The volume. This week on Prime Cuts, Matt Mosey and I talk about the Dallas Cowboys future, and there went over the Chargers, Chad Millman, Sharper Square. But first my top takes of the week, let's talk about the Jets upset of the Philadelphia Eagles. Well, Philadelphia, as the saying goes, had been playing with their food for the last four
or five weeks, not putting people away, struggling. I do think they missed Shane Stike and the offensive coordinator from last year who is now the head coach of the Colts. We all recognize that coordinators matter. I don't think the Niners defense is quite as good as last year. Demiko Ryans is now the head coach of the Houston Texans, who won another game with rookie quarterback c J. Stroud. So I just think the Eagles are a really good team,
struggling to find in identity and four turnovers. Jets didn't have any. And I also think Robert Salla and his staff deserve credit. This is a team that has one real playmaker on the outside, Garrett Wilson, nice running back, O line is suboptimal, tremendous defense. They're playing into Zach Wilson's straints. They kind of limit the places he can go and get into trouble. Didn't love all their play calling. If you looked at the box score outside of the turnovers,
you would have thought the Eagles won. Well, if you look at the box score USC Notre Dame, you would have thought USC one. It doesn't matter. Limit turnovers, limit the trouble. Zach Wilson can get you in play great defense, take the ball away. You know when I watched Philadelphia, and I think Julian Edelman was on my show about four or five days ago, three or four days ago at Fox, and he said, every September, you know, Bill
Belichick's worst month of his career. With September. He said, every single team, even super Bowl winning teams, the next September, if you had ninety percent same roster, he goes, every team had a different identity. And Bill believed the first four to five weeks of the season, you found your identity. Philadelphia can't find one. But they're really, really talented, and so the quest is can we figure out exactly what
we are? Obviously Jalen Hurts made some mistakes today. Also makes you know Philadelphia usually is a very good, big moment team with this roster, but it's not a surprise. Matt Ryan had an MVP with Kyle Shanahan. Kyle Shanahan leaves slowly. He's not the same quarterback Philadelphia is. You can be two things, very good and lacking a true identity. For years, Michigan under Harbaugh was really good, but it wasn't until about two three years ago they found that
true Michigan identity. We're going to physically, at the point of attack, dominate you. Ohio State may have better players last couple of years, they feel like they've kind of lacked a little identity compared to Michigan. So I think that's where Philadelphia is. I think they'll be fine eventually. They've got a playmaker at quarterback. AJ Brown's remarkable. They have so many talented guys in that front seven. Defensively,
but good for the Jets. I think they've kind of figured out and come to terms with what Zach can do and what he can I think Zach's playing with more confidence now. He's put game after game after game three in a row where he's played pretty well. First it's Kansas City, then it's Denver, Philadelphia did the best of his opportunities. You don't have to win pretty, you
just gotta win. Good for the Jets. There's been this discussion about San Francisco having the best roster, but Brock Purdy's excellence is due to the roster and the coach. And I thought there was a moment at the end of the game that proved what Brock Purtty is, which I've claimed is good. I don't know if he's pretty good. I don't think he's very good, but he's good. So last drive of the game against Cleveland's defense, and that is a big boy Cleveland Brown defense, top five in
the league. It's fast, it's got size, it's relentless, doesn't have Christian McCaffrey most of the game, doesn't have Deebo Samuel on the road, marches down and gets the team into field goal range and the kicker misses. The rookie kicker misses. He did his job. If Tom Brady was missing Gronken Edelman against this defense, drove down, got the field goalkicker in range, and the field goalkicker missed, you'd be crushing the kicker. You want to root against Brock Purty,
You wanted to acknowledge Brady was the goat. Depends on where you come from. Perty's good, not great, I don't think, but he's good. That was a tough environment, pressure on every pass attempt of that final drive on everyone, a couple of big plays by Brandon Ayuk sits in the pocket, he recognizes who's open and accurately delivers the ball. And
that's that's what really good franchise quarterbacks do. Ninety percent of the people who play this position are dependent on those around them, their protection, their weaponry, their head coach. Even Mahomes benefits from Kelsey and Andy Reid. So I thought that drive, even though it was a losing effort, was an example of what brought Perty is not intimidated, doesn't panic, can handle a pass rush, got it to the right people. McCaffrey debo not available right, but McCaffrey
wasn't available most of the game. Debo not available at the end. Got it to the right people, moved the ball up the field and put them in a position to win. And he did his job. The Patriots dynasty was built on do your job. The kicker didn't do his job. Okay, and San Francisco got some heat for drafting a kicker where they drafted him, and to this point, you know, the Trey Lance thing didn't work. The kicker
thing has had its ups and downs. They've done a very good job to build a roster, but this was going to be a really hard day for San Francisco, right they come off this dominating national TV performance over Dallas. We know in the NFL, one of the things I've always done is bet against the team who has this dominating performance the previous week, and bet on the team if they have a capable quarterback who gets blown out the previous week. So it was one of those circle games.
