Mahomes, Bo Nix, and Homer’s Odyssey?! (Feat. SI's Matt Verderame)

my fellow football Americans, it's football season. In other words, the Odyssey begins. Don't worry, I'm not going to jump into a whole lame thing about how the NFL is like summer's big pop culture event. But I mean, for what it's worth, the Odyssey and the NFL do have a lot in common. They're obviously both all about wanting to get home or home field and both do have giants and Titans. There's the Cyclops and Raiders guy, both one-eyed bad guys. And you know, I guess only Odysseus can string the bow is the ancient version of that's a throw only five quarterbacks on earth can make. The Trojan horse is the ultimate gadget play. The Odyssey as the Oracle footballs got bookmakers. Sir say the witch turned those sailors into pigs. The NFL turned fat guys into hogs. And Tom Brady for what it's worth is looking more and more like a cat. Although that may have less to do with voodoo than it does bow talks. Robert Pattinson's Antonis is every backup cubie a guy who thinks the starting gig belongs to him. Antonis is also like Tony Romo, both charismatic would be heroes who turned out just to be an effectual guys with substance abuse issues. The Odyssey and NFL also both have sad dogs hoping for something good that decrepit Argos in Ithaca and the dog pound in the dystopian hellhole of Cleveland. And Fernando Mendoza is Telemakis, you know, Tom Holland, Fernando, two dorky heroes or maybe archman is Telemakis inherited his name big expectations in a kingdom without proving he's capable of ruling it yet. A Dizzy is goes into the underworld to talk to people from his past to make sense of the here and now. And so too do NFL broadcasts with all the retired coaches and players up in the booth. And I think Aaron Rogers would dig eating that lotus with Calypso tripping out and staying way too long. But then again, there's Athena who's a ghost lady which feels more like Aaron's type. A Dizzy is the cubie would love play action. It's basically his entire strategic philosophy distilled into one football play convinced the opponent of a false reality exploit his reaction. But I bet Matt Damon's busy. So we got to figure out who is the NFL's Odysseus. Maybe it's Malik Willis. Odysseus had a crappy crew around him and they got themselves all killed. I think we expect roughly the same for these dolphins. But it's Gino Smith who is NFL Odysseus wandered around from bummed team to bummed team. And now at long last, he's found his way back to the jets. Listen, I'd rather have a home coming with Ann Hathaway than Woody Johnson, but the heart wants what it wants. One thing's for sure the rest of us are Penelope. Bored is crap while waiting around for our heroes to return. She only took up weaving. It got so bad for me this off season, I read a book. A book. I know. I'm so ashamed. But that's over with. Let's start the season. Let's start the show. Yes, hi. And hello, my fellow football Americans. Welcome to football season week one. Welcome to football America, presented by Draft King sports. It's episode number 81. Or is it the first episode of the 2026 NFL season proper? I guess it's both really. Anybody want to take a guess real quick? We have a lot to get to Mad Verder. I'm coming up in just a sec here. What book that was? Hello, buddy Gino. Everybody else gathered down there in Miami behind the glass. Did you read a sports book? No, no book. Did you read the Odyssey? That would be nice. That would that would really connect the dots. By the way, I could have gone on with increasingly obscure connections between football and the Odyssey, but nobody wanted to sit through any more of that. Anyway, we're excited for the show to get going here in season. What book was it? What book was it? I'll get to that in another day. We have come on, man. I'm a big book guy. I read a lot this summer. Yeah, that's what I did this summer to kill the time I read a lot. It was awesome. It was remains of the day. We'll talk about that later on. Let me tell you this much, though. I need you to subscribe on YouTube, football America with the exclamation point. We go live right after the Dan Levitard show on Monday. And we'll be doing that every Monday in football season. So make sure you're tuned in for that. And we appreciate you subscribing wherever you find your audio podcasts follow along for the fun. Leave us comments wherever you choose. We'll get major Randy in here to read some of those and pose some questions for us. And we'd love to answer them and interact with our fellow football Americans in the here and now before we get the verb around. Let's address the matter at hand. Who wore that jersey number best in pro football? Nay, in all of sports history, buddy. I mean, Jared, uh, not Jerry Rice Trell Owens is the one that comes to mind. This is, yeah, I was gonna say this is receiver territory here. No, Calvin Johnson, the Patriots version of Randy Moss. These are the scary guys. Okay, so. So Randy Moss is going to come up again in 84. Yes. Who the what number do you guys think of Randy Moss as? Because I go 84 still. I think of him as 84, but I mean, the 2007 season is most dominant season of all time, right? Where's playing with the goat? And he's like goat, uh, you know, 2.0 Randy Moss. So I'm going to take him as a stand alone. Then he was playing with Chris Carter. But that was also the first time we ever saw Brady like really hit the gas on the on the passing yard is in the touchdowns. Before that, he was kind of a game manager. Yeah. I mean, which, you know, best, maybe the best game manager ever, but then Tio shows up and he's throwing 50 touchdowns. Randy Moss is a sorry. It's right. I'm trying Ernest Givens was a great number 81. Phil Castle. Phil Castle. Of course. Come on, dude. How can you forget about him? Eating hot dogs out of the Stanley Cup like a champ, dude. We got Art Monk and Tim Brown in here too. It's a loaded number. Art Monk. Yes. Of course. And Tim Brown, who shouldn't have won the Heisman in 1987. Ironhead Hayward deserved that. But Tim Brown to be fair played for Notre Dame. And of course, that has to get all the shine. All right. Listen. This isn't college football conversation right now. We have game picks to make for NFL week one. Okay. We'll also do some college football when we get to those picks. But right now, let's get the bird around. All right. I know everybody does the thing like it's not football season until, but it really is not football season here in football America until we talk to this cat, making great pages over there at sports illustrated. I want to talk to him about those. The Matt Verderam show on Patreon. That football show on KC Sports Network. And like I say, the SI scribe with a dynamite piece. The you must read. Even if you are a diehard football fan, you should understand the stakes of the people that