return is great, but what is he returning to?
6:24Yeah, I mean, that's a tough question, right? Is the offensive line going to be able to hold up?
6:29Tanner McKee proved last week that he's not totally incapable of handling the offense, and he's done it before, too.
6:35This is a really good game for them to try to get everything together and work those kinks out going up against
6:41the Dallas defense, who has just been surrendering points left and right, whether it's on the ground or through the air.
6:47So having Devontae Smith back, having Saquon Barkley back, having Tanner McKee be able to get his feet wet last week.
6:53I think we're looking at this is going to be that pivotal point for the Eagles here.
6:58Either they get it together this week or all those rumors about Saquon Barkley getting traded might become real.
7:04And you have to start wondering, do the Eagles start a fire sale if they lose this week?
7:09Because then you are just so far behind in the division and the season is over.
7:14Yeah, Pat Fitzmaurice was bringing up the whole Minnesota and Barkley thing, and I was just like, you know, I got to move Barkley.
7:21I can't just can't imagine it's going to happen.
7:23But that's kind of the that's the line that the Eagles are sitting on right now.
7:28It's like they're going to have to make that move.
7:31And I don't know if that move. I've speculated as well, like we haven't seen the trade market go out.
7:37I kind of think them going and picking up a guy like a Jacoby Brissett from the from the Cardinals would make
7:43some sense of just a guy that can sling the ball and move the offense if they want to compete.
7:49But they might be too far gone. So what is Saquon Barkley?
7:52What offense? What type of offense is Saquon Barkley returning to with the Eagles?
7:57A terrible one, which is why I wonder if it's wise to bring him back this week.
8:01And so Alfredo just used the word fire sale.
8:04The thing is, I don't know if it could be a true fire sale because I don't know how many great sellable
8:10assets the Eagles have, like older veterans who aren't really a part of the future.
8:15I don't think they're a ton on defense. I think Barkley is kind of the clear one guy and bringing him back
8:21to run behind this like completely different, torn down.
8:24I mean, this offensive line has gone from the best in the league a couple of years ago to now it's one
8:30of the worst of the league in the league as currently constructed.
8:34And he's going to look bad and no one has to honor Tyler McKee and you can cheat up your safeties and
8:40it's going to feel like a really constricted offense.
8:43And I fully expect Saquon to get smothered. So why are you destroying his value?
8:47Like it's, it's not like the Colts where the Colts, if they want to have a fire sale, sure.
8:53They've got all these older veterans. I mean, they're probably not going to deal sauce Gardner for pennies on the dollar after
8:59mortgaging their future for him, but they can sell Quentin Nelson.
9:02They can sell. Why am I blanking on some of these sellable assets for them?
9:07Well, on offense, I mean, if they really wanted to, they could move some of the receivers if they want.
9:12You know, it's funny that you guys, you guys are both using the fire sale term, but it's like, do you ever
9:19recall an NFL team actually going into fire sale?
9:21You know what I mean? Like fire sale is like two pieces being traded in the NFL.
9:26Yeah. Well, yeah. Like, yeah, I guess that's true.
9:29Like in an off season, you might see some versions of it.
9:32Have we ever seen an in-season fire sale that you can really recall?
9:36Baseball will have it a bit more. Have it NFL NFL is always lacked in struggled and, you know, been behind in the trade market.
9:43So what a fire sale would look like is just trading one to two.
9:48I mean, alone trading your biggest piece in Saquon Barkley.
9:50But what does the market look like? Right. Where is the value?
9:54And to your point, Pat, like if he goes in and he just gets slammed, you know, all weekend long because the
10:00offensive line is bad and, you know, they're not cheating or they are cheating on McKee because they're like, let him beat us type of thing.
10:08It is a really weird situation. And all of those guys are banged up, by the way.
10:13Like, should Saquon even be back? Should Devonta Smith have just banged up every single outing?
10:17So it's a bad time. It's a bad time for Philly fans.
10:21Bad time for Eagle fans. Oh, yeah. Go ahead.
10:24I was just going to say other the other Colts.
10:26I was thinking of DeForest Buckner, who I think would be valuable.
10:30And I'd love to have him on the Green Bay Packers.
10:33Probably love to try to bring him back. A lot of people and Jonathan Taylor.
10:37So maybe you're competing against the Colts in the market for teams looking to acquire a very good veteran running back.
10:44I just I think there's more to lose by playing Saquon Barkley this week than there is for the Eagles to gain.
10:50So it seems like maybe bringing him back. I know if I were Howie Roseman, I'd maybe be asking Nick Sirianni not to activate Saquon this week.
10:58Maybe there are a lot of other looming things just to kind of throw out to you.
11:03Michael Florida said looming injury pieces as Wednesday and Thursday practices are going on.
11:07Matt LaFloride said that there's no concerns about Christian Watson's ankle ahead of this week seven game.
11:12If that's something that had been out there for you.
11:15Jordan Mason practicing in full, looking to go be good for week seven.
11:18Brock Bowers got into some practices. So, you know, some of the names that might have been floating around small one, Christian
11:25Kirk, who might be the 49ers number one wide receiver with Mike Evans, who's obviously not out there right now.
11:31There's a lot of looming practice pieces, if that's on your mind.
11:34Only other thing I wanted to hit in the news before we jump into some of the big games this week.