You know, the line changed dramatically because of the quarterback play, but I thought, you know, Cleveland moved the ball enough, deserved to win. But to me, the story was another example of Purdy is more than capable of at home or on the road against an elite defense without all of his pieces, moving the chains and getting you in position to win the game. So, you know, how do
you define a franchise quarterback? Tonight? Trevor Lawrence is a franchise quarterback, doesn't practice all week, bad knee, facing a better defense Saints than Derek Carr faces in the Jacks, He's on the road, one of the louder stadiums. Trevor Lawrence, unlike Carr, doesn't make the big mistake, doesn't have a picksax, A very tidy twenty for twenty nine, two hundred and four yards, sixty yards rushing and a touchdown on the road against the better defense. Did not practice. That's a
franchise quarterback. It's not having to play great, it's just making enough plays to win a road game when you don't practice all week. Derek Carr at home has Alvin Camara, arguably the best player in the game, a lave Michael Thomas. Derek Carr's line a less efficient thirty three of fifty five, a pick six, one touchdown. The offense was essentially Alvin Kamara seventeen carries and twelve catches. Think about that, twenty nine times he touched the ball. Oh running backs, The
life of a running back. I am not anti Derek Carr, but when Derek Carr was in Vegas or Oakland, he was almost a sympathetic figure. Right weird ownership, kooky organization, Al Davis into his son, and so when you watched him team had to move to Vegas. When you watched Derek Carr, he was almost a sympathetic figure. You know, if he could only get a good defense, a star back, a couple of great weapons, a functional, stable ownership group, a weaker conference, oh wait, a weaker division, oh wait.
He got all of them with the Saints, and it feels like he's standing in the way of success. Weaker division, no mah Holmes Herbert twice a year, weaker conference, better defense, more functional ownership. One of the top gms, Mickey Loomis in the league. Two star receivers, star back, and at least a good run blocking line. I don't know if they're a good pass blocking line the Saints, but a pretty good run blocking line. And he's at home facing
a quarterback who didn't practice and loses. And years ago, Raider fans just would relentlessly call me out when I would say, you know, I think Derek Carr is about the twelfth best quarterback in the league. He's around that Dak Prescott level. And I really did believe that. But what's happened is Derek's not in his prime. He's just out of it, and the league's gotten better at quarterback. There's just five or six guys that weren't around five
years ago. And if you right now look at the top ten quarterbacks in the league, and I would say Mahomes, Allen Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Herbert Stafford, Hurtz, Trevor, Lawrence Goff, Aaron Rodgers. I'll put in there too. Those are ten. I would take Kyler, Murray, Dak and Tua above Derek Carr. And I watched them play against c J. Stroud last week and I thought c J. Stroud was a better distributor of the ball, a more accurate thrower, and played
with more confidence. So now he's the fifteenth best quarterback Derek Carr the league, and he got the bag, which is going to limit for the next couple of years what the Saints can do in free agency. And I was talking about this on FS one today. If you're questioning whether you should give your quarterback big money, Daniel Jones, Ryan Tannehill, you know, Derek Carr, Jimmy Garoppolo, ask yourself, this would at least half the league, and preferably over
half the league make a call on them. No for Garoppolo, Tannehill, Daniel Jones, and Derek Carr. Derek Carr had a market of about three teams. That's it. So I spent a Saturday in Seattle watching the Huskies beat Oregon. They'll play again, I think for the Pac twelve championship, and I think Washington has a better quarterback and wide receiver talent, and they're more of a big playoffense. I think Oregon's got a better roster. I think Texas Oklahoma will play again.
