Full Transcript for NFL Week 9 Predictions & Bold Calls: Jonathan Taylor Trade, Bills-Vikings, Packers-Patriots (Ep. 2324)

know the Packers are your team and I want to put you in sort of the GM chair right now. Is this something where obviously you kind of have to let the legal process all play out in the NFL's process all play out and see what's going on there. But if you're running this team, are you making any moves or thinking about, OK, here's option A, option B, option C? Or do you just kind of fall back to where you were? If some sort of punishment does fall down on Jacobs here? 00:05:39 Speaker 2: We did not mention the Packers in the Jonathan Taylor sweepstakes, but they have been among the teams rumored to be among the suitors for Jonathan Taylor. And I think that has a lot to do with maybe the possibility that Josh Jacobs is not available to the team at some point, whether it's this year or next year. But, you know, I don't know if I don't know if the confidence from Josh Jacobs is warranted. I don't know where the league is, obviously, with their investigation. But given these new allegations, man, I don't think the league is totally done with Josh Jacobs. And it would be interesting. The only thing is, could the Packers put enough of a deal together? Like, I don't think the Colts are getting a first in any deal for Jonathan Taylor. But the Packers don't have their first-round pick in 2027 because of the Micah Parsons trade. So you just wonder if they'd be willing to part with a second and not have any draft capital until the third round of the 2027 draft. So I kind of think they're like a long shot in the Jonathan Taylor sweepstakes, but it is interesting that they're rumored to be one of the teams interested. 00:06:52 Speaker 1: I may have had this talk with Debro, or I can't remember if it was you, Erickson, where I feel like I'm one of the last people that's still like, No, Jonathan Taylor should probably go for a first round pick or two seconds if they're doing it. Is that more or less like how you see some of these star running backs or is it just still like the mindset running backs are replaceable? You don't need to give up too much to get even a star like a Derrick Henry, a Jonathan Taylor, whoever these guys are. 00:07:14 Speaker 3: I think a first round pick still is in play, but maybe not me like. it has to be a future first, but it has to be the equivalent of what a future first would match in terms of multiple draft picks. So I think that the Christian McCaffrey deal a couple of years ago, that was not a first round pick, but it was a second, a third, a fit, like a lump sum of draft picks that you could create. And then if you look in like the, what was like the Bill Walsh like calculator or something along those lines where it's like you add it all up, it's like, right, this is an even deal. Like you plug it into the calculator. It's like, oh, this does equal a first round draft pick. So maybe something along those lines where a team offers up a lot of draft picks to get someone like. 00:07:55 Speaker 1: Is that the Jimmy Johnson draft pick

calculator? I'm sorry. 00:07:57 Speaker 3: I got my legendary coaches all mixed up. Jimmy Johnson. I apologize. So I know that's something that Albert Breer talked about where specifically with like the New York Giants, where it makes a lot of sense for them to feel like they could trade or excuse me for the giants they could trade a first round pick because if you look at their roster they don't need to get do they need more first round draft picks because they already have so much invested in top tier players where they actually would they need depth types of players so that's one team that it makes sense or yeah like they could they could fork over first round pick because based on their roster like they already have a quarterback on a rookie contract they already have a bunch of keystone defensive pieces that are a little bit that are younger So that would make sense for a team like that. So I think it does depend on what team is actually making the move for a player like Jonathan Taylor, whether it would be a first. And obviously it depends on what the Colts want. Colts obviously want the biggest return on JT. So yeah, if he's going to play this week, it doesn't really add up. 00:08:55 Speaker 1: Giants are low key, kind of good and young. And it's wild to think that their entire identity could have changed from beginning of the season with Jackson Dart, Cam Scadaboo to being J.J. McCarthy and Jonathan Taylor. If you told a Giants fan that nine weeks ago, they would have just thought that's absolutely nuts. 00:09:13 Speaker 4: But here we are. The most week nine of all week nines ever. 00:09:16 Speaker 1: And that's something I wanted to look at, guys, because I thought this was interesting. The MVP race, looking at the odds. Josh Allen still up at the top at plus 160. But you got Brock Purdy, Joe Burrow, and Caleb Williams. All in that second to fourth range of plus 450 to plus 550. And I'm actually still very surprised to see that Trevor Lawrence is so low on the MVP odds list, as well as Jared Goff, who's been playing some great football and the Lions are winning games. Pat, does this seem about right for you? Or are we maybe looking at throwing a little bit of money at some of these guys that have some really, really strong numbers here on the back like Goff and Lawrence? 00:09:53 Speaker 2: Goff is really intriguing at 30-1. I just wonder, he's stacked some really good statistical seasons. on top of each other, and I just wonder if this season will ultimately look that much different than some of those other seasons. So I'm not sure he can get over the top. Trevor Lawrence is interesting if the Jaguars make a major run and wind up with the number one seed. I could see that. And I think Caleb Williams... probably gaining some steam after that win over the Seahawks in Seattle last week. You know, he missed a couple of games and maybe that ultimately kind of kneecaps his chances. But man, he looked so in command against one of the best defenses in the NFL last week. And if he just continues to play like that, maybe he does have a realistic chance. 00:10:45 Speaker 1: And Eric, so we talked about this with the offensive rookie of the year is that there really hasn't been anyone that's grabbed the bull by the horns. And I don't know what that's really happened here with NFL MVP either. Josh Allen almost just feels like the de facto. We're like, oh, he's good. He's been good. The Bills are winning games and he still makes some amazing plays. So yeah, MVP again at this point. And Brock Purdy seemed like that guy early on, but he's cooled down a little bit over the last few weeks. 00:11:06 Speaker 3: Yeah, the 49ers lost the last time we saw them play. they've been losing offensive personnel. We just got a notification that Mike Evans is not going to return for this game against the Las Vegas Raiders. So yeah, it's a really crappy defense, but you have the Christian Kirk, Jordan Watkins conglomerate. That's going to be running routes for Brock Purdy. And is that enough to get it done? Obviously you have McCaffrey and George Kittle were the two studs pass catchers. So I think the 49ers offense will be fine, but that being said, they didn't play nearly as well against Atlanta. Like we thought that they would without Mike Evans. So that's something to keep in mind with Brock Purdy and a lot of this award too comes down to what are they doing the last month of the season? Right. I remember it was a couple of years ago, right? It was like Purdy and Lamar Jackson were like neck and neck. Brock Purdy loses to Lamar Jackson on primetime and then just done. Like MVP odds are just shot. This is like totally over when he was like the favorite, you know, like less than a day before that game took place. So, I'm pretty sure the Lions and Bears still have to play twice, right? They haven't played each other this year. Am I correct? 