11:40Really interesting. Again, there were a bunch of these like outside of football type of things that were going on.
11:46This one really stood out to me. I don't know if you guys saw this, but Sam Laporta openly in season kind
11:52of getting into it with the Lions. He did this on Barstool's Pardon My Take, number one podcast on the planet, Barstool's
11:59Pardon My Take podcast, where he said that the team is, quote, not showing him the love and that he's cool playing elsewhere.
12:06The quote was, I'm going to continue to do my thing and ball out.
12:10And in three months, if I don't get to wear the Honolulu blue and play for the Lions anymore, it's going to be all good.
12:17I'll go get paid somewhere else. So whatever. Really something we just don't see week six or week seven of the NFL
12:23for a player of the stature, Fitzy. Just want to get your take on this.
12:28However you think this manifests with the team. Obviously, it seems like, you know, a breakup is in store here for the future.
12:34But do you recall seeing stuff like this, especially the contractual stuff of a player playing happening in?
12:40It's a new world. You know, podcasts are out there and this stuff is happening at like a harder degree.
12:45But you recall seeing something like this? And do you think we're going to see any effects on field?
12:51I don't think I've seen it in a podcast appearance like that.
12:54I've seen quotes from players who maybe seemed a little salty about not being renegotiated in season.
12:59And I know a lot of teams do not like to negotiate in season and set deadlines at certain days in training
13:06camp or shortly before the start of the season.
13:08But yeah, Laporta, even though the tone seemed amicable on the podcast, he did seem salty.
13:13And if something doesn't get worked out, I would not be surprised if he, you know, was not willing to give the
13:19Lions a re-signing discount to reacquire his services. This is the new stuff, Alfredo.
13:23This is like it used to be, you know, like a no one speaks of it.
13:28Everyone pretends just like, you know, hey, ask the question and they go, I'm just taking it one day at a time.
13:34And, you know, like those days are gone. And it's now players have podcasts.
13:39Guys are doing it again, not to turn it back to baseball.
13:42Mookie Betts has a podcast for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
13:45He does in season every single week where they bring on players.
13:48Like these things are going to happen, NFL players to a really high degree.
13:52They former players have podcasts through the roof and we're just going to have more and more players coming out and more
13:59and more players feeling comfortable to kind of, you know, take stabs like this.
14:03Yeah. And how much of it also, too, is just your negotiating tactic?
14:07Like your agent says like, oh, you're going on the pod for sure.
14:10Don't worry. I already saw the questions. They're going to ask you about the contract.
14:15Give the Lions a little scare, you know, go on there and say you're cool with whatever happens, because even if they
14:21don't want to negotiate now in the regular season, you go and you give an extension to Jack Campbell and Jameer Gibbs
14:28in the offseason this past year, which I don't remember if they're the same draft class, but similar draft classes.
14:33Man, I think it's actually a decent move from Sam Laporte here to bring it up.
14:38And I know that Lions fans are saying, no, just focus on the games.
14:42But at the same time, like we see these guys are always one game away from not having a career.
14:48So to do what you can to ensure that you get your money, I am always pro players getting their money.
14:54So as long as you don't do something that's damaging to the team, I think what he said is totally fine.
15:00You know, it's actually it's a little similar. It's obviously different in the way you're going to understand, but it's kind of
15:07like the Joe Buck, Troy Aikman thing that's going on right now.
15:10If everyone's seen where, you know, like there's now you know that there has to be a camp of Troy Aikman's people
15:16that are leaking a lot of this stuff of the fights and the arguments that are going on because Joe Buck got the hundred plus million dollar deal.
15:25He's saying, you know, and Aikman apparently saying, hey, you screwed me over.
15:28And now it's having to be publicly addressed. Like there's a lot of contractual stuff that's happening.
15:33Different situation with, by the way, hundred million dollars.
15:36Incredible what some of these primetime game announcers are getting right now.
15:39But a lot of contractual stuff in season. Thought that was interesting.
15:43Thought we would hit that. More interesting, the big games, your guys's take on where we're going to be going.
15:49We've got the lines. We've got all your guys's breakdowns.
15:52Before we do that, though, I want to tell you guys about Polymarket.
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16:30Big games. The games that matter. We've got five games that we are going to be hitting on in this one.
16:36And let's start over in the north. Cincinnati and Baltimore.
16:39Lamar Jackson is probably going to determine how exciting this game is truly going to be, but it doesn't matter.
16:45It's still an important game here. Cincinnati currently, probably because of the Lamar question on the injury, is currently a one and a half point road favorite.
16:53Total 48 and a half. Alfredo, let's start with you.
16:56Keys to the game on this one. You know, can Baltimore take this game away from Cincinnati as a home game if Lamar Jackson is not under center?
17:04I mean, we've seen it where Snoop Huntley can play well enough that the Ravens can win games.
17:09But I think it's more about the Ravens defense here than the Ravens offense, if anything.
17:14Like, can the Ravens defense hold back Joe Burrow and these receivers who got a week to hang out and plan and
17:20get ready and get fresh for this game? That's that's the biggest thing to me is like the secondary for the Ravens has been inconsistent at times.
17:28They've had these moments where they're getting takeaways and turnovers and then other times where their secondary has just not been great
17:34and been the liability of the defense. So can they do well enough against these receivers?
17:39That's gonna be the matchup to look for here.