Texas has the better roster. Oklahoma add a really good afternoon and beat Texas. You know. One of the things I thought of, though, is as I watch Colorado and USC sort of collapse here in the last couple of weeks, and clearly there's some regression on both programs that when I went to Washington and Oregon, though, both have a first round quarterback and a really really good young head coach. And these are both very proud. You know, Huskies have
a national championship, have had several really elite teams. Oregon obviously as a top ten program, Phil Knight the visionary behind it, despite both of them having NFL players all over the roster, first round quarterback talent, Bo Nicks, Michael Pennix, the star is the program. At Colorado and USC, the star is the coach and the quarterback. And I think when I watch USC, if you looked at the box score,
you would have thought they won. But if you watch the game, which I did, they are completely dependent on Lincoln Riley's play calling and Caleb Williams making magic happen. What else do they do well? Not much. Colorado's got a really talented quarterback and a really inspiring coach. What else do they do well? Is that college sports is different. Even with NIL. Not everybody gets paid. It is about the program. When Alabama was dominating college football, it was
about Nick Saban's suffocating defenses. Saban was a well known coach in the architect but they didn't have star quarterbacks. Even when they have good quarterbacks like Tua, he's not the star of the program. It's the program. Ohio State, it's the program. Washington and Oregon were a testament to that. It felt like a college game, not a pro game. It wasn't about the NIL even though we know Oregon
is very well capitalized in the NIL space. It was a really refreshing game, and it was I think those are both top five or six teams in the country. I do think Oregon's got a little better talent, but I think Michael Pennix is a really special player. And Washington may have the best receiving goal in the country. Their number two receiver didn't even play. And Oregon's corners, who are good, got beat on several occasions. But it
was refreshing. USC has always been uh. You know, Pete Carroll was a bit of a rock star when he was here, and so it was Reggie Bush. But the difference if you look at New England's dynasty through the years, it was about Tom Brady taking pay cuts. It was do your job. It wasn't about the star quarterback. And there's nothing wrong with having a great quarterback. Tom Brady is the goat Mahomes is. But when I think about Kansas City, I think about Andy Reid's play design. I
think about Brett Veach, the general manager. I think about them managing the cap, managing Mahomes' salary. I think about Travis Kelcey, I think about Spags the UH, the defensive coordinator who's been around forever, Chris Jones. It's a collective with a great quarterback, I feel like USC football is about the quarterback. They don't do anything else well, and
Washington and Oregon do a lot of things well. All right, the Dallas Cowboys, Dak played about as well as he has played in the last ten games, certainly against the talented Chargers defense. Not a good one, not a well coached one, but a talented one. And so Dak throws for about two hundred and forty yards a touchdown, couple of big throws on that final drive. Brandon Cooks delivered tonight, and Matt Mosley, of course, you know, Matt's been a
friend of the volume for a long time. There's so many different areas to go, but let's start with Dak. He had better protection most of the night. I thought he and Gallup don't work. It's clearly Ceedee Lamb and Brandon Cooks. Tonight felt like he sort of arrived in this offense. But I thought Dak played pretty well. That fair, I think he's fair.
I mean, I think had it gone the other direction, we'd be talking about that throw to Pollard. I mean, that will route with Pollard wide open. And I know Troy was trying to make the argument maybe Murray did something there. I don't really think there was much there, so he misses a wide open throw to kind of end the game there.
But for the most part, you're right.
I mean, I would still say this offense looks weird because the only time it really works is when he escapes. So he makes the huge play to Pollard, they have a mistackle, Poward makes a nice play and goes for sixty. But in terms of like the timing of the so called Texas Coast offense, there's no real timing, Like Dak kind of has to go make plays, ye for it to happen.
Now, the good news is he made him.
