Rams' Melbourne Meltdown, Vintage 49ers, Big Mike Evans, and Podcast Rodgers Returns
STACKED extracted the fantasy-relevant player signal from this podcast and kept the full transcript here for context.
1 hr
Duration
Estimated from transcript
Sep 11, 2026
Published
Fri, September 11, 2026
20
Player insights
18
Players mentioned
Topics
Matthew StaffordSam DarnoldAaron RodgersBrock BowersBrock PurdyCeeDee LambChristian McCaffreyDavante AdamsDeebo SamuelDemarcus RobinsonDrake LondonDrew LockGeorge KittleGeorge Pickens
Player analysis
Player insights
Aaron Rodgers
PositiveProjection44:14
The source expects Aaron Rodgers to play well on Sunday, noting that he seems confident and feeling good heading into the matchup against the Falcons.
Insight pageBrock Bowers
NegativeInjury25:56
Brock Bowers is dealing with an injury that has kept him out of action, leading the source to pivot to his backup for fantasy betting purposes.
Insight pageBrock Purdy
PositiveProjection5:41
Purdy was impressive, displaying high-level quarterback play with Steve Nash-like ball fakes, footwork, and tempo; he responded to an early interception with a 99-yard touchdown drive and showed great poise.
Insight pageCeeDee Lamb
PositiveProjection26:18
CeeDee Lamb is a recommended touchdown scorer bet for the upcoming Sunday Night Football matchup against the Giants, with the source noting he should be started alongside George Pickens.
Insight pageChristian McCaffrey
NegativeUsage22:17
McCaffrey saw his lowest usage rate since joining the 49ers, being out-touched by rookie Kalen Black in the first half; while he looked better in the second half, the potential for a 1A/1B split with Black is a major concern for fantasy managers.
Insight pageDavante Adams
NegativeUsage21:10
Davante Adams saw limited usage near the line of scrimmage and was notably removed from the field during a critical fourth-and-goal situation, causing distress for fantasy managers.
Insight pageDeebo Samuel
PositiveProjection16:49
Samuel looked explosive and healthy, making defenders miss and showing his usual playmaking ability in the open field.
Insight pageDemarcus Robinson
PositiveBreakout12:01
Robinson caught a 44-yard touchdown pass from Purdy, which was the longest of Purdy's career relative to the line of scrimmage; he is emerging as a notable target after previously being considered just a guy.
Insight pageDrake London
NegativeProjection37:23
Drake London's fantasy outlook is significantly downgraded if Cooper Rush is forced to start at quarterback for the Falcons due to Tua Tagovailoa's injury.
Insight pageDrew Lock
PositiveMatchup39:57
With Sam Darnold dealing with a hip injury, Drew Lock is positioned to start against the Cardinals next week, which is considered a favorable matchup on paper.
Insight pageGeorge Kittle
PositiveInjury15:01
Kittle looked decent in his return from injury, showing no major setbacks in his recovery.
Insight pageGeorge Pickens
PositiveProjection26:18
George Pickens is a recommended touchdown scorer bet for the upcoming weekend, with the source suggesting he and CeeDee Lamb are both likely to find the end zone.
Insight pageKalen Ballage
NegativeUsage57:04
The source mentions Kalen Ballage as a player to discuss on upcoming waiver wire episodes to help fill roster spots.
Insight pageMatthew Stafford
NegativeProjection2:22
Stafford looked old and rusty, appearing as if he hadn't played in nine months; he was benched for Stetson Bennett late in the game, which the source interprets as the team giving up due to the difficult travel situation.
Insight pageNegativeUsage20:56
Matthew Stafford looked rusty in the season opener, particularly struggling outside the numbers (4-of-11) while completing 11-of-12 passes between the numbers. The source notes he is not a viable option for quarterback sneaks due to age and back issues.
Insight pageMichael Mayer
PositiveSleeper26:47
Michael Mayer is highlighted as a touchdown scorer bet (+230) due to his connection with Kirk Cousins and the expectation that the Clint Kubiak offense will utilize tight ends in the red zone.
Insight pageMike Evans
NegativeRole15:32
Evans looked fantastic in his 49ers debut, recording six catches for 49 yards and a touchdown; he showed immediate chemistry with Purdy, particularly in the slot and on fade routes.
Insight pageSam Darnold
NegativeInjury39:27
Sam Darnold suffered an injury early in his recent game, which is now reported as an unusual muscle strain in his hip area.
Insight pageNegativeInjury39:30
Sam Darnold suffered an unusual muscle strain in his hip area on the fifth play of the game. While there is uncertainty regarding his availability for next week's game against the Cardinals, the injury is not expected to be season-ending and is viewed as a matter of weeks rather than months.
Insight pageTua Tagovailoa
NegativeInjury36:43
Tua Tagovailoa pulled his oblique at practice, creating uncertainty for his status. The source notes that Cooper Rush might be a better fantasy option if he starts in his place.
Insight pageFull transcript
Episode Transcript
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1:10Additional taxes, fees, and terms apply. Welcome to the Ringer Fantasy Football Show.
1:14My name is Danny Heifetz. I'm joined by Danny Kelly and Craig Horlbeck.
1:18And the 49ers just beat the Rams' ass by 20 points in Australia.
1:22Niners won 27-7. So, Craig, the Niners scored a point for almost every hour that the Rams had been in Australia before the game.
1:29Look, I just flew four and a half hours to Toronto, and I'm exhausted.
1:33So I can't – and it's 11 o'clock at night.
1:36I can't imagine what Matt Stafford and the Rams felt like landing in Melbourne yesterday and playing a game.
1:42And it looked like a team that was incredibly jet-lagged.
1:45So points to the Niners and points to getting there a week early.
1:49Craig, don't you mean Melbourne? Melbourne? They were saying Melbourne.
1:52When did we decide that? You know, I will give credit to – was it Austin or DK?
1:57One of you was saying Melbourne, and then Heifenson's like, don't say that.
2:01It's Melbourne. No, that was me. I said, just say Melbourne.
2:04Don't say Melbourne. But then everybody on the broadcast is saying Melbourne.
2:08Well, this is what I heard. Everyone on the broadcast is saying Melbourne.
2:12Apparently – I mean, everybody. Everyone associated with the Netflix broadcast is doing it.
2:16And I'm sure that they're right and technically correct.
2:19However, it does sound like everyone was making fun of it.
2:22We are here. We're coming here live from Barcelona.
2:24We're coming here live from Ibiza. I went to Ibiza.
2:27Like, just say Barcelona. Sounds ridiculous. We're just looking ridiculous here.
2:31But anyways, it's fine. Whatever. It doesn't matter. Did the Rams – It did kind of annoy me the whole time.
2:37The Rams, guys, they sure looked like a team that just got off the plane.
2:41And that was like – I know we talked about this a lot.
2:45But it just – I know there's a lot of variables.
2:49This just feels like a colossal mistake of the way that they did this travel.
2:53Right? Like, isn't this the big takeaway? It's like this was the stupidest decision.
2:57I can't even imagine, like, how tired they were.
3:00No one's going to do it again. That's probably right.
3:03They just looked old to me. Like, to be honest, the Rams just looked like this was still the preseason and they
3:09were still getting into the swing of things. I'm like, Stafford looked 38 like he hadn't played in nine months.
3:15Miles Garrett didn't even play that much. Donald didn't make the trip.
3:19Like, this team just looked old to me. Like, they just looked like it was preseason week four and the Niners were more prepared.
3:26I agree. I think saying the time zone thing had nothing to do with it is insane.
3:31And I think saying the time zone thing was entirely – Right.
3:35The issue was a mistake. Right. The Niners just outplayed them.
3:38And obviously it's probably because they got there a week earlier.
3:41But Brock Purdy just straight up outplayed Matt Stafford in this game.
3:45I thought Brock Purdy was unbelievable. The Niners were – I thought the Niners played great and I agree, though, that the
3:51– old is – I don't disagree, but also the preseason – it's a good point, too.
3:56Like, McVay doesn't play any of these guys in the preseason.
4:00It looked like it was their first game on the other side of the fucking world.