17:41They are one of only two divisions, by the way, the AFC North that every team is over 500.
17:47I didn't realize that Bengals three and two. Everybody else is four into the only other is the NFC North.
17:53So the North rules the way here where every team in the North in the NFC Vikings are five and oh and
17:59the bottom Detroit, which kind of hilarious and ridiculous seeing Detroit at the bottom again with how good that team can be.
18:06Both divisions over 500 as far as record goes.
18:08Fitzy, where do you think you're heading on this one?
18:11Again, Cincinnati, a little bit of a road favorite, really tied to Lamar Jackson.
18:15Where do you think Cincinnati fits in this? And, you know, I just want to throw this one.
18:20It's a little bit of a fantasy perspective. You think we can is this a do or die critical Chase Brown matchup?
18:27Like the Chase Brown stuff has been just really odd with this team.
18:31They need to find themselves. And I know there's a couple people out there that are feeling like if it doesn't happen
18:37here, like when is this going to happen? So, yeah, on the Chase Brown angle.
18:41On one hand, I want to sort of like preach patience with Chase Brown because of the Bengals first five opponents, I
18:48think four of them are top eight in DVOA against the run.
18:51So he has had a murderous row of run defenses that he has faced so far.
18:56Not surprised that the production hasn't been great. On the other hand, I do worry.
19:00I think there was some talk about maybe the Bengals thinking that they got a little more from Samaj P.
19:06Ryan in shotgun. Like they think he's a better runner out of shotgun.
19:10And the Bengals had wanted to do more under center stuff on offense this year.
19:14But it seems like they are sort of scrapping that in real time.
19:18Like Joe Burrow's like, nah, I like shotgun. And they're going to more shotgun.
19:22So maybe that is kind of worrisome for Chase Brown.
19:25Just to piggyback on what Alfredo was saying about the receivers against Baltimore, the Bengals receivers, Jamar Chase T.
19:30Higgins. Jamar Chase has tortured the Baltimore Ravens over his career.
19:34He has 1,204 career receiving yards against Baltimore. The next highest receiving yardage total he has against any team, 785 yards against Pittsburgh.
19:40So Jamar Chase just always brings it against the Ravens.
19:43And I'm sure they dread seeing him. Ravens fans probably not excited to see Jamar Chase.
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20:12Top grails are extremely rare. Hey everybody, it's me, W.
20:15Kamau Bell. This season of my podcast who's with me, I speak with two-time Emmy winner and weirdly one of my best friends, Kevin Avery.
20:22Everything up to that point, Bill Jew is a comic.
20:25Us going on the road, doing Battle Mountain and Ely and all this shit.
20:29You were one of the first people who took me on the road, which is funny because at the time I was
20:35like, I don't know if I like this guy.
20:38With rapper, actor, Daveed Dix. The jump off for me was Hamilton and it was the most popular thing in a very long time.
20:45Yeah. But it was still, for me, it was me and my friends making something dumb.
20:50Bruce Lee's daughter and Brandon Lee's sister, Shannon Lee.
20:52Back to your initial point of stewarding my father's legacy and giving my energy to that.
20:57You're lending your life to stewarding somebody else's life.
21:00Listen to Who's With Me with W. Kamau Bell on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
21:06Hey everybody, I'm Chuck Bryan of the Stuff You Should Know podcast.
21:09And I'm Adam Pranica of The Greatest Generation and Greatest Trek.
21:12We decided to start a golf comedy podcast because we're both big golf lovers and we wanted to spread that joy and it's called Three Putt Bogey.
21:20It's coming from the perspective of golfers who are sometimes good enough to hit two great shots in a row, but almost never good enough to hit three.
21:28And a three putt bogey is kind of the purest expression of that.
21:32Every golfer knows what that's like. Obviously, we're going to talk a lot about the game of golf, how absurd it is
21:39and how fun it is and how vexing and frustrating.
21:41But more than anything, just how much we love the greatest game in the world.
21:46We love it anyway. We're putting these out every Friday morning for your weekend golf routine.
21:50This is a show about sharing our experiences on the golf course and how absurd and funny they can be.
21:56And that's what Three Putt Bogey is. It's Three Putt Bogey, everybody, out every Friday.
22:01You can listen to it now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
22:06Another funny thing about this division, I was just looking here.
22:09This is the only division that three of the four teams have a positive point scored versus differential, except for the top
22:15team in the division, which is a negative points score differential versus the Browns.
22:19Yeah, this is why the whole division is weird.
22:22Browns sit at the top. They've got a negative 16 point differential against what they've given up.
22:27And then everybody else is positive. And I mean, by the way, in the NFC North, again, there's weird correlations to the
22:33North, which we're actually going to talk about in a second.
22:37Every single team has scored more points than given up.
22:40So there is something brewing in the North. And that takes us to the next game.
22:44Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions in the Ford Coors field of football matchups here.
22:49Detroit is a three point home favorite. The line is big.
22:52It's 53 and a half more points to be scored.
22:55Fitzy, this is your team, your Green Bay Packers.
22:58Looks like they are going to be returning with Josh Jacobs.
23:01That whole situation, very muddy. Christian Watson has mentioned before that they don't have any expectation.
23:05The ankle is going to be a problem. He is out there and the Lions are coming off of a bye.
23:12And Erickson gets to continue his Jameer Gibbs running touchdown rollover here.