I mean, he was awful the week before, all the interceptions and everything he ran. I think he plays so much better when they get him running the football and on that RPO where he keeps it for the eighteen yard touchdown, Like that's huge for his confidence the team.
Everybody kind of feeds off that.
Yeah, I think Dak knows what he is more than we give him credit for. Dak is not a brilliant pocket passer, and I think Dak knows it. Dak's at his best. I thought the Cowboys were hyper aggressive and ran him in the first half. First couple series they went out of their way to say, and Aikman said this in the pregame. He said, I think you're gonna like what you see from the Cowboys tonight. He'd obviously had some intel. I think they made a mission tonight.
We're gonna run Dak. We're gonna have Dak run more, and I think he's more successful that way. There are people that are natural runners, Lamar, Josh Allen, Jalen Hurts, and then there are people that are just what I would call they run. They run to escape, but they're like Russell Wilson and Dak kind of run to escape, but at times I think they're more effective out of the pocket. I think Lamar is a better thrower in the pocket that people give him credit for. I think
Josh is great in the pocket. I think Jalen Hurts is better in the pocket. I think Dak and Ross Wilson are okay guys in the pocket. I just think they're okay. So I think I think Dak to your point, it is interesting if I said to you the game featured two teams with no chance to win a Super Bowl for the same reason. Twenty total penalties, eleven on Dallas nine on the Chargers. Neither one of these teams
looks well coached. That was my takeaway tonight. Third down defense for the Chargers, ohays, a whole basic off sides for the Cowboys, motion penalties. These teams did not look well coached.
To me tonight.
No Cowboys continue to be undisciplined. You know, on both sides on the defensive line, you're right where they line up, you know, back to Dak a little bit. Your point about the pocket is interesting. He was kind of still in the pocket, like his best throw of the night might have been when he was backing up, which generally is it's interesting. You don't like want your quarterback like going back there other than like Mahomes or Josh Allen or somebody and throwing kind of off their back foot.
And yet the best touch he put.
On a ball was that throw to Cooks in the end zone where he's backing up and he's going in and he puts he puts a gorgeous ball on that.
So he he has the ability. I agree.
I mean, I think first of all, you still have wasn't that interesting that you had Kellen Moore on the other sideline and you had both teams bogging down, got down there in the red zone, didn't really have a great plan for what they were going to do, to which I was like, both Dallas, you know, both Dallas's offenses looked pretty bad in the red zone, right.
You know.
It's interesting when I look at this game overall, I thought my biggest takeaway was the Dallas defensive front basically manipulated the Chargers O line. I think the Chargers had six holding calls. Herbert almost never had a clean pocket. Therefore he rushed it by the second quarter, missing open
throws justin. Herbert's a very good quarterback. But I think what happens in games sometimes is that when you get hit early, even if you don't get sacked, and you have to rush the throws, you start doing that automatically. You just hurry things up. And I thought they got Herbert out of rhythm by their pressure. I mean, he was running for his life for the first half. They
settled down a little in the second. But I think my big picture in the entire takeaway is the Chargers on occasion elected to block Micah one on one dumb, ineffective, huge trouble. But overall, if I'm flying back to Dallas the Cowboys. I feel like our defensive front, not McCarthy, our defensive front really controlled the football game.
I think that's right.
I thought a Digazooa played brilliantly. I thought he controlled, and I think Kellen Moore thought, I've got to go with the run. I've got to keep I cannot abandon the run game at all, And it really wasn't there. And then to your point, like seventy seven over on the left side, I mean, that was interesting what they said about Mike. He's like, well, he respects slate, so
he's not gonna line up there the whole night. He's gonna go to the other side and think about how how badly you have to be holding to get called. On one of those quick running plays. They run Eckler over the left side, and seventy seven gets caught in there because it was so incredibly obvious, because he has a wrestling move where he took the guy to the ground.
And boy, we had our leon Lett moment in this game where the Cowboys player inexplicably I guess, thought the ball was touched by his teammates and slides in there at the last minute, Jayalen Tolbert and live to tell about it. I mean that that really was Cowboys do some boneheaded things, but there's a second year player that decides to come diving in after a football and hands it back to the Chargers.
