PMS 2.0 1631 - Thursday Night Football Preview, Johnny Knoxville, Matt Schneidman, Mark Schlabach, Kirk Herbstreit, Coach Chuck Pagano, & AJ Hawk

11:47Pat McAfee:You're not playing. You're not playing.

11:49Mark Schlabach:Hut, hut. No, it's Johnny Knoxville.

11:53Pat McAfee:Yeah, Johnny. Let go. There's a chance he does think game day. Oh, yeah.

12:00Mark Schlabach:Yeah, yeah.

12:00Pat McAfee:You know, maybe there is – maybe he is in there.

12:03Mark Schlabach:I mean, we've seen him return punts in a Tennessee Vols uniform before. Well, by the way. He caught it, I think. He did. He did catch it in there immediately. Didn't have anyone blocking for him, unfortunately. Chuck, how old are you? 65. Jeez. Congratulations. Holy shit.

12:20Pat McAfee:I thought he was 85. Yeah. I don't. It's a compliment. None of this is fair. I don't know what this reaction was. Great job bringing that up. Yeah, that's on me. We're supposed to age well, Coach. What happened to you? Throw Boston a softball like he needs one. No, I didn't know that was coming. Honestly, it felt like it was a good Thursday, happy Thursday. We're all on the same page, and we don't know what's going to happen tonight outside of Ty. But at the age of 65, the jackass era, was that something that you never got to experience? These dudes were outrageous. I mean, especially for a community like Plum, where we're looking for things to entertain ourselves.

12:53Pat McAfee:So once we learn about the usages of a shopping cart or anything else that they were bringing into the world, I mean, it changed entire cultures, I think, Jackass. So Wee Man was on that flight. My first trip around the globe with the Admiral Winterfield, we went on that first USO tour, not the one to Japan. Wee Man was with us on the first one. So that was probably my first initial indoctrination to Jackass football, Jackass Worldwide. He was absolute fire, money, unbelievable. Oh, yeah. I mean, and Wee Man still brings it. I mean, he popped up at WrestleMania up front underneath the ring, and you hear Michael Cole go, looky, looky, looky, looky, looky.

13:35Pat McAfee:Wee Man gets out there, kicks himself in the head, kicks Sami Zayn. And we're not expecting any crazy hijinks. We understand this is college football. We'll be on the sideline. But I think for myself and a lot of people, pumped that Johnny Knoxville is available this weekend. Excited to see him as a guest picker. Okay, let's pivot back to this evening. Obviously, week three of the NFL season kicks off at Lambeau. Joining us now, ladies and gentlemen, is a beat writer from The Athletic for the Packers. He's also the host of the Green Bay Beat podcast, Matt Schneidman. Yes, guys. Schneidman, good to see you.

14:05Pat McAfee:I think you're about my age. Johnny Knoxville, obviously, hilarious. A man who is willing to die for our entertainment. So I respect and appreciate that since the end. But let's talk about tonight. Speaking about willing to die, Jordan Love, how's this offense aligned? What do we need to know? Are they going to be able to protect him? And what are your expectations out of the offense maybe this week versus the first two weeks?

14:26Mark Schlabach:Yeah, it's pretty bad. Well, first off, I've seen every jackass clip that's ever existed. So coming on right after Johnny Knoxville is pretty surreal. So I appreciate that. The offensive line is terrible. I saw a stat from ESPN Insights. I wrote down some notes before I came on here. Their 18.4 % pass block win rate is the lowest of any team in the first two games over the last 10 seasons. They just lost their best offensive lineman for the season in Zach Bacobiwele. He fully tore his patellar tendon, the same knee he partially tore it in last year. Aaron Banks, their starting left guard that they signed to a four-year$77 million deal, last year is not playing again.

15:06Mark Schlabach:So it's rough up there. It is not good. And last game, they kind of mitigated that by getting rid of the ball really quick with Jordan Love. We'll see what they do tonight, but it's not pretty.

15:15Pat McAfee:Okay, so defense, though, great. Top five defense, basically, across the board. This is without Micah Parsons, who obviously comes back week six or week five, whatever the case is. What should we expect maybe about Michael Penix returning after how many days? How many days has it been? 317 days or 217 days or something like that against this defense. What's your expectation for them to cook against the Atlanta Falcons, who might have the best player on the field in Bajon Robinson?

15:39Mark Schlabach:Yeah, I think they do have the best player on the field. The pass rush has been pretty solid without Micah. It's probably exceeded my expectations in large part due to Ty's guy, Lucas Van Ness, who last game I think had 10 tackles, a couple tackles for loss, a sack and a half. He was their 2023 first round pick, the first guy they selected from the pick from the Jets in the Aaron Rodgers trade. So it's been that long that they've been waiting for him to break out. Edger and Cooper, one of their linebackers, extremely good player. I still think he flies under the radar. They've got probably the best safety trio in the league in Xavier McKinney, Javon Bullard, and Evan Williams.

16:14Mark Schlabach:This defense has been pretty good. I know they let up 39 points in week one, but that was because they worked on two short fields because the offense and special teams didn't put them in good positions. So I think Jonathan Gannon's done some nice things with this defense early on.

16:27Pat McAfee:Okay, it's nice to hear they've got a fire in their gut whenever they're showing up, especially on Thursday night. Last question for you here from Ty.

16:33Mark Schlabach:Yeah, Schneider, what has the vibe kind of been around the facility going into this week and the last couple weeks when the expectations are so high? and is there any play like they they need to get some form of run game going do we it looked like Caleb Johnson maybe kind of took the reins on that a little bit Chris Brooks is obviously reliable but just like what do you think the plan is going in tonight and how do you think the team overall feels going in tonight yeah I think they feel fortunate and lucky to get out of last game with a win I think they're 28th in the league in yards per carry you mentioned the run game They have 26 penalties accepted this season.

17:10Mark Schlabach:That's most in the league by five, I think. They have the most unnecessary roughness penalties in the league. There's just been some big discipline issues that they need to get corrected. But they still have tremendous talent all across the board. They just need to put it together. And look, last game they showed they can finish better, which was a huge question. Tonight they should win. I think they will. But, you know, it's just about keeping your head above water until Micah gets back.

17:33Pat McAfee:All right, Schneidman, we appreciate the hell out of you. Please tell everybody up there we say hello and enjoy another fantastic night in Lambeau. Temps look beautiful. Oh, yeah.

17:42Mark Schlabach:It's a beautiful day here.

17:43Pat McAfee:What is it actually? Like 60?

17:46Mark Schlabach:Yeah, it's 63 right now. That's what it's supposed to be tonight.

17:51Pat McAfee:That's it. That's football season. If that was all seasons. That'd be cool. Oh, my God. Me, guy who runs very hot, would absolutely love everything about that. Enjoy tonight. We appreciate you, brother. All right. Thanks, guys. Hey, tell mom we said hello. Always. And Johnny Knoxville just texted. He said, tell this fellow with the hat I said hello as well, and thanks for the time.

18:15Mark Schlabach:Wait, did he actually text you that?

18:16Pat McAfee:No. He didn't have a match nightmare.

18:21Pat McAfee:No, he did not. No, he did not. But maybe later. Maybe later. Okay, let's go to the other team as we go boots on the ground. He's also live from the President's Cup, which we will certainly have to chit-chat about up in Chicago. Mark Schwab. Yeah, Schwab. Schwab wearing the Masters tarp up there to Medina. I like what you're doing. Thank you for covering golf in all sports. We'll dive into the President's Cup here in a matter of moments as tee-off is in like 17 minutes or so. We just heard from Matt Schneidman about the Green Bay Packers and how it banged up their offensive line and how terrible it's been.

18:55Pat McAfee:For you as Georgia man, Atlanta Falcons fan, is there anything good other than Bishon Robinson that we should look forward to tonight? or how do you kind of see the Falcons rolling out and Pennix's first start in a long time? Yeah, just to correct you, Pat, it's the Chattanooga Falcons. We don't claim that ass. You know. No, I mean, Michael Pennix is back. I mean, it couldn't be any worse than what it's been the first two weeks. I mean, you could roll out a one-legged quarterback and play better than Cooper Rush did in the first two games. But, you know, Pennix hasn't played since November. You know, only has 13 starts under his belt, so there's going to be some rust, I would think.

19:33He had a great career at Washington, played for Kalen DeBoer, now at Alabama, left-hander, you know, completed 60.1 % of his passes last year, which ranked 32nd in the league. But they've got to figure out how to get the ball to Kyle Pitts. They've got to figure out how to get to Drake London, how to get some pressure off of Bijan Robinson. They gave all these dudes extensions in the offseason, and they can't get the ball to them because they can't throw it. But, you know, they have not had a single play in the red zone in the first two weeks. I mean, that's unheard of. The only team in the NFL.

20:05Cooper Rush had four interceptions, five sacks, and a lost fumble. Last week they were booing him before the first snap, and he loses a fumble on the first snap. Four plays later he throws an interception. He throws an interception in the second half. They replace him with Jack Strand. I know a guy you like. His first pass attempt in the NFL is a pick six. I mean, Cooper Rush has got to be done. His name tells you he should not be throwing the ball. It's called Rush.

20:32Pat McAfee:Okay, Cooper Rush had a very long NFL career. We do think we have seen the end of it, okay? We do think we have seen the end of it, and we'd like to let Cooper know. Thanks for your contributions to sport. Never forget you with the Cowboys. Never forget him with the Cowboys. I think it was the Ravens as well last year. Ravens last year, yep. Backup quarterback kind of bounces around. Obviously, those positions are very difficult. We're not saying it's easy. You're a quarterback in the NFL, expected to go in and do stuff. Cooper, I think fresh out of the first week against the Steelers, Diggs said, I love bad quarterback play.

21:01Pat McAfee:That was the worst we've ever seen. That was the worst. And then Jameis, you know, hopped in there with the Giants and says, you know what, let me try to get even worse. So maybe not all bad quarterback play is consistent. Seems like Cooper Rush has been this season. We move on to Penix. Last question for you about tonight's game, actually. Atlanta Falcons fans have already given up on this Falcons team and Stefanski, or what is that kind of expectation? if they lose to the Packers tonight by 21, what do we think the starter Stefanski, Matt Ryan as president down there, everything, how is it kind of viewed, do you think?

21:33Well, I mean, we knew it wasn't going to be an overnight overall. I mean, they paid Kirk Cousins$180 million for four years and then drafted Michael Penix in the same year in the draft. I mean, they just have a history of wasting draft picks. But, you know, you got to roll out guys better than Cooper Rush and Jack Strand. As my buddy who's an actual Falcons fan, and said, I don't know why he's a Falcons fan, but he said, it's like you jump on a transatlantic flight and the stewardess tells you, the pilot didn't show up, but we found somebody.

22:08Pat McAfee:And it looked like that, too. It did look like that, especially. And I don't know if that transatlantic flight's making it, if that particular found of somebody was the actual play. Okay, let's go to college ball now, shall we? Because obviously you are a damn good dog. What's that coming down to track? Oklahoma's wandering. Tone has a question for you. Yeah, Mark, I know you'll be there Saturday between the hedges when Oklahoma Sooners come calling. Their team total is 14 and a half for the game. There's no way the dogs give up more than 14 and a half to this Oklahoma Sooners offense that has looked horrendous, right?

22:45Only if they're up big and Kirby puts the second team and the third team in so his first-team D-line can do practice reps on the sidelines. But, you know, mobile quarterbacks have given Georgia problems. You looked at Trinidad Chandler's last year in the playoff. I think Georgia's good. I think it's too early to tell how good they are because they just haven't played anybody. Tennessee State, Western Kentucky team is usually good, but it's bad. Arkansas, I mean, skunks running on the sidelines, they stink. They're horrible. This is Georgia's stiffest test. But I think we want to see a little more out of the passing game down the field with Gunnar Stockton and those receivers.

23:25But this defense is good.

23:26Pat McAfee:Can you tell me a little bit about the working out during commercial breaks, one-on-ones on the sideline, and Kirby saying, if the games are too easy, we're not getting the work we need every single week because we've got a tough schedule coming up. We're just going to do it on the sideline of an actual game during commercial. I've never heard this before. Is this a normal thing for Kirby, or do you think he just thought of this this year as they were blowing teams out? He said Trey Scott, his D-line coach, wanted to make sure he got the NIL payment out of his guys for that day. But if you remember a year ago, Ryan Silverfield, the Memphis coach, made some off-color remarks about Georgia's history of speeding tickets, which is quite long.