4:04Did you guys get the impression that the Rams just were basically throwing this game?
4:09Yeah. They were just like, fuck it. We're just going to show off the day before.
4:14We're driving straight back to the plane, going home.
4:16It's almost like this week doesn't count or doesn't matter, even though it's a division rival.
4:21By the way, it looks really fucking good. Like, the 49ers defense might be back back.
4:26Yeah. But I don't know if they actually did that.
4:29But I understand what you mean, DK. Like, it felt like the first instance of, like, load management where I was like,
4:35I think this team is actually like, look, we don't want to screw anything up here with this weird Australia situation.
4:41Let's just get through this game and not have anybody get hurt.
4:45And if we lose, we lose. Everything will be fine.
4:48It's a control freak thing. They're all control freaks about their time, their habits, and they didn't want to give up a week to Australia.
4:55Maybe that's right. Maybe it's not. Maybe they actually just thought the sleep thing was going to work.
5:01And they've been preparing for this for years. And maybe they just lost the game and the Niners outplayed them.
5:07Like, I don't want to diminish how well the Niners played.
5:10Yeah, sure. I thought Purdy was awesome. He threw that bad pick.
5:14He did the my bad running off the field.
5:16And it was such a reassuring my bad. Like, I was like, oh, he's actually not broken up about that at all.
5:23It was like the opposite of the Drake May interceptions where you're like, wow, he seems rattled.
5:28Purdy was like, my bad. I misread that. Didn't see the guy.
5:31I'm good. Came back through three touchdowns. I was so impressed with Purdy, dude.
5:36He is such a point guard. He's like a Steve Nash out there.
5:39He's doing ball fakes, his footwork, tempo, his misdirections.
5:42He had the little spurts of athleticism with his legs.
5:45Like, he was in complete control tonight. I thought he was awesome.
5:49The little dance he did when he got that first down on the scramble.
5:53That was great. He looked at the sideline. He was like, ooh.
5:56And he like. He got a little white boy swag.
5:59He did. I totally agree. I think, I mean, the entire.
6:03And again, the Niners won 27-7. I mean, they had Stetson Bennett.
6:06The Rams put Stetson Bennett in for Matt Stafford.
6:09They gave up. It wasn't close in the. They didn't give up.
6:12I mean, it was like four minutes left. They were down to one.
6:16They did give up. They gave up. They gave up.
6:19They benched Matt Stafford. They gave up. Luke Keekly literally was on it.
6:23The game was over. The game was over regardless.
6:26The starters were in the chuck all the way to the plane.
6:29What are we disagreeing about? They gave up with three minutes left.
6:33They quit. That's what it fucking means. It felt like you were implying that they had a chance to win and they
6:39decided not to continue playing Matt Stafford. But they had no shot to win, so they benched their starter.
6:45Sure, they gave up. Okay, sure. I don't know.
6:48It just depends on how you look at it.
6:50If you're down 60 to zero and you pull your player in the fourth quarter, I wouldn't consider that giving up.
6:57Sure. Tom Brady threw up somewhere, but it's fine.
6:59No, I understand. Yeah. I was like, the game was over.
7:03We say this all the time. We're like, pull your fucking starters.
7:06Yeah, fair enough. But I think the entire game, though, came down to two sequences, which was the sequence you just said
7:13Brock pretty through an interception and the Rams could have just immediately went down and scored.
7:18And instead, Matt Stafford throws an interception and gives the ball right back.
7:21And then Brock Purdy responds with the second chance and throws the longest touchdown of his career relative to line of scrimmage.
7:2844 yards in the air to Demarcus Robinson, of all people, who had been kind of like a just a guy on the Rams.
7:35And then the Niners basically almost get points off their own turnover, if that makes sense, because it was Purdy pick to Stafford pick to Niners touchdown.
7:43That was a crazy sequence. And the other one, which was the biggest sequence of the entire game, was the Matt Stafford
7:50failed quarterback sneak at the one yard line barely does it justice.
7:53It felt like the one inch line and Fred Warner stuffs him.
7:57And then Brock Purdy has, I thought, one of the best drives he's ever had in the regular season and goes more
8:03than 99 yards over 11 plays and scores a touchdown.
8:06And that was a 14 point swing off of like a 10 point swing in the first half.
8:12That's 24 points, basically, like those two sequences. And I thought that that 99 yard drive was one of the best drives I've ever seen from Purdy.
8:20He ran for two first downs. He was scrambling, extending plays, the passing.
8:23Everything that happened in that drive was basically because of Purdy.
8:27I got to say, the San Francisco 49ers needed a goddamn win.
8:30And I don't even mean literally, like even metaphorically.
8:33Like they just needed something to feel good about.
8:36I'm really happy that they won this game. I mean, poor Dijon Stribling, maybe knock on wood.
8:41Hopefully he didn't. It looked like he maybe tore his Achilles, the great rookie that they had, who was leading the team
8:47in snaps at wide receiver before he went down.
8:50But that was brutal. Alfred Collins, their defensive tackle, tore his Achilles two days ago in Australia.
8:55I don't know what's going on. The substation came with them.
8:58It's like Widow's Bay in wherever the Niners go.
9:01But I thought, dude, I thought like, I thought Kittle looked decent for his recovery.
9:05I thought Bosa and Warner looked fantastic and completely controlled the game.
9:09Oh my God, yeah. I thought McCaffrey looked good.
9:12Kaelin Black, their second string running back looks fantastic.
9:14I'm just happy for San Francisco fans. I'm happy for my dad, who was texting me and was happy for the first
9:21time in a while tonight for the Niners. We have to talk about the McCaffrey-Kaelin Black thing.
9:26But first, the person you're leaving out, Mike Evans, who Craig, you were all over Mike Evans and DK.
9:32Mike Evans is representing old people. DK, I'm curious who you think.
9:35Mike Evans looked fantastic. I think he had four first rounds in the first half, which for third down conversions in the
9:42first half, which was the most he'd had in a full game in his career or tied for the most.
9:48I thought Mike Evans immediately looked like one of the best receivers the Niners have had in years.
9:53Yeah, I mean, first of all, I kept writing.
9:56I was taking my notes and I was like, I cannot believe Kittle's in this game.
10:00I can't believe Mike Evans is a freaking 49er.
10:03I can't believe Bosa's back and he looks so dominant.
10:06I can't believe Fred Moore was back. Debo looks good.
10:09Debo! I can't believe Debo is back in the 49ers uniform.
10:12He looks explosive. He was making guys miss, squirting past defenders and getting into the open field.
10:17He was busting into the open field, if you will.
10:20Busted and squirting. Yeah, and so it was like just kind of an overwhelming feeling watching this 49ers team.
10:26It looks like even though they won 12 games last year, they look so different.
10:30They just look so dominant and badass. And so look, Craig's in this hotel room in Toronto, and I kind of want
10:37him to get a noise complaint, screaming, busting and squirting at the top of his lungs at like 11.
10:43Craig, they didn't give you Eastern time. Yeah, you're not supposed to be filming in there, filming adult films.
10:48I guess that's right. No, I can't upset the nice people of Canada after we renamed their lake.
10:54I think, you know, we're all in support of that.
10:57You're just walking around apologizing. Totally. Hell yeah. We got the fucking lake back.
11:01I'm really close to it. I'm a couple miles from it.
11:04I should go take a dip in it. Bask in it.
11:07But no, but back to your point, Heifetz. I've been all over Mike Evans this whole offseason and really excited about him.
11:14And who knows if this lasts more than one week.
11:17But man, I'm ecstatic with what happened in this game.
11:20From a fantasy point of view, obviously, he finished the game six catches, 49 yards, and a touchdown.
11:25His first like four or five catches was from the slot, which I think is really interesting.
11:30Getting him in the slot, creating matchups from that spot on third down in particular.
11:35He was like their third down go-to guy. And it just looked like he had a perfect chemistry with Purdy already.
11:41Purdy hit him in the back of the corner of the end zone on a fade route.
11:46I saw this stat. Mike Evans has more fade route touchdowns than any other player in the last, I don't know when
11:52it was, 10 years or something like that. And it's not even close.