are putting themselves out there. A piece on Chris Johnson, the great CJ2K. It's our old pal Matt Verderam. How are you, Felon? Happy football season. I'm doing well. It's, it's absolutely anyone. And you didn't mention Miraculous of 10. You didn't mention it's Tyreek Hill. Tyreek Hill's rookie number of the preseason for the change. It's 10. Throw that out. Yeah, that's right. It's a deep poll, but I had no idea about that. Tor, yeah, that's right. It's true. It happened. So there you go. There's a couple of, a couple of 81s for you. Look at that. Shout out, Miro Chitan, Satan on the devils. He was for a little while. It was also on the penguins. I can't. Did anybody, you know what? I forgot to say is Marion Hose of War 81, didn't he? Don't tell, don't tell, don't get me down that rabbit hole because I don't consume all this time. We have important stuff to talk about with Verderam. And here's a, here's a, here's a global sort of question to start the, the conversation about the specific NFL 2026 season. Would you rather, as we sit here, Matt Verderam informed as you are, would you rather have any coach of your choosing for the next 20 years or any quarterback of your choosing for the next 10 years? Quarterback. Quarterback. Quarterback. And what would that be? Malt. I would. That's a good answer. That's the right answer. 22 ish. Let's say, let's say you get, I think of the next 10 years now. Good answer. Really? Oh god, yeah. Yes. Yes. Look, this, this whole conversation about who the best quarterback is is asked. I like this guy, Dave. I like this guy. We should have this guy on more. It's, it's crazy that we keep doing this thing where we crown somebody that isn't Patrick my home. Ranking until somebody does it until somebody beats them. You understand how, how sports go. Like we win the teams that are, that are not good enough to participate in the postseason tournament. And then those teams play each other. And then it ranks the teams by results. There's. Right. No. I get that. But here's, so here's the thing, right? There's two ways to do this. There's two ways to realize what to do. One is, we ranked these guys based off of their body of work. Whereas if we're ranking active quarterbacks off their body of work, there is no argument. Zero. Like anyone in the world who's like, well, Josh Allen's been barred in months. No, he hasn't been. He's not been barred. Then I'm statistically over the course of his career. Sure as hell, it doesn't have the accolades that my home's has. Right. So body of work, there's no argument. If we're going off of last year, if we're just going to live in a real short 12-month bubble, cool, the Matthew Stafford's best quarterback in football. It's not Allen who's just had four turnovers in Denver and his coach got fired after the game. It's not Lamar who also did not go to the playoffs and has been abysmal in every playoff game he's been in by and large. It's not burrow. who hasn't seen the playoffs since 2022, right? So you do this one of two ways. It might, my personal barometer for this is, if you said to me, your life's on the line. You've got one game, all the teams are equal, except for the quarterbacks. You've got to pick a quarterback who's active right now, who would you take? There's no question how I would take. There's nothing in an argument. Like, most of the quarterbacks in the league, their families would pick Mahalch. You would just take Mahalch. You would be like that guy, all the Jolory on his fingers. The guy on these nine trophy cases at the house, that guy, I'll think that guy to win me that game. - Okay, I have to say, I apologize. I thought you were attacking the notion of ranking athletes against each other. When people herump at the Jordan versus LeBron or whatever the conversation is, can we just agree that they're both great and move on? No, we can't. That's why we are afraid because we want to understand. We want to stratify. Okay, so you're talking about the ridiculousness of having that conversation in the here. And now when Patrick Mahalms is a part of the conversation. - Yes, it's like arguing in the mid-90s. Like, no, actually, I think I'd rather have Clyde Rexler than Michael Jordan. No, I don't think you would. Actually, it turns out, I don't. - Okay. - No, it's just, it's a nonsensical, or like, Alan Iverson was an all-time great player. No one has denied first-bound Hall of Fame. You're not taking Alan Iverson over Michael Jordan. You're not gonna be, well, you're not actually Iverson, pretty sweet shot last night to beat the Clippers. I'll take, like, no, you're gonna take the guy who is the grim reaper in any big size of rent. And so that's why to me, like, those here and now arguments are insane. Now, I'm all for a really good, like, all-time, historic argument, whatever, but like, right now, come on. - Oh, I'll say, I'm glad. See, I was worried that something had happened as you made the move with your family from the Midwest to the Northeast that somehow, you had become more cynical. And I didn't know if this was a murder, I'm no-no. You still, like, historical rankings and all that. I agree. This is hot-taken. I'm with you to announce the judge Alan is better than the guy who's whipped him head to head a number of times, except in October when the bill seemed to make their entire season around a regular season went. Okay, enough about that except I do want to keep talking about KC, you are among your many qualities. A, Kansas City Chiefs expert. So let's talk about, first of all, make our first proper pick here on football America for the cat, well, I guess we kind of dipped our toe in those waters with the mid-week games. But all right, what's done is done. With a guest, go ahead and pick it for us. Monday night football, Broncos and Chiefs. And I'll start with this question, I guess, before you issue a pick. Is this, as you see things, 1v2 in the chase for the AFC West? Yes, I do. I'm not a chargeers guy, which may surprise people that are not at all because I don't. I'm a big believer like, do you actually win games? Like, the chargers have this weird thing that everybody's always just like, "Why I gotta tell you?" You know what, the chargers did the sausage. What did the chargers do this whole season? They get me. What did they get to eat? That's a great question. They've lost it up the way. They brought in this center who's now gone for the year. And they brought in an offensive coordinator who like, I like, and I feel like he's a big like, fives guy, so media people love him. Everyone ain't anything in Miami. And I was talking to a defensive coordinator for a lengthy amount of time, maybe a month ago, who was like, they're gonna try to run the ball and get explosive just like he did in Miami. With most dirt and H-channel, which is great. That's why they brought in Keaton Mitchell from Baltimore because he's