24:05And Kirby was asked about it before the game, and he said, you know, that was in the past. Silverfield called me, apologized. He was teaching his team a lesson. But I got to think in the back of my mind, that might have just been one way for Kirby to needle Silverfield a little bit. But, you know, I said earlier in the week, it could have been worse. It could have been like that TCU game in L.A. when the defense was eating chicken wings on the sideline in the second half. We were there.

24:28Pat McAfee:It was raining inside. Carson Beck gets some actual rub at the end of that. He throws a touchdown on him, too. We're like, damn, this guy is the next one. Obviously, Kirby has it. He would go on to get to another national championship with Miami, obviously not with georgia as he ends up transferring out of there but yeah the tcus meeting in the national championship was crazy i didn't remember we were eating on the sideline like that but why wouldn't you last game of the year we got we won a national championship okay college football obviously gigantic down there in georgia nfl football matters down there in atlanta yeah definitely matters tonight but more importantly the united states of america is currently battling or starting to battle in the president's cup which you are actually live from I'm up in Chicago.

25:11Pat McAfee:Go ahead, Conman.

25:12Mark Schlabach:Yeah, Schlauble, how's the scene up there at Medina? Does it feel like the U.S. is going to run away with this? Is there any chance that the United States doesn't run away with it? I don't think they've lost since 1998 or something like that. What is the situation up there, and what are kind of your expectations for the entire weekend? Yeah, I think it's going to be another U.S. route. They've won 10 in a row. They've only lost this thing one time, I think, in Royal Melbourne, out of the first 15. They got seven out of the top ten players in the world. The international team's highest-ranked player is Seawol Kim at 14.

25:46Ryan Fox, who's a good player, won the Open, but his ranking took a big increase after that. I don't know. Last year or two years ago in Montreal, the U.S. was up 5-0 after the first session. The international team came back, swept the second session. So it was interesting going into the weekend and then the USA's depth and talent just took over. I'll be curious to see how long Ryan Rolaf goes with this because it's so lopsided. You wonder if he kind of tries to retool it, kind of like the Pro Bowl, maybe move it earlier in the year, do something like that where it's not in the middle of football season.

26:26But Madonna's a great course. It's 20 degrees cooler here than it is in Atlanta. Got pullovers and sweatshirts on, so it's going to be a fun weekend. Madonna's a nice course. Every American golfer that I've run into, I say, hey, we can't be losing these things.

26:41Pat McAfee:Does the Ryder Cup have any carryover to what happens in this President's Cup, even though we've won it all? I mean, the Ryder Cup was embarrassing for our entire country. Yeah. And the boys had to go out there and live with it. And, you know, I do think that is something. And they seemingly tell us every time, anytime we get a chance to play for USA, team golf, we are very honored to do it. Is there any carryover from that, you think? and how is the rallying of the lads taking place? Yeah, I mean, I think guys want to show up for America. They also like the$250 ,000 stipend that comes with it.

27:11But, you know, Jim Purick, the next Ryder Cup president, is an assistant captain for Brant Snedeker. Go Doors. Big bandy guy, SEC football fan. You know, I think a couple of his captain's picks, Pat had an eye on the future. Jackson Koivin, War Eagle, 21 years old, PGA Tour rookie, won in his third start, made the FedEx playoff only on five starts. He's a future star. He's playing with Justin Thomas today, you know, a little Iron Bowl rivalry there. But JT's really taken him under his wing. The kid is a stud, absolute stud. And then Jacob Bridgman, who won last week in Asheville, I believe. He's one of the best putters on tour.

27:51He's a PGA Tour rookie. Chris Goddard, up a jersey guy who knocks the hell out of it, he's on this team as a rookie. Those are guys that they got to change the chemistry and some of the bloodlines on this U.S. Ryder Cup team because we just we get destroyed every time we go across the pond.

28:08Pat McAfee:Yeah. And the European team is very well connected. And they're on a group text for like 10 years straight now or something. Yeah. They take and I think the European fans, golf fans, they celebrate they celebrate probably harder than we do as well. And I think that's a big piece of it. I like that we're getting young guys in there trying to prove themselves. I also like that you, Southern-er, can't help but just point out all the SEC across this. Yeah, it's Team USA for sure. Where's Scotty? Oh, Texas? Okay. Chris Goddard, Piazza, where did he go to school? Oh, Oklahoma? Okay, yeah. War Eagle?

28:42Pat McAfee:Oh, Alabama? Yeah. Good dog in there, too? Yeah, just make sure we understand what's happening. I know we've got a Big Ten SEC conversation happening, but the SEC is taking on the rest of the world right now. It's kind of what you were saying there. Oh, yeah. You know, another point. One of the first questions I wanted to ask Nettaker was about Jared Curtis' freshman quarterback. I think he's got a hose. Did you see the way they won that game? Did you see that? See if they could hold on to them. Yeah, I mean, look. That's the great thing I love about covering golf. All these dudes love college football.

29:15Somebody asked me about the LSU-Texas A &M potential elimination game down in Baton Rouge. the Junction Boys against the Injunction Boys, Pat.

29:26Pat McAfee:See, that's why you're Schloba. That is why you are Schloba. Okay, let's pivot back to SEC football because there's another huge one, especially after what happened this past weekend. Go ahead, Ty.

29:36Mark Schlabach:Yeah, Schloba, what do you think about Ole Miss, Florida? You know, I mean, Summerall looks like he's got that thing kind of maybe turned around. Obviously, a huge emotional maybe letdown spot for Ole Miss after winning, you know, the Kiff Bowl last weekend. And how do you see that one? Because whoever wins that, you know, I mean, you're immediately thinking playoffs and maybe being in the driver's seat in the SEC. Yeah. You know, Pete Golding said it wasn't their Super Bowl, but, man, it was their Super Bowl. They've been looking to that thing for 10 months. I was on the field the last six minutes.

30:09I've never seen an atmosphere that electric and just that much tension. And you just felt like every Ole Miss fan in that building was saying, oh, God, he's going to do it, and it's going to be the worst possible way. He's going to score at the end and beat us. Big fan of John Summerall. He's done a tremendous job with their offense, running Buster Faulkner and quarterback Aaron Filo from Georgia Tech. I think Jaden Ball, he went to that dude's grandmother's house two days before Christmas, might even have been Christmas Eve, begging him to stay and not go to Georgia or somewhere else. He's one of the best backs in America.

30:44Their offensive line's gotten better. He said, Sumrall said at SEC Media Days, Tampa, I knew we were in trouble up front when I got there in the spring, and I was deadlifting more than every one of our offensive linemen. I mean, that's a problem. Yes, it's right. And they played well. They got a ways to go on defense. But, guys, if you give me number six on Ole Miss, Trinidad-Chamlis, hard to pick against Ole Miss. If I'm the Falcons, I'm taking for Trinidad. I mean, you lose this week, you got the Saints, the Ravens, the Bears, the 49ers. Tank for Trinidad. I don't care if he's 5 '10", 5 '11", or 6 '0", the dude's best quarterback in the country.

31:23Pat McAfee:So that was our big point this past offseason because we got to watch him from the field. So we got to watch him play from field level, seeing how big he is or how small he is, seeing how the ball comes out of his hand, how he handles the huddle, how he handles everything. We immediately were like, that's a Sunday guy, right? That is a Sunday guy. So then whenever there was a full, hey, he wants another year, he's filing for another year, he's filing for another year, it's like, we don't think it matters. I think he'll be an NFL guy. He is electrifying with what he's able to do. He was hooping in that game.

31:55Pat McAfee:I mean, he had ball to his side against an LSU defense where all of them run, what, 4 '5 or faster. They're all running 4 '4. He was all over the place. He is a special talent. To your point, I agree. I think he's the one out of this particular year, but he doesn't have the 6 '4", 6 '5 measurables that they look for. But the guy's a player, competitive. of Ferris State to Ole Miss to stay into everything. It's like everything you want out of a quarterback. He certainly has. Maybe they could just ask him to play tonight. Falcons. They'd have a hell of a lot better chance. He's better than anybody in the Falcons roster.

32:30That throw he made to Deuce Alexander, I think it was skinny post right before the half. It looked like he was going to run and then he just stops and throws a missile on a dime. Big top pitch. I mean, would you rather have a guy that has been handed everything in his life or a guy that's had to work his ass off for everything? I mean, he barely even got a scholarship for Ferris State.

32:53Pat McAfee:So Les Snead, Rams GM, who hits on his draft picks, third, fourth, fifth, sixth round, if he doesn't have first-round draft picks, one of the things he uses is like, all right, did this guy transfer from small school to big school, keep climbing? feels like he is hungry, feels like he's getting better, feels like he's striving, obviously starts in a low spot, so he had a little bit of adversity at some point in his life he had to get through. Not saying the five stars out of high school can't be studs, but Lesney does actually look at that in this transfer portal era. Like Cam Ward, I don't know how that's going to work out in Tennessee.

33:28Pat McAfee:Honestly, genuinely, I don't know what he's going to be. But he starts an incarnate word. Then he goes to Washington State. Then he goes to Miami. me like i think a lot of nfl people are like that's we like to see that actually don't like all the transfers but coming from ferris state up to big time sec football to a top five team it's like this guy obviously has some mental toughness and drive to him clearly that whenever he makes money in the nfl he won't just bail on you and not work you know and i think that's a real thing that people can judge these days i think his parents are both educators um no i mean he is phenomenal.

34:03And Lane Kiffin wanted him bad. If Lane would have had him last week, he would have won that.

34:07Pat McAfee:Yeah. It might be any team that Trinidad's on wins. So maybe it is the Atlanta Falcons next year. And let's say, what if they start tonight by beating the Packers? And then you said they got the Ravens and the Bears. Saints, Ravens, Bears, Niners. Okay, so maybe the Falcons go on this magical run with Pennix. He's already given up on Pennix. Haven't seen the guy in nine months. He's saying, move on. To hell with it. We don't need did let's get trinidad chambliss next year remember pennix was winning a lot of games in college as well and that was uh a surprise of a draft uh especially when he paid kirk cousins like that but maybe he's all the way back maybe stefanski's the quarterback whisperer that he needs so let's have a little bit of hope tonight schlaba now on that note it is 12 35 eastern and in the location that you are the president's cup is about to tee off scotty scheffler and sam burns best friend are our first team that is teeing off.

34:59Pat McAfee:They are best friends. I believe we have an actual stream of it if we're able to get it up. And, Adam, thank you to the Golf Channel and for NBC for allowing us to do that. But I think we're going to be able to see the first one. We're expecting Scotty Scheffler and Sam Burns to just kind of blank these guys. And what are the rules here for day one of the President's Cup? Four ball, best ball. Well, you know, Snedeker said he just wants Scottie to go out and be Scottie. He's 6 '11 and full and three Ryder Cups and two President's Cups. So this has kind of been his bugaboo for whatever reason. Did not play well at Bethpage Black in the Ryder Cup last year.

35:43And he and Burns have not particularly played well together. But like you mentioned, they're their best friends. you know, and going up against Minwoo Lee and Sung Jae Minwoo sprays it a little bit like Cam Young and Shoffley the second match against Matsuyama and Rio Hisatsune Japanese rookie Love JT and Koivin Wyndham Clark and Colin Morikawa going up against Fox and Adam Scott who's played in this thing like 10 times and never won

36:14Pat McAfee:Alright, I think we have the stream here I believe, good work in the back Akhmet and Bruce, do we have access to it at this exact moment?

36:25Pat McAfee:Yes, we do. Wow, yeah. Can we take the lower throw? Out of bounds. This is exactly where I'd be at the time. Okay, Sung Jae Im teeing off. Has anybody else teed off yet, or is this first one here? It is.

36:41Pat McAfee:Shalaba doesn't know.

36:46A worm burning right down the middle.

36:48Pat McAfee:Has Scotty teed off yet? Schlaba, you're there. Have we missed that? Do we know? I've been talking to you, so I didn't see it. Yeah, we've kind of been doing the same thing. Sun J.M. from South Korea is a Go Dawgs guy. Keith Mitchell, Kashmir Keith, played with him out at AT &T. Best lettuce on tour. Had him saying, Go Dawgs. I love the fact that you – I like that you have all the SEC golfers out there. I do appreciate that that is probably your in for every conversation. Here's Minwoo Lee teeing off. Who's on the call here if we want to turn up the sound? It's Terry Gannon, Frank Nabilo, and Noda Begay.