11:56One million years. Yeah. So, yeah, it just looks like a perfect fit for what they want to do on their offense.
12:03And he looked awesome. It looks like, again, the Dijon's trembling thing can't be overstated.
12:07Like that is a huge bummer and kind of a disaster.
12:11Because if you really want to whittle it down, like if you lose him, now you're looking at a 30-year-old Debo Samuel,
12:17a 31-year-old Kittle coming off an Achilles, and a 33-year-old Mike Evans.
12:21So I hope he's okay. But to your point, DK, Evans looked like, it looked like Purdy was Chris Paul and Mike Evans was Blake Griffin.
12:28Like it looked like Lob City. It felt like they immediately had chemistry.
12:32It's crazy. Like Mike Evans barely played all offseason, and it looks like they immediately have a Devontae Adams, Matt Stafford thing going on.
12:39You forget the football IQ Mike Evans has. The touchdown was, again, the whole, oh, if he's covered, he's still open.
12:46But you know what was cooler than that? Seeing Mike Evans just actually open.
12:50Like just seeing Kyle Shanahan ski Mike Evans open was unbelievable.
12:53And also just, he had like the first catch he had was just like a simple out route toward the sideline on a third down.
13:01And he just like bought it. I forget which cornerback on the Rams it was.
13:05And it was just like, yeah, that's just a great savvy-ass third and four.
13:09That means you can body him right at the first down line.
13:13It was great. And so I love watching Mike Evans.
13:16The person, the flip side, the stripling thing does suck.
13:19Again, first pick of the second round. Had as much preseason hype as any rookie receiver in the NFL.
13:24And just seems like he strained his, again, we don't know, but the videos are convincing.
13:29It seems like he strained his calf, stayed in the game, then tore his Achilles.
13:34We'll see what happened. That sucks. The thing that we have to say, though, while we're doing fantasy too, Christian McCaffrey.
13:40Sure. Is obviously was the biggest fade of the entire offseason.
13:43And like I'm watching the first quarter and I'm like, I can't believe we weren't just screaming from the rooftops to avoid Christian McCaffrey.
13:50Because he was out-touched by Kalen Black, a fourth-round rookie who wasn't even at the NFL Combine this year.
13:56Like, and just straight up out-touched in the first half.
13:59Ben Solik had a good stat that the first half was Christian McCaffrey's lowest usage rate with the 49ers since he was
14:05traded to the Niners his first game from Carolina.
14:08When, like, that was the lowest usage rate since then.
14:11And the problem to me, DK, I'm curious to think, is it even that Kalen Black outplayed McCaffrey in snaps?
14:17It was he just looked better. He actually kind of outplayed him in the Niners offense.
14:22Kind of a little. I think he looked better in the running game when Kalen Black was playing.
14:27I think you could have said that in the first half.
14:30McCaffrey came out like he shot out of cannon in the second half.
14:34He looked great. I agree. Maybe it was just.
14:37Look, I think you're right. This is very concerning.
14:39If you took McCaffrey in the first, you know, first round anywhere, it's looking like that could be a really bad pick.
14:46But that being said, he did miss a bunch of time in training camp with general soreness, whatever that means.
14:52So maybe they're just ramping him back up. How sore was he?
14:56They did this flight all the way to Australia.
14:58Maybe they're just playing it safe with him. He had four fewer carries than a rookie in his debut.
15:04Kalen Black played as much as Jajarian Price, who was a first-round pick for Seattle.
15:08And Zach Sharmini's on PUP. This guy out. You don't have to yell at me.
15:13I'm agreeing with you. I'm just yelling at the Niners.
15:16I don't know if this is going to carry on all season long or if this was just a week one thing because the game's in fucking Australia.
15:24And he came off of a training camp where he was basically out for the last month.
15:29I know. I don't know. I don't know. Usually Heifetz is kind of a voice of reason.
15:34I'm surprised, Heifetz, you're not on. Because I think the zag on this is like you should trade for McCaffrey.
15:40I didn't think McCaffrey looked bad. I just thought Black looked good.
15:44I thought McCaffrey looked fine. He had two carries in the first four drives.
15:48And I was just kind of like, how sore was this man?
15:51I will say voice. Go ahead. No, go ahead.
15:54You're right. I'm just fucking scared and angry. They both had 15 touches.
15:58Are you just like being really scared about it?
16:01Is that what's going on? Not in the ringer league.
16:04Didn't Tate get him? Do you not feel as stupid as I do for ranking this man sixth and not dropping him when he had all the soreness?
16:12I was like, general soreness. He wants more money after Gibson Robinson signed.
16:16Turns out he was really fucking sore. Look, look.
16:18The reasonable take here is exactly what DK said.
16:21He didn't practice a lot in the offseason. It's Christian McCaffrey.
16:24They're flying to Australia. Half the team tore their Achilles.
16:27Maybe let's take it easy on the guy and ease him back into the season and everything will be fine.
16:33He had eight targets tonight. The flip side is like, oh, is he now just becoming Kyron Williams and Kalen Black as Blake Corum?
16:40Is it Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram? Like, is he a 1A and there's a 1B now?
16:46That's the fear. I think the fear is Matt Harmon has the good stat.
16:50I just I'm going to immediately steal from Matt called intended touches, which is just carries plus targets.
16:55And McCaffrey had the fourth most intended touches, including the playoffs of the 21st century.
16:59It was like him and he's 480, almost 500 intended touches last year.
17:03And like, yeah, the Niners are going to load advantage him this year.
17:07That's the downside. Maybe not. Maybe they'll go back to giving him psycho stuff.
17:11I will say voice of reason. It's funny to hear anyone actually call me the voice of reason, but if I'll be
17:18the voice of reason, I will say this. The takeaways from this game are the Niners are really good and we'll just see if they can stay healthy.
17:26Like, it's exactly what you said, that they're good and they're old.
17:30Trent Williams, the oldest offensive lineman in the NFL and Debo and Mike Evans and Kittle, all these guys are in their 30s, have entry histories.
17:38Every individual game they play together, McCaffrey, like they'll be good.
17:41We'll see if they can stick together. My question for you guys, and I mean this when I say it, does this game mean anything for the Rams?
17:49Because I we were texting Bill during the game.
17:52Everyone's with the Rams Stafford. This was a bad performance by them.
17:55And Danny Kelly, does it actually mean anything to you at all that they went to Australia in week one and played poorly?
18:02I don't think it's like a huge indictment, but it is pretty fucking disappointing.
18:06Like, I think there's it's a long season. It does.
18:09And like, as we said earlier, it does kind of feel like they just punted this.
18:14Like Aaron Donald didn't even go. Miles Garrett didn't really show up and do anything like he didn't do hardly anything in this guy.
18:21I didn't notice him until like late in the game.
18:24You know what I mean? Like, he's not a player you don't notice usually.
18:28I'm torn on that. Stafford looked kind of bad.
18:31You know, I don't know. The Niners had through a lot of screens.
18:35Solak had another good stat. Purdy had the most throws behind the line of scrimmage of his career.
18:40They had a lot of chips. They're just throwing away from him every time.
18:44Yeah. I mean, Brock Purdy wasn't sacked tonight. Brock Purdy had like four pressures the whole night.
18:49He didn't go down once. I mean, the Niners just, if you want to really be savvy, you probably just bet the Rams with the NFC West.
18:57Sam Darnold, like we don't know when Sam Darnold's coming back.
19:01He has a hip injury. And the Niners just had two players tear their Achilles.
19:05Maybe he's just bet the Rams. They didn't get anyone hurt tonight.
19:09And they're the Rams. But yeah, that's probably the smart, sensible takeaway.
19:12I do think, yeah. It'll be fine. I think Craig is probably right.
19:16Like the Rams will be fine. They're going to go back and they're still going to be their dominant selves or whatever.
19:23They'll get Aaron Donald. Miles Garrett will kind of get back in shape because he also missed a bunch of practice.
19:29And he's got a leg issue that he says, Pellicero said on the broadcast that he has this leg issue that's still bothering him.
19:36Yeah. And he's had foot issues for years, Miles Garrett.