00:12:05 Speaker 4: I think so, yeah. 00:12:06 Speaker 3: So they got to go head-to-head twice. If the Lions sweep the Bears, like, Caleb Williams does not win MVP. Like, that's not happening. I mean, I'm not saying that's likely to happen, but if they split or something along those lines, that's one way to kind of cross off one of those specific type of players. I also think in the back of my mind, like, we saw the Bears offense win a game without Caleb Williams. Like, if you're the MVP, shouldn't your team be awful without you? Like that's another angle I always kind of look at when it comes to players that, then you guys, you can make the argument like a couple of years or when Peyton Manning missed that entire season and his team was so horrible. It's like, dude, you should have won MVP that year because his team was so bad and just like completely dysfunctional with Curtis Painter as the quarterback who literally looked like he had never played. He had never played NFL football in his entire life. So that's another thing that I think about Trevor Lawrence to me,

like that was my off season bet. So yeah, That's the side I kind of want to continue to ride. I'm still there with you. I, yeah, like that's what I'm hoping pans out. Like that's, I hope Trevor Lawrence wins. It looks like they have kind of like that angle at the number one overall seat. They continue to roll here. They have a favorable schedule for the rest of the season. And Trevor Lawrence tends to put up really good numbers. Like, and I don't see why that's going to stop with Liam Cohen, all the offensive personnel that they have working with. And I think he's going to get credit for it, right? It's a high draft pedigree type of player. He's 27 years old. He's never really been in the running for many of these awards. So we know like the voters like to award someone else a MVP for the first time. So I get Josh Allen, like by default, it's like, Oh, he should probably be up there. Um, I know like you didn't list like Joe Burrow as well. Like people want to give Joe Burrow an MVP because he's so good, but That being said, dude, they almost lost to the Tennessee Titans last week. 00:13:46 Speaker 1: He's had some bad games, too. Like, he threw, what was it, three interceptions. 00:13:49 Speaker 3: Against the Titans? Yeah, like, so, again, he had six touchdowns. He also had three picks. 00:13:51 Speaker 1: All to a money hooker. 00:13:53 Speaker 3: So, like, again, MVP also has to do with winning games. And is this Bengals team actually good enough if the Steelers win the division? Joe Burrow's going to win MVP as the seventh seed? Like, I don't know if that's going to happen, so. 00:14:04 Speaker 1: No. No. 00:14:05 Speaker 4: No. 00:14:06 Speaker 1: Well, guys, we're going to continue on here and preview some of the biggest games from the Week 9 matchups. But before we do, I want to remind everybody that basketball season is here, too, and there's a new way to trade on it in this new prediction market called Polymarket. Polymarket's a prediction market. It's a stock exchange for sports buying in and selling out on your terms. They are so confident that you'll never go back to the other guys. They're giving you a free $ 25 on your first trade when you deposit just $ 10. Every bucket, every block, and my favorite word, every scintillating matchup in basketball trades on Polymarket. So download the Polymarket app today and use the code FPPOD when you sign up. That's code FPPOD to get $ 25 FD. 00:14:44 Speaker 4: Deposit, just $ 10. 00:14:45 Speaker 1: And guys, we've got some scintillating matchups here in week nine. 00:14:50 Speaker 4: Yeah, that's right. I get to use it even when I'm not doing it. 00:14:52 Speaker 3: You're a braver man than I am. I skip it over because I'm too afraid to mess up the word scintillating. 00:14:58 Speaker 1: It's not scintillating. It's scintillating. 00:14:59 Speaker 3: That's why I don't do it because I'm too afraid. 00:15:02 Speaker 1: Do you call them skizzers? Skizzers. 00:15:05 Speaker 3: Touche. 00:15:08 Speaker 1: I expected so much more from you, man. All right, let's let's take a look at the scintillating matchups here. First one on the docket, Buffalo Bills going up against. 00:15:18 Speaker 4: The Minnesota Vikings. 00:15:19 Speaker 1: And this one's so interesting because the Vikings for a while there looked unbeatable until last week. And now all of a sudden we've got Kyler Murray with a hamstring injury. Reports from Adam Schefter trending towards Carson Wentz starting for the Vikings against the Bills. Pat, I got to ask you, are we've all been watching the same games? Does Carson Wentz give the Vikings a better chance to not only win this week, but win throughout the rest of the season? Yeah, that is a good question. 00:15:47 Speaker 2: I'm trying to find the line here. I'm trying to see if that has moved the line at all. It seems like it's barely moved the line. I think it opened at Bills minus three. Now it's Bills minus three and a half, but juiced towards the Vikings. So it's barely affected the line at all. So I think the reasonable conclusion is maybe it's kind of a wash this this quarterback exchange I don't think that's going to be the deciding factor and I still don't think I think the Vikings have to at least try to run the ball even though they have not run the ball very effectively of late and because I don't think they can let Carson Wentz drop back 35 to 40 times and expect to win this game and the Bills run defense still isn't very good so that's going to be a key for the Vikings, whether they can actually do some business on the ground. 00:16:41 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:16:42 Speaker 1: Erickson, I saw you making some faces there. Well, when, when Pat's talking about Carson Wentz and the Vikings, what's the, uh, what's the thought process? 00:16:48 Speaker 3: Well, if you ask a certain Vikings wide receiver, if it's a difference, I'm sure that he would say, uh, if he had to tell us the truth, you'd probably say, oh yeah, I definitely want Carson Wentz on her center. 00:16:58 Speaker 4: It rhymes with Mustin Mufferson. 00:16:59 Speaker 3: Kyler Murray, perhaps that's his name. Austin Everson. Justin Jefferson this year, 19% target share with Kyler Murray, 34% with Carson Wentz. I get, I don't know what is up with Kyler and just like not targeting his number one receivers. Like now I got to go to Hawkinson at all times. I need my security blanket, but at least the things that with Wentz, you get bombs away, man. Like he's not afraid to sling it to Justin Jefferson, make and have his number one receiver make plays. We know this Bill's defense can be had specifically in their secondary defense. So Buffalo is not going to get shut out by the Vikings defense as good as Brian Flores has been last week. Yep. They passed the test against a high powered, high octane Detroit lions offense for the most part. Again, they lost the game, but the defense wasn't the reason that they lost is because they couldn't really do anything offensively.