37:30Aggressive play here with driver, but this is an absolute beauty.

37:37Pat McAfee:Wow, I like the little stadium around the first tee there. Slaughtered back. A couple balls right down the middle. Absolutely cross-strike. Everybody's playing their own ball. Best score wins the hole, right, is what we're doing here? Correct, yeah. And now let's keep the sound up, please. Here you go, Scott. Now the noise for the Americans. Come on, Scoot. Full screen here. And Sam Burns. Come on, L.A. State step after step in his career. Probably still heard. Third President's Cup appearance. Live on Golf Channel. Thank you for Golf Channel for giving us a peek here. Sam Burns. Yeah, beautiful.

38:11Pat McAfee:Yeah, Sam, we need that. Come on, Sam. Now we go. A man who is 6 '11 and what in the President's Cup? 11 and 4. And now world number one. World number one. Full screen, please. Come on, Scotty. Tiger had problems in the Ryder Cup. Not so much in the President's Cup.

38:35Mark Schlabach:On that record we just saw.

38:38Pat McAfee:Come on, Scotty. This is live from Golf Channel. We appreciate it. Record in the President's Cup.

38:46Three would.

38:54Yeah.

38:54Pat McAfee:Yeah. Yeah. All right, Slabaugh, go let America know that we know that we're about to smash that ass in the President's Cup. You're the best, Slabaugh. Have a great weekend. Good luck to your Falcons tonight. Thanks, guys. Have a good weekend. Hey, make sure you're pulling for your Falcons tonight. Yeah, I'll be watching baseball. Thank you. Go Dawgs! That stadium around there is sick. Sick setup. Great noise. Great vibes. Chuck, we needed Scotty Scheffler to start out very hot. He certainly did that. We will keep everybody updated on what's going on in these matches. And shout to Golf Channel letting us do that.

39:33Pat McAfee:Legitimately, we are very, very grateful. Obviously, there's a lot of contracts and money that goes into who has the rights for what. So the fact that we were able to drop in there, we are very, very thankful for. Now, let's get back to this Thursday night game. He had no hope for the Atlanta Falcons. He actually called them the Chattanooga Falcons. He said he didn't want Atlanta to be. Is there any hope for them tonight to be able to take on this Packers team and get a win? The numbers feels weird. Four and a half feels weird, okay, because it was seven and a half whenever Cooper Rush was the starting quarterback.

40:03Pat McAfee:It drops to four and a half. It feels like just in my natural gut, natural instinct, Packers should win by 100 with how everybody's been talking about the Falcons. Haven't had a red zone play yet in two weeks. Got money out the door to everybody on your team, basically. Brand new coach, brand new operation. Haven't heard much positive at all out of Atlanta. Only four and a half in Lambeau on Thursday night. Why do you think that is the case, Coach? Pennix, number one. Number two, Green Bay's inability to run the football. They are dead last in a national football league when it comes to running the football.

40:36And Atlanta's very good at stopping the run, so they're first in the national football league. And then the penalties, they're undisciplined. Mark mentioned that 26 accepted, 32 overall. That's dead last in the National Football League. So you've got hope. You've got Penix. He can sling it. Now, you watched the tape from last year before he went out in November with the knee injury. The ball comes – you talk about balls coming out of a guy's hand. Whoop. Do they come out of his hand? Yeah. Or it. Yeah. Yeah, you like it a lot. Yeah. No, he can spin it. If they can protect – they're going to hand it to Bijan.

41:10they're going to throw it to Bijon. Period. Hand it to him, throw it to him. Get the ball out quick. And for Kyle Pitts to have one reception for 12 yards. After paying him. After paying him. Yeah, I think everybody on that football team, especially the skill guys, are super excited to see a new quarterback in there. See Penix in there. So yeah, that gives you hope.

41:28Pat McAfee:And then Conman, what's the Stefanski quote for Thursday night, or stat for Thursday Night Football?

41:32Mark Schlabach:Yeah, a couple big stats here. Kevin Stefanski is 5-0, perfect, undefeated on Thursday Night Football. And then we talked about this kind of last week, and it also goes into this week. Teams that went to overtime on Sunday on a short week who then play on Thursday Night Football are now 3-18. So the Packers would fall into that this week. Last week, it was the Lions. We know how that went with the Bills covering over them as well.

41:54Pat McAfee:Yeah, so there's a couple stats that come out that say, hey, you play extra football on Sunday, four days later, you're not going to be fully recovered. We thought early in the week it wouldn't affect the Lions, and maybe it didn't, but the Buffalo Bills certainly covered last week against the Lions and continue to feed that. Stefanski 5-0 on Thursday night. What does that mean to you, Chuck? Thursday night normally a little bit of a cram, a little bit of a more basic game plan, a little bit more freedom maybe for a play caller. Why do you think Stefanski's had the success on Thursday nights? Obviously he has a formula that works, and doing that in Cleveland, that's even more impressive, right?

42:26Doing it with the Browns. And they're not the Browns anymore. Browns ain't the Browns no more. Monk got rid of that deal. Yes, he certainly did. Go down and spake them. But, no, I think from probably their installation, their practice, how they travel, those kind of things, I'd be interested to know, like, he's 5-0, how many were at home, how many were on the road with that. I'd take a good look at that before I just said, hey, okay, this guy knows how to win on Thursday night before I laid a bunch of money down on them.

42:55Pat McAfee:Yeah, we have a bunch of stats that can counter everything, which is why it's impossible to get it right. We will be having a Super Boost drop at 5 p.m. Eastern on DraftKings. And DraftKings is the best sportsbook on Earth. It is available in all 50 states. If you are of age and agree to gamble responsibly or trade responsibly and not like an asshole, we'd love for you to come join us. But at 5 o 'clock, we're dropping one. We need one. Listen, we know, okay, we know that we haven't won the last couple. Yeah. We don't like that. We see it. We hate that, actually. We experience it. Now, granted, gamble responsibly.

43:27Pat McAfee:Okay. We shouldn't be trying to change our financial future off of any picks. We've got to be responsible with it because we're just trying to make the games better. We're not trying to change our entire lives off of one pick that we think is certainly a hit. But tonight at 5 o 'clock, our Super Boost will be what, Tone Diggs? Tonight we are going with a player from each team and their yardage. So we're going to start with the Atlanta Falcons and B. John Robinson. 100-plus combined rushing and receiving yards. Why not just rushing yards? Well, because a lot of the times they're just getting him very quickly out of the backfield, getting in his hands, especially with Penix, who hasn't played in a really long time, and then getting his hands, make him make some misses, and then get some yardage there.

44:05He did that in week one and two. So 100-plus there, rushing receiving for Bijan, who could be the best player on the field. And then Tucker Kraft, just a little 25-plus receiving yards. That could just be one reception tonight. That's boosted from minus 150, which is a 60 % implied probability on that to hit to plus 100. So please bet responsibility.

44:25Pat McAfee:Yeah, definitely bet responsibly. Getting this at even odds is certainly something we appreciate from the DraftKings folks. But they've won the last three. Yeah, dark not heard. Yeah, this is not a guarantee. But please know this is what we're riding on. We're all on this. Chuck, it was potentially going to be B. John Robinson rushing stat. Instead, you were the one that actually said, can we get some passes in there as well? Screen game potentially? Let's just get it out of the back and get it out of Penix's hands. Screens and check downs. 100 percent he's their leading receiver he's got 11 receptions he's touched the ball 37 times when they hand it off to him he's got 11 receptions so yeah i think it's smart doing this i think this is good play okay i'd be responsible yeah be responsible when you're betting like my 40 bet you tell me it's that's cool right that's responsible for you whatever's responsible for you on a fixed income that's really responsible fixed income you still have a job i mean you're stealing from us for every single week.

45:21Have you got your AARP checks yet? Now, that's a whole different conversation for another time. 65 should be getting something. Yeah, cash no Social Security checks, huh, Chuck? No, no, no. They tell you, wait. Wait till you're 70. Wait till you're 75. Then you die. As soon as you turn 75 and you start, you get zip.

45:39Pat McAfee:Well, don't die, first of all. But, yeah, they're always going to try to scam you into not taking your money. 100%. You can't take it with you, Coach. Don't get me started. You work your whole lifetime. Hey, can you just go on the other side of the microphone? What happened? No, just go over completely. Just go like right here. This would be the best spot if you could do that. Nick is the one saying thank you to that. But the taxes on the Social Security getting you dead, huh? They might kill you. Well, tax your whole lifetime. You work your tail off to build you a little nest egg so you can, like, relax and have some fun in retirement, right?

46:13Oh, but no. They tax everything. I mean, pull your own money out, right? Get your own nut, your own money out, right? Oh, we're going to tax that again and again and again and again. It just goes on and on and on and on.

46:26Pat McAfee:It does make you say what the Chuck, which we will certainly be diving into later this show. But, hey, remember, taxes are going to good stuff. Remember? Potholes. We're taking care of people. No ways. Hey, I am A-OK with taking care of others financially. We'd like to know where it's going, but I am very grateful that we are in a position to be able to do that. Now, I do think it's something that should be a little bit looked into maybe, but I do love what we're doing as a society to take care of others. Let's talk about football society, some news around the NFL. Sean McVay said very candidly in an interview, just like casual conversation out of something you would never hear a head coach really say, especially about his number one wide receiver.

47:10Pat McAfee:Basically says, I don't know about Puka. Here it is. uh coach what's the uh status of puka for sunday night in denver

47:20Mark Schlabach:we'll see you know it doesn't you know he's not making great progress um you know but i gotta i

47:26AJ Hawk:you know we'll we'll love to welcome puka back with open arms but if not i got a ton of confidence in the group that uh that we will go with if he doesn't go he's not making great progress okay

47:34Pat McAfee:i've never heard a head coach say that i saw puka working out on the field before the game big smile on his face obviously he was he was able to run he was able to skip but obviously didn't feel his absolute best especially this early in the season they get a win without him davante goes crazy i've never heard a coach say he's not making great progress normally it's always like we're working we're trying we're seeing that sean mcveigh telling the truth there similar do you think that was like maybe a little bit of uh ah i shouldn't have said that that's frustration okay that's total frustration without just totally throwing a guy like when are you coming back when are you going to be back you've been nursing this thing for how long now and he can't say that but he can go that route that to me is frustration you think McVay is saying hey yeah be nice come on come on you think he's talking to Puka like that yeah 100 % okay because him and Puka very tight I know that I've seen them together and I think Puka has come out very openly and said that so I think Sean McVay would like his number one wide receiver back is what you're saying as soon as possible and I'm seeing him run pregame I thought there was a chance he was going to play yeah I was actually very surprised because there was a lot of alluding to him not playing, him not playing, him not playing.

48:42Pat McAfee:Then I see him run on the field and it was like, Oost looks pretty good. There must be something ailing and obviously they're going to hold you back this early in the season if you can potentially make it for the long haul. I just didn't expect to hear that from McVeigh. When I read the headline of what he said, I'm like, that's got to be taken out of context or something. Then he listened to it and was like, no. He's not making great problems. We'd all like this to be much better. Could be frustration with them trainers too. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It could be to the medical team. Who knows who it is to her.

49:07Mark Schlabach:Well, and that was the whole thing with Darnold when it first happened. Like, oh, the hip, that's a problem. That's something that could be long-term, could actually affect you. I kind of thought it was more so just gamesmanship. Especially from hearing what you're saying here, that Puka pregame on Monday night looked good. Like, is he saying this more so for McVay? Or, sorry, for Sean Payton, rather, because they got Denver on Sunday, for then them to kind of think, like, oh, no way, Puka's going to play then if it's not progressing very well. Like, is that the other side of the coin, especially with how Sean Payton and McVay might just be playing mind games?

49:37Pat McAfee:Man, I don't even know what's allowed and what's not allowed there. Like, is he allowed to say not make a great progress and do a Lane Kiffin questionable on, like, a Wednesday? It's the injury report. We'll find out. You can't fudge on that. So if he shows up there doubtful, you know, on Thursday or Friday and then he ends up playing, that's a no-no. Yeah. So just forget all the gamesmanship. Just look at the injury report because they fudge that. That's a big no-no. Okay, so we'll wait for the injury report to come out. You mentioned Sam Darnold and his hip. We have video of him running onto the field.