19:39But all that being said. It's worrisome. They're a very top heavy team.
19:43Trying to be rational about this, I think is the right move.
19:47We don't have to like freak out. But that being said, after this offseason that they had, where, you know, and I
19:53think we were part of it too. It's not like we were saying it was a bad offseason.
19:58But like, this is like known as one of the greatest offseasons ever.
20:02And they come out and just fucking lay an egg in their first game.
20:06It's pretty funny. It's funny, but it's one of those.
20:09Funny to who, DK? To me. They didn't give up though.
20:13To the Seahawks fan of the pod, it's hilarious.
20:15It's funny for me because here's what's going to happen.
20:18The Rams are either going to come out and absolutely wax the Giants on Monday Night Football in week two, or the
20:25Giants are going to beat the Rams. And you know what?
20:28Either of those will be pretty good for me.
20:31But I think in reality, I don't know. It's like, I'm going to give the Rams two weeks of grace because one game was to Australia.
20:39The other day is coming back from Australia. And then they play the Broncos in week three.
20:44And yeah, they need to be really good by then.
20:47But I kind of am just, I'm not taking, you know, the Mad Max meme where it's like, that's bait.
20:52I'm not taking the bait on Matt Stafford looking rusty on Australia.
20:56Like I just, he didn't look like Bill Barnwell of the stat.
21:00Stafford completed 11 of 12 passes between the numbers.
21:02But outside the numbers, he was like four of 11.
21:05And I'm like, okay. He didn't throw a touchdown tonight for the first time in like forever.
21:10So the, well, on that note, Devontae Adams. Also, if you have Devontae Adams as your fourth pick in fantasy football, he's
21:17like barely even playing at the line of scrimmage.
21:20They had all these three tight end sets. They didn't have him in on fourth and goal.
21:25They took him out so they could, so they could sneak their 38 year old quarterback.
21:29You'd be like top. Look, as somebody who has Devontae Adams in the ringer league, I was, I was distressed to say the least.
21:36What did you guys think of the quarterback sneak with Stafford?
21:40I don't understand why they did that. I thought McVay was getting cute.
21:44And it's like this whole trip was getting cute, man.
21:47The whole thing was too cute. It's quarterback sneaking is, is perfect for 29, maybe 30 NFL teams.
21:52But if you have Stafford, he doesn't sneak. And he snuck twice last year.
21:56Didn't convert it both times. And I was 0 for three.
21:59And if he wanted to do it, he would do it.
22:03Stafford doesn't sneak in part because Stafford doesn't want to and can't.
22:06He's old. He's too old. What do you have?
22:09How many? He has back problems. You have like 10 tight ends on the team.
22:13Make one of them do it. This is what bothers me.
22:17Do the AJ Barner thing. That's the thing. The Seahawks have a tight end.
22:21AJ Barner who can do it. Plenty of teams do.
22:24What bothers me is how the hell do you not have a tight end?
22:28Do this. They need to get like eight inches every year.
22:31Give me one of them big ones. I don't care.
22:34Yeah. I just, it's insane to me. I agree.
22:37I felt like this was, I think the Niners were much more motivated to win this game in general.
22:42Yeah. I just feel like Shanahan, the Rams kind of strolled into the season with all this hype and like the flight thing.
22:49The bell of the ball. Yeah. Dude, even there was a really interesting piece that came out in ESPN recently about like
22:56the whole dynamics around this trip to Australia and how it ended up being Niners-Rams.
23:00And there was a quote in there that Shanahan thought McVay wanted the Niners, that the Niners fans wouldn't take over SoFi
23:07Stadium if they played this game at home. So Shanahan was like- It's 100% true.
23:11Yeah. So I think Shanahan was like extremely motivated to come out and do something here.
23:16Also, happy for the people of Australia. Even though the game was kind of a blowout, I thought it was a fun, entertaining game.
23:23It was more entertaining than last night's game, which was much closer, but I thought this had much more sparkle to it.
23:30And also the Niners are Australia's most popular team by total fans.
23:33And that is why- Apparently they dominated the stands too.
23:36There was like no Rams fans. Yeah. I mean, a lot of Australians- Which is funny because Australia is the Rams territory.
23:43The teams get to kind of select international territories.
23:45The Niners do not have Australia. The Rams do.
23:48That's the irony of the whole thing is that the Rams were having a short-term focus of, well, we don't want the
23:55home SoFi Stadium when we play the Niners to just have Niners fans show up to our home stadium.
24:00So screw it. We'll go to Australia because they have the rights there.
24:04But the irony is that the Niners spending the week there, the Australians were kind of becoming endeared to the Niners because
24:11the Niners players were out in the community doing events.
24:14Well, they were already the most popular team in the country according to the NFL's data.
24:18Yeah. And well, there you go. And so it is- I think there's probably more Seahawks fans in Australia than Rams fans.
24:25There's also a lot of Seahawks fans, I think, in Australia.
24:28It's not a ton of Rams fans in general.
24:31Let me know if I'm right. Yeah. Like the Rams are a weird fan base.
24:35You know what I mean? Between St. Louis, LA.
24:38Like it's a strange thing. Like, you know, it's a strange team.
24:42But I want to be clear though. Like to me, the big takeaway from this game is that it feels like the 49ers are fucking back.
24:49Like their defense looked incredible. Bosa destroyed Warren McLennan in this game.
24:53Dude, Bosa, Warner. I thought their secondary was draped over every wide receiver.
24:57Yeah. Like they were all over the place. You know the meme, like the me sewing, ha ha, fuck yeah, yes.
25:03And then me reaping. Well, this fucking sucks. What the fuck?
25:06That was like me during the game because I was like, I was very much rooting for the 49ers in this game.
25:13Like the Rams are like the Seahawks biggest rival and everything.
25:16And then now I'm like, well, fuck. Now the 49ers are really fucking good.
25:20Shit. This fucking sucks. FanDuel is now available everywhere in the U.S.
25:24So you can get in on the sports action no matter where you are.
25:28Including these places. Make this your most rewarding season ever with FanDuel.
25:32Age and location restrictions apply. Product availability varies by market.
25:35See FanDuel.com for eligibility. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. All right, DK.
25:38As we've said a lot this week, football's back.
25:41Yeah. They made us wait. It's late. Late into September.
25:43I'm ready. Yeah. FanDuel's got your back to start the season.
25:47Giving everyone Bet Protect Plus for free all September long.
25:50So your bets are covered if your player gets injured.
25:53Obviously, we've all had times where players have been injured.
25:56Maybe even Brock Bowers literally this week being injured.
25:58Perhaps right now. Perhaps right now. Mallory Rubin's team in the Ringer Fantasy Football League.
26:03You know, Travion Henderson, Brock Bowers. Sometimes people just get hurt and they aren't there for you.
26:08So we're each going to give you our favorite touchdown scorer of the weekend.
26:12Craig, who's your favorite touchdown scorer bet for this weekend on FanDuel?
26:16I want to double up on Cowboys wide receivers.
26:18They're playing the Giants on Sunday Night Football. And honestly, I would bet George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb to score a touchdown.
26:25Individually, CeeDee Lamb plus 125. George Pickens plus 160.
26:27Put them together. I think they're both going to score.
26:30You think Dak Prescott, it's like a thruple. You kind of have to manage the relationship.
26:35Exactly. You got to make sure you feel both.
26:38Keep everyone happy. You know what I mean? You can't have a favorite kid.
26:42You got to treat them equally. Yeah. DK, who's your favorite touchdown scorer bet this weekend on FanDuel?
26:47I mean, speaking of Brock Bowers, I'm going to go with his backup here.
26:52Michael Mayer, tight end for the Raiders, who he caught a touchdown in the limited action that he had in the preseason with Kirk Cousins at quarterback.
27:00So I kind of just like that connection. I feel like in the Clint Kubiak offense, they're going to use the tight ends in the red zone.
27:08So I like that. It's plus 230 right now.
27:10Okay. I have a crazy one. I'm going to run it by you guys.
27:14This is it. We're going to get rich. This is the best bet I'm going to get all year.