this explosive guy. Get him outside and let him run. In Miami, they had Tyree Kill and Jay on a bottle. You had to play your two safeties in the parking lot against those guys. Quentin Johnson and Trey Harris, not quite the same guy. Like, I'm thinking you're probably gonna put it safety down in the box and then you've got an auto-bond up the middle to get pressure. So, yes, I do think the Broncos and Chiefs are the two best teams in the division. As for one thing. I'll say this. I'll say this. But the one thing is, it's not just Mike McDaniel. It's also Jim Harvon. What we've seen Jim Harvon do, when I summon, when I think about him and at the height of his powers in the NFL. - Which one went by the way? - What's that? - Which one's with the Niners? - With the Niners. - Oh, so 15 years ago. - Okay. You know what? - Great. - We're gonna run duo until somebody quits. People have tried to mount the argument and I don't know that I buy it, but you know, I'm willing to hear your thoughts on it, is that you have to treat coaches. As, I mean, we saw it happen with Mike Tomlin as a Steelers fan, got outmoded his ways. But do you buy that you just, you run out of ideas? Like Bill Belichick, you can't take him to task for anything that's happened in the last eight years. He's an old man now, he's out of ideas. So that's basically where you're with Jim, 'cause with Jim Harbock, the hyperspecific thing and the rally against the Ravens and that Super Bowl that I think of as them banging away with Frank Gore. And then, you know, in the rally, the almost rally to win it. Gore, Gore, Gore with some running from, from capping all of that and then attacking the seam with no ability to stop Vernon Davis, 'cause if you build your attack that way, what are you gonna do as a defense? You cannot cover everybody. And they do have the wheels up the seam at tight end. I think that that's a big factor too for them. - You know, as I love Gatson, but I just look at them and it's like in a good team in a big game, I will just bracket McConkey on third dance. So go ahead, throw the ball, I don't care. And Herbert and every big game he's been in, he's been at trushes. So I'm gonna be like, wait and see, I'm gonna do it, prove it to me. Proof, okay, fair. Bronco's chiefs. Bronco's chiefs, I will cover that. I will be at that game for Sports Illustrated Monday night. Look, I think that game comes down to one thing. So Denver does not have John Franklin Myers anymore. He's now at the Titans, free eight and signing. John and Cooper is on the commissioner's example list. They're big pass rusters now are Nick Benino and Zach Allen. Allen's inside. I think that matchup is normally probably the hardest one to deal with, but for the chiefs, that's probably where they'd rather a guy be, because they have freedom, free intration, and so on and so forth. Nick Benino is going to go against not only an undrafted rookie free agent, Carl Benzer, an undrafted rookie free agent who's never played left tackle in his life, like ever. And they're gonna put this kid in here on Monday night football against Benito and just hope it works out. Now, my feeling is if Denver wins up front and it's just, it's a ton of pressure, then I think Denver's gonna win the game. I think it's close either way. If Kansas City can limit Benito, I think the Chiefs will win the game. I think that's the entire game. I have Denver covering and the Chiefs winning by like a point. I think it's a close game, it's a tight game. I think Kansas City's defense is a lot better than people think is it. They love these young guys that they have. Like, are over the moon about him. Armation Thomas, Mansword the Lane, Peter Woods. I just wonder if Denver's gonna score enough. Like last year when these two played when my homes was healthy, Denver scored 19 points on offense. If you take out a field goal, they got when they started the drive to six yard line. Can Denver score enough in this game? I feel like the Chiefs with Walker with a healthy receiving core of my homes, all of them. Like, I think they get into the 20s. Can Denver get into the 20s? I think it's like 20 to, you know, I don't know. 19, 23, 21, something like that. I'll take the Chiefs at home, but I think it's a very close game. I think it all depends on that one match up. Or a lot of it depends on that one match, anyway. Roken record Dave has to point out again because it feels like it somehow slipped under the radar based on when it happened in the offseason calendar. But Jalen Waddle is a huge piece to add in my opinion to that offense. I don't know how quickly he arrives as being a critical factor in that offense, but if it's sooner rather than later, as soon as Monday night football, in Arrowhead, where Mad Vardoram is. - Can I ask a question about Jalen Waddle though, Dave? Can I ask a question about him? Because I watched him down here for a long time. Obviously he was a great player. He is a good, he's probably a high end. Like if you're, if he's your wide receiver too, you're doing a really good job, right? But if he's your wide receiver, one, how well are you doing? So I think a lot of people are kind of looking at this Jalen Waddle accusation. Oh my God, acquisition as like this transcendent thing that will revolutionize the Broncos offense. Are we sure that's true? Like do we really look at Jalen Waddle as that kind of in Portland Sutton? - Well, or two twos, which is I think it's an overrated thing that you have to have. They stand alone, clear cut number one. Let's hear from Vardoram on that. - I think they have two very good number twos. I think that's, and either one of them on a given day can be a one, but look, this is so here, little inside baseball to watch in this game. Did she play more press man coverage in any team football? And half for years, I was expecting a lot. I can promise you in this game, they've got a lot of length in the lane. No Williams is a physical coin. It's not that big, but very physical. And what Jerry Snead is in the slot for them. And I can promise you in this game, their game plan is gonna be, get on the line of scrimmage and turn this into an absolute brawl within the first five yards. Don't let them off the line. They're gonna, I remember years ago in the 20, 20, 80 title game, they had Rashad Bereanland, who people probably don't even remember. He's a big physical corner. And he played against the five digs in that game He took two. holding penalties in the first quarter. He would just grab him and just throw him. Like, go watch the film that gets unbelievable. It's just assault outside the numbers. Like, and I think in this game, especially with Waddle, they're gonna say, get up on him, do not let him get off the line of scrimmage, screw up the timing. Doesn't mean it's always gonna work. Sometimes you get burned by doing that. You know, a guy gets re-release and