23:15So lots of points to be scored. Everybody in that division, as I just mentioned, is scoring more than they're giving up.
23:21Talk to me about Green Bay versus Detroit. What do you think about the spread, the Lions, and what are the keys to this game?
23:29More interesting game than I thought it was going to be a few weeks ago when the Packers got trucked by the Falcons on a Thursday night.
23:36And I pretty much thought it was wave the white flag time for the Packers in 2026.
23:41But since then, they've gotten back on their feet.
23:44The defense is actually playing well by a number of metrics.
23:47The Packers' pass defense has been just behind the Vikings and Seahawks on the short list of the better pass defenses in the league.
23:54Now they get Josh Jacobs back to potentially uplift a running game that currently ranks 32nd in DVOA.
23:59And I know the offensive line is ranked dead last in adjusted line yards, a run blocking metric.
24:05So maybe Jacobs helps that. And I think he gets probably a dozen or more carries right off the bat.
24:10Like he has not been allowed to practice with the team, but he has been allowed to be in the building, work
24:17out with the team, go to meetings. So he's probably going to come in pretty ready.
24:22You know, he's just a tough inside runner who's good at sometimes, you know, making he can do a lot with a
24:28little bit of space and he's not going to have more than a little bit of space with this offensive line.
24:34So I think he's the right guy for a bad offensive line.
24:38I think it's going to be a great game.
24:40I think the Vegas total on this is 53 and a half.
24:44If we are going to see pirate attack next, I'm looking forward to it.
24:48You got your scoring. Okay. Your scoring's in the Josh Jacobs situation, as far as on the field, on what he's going
24:54to be, I think it's been a really, like a really big discussion lining it over to the fantasy side, fantasy pros.
25:00He's already being ranked as like a top almost 15 running back for this week.
25:05So there's an expectation, Alfredo, that a lot of people think he's going to just jump right back into it.
25:11I'm kind of one of those. I think like, you know, he had been with the team in the preseason.
25:16He had rolled through. He knows the play. It's not like being traded to a new team.
25:21He just missed the weeks. I imagine he was training during that time.
25:25He had been around working out. So I think this is a situation you could also, if you want to speculate, you
25:32could say like, you know, the time might be short with, with him.
25:35There's more things that could happen. But bottom line is, is that like, I don't know what the narrative is, why they
25:42would baby him with how bad that running back core is.
25:45I kind of think that he's going like when he's out there, he's going to get touches.
25:50And I wouldn't be surprised if it's 15 plus and he's involved in the receiving game.
25:55But what do you think, Alfredo, about what Josh Jacobs usage looks like back with the Green Bay Packers and then how
26:01this game is going to play out? Yeah, I think the reason that they that they could and likely would, I don't
26:07want to say baby him, but ease him back into the offense is one.
26:11Like you mentioned there, it's the practice thing that he was fully practicing back in June.
26:16And then since then, he's been off the practice field and just having to train off on his own and train off on the side.
26:23That is so different from training on your own to being an actual football shape and being on the field and being
26:30able to take the hits and run over and over and over and over.
26:34Plus, this kind of game, too. Are we looking at a more pass heavy game script where Jacobs caught the ball well in college?
26:41We didn't we haven't it hasn't always been thought of as the receiving back here.
26:45And Pierre Strong was a guy who did well last week for them in the receiving game.
26:50So I think what the Packers also likely try to do here is say, OK, let's ramp him up little by little as we keep going.
26:58We're playing well enough now that we actually want to have Jacobs fresh and still good to go once we get closer to the NFL playoffs.
27:05It's funny, Pat, that you said 12 carries because I put the line yesterday at 12 and a half with Erickson on how many carries that he gets.
27:13And I think we're pretty much in lockstep. And whilst you said about 15 carries, like I think that's also very much
27:20on the table to like getting him anywhere from 12 to 15 carries, I think is probably the max at that 15.
27:26But I can't imagine them loading him with close to 20 plus touches and giving us the Josh Jacobs of old.
27:32Yeah, and I think I'm like in the 15 touch range.
27:35I will say, though, you were talking about June, though.
27:38He was put on the exemplus in August 30th and, you know, he did know this team.
27:43So like that's the unknown that we're dealing with with him.
27:46It's like that period of time that's missed. You're talking about shape like he was in NFL shape.
27:52He was in football shape. And then that had to be put on hold for what has been an extended period of time since August 30th.
27:59But has he been able to maintain that? And those are the questions that will be answered.
28:04I don't really know if it's going to play the biggest role in the Packers being able to win this game because
28:10they've done a great job of slinging the ball.
28:13You got two wide receivers that are, you know, from a fantasy rank perspective, they look like Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins.
28:20And what I mean by that is two wide receivers that are what?
28:23In the top 12. Marcus Golden is a top 10 guy this week.
28:27Christian Watson. They can sling the ball. And you're going to be able to sling the ball against Detroit.
28:33It's going to be a great firefight. I'm very much looking forward to this game.
28:37Next game up, Kansas City Chiefs and the Seattle Seahawks.
28:40Seahawks are a two and a half point home favorite.
28:4342 and a half is the line. So not a ton of points, not a bunch of points in this one.
28:49Alfredo, Seahawks, Sam Darnold looking a little bit of rough.
28:52Doesn't look like we're going to see Rasheed Rice again for Kansas City.