There's a lower scoring game. Um, that kind of got, could have gone in any which way I would say when it comes to the bills, like this is a tougher task for Brian Flores because it's not a statuesque quarterback that you're blitzing. So, if the blitz, they dial it up, it doesn't hit home. Josh Allen is running up the sideline for 40 yards. Like that's what happens. So I think that this matchup is even tougher for this Vikings defense. So I think, I think the bills should be favored. I know this was one of Seth Wilcox best bets on the show. And I mean, I think I would have, I mean, as like a handicapper or a better, I think I'd rather be facing Kyler to be honest. Like I like the bill side. So I think the Vikings are probably more alive, honestly, with Carson Wentz under center. 00:18:33 Speaker 1: This one's interesting to me. I think I'm taking the Vikings in this one here. I think Carson Wentz just gives them an edge and also some of that mystery box unpredictability. I also go back to Brian Flores being the head coach of the Miami Dolphins and facing off against Josh Allen. The Bills consistently struggled against the Dolphins blitzing back then. So I'm very interested to see how this matchup goes. Let's move on to the Pat and Erickson bowl here. Oh man, Green Bay Packers versus New England Patriots. 00:19:01 Speaker 4: Patriots are favored minus three and a half here. 00:19:05 Speaker 1: Both of these teams have won four of their last five games. Things are looking good for both of them. New England seems to be a little more banged up here, potentially without A.J. Brown, Trevion Henderson, Hunter Henry. Erickson, can your Patriots hold on for a victory here? 00:19:20 Speaker 3: I think they can for two reasons. Number one, the Packers offensive line is still terrible and good offensive or bad offensive lines don't travel well. So I get that at home, it's a little bit easier when you're facing the Carolina Panthers defense to hold up and pass protection. I don't think that's the case here against New England, who I think has been a bit more feisty up front with their defensive linemen. Gene Barrymore, Milton Williams, Gabe Yakis is making a lot of plays as one of their rookie edge rushers. So I think that there is a trench advantage for New England and one of the things about these Packers receivers is, and Jordan Love specifically, is they have not faced a lot of man coverage this year. And that's what Patriots do a lot with Christian Gonzalez. Now, you can't put Gonzalez on both Golden and Watson, but if Gonzalez can slow down Christian Watson and Matthew Golden's hands don't show up, well, I think that could result in a Patriots victory at home. 00:20:11 Speaker 1: Pat, I'm going to give the floor to you to now defend yourself and your Packers, because I will say Packers defense has been getting better and better with each week. The offense is sort of coming into its own. We saw Tucker Kraft have himself a big game last week. 00:20:25 Speaker 4: So it's not. 00:20:26 Speaker 1: Just the Matthew Golden and Christian Watson show. There are still questions about the run game. So can the Packers put it all together and get themselves a nice victory this week against the Patriots? 00:20:36 Speaker 2: They can't run the ball, but Jordan Love can absolutely do enough to win this game. Like, he's right up there in Drake Mays' class as a quarterback. Like, this is going to be a fascinating quarterback duo. Jonathan Gannon has been amazing with this defense. They have not had Micah Parsons. Expected to get him back maybe on that Thanksgiving Eve game is his anticipated return. They lost Edgerin Cooper, who I thought was their best defensive player, aside from Micah Parsons, to a turn Achilles. They are still playing fantastic defense. They haven't had Zaire Franklin, their next best linebacker after Cooper. They keep losing guys and still playing really good defense. What kind of strikes me about this game is how much these two teams' seasons. 00:21:24 Speaker 4: Have paralleled each other so far. 00:21:27 Speaker 2: They both started 1-2. They both got their doors blown off in Week 3. The Packers had that humiliating Thursday night loss to the Falcons. The Patriots got dog-walked by the Jaguars in that game. They've since recovered to go 4-1, both teams, and now look like legitimate playoff contenders again. So I think it's a really fascinating matchup. I'm not going to be so bold as Erickson is to make a prediction on this. The line is Patriots minus 3. That seems pretty spot-on to me. I just think this is going to be a really fun game, and I cannot wait to see this quarterback deal. 00:22:03 Speaker 3: You know who's broadcasting this game, too? 00:22:06 Speaker 2: Who is it? 00:22:06 Speaker 3: It's Tom Brady. It's his first time back in New England in the booth. They finally convinced him not to do a Cowboys game. And they're like, right, we're going to bring you in to do Patriots and Packers. So yeah, I think I'm actually very interested to see what Brady has to say about Drake May and Jordan Love again as the Patriot, former Patriots quarterback. And it's definitely always weird because Tom Brady kind of views himself not just as a Patriots quarterback, but as it's like this Hall of Fame, Enigma, GOAT type of personality because he won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers, which as a Patriots fan, we don't love that. We wish that, even though we built a statue of this guy outside of Gillette Stadium. But yeah, I think that's going to be a lot of fun. 00:22:49 Speaker 2: So this is a late afternoon game, right? We're going to get this one in the... It's going to be dark with daylight savings. We're going to get this one in the gloaming in New England. 00:22:58 Speaker 3: Prime time on Fox, baby. Saddle up. 00:23:00 Speaker 2: It's going to be a fun one. 00:23:03 Speaker 1: I love seeing you guys so excited about this. My dolphins are going to get the doors blown off by the lions, but