50:05Pat McAfee:He looks very good. I mean, Sam Darnold looks very, very good. He's on track to play this weekend against the Washington Commanders is what Coach Mike McDonald has said. Drew Locke has been able to fill in and get them two big-time wins. Super Bowl champion Sam Darnold jogging back, looking good. The walk had a little bit of stiffness, I think, but coming off of a hip injury, especially with what we thought it was, to see him like that this early in the season already, good news out of Seattle.

50:32Mark Schlabach:Yeah, without a doubt, and you would think, especially with how well Drew Locke has played, if he isn't bonafide, I'm certain I'm good to go, I'm not going to get hurt, he's not playing because you're very comfortable with what Drew Locke has shown early on. So if he's going to play on Sunday, it's completely risk-averse. They know, hey, he's not going to get hurt again. Let's kind of get back into the flow of things. So I think everything's great for the Seahawks. I like seeing Sam Darnold back.

50:57Pat McAfee:Is Drew Locke available for trade? No, absolutely not.

51:00Mark Schlabach:I mean, he did play at the Giants not too long ago.

51:02Pat McAfee:And he's unbelievable with what he's been able to do. but there's no way the Seahawks would like to give up a backup quarterback at this point. That conversation has kind of gotten loud about what Harbaugh would do. Bruce Brown, obviously on the ones and twos, big-time Giants fan, he said, we're paying Jameis$6 million. It's his team. $6 million doesn't mean that you're definitely the starting quarterback, but they certainly invested in Jameis to be the backup quarterback for this exact situation. Should we overreact to what happened on Monday? He played ass. That's the worst we've seen Jameis ever play football.

51:31Pat McAfee:I think so. That's not saying something. And he led the NFL in interceptions and touchdowns one season. So that was the worst we've ever seen on him. Was that more so Rams defense, him being unprepared? And what do you think Harbaugh, somebody you know very well, inevitably decides to do here with your starting franchise quarterback out after week two of the NFL season? I think it was a little bit of everything. He's obviously spent way more time, you know, working on the pep talk before the games, which we love. We love Jameis on a mic. Well said. But when he went in there and it looks like a deer in headlights, That was – and when you see somebody, a backup like Drew Locke, go in for an injured Sam Darnold and go play the way he's played and the way he can run an offense, the command that he had, the way that he spent – like this was like – this was ass.

52:13I mean, this was as bad as it gets. And I'm sure Jameis would tell you that. So I think he's got no runway. I think it's a short-ass leash. I know Coach Harbaugh and the rest of those guys, Coach Nagy, They'll be like, okay, look, you've got one week to make sure this thing goes. But none of them are giving up on the season just because – No, that's not how they roll. No, we're going. This ain't a punt because they're not going to go draft a quarterback number one and just throw Jackson Dart, who's out for the year with a knee, throw him to the curb. So, no, they've got a good football team. They've got a bunch of guys in that locker room that are like, okay, we want a guy under center that can help us win a game.

52:55We're all trying to win games here.

52:57Pat McAfee:Do you think they're going to try to trade for a guy? Because that's a big conversation. And now the convo is like, well, what team is going to give up one of their backup quarterbacks? I mentioned Anthony Richardson just because he's here. Now, I'm not saying that is somebody that Nagy or Harbaugh or anybody, Roman, would want over there. But he certainly fits the build of what their offense is trying to be, which is a pretty lumbering, heavy run offense that needs to respect a quarterback being able to run so Scadaboo and Ricard can kind of do everything. Not that Jameis has that capability.

53:24Pat McAfee:J.J. McCarthy obviously being mentioned because of the Harbaugh connection and him ending up not being the backup quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings with how it's gone. There's other names that are being floated around. Tyrod Taylor potentially. Mack Jones is being talked about because of what he's been able to do over the last couple years. Do you think they end up making a trade? And all these guys that we're talking about, I mean, what, sixth, seventh? Like, I don't think the trade is going to be too demanding. It's just whether or not a team would want to give up the backup quarterback.

53:51Mark Schlabach:I read, at least, I don't know, just for Mack Jones, I don't know about the other situations, but they said the Niners would be asking for a second-round pick just because of the position the Giants are in. And it's like, hey, he's our backup quarterback. We may need him. We're not just going to gift you this guy because you're in a position of need.

54:08Pat McAfee:Yeah, and every team can do that. But there's also a deal to be done potentially. How do you think the Giants handle that? I guess you're saying Jameis is definitely going to get another opportunity here to not be Jame-ass Winston, is what you're saying. but do you think they do look to the market to try to savor or save a season especially the first season of hardball there if they get another week of what we just saw then and i guarantee you they're scouring right now they're they're on the phone they're having conversations that would only make sense but at the end of the day you mentioned anthony somebody mentioned milrow a guy like that jj obviously really really struggled in his first year over there in minnesota you got to be able throw the football.

54:49The run and the RPOs and the zone reads and all that stuff, it's just a matter of time before that guy gets hurt again by doing that, and you've got to be able to throw the football down the field to win games in the National Football League. I think there'll be conversations. They'll see how Jameis does this week and maybe next week. They've got Jake Hayner as the third on that roster. Dog. I like Jake Hayner.

55:12Mark Schlabach:I love Jake Hayner.

55:14Pat McAfee:Jackson Dart ends up with a PCL, MCL, and meniscus tear. So the ACL is intact, but two other ligaments and meniscus all damaged in that disgusting hit. And now the Giants find themselves in a situation where they might be the same old Giants again, or they decide they're not going to be like that. Go ahead, Tom. Coach, I had a question because it feels like this is kind of the thing where some backups come in better in the middle of the game and play well in the middle of the game, and then when they prepare as a starter, they turn into a pumpkin versus Jameis in this case where he came in the middle of the game did not look good, but maybe he prepares better as a starter.

55:46Is that a thing? No, I think there's some validity to that, and I think we'll see a better version because they'll have a specific game plan for Jameis this week, a formula for this week to win this game and this game only, and then they'll move on to the next one if that's the case. But I guess time will tell.

56:06Pat McAfee:Time will certainly tell. We have one more minute here on this first hour. Kirk Herbstreit will join us in the next hour to talk more about tonight's Thursday Night Football. And it's crazy how much the NFL is already cooking on all fronts. Mike LaFleur, first year as the Arizona Cardinals head coach. Every word he is saying about Marvin Harrison Jr. being broken down, dissected, and analyzed. They have the best tight end in football, potentially. He's like, can we worry about that, maybe? A little bit more than what's going on with our former first-round pick. It does seem like an interesting relationship, Ty, quickly in Arizona.

56:37Mark Schlabach:Yeah, it does, and you hate to say it, but it almost seems like the way it's going, if it doesn't change very quickly, he needs a change of scenery. He needs to get out of there, like legit.

56:45Pat McAfee:Indianapolis Colts signed Darius Slayton. Yeah. Marvin Harrison in the building, maybe not a bad thing. Bit of a legacy. Maybe Daniel Jones finds his way with Marvin. All right. That was disgusting. We're taking a break. Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice that might change their life. Take three. Three.

57:05This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required, compatibility and availability varies 18+. Every game, every practice, every moment. We rely on energy more than we realize. From the courts and fields we play on, to the gear athletes use, to the technology and transportation that bring fans together, energy powers it all.

57:43And Energy Transfer helps safely deliver the energy that keeps it all moving. Oil and natural gas help make thousands of everyday products possible, supporting sports and the moments that connect us. So whether you're playing, watching, or cheering it on, it takes energy. Visit ItTakesEnergy.com to learn more.

58:04Pat McAfee:Football! That's right, and football is the greatest sport. Oh, jeez. Jeez. That was a harsh cut there of the music at the end, but I thought the Zoom was pretty good. Ladies and gentlemen, that's Bruce Brown back there. That baby, Bruce. Bruce sitting in the foxy position as Foxy celebrates life a bit. Mitt sitting in for Bruce. That has certainly been something that's directly into my ear there. Great to hear you. He's on. I see you, Mitt. You're doing great. The Toxic Table's here at Boston Conner and at Ty Schmidt. One half of the hammer. Done. Cowboys AP Tone is here. Tone, quickly, before we continue to move on, 5 o 'clock, our boost will go live.

58:44Pat McAfee:It's on DraftKings, the best sports book on earth. It is available nationwide. If you're of age and agree to gamble responsibly, we'd love for you to come join us as we need a win. bad tone digs. Yeah, we do. We started out very, very hot. I've cooled down a bit. I wouldn't say we're cold. Just cooled down a little bit because you can't run at 150 degrees all the time or you'll die. Thank you. B. John Robinson, 100 plus rushing and receiving yards because the Atlanta Falcons at office uses him like a jack of all trades. He can do everything, so why not use him in every way possible? And then Tucker Craft, the all-pro, all-American tight end for the Green Bay Packers.

59:2225 plus receiving yards boosted to plus 100, baby.

59:26Pat McAfee:Now, Tucker Craft was going to play tackle last week. We hope that doesn't happen. We hope he does at least report eligible if he is going to be playing tackle, which is an absurd thing to think about what's been going on for the Green Bay Packers. That's what we're on. That goes live at 5 o 'clock on DraftKings, the best sportsbook on earth. We need one, and we need to win one, not just for us, we understand, for you, but for the good of ball for us. I mean, there's a lot of things happening. Be responsible, please, okay? I don't need you telling me what you lost, how you lost, your kids can't go to school anymore.

59:58Pat McAfee:That's on you. Yeah. Okay? It was a sprinkle. That's all. Good old Sprinky. Now, I'm going to max sprinkle, but still just a responsible sprinkle. And that's for you. To make the game better. Joining us now is a guy who will be making his pick at some point in this hour. He's currently 1-1 on Thursday night this season, but he has been very successful in years past. Not last year, because he decided to go back into his 37th year of coaching. A man who was in the NFL for 19 years, college for 18 years, our coach, ladies and gentlemen, Coach Pugon. Yeah, Hog. How you doing, Coach? Wonderful. Good to see you.

1:00:32Pat McAfee:I hope you get it right today. Me too. I hope you get it right. You better. We shall see. Joining us live from Manatic in Ohio is a college football national champion, Super Bowl champion, Ryder Cup winner. Ladies and gentlemen, AJ Hog.

1:00:44Mark Schlabach:Yeah, Hog.

1:00:45Pat McAfee:How you doing, Hogco? I see Scotty already drained a putt, walked it in on one, huh? Yeah, birdie on one for Scotty Scheffler. And people are saying he walked it in, he lifted his putter. He did kind of lift his putter to about shin height, but then he just casually walked a – It's early. It was like a 17 off the fringe, 17 foot off the fringe, buries that thing center cup. So Scotty Scheffler has heard the conversation about U.S. golf losing international things. And also Scotty being maybe ass at the President's Cup, He said, let me go ahead and put this team right on my back, which we appreciate.

1:01:19Pat McAfee:Here is the putt from the Golf Channel, which we appreciate coverage. Yeah. Beautiful. See, the way they worded it, like walk off, putter lift. No, definitely not. He definitely lifted his putter a little bit, and he did start walking before it went in, but it wasn't like a – No, it's the first hole.

1:01:36Mark Schlabach:He's not doing that. Yeah, he knew this was one of many. It was smooth.

1:01:38Pat McAfee:Yeah, it needs to be one of many for sure. AJ, tonight, obviously you're Packers. You're the all-time leading tackler for them. Play host to the Falcons. We'll be joined here by one of the commentators for Amazon Prime in a matter of moments. But Ty says, you know, a couple different feelings, I feel like, being broadcasted to the world by Ty. Thinks they should win. Definitely should win. Could not, though, because of what's going on in the offensive line with the hungry Falcons squad. How do you feel about tonight's game, A.J. Hawk? I mean, I feel good about the Packers tonight, but this is kind of like a trap game for them.

1:02:11If you hear anything coming out of, like, the media back and forth, they're asking these players, Oh, what do you think? I think Jordan Love is saying, well, hey, we know they're going to put their best foot forward. Like saying, that's like the media posing questions that, hey, do these guys have a chance against you guys? You know, Pennix first time in this year. They've been struggling. It feels like it's one of those games where the Packers need to get out to an early lead. Don't give Atlanta any air because you know what it'll be like if Atlanta goes up 7-0, 10-0 or something. There's going to be so much juice on that Atlanta sideline that they can flip their season around.