28:56So they're without just a tiny bit. Lack of points kind of just jumps out here.
29:00But do you think Kansas City can go into Seattle and make this a game?
29:05The Kansas City Kenneth Walkers can. Yeah, I think they'll have to make it a game.
29:09Revenge game. Yeah, man. Like that's and honestly, is it me or do you feel like Andy Reid is that kind of
29:16guy that he's putting a little extra focus on that this week for Ken Walker?
29:20Like he 100 percent, you know, they sit and have conversations and like he wants to support his players in having revenge narratives, which I love about him.
29:28And Andy Reid is every old guy that just bought a new car and he wants to go show all his friends.
29:34That's what Ken Walker. Ken Walker is a Ferrari that they've been driving around all season.
29:39And now he's going to go take it back over to the people that just said, like, now we don't want to buy that Ferrari.
29:46He's like, look at how awesome it is. He's Ken Walker.
29:50I mean, if he doesn't get 25 touches in this game, probably another two touchdown performance.
29:54I know it's crazy because it's against such a good defense, man.
29:58But being back in Seattle, I think we're going to see a lot of fun force feeding of Ken Walker here.
30:04And plus the Chiefs are coming right off a bye, if I'm not mistaken.
30:08Like they had a full extra week here to plan for this and and realize what life is like without some of their receivers.
30:15So, yeah, I do expect this to be a Ken Walker heavy game.
30:19The old old guy story is making me laugh.
30:21It's literally my grandfather many, many years ago. He'd been in retirement and his retirement car.
30:26He bought like a BMW like SUV. He was so proud of it.
30:30And he like made he made me drive it.
30:32He was like, get in. And we're driving it.
30:35And he's like, now punch it. And he wanted to drive fast and he wanted to show it off.
30:40That's 100 percent. Andy Reid. He is going to pedal to the metal with Ken Walker.
30:45I would expect we'll get one of those ridiculous 30 touch games.
30:49It's very funny. Fitzy, what do you think about this one?
30:52Revenge game with Ken Walker going back to Seattle.
30:54Seattle still a really tough defense. And Kansas City is still without some of those parts, though.
30:59So, again, Rashid Rice not practicing after like the bye week and last week.
31:03And, you know, having all of that, I don't have an expectation that he's going to play.
31:08So some of the receiving options are still just kind of banged up there.
31:12Which direction do you think this game is playing out?
31:15I feel like Seattle is going to take care of business at home.
31:19I could be wrong about that. The revenge game angle, as much as maybe there is a little incentive for Kenneth Walker.
31:25Seattle's run defense is really good. And you know Mike McDonald and the guys on that defense do not want to get trampled by Kenneth Walker coming back.
31:34So they're going to be pretty fired up, too.
31:36Sort of an interesting angle with the other running back situation.
31:39Seattle's with Zach Charbonnet coming back this week. It'll be interesting to see what kind of workload he handles.
31:45Kind of a cool angle, too, is Mike McDonald and Steve Spagnuolo.
31:48And I just heard an interview with Steve Spagnuolo on Sirius XM NFL Network where he was an intern for Mike McDonald
31:55was an intern for Steve Spagnuolo with the Ravens when Spags was their defensive coordinator in like 2013, 2014.
32:00And McDonald loves Spagnuolo, like big influence on him and his career, said that Spags could not have been nicer to him,
32:07told a story about how it was one of the bye weeks and Spags like McDonald had no plans to like leave
32:13the team and Spags handed him his credit card.
32:16He's like, go book yourself a flight home, kid.
32:18Like, go home. And so, yeah, that's just it'll be cool to see those guys defensively doing their thing.
32:24And I think this could be kind of a rock fight, actually.
32:27I think the defenses maybe carry the day in this one.
32:31So you like the you like the under if we were if we were tailing that.
32:35I think so. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think as much as they want, this game would try to be played on
32:42the ground, you know, until the Seahawks have to start getting into JSN, which will be, you know, often next game up here, Rams Raiders.
32:49This I think there's a lot of potential storylines floating around this one.
32:53The two and four Raiders going or two and four Rams going up against the three and three Raiders.
32:58The Rams are reeling. They can't keep this pace, especially the Dodgers of the football world are supposed to have all the defensive pieces.
33:05They're now out. Devontae Adams, who's going to be at a significant amount of time, don't have Ferguson.
33:10They really have a limited amount of pieces. They haven't leaned on especially like a Blake Corum.
33:15They've had the backs, but we haven't seen like the insane usage to both of those guys.
33:20And they're two and four at this point. Go against a Raiders team that I think on one hand is, you know,
33:27they've overperformed in a lot of spots. But on the other, there's still a lot of chatter around.
33:32You know, if if Cousins kind of brings this back down that we could see Mendoza here in the near future, even
33:38though they're a 500 team, they lose this game.
33:41Rams take it over. Or is there a chance we could see Mendoza in the future?
33:46That's a question we could ask Fitzy. Why don't you talk to us about the Rams and the Raiders?
33:51I think we're on Mendoza watch. We are on Mendoza watch.
33:54Yeah, they've they've lost three straight games. And I don't think there's any pretense about the Raiders being a playoff team this year.
34:01It's kind of a rebuild. So eventually they're going to want to audition Fernando Mendoza.