that's okay. That's why it's not on the list of good games. I don't know if this one's going to be any good, but I am incredibly intrigued by it because I think the results of this game could lead to some major moves. We got the Houston Texans versus the Los Angeles Chargers. Texans are favored by four and a half. This was such an interesting storyline earlier in the week. Los Angeles Rams safety, which I know has nothing to do with this game, but this is the previous opponent. Quentin Lake was laughing at Justin Herbert when he went on to the St. Brown podcast as a guest to talk to Amonra St. 00:23:44 Speaker 4: Brown and Equinemius St. 00:23:45 Speaker 1: Brown. And he was talking about Justin Herbert throwing interceptions, one of which he got. And his quote is fantastical. His quote is, I mean, he was throwing deli meat out there. He's seeing ghosts. I don't know what's going on, but like we knew we were going to get a couple, at least one. After those comments come out, then John Harbaugh gets asked about it because naturally someone says something about your quarterback. You got to go ask the coach. And Harbaugh says, as far as anyone else's opinion, I don't see that. Everybody's entitled to their opinion. It's not what I see. Holy smokes, Pat, are we just are we watching a coach that is just in denial at this point? What is going on here, man? Like, because now this makes me feel like Justin Herbert could throw two or three more picks in this game, lose this game. And he's just like, no, that guy's playing good football. I don't know what games Harbaugh's watching or what's even happening with the Chargers. 00:24:46 Speaker 2: I'm still hung up on deli meat. 00:24:48 Speaker 3: I love that. Just throwing meatball subs out here. Why did nobody ask Jim Harbaugh what his favorite deli meat is? I mean, it's got to be ham, right? He's got to be a ham sandwich guy. 00:24:56 Speaker 1: It's not chicken. He doesn't do chicken. 00:24:58 Speaker 2: He's a ham guy. 00:24:59 Speaker 3: Right. 00:24:59 Speaker 1: Nervous bird. Nervous bird. 00:25:00 Speaker 3: Exactly. Yeah. 00:25:03 Speaker 2: Who can argue, though, with Quentin Lake here? It's not been a good season for the— Chargers, one of their most successful plays last week against the Rams was a deflected Hail Mary at the end of the first half. Yes. Of Quentin Johnston's shoulder pads that Ladd-McConkie caught and, of course, couldn't get across the goal line for a touchdown. 00:25:24 Speaker 3: In typical Chargers fashion, that you complete a Hail Mary for. 00:25:27 Speaker 1: Right off Quentin Johnston's shoulder pads. 00:25:29 Speaker 3: For zero points. 00:25:31 Speaker 1: And I. 00:25:32 Speaker 2: I have to admit, I was kind of surprised that they did not fire Mike McDaniel during their bye week. 00:25:38 Speaker 1: I expected that to happen. 00:25:40 Speaker 2: Didn't happen. Offense was really no better coming out of the bye. Still a really muddled backfield committee with Marion Hampton, Keaton Mitchell, and Kamani Vidal. The passing game, just nothing is working with this offense. Even Joe Alt, who was such a stud at right tackle earlier in his career, hasn't been playing well. So I don't know where you go offensively. And man, like we... I'm surprised the line is this close, considering the Texans' defense. It's underachieved a little bit, but man, the Texans' defense versus the Chargers' offense could be such an epic mismatch. 00:26:15 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think what we're seeing here, too, and this happens with teams where it's almost like a sickness, a virus, where you start to lose games, people start to lose confidence, and especially when it trickles down from offensive play calling, quarterback turning the ball over, You just feel like you're rolling the ball up the hill and you can't do it. Erickson, did the Chargers have any shot in this game? Because the Texans defense, while filled with stars, has had their moments where they've been inconsistent. 00:26:42 Speaker 4: Do the Chargers have any shot of winning this one? 00:26:44 Speaker 3: I think the only way the Chargers could win this game is actually because of their defense. Because I think their defense has actually not been so terrible. They're actually top five in third down conversion rate faced this season. Their offense has been so abysmal with the turnovers that it's never put them into a good position where it actually mattered how well the defense was actually playing. So this game to me was one of my best bets as an under, right? Under 41 and a half points. I think that this sails and cruises under Chargers since the start of last year. No team has had more unders than the Los Angeles Chargers, especially when they play at home when they don't have fans. Nobody goes to these games. It's going to be probably more Texans fans than Chargers fans. And the other quote that I think is interesting, because I didn't hear this one until Seth also mentioned the deli meat. So Will Anderson also had thoughts about Justin Herbert. And he said that he's playing out of his mind. despite the fact that the charters are 0-7, he leads the NFL with 10 interceptions and five touchdowns. So clearly he's watching the same tape Jim Harbaugh is, which I don't know what people, like if the scouts are like- When he says playing out. 00:27:48 Speaker 1: Of his mind, does he mean that derogatory? 00:27:50 Speaker 3: I don't know. I assume that you're not trying to provide like bulletin board material for a quarterback that obviously is struggling- usually when it's using that that's also potentially the best reverse psychology ever usually in that context it's usually like a compliment like oh he's playing out of his mind man like he's just so good but clearly like that has not been the case because he's played horribly so we need the audio of this because it totally depends on on the the inflection of the voice the tone so yeah he's playing out of his mind it's a very