27:20Steelers are playing the Falcons. Ooh. Steelers defense to score two touchdowns is 100 to one.
27:25Oh my God. I think we do it. Two touchdowns.
27:28Tua is going to be a mess. Tua touchdowns.
27:30Tua touchdowns. Steelers to score Tua touchdowns is, it's so much.
27:34It's plus 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0. I'm doing it.
27:37All right. I like that. It's going to fund our whole entire season right now.
27:41Usually when Heifetz has a bold prediction like this, he gets close to being right.
27:46So I'm going to say maybe bet, bet one and two touchdowns.
27:50Maybe you'll hit. Check out our bet in the Fandle app.
27:53And remember the Fandle has your back all September long with free bet.
27:57Protect plus to cover you against any injuries. The last thing I do think Purdy won the game for the Niners.
28:03And I think that McVay will have to take the blame on this for the loss for the Rams.
28:09And McVay writes on the top of his play sheet now, he writes like, see the game one play at a time.
28:15And I think the irony is he did not see the season one game at a time.
28:20He was thinking about the other games ahead of this game.
28:23And like, I don't want to put all of the loss on like the travel, because if it was flipped and it
28:30was 27, 7 Rams, we'd just be talking about how the Niners shouldn't have tried.
28:34You know what I mean? It's but I, you know, clearly it didn't work and no one's going to try that again.
28:41By the way, real quick. Stripling does not have a torn Achilles.
28:44According to what happened to an ankle injury. The Achilles is intact.
28:48That's great news. Oh, that's wonderful. That's what I'm saying, dude.
28:51Niners are fine. Take purge. There you go. Oh, wait, can I, I want to do one other interesting anecdote from this
28:58article that I thought was really funny. The Rams.
29:01So the NFL was originally like, hey, do you want to do the Chiefs?
29:05You want to play the Chiefs in Australia? And the Rams are like, no, we'd rather play Mahomes than SoFi.
29:11And then when Mahomes tore his ACL, the Rams this offseason were trying to push to now play the Chiefs in Australia.
29:17And the NFL said no. No take Maxis. These fucking guys.
29:20They were doing, you know, after the first pretty pick, the Rams defenders all did like this celebration, like a sleep celebration,
29:27like mocking the 49ers for like being there early and worrying about jet lag.
29:31And then the other things from this game, I want to just first of the Australia of it all.
29:37Craig, you got to say Bluestone. Give us a Bluestone.
29:40Bluestone. Bluestone. It's so good. Do it one more time.
29:43Why is it so good? Bluestone. Just give me a, just give me a good no.
29:48Give me a no. No. Nar. Nar. It's hard.
29:50Sometimes if you say it too much, you get like, I get marble mouth.
29:54What'd you guys think of the Circle Stadium? It was kind of mesmerizing.
29:58I thought it looked cool. It was a perfect circle.
30:01Did they say that thing's been there since the 1850s?
30:04Yeah, it's crazy. Cricket. It's the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere.
30:08That's awesome. 100,000 fans there. The people in the front row kind of got a bum deal.
30:13That was tough. Kind of? That was tough to see the people in the front row can't see shit.
30:18I can't see shit in this thing. There's a bunch of 6'5 guys in my way.
30:23Well, they're also like 40 yards away from the field and flat on the ground.
30:28So you literally can't see the field depending on your angle.
30:31It's kind of the worst seat was the front row.
30:34I think partly the reason why the NFL is as successful as it is, is Chuck Klosterman wrote about this in his
30:40new book, Football, which is really good. That the NFL is the perfect TV sport.
30:45Football is just the perfect TV sport. But I really do think it's the worst in-person sport.
30:50I feel like that's the last thing that they need to like, I don't know what they can do, but that seat is so bad.
30:57And I feel bad for somebody who spent that money to go there.
31:01That's a terrible vantage point. I got to tell you, I agree.
31:05I think going to football games, it is culturally incredible to go to a football game, especially college football games.
31:11I'd rather go to the tailgate than go home.
31:13It's so fun. Or watch it from the parking lot.
31:16I disagree with all this. Hockey. Yeah, but if you start talking about other sports, hockey, baseball, like attending other games, basketball can be really.
31:24And it's like, those are probably better in-person experiences solely about how easy and good is it to watch the sport.
31:30Oh, I think so 100%. We've been to the Super Bowl.
31:33You kind of need. You know how I learned that Stafford threw a no-look pass to Cooper Cup?
31:39We were in the stadium. I learned that watching fucking TV on my computer.
31:43We don't know Stafford threw a no-look pass. Also, I don't know.
31:46But the energy and the feeling of being in the stadium is pretty unmatched.
31:51That's unmatched, sure. It's a crazy, crazy cool feeling to just watch and have the whole crowd explode and all that stuff.
31:57I understand you're closer at a basketball game or a hockey game or whatever.
32:01The crowd is cool, but it's hard to follow the game.
32:05There are pockets of those moments. Like when we went to Ireland, the Steelers game in Ireland, walking in, sitting down, when they're doing the chants.
32:12That is amazing. But the actual game itself is kind of not that great.
32:16If we're being 100% honest, the best part of going to the game of the Dublin Vikings-Steelers game was when everyone sang Zombie.
32:23It was walking in. It was walking down that street.
32:26That was the best part, seeing all the people there.
32:29It was awesome. And Zombie. The communal event. It was also cool when DK Metcalf ripped off like a 70-yard game.
32:35That was awesome. I think I do actually. You guys are convincing me a little bit here.
32:40I do agree. I just like the experience and the ambiance of football games.
32:45I don't think you can match that in any other sport.
32:48But the play-to-play, you're kind of right, though. If you're in a playoff hockey game, if you could be in the eighth
32:54row at a hockey game or the eighth row at a base, it's different.
32:59Going to a basketball game after covering the NFL for a really long time, I'm like, damn, we are fucking close to these people.
33:06That's what I'm saying. The sideline is big. There's a lot of players in the way.
33:11They're just playing right there. LeBron will land on Jerry Seinfeld's lap in the middle of the game.
33:16It's fucking crazy. Mariska Hargitay has to catch Jalen Brunson in the finals.
33:20Dude, they're like, the Knicks won! Carl Anthony Towns is telling.
33:23It's like a middle school fight where everyone gathers around.
33:26It's like, yeah. He's like, get closer to the inbound.
33:29It's insane. I will forever believe that it's completely bizarre that we allow normal people to sit that close to professional athletes.
33:35I don't think it's crazy. I know it's basically just to sell tickets for a lot of money, but I think it's
33:42wild that there's Jalen Brunson and it's just like flying into David Zaslaw.
33:46That's crazy. Imagine if football was like that and you could sell the most expensive, most famous seats were right on the white.
33:53And then imagine Brock Purdy's running and he just gets shoved.
33:56Derrick Henry's coming out of bounds. Derrick Henry running directly at you to save a ball that's going out of bounds.
34:02Just diving in and knocking over a whole row.
34:05God, that's good. And Flea's blood is just splattered now across the...
34:08I think football is enhanced by multiple angles more than any other sport on a minute-by-minute basis.
34:14And so I think maybe going to the game is still not that bad, but when you compare it to the at-home
34:20experience where the second the play happens, you can go online and see it from a million different angles and you can read about it.
34:27And I feel like the interaction that you get with friends and media people online is actually quite valuable when you're watching football compared to an NBA game.
34:36The other thing I kind of noticed, I'm sure every stadium's a little bit different and we've been used to sitting in
34:42the press box where it's like you're kind of sequestered away from the crowd a little bit.
34:47And there's like a guy that... Sterile. There's someone that after every play is like, Mike Evans, first down at five.
34:54It's so lame, yeah. It's just so boring the way that they sit.
34:58It's like in the doctor's office, yeah. Mike Evans, first down on the catch.
35:02Oh my God. He now has six catches. Or half the time I'm like, what happened, DK?
35:07Did he get the first down or did he not?
35:10And you're like, I don't know, I think he got it.
35:13Okay. I know. Who got that ball? I think what we're saying is we hate sitting at press boxes in which we need to draw.
35:20We got to make the press box like in the eighth row.