1:02:42and then on the flip side, the Packers at home, you know, like I said, they need to get out to an early lead.

1:02:47Pat McAfee:If the Packers pond the Falcons, though, I think Packers fans would be excited about the team that they're seeing and the expectations coming into the season on what the team could be. No Micah. Defense still doing their thing, which we obviously appreciate and respect. But if the Falcons win this game, I'm excited for Atlanta Twitter. Absolutely. Oh, my God, because you know who's going to be targeted. Uh-huh. The Green Bay Packers are going to be targeted by the Atlanta Twitter accounts because they must be the most assed team of all time. if they lost to this ass Atlanta Falcons team.

1:03:14Mark Schlabach:For 10 days. This isn't a Sunday to Sunday thing. This is a Thursday to Sunday. Atlanta's probably had a lot of those things. I don't think Atlanta Twitter is expecting much. I know that they're kind of already have their tweets probably lined up for them getting blown out. But again, four and a half, it just makes no sense.

1:03:30Pat McAfee:It doesn't feel right. It smells to high holy hell. And we'll try to get it right with our predictions. We do like Bijan to get a lot of yards. and went like Tucker Craft to get at least 25 for a Superboost. Who's going to win it? We don't know. And you talk about getting off to a hot start. I was in Lambeau where we took the opening kickoff back to the house. What a way to start that particular guy. I think we're one of the only teams to go in there. I don't know what the away team success rate is at Lambeau. We got one up there, and then we started with an opening kickoff to the house, which certainly changes everything.

1:04:00House call for sure. And then we had a third and six or third and seven to get on a knee. and I think it was luck over the middle to Dwayne Allen to seal that thing for us. Best playing football.

1:04:12Pat McAfee:Yeah, so the kneel of certainty. Kneel down in Lambeau, that locker room was electric. It was like we were right out of NFL films. Steve Sable was saying, this Colts team. Unbelievable. Because it is like a movie when you're playing in there. And we think Amazon will obviously showcase it in that fashion. And it's not the snow. It's perfect weather, it sounds like. 63 and sunny. Joining us will be a man who's in the booth on the call. He's the face of college football. He's the face of college game day. And also, he kicks off every NFL weekend on Thursday night with Al Michaels in the booth for Amazon Prime.

1:04:45Pat McAfee:Ladies and gentlemen, front of the program. Co-host of the program, representative at the Buffalo Bills Highmark Stadium opener. That's right. Ladies and gentlemen, Kirk Herbstreit.

1:04:54Mark Schlabach:Yay! Thank you.

1:04:56Pat McAfee:Boys, how we doing? Fantastic. Another weekend of football is about to kick off this evening. We love it every time we see you and Al in the booth and the entire Amazon crew. because we know there's about to be some more magic over the next few days, all the way wrapping up on Monday night. Tonight, I don't know if you've been listening to us talk about it. I don't think we know what the hell is going to happen. I think the four-and-a-half number has us a little bit spooked. I think we're a little bit spooked by that. We do know that Atlanta Falcons have a player who could win an MVP every single year at running back in B.

1:05:25Pat McAfee:John Robinson. We know Penix is back first time in a long time. Packers, we don't know really who they are. How do you view this one going in, and what are you and Al's expectations for a perfect night in Lambeau, it sounds like?

1:05:37AJ Hawk:You guys are all over it. We were talking earlier about that four and a half. It does seem a little bit odd based on the way Atlanta has played. I mean, they haven't been in the red zone. Only team in the NFL, and it's been almost 20 years since there's been a team after two weeks that hasn't gotten into the red zone. Cooper Rush has obviously taken most of the fall for that. I don't know if it's necessarily fair. He hasn't played well, but their offense has just been out of sync. They've just not been able to get things going. and just got off the phone with Tommy Reese, who's their offensive coordinator.

1:06:05AJ Hawk:Pennix coming back is huge. And I think that they feel very good about what he can do. Keep in mind, Pat, and guys, it's been 317 days since he's been out there. So as much as you, and Coach can tell you this, as much as you practice the speed of the game, the atmosphere, as I'm looking out at Lambeau right now, I mean, it's going to be wild. Jonathan Gannon on the other side, the former Cardinals head coach, who's now the D.C., you know, he's going to, even without Parsons, they've been very active, done a really good job of still getting pressure on quarterbacks the first couple weeks. So you got to think they're going to come up with some stuff to try to speed the game up for him, make him have to play faster.

1:06:44AJ Hawk:But it all comes down to Bijan Robinson, as we know, one of the most elite players in the NFL. Can they get him going, not just running the football, but take some of the heat off of this passing game and panic? So look for him to get unique ways of running, throw it to him out in the perimeter, try to create some one-on-one opportunities in the pass game, and then you've got to get Drake London and Kyle Pitts going. So there are dynamic playmakers within this offensive structure, but it all is going to start with number seven and whether or not they can get him going to try to take some of the heat off of Penix and his pass game.

1:07:21Pat McAfee:Okay, so you did talk a little bit about the Green Bay Packers offense. The offensive line is obviously the huge talking point for them because of injuries and performance. They're obviously using six guys to protect Jordan Love on a regular basis. It's still not helping. What have you learned through your conversations about that? And are they just trying to figure it out still and think they might have found something? Or what do you think their views are on their protection of their franchise quarterback? Yeah, I think

1:07:44AJ Hawk:that's probably why the number is where it is. You know, I mean, we think of Matt LaFleur and Jordan Love and you just think consistency. You know, you think that they're going to be able to get things going off, get things going offensively. But as you know, Josh Jacobs is on the commissioner's list, the exempt list. So it's an unknown whether he comes, when he comes back, if he comes back, we know he's not playing tonight. So it's been a trio of backs that they've had Chris Brooks and Marshawn Lloyd out of SC and Caleb Johnson, Ty's guy from Iowa. And they're still trying to figure out what Caleb does well.

1:08:19AJ Hawk:You know, it was funny talking to Jordan Love, he's like, I mean, I'm handing him the ball off. And as I'm handing him the ball off against the Jets, I'm seeing what he's capable of doing. So that's how raw he is to where they are right now. So Brooks and Lloyd are really their main two guys. They'll keep trying to get Johnson in there. But you can imagine going from Josh Jacobs, who is the guy, to trying to figure things out with a makeshift offensive line with those injuries. You know, Aaron Banks is dinged. uh there's a shot you may you may see a rookie center uh jogger burton who may have to play some tonight at guard um the right tackle is is down so you got anthony belton coming up they've had five different offensive line combinations in two games so as much as we expect from jordan love the continuity and just the chemistry overall up front is is kind of a work in progress and now you throw jayden reed who went down with that back injury that was a scare.

1:09:15AJ Hawk:He got carted off that field. We're all thinking about him and hope for the best. Hopefully he'll be okay. But he obviously is not playing tonight. And meanwhile, Jeff Ulbrich, here's the thing about the Falcons defense. They set a franchise record last year with 57 sacks. But a lot of the guys that had a lot to do with that were the young Bucs. Jalen Walker, who is a young Buc out of Georgia. He tore his ACL in early August. He's out for the year. James Pierce is suspended the first eight games. So he's not out there. Those are two guys that really did a good job. But typical Jeff Albrecht, he is finding ways still to get pressure on quarterbacks.

1:09:56AJ Hawk:So it's not as intense and electrifying as what he had with those young guys. But Z'Darrius Smith, a former Packer, has come back out of retirement. He is playing and providing a good push. But they've got to do something to really get after that line of scrimmage of Green Bay that's trying to, like I said, figure things out with that offensive line and try to get Jordan Love into those obvious passing situations. One thing we know, and Ty can tell you this, if it's clean, Jordan Love is a video game. I mean, it is just every single time. It's just, it's cookie cutter. It's accurate. It's laser, very, very in sync with Watson and Golden, and now Tucker Craft being back, which is, again, Ty knows that's a huge addition to get him back.

1:10:42AJ Hawk:but if he gets pressured from clean pocket to a pressure, he probably is affected more than anybody who's an elite quarterback in the NFL. So how they can get him to third down and try to get into his face and kind of muddy it up is going to be a big factor for a depleted defense right now with Atlanta having their top corner, A.J. Terrell, out with a groin and those two young pass rushers out as well. So they're trying to figure it out themselves here early in the week. Both these teams are.

1:11:15Pat McAfee:Such a huge question mark as we head into Thursday Night Football. So early in the season for us to just be like, ah, this one seems crazy. Five different offensive line combinations in two weeks is crazy for the Green Bay Packers. Jordan Love, obviously, a franchise player. You would not hope for that to start your 2026 campaign. AJ has a question for you, Herbie. Yeah, Kirk, what about the Packers defense? Obviously, Lucas Van Ness, I think he has two and a half sacks through the first two games. He's really kind of burst onto the scene now, what they've been looking for from him. Edron Cooper, unbelievable linebacker, too.

1:11:45He has a couple of sacks. I guess, what do you expect from that defense to try to attack this, you know, Michael Penick's first game back after injury, all that stuff? You think they're going to try to heat him up?

1:11:55AJ Hawk:Yeah, I think the one thing, AJ, and you know this, is when you take Micah Parsons out of any defense, whether it was when Dallas or now Green Bay with that injury, and it sounds like he may be back, hopefully, for the best, you know, mid-October. It's been a different challenge for this defense. Jeff Halfley, now the head coach at Miami, was the D.C. last year, and Jonathan Gannon comes over to now take over. I talked with him this morning about the plan and the attack. I think they've been really pleased with how they have played without Parsons in these first couple weeks. You mentioned Lucas Van Ness, and you're kind of the much maligned Lucas Van Ness.

1:12:33AJ Hawk:He was a top 15 pick three years ago. And, you know, I asked Ty about this, but I think a lot of fans had super high expectations, but he's had to battle through some injuries. This guy looks healthy and explosive. I mean, he is on fire off the edge, whether it's and I think Gannon's done a really good job of freeing him up, both in setting the edge. And also when it comes to getting teams a third down, they're turning him loose. He already has three sacks on the year. And to me, he's been really, really impressive and kind of living up to the hype. When we were here last year, we had the Commanders game.

1:13:06AJ Hawk:Very similar. Early in the year, it was Micah Parsons came over. Lucas Van Ness is the odd man out. And Rashawn Gary's on the other side. Wow, this is going to be great. Gary and Micah Parsons. We come back a year later. Rashawn Gary's in Dallas. He's no longer here. Lucas Van Ness is now the guy. After looking like he might be maybe moved on, he's now a guy. And when he and Parsons are on the field together, it's going to be a lot of fun to watch. Devontae Wyatt is another guy that's getting healthier. Carl Brooks on the inside 94 has been playing out of his mind. And then I think one of the kind of the up-and-coming linebackers, off-ball linebackers in the league because of his versatility.

1:13:43AJ Hawk:And you guys know Zaire Franklin. He's kind of the brains of this operation, the quarterback. How about coming in? He was a six-time captain there at Indy. He comes here. He's not even been here half a year. He gets voted captain. And I think him understanding it frees Edger and Cooper to just play fast. 56 will be all over the field tonight. So I think they're doing a really good job of trying to be a consistent defense, still applying pressure without having one of the game's best in Micah Parsons.

1:14:13Pat McAfee:Zaire calling up the defense on the sideline week two of being a Green Bay Packer. Obviously, he is a very vocal person on the football field. Also picks interesting pictures for his YouTube clips. And, you know, I had to hate him forever, but he is a great football player and we certainly miss him.

1:14:31AJ Hawk:Did you and he have a thing there for a little bit?

1:14:35Pat McAfee:No thing. Just kind of wished I never saw him again. You know, that just kind of threw me under a bus. So I didn't think I'd just do that. Oh, okay.

1:14:43AJ Hawk:I didn't know it got that real.

1:14:46Pat McAfee:Oh, yeah. Yeah, I did a lot of research. It's interesting because Zaire Franklin, very good football player. Very good football player. We certainly miss him here in Indianapolis after the first two weeks. I think that's very obvious. But maybe this will be a time he can win. You know, this will be something maybe the Green Bay Packers are a team he can go win with. And I like the fact that he is leading a new place. He's obviously going to be comfortable. But he is a playmaker on the defensive side. And I love the Gannon. I think Gannon and Zaire are probably perfect for each other, if I had to guess with that.