different statement yeah it's a i'm worried i'm worried about our guy for sure. 00:28:28 Speaker 4: Yeah. 00:28:29 Speaker 1: I'm worried about our guy, Justin Herbert, man. All right. Final game here that we're previewing for the week. New York Giants versus Philadelphia Eagles. Giants are favored by three and a half here. A couple of noteworthy things going on here. Cam Scadaboo's day-to-day with a hamstring. We got Tyrone Tracy's already on IR. So Devin Singletary is going to be the lone backup there. JJ McCarthy is getting his second start. Saquon Barkley is Basically feeling like every other man in his mid 30s, which is my back hurts and my hamstrings are tight and I can't stop moving or else I'm going to pull something. And he didn't play much in the second half of last week's game. And now the Eagles have a brand new starting quarterback, their third starting quarterback on the season here. Joe Milton getting his first start. Pat, I want to throw this to you first because I want to make sure you didn't keep this as one of your. 00:29:23 Speaker 4: Predictions, right? 00:29:25 Speaker 1: No. You were initially writing a Joe Milton prediction, so I want to hear your thoughts on Milton starting the game here for the Eagles. 00:29:33 Speaker 4: Do they have a shot? 00:29:33 Speaker 2: Yeah, I changed my mind on this, but I think Joe Milton's going to count for three touchdowns, whether throwing or running. That's the angle of this game that fascinates me the most, Alfredo, the Joe Milton angle. Because I just think this dude's toolkit is amazing. Might have the strongest arm of any quarterback in the NFL. I mean, he might have the strongest arm of anyone on Earth other than maybe Jacob Mizorowski of my Milwaukee Brewers. Like, his arm is an absolute... This dude can put balls into orbit. It's not like he's scatter-armed either. Like, I think he's got some pinpoint passing. Pinpoint's maybe a stretch. But, like, it's not like he's a scatter-armed dude. He can run a little bit. He's huge. He's hard to tackle. Like, I was in shock when the Cowboys decided to keep Sam Howell over Joe Milton as the backup to Dak Prescott this year. And I just, because I have wondered for a long time whether Joe Milton might be able to develop into a starter. And I knew he was going to take some time to develop coming out of the University of Tennessee. But man, the toolkit is just unbelievable with this guy. And I cannot wait to see what it looks like when he plays the Giants this week. 00:30:51 Speaker 1: Yeah, it should be pretty exciting. It's another one of these guys. It's the mystery box. You don't know what you're going to get. Like you mentioned, strong arm, rushing ability. I'm also excited to maybe potentially see some, oh my gosh, I can't believe this just happened to me. Who's their other Cole Payton? That was embarrassing. I was getting ready to say his name and it just went right out of my head. But yeah, I'm excited to maybe see some Cole Payton later on this year if that happens. The Eagles are just kind of in a free fall. 00:31:14 Speaker 2: They got some strong arm cats at quarterback with Cole Payton's got a hose too, man. 00:31:19 Speaker 1: And just big physical freaks, too. They're really fast. Like Cole Payton, I think he ran a 4.5 at the Combine, and he was a really good rusher at South Dakota State. Erickson, do the Eagles have any shot to win this one, or is this pretty much a Giants are going to walk through? 00:31:33 Speaker 2: Wait, hold on. Was it North Dakota State for Cole Payton? I just don't want to upset our friends in the Dakotas. 00:31:38 Speaker 4: North Dakota State, sorry. 00:31:40 Speaker 1: It's the Bisons. The green and yellow same as Trey Lance. 00:31:42 Speaker 3: And Carson Wentz, right? 00:31:44 Speaker 1: Sorry, sorry. 00:31:45 Speaker 4: North Dakota State. 00:31:46 Speaker 3: Dude, he's a big week for North Dakota State. Carson Wentz is going to get the start. Maybe Cole Payton. If Joe Mellon goes out, throws three interceptions, doesn't follow through with Fitz's prediction. It's just three picks to the other team, but. 00:31:57 Speaker 4: He's active now. 00:31:58 Speaker 3: I like the Giants in this spot just because the Eagles have been so horrible as home underdogs under Nick Sirianni. They are 0-8. They've actually never won in this spot before as a home underdog. So usually divisional dogs at home, you're thinking, okay, like this is going to be much closer and the spread is tight. It's only a field goal. So I don't think anyone would be surprised if the Eagles got the upset and it's the Giants, it's JJ McCarthy, right? Making another road start where, okay, how much confidence can we have in McCarthy? But I mean, this Eagles team is just, it's been so bad, absolutely horrendous. If you look at how bad they've been on offense, three and out on 34% of their drives, that's the highest rate in the NFL, the highest in any season by team since the 2014 Raiders. who finished three and 13. Now the counter argument here, and again, Joe Milton doesn't need three downs to get to the end zone. He just needs one throw to get all the way to the opposing end zone. So I do credit Nick Sirianni for, hey, Tanner McKee, this ain't it. Let's move on. Let's try something different. So he does deserve some credit there, but I just think this Eagles team is just so broken. They have a bye week coming up too. So if they fall behind in this game, I think it's like, is it week 10 yet? Can we go on break? Like Devante Smith, is he even going to play in this game? Like what's the point of Barkley playing in this game? Knowing that they have a bye week in week 10 where, okay, at least maybe I can get a semblance of my hamstring back or no, I got to gut it out in this meaningless game. That's probably not going to matter at all because our team is not going to make the postseason. So a lot of interesting angles. I like the Giants as one of my best bets, but we shall see.