35:24Okay. Last thing was on Australia, 57 degrees. I don't know why, but that really caught me off guard.
35:30Really? You thought it'd be warmer? Yeah. It was just weird.
35:33It was weird. It just caught me off guard.
35:36It didn't look that cold. Yeah. No. I know what you mean.
35:39It looked hot. I don't mean it. That's just because it was sunny out.
35:43But did you get... I'm going to be honest.
35:46The people that were posting videos upside out of the replays, it tickled me a little bit.
35:51Like, I thought that was pretty funny. Yeah. It got me.
35:54It got me. Spiral spins the other way. It really freaks you out.
35:58Austin pointed this out in the group chat. Noah Eagle is like the best Nepo baby.
36:03He's so good. Every time he speaks, I can't believe he sounds like that.
36:07Luke Keekly's announcer. Noah Eagle, though, is a play-by-play.
36:10I hope he's with us for like 50 years.
36:12He's very good. It's a jarring size difference. It's a Dion Lewis, Derek Henry situation in the booth.
36:18You kind of see it and you're like, Eagle must be sitting.
36:21He has to be sitting. It's like Frodo and Gandalf.
36:24You're like, how'd they film this? Frodo. Yeah. Yeah.
36:27Forrest perspective. To you, they would appear to be little children.
36:30It's unbelievable. Okay. Few other stories here that I just want to hit and then we'll get ringer one of seven.
36:36I didn't think we'd talk about other things than this game, but we have to what I didn't think we could talk
36:43with the Falcons again, but to a Togo Vailoa pulled his oblique at practice today for the today, by the way, is still Thursday, September 10th.
36:51But you'll hear this Friday. It's Friday in Australia now, but it'll be Saturday in Australia probably by the time you hear this.
36:58Right. But you'll hear this Friday. Yeah. We're recording Thursday.
37:01Who knows? Anyway, Tua pulled his oblique and Michael Penix has already ruled out because he's still kind of never really practiced.
37:07And so Cooper Rush, who was signed after training camp began, like the first two days of training camp, took the first
37:14team reps for the Falcons on Thursday. And there is a chance that Cooper Rush is in fact the starting quarterback for the Falcons in week one.
37:22Which way did the line go? Or Tua with an oblique injury.
37:25Did the line go get closer or further apart?
37:28That's fine. It got further. But I get your point.
37:31You can make the case right now. Like, would you Cooper Rush or Tua right now?
37:36I kind of feel like it should have gone the other one.
37:39I think Cooper Rush. He'd be too. If you told me the Falcons are going to win the game, I think Cooper
37:46Rush would give him a better chance. I agree.
37:48Cooper Rush is fine on Dallas. He's got experience at least, you know?
37:52It's not like Tua's been there forever with this offense.
37:55Two years ago, Tua led the league in passing.
37:58I just love that. Don't care. That's going to be a Michael Daniel step before I do it.
38:03I just saw with my eyes. Also, you know who's out on him?
38:07The Dolphins who benched him in this stadium last year.
38:10No, I know. I'm not saying you guys are wrong for that.
38:14I'm just, it's funny. Anyway, I just wanted to flag that.
38:17If you, we'll see what happens. But like, dude, first of all, what do you do with Drake London?
38:23If you're like Cooper Rush, you have to play him, but like you're fucked.
38:27You have to begrudgingly play him and just hope for the best.
38:30Yeah, because all he's going to do is like throw it up.
38:34The other one is Sam Darnold. Again, left that Patriots Seahawks thing.
38:37Also, we went on Bill's show and talked about Seahawks Patriots live reaction there.
38:42So if you didn't hear that, then go to Bill's show.
38:45We had a good time. We talked about Seahawks absolutely pantsing the Patriots the second time in a row.
38:51And then also Craig talked about magicians again. So we talked about magicians on Bill's show.
38:55I never thought we did. Bill was testing out some hottest takes too.
38:59Yeah, I think we talked about the Magic Castle, which I got hit up by somebody who is a magician at the Magic Castle.
39:06I think you two, you guys might come out to LA in October.
39:10I think we got to go to the Magic Castle.
39:13We have to. 100%. Or at least for the Super Bowl.
39:16Saturday night or for the Super Bowl. Yeah. Yeah.
39:19We have to go. We have to go for the Magic Castle.
39:23I would love nothing more. But anyway, so Sam Darnold got hurt in the fifth play.
39:27Seahawks won anyway. And it turns out that Sam Darnold has a this is from our colleague here at the ringer.
39:34Tom Pellicero reported that Sam Darnold has, quote, an unusual muscle strain in his hip area.
39:38And I get those two. Yeah. I don't know what that means.
39:42And Tom is coming back from Australia. So I have not asked him.
39:46But I think that's good news. The way that Mike McDonald was reacting to, you know, the news, I think there's still a lot of uncertainty.
39:54It doesn't look like he's going to play next week.
39:57The CX play the Cardinals next week. So that's kind of a good matchup, at least on paper for Drew Locke.
40:03But it doesn't seem like it's going to be a season long injury and it's going to be more like a matter
40:09of weeks versus months or the entire season. I think initially they thought he broke his hip like a like a two injury.
40:16You know what I mean? Like a really serious, potentially career ending injury, I think, was the initial fear for them.
40:22And so there's just celebrating that it wasn't something like that serious.
40:26It feels more like a muscle strain. It was such a benign play, too.
40:30I feel like nobody even noticed he got hurt.
40:33It was the way that it was like the way his leg got slammed into the turf and then kind of dragged.
40:39It was almost you know what I mean? That's I think that's why they were worried.
40:44It was a dislocated whatever, like his femur or something.
40:47Yeah, like like yeah, like a Bo Jackson type situation.
40:50Yeah, exactly. So anyways, it's good news. Like the way that the Seahawks coaches and Mike McDonald in particular was reacting.
40:56It sounds like this is really good news. They were bracing for the worst.
41:00Somewhere out there is a Chevy truck and the person who drives it.
41:04Well, that's a Chevy person. You probably know one, your buddy, your sister, ones who always show up.
41:10They're the first to rise, the last to leave.
41:12They always have that little extra something. And maybe you've got it, too.
41:16Chevrolet. Together, let's drive. Visit Chevy.com slash trucks to explore the lineup.
41:20This episode is brought to you by Paramount Plus.
41:22On September 18th, prepare for uncivil war. Mobland, the hit crime series from the underworld of Guy Ritchie, returns to Paramount Plus.
41:29The Harrigans are back and their empire is spiraling into chaos from the inside out.
41:33As power plays, fractured loyalties and reckless decisions collide, Fixer Harry is left to clean up the fallout.
41:39Don't miss Mobland starring Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren.
41:42Let chaos reign September 18th on Paramount Plus. So that's the update on DK's quarterback for the Seahawks.
41:47Craig, do you want to, are you excited to talk about Aaron Rodgers and your quarterback for the Steelers?
41:53Look, I don't know what he's doing. I never know what he's doing.
41:57I'm going to listen to the episode. I've seen enough clips.
42:00I'm like, okay, I'm going to listen to this whole episode.
42:03The Shailene Woodley thing is crazy. Is this Cam Hayworth's pod?
42:07Him talking about the Shailene Woodley thing is weirder than him talking about Tony Fauci, I think.
42:12Well, he's responding to her. She made the first move.
42:15She just commented on their relationship. Oh, did she?
42:17He's countering, but he went hard. He's like, I see your disrespect and I raised you a, you wanted to fuck someone
42:24else before we got married, which is like, I don't know.
42:27Quick to fight guy here. Yeah. It's also like, isn't it kind of a self-own?
42:32Like, I don't know if I'd want to be saying that.
42:35The cut to Cam Hayworth just sitting there fucking still.
42:38He's like, this is the greatest day of my life.
42:41The kill who makes a lot of our videos was like, that's one of the best edits I've ever seen.
42:47You know what it takes to Cam Hayworth, who's a giant human being to just like clam up?
42:52Cam Hayworth just freezes. He just freezes. Wait, what did Shailene Woodley say?
42:56I didn't hear this. She was criticizing their relationship and was just like talking shit about his behavior in their relationship.