you got a problem. But the cheese are gonna be very physical in this game. I think, like, this is where to me, Nick's has to mature a little bit. Nick has to hit the throws he's supposed to hit. And at times with him, that's a problem. Where he'll make four or five throws, he could just like, why did he do that? Or why did he miss that guy? He's 10 yards wide open. In this game, on the road, you can't make those mistakes. You've got to play, well, and in three of his four career games against the Chiefs, excluding Week 18, are they pointing nobody, 38 nothings, the Chiefs are playing you and me in the game. He's never scored more than 22 points in the game. And in the game, he scored 22, which was last year, they had a first and goal to six off a punt return that ended in three points. Like, he's never manufactured more than 20 points in any game against Magnolo. I think to win this game, I think they're gonna have to get over 20 points. I think it's gonna be way more, but I think it's gonna have to be, you know, 23, 24 points, something like that. All right, let's talk about your piece in SI that I referenced earlier. You visited with CJ2K and family and pretty heavy stuff. Did you know going in to that situation that he was nonverbal at this point? - Yes, so he communicates through a vision board, which is common for people diagnosed with ALS who are having an advance. I did something I've never done. I sent in the questions before I went there because it takes a while for him to be able to answer those questions, obviously. And so, you know, that way he wasn't under pressure. He had multiple days to kind of get ready and his wife, Brittany, who's amazing, who's just caregiver, she helped them to answer those questions and put it together the way he wanted to. I did ask some follow-up questions in person. I interviewed her in person, the kids in person, his mother, his friend, his cousin. All those interviews were done at the house. But for him, I was aware he was nonverbal. But it is, look, I mean, it is a striking devastating disease. You go and normally in my spot, you walk in, you shake hands with the person, hi, how you doing? You can't do that. You know, I introduce myself, you looked up at me, you know, as I was there, that was the capability you had to do that. It was far different and it's far more emotional. I think that you realize when you're walking into, when you're walking out, but he, through his answers gave some really, really terrific insight into what he's thinking and how he's showing. - Do you, because it obviously transcends just Chris Johnson, you know, it's one out of four, is the latest research says that football players, NFL players have some form of CTE, you know, it's an ongoing conversation for me is how we reconcile what we want as fans versus what we want as human beings. Where do you come down on this? Are we, is it, I don't wanna say our lesser angels, I don't wanna get up on Mount Pius about it, because I think the pushback or the rationalization we make is like, these guys know what they're putting their bodies on the line for and I think if you ask most players, they will tell you like, I understand the risks, I'm setting my family up for the next century, so it's worth it to me. What are we supposed to do with this, you know, this level of barbarism, you know, that's what it is, but it's to our great pleasure. - So with the Chris Johnson part of it, I mean, I asked him, do you feel like you're NFL career is something to do with this? And he essentially said, you know, a lot of my docs would feel like it's likely that it was part of it. There was a study that came out this year out of mass general that said, players who played even one game in the NFL from 1960 to 2019, all were studied and you know, of course it's deathlight. Four times more likely to have ALS than it appears. Right, 3.88 times more likely to have dementia. That's a hard number to ignore, but it's very hard to prove. Oh, do you have this 'cause of football or do you have this 'cause you're unlucky, right? I mean, that is the reality of this. And as far as CT, I wrote a piece that went on Friday, I talked to 10 former players and I talked to Rocky Blire. I talked to Kenny Anderson, John Hanna, Randy Cross, Dan Hampton, Mark Jackson, Mark Collins, I mean, on the online, I talked to 10 of them. And I got a lot of different answers all across the spectrum about CT and how they feel about it and what should be done for former players and the union and their role and all this. Here's the one thing that I got that was consistent through all of them, they'd all play again. And that, that's the thing, right? If you're the NFL, you're not necessarily moved to do as much as you might need to do because all these guys would go play, and I'm not blaming them, I'm just, that's their feeling. That's their opinion, but it's really hard to sit there and say the NFL has to do X, Y, and G when the NFL could point and go, well, I mean, they would go back and play them off. They could do it. So it's a very hard subject to tackle with honesty and clarity. And I do think the NFL owes these guys a better benefits package. I do think that the union owes its players and its members a better job. The union, I can feel the failure of the NFL players union. They get such a pass. They get such a pass 'cause it's like the big bad NFL. And yes, the NFL absolutely is powerful and can do more. The NFL players union has done nothing in comparison to what it could do for these guys forever 'cause they're so worried about getting a fraction more of the revenue than what the new TV deal looks like. And like, oh, that's super important. And if you're a rep, you need to be doing it. But all these guys should keep in mind the fact they are also going to be foreign players. And at some point, they should step up and do a better job. These are both the union and the league. - Verdoram, I have literally seven questions laid out for me, which would lead us to another, I think, four and a half hours. So I'm gonna instead let you go here. I really do. You're doing journalism. And it's a rolling conversation on the Levitard Network. Obviously, Dan and Pablo and the interest in that and you are doing the work when a lot of people are not the question I had queued up for you next. Well, I had a bunch of Kweala who's embarrassed the Patriots dynasty more, Bella Checker Brady. And I also want to know like, well, are the local authorities just in uncovering stuff up with NFL? What happened with Kyle Shanahan already? Can you give us 30 second answer on that? What is the story? Is it just gonna go away? - Kyle Shanahan, I have no idea. That is one of the more bizarre things. Nobody reported that. - Is that just the B-writers? It's the police? Well, it means the head coach of the regional football collective. We're not gonna tell you