00:33:36 Speaker 4: Yeah, I don't get the Saquon Barkley thing either. 00:33:38 Speaker 1: Like he just should, if you couldn't let him finish the game last week, there's no reason to have him in here this week. 00:33:44 Speaker 4: So you just got the buy coming up. I just, I don't understand it, Eagles. 00:33:47 Speaker 1: Guys, we're going to get into some of our biggest predictions for the week. But before we do that, if you want a chance to win a Jack Ham, that's right, Jack Ham signed mini helmet, then this is your shot, Steelers fans. All you have to do is subscribe to the Tailgate YouTube channel right now, drop a comment below on any of our videos, and that's it. We'll be announcing a winner right here on the channel. So make sure you turn on the notifications so you don't miss your chance to win this epic prize. Guys, We're going to make the call. We do this every week here on the tailgate, no matter who's in. And we are each going to give our biggest prediction for week nine. Pat, I'm going to let you kick us off. 00:34:25 Speaker 2: I'm going to say the Tampa Bay Buccaneers upset the Chicago Bears Sunday night in Chicago on what's going to be a short week for the Bears coming off their Monday night win against the Seahawks in Seattle. And maybe the Bears are a little fat and happy after that victory. I know that was a big one for the franchise. This Buccaneers team is a live dog. This is one of the best defenses in the NFL. I don't know if people fully realize just how good this defense has looked under Todd Bowles this year. They've got some really fun players. I think they are top five in special teams DVOA. They are running the ball very effectively, as we've seen with Bucky Irving. And then they can bring in off the bench Kenny Gainwell, Sean Tucker. And it's a terrific offensive line. Really, the only question mark is this passing game. Baker Mayfield, and then he's not going to have Emeka Ibuka this week. But, man, Tampa Bay is, like, I think it's far and away the best team in the NFC South. And they struggled early on and missed Baker Mayfield. But this team is a live dog. And I think they're going to shock the Bears Sunday night. 00:35:34 Speaker 4: I really like that one. 00:35:37 Speaker 1: And I'm sorry that I'm going the exact opposite direction in my prediction, but we'll wait for that one. Andrew Erickson, let's hear your prediction in making the call. 00:35:46 Speaker 3: Why do you want to go against Fitzy? I love this call by Fitz. 00:35:50 Speaker 1: I just do it for the content. 00:35:52 Speaker 3: I think that this is, I mean, I wish I could steal it. 00:35:55 Speaker 1: Do you want me to just say mine right now? 00:35:57 Speaker 3: Yeah, do yours. Because we want to hear the counting argument here. 00:36:01 Speaker 1: Well, one, the Buccaneers, we have no idea if Baker is actually good Baker again. He could be Maker Bayfield and still be the guy that's just like throwing interceptions. He's got like, what, seven completions over the last two games. Last game had no completions because of the weather. Remember, he's still coming off the hand injury. We don't. And there's no Mecca Bucca, as Pat said. So I think what happens is I don't want to see the Bucs bring a knife to a gunfight against the Bears, where the Bears defense has been good and they have gotten better now with Jeffrey Simmons. The offense is able to score points. I know this is a good Bucs defense, but I'm worried the Bucs offense may not be able to keep up if they can't pass the ball well enough, especially with Baker Mayfield still coming back a little slow. and Emeka Ibuka maybe not being there. So that's where my worry is for them. And my call for this week is that the Saints beat the Browns, and in rare form, go from last to tied to first in their division. Because the NFC South is basically, everyone's bad right now. The Panthers lead the division at 3-4. Saints are 2-5. If the Bucs lose, so you've got the Bucs losing to the Bears, you've got Carolina potentially losing to Denver, and then Atlanta potentially losing to Cincy. That would make the Saints jump from last to tied for first in this division. That's how close and bad that entire division is right now. 00:37:25 Speaker 2: And they would be doing it with maybe the worst rushing offense and worst rushing defense in the NFL. 00:37:32 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. And we're also looking at, by the way, it's not just they're playing the Browns. They're playing the Browns with Shadur Sanders starting at quarterback this week, which I'm not expecting much out of that offense. 00:37:45 Speaker 2: No, I mean. 00:37:46 Speaker 3: It's the Browns have not played nearly as well on the road as at home. Their offensive line is still really shaky. Deshaun Watson leads the NFL in sacks taken and Shader Sanders, if he'd been playing all those games, would probably also leave the NFL in sacks taken. 00:38:00 Speaker 1: Probably two X that number. 00:38:02 Speaker 3: So yeah. Yeah. Like I, this NFC South is wild because you look at it from one angle, all these coaches could get fired and then they all, but like, well, we could win the division. We can't fire our coach. If we win the division, like we make the playoffs. Like, how are we going to do that? 00:38:19 Speaker 1: The NFC South is just, it's just a consolation bracket at this point. It's like, I feel like even if you get last in that division, it's just, you're probably not even bad enough to get a good draft pick. 00:38:30 Speaker 4: And if you win, you're getting bounced in the first round of the NFL playoffs. 00:38:34 Speaker 1: It just feels terrible for football right now. 00:38:36 Speaker 3: We get a home game. 00:38:38 Speaker 1: Lose in front of your fans. That's how you do it. All right, Erickson, make the call for week nine. 00:38:44 Speaker 3: Before I make the call, I do want to, again, go back to the Bucs thing because I want to give 50 his flowers because it's a great call by