43:02And then he was like, my behavior, you wanted to fuck someone else before we got married.
43:07My behavior, I'm going to set the house on fire.
43:10It's like the escalation is so hilarious. Dude, this guy, I.
43:14Kind of galvanizing the team though. No one in the NFL talks more than Aaron Rodgers.
43:18He's on it. He's on, he has like seven interviews every week.
43:22I do feel like he's been on Cam Hayworth's podcast three times this summer.
43:26It's unbelievable. Also, he has more podcast appearances than us.
43:29Cam Hayworth. It's true. Cam Hayworth was making fun of him too.
43:33Cause he just sent the photo. I guess he's on like on the come down on ayahuasca, just like banging some bongos.
43:39And he's just having the time of his life.
43:42They were talking about photo every week. They were talking about Drew Aller's DMs.
43:46Like they were getting into some stuff. They got, they, they covered literally every subject.
43:50I just love the idea. I just love the idea of like trying to stick it to your ex-girlfriend by saying she didn't even want to marry me.
43:59She wanted to fuck someone else. What a bitch, right?
44:02It's like, well. Yeah. The beginning too. The beginning of the tale is also like.
44:06Oh my God. I. You know what? What about, you know what?
44:10He's an odd duck. I feel like he's going to play well on Sunday.
44:14Is this a good time to get in the ring at 107?
44:17I think. I think it has to. The Aaron Rodgers, the Aaron Rodgers rollercoaster with Craig is like honestly my favorite thing to watch.
44:25Well, look, you know, I can compartmentalize. I think he's feeling good right now.
44:29I think he's feeling confident. He got a lot off his chest.
44:32He's feeling a little saucy. He is. He's got his, his boy, Mike McCarthy, Mike McCarthy back.
44:37They're at home. They're playing the Falcons with Cooper Rush and no pass rush.
44:42I think the, I think our first ringer 107 is we take the Steelers.
44:46We got to do it. Turn the key. Don't forget.
44:49Today's ringer. Today's ringer 107 is brought to you by FanDuel.
44:52Make this your most rewarding season. Download the FanDuel app to check out all our 107 picks and boosted teaser every week this season.
44:59So we're doing the 107 this year. And it's, if you don't know what you're talking about, it's super simple.
45:05We're making a contest of 107 bets per team of people here at the ringer of which we are one team and Bill is a team this year.
45:13Joe House is separately a team. No, no, they're the same team.
45:17No, they're not. He changed. No, they are. No, no.
45:20I thought they were. One makes two picks. The other makes two picks.
45:24They're the same team. But they're competing? I don't know.
45:27Here's the bottom line. They changed all. They changed all the rules because we won.
45:31Panda, look. Because we won this thing last year.
45:34They literally changed everything about it. They're like, hold on.
45:37We got to fucking fix this so these idiots don't win.
45:40They're trying to run away from us. They all laughed.
45:43Don't forget. They all laughed publicly and privately. Laughed us out of the room at the idea that we could win this at the beginning of last year.
45:51And then we kind of beat their ass. And now they're kind of legitimately pretending as though last year was just a rough draft.
45:59Yes. They're totally retconning it because we won. They don't remember who won.
46:02They're like, last year we were just kind of figuring it out.
46:06Now we've ironed out the kinks. I'm like, we did?
46:09Now we've introduced a teaser. So by the way, this is it now.
46:13So we're going to make five bets. Four of them are straight up spread bets.
46:17And the fifth has to be a teaser. And don't forget, but the teaser has to be today.
46:23We also have to submit a bet on Sundays by like 9 a.m.
46:26PT because some of the lines move and they're all pretending that that's why they lost as if we also didn't have
46:33to submit bends at the same time. So we're not on the five bets are now.
46:38And then one bet we have to make Sunday morning.
46:41We're like not even allowed to do five. I don't know how this works, but they're very upset that we won, but they won't.
46:48It doesn't matter. You just tell me where and when I'll be there.
46:52So I agree. We're locking in the Steelers. If we go to Australia to make these bets, we'll do it.
46:58We're locking in the Steelers. I don't care what the line is.
47:01Four and a half. Honestly, I would do eight and a half.
47:05The Falcons are not beating the Steelers this week.
47:07We're not abandoning our strategy of looking at the games for three minutes and making incredibly rash calls.
47:13That's what we do. We were, we, we grabbed us to be like football.
47:17That's what we do. Which led us to be like 10 over five.
47:21I'm going to scroll through a list of games and be like, what looks good.
47:25That's all we do. Okay. So we got the Steelers.
47:28What else do you like? Lion Saints is six and a half.
47:32The thing you remember is week one is every game.
47:35Every offense is bad except a couple and everyone is preseason.
47:38If you didn't play in the preseason, they look bad.
47:41A couple of teams look good and everyone else were like, oh, all these games are low scoring.
47:46So I kind of want to do a teaser with an under.
47:50Yeah. Cause you're allowed to do that now. Sure.
47:53I like that. Is one of the ones we have to do today, the teaser or is that for the Sunday?
47:59Yes. We have to do the teaser today. You're not allowed to do the teaser on Sunday.
48:04Got it. This thing has so many rules. Okay.
48:07So no, no Sunday tease. It's just like, why?
48:09I don't know. And you also can't use the, you know what?
48:13I can't do all the rules though. Should we, you know what I kind of want to do?
48:18What? Should we tease the Eagles? The Eagles are giving five and a half points to Washington.
48:23And part of me is like, they're favored by five.
48:26Well, how many, what kind of teaser? I get it.
48:29No, no, no. It's not just, it's not me.
48:32It was a strong request, I think, from a lot of people to stop saying they're giving points because I don't think people understand that.
48:39They're favored by five. How many, is it a six point teaser we have to make or can it be seven?
48:46What is it? Six. I think it has to be six points.
48:49It's a six point. Okay. Hold on. I'm going to scroll up and find the rules here.
48:54Yeah. Whatever. It has to be a two team, six point teaser for that teaser.
48:59You can use a point total as one of the two legs if you want.
49:03All right. Let me hit you with this. Let me hit you with this.
49:07Ravens, Colts. The Ravens are going to beat the Colts by more than three and a half.
49:12Sorry. He fits. He's on the roll. No, I agree.
49:15That was one of mine. I clocked that. Let's just bet the Ravens.
49:19Okay. I'm into that. Second one. Here's my teaser parlay thing.
49:22The Broncos are playing the Chiefs on Monday night football.
49:25The Broncos are underdogs. The Chiefs are favored by two and a half points.
49:30So the Broncos are getting two and a half points.
49:33Let's add six to that and take the under.
49:35Let's tease the Broncos up to eight and a half and let's take the under in that game.
49:41Who says no? My only quibble with that is, one, do we just take the Broncos straight up?
49:46Because the Chiefs are starting an undrafted free agent left tackle with Mahomes' first game back from an ACL.
49:52So part of me is like that. It's in Arrowhead.
49:55My other question is, if we did that, we could do Broncos getting eight and a half.
50:00We could also tease that with the Jaguars would only then have to beat the Browns by two and a half.
50:06Because the Jags are favored over the Browns by eight and a half.
50:10You want to just take the Jags actually just straight up to beat the Browns by ten?
50:15It's eight and a half. Do the Jags? I'm into that.
50:18But you don't think... Wait, so could we tease the Broncos up to eight and a half and tease the total up
50:25six points as well and then take the under?
50:27Can we do that? Is that how that works?
50:30Yes. So we could really have the Broncos plus eight and a half and take the under on 49 and a half points.
50:37It's kind of nice. Yeah, because we used to be a country and be able to do this all the time.
50:43So that's why we're bringing back the teaser now.
50:46The... I like that. Correlated tees. So you want to do the under?
50:50I think we should tease the total up to 49 and a half.
50:53I think we should tease the Broncos up to eight and a half and take the Broncos with the under.
50:59I love that. Bang. Bang out. I love that.
51:02And then so that's four. So it's Broncos and the under.
51:05Is that six points total, Craig? I wasn't looking at it.
51:09Yeah, that's right. So we're basically Steelers going to beat the Falcons.