I mean, the Cowboys tried to give them that game, oh.
No question, and the Chargers. Yeah, the Dallas was the better team tonight and tried to give it away. The Chargers have they really do have some good players. But when you live in Los Angeles and I know they're they're not a national team. They're barely a popular regional team or a Los Angeles team. But with Brandon Staley being a defensive coordinator like Matt Eberflus in Chicago, You're like, well,
why is the defense so bad? The Chargers have more money on the defensive side than any team in the league, Khalil Mack and Bosa Derwin James. They whiffed on a cornerback acquisition, but they have active linebackers. The Chargers spent a ton on defense, two elite rush ends, have a defensive coach, and are as bad on fourth and third and long as any defense in the league. So at least Dallas can say, hey, we have an offensive coach. Dak had one of his best games. Brandon Cooks was involved.
I mean, I look at Dallas and I thought their O line play by and large, Dak had a more comfortable pocket. Dak had a good game. They had a game plan. They moved Dak early. I felt like there was a plan by Dallas. Meanwhile, the Chargers off a bye week, no trick plays. I didn't what was the game plan. Maybe the Cowboys D line blew it up, but I didn't see anything.
Can we talk about what McCarthy was doing at the end of the first half, Like when even the clock operator thought, well, most any coach ever will stop the clock here with a time out and take a shot at the end zone with eight seconds left, and McCarthy's over there. No, no, I didn't call the time out. Wind this clock down for me. And they come back from a break. The broadcasters, everybody doing the game is like completely confused.
They're like, did we miss a play? What happened here?
And and McCarthy because they stopped the clock, they had to get it down to three because McCarthy didn't want to take a shot at the end zone. I mean, like think, I imagine that being a play caller and offensive guy, and you've got so little confidence in your guy or your offense that you're like, I do not want to see a ball go in the end zone from what to like the the eighteen yard line wherever they were, they're going to take a rip at the end zone. And he's like, no, I would rather I've
got ceedee, lamb, I got all these folks. I'd rather just kick this thing and make sure we go in ten seven. I mean, you kind of you have one young head coach is kind of trying that it's probably lucky to still have a job, and then you have one coach who's kind of trying to extend his career, and they both did some baffling things. But Mike wants to be mister go for it them fourth down, but then he wants to get down there and like not even take a shot and settle for the field goal.
So I mean, you've got some You've got some weird, weird stuff going on in that game.
All right, Time for another edition Sharper Square. It's the CEO of the Action Network, Chad Millman. My buddy O Odds provided by DraftKings. So Warren Sharp sent me something over the week that was really fascinating. Underdogs are not doing well this year, and Warren Sharp not only theorizes but indicates that the holding calls defensively have gone down sharply. And so when you look at the numbers of the holding calls defensively, it's now understood that you're allowed to
grab receivers down the field. It's just understood. It was not three years ago that was we would all as fans go, that's a penalty. Now you can do it while the balls in the air. If it's not you know, lurching at the player and disrupting him. And so what does that mean? My theory is that that will punitively punish the mediocre to below average quarterbacks. Daniel Jones can't even get a touchdown this month, So the Tannehills, the Daniel Jones, the backups. The gap between starters and stars
in backups Tannehill and Mahomes. Now five years ago, he could be competitive. The gap now between Daniel Jones and Mahomes. It's like junior varsity. Varsity underdogs are not covering the best quarterback. If Baker is better than Derek Carr, and I think he is leads already leads in seven divisions. The exception is brought Party. He's not as good as Stafford, but he's better than Arizona's backup and arguably better than
Geno Smith. So my point being is, I've always been a fan of underdogs, but increasingly this year my winning bets are on superior quarterbacks covering and Warren Sharp detailing. This is really hurting scorings down. But there are more blowouts in two years than we've ever had, and the score scoring is declining, even for Kansas City, Cincinnati, Baltimore, and so I look at my bets this week and I think I wouldn't have made these bets a year ago. But I'll throw one at you. Ravens minus three at
home against the Lions. So I watched Baltimore. I thought their first half against Tennessee was the single most impressive half of the season by a quarterback in any game. I thought Lamar was spectacular. Detroit has been on a little bit of a streak. They've won on the road. This is a whole different ballgame. Baltimore is one of the hardest places to play. I still think the Ravens. I told you last week it was my favorite bet are undervalued. So again plus three Detroit hot would have
been my pick. I'm gonna go Baltimore minus three Sharper square.