1:15:16AJ Hawk:And, Pat, I'd love to hear Coach's take on this. We're seeing more and more of these three safety looks on defense. You know, and Green Bay with Evan Williams. Watch 33 tonight. What a player. Xavier McKinney, obviously everybody knows. And then the young buck out of Georgia, Javon Bullard. Those three will be on the field a lot together. And when he was in Arizona and had Buda Baker, he was more of a box guy, more down at the line of scrimmage. And you kind of knew what he was up to. I think the neat thing with these three guys is the versatility. And so there's not the tell of, oh, OK, there's 33.

1:15:50AJ Hawk:He's a high safety. Or OK, seven's coming down. These guys all are moving around. So when you motion or you give different looks, these three safeties are versatile enough to kind of give the defense an effective communication of the offense. I would equate it to you break the huddle on offense and you come out in, quote unquote, 13 personnel. But your tight ends can flex out. And now you're in 11 because these tight ends can play receiver. And it's really a difficult thing for the defenses to try to get a handle on guys like Kyle Pitts or true guys that can play inside or out. That's what these safeties have brought.

1:16:27AJ Hawk:I'm just curious, Coach, what you think of that three-safety look and the versatility that it brings and how challenging that can be on a quarterback and the offensive line trying to get their calls right with movement like that by three guys that can do the same thing. Yeah, Herbie, last year in Baltimore, we studied this hard because this all started in Arizona with Jonathan Gannon, and he did a phenomenal job with it. And for the quarterback, Herbie, your question, like those guys can all be sitting high you change strength you don't know which one's going to spin down they can spin and play a split safety look they can spin and play man coverage play single high zone all those different kind of things spin down and bring those guys so we studied the heck out of it um we had some really good safeties obviously last year there in baltimore tried to do we had a little bit of uh success with it had a package just because of Gannon and what they did there.

1:17:22It'll be tough on Penix tonight.

1:17:25Pat McAfee:Penix is obviously going to have to take on a guy and a defensive coordinator that got a head coaching job. Anytime you have a defensive coordinator that ends up being a head coach in this modern era, he's obviously very good at what he does. I assume he's excited to get back to just worrying about the defense as well, not having to deal with all the other type of shite. How'd it go with you guys trying to do what they did over there in Baltimore last year? You see where I'm sitting now? And John's worrying about another quarterback up there in New York. Okay, let's stay in the NFL. Let's go away from tonight's game.

1:17:57Pat McAfee:Let's go to your hometown ball club. Go ahead, Conman.

1:18:00Mark Schlabach:Yeah, Herbie, the Bengals were used to have season tickets. They have a defense now. It feels like Cincinnati has the most complete team that they've had while Joe Burrow has been there. What have you seen from them? The audio and mic'd up of Sexy Dexy on the football field is unbelievable. It feels like since he hasn't had a player like that ever. What are you hearing from the people in Cincinnati, the Ohio folk, and what are kind of the expectations now that they have this team?

1:18:27AJ Hawk:I think there's a swag right now on the defense. Whatever you think of the Bengals, you obviously think of Burrow and Chase and T. Martin, all these guys that are not T. Martin, T. Wiggins. I think it's a team T. Higgins. Higgins, yeah. We got there. We got there. We got there. You got Tennessee on the brain. Yeah, yeah. We got there. I think it's a team that actually shows up now with confidence on that side of the ball. And think about the guys, not just Dexter Lawrence, but I think Jonathan Allen brings that. Miles Murphy is starting to play like the first-round pick that they picked up. It's amazing when you bring a couple of vets in that have had some success, how that can affect the entire team.

1:19:03AJ Hawk:And there's still some youth that is, I think, being impacted by 97 and that swagger that he brings in. So I think it's no longer Burrow and company are going to have to outscore their opponent. I think right now Al Golden is a defensive coordinator, has a defense. It's attacking. Look at him. Honestly, I haven't seen the Bengals play like this, swarming to the football and jogging off the field with an attitude in a long, long time. So we'll see. I mean, you know the offense is going to do what they do, but it's always been about can the defense hold up their end of it. And right now, after two weeks, they look like they are.

1:19:37AJ Hawk:Jamar Chase said that was the people's elbow.

1:19:40Pat McAfee:Oh, okay. Saw that. Oh, that is how The Rock did it. Oh. Yeah, he did that. He's dropping it out. Yeah. Yeah. He didn't throw the Swipe He didn't get to do that because there's a certain amount of time He doesn't want to do a basketball celebration

1:19:55AJ Hawk:By the way, how about the catch before the

1:19:58Pat McAfee:Before the people's elbow Before the people's elbow Yeah, that is what that is right there I like that I like that we're doing a people's elbow A little homage to the rock Doesn't really look much like it But I do understand that potentially that is what he was going We can't be His intention was that okay so we gotta judge people off of their intentions you know it well well i don't know what what what you don't that's disgusting what else could it be i don't know if you saw kirk because you check he got oh yeah that's people's elbow that's people i can see how he goes people he points to people yep yeah he does a point to the people and then he says right here's my elbow and then he says that's what is that what he was doing yeah the elbow that's what he said on chasing number one his podcast and said that that was the people's elbow i could only take it for what he said you know on his attention this is like another situation and jason kelsey just tweeted about it kyle's use check has been uh fined for chugging a beer oh yeah he's been fined for chugging a beer celebration and jason kelsey said that uh kyle's use check should think about suing him for defamation yeah he doesn't drink beers the guy's in great shape that harvard guy Yeah, he's chugging juice.

1:21:09Pat McAfee:Maybe it's a Gatorade. Maybe it's Pedialyte. You know, something like that. Juszczyk should threaten to countersue for defamation, says Jason Kelsey. How dare the NFL allege, can we put this up? How dare the NFL allege false accusations. No way they can prove he was chugging alcohol. He was chugging had juice because he is Kyle. 15K. Juszczyk. $14 ,926 for engaging in an offensive demonstration Sunday. day your imitation of chugging a beer constituted an offensive demonstration and could reasonably can be construed and being in poor taste i'll tell you what i think i know the two people that are probably deciding to do this stuff at the nfl yeah and uh they really think highly of themselves and if i gotta be the one i'll be the one that uh goes ahead and lets them know that uh what they think is reality is not the case for the people but remember there was a time where they were trying to get rid of celebrations everybody's gonna dress the exact same you're not allowed to do this you know it was terrible for the game turned out everybody hated it so them becoming this type of uh gestapo i exactly about these types of things judge jury commissioner well they're always good that was always going to be that is how that's always going to go but just like we've already experienced with the trying to take personalities and humans and fun out of football i just don't think that's the right thing to revisit i think if we were to go back to that time.

1:22:32Pat McAfee:Players hated it. Fans hated it. Everybody hated it. It ended up not working out. Then they loosened it up a little bit. Guys start going crazy. Guys did start going crazy. Those are cool though. Bring that back. There is a happy medium. What was that one? Yeah, guy took it out. It was an automatic rocket launch. I've never seen it before. It was a javelin. They were just sending them out there. Boys, boys, can't be doing that. down ACM 30s.

1:23:03AJ Hawk:Pat, what do you think you'd go with if you scored a touchdown in 2026?

1:23:06Pat McAfee:What was your go-to? So I have a magic trick that was on deck when I was supposed to score a touchdown on Christmas Eve against the Raiders. And I got tackled for a loss and credited with a fumble, even though I think I was down. Ed Hockley certainly screwed me. And I got a bruise inside of my thigh because I was hit so hard by Derek. Man, I know he does. They had never lined up like that before. Ever. The Raw Room. You guys might have had a rat. You got a rat in the room? 100%.

1:23:35AJ Hawk:You know who it is. You'll remember. I know who it was. The guy who hit me. We can't move forward until you remember everything. So we got to wait this out.

1:23:42Pat McAfee:This is a situation I'm trying not to remember, though. You were 56. Darren Bates? Darren Bates, hit me. Thank you. And I think I'm right. Good job. If we can search that one, I think we have it. He was very athletic, and he was not supposed to be where he was. I mean, he certainly – he was supposed to get distracted by Vinatieri, who was doing this one right here. Darren Bates saw 40-year-old Vinatieri say, he's not getting the ball. And then he just scraped right over. And peekaboo, he said to me, right where I was supposed to be wide open. In my head, circle button. Oh, I'm going to get this guy.

1:24:13It was Darren Bates, yeah.

1:24:14Pat McAfee:Darren Bates hit him with a spin move. He hits one of my legs so hard into my other leg, I get a bruise on the inside of my thigh from this knee. I go down, elbows hit ground, ball comes out. Fumble, 20 people on my back, okay? 20, gain a zero. I looked over, I'm right at the line of scrimmage. I didn't gain a single yard. Ed Hockeyley called in a fumble. 20 people on you and you're looking to the sideline. That's the only one. Not even a yard. I was like, I had to have gained something there, didn't I? Nowhere near. Zero yard gain. Fumble accounted for. And had a bruised inside thigh while I had people punching me in the calf while they were trying to get a ball, which is a turnover anyways.

1:24:55Pat McAfee:It was fourth down. So I'd say worst case scenario. But if you scored, what would you have done? So we were in Oakland, and the weather was just fine, but I had hand warmer on backwards because I had a magic trick in there I was going to do. I was going to pull out a magic trick right to the camera. I was going to make a handkerchief disappear. Oh, yeah. I was going to make a handkerchief disappear. Wow. Right into the camera. Yeah, then they were going to throw a penalty, throw a flag. Vinatieri's going to have to kick a 45 or 48-yard extra point, whatever it is. I was going to pick up the flag.

1:25:28AJ Hawk:You get a flag for the Magic trip?

1:25:30Pat McAfee:Yeah, definitely, because I'm bringing out a prop. I'm picking up the flag, though, next. Guess what? We're going to try to put that one away. Throw another flag out there. Vinny's now got a 60-yard extra point. Need him to make it, obviously. And Chuck's on the sideline saying, I am never giving you another fucking opportunity to do this again. Thank God they sniffed it out. Merry Christmas. Now, we did win that game. and it was also probably the last time Derek Carr was in like MVP conversations. He walled, right? Yeah, no. Came down on it? Trent. Oh. It was Trent Cole. I believe he got him.

1:26:08Pat McAfee:That was when Derek Carr's knee got to his step. He was actually on an MVP run that year. Best ball that we've seen him play. They were a very good team. Headed to the playoffs. He gets hurt. What season was that? Jack Del Rio was a head coach. 15? 15 or 16, right? I don't know. That was certainly the skunkiest stadium I've ever been in. Sure. And I'm very against that, as we all know. Yep. As we all know. I didn't like what was in the air over there. Oh. There's. What was your relationship with the black hole there, Pat? I think they liked me. Sure. I think they liked me. I liked that. I had a lot of respect for that.

1:26:42Pat McAfee:I mean, I walked out there, and there was just a fragrance coming from that entire place. And I was like, oh, wow. These guys seemingly having a pretty good little time. Seems to be a little lifted around here. And I said, I don't do that. I turned my nose up at it, obviously. I turned my nose up at it. That's why I did that. And then I just kept it moving. But I respected that Coliseum. It was a shithole. I mean, it was, they had no doors on the toilets. I mean, it was just like no doors on the toilets. You had like one shower in there. It was falling apart. No x-ray machines? Yeah, no x-ray.

1:27:14Pat McAfee:You had to go to a hospital if somebody gets hurt. But like the fans were what made that place so special. So it was cool to be a part of that place while they were still thinking they were a very good football team. And then, obviously, Derek Carr gets hurt on Christmas Eve, kind of ruins all the dreams. We win. We fly back. Merry Christmas to us. I have a bruised knee because Darren Bates killed me. This is the play right here. No big deal. Oh, here we go. Yeah, no big deal. Let me get that thing. Vinny was supposed to distract him. He didn't peekaboo. Oh, he kind of ran up on line, too. That was a great tackle, actually.