anything. - The next time we get together for some drinks, I've got many stories over the years like I could share it stuff like that. But yeah, look, these teams are very powerful. But you know, it's amazing, that happens, right? And it's completely covered up. But then Jed York is in Palestine, Ohio. And with a lady of the night for not much money, and that was like front page news, right? That was out there, the pictures are out there. But Kyle Shanahan, that's, sorry, we have to talk about that. - I can hear more like, lady of like the afternoon. - Main breakfast kind of thing. - Whatever it was, it wasn't good. - Verderam, safe travels to and from Arrowhead have a great time there. Keep up to great work at Sports Illustrated and Beyond. Mad Verderam, a must follow in football season and Beyond. Thanks for the time, pal. - Thanks a lot. - All right, there he goes. Some heavy stuff there legitimately. Have you guys had a chance to check out the piece on Sports Illustrated that we were going back and forth on? - I have not, but I remember when the news dropped from Good Morning America, Michael Strahan's interview, and it was just shocking to see the fastest running back I've ever seen in my lifetime, probably, in that state. And it's a harsh reality we deal with, right? When we take in this game and we love this game as much as we do, is that what it does to the players and legends that we love after their cruise. - Yeah, I don't mean to put you in the spot. - No, no, no. - You can answer what I said to Verderam. - But it's tough, dude. - How do we reconcile? Fandom, like, what we want is the same thing. I always talk about, there's a big ticket-free agent, very popular in the sports town, beloved in all of that, and he holds out. He wants more money, and when that starts out, he's like, he does deserve more money. He is one of the best at his position. And then the season gets close, and then all of a sudden, all the fans are like, hey, sign already, a selfish ass, and then he's like, what the hell, I thought I was popular with you guys. We want the sports, and we're willing to give up a lot. - Yeah. - No, you're right, David. I mean, it is tough to reconcile. It happened already, right, in the first game of the season, where five snaps into the game, Sam Darnold goes down with a hip injury, and AJ Brown goes down in the third quarter, or whatever it was, with an ankle injury. And it's just like-- - Why'd you say it, buddy? He said, my fan is ET! - Yeah, well, one of them, yes, because AJ Brown went down, but that doesn't even matter. It's just, it can be hard to watch. - Yeah, drag me and AJ Brown. - Yeah, we'll drag me. - Yeah, drag Brown, by the way, has a high ankle sprint, I don't know how. long as going to keep him out, but that's going to be a month or so. Yeah, and the Seahawks Shafters reporting that the Seahawks got good news on it. See how quickly we go from, from how do we reconcile with all these injuries and all the damage that suffering these players are suffering to talking about fantasy team, talking about the implications for the Seahawks and the NFC West and the Patriots and the AFCs. How does this change the Patriots? All of a sudden, AJ Brown's down. Now they're just back to the weapons, they have, it's the, it's the part of being a cup, a Cubs fan. I was looking at something on my computer. It's the part of being a football fan that is just, you know, it's a day-to-day struggle honestly. And last night, I found myself really being like, god damn, like five snaps in the season, Sam Arnold's out. Like, this is a really tough watch at times. Long story short, buddy. The Patriots are going to be opening up in Foxboro in week two, shorthanded before then. I'm going to open up myself and honor a football season's arrival. I love that. Oh, the best beer in the world, Dave. I can't tell you I'm over the moon. LeBat beer is brewed for the chirps, the salty jabs, and your group chat, Hall of Fame. And for that one pal who hasn't changed his fantasy football team since 2019, I bet that guy's name is Gary. Either way, we at LeBat know a thing or two about friendly rivalries born in Canada, brewed in the US, united by the sacred art of trash talk because the best kinds of friendships come with nicknames you didn't approve, stores you can't escape and just enough roasting to keep things honest. So when your team is staring down a third and long, crack a cold one, roast responsibly, and give a toast to the people who give you the hardest time. LeBat brewed for the roast. I wish I had a little bad mind. I want one so bad right now, Dave. I want one so bad. You know what? I'm going to head down to the bright side tonight and just have a couple of them and just enjoy the coldest, freshest best beer in the world, LeBat light my favorite. Don't go. Yes, yet, though, because I do, like I say, want to finally get into the week one picks Verderam started us off. Let's jump in. Shall we with picks, picks, picks, and Geno, I start with you. You get the honors in the Draft King sports will do this every week. We'll give you one favorite. We'll give you one total and we'll give you one underdog that we like to hit. Geno, take it away. What on the NFL slate week one stands out to you? Well, there are a few games to stand out to me. The one that really jumps out to me in terms of like a game that I really want to watch is the the bills and the Texans and these are two teams that, you know, they've got some aspirations this year. David, you even picked the Texans to go ahead and be a super bowl contender this year. That's a team that always gives Josh Allen problems as the Texans. It's for that reason that I think the Texans are going to be, are they, they're not favorite right? They are. They are. One and a half point favorite. They are one and a half points favorite. Sorry, I'm wrong. I'm not wrong. They are one and a half point underdog. I guess I'm going to take them as an underdog, even though they're really close. Here's, so I'm going to take them to win out right over the bills. I guess that's my favorite. Is that what we're going with here? That's your underdog. I'll show them how it's done. All right. Let me show you how it's done. Pick it underdogs. Who is the underdog in this game? I like it. This is amateur. I got my underdog pick. All right. So that's your, are you taking the Texans against the spread because their first pick here we're going to make is against the spread. Let's do Texans against the spread. All right. Taking the Texans against the spread to win out. Perfect. So they're going to, you're going to take them plus one and a half here. I'm going to take against the spread for me. I'm going to take the Bears minus three at the Panthers. You're two for Caleb Williams in that Ben Johnson offense. I think he's going to explode this year. I think he might even be like an MVP