So it's definitely sharp. Speaking of I think, I think Warren's uh sort of inclination about the holding penalties is interesting. But you could also argue that teams that are underdogs aren't covering because not because there's holding calls, but because quarterbacks haven't been making plays. Just look this past weekend. How many downfield throws that could have made a difference did Baker miss? How many downfield throws that could have
made a huge difference to justin Herbert miss. I think there's a combination of a lot of things that are impacting some of these games. Some of them are sort of factors that are are not repeatable. Some of them are a regression. Some of them are things that are going to be patterns. Certainly, offense is down considerably and.
Sacks are up, by the way, so online plays, so media with pressure and holding defensive holding, like, the sacks are way up, so if you can escape it, you're okay.
This year.
I think right now the average yards per attempt, yards per completion, it's something like ten point six. It's amongst the lowest and in the modern era of the NFL. So certainly defenses are on the up and offenses are leveling out, which probably means when the Competition Committee meets in the spring, they will figure out a way to make it easier for offenses.
Tu score the football.
You know, But to your point about the Ravens, yeah, it's the sharp side. The line opened at two and a half. Everybody believes the Lions are way over valued. You're talking about a team that was eleven to one to win the NFC before the season began. They're now down to six to one, just behind the Dallas Cowboys and obviously the Niners and the Eagles. And you have to take a look for a second at who the
Lions have beaten, right, the Panthers, the Bucks. They have not beaten very good teams, the Packers, and meanwhile, well, the Ravens. A they scored twenty eight points against the Cleveland Browns, which is an historically great defense. And your point about Lamar is spot on, like they've been red zone inefficient in certain games. That game against the Steelers. They should have won. We talked about this last week. A lot of drop passes that would have made the
difference and put the game away. He's actually playing really well, and Lamar, when he is a short favorite, is actually very very good against the spread. Bigger favorite, not so much short favorite. I like it. Wise, guys like it. You're sharp.
Eagles minus two and a half another favorite hosting Miami. I think Miami. I've got a pretty good read. They're a heavy weight with a glass chin. If you punch him back, can get a rush with four. They fold pretty quickly. Lane Johnson should play. That's a more comfortable quarterback against the less comfortable quarterback. Miami will score. But if you look at their defensive front for Miami and the offensive front of Lane Johnson plays, this could be
ball control dominant. I'm going to take for the record, Philadelphia night game at home. Watch the Phillies games lately, like it's just different. I'm gonna take Eagles minus two and a half.
Sharper square, totally sharp through is This line opened at one and a half and moved up to two. Now it's a two and a half. It is a pros. Joe's game right. The wise guys are one hundred percent on the Eagles. The Joe's, the amateurs, the squares, they are on the Dolphins. And you mentioned a couple. You mentioned two things that are really important here. One, Lane Johnson, if he plays, this is a significantly different team. When
he doesn't. I think they're ten and twenty two without Lane Johnson, and when he plays, they're a super Bowl caliber team. Two, Jalen hurts against pressure not so good. Jalen hurts when he's not against pressure with teams that can't pressure him more than forty percent of the time. I think he's twenty and five in his career. So you're talking about a Miami Dolphins team that is not great at pressuring the quarterback, and you're talking about an Eagles team that is coming off a loss that they
were headed for. You and I have talked about this, Like the Eagles have been winning because they have a really good head coach, they have a really good quarterback, they have really good weapons on the edges, but they haven't been gelling offensively at all. And also last week Jalen Carter didn't play right. He was resting, so this week he should be back on defense, and the Eagles had that moment like, Okay, we've been stealing wins. We
were embarrassed by the Jets. We understand better now what we need to do. We're going to come back because that's who we are. The wise guys are on the Eagles.