34:05And I think for the Raiders, this entire season is getting Fernando Mendoza ready for 2027, getting his feet wet, having him
34:12get accustomed to running Clint Kubiak's offense. That's what it's about for them.
34:15But yeah, the Rams are in a tight spot here.
34:18And I wonder if they just Sean McVay has been leaning into 13 personnel usage.
34:23I wouldn't be surprised if we saw the Rams use 13 personnel on more than half of their offensive snaps this week.
34:29And maybe we see some of Kanata Mumfield and Jordan Whittington and these young wide receivers.
34:34Or maybe they just totally lean into Tyler Higbee, Colby Parkinson, Davis Allen.
34:38And we see Rams tight ends combined for like 15 catches and 140 yards.
34:42Alfredo, these two teams are combining for five straight losses.
34:44The Raiders have lost three straight. The Rams have lost two straight.
34:48The Rams offense is going to look a little bit different.
34:51You worry about one dimensional and they just haven't found the pieces to cohesively get their offense rolling.
34:56Do you think they're going to be able to break?
34:59I mean, one of these teams is going to have to get a win, unfortunately.
35:04I guess like a tie. I shouldn't say that.
35:06But like one of these is going to break this.
35:09Are the Rams going to break this skid on the road against the Raiders?
35:13I mean, you'd have to think that the Rams can, especially against this Raiders secondary here.
35:18But I mean, we've seen a very inconsistent Matt Stafford, almost to the point that Rams fans who just earlier in the
35:24year were upset about the NFL draft and wanted Makai Lemon instead of Ty Simpson have been saying, is it Ty Simpson time?
35:31It's crazy. Guys like, really? We were we're just we're less than a year removed from him being crowned as NFL MVP.
35:37I think we let's just give the guy some time as well here.
35:41I mean, players go through slumps. Teams go through rough patches.
35:44Sean McVay is not throwing in the towel anytime soon.
35:47I think it would take another four or five losses for the Rams to be like, OK, let's get Ty Simpson some snaps.
35:54And even then, I just don't think at any point you're benching Matt Stafford with the way this team is built here.
36:00For the Raiders, man, I think everything's on the table at this point.
36:04They keep losing games. Not only is it Fernando Mendoza watch.
36:07I think you're on Mike Washington Jr. watch. You're on a little bit of everybody watch here.
36:12The Ashton Jintzy continues to go out there and just look really ineffective running the ball.
36:17I know the injuries have been piling up, and that's another thing where it's just kind of like, oh, well, everyone's playing hurt.
36:24Ashton's given his best. Well, at some point, do we just start to see more of these guys that are healthy and are producing?
36:31Interesting. Final game up here. We go to the east.
36:33The only division in all of the NFL where every single team is on a losing streak is the NFC East.
36:40Every single one of them are there are two losses.
36:42You know, their first losses for what was it?
36:45I just went away from it. It was the Commanders and Giants both lost.
36:49Eagles are on a four game losing streak. Cowboys are on a one game losing streak.
36:54Cowboys are going to Philly. They're a four and a half point road favorite.
36:5844 and a half is the line. We kind of set the stage a little bit for this.
37:03Obviously, Tanner McKee is going to be the quarterback.
37:06Looks like Saquon Barkley is lining up. Dallas is out for blood.
37:09Alfredo, talk to us about Dallas. I mean, obviously, someone's going to break this spot here, this bad losing streak.
37:15If the Cowboys win, they can jump the Eagles.
37:18There's only one team in this entire division, which there's another crazy one that's over 500, and that's the Giants.
37:23So there's no team. Neither one of these teams are going to be able to jump up and be a 500 team.
37:30But is Dallas going to be out for blood?
37:32And are the Eagles fans going to be in a really bad spot after Monday Night Football?
37:37Man, I think I'm one of the few people here that actually really believe in the Eagles in this game.
37:43This is sort of the very stoppable force meeting the also movable object, I guess, at this point.
37:48Jerry Jones has been talking about the Dallas Cowboys defense.
37:51We talked about this yesterday with Eric says, I can fix this.
37:55It's OK. Well, how many more players are you going to trade for?
37:59On paper, the Cowboys already have this defense that looks stacked, and they simply can't do anything with it.
38:04On offense, it's the same thing. And their biggest problem has been on offense.
38:08They have totally changed their identity from what they were last year.
38:12Yeah, they're still passing the ball plenty, but they're now last in run rate percentage with Javante Williams there.
38:17They've totally flip-flopped in how they're using motion, how they're using play action, going from under center to shotgun.
38:23They undid everything that was working for them last year.
38:26It's kind of like 22 Jump Street, if you've ever seen that, where they're like, oh, it's almost as if people believe
38:32if you just do the same thing again, it'll work.
38:35It's like, yeah, you actually can. Just do it again.
38:38It'll work. And they're just not. Well, the Eagles defense, they've had their ups and downs.
38:42They're a better defense than I think they're getting credit for right now as a team because of how much the team has struggled.
38:49If there's a game where I think the Eagles can get back on track, I do think it's this one against the Dallas Cowboys.
38:56I think I'm just going to say, I'm going to call for the upset here.
39:01Eagles win. Oh, baby. You got to save that for the make the big call.
39:05That's well, you have another really good one, but that's a good call to make there.
39:10You know, Fitzsie Bogman's kind of in this too.