1:27:43Pat McAfee:Yeah, it was a great tackle. Also, not a terrible spin. Now everybody's on top of me there. Yeah, I'm at the bottom of that thing. Watch him pre-snap. He knows something. 56. Can we go back to the beginning of that? Can we go back to the beginning? Who snitched? Who told him? Is that him running up to the line there? Yeah. Yep, and he scrapes. I mean, he didn't even look at Vinny. He didn't even look at him. No, he didn't. I mean, he didn't even. What a play by him. He's just watching the ball. Not a bad spin move, though, huh, boys? If we can go back to the beginning. That's why I said a great tackle.

1:28:09You should have broken that tackle.

1:28:10AJ Hawk:What was Vinny's move?

1:28:12Pat McAfee:So Vinny's supposed to distract. Hey! Hey! Hey! He did not. You know, he did not. Go back to the beginning. Let's watch the offensive line because I think we're having some people pull that didn't know they were going to be pulling either because we're on the left hash instead of the right hash. Maybe, I don't remember. There's Overton telling the story. Shout out to Ovi. Great snap right here. Great snap. Yeah, the guy's on.

1:28:32AJ Hawk:Oh, that guy at 64 was trying to get up to the second level. Yeah, never going to do it. Yeah, it was never going to happen. Hey, Herbie, Tommy McMahon put this in. We worked it all week. Hey, that guy, as soon as Vinny goes running this way, 56 is going to be chasing him, and it's a walk-in. Yeah, he did not. He did not chase him at a walk-in. If he did, though. If 64 gets that linebacker 56, I think you do walk. Nobody was going to get Darren Bates.

1:28:57Pat McAfee:That guy, it was Troy Polamalu type reaction there. But for me, think about this. Christmas Eve, I'm scoring a touchdown. Yeah. In the black hole. You saw the hand warmer in the back. There was a handkerchief in there. 60 yards and penalties, too, after you score. That would be the best part. What was the check you spoke? Was there anything that was supposed to get us out of this one? So the issue is, with all these fakes that we had. You had no way out? There was never an out because it was always a 100 %er. It's like the Troy Polamalu. Troy Polamalu, there was no check out of that. There was no, hey, we're not doing it.

1:29:30Pat McAfee:So I'm literally screaming, hey, we're kicking the ball. Like actually saying that to people, including Vinatieri, because you see his little fucking ass just kind of bop right over to where we were supposed to run. I don't know how many years he'd been playing at that time. A hundred. Hey, there's been 10 ,000 reps. Troy has never gone to this exact spot right here. And turns out, look, well, isn't that nice? Now, you do have to wonder if he found out either through Jesus, actually, which people said did talk to Troy Palmolo, or maybe they had us bugged somehow. But that was certainly abnormal.

1:30:02Pat McAfee:And then this one, if you look pre-snap, it looked like exactly what it was supposed to look like. We had it. We didn't.

1:30:09AJ Hawk:Almost, though. Jeez, Luis. Coach, you were over on the sidelines saying they're in the look we want. We got this. This is it.

1:30:16Pat McAfee:Oh, yeah. And I was pretty – I mean, I had a – Tutty coming. Go, go, go, go. And people, you know, I do look the way I look. I can move a little bit.

1:30:25AJ Hawk:You look like you're about – I'm guessing in your prime high 4.5s, low 4.6s.

1:30:29Pat McAfee:Never ran a time 40, but I could catch you if I had to. You know, that's what I always – if I could get you to a side, I'll be able to get you to a side. In soccer, I was known for being a faster guy, though. So, like, I think I could move a bit. Knees were never going to be able to keep up with the weight. But for that one, if Darren Bates wasn't there, it was just me in the paint, Christmas Eve, man, I'm probably maybe 4 '2 right there. Now, am I ripping hamstring? Potentially. I mean, is that the last time I run ever for the rest of my life? Maybe. But that handkerchief's coming out for sure.

1:30:59Pat McAfee:I'm happy we got to relive Darren Bates' greatest tackle at Christmas Eve that he's ever had. Now, he's a stud. He is a very good football player. Auburn Tiger. Yeah, okay, let's talk a little bit about college football, shall we? Huge one. Go ahead, Ty.

1:31:12Mark Schlabach:Yeah, Herbie, obviously tonight's a big deal, but I got much bigger fish to fry. Come Saturday, we have Iowa going to the big house against Michigan. Oh, my gosh. Which until later that night when you have USC and Oregon is definitely the biggest Big Ten matchup of the season so far and really kind of sets the path for both teams. What do you think of this one? How do you think it's going to shake out?

1:31:38AJ Hawk:I still believe in Oregon. I don't, I'm still writing off that those first couple weeks, Dan needed maybe those games to get these guys to buy into how important it is to prepare, no matter who you're playing. I might, I need to talk to him, but it just, it reeked of individuality and not respecting your opponent. And they're too good to play that way. I'm hoping those two games were a wake-up call. We can't go by anything that they did against Portland State. This is the week we find out. I mean, you can see Vegas still has respect for them on the road at the Coliseum. They're still a three-point favorite.

1:32:19AJ Hawk:With all that being said, I think this is Lincoln's best team that he's had out at L.A. He's got a quarterback that's real. He's got a defense that's flying around for Gary Patterson. I think that's a hell of a game. I still think Oregon can be the team that some people would say has the most talented roster, not just because of what they paid, but just looking at them, they have a very talented roster. But can they come together and be a team? They've not shown that yet, and they'll have to to win that game. Iowa, Michigan, you know this. I always kid that Iowa wants to make it a 16-12 kind of game.

1:32:56AJ Hawk:Can their defense set that tone? Can Hank Brown go into that atmosphere and play well and not turn it over? Can they win the field position game? Can they make Bryce Underwood impatient and frustrated, get him into obvious passing situations, and then spy him when he gets out to create, use his legs? Look at that slate. Finally, we got some games. Yeah, hugely. The Ole Miss, I mean, this is life in the SEC. People can say whatever they want about ESPN or anybody. I guess the AP poll is biased, the ESPN, the coaches poll. The reality is Ole Miss played in the game of their lifetime, and now they have a bigger game this week and a more challenging game this week going to the Swamp.

1:33:35AJ Hawk:Florida is playing out of their mind. You talk about a team right now that's believing in a new coach. Buster Faulkner, I think, is running an offense. We saw it at Georgia Tech. Now we're seeing it at Florida. They're putting up points that make Steve Spurrier proud. They are scoring. And Ole Miss, after all of that emotion, and we all love Trinidad Chambliss, But can Pete Golding put all that craziness behind them and go into the swamp? And I would argue when they're winning, it's as tough as any place in the country. Can they go in there and win? Or does Florida get another huge win? And all of a sudden, next week, if we're talking, we talk about, guys, Florida needs to be the team that we're all talking about in the SEC.

1:34:16AJ Hawk:Right now, they have our attention. This kid's gonna be a stud in the NFL, Jaden Ball. But they got receivers, they got skill. Philo, the quarterback, they are a fun team to watch. But as long as you have Trinidad Chambliss, he keeps you in the game. I just can't wait to see how they play. That, to me, maybe is the game of the weekend. Can't wait to watch that one. So there's games all over the place. You know, the Texas game, of course, we have Tennessee. Can Arch go back, you know, where his uncle played and dominated is one of the greatest to ever do it. That's going to be a hyped-up game. Those two teams have never played in the regular season.

1:34:53AJ Hawk:The two teams that lost last week in big emotional games, A &M losing to Kentucky and LSU, of course, losing their game. Now they have to rebound after a disappointing loss. Marcel Reed's got to kind of get on track. So great games across the board. And let's not forget about, not just saying this because of Pat, but West Virginia had a massive win. And they got a quarterback in Hawkins coming over from Oklahoma. I don't want to compare him to Pat White, but when Rich Rod has a guy that can run and throw like this, it's so much fun to watch. And you got Oklahoma State, who has, of course, become a huge story after losing to Tulsa.

1:35:36AJ Hawk:They beat Oregon. That's a very, very exciting game. So, yeah, games from, of course, game day at the beginning, 9 to 12, and then from 12 till 1 or 2 in the morning. You finally have a slate of games is why we love this sport. So hopefully the folks that schedule games next year will try to get the first three weeks like this week. But this is going to be an awesome weekend of college football.

1:36:02Pat McAfee:Well, will we ever have an entity that does all the scheduling for all the different conferences? I agree. That would be cool if we could figure that out. Obviously, the NFL has an entire system. In college, you've got so many different conferences. 100 % agree. So hopefully we're able to get that done as we continue to move forward. with college sports and whatever it's going to be.

1:36:20AJ Hawk:As opposed to, Pat, as you know, but for fans, the SEC does their scheduling, the Big Ten does their scheduling, the Big 12, but wouldn't it be great to have a national, I don't know, an entity or whoever it would be, a national office that their entire job was to put these games together all year, not just conference play, but the non-conference as well, to try to level the playing field a little bit because some of these teams are playing seven or eight ranked teams back to back to back, and some of them play one. It just doesn't add up when you look at it at the end of the day.

1:36:58Pat McAfee:Yeah, West Virginia's coming fresh off a ranked dub. So, you know, we're not scared of anything. We tried to get into the SEC. Obviously, they turned us down. We tried to get into the Big Ten. They turned us down. We're in the Big 12 now. Don't sleep on the Big 12. I mean, Oklahoma State might be a whole new version of themselves. We assume Texas Tech is going to be good for the foreseeable future because of the amount of investment in there. And to your point about Rich Rod, I think you could say, hey, Pat White's coaching him right now, first of all. So Pat White is actually in the room coaching Michael Hawkins Jr.

1:37:29Pat McAfee:But Michael Hawkins Jr. is electrifying. I mean, can he survive? I hope so. We've got a couple young freshman offensive linemen that are going to be All-Americans. I don't know if you know anything about that. Kevin Brown. Yeah, committed on the show. He was supposed to go to Penn State. His dad was a West Virginia Mountaineer, played under Rich Rodriguez. So whenever James Franklin leaves Penn State, he immediately reaches out to Rich Rodriguez saying, hey, what type of team we got? Would you like the boy? Can we get the boy? He's been stud, I think staple of our offensive line. Rick Trickett is back coaching the offensive line.

1:38:01Pat McAfee:Speaking of, he's one of the greatest O-line coaches in the history of college ball. So I think West Virginia feels very good about where West Virginia is right now. and I don't want to say we, you know, because I don't know how West Virginia people would feel about that, but we are going to be celebrating a lot more dubs. And I thought potential game day location this weekend. I thought Morgantown was going to potentially host it. I think, you know, with Texas becoming new number one, Tennessee also doing well, and it being noon game there on ABC, there were some other conversations that take place.

1:38:33Pat McAfee:West Virginia is going to be on game day this year, I think. I hope. Got to.

1:38:36AJ Hawk:Keep rolling. We'd love to get in there, man.

1:38:38Pat McAfee:When was the last time game day went there? I can't even remember. I don't know. I will say this. It'll be biblical. We went there on a Friday before Penn State.

1:38:50AJ Hawk:I remember you guys did a show there. I remember.

1:38:52Pat McAfee:It was 110. Maybe you remember? So hot. 110 degrees. There was no shade where we were. And it was packed out. Was that Penn State? Or what was that? Yeah, Penn State. Yeah, and then there was a big rain delay, and then they beat us.

1:39:08Mark Schlabach:It was the Notre Dame-Texas A &M game day down there. Riley Leonard, Notre Dame. Yeah, the next day I flew down.

1:39:15Pat McAfee:Yeah, so in 2014, I guess, is the last time the game day was in Morgantown. Think of that. Yeah, I think that place will be ready for it, obviously. West Virginia also gets a couple TRO exemption guys to join him. Got a running back out of Utah. Nakwari Rogers is joining us. And I think we got a safety from Georgia. also joining us here in the middle of the season. So West Virginia doing stuff to try to get better as we continue to go. I like where we're at. I like where we're cooking. And hopefully game day will inevitably end up in Morgantown for the best scene that college game day has ever had.

1:39:52Pat McAfee:Now, Johnny Knoxville, celebrity guest picker on Saturday. Excited for that. Tone has a question about that week. Yeah, I do. Obviously, you brought up T. Martin, so you wanted to talk about Tennessee. What do you think it's going to be like for Faison Brandon? And obviously his first start in one of the most electric environments in college football. Obviously Arch on the road. They have not been great on the road. You mentioned that game a little bit, but what do you think is the biggest storyline of that game? Obviously Jim Knowles and Sark have gone against each other. Heupel and Texas have gone against each other a bunch.