One more favorite I think I would take. I'm not sure I love it, but I'm going to wait for the injury report. Minnesota is just not that good. I hear about how unlucky they are. Maybe that's not the issue. Forty nine ers off a loss are a really good football team. Minnesota is not. I don't think it's a great locker room. I don't think I don't think they create pressure situations for offenses. I think San Francisco will
control the ball at some point. If you do something five or six weeks in a row, you're not unlucky. It's who you are. And I don't think Minnesota is very good. I think quietly in the building they're moving off Cousins. They moved off to Alvin Cook. I don't think it's I just I don't love this team. I'm gonna take the Niners minus six and a half. Sharper square.
You are who your record says you are. Didn't some brilliant coach say that one will parselves. The Vikings are not a very good football team. They weren't very good last week against a terrible team and the Bears. The only reason they won that game is because a second stream quarterback who's a rookie who had never played, came in off the bench, fumbled scoop and score for the Vikings.
That was the difference in the game. Otherwise the Bears with a backup quarterback win that game, right, And so this has been the sentiment on the Vikings all year. People were fading the Vikings. They did not expect them to win at the rate they did last year. There was gonna be a regression because of how many one score games they won. This line has moved up from six and a half it did seven. The wise guys are hesitant to come in on big road favorites, but in this case they are aligned with you.
I thought most of the lines like I think Seattle hosting the Cardinals. I thought, initially if it was six and a half, I really like Seattle. I think people have figured out Arizona, so it's seven. So if Blazing five was on Monday, I would have taken Seattle. Now the numbers not good. My question is if it's seven, do you take Seattle seven and a half? You don't seven, do you? No?
No, I agree with you, And I think what happened with Arizona is like it's another sort of Cinderella story where the shine has come off a little bit and people we know what they figured about out right, and honestly, the biggest challenge for them they lost James Connor. Like he was bull rushing over everybody, right, and he was really powering their offense. And without him, they really don't have any weapons that scare anybody. So to me, seven
is a pass. If you could have gotten itto six and a half, you know, like you could still get San Francisco, you can get it at six and a half. I think those are the two sort of bigger favorites. The other game that's really interesting and this one is like, remember for years we've been doing segments like this together and every year I'm telling you you got to take the Jags when they were terrible. It's they're plus thirteen and a half on the road. You got to take
the Jags. That's what the wise guys are gonna do the New England Patriots have become the jab.
I can't. I told you I can't.
When I can't watch a team, I can't bet them.
So you can watch the Green Bay Denver.
Game, fascinated by Sean Payton and Russell Wilson fascinated And is Jordan Love gonna make it or not? If Jordan Love is a lousy Sunday, we have to be honest here sitting for three years completing fifty of his throws with Matt Lafleur. If he can't move the ball, we got a white flag thing here, like you can't keep defending him. So that game's got a lot like we
know Russell's not gonna last. But if Jordan Loves struggles, you cannot sit there by the way, C J. Stroud, no offensive lineman, can't run, rookie play caler rookie coach game one good. You can't be in a place four years and complete fifty five percent of your throws. I don't want to hear about Kristin Watson's not available.
Give me a break.
So I mean, I think that game is actually whatever the word is the French word for so ugly it's attractive, that's Green Bay, Denver.
You know it's interesting. So I come from a startup culture with Action network, right, you're building a really valuable, strong, incredible business with the volume. Yeah, if you're in a venture backed business. One of the best phrases I ever heard some of the folks who helped to who bankrolled Action when we started, is are you being intellectually honest about what you're looking at? Meaning? Can you look at
the data? Can you make a decision not based on what you want it to be, not based on what you think it could be if X factors hadn't impacted the numbers. It's like, can you look at the numbers? Can you say, Okay, this is what's happening, and then can you make decisions about the business going forward based on those numbers, regardless of your input into deciding how you got to that point or if it's going against
what you believe it should be. Same goes if it's going well, like can you be intellectually honest about examining what you see in front of you? Can the packers be intellectually honest about Jordan Love if he continues to be a fifty five percent completion rate. Pastor who who misses open looks.
As always Chad Miller. It's good seeing you always a pleasure brother. The volume