51:12Ravens to beat the Colts is by three and a half.
51:15Steelers to beat the Falcons by four and a half.
51:18Jaguars to beat the Browns by eight and a half.
51:21We're taking all favorites. That's my only concern. And generally, we look back at week one and we're like, just take the
51:28points because all the teams look bad. But these...
51:31I actually kind of don't mind. I think we need to...
51:34If the next bet... Because we would have to take a bet on Sunday.
51:38Let's take one dog. Who's the dog? I mean, the Jets versus the Titans stands out just because like Geno...
51:44That's an experienced quarterback versus an inexperienced quarterback. I thought about that one.
51:48The Saints... The Packers over the Vikings. I can't bet on Geno Smith.
51:52I don't think we can do that. We can't bet on Geno Smith and the Jets to start the season.
51:58The Cardinals nine and a half versus the Chargers.
52:00You look back, you're like, what? Why did we do that?
52:04Yeah. Why are we betting on Geno Smith and the Jets?
52:07The Chargers one stands out because you're like, well, the Chargers should whip the Cardinals butts.
52:12But like also the nine and a half points in week one is a lot.
52:16Yeah. Also, the Cardinals do the backdoor cover at the end of the game.
52:20What about the... Honestly, the answer is the Cowboys.
52:23Like we should just take the Cowboys. Like I hate to say it, but the Cowboys are going to beat the Giants.
52:29Am I losing my mind? I can't even see the Buccaneers game.
52:33Who are the Bucs playing? The Bengals. The Bucs are...
52:36They're getting three enough points and the Bengals start 0-2 every year.
52:39I don't even see that on Fandle right now.
52:42It is. I'm looking at it right now. The Buccaneers are getting three enough points.
52:47The lines are all locked in. You got to go the 107 text thread.
52:51Oh! Whatever. You want to take the... Contest. Do you want to take the Bucs plus three and a half?
52:57That's a dog. Getting three and a half? They can lose by a field goal?
53:01Jamar Chase and N.T. Higgins banged up? That's not...
53:04The Bucs... In a world where the Bengals have been 0-2, like four of the last five years in the beginning of
53:10the season, I don't hate the Buccaneers getting three and a half points.
53:14I think the question is, should we have the Cowboys giving two and a half?
53:19And again, the Giants... It could be better with Harbaugh, but I'm like, Dak Prescott has not lost to the Giants in
53:25a game that started and finished in 10 years.
53:28I want the Cowboys. Give me the Cowboys. Give me Jerry.
53:31The Cowboys are favored by two and a half.
53:34Super Bowl run starts now for Jerry. I kind of think Cowboys two and a half.
53:39Steelers four and a half. Do we do the Ravens three and a half?
53:43I mean, it's Lamar versus Daniel Jones. Do we just do that?
53:46Or is that just getting cheeky and the Ravens are going to...
53:50No, I want that. Add that to the plate.
53:53The only thing is the kickers. The Ravens signed a practice squad to kick her to compete with Tyler Loop.
53:59And I hate doing a three and a half bet when there's some kicker drama on a team with the Ravens.
54:05You know what I mean? They might blow them out of the water, but...
54:09I'm unbothered by it, but if it bothers you, we can move on.
54:13No, listen. Steelers-Ravens, it's good product. It's Jesse Minter and Lamar Jackson versus Daniel Jones.
54:17I don't hate it. The question is, Jack... God, do we have too many bets?
54:22Well, which one are we teasing? We have... Hold on.
54:25I got that. I thought we only needed four.
54:27Hold on. Oh, that's true. Oh, yeah. Which line is most likely to move?
54:32Oh, that's a good question. No, they're locked in, Craig.
54:35No, but by Sunday... With the Sunday one, we have to...
54:38Oh, I see. This thing is so hard to explain to people.
54:41It's like four of them we get now, and then Sunday we get an updated line.
54:46We get three days of the update. I think Dallas could sneak to three.
54:50I want to take Dallas now. I want to take the Steelers now.
54:54The Steelers one's probably going to move if two goes out.
54:57We have to take the Steelers line now. Absolutely.
55:00Because if two is out, then it'll move. Honestly, let's just...
55:03I don't care. The four we're going to... Here's the four.
55:07We're going to pick the Ravens. We're going to pick the Steelers.
55:10We're going to do this Broncos tease, and we're going to take the Cowboys.
55:14Those are our four, and then we'll figure out five.
55:17Do we... Do we... Is there... Do we just bet against Deshaun Watson out of principle, like that he was the worst
55:24quarterback we'd ever seen, and they're playing the Jags, or should we not?
55:28Yeah, do you want to... We can make that on Sunday morning.
55:31Yeah, okay. All right, so basically we'll be picking between the Browns or the Jaguars to beat the Browns or the Bucs to cover versus the Bengals.
55:39Yeah, this is riveting. I know. We're not explaining it to the audience.
55:43We're earnestly explaining this to ourselves. Yeah, that's it.
55:46We're good. So Steelers giving five, Ravens giving three and a half, Cowboys giving two and a half, Broncos, Monday Night Football, and the under.
55:53Yep. Okay. Well, today's Ringer 107 was brought to you by FanDuel.
55:57Download the app now to find all our 107 picks and make this your most rewarding season.
56:02FanDuel, play your game. Odds subject to change. I can't believe how many rules they changed because we won.
56:08Okay. I think that's the show. Was there anything else we wanted to hit?
56:12Anything else? The game? I think that was it.
56:14We have our rankings at fantasyfootball.theringer.com. I probably should have said that louder in the beginning, but our rankings are at fantasyfootball.theringer.com
56:21if you want our week one rankings. So start, sit, and we'll have those updated on Sunday for you as well.
56:27And yeah, Godspeed. Godspeed. We'll be back Sunday night.
56:30I can't wait. I'll be watching the games in Toronto, probably in my hotel room, and I'll be here with you guys.
56:36We have also Monday night, we have waivers on episodes coming out on Mondays, which again, we help you with waivers and who to add and everything.
56:44Like, we'll be probably talking about like Kalen Black on the 49ers and just helping you, you know, fill your roster spots and everything.
56:52Power Hour Wednesdays and then Friday previews. We have not discussed this, Craig.
56:55Do you have any reviews of Toronto before we get out of here?
56:59What is Toronto like? What is this Toronto Film Festival?
57:02Well, that'll be a great Sunday conversation because I've been here for like six hours.
57:07And I went to go pick up my press pass, ate dinner alone at a bar, and now I'm here.
57:13Okay. Well, we can talk about it. But the downtown seems fun.
57:16Cool. The lake? Yeah. Sarah Paulson was on my flight, you know.
57:20There you go. That's real Hollywood magic right there.
57:22Look at that. Thank you, Toronto. Thank you, Lorne.
57:25Lorne. Lorne. 80s month. This is a bonus episode.
57:28We're still doing 80s month. Sister Christian by Night Ranger.
57:31Oh my God. 1983. Sister Christian, you're the only one.
57:34Only one. Sister Christian, oh, the time has come.
57:36That song is in Boogie Nights, I believe. I think that's how I was introduced to it.
57:41An absolute ripper. We're motor and... Now I'm going to get to the north of the plate.
57:47What's your prize for five? It's such hard, heavy chords.
57:4980s. It's the best. That's actually one of the...
57:52I think that's on the Mount Rushmore. Yeah, it's...
57:55We're motor and... What's your prize for fly? Yeah.
57:58Anyway. Heifetz has no relationship with that song. You don't know that song?
58:01Not quite as well as you guys, I think.
58:04Let me tell you something. If you want to run through a wall, put that on.
58:09It's the Till I Collapse of the Apes. You can't be in a bad mood listening to that song.
58:14They build up so nicely. They require patience. God forbid you have to wait for something.
58:19Yeah. And you have to wait 70 seconds and then it delivers.
58:23Sorry, I'm all revved up. It's midnight here, but it feels like nine o'clock to me.
58:28Craig's motor in right now. Yeah. I might go back out.
58:31I don't know what I'm going to do. Go back down to the bar.
58:35No. Just put the vibe out. Goodbye, everyone. Put the vibe out.
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