1:40:23Who's the D.C. down there now? Moschamp. Yeah, Moschamp have gone against each other a bunch. So what do you think is the main storyline now?

1:40:29AJ Hawk:I think if you look past the obvious, which is Arch going back and the number one team in the country in a tough environment. Beyond that, I want to see Tennessee. It's one of these teams you just don't know. I mean, they played here in Atlanta against Georgia Tech. I think we all have a ton of respect for Josh Heupel and the way he coaches offensive football. Jim Knowles has a great reputation, has a great defensive mind. But Faison Brandon, we just don't know. I mean, he has not gone up against a defense of this caliber. He could be lights out, you know, and then, you know, you go by what you see and you say, holy cow, this kid is a young freshman.

1:41:08AJ Hawk:It's very rare to see a true freshman, and maybe your guys could look it up, true freshman against number one teams in the country over the last 10 or 15, 20 years. It's pretty startling how few true freshmen have been able to knock off number one teams. Now, with that being said, this guy, he looks awesome. He's throwing it. He's running it. When Heupel, who's one of these, he comes back from going back to way back to the Art Bryle system. He has his own version of it. But he will spread you sideline to sideline with formations, making you declare your numbers as a defense. If you overcommit into the box because you got to respect that run game with Deshaun Bishop and the quarterback run game, now you're one-on-one on the outside to get those numbers right.

1:41:55AJ Hawk:and now they come up with clever ways to create rubs and vertical shots. If you stay light in the box and you're thinking, let's not give up the big play, now you've got to deal with being short up front. And they're just very, very balanced. And he has as good a feel as anybody at going fast with the up-tempo and spreading you out and making you declare. So all that to say, how can Faison Brandon against Will Muschamp and Colin Simmons and that defense, how will he play? And does it become a low-scoring game, field position, or is it a shootout type of game where there's a bunch of points on the board?

1:42:34AJ Hawk:And the last thing about Arch is this guy seems to be challenged every single week with something, on the field, on the field. You almost feel sorry for the guy to a certain degree because, again, the bar for him is just such an almost unrealistic height. No matter what he does, it just never seems to be enough. And can he continue to just block that out and just focus on playing ball? F everybody else, F the world, and just be with his boys and just play ball. Execute the play the way he did in that fourth quarter against Ohio State. Not worry about anything, not overthink. At times I feel like his mind's almost paralyzed, like he's overthinking sometimes in that pocket.

1:43:23AJ Hawk:He's trying to be so perfect. Just that fourth quarter, they went more tempo. They got Ohio State finally on their heels, and he was playing fast, and he looked like he was having fun. When he's having fun, he's a handful. And when he's overthinking and worrying, I use the term paralyzed. It's like his mind is paralyzed, and it slows him down. and it's just not where he's at his best. So on the road in this atmosphere, Sark's got to come up with a way to play fast and free him up to let him play and where he's not thinking as much.

1:43:58Pat McAfee:Eighth largest stadium in the world is host to Texas, the number one team in the country, traveling to take on the Tennessee Volunteers. The last freshman quarterback to beat number one team in the country was Trevor Lawrence in the national championship over Alabama. Wow, dad. Now, that is BCS or whatever the hell it was, college football playoffs, whoever was doing the ranking then, that's their ranking. The last time a true freshman, I believe, has beat at AP number one, which would be during regular season. Like Jamel Holloway? I think it's like 1985 or something like that.

1:44:31AJ Hawk:I think it's Jamel Holloway maybe at Oklahoma.

1:44:34Pat McAfee:Okay, so it's a long time. Not easy, obviously difficult, especially whenever you're a number one team in a country. Normally defenses are pretty elite. So if a true freshman in front of 100 and some thousand people in his first big one can pull that off, we got a legend in the making potentially down there in Rocky Top. Hey, good luck tonight, Herbie. We appreciate you. Hey, one last thing, Pat.

1:44:55AJ Hawk:You have given away probably a season's worth of money in two weeks. And I'm usually trying to cheer on the kickers, but I'm done with that. I think we got to come up with a plan. We got to get rushers. can Stanford Steve, instead of doing this, like it's good, can we get him to rush maybe and get his hands up and block? We got to do something. Get the laces, Kirk. These people are sneaking around. I don't know how these people, I've never kicked a ball in my life. All of a sudden, boom, good from 50. Next week, no, a football. What's the football? I've never kicked a ball in my life. Next thing you know, boom, good from 45.

1:45:37AJ Hawk:Like what's going on with the kick? I don't know.

1:45:39Pat McAfee:They make it every week now. Yeah, they didn't make it the first week. And Herbie did text me with all capital letters, you know, at some point this week, the last couple days, he just, have these guys made every kick? Sends me a text. Have these guys made every kick? All capital letters. And then he said, it feels like they've made every kick. Another message. I didn't see it for like maybe 10 minutes. Another one comes. They made every kick. How many? And then I had to tell him, no, first week, guy missed. He goes, oh, yeah. I forgot. But he was online, though, is what Herbie said. That guy was online.

1:46:10Pat McAfee:So, I mean, they were, yeah, we should brainstorm a little bit about this entire thing, shouldn't we?

1:46:14AJ Hawk:And how much have you given away in two weeks so far?

1:46:17Pat McAfee:Yeah, I mean, it was a$1.2 million kick and then it was a$1 million kick. You know, shout out Home Depot, obviously. $500 ,000. Getting involved, but it's been a lot. It's been a lot. Yeah,$500 ,000 at Dan Lanning there.

1:46:28AJ Hawk:It used to be when you first started this, Pat, like two maybe. The over-under on the season was$2.7 million. And we've already got two already. They've already made two.

1:46:41Pat McAfee:See, I didn't even think of an over-under for the last couple seasons because I should not be thinking about that, especially as I'm doing it to make it continue to be as electrifying as it is. But AJ brought up a good point. If you give that guy spin laces right back, no chance that thing's going. Now everybody will come after you. You're a terrible person. You're going to get killed for that.

1:46:59AJ Hawk:Can you also help people know, tell them why I lean the ball towards me? yeah like a lot of people are like you're trying to mess it up i don't know if they want me to go like back in the backyard where you tip it backwards you should i'm leaning it towards me to help the kicker yeah soccer style kicker soccer style kicker which all these guys have been and

1:47:19Pat McAfee:we've had a couple female kickers as well a lot of people don't know that i get a lot of messages calling me uh super sexist with the field goal kick it's like well it's a raffle first random people get it and we have had women win it before and women try to kick it before but it has been a A lot of lads lately. But, yeah, soccer-style kicking. Normally you want to lean the ball a little bit away from the kicker because his leg swing is going to come across, which is why you see a lot of these misses going to the left. You see a lot of these soccer misses going to the left. So Herbie is actually trying to assist them.

1:47:47Pat McAfee:That is something that maybe.

1:47:50AJ Hawk:Maybe I go the other way. Or maybe I do what they want me to do. Maybe I lean it backwards. Let it go a bit early.

1:47:55Pat McAfee:You can also close your eyes, let it go. Early brown the next one. Yeah, just roll it out of the way. Yeah, right, kid. Back to you, Reese. We set off an M80 in his backswing? Not a bad idea. Have Peter rush the kid.

1:48:07Mark Schlabach:Steve comes around. Yeah, we got to come up with a plan. Gets a piece of it, blocks the kick, and just goes apeshit. Takes his shirt off. Steve gets in his face.

1:48:15Pat McAfee:We can't rig the raffle. That's an Italian man. Okay, we appreciate the hell out of you, ladies and gentlemen. That's Kirk Herbstreit. Hey, Italian man, Chuck Pagano is our coach. He's also the man who breaks down these Thursday night football matchups in a way that we obviously can't. 37 years of football experience, 19 of them in the NFL, have led us to this moment on this beautiful football kickoff Thursday. Chuck, tonight, Falcons, Packers. Packers favored by four and a half at home. How do you see it? Why do you see it? Let's take a look at the tail of the tape. Can we do that? Yeah, let's definitely do the tail of the tape.

1:48:49Let's look at some numbers real quick. I think everybody's got a really good bead on this game. It's not confusing at all. But anyway, tail of the tape is you've got the Green Bay Pack. So here we go. There we go. Can we see that?

1:49:04Pat McAfee:Yeah, put it on the back wall, please, so we can help out the 65-year-old man in his eyeballs there. Good work at the back, boys. Eyes, ears, a couple other things not working too good. Oh, he's talking about his banana. Yeah. Go ahead. No, I don't think so. Total offense, we know Atlanta's really struggled with their quarterback play, and that's why they're 29th, 32nd, and pass offense. As you can see, rush offense for Green Bay. We know they're absolutely inept right now and cannot run the football. Total defense, we've talked about this. Both defenses are good. Atlanta's number one against the rush.

1:49:39Green Bay's eighth. Pass defense, Atlanta struggled, and that's with A.J. Terrell. Now he's out of the lineup. They're going to have some younger players in there. C.J. Henderson will be out there with Mike Hughes taking his spot, so we'll be interested to see how that goes. Turnover margin, dead last, Atlanta, minus six. Green Bay not too far behind. They're minus two right now. Points scored, Atlanta's seen the end zone once. Yeah. And zero trips in the red area. Yeah. That's just unheard of, right? Yeah. Yeah. Green Bay's not much better. Points allowed, not very good either side. And then penalties.

1:50:20We talked ad nauseum about the penalties and the lack of discipline with this Green. I think a lot of those, Gannon's got them playing extremely well, playing fast, playing physical, going right to the line. But there's a lot that needs to get cleaned up there and not give. We call them, you know, when we talk about winning formula, Pat, remember back in the day, talked about the quarterback, right, effect and protect the ball, you know, protect, keep it, take it away, all those kind of things. Sins. Self-inflicted negatives. We got a ton of sins. And if they have a bunch of sins tonight, that's going to give Atlanta a chance to hang in there and possibly win this game, let alone cover in this game.

1:51:02So I think the biggest storyline is Michael Penix. His first start, nine months out, 300 and what? How many days did he say? 17. 317 days on the road, hostile environment at Lambeau, home opener for the Green Bay Packers. Am I okay here?

1:51:23Pat McAfee:No, we're trying to figure out the math. 17, you're right. 317 or 319. A little noise there. We were having a conversation around you right there. A little noise there. A little noise there. You got it. That's coming from Ohio right there, actually, which you just heard. That was AJ. We were rolling. You know, first start in a long time, new head coach and new offensive coordinator in that environment. Now, they're going to hand the thing off to Bijan. We know that they're going to throw it quick out of there. They're going to get it out of his hand. He's going to take a couple shots down the field.

1:51:50But you just know Gannon is going to put nine guys in a box, all eyes on Bijan, right? They are not going to allow him to wreck this game. In the run game, in the pass game, and then when it comes to pressure, they pressure third most in the National Football League right now. Green Bay does. And then when you flip this. That's Gannon, baby. You flip this the other way. Stop. Sorry, I'll stop. Olbrick. Herbie talked about Olbrick and the job that he did. Get locked in.

1:52:16Pat McAfee:You. We're talking to you. You're the one that's all over the point. You, you, we got one minute until the hard hour. Handle the noise. Is it your first turn on the road? I ain't getting my pick right now. Why do I got to give it? You're giving it right now? Yeah, this is what you got. One minute and 23 seconds to make sure we understand which way you're going. The world wants to know, Chuck. Hey, with all that being said, there's no way that I could take the points and take Atlanta with Penix coming off a knee. I don't know what his mobility is going to be like. I know he can spin it. But Gannon and that defense, they're going to get after him.

1:52:50They'll make enough plays on offense. I'll go with Green Bay in this one. Give the points. Take the Packers at home at Lambeau.

1:52:57Pat McAfee:Wow. What's that song you guys play up there? Something about a barrel? Yep, roll out the barrel. What's it sound like, AJ, just so we can maybe get used to that if they were to cover four and a half? I don't know. I don't have really a musical brain, so I can't really dial it up right now. Really? You don't even know what it sounds like and you're the all-time leading tackle? Roll out the barrel is like the hook is the chorus. Roll out the barrel is definitely the hook. So let me hear it though, like roll out the barrel. I told you, I wish I was musical. Roll out the barrel today. Roll out the barrel, barrel the cheese.

1:53:27Oh, that's not it? How's it go there? Roll out the barrel. I don