him. When do you bet on Baker Mayfield? When he's on the road as an underdog. That is like betting 101 with Baker Mayfield, especially when it's a former Sooner that he's going head-to-head against. 00:39:02 Speaker 4: I don't know, man. 00:39:03 Speaker 1: I did the same thing when it was Bucks versus Browns, and I was like, oh, this is going to be the Baker revenge game, and he soiled himself on TV. 00:39:09 Speaker 3: Yeah, but they were eight and a half point home favorites when their team wasn't really that good. So that's the one exception. The other thing, too, the angle is it, and I think Fitz kind of alluded to it, where Bears are fat and happy, right? We just beat the Seattle Seahawks. We've beaten the Super Bowl participants in back-to-back weeks in prime time, reading their own press clippings. Ben Johnson, remember, had everything. extra time to prepare for Mike McDonald's defense. Now he has less time to prepare for Todd Bull's defense. These differences are way different from each other, even though they all rank very, very highly. So yeah, I think the Buccaneers is the sharp side to be on. So shout out to Fitz. My prediction is going to be to the 49ers Raiders game. And I'm honestly sick and tired of everyone just calling Ashton Gentry the worst running back in the NFL because the offensive line gives him no opportunities to create any type of space to run the football. Now, I'm not saying he's not without blame, right? He shouldn't be calling out the opposing team before they play that they don't like to tackle. So, deservedly so. We only got two carries last week. However... The dude has been balling out as a receiver all year long and nobody cares. He's number one in almost every single metric in terms of catches, targets, yards, fourth top five in yards per route run in the efficiency metrics for a running back out of the backfield. And all we do is praise running backs like Gibbs and Christian McCaffrey. Oh, they're so good in the receiving game. They're amazing. It doesn't matter if the rushing falls off. But when it comes to Ashton Gentry, it's well, have you seen his yards per carry? He sucks. Like, no, come on. So in this game, going up against CMC on the other side, my prediction is Ashton Gentry out McCaffrey's Christian McCaffrey and puts up a stronger receiving line across the board than CMC. 00:40:45 Speaker 2: 49ers have given up the most receptions to running backs of any team in the NFL. 00:40:52 Speaker 1: We'll see. 00:40:53 Speaker 4: We will see. 00:40:54 Speaker 1: I just... Dude, Ashton Gentry worries me, man. And it has nothing to do with the actual yards per carry. It's, is he injured and just playing through it and playing poorly? That's what worries me. And then getting the rug pulled out from under us last week where Mike Washington gets massive workload. I think that tied or beat Ashton Gentry's career high of 25 carries. I worry we're looking at a Mark Ingram, Alvin Kamara backfield for the Raiders, which is crazy to say with Ashton Gentry. 00:41:21 Speaker 3: So Ashton Gentry becomes Alvin Kamara? who's been like one of the best fantasy football running backs in the past 10 years. 00:41:29 Speaker 1: Sure. But Ash Jinty also hasn't been doing that. 00:41:31 Speaker 3: That's fair too. 00:41:32 Speaker 1: Like he's had some very up and down, like Mike Washington in, in what is for all intents and purposes, not a. 00:41:37 Speaker 4: Good rushing performance from him. 00:41:39 Speaker 1: A very below average still totals more yardage than Ash Jinty over his previous four games in one performance. 00:41:48 Speaker 4: That's that, that's wild. 00:41:49 Speaker 1: And also I just think like coaches do this thing where they get, kind of ignorant to what actually happened. 00:41:54 Speaker 4: They're just like, but we won. 00:41:55 Speaker 1: Even though Mike Washington got 85 yards and 25 carries, we won because we could run the ball. 00:41:59 Speaker 3: It's like those stats about Ezekiel Elliott when he would rush for 100 yards, the Cowboys were undefeated or something like that. Or Dak Prescott when he has a kneel down, the Cowboys are undefeated. 00:42:10 Speaker 1: Yeah, good. Make that your first play. Let's see how it works. All right, guys, we're going to get into our one thing to watch. But if you guys have been watching watching along with us. And you just heard our calls and you thought, man, those are either really smart guys or really dumb guys. I'll let you choose who you think is smart and who is dumb. But tell us your calls for the upcoming week. If you're watching on YouTube, leave your favorite call in the comments below. Hit the like button and subscribe to the Tailgate channel. If you're listening over on the podcast side, follow the show and leave us a comment in a review. Give us a rating. It really helps more fans like you find this show. And on YouTube, you can always check us out at Tailgate NFL. All right, guys, let's get into our one thing to watch. We each have one thing we are looking for this week. Eric said, I'm gonna let you kick us off on this one. 00:42:58 Speaker 3: Short and sweet wide receiver for the new Orleans saints. Jordan Tyson, most likely going to make his season debut in week nine has not played at all the entire season, despite being a top 10 draft pick in this year's draft. So yeah, I just want to see him out on the field, right? Run some routes, get some balls thrown his way. Look, this should be a fun game, relatively speaking, with the Saints. Should be close, at least, based on the spread. So I'm excited to see if Jordan Tyson can make some noise. And I stand by this. I think everybody should sprinkle a little bit on Jordan Tyson to win Offensive Rookie of the Year. You can get it at 40-1, 50-1. If he has a big game in his first week back, those odds are going to shift inside the top 10. Like, there's no doubt in my mind. So I would just take some free action on it right now because I think