39:12He was kind of touting McKee a little bit and him being with the team and knowing the offense.
39:18I feel like I'm a little bit more questionable there.
39:21But where do you sit on the Eagles making this a competitive game against Cowboys?
39:25I'm pretty questionable about McKee too. It's just that if it was the Eagles offensive line of old, I would feel better
39:32about it if there was, you know, Jason Kelsey up front and Lane Johnson were still playing and things were like they were a couple of years ago.
39:40So this is a much worse offensive line. So that's the side of the ball I'm anxious to see in sort of a perverse sort of way.
39:48Alfredo mentioned the resistible force versus the movable object.
39:50And that's kind of how it is the Philly offense against the Dallas defense.
39:54Although to the Cowboys credit, their defense did play well enough against the Packers on Sunday night to win that game if
40:01the Dallas offense had showed up, but it didn't.
40:03So I actually as bad as the Dallas defense has been, they might have a leg up against the Philly offense.
40:09And that's, I guess, where I'm not sure that Philly can win this, but I don't have immense confidence in Dallas either.
40:16So, man, we were show us the schedule on the eve of week one and circle this game.
40:21And we would be like, yeah, that's going to be a good one.
40:25And now it's like, now it's like, yeah, okay, let's see which of these teams has a pulse.
40:30Yeah. Well, I think the NFL is probably crying about this too.
40:33They were just like, well, all, you know, well-made plans looking at this and Tanner McKee is going to be the quarterback.
40:40But what do you guys think? You guys can drop comments below your picks for some of these big games and some
40:46of the keys we'd love to hear for you.
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41:38Let's make some calls for the week. Some big calls.
41:41Fitzy, you got to go bold or you got to go home.
41:44Give us your big call for the week. Man, as much as I want to believe in the J.J.
41:50McCarthy redemption story, I hate that he's going up against the Texans and the Texans are so due to play a good game defensively.
41:57I'm going to say J.J. McCarthy commits three turnovers against Houston.
42:00So he pulls a Jameis Winston. Basically, yeah. But maybe is he going to pull a Jameis Winston without the touchdowns?
42:06Because Jameis saves himself because he turns the ball over three or four times, but he's got three touchdowns.
42:12Is this going to be an empty Jameis game?
42:14I'm worried that it will be, yes. Alfredo, make a big call here.
42:18This one is very funny. Fitzy's going to laugh too because this was kind of – it's funny because you're filling in for Erickson.
42:25And it's kind of an Erickson one. But then when I called Erickson out on this on the rank show, he folded.
42:31But let's hear your big call for the week.
42:34Yeah, man. You said go bold or go home.
42:37I'm already at home, so I'm going bold. Bo Nix throwing two touchdowns against the Arizona Cardinals here.
42:42And I don't even feel like it's all that bold.
42:45I know Nix has been bad. I've been watching him and charting him and going through the film each week.
42:51But the Cardinals have allowed two or more touchdowns to quarterbacks in each of the last five weeks, including Jameis Winston, including Drew Locke.
42:58And you go and you look at the schedule for Bo Nix and who he's played.
43:02A lot of these teams are in the top five or top eight in fantasy points.
43:07The quarterback's allowed, meaning the least amount of points allowed to quarterbacks.
43:10And when Bo Nix just isn't going up against top five defense, he's streamable.
43:14I'm talking about in fantasy terms here. So Cardinals are allowing 21 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks.
43:20Bo Nix, on the fantasy side, he's my quarterback 17 this week.
43:23I think he's streamable if you need him. OK, that's what I was literally going to ask you.
43:28I was kind of hoping it would be a little bit more if it's he knows this because Erickson was talking up.
43:35He's kind of in the same vein where it was like this is also about Jalen Waddle because I'm so done with Jalen Waddle at this point.
43:43It's been just a whole bunch of nothing. But it was like, how can you be up on Waddle?
43:48And then we talk up Bo Nix and then Bo Nix is like QB 19 for the week.
43:5317. We're getting there. Do we think it to touchdown output is maybe a little bit closer to like a 15?
43:59Can I get you? Can I get you any higher, Alfredo?
44:03Sure, I can. I can be convinced to put him at quarterback 15.
44:06The problem for me with Bo Nix is we're not getting any of the rushing that we used to get.
44:12That ankle's still bothering him. So that's why I'm thinking maybe he throws two touchdowns here.
44:17But I don't know if he has the crazy boom performance that we've been waiting for.
44:22Can we put Alfredo on the spot? We did with Erickson and get Alfredo to promise us that Bo Nix looks like vintage John Elway on Sunday.
44:29Yes, exactly. How vintage? You mean the way he looks now because he's a vintage person or like?
44:35No, vintage early 80s John Elway. Yeah, no shot.
44:37No shot. Not doing it. I want Bo Nix if we had the graphic for it.
44:42Like the, you know, the yodeler in Price is Right where he's just going up and up and up.
44:47Like that's how I've been trying to push the rank of everybody talking about Bo Nix.
44:52I love it. All right. Mine is a bold one.
44:55Uh, I think that Cam Scadaboo is going to be thrown back into the driver's seat.
45:00And more than anything else, I think he's going to score a touchdown this week.
45:04It's bold only because he was a disappearing act last week.
45:07But I said this on a couple of shows.
45:10Because I actually think, and I could be completely wrong about this.