candidate type player. I'm very, very excited about what the Bears are going to do on offense. Here's the key in this matchup, I think though. Last year, the Panthers were 20th in run defense and the Bears were third in rushing offense. I would like to see the Bears get the rushing attack going with DeAndre Swift and Kyle Monongai here. They're going on the road. Look for them to get the season started right. I'm taking the Bears minus three to win pretty big. Honestly, I think they can come out here and win by at least touchdown over the Panthers. All right. Listen, you know, you know, the Cardinal rule here on the show and every show I do, it is, we have a strict no job policy. And I think NFL week one, largely, is for me a stay away. I get very anything that is hard to define what I think of that team. I just am going to stay away and see at least 60 minutes and then try to render a better verdict of what I think of that where that team's headed. And man, I'm not sure about Caleb Williams against that defense. And I do think that Carolina Panthers, I know that the NFC South, we like to make our jokes and they're all a nebulous group and all of that and are the Panthers good. Are they mediocre? Did they win the division because of the mediocrity that's pervasive through the division? I think that team might actually be good even though I see a lot of people picking saints and mostly buccaneers to win it. Interesting stuff. I guess I'm vamping around here and let me give you my favorite. I'm going to go with, to me, this is pretty straightforward stuff. I like the commies fine. I don't think they have much of an offensive line this year. The Eagles have a great defense of front, a lot of people in on the Philadelphia Eagles, the mystery team, the inexplicable team of pro football. You have to have two things to make a go with things in the NFL these days. They say, one, savvy head coach and two, a high end quarterback. Nick Seriani, the troll is their head coach and Jalen Hertz, whose teammates are skeptical of is the quarterback. Nevertheless, the Philadelphia Eagles are going to cover that five and a half. Let's see. Give us a total you like. All right. So I had written down here, Bucks and Bengals 50 and a half and I was going to take the over. However, then I remembered that Joe Burrow forgets how to play quarterback for the first like four weeks of the season every year, particularly when I crossed that one out. And instead what I'm going to take is I'm going to take the Lions and Saints, the half here. The Saints scored 20 plus points in four of their final five games in the year with Tyler Schuck at quarterback, I liked that passing attack there with him and a Lava. I know Jordan Tyson won't be there to start the year. The Lions gave up a bunch of points last year. I do expect their defense to be a little bit better. But they also always score a missing on a point three fourths to their secondary. Yeah. So that's not going to help them in terms of their defense. I think their defense might start a little bit slow and get better as the year goes on. They also always always under with Dan Campbell and with these weapons. This often Shamir Gibbs, Jared Goff, Jameson Williams, Amon Ross. I'm saying Brown. They scored a ton of points. Give me points, points, points here. Life is too short to take the under. I'm going to pick over 15 and a half for a line. I said, as I say, no, you don't even hear me talking to you. You have to asterisk. Yes. Of course, you want to bet the over in life. But in week one in the NFL, did you see what happened on Wednesday night? Yeah. I know, Dave. I picked this is, but this is week one. I know, Dave. These defense wins early in the season, the offense is will that go ahead? No, there's always that one game that just explodes like I'm with you. Like I do think that some of these games that were expecting me offensive, like Bengals and Bucks. Mid season. I'm taking that way over. Right? I mean, I said it backwards. I said it backwards. The defense wins. The second half. Yes. The offense wins. But not week one. I agree with you. I agree with you. These guys. Why? They just had training camp. I love it guys trying to make the roster played the people playing in week one are rusty. So yes, they are not surprising that they would be not the best versions of themselves. All right. I got an under for you then. The third highest total of the week 48 and a half Dallas and New York. I think the defense has been much improved in Dallas. And like you said, the defense early on is going to win the day. The Giants have one of the sickest past rushes I've ever seen that D line is just vicious. And so I think that's going to be a lower point total than expected. Maybe not by much, but I could see 24 or 20 or they're about Dallas coming on top. What was the number there again, Gina? 48 and a half. Under the flag that somebody is listening. Thank you, Gina. We park our cars in the same garage. Look at the big totals and go under. I think that's a winning play in week one, generally speaking. This Bengals, a lot expected, obviously, of the Bengals offense, the defense, the rhetoric goes. If it's merely average, this team has a chance at the Super Bowl. I think it has a chance of being, I think the Cowboys defense, I keep saying the AFCs Cowboys is the Bengals, the NFC's Bengals is the Cowboys. You can almost describe them side by side in the same way. I think the Cowboys are going to have a borderline good defense. I think the Bengals are going to have a mediocre one. I think they have a better than expected offensive line. All that said, I think the Bucks defense is legit paired up against that offensive line of the Bengals. Go under the 50 and a half and I'll give you my dog of the week here. Jets and Titans, man, how many times is Tennessee going to be favored this season? I don't know, but they're laying one and a half in Nashville for the Jets. The Jets are going to win that game outright. Who do you got? I was going to surprise you guys with just the grossest, ugliest pick ever, taking the Jets against the Titans. But we're both, we park our cards in the same garage, Dave, give me the Jets on the money line. I got a nasty one for you guys want Brock Bowers out for week one. - Oh, you're not gonna take the dolphins, are you? - I don't think I'm gonna take the dolphins. - Oh, I think, oh. - The only real threat they had in the passing game was Brock Bowers. After that, it's a bunch of threes out there, playing Wild Receiver and Michael Mayer. - Michael Mayer? - I mean, Ash and Jens, he might give you some, but he's coming off of a high ankle sprain, so he might not be his normal self. The dolphins, a bunch of question marks. They might suck. They might just, like, throw up nothing. But there's a chance that Malik Willis is at least average. There's a chance that Chris