Jordan Tyson, he's really good. He's a top 10 pick for a reason. 00:43:47 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think Jordan Tyson probably ends up with one of the sexiest three catches for 54 yards performances we ever see, where it's just going to be really good looking plays, really cool routes, couple of missed throws here and there. But man, I love the player, love the prospect. I think he is right there with Carnell Tate as top receiver. in this rookie class. Pat, what is the one thing to watch this week in week nine for you? 00:44:09 Speaker 2: Alfredo, I'm going to see if your Miami Dolphins can hang with the Detroit Lions in Miami. 00:44:15 Speaker 1: Spoiler alert, no. 00:44:16 Speaker 2: You would think so, but I mean, the Dolphins have been a different team lately. Their first three games, they lost all of their first three games by at least two touchdowns, 14 or more points. Their last four games, one in three, but they have not lost a game by more than seven points. They've hung tough with the Vikings, Bengals, Patriots, some pretty good teams. They beat the Jets. And we have seen since the return of Caleb Douglas from his ankle injury a couple of weeks ago, the Miami passing game has actually looked pretty good. Malik Willis only had two touchdown passes in his first five games. He's had two in each of his last two games. And I think Caleb Douglas is their best receiver. So the defense has been surprisingly tough. And we know that Jared Goff, Maybe there was too much made a couple of years ago about his indoor-outdoor splits, but he is an indoor cat. He's not quite as good outside. So I wouldn't be surprised if the Dolphins made this a competitive game. 00:45:14 Speaker 4: Okay, I kind of like it. I'm not going to lie. I kind of like it. 00:45:18 Speaker 1: By the way, I'm already ordering my Jacob Rodriguez jersey. I'm going to be at the Dolphins at. 00:45:24 Speaker 4: Denver game later on this year where. 00:45:26 Speaker 1: It's– predicted to be like 25 degrees i don't know how i'm gonna handle that but we'll we'll see how it goes uh also this is a dan campbell revenge game i don't know if you guys remember dan campbell was the interim head coach for the miami dolphins years ago when they fired joe philbin and that team rallied around dan campbell won a bunch of games and front office was still like ah we're we're gonna let you. 00:45:49 Speaker 3: Go also a tight end for the dolphins too didn't he play Because he. 00:45:52 Speaker 2: Played tight end for like five different teams, I think. 00:45:55 Speaker 1: I know he was tight end for the Lions, Jags, Cowboys, a couple different teams. 00:46:00 Speaker 4: But yeah, the old revenge game. 00:46:04 Speaker 3: I only remember that because I remember I was playing, I don't know how long ago this was, my Madden 2005 game. And wouldn't you know, Dan Campbell shows up on one of the depth charts. I know who this guy is. 00:46:17 Speaker 1: Dan Campbell was just he was like Ryan Fitzpatrick man like he

was just kind of everywhere and you don't you don't associate him with any one singular. 00:46:24 Speaker 2: Team Giants Cowboys and Lions it was fewer teams than I thought. 00:46:29 Speaker 1: Okay I don't know why it felt like it was so many maybe because he's coached in a lot of places now but anywho yeah we got Fitz I like that one man I like that I think the Dolphins can hang I don't think they win but I think they can hang I think that seems. 00:46:44 Speaker 4: Looking a little better there. 00:46:45 Speaker 3: As long as I can score over 50.5 points conveniently, I would like that. 00:46:49 Speaker 1: I'll keep that in mind. I'll pass that along to my Miami people. The one I got here is I want to keep an eye on Drew Locke with the Seattle Seahawks because this has been a team that has gone into a tailspin, whether it has been trying to figure out their backfield, figuring out who else they can get the ball to that's not named Jackson Smith and Jigba. But also the big thing has been Sam Darnold just has not been playing his best brand of football. He hasn't been awful, but there have been some games where you're like, ah, can this guy lead them to a Super Bowl again? If Drew Locke has another big performance, last time he was a starter, he was a top 10 fantasy quarterback through three touchdowns, and that was against the Arizona Cardinals. He's playing them again in his spot start here, and I'm curious to see what happens to the Seahawks team if Drew Locke plays really well again, and all of a sudden, do you have a quarterback controversy on your hands here in Seattle? 00:47:46 Speaker 4: I think that'll be very interesting to keep an eye on. 00:47:47 Speaker 1: You guys have any feelings on that one, or is this just, it's Sam Darnold's team no matter what? 00:47:54 Speaker 2: I don't think it's crazy. Darnold has not played well. This team does need some sort of offensive spark. 00:48:01 Speaker 3: More likely, is Drew Locke the starting quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts next year or the New York Jets? 00:48:12 Speaker 1: Oh, man. 00:48:13 Speaker 3: Or bridge quarterback. Because, again, if he balls out, you could see another team swooping in and be like. 00:48:18 Speaker 4: Arizona Cardinals? 00:48:20 Speaker 1: Arizona Cardinals. 00:48:21 Speaker 3: He was really good against us for those two games. 00:48:23 Speaker 1: We should bring him in. That's what happens, man. Teams see that and they're like, that guy really kicked our ass multiple times last year. We should probably just pay him. I can see it. 00:48:36 Speaker 3: I can see it. 00:48:37 Speaker 1: It can happen here. Oh, man. 00:48:39 Speaker 3: Guys, if you've. 00:48:40 Speaker 1: Enjoyed this show here, be sure to check out the betting pros podcast for all of the best NFL bets during each. 00:48:48 Speaker 4: Week of the season. 00:48:49 Speaker 1: Erickson did a really good job of sprinkling in some numbers and some and some bets that he's making as well. And be sure to follow all of our hosts on whatever social media platform you prefer. And as always, I want to thank everybody for watching or listening all the way through for myself, for Pat, for Erickson. 00:49:04 Speaker 4: We'll see you next time. 00:49:05 Speaker 1: Adios. 00:49:14 Speaker 2: Thank you.