45:13I think Harbaugh is going to have respect for absolutely like whatever lies he wants to say that he threw Cam Scadaboo
45:20into the bus and they threw him in fumble jail and he was punished.
45:24You don't just accidentally forget about a guy like Cam Scadaboo for the team scheme.
45:28He was punished. But Cam Scadaboo took absolute accountability for it.
45:31He didn't cry. He didn't go on pardon my take and say how pissed off he is about John Harbaugh.
45:37He said he deserved it. And it was, he took accountability for it.
45:41I think John Harbaugh is going to give him the benefit of the doubt.
45:45And I think he's going to jump right back into it.
45:48And if this team, you know, if it's JJ McCarthy running around, hopefully not actually turning it over three or four times
45:55that Cam Scadaboo will be given opportunities again. Alfredo, you gave a pause here.
45:59Do you disagree? He gave a weird answer. He did.
46:02He did say that like I deserved it, but he also flat out said I was punished for what I did the
46:08week before, which is there's been a lot of weird verbiage in the past few weeks, but like players being punished, like
46:14Joe Brady kind of said a similar thing with James Cook.
46:17And like at some point there needs to be consequences.
46:20And there's been like this weird thing with running backs this year where they're just like, go to your room without any dinner.
46:27And then the running backs are all just like, well, I didn't eat, you know?
46:31And then next week they're back. I'm going to go tell mom.
46:35Yeah. Yeah. I mean, maybe that's the case. I just have a feeling that's actually a really good point is what's going
46:41to be more important, the accountability, or is he going to use a word that's going to piss Harbaugh back off again?
46:48I'm leaning on that. I think the accountability for it and saying like, that was my fault that Harbaugh is going to put him right back.
46:55I mean, they also cut Najee Harris when he tried to speak up, which by the way, don't say anything.
47:01I don't say any words, but I'm going to go with Cam Scadaboo back into the driver's seat, getting the primary RB
47:07role and score a touchdown this week against a Houston defense that is going to get better, but their defensive line has struggled this year.
47:15So this is a spot that they're going to be able to take advantage of.
47:19If you guys, by the way, are watching on YouTube, make sure to leave your favorite calls in the comments, hit the like button, subscribe to tailgate.
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47:44That's how you can find us at tailgate NFL.
47:46One final thing to watch for the weekend. Fitzy, what do we need to be paying attention to for week seven?
47:53Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions, Jordan Love and Jared Goff at the height of their powers, both playing magnificently this season.
47:59I think we are going to get the shootout.
48:02We were supposed to get last Sunday night with the Packers and Cowboys.
48:05We'll get it with Packers and Lions. I am.
48:08So 53 and a half. Got to say that it's going to get in play.
48:12Alfredo, what's one big thing you're watching for week seven?
48:15I'm so interested in Baker Mayfield potentially returning here for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
48:19Is he going to be good Baker by the time he gets back on the field?
48:24Or is he the one hand man that ends the Bucs season here?
48:28Because if you can't be able to throw the ball against the division opponent that's missing their two starting corners, then I
48:34don't know when you're going to be able to do it, man.
48:38And that's another team that if they lose again this week, I think they might just be calling it a season.
48:44Kind of a tricky one, too, because Emeka has the remember the fangled concussed foot.
48:48Yeah, the concussed foot. He's got a bunch. So we're not really sure where that's going to look.
48:53But if Baker comes back, that'll be big. Mine is a little bit Homer.
48:57I'm a 49ers fan. But I really think pay attention to the 49ers offense here without Mike Evans.
49:03And I want to throw this out to people, not just to talk about the Niners.
49:07But Mike Evans has completely opened up this offense to do something the 49ers have struggled with in many years.
49:13And that is converting consistent third downs and having wide open spots.
49:16They look unbeatable when he's out there because Purdy can go to Evans, check down to Kittle, go to Christian McCaffrey.
49:23It's a there are three pieces. There are three targets on the field at all times that are separating.
49:28When Mike Evans was off the field, the 49ers got back to some of the frustrating pieces I've seen them be in
49:34the past where they can't convert three and outs, throwing bad passes.
49:38The pass rushes in teams are being more aggressive.
49:41And if that is the case and Mike Evans is out, there might be a real I know we don't have letdown
49:47spots in the NFL like college football. This might be a letdown spot for the 49ers going to Atlanta and they've got a bye week next week.
49:55I'm very as a 49er personal fan. I'm very concerned about it because Mike Evans does a lot for this offense.
50:01They're going to get Christian Kirk back. But Brandon Cooks and Christian Kirk, this isn't 2020.
50:06That's not a really good piece here. So I worry the one dimensional side the 49ers could become and that could hurt
50:12some of the offensive pieces from a fantasy perspective.
50:15And they unfortunately might be going into a bye week with their first loss.
50:19But we'll have to watch that. But see how the 49ers run without Mike Evans.
50:23That's a big one. Whether it's Green Bay Detroit, whether it's what Baker Mayfield looks like or where the 49ers play without Mike Evans.
50:30Those are our things to watch. You guys can also drop in the comments below.
50:34What are you watching for this week? Thank you guys so much for hanging out with us for Alfredo Brown and Mr.
50:41Pat Fitzmaurice. I'm Chris Welsh. Thank you for hanging out with the tailgate.
50:45We'll talk to you next time. Bye, friends. Games on a break?
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