Bell, you know, he's starting without a pitch count. - I did say today, I did see today, Caleb Douglas, expect a lot from Caleb Douglas, week one. I did see that. - You know, yeah, I agree. Life's a thing. - It's the Raiders. Life's a Raiders suck. - And a lot of time talking about the dolphins. (laughs) But I suspect I'm going to be lured into more than one conversation about them. All right, fine, thank your dolphins. I'm rooting for you. It would be nice for the dolphins fans to at least get one extra week of like, I don't know, maybe we'll be the big shocker of all time, I don't know. - If you can survive the Raiders, more likely Kirk is gonna torture you. All right, there you have it. Picks, picks, picks, our first go round with that. And that sets us up to jump in to the rest of the week one games. And let's go with Baltimore Ravens, Indianapolis Colts. The Colts at home, a dog catching a point and a half here. The total on this one, forgive my eyeballs. I didn't make this big enough for me to see it. Now I can see it a little bit better there. One and a half and your total is 47 and a half. I have this game. The Colts, I do not think a lot of people have amnesia about just how good that offense was. They were a great story. And then things fell apart for obvious reasons when Danny Dimes tore that Achilles. It doesn't mean that the Colts are a bum team. They do have a great offensive line. And they can bang you around. And the assumption that Jesse Mentor is gonna snap his fingers and it's gonna be a completely different defense. I'm skeptical of that's gonna take a minute to get go in there. Overall though, the Ravens should be able to go into Indianapolis, handle their business. They'll win the game. 21 to 17. How say you buddy? - Who I've got the Ravens as well, Dave. I don't know where you saw minus one and a half. I have the line on draft Kings at minus three and a half. I'm gonna take the Ravens. - That might be my terrible eyeballs. Either way, I say, yes, they're gonna win by four. I'm gonna take the Ravens 20 to 17. I just don't think either of these offenses will quite get going in week one. New era and Baltimore defense will win out here for both of these teams. I'm gonna take the Ravens 20 to 17 over the Colts. - Gina, I think we're all in the ballpark here. We've all got the same winner. So Ravens 24, 21, I think Lamar Jackson's gonna wanna prove the last year, just injury and he's gonna come out. And I think you're gonna see a lot of pressure probably from Jesse Mentor, try and test that Achilles on Danny Dyns. And it's probably gonna come out with Jesse Mentor's defense making a few more plays on the other side. - Man, they are real shorthanded at receiver, are the Ravens. And Zay flowers is getting close to JSN. Who can accrue a sort of Jenga P status. If Zay flowers went out, when that Ravens offense would be kind of jammed up and dependent on the Colts aren't much better. 32 year old banger of a running back, which also leaves this analyst cold. Next up, hackers, vikings, vikes at home, laying a point and a half total on this one is 48 and a half. I might ask you buddy to start reading them because my eyeballs are so terrible. A lot of enthusiasm around Kyler Murray, if you're willing to take the bait. And I think a theme as we jump in the week one is, Dave's taking a lot of the bait thrown out there. He's biting on a lot of the chum that's in the waters out there. I like the vikings with Kyler Murray. I like the packers just fine, but I think they are limited until they get their big piece that they traded away so much for a year ago in the person of Micah Parsons. I think the vikes get this one at home. I'm gonna call it 23 to 20, how say you Gina? - I got 21, 20 here. And I think the difference is exactly what you said. As Micah Parsons, it's the absence of Jacobs at running back. And I think that defense from Brian Flores is gonna play a big factor here. I really didn't know what to pick. So I just, one point advantage for the Vikings, 21, 20. - I'm gonna take the packers guys. I'm gonna go against the grain here. I'm gonna take the packers 27, 24. - Not crazy, not crazy. All right, let's get to the big one that everyone's buzzing about. - Oh yeah. - Flip all America. - Oh yeah, baby dolphins and raiders. - Is Aaron Rogers, he's 43. And if you hadn't heard him come in for Micah McCarthy, he's coaching about, by the way, I think I'd like to advocate now for every pro football team to be required to be coached by a local. I think that would be neat. Wouldn't that add something? Because where were learning you can't say that all your players all have to be from the region? 'Cause then Florida and Texas and Southern California would battle out every year. And the rest of us would be left watching that three way fight. But at least can we do something like, you gotta be from the city if you're coaching the team. I think this could usher in a neat new era. Either way, I haven't seen a soul lean in the direction of the Falcons for obvious reasons, the most tepid announcement of your starting quarterback. Like, yeah, what did you want us to do? The other guy's hurt. We gotta go with two. That's that, they don't have their two edge rushers. They're two of their best defensive pieces out there. I get the skill position guys are nifty, but that doesn't add up to much with the overall equation there. The stealers coming out of the gate should be ready to roll. They're old. Maybe that'll rear its head as the season wears along. They should win and comfortably. I've got the stealers here. 27, the 14. I'll say you, buddy. - All right, Dave, I'm pretty much in the same area as you. I've got the stealers, the Falcons, by the way. Josh Kendall of the Athletic is reporting right now that Falcons quarterback, Tua Tonga Bailoa, appeared to suffer discomfort during individual throwing drills Thursday and briefly went to the ground. So that should make things a lot better for Atlanta. Tua is already struggling with those back spasms possibly that he suffered with early in training camp. - I thought those guys were alive, the back spasms were a cover. - I don't know, man. Not a lot of promising stuff coming out of Atlanta here. Give me the stealers 24/10. It's not like they're gonna put up a light up the scoreboard either, but I don't see the Falcons doing anything on offense. Steelers 24, Falcons 10. - I absolutely can see them lighting up the Falcons at home. - Possibly. - Big celebration, good vibes around McCarthy and Rodgers and all of that. I just think it'll be the menishing returns as the season wears on. Gina. - But there is one dissenting opinion and it was a computer. Remember we ran the Madden Simulation and Madden thought that the Falcons were gonna beat the Steelers in week one. - Didn't Tua go off in that game? - I think so. I don't know. You were the one that ran the Simulation. But in real life, I don't think Tua's gonna do that. So I'm gonna go 24/10 Pittsburgh. - All right, let's do the game. Gina touched on Bills, Texans, Texans at home. A dog against Josh Allen, 44 and a half is the total. I like the Texans obviously. I have them as the number one C in the AFC this year. I'm going Texans to take care of business at home. They'll win this game. 20 to 19 total, like I say, is not that lofty, but these two high-power teams are gonna fall short of it. Gina, who you got straight up here. - I took the Texans. I got the Texans in 20 to 17. - I don't do your final. - 20 to 17. There you go. - Okay. Buddy. - Yeah, I'm gonna take the Texans as well guys. Like Gina mentioned, the Texans have kind of been a kryptonite for Josh Allen. That defense is incredible. I picked the Bills on Tuesday to go to the Super Bowl on the AFC East and immediately regretted it. I would like to officially change my pick to the Texans out of the AFC. I've finally convinced myself that CJ Stroud will do just enough behind that defense. And I think they get a Super Bowl bound campaign started not necessarily winning, but getting to the Super Bowl. I'm gonna take the Texans 23 to 20 in this one. - I have to study it a little bit more. Meditate on it, marinate, whatever you call it. Kind of thing about the Jacksonville Jaguars. Because my theory is that in fact, with the both South's combined, that the locals don't care that much. And so the rest of us have no reason to jump in. And I think that plays specifically this year the Jacksonville Jaguars. I think we kind of don't want based on apathy. We don't hate the Jags. We sense the apathy from that region. And so we don't want to embrace the Jags. They might be a factor. And if I had it to do over again, I would think even harder about the Jags winning the South straight up against the Texans. Those battles between those two are gonna be a lot of fun. Saints, lions. The lions are giving seven, pretty nine and a half, with my broken glasses as I analyze that one. The Saints, a lot of people are excited about. I guess I understand a lot of it. I don't understand the enthusiasm around the defensive pieces though. A lot of can you do it again, what you did last year among the individuals out there for the Saints? I like the lions. I am not bullish on that. I don't think they're going to the playoffs. I think in week one they win. And they will do so by a count of 23 to 13, buddy. - Well, I give you this pick as my over. So obviously I think there's gonna be a lot of points in this game. I like the lions as well. Give me them 34 to 17. See, I figured you were going to go crazy. My scores, this is the most out there score I have this week. Okay. So, I've got Detroit winning obviously because they're going to be at home and New Orleans is, you know, punching above their weight here, but I think this is going to be a shootout. I think this is going to be like 42-35 lines. I mean, they're going to come out on top of the memory one game. Three four, so that seconder for Detroit is out. So, they've got their number one corner, no starting safeties and no back end. Like, I think they're healthiest cornerback as they're fourth string cornerback of this. Don't see a lot of defense in this one. All right. Let's bring it on home here. We touched on it. America's alleged team is playing in the New Jersey area. The home team is an underdog by 348 and a half as your total. I think that the Cowboys, I'm not a believer in John Harbaugh, Transforming a team. I think the vibes are good for most home teams. In week one, there'll be a lot of enthusiasm in that joint. I think the Cowboys understand that they can't let this one go. They're going to have their foot on the gas coming right out of the gate here. I think the Cowboys take care of business against a legit good and, you know, banged up on the offensive line already is Dallas and against that mighty pass rush that Gino mentioned earlier. I think the Cowboys have enough to take care of business and win by a touchdown. Let's call it, let's call it 24 to 17, buddy. I'm going to go a little bit closer here. I do think the Cowboys are going to win this game. It feels like this game is always week one Sunday night football. Does it not Cowboys at Giants, whether it's in New York, in Dallas? I'm over the NFC East as a whole to be honest with you in terms of their rivalry matchups. But I'm going to take the Cowboys here 2421. Buddy, I mean, that's our Gino 2420 is the the score I had earlier. Like I said, I think it's going to be a slow start for Dallas. I think that pass rush from New York is going to give him a lot more problems than anticipate. Eventually they will start to turn it on and they'll come on on top 2420. Like I said, all right. Let's let's round things out here with a little bit of optimism. Glass half empty glass half full. Let's roast with, you know, nice to have a beer to do this. But I have a glass of water here that is literally like half full. So I will roast the New York Jets ownership of Woody Johnson, who I praise for his ongoing ineptitude, which creates the veneer that it's up for grabs in the NFL. And that there are no such things as dynasty. It's all about parity, don't you see? If Woody Johnson were competent, the Jets, it would just feel like you're just waiting for your number to come up. And this goes for you too, Jimmy has them over there in Cleveland. If you weren't so inept, you would eventually just win a Super Bowl. That would be the natural course of things. But you suck so bad that you can never even get to a Super Bowl. So I roast you for that. But I toast, you know, Smith, the prodigal son back in New York. I like the pieces there Jets are going to be halfway decent. They just happened to be in a division with the Patriots and with the bills. So they're not a playoff team. But I toast to you. Best wishes, Jets fans. I don't know how you do a year after year after year, glad I ain't you. Hey, listen, you know what we all are? We're footballs, the fans and that makes us all winners. That means that or because football season is here, we're all in the winter circle already. We're looking forward to kibbets and with you all throughout this thing, all the way up and through Valentine's day, 2027, win the Dallas Cowboys and the Cincinnati Bengals hook up in Super Bowl 61. You mean the Los Angeles Rams and the Houston Texans, Dave? Yeah, listen, have your fantasies. That's fine right now. What's important is that you join us on Monday, right after the day in Levitar show ends. So we'll begin our first live show game reaction for you. We'll set the table for you for Monday night football and look back at everything we saw on Sunday. Until then, for everybody on the show and a shout out to Mad Verderon. Thanks so much, my fellow football Americans. It's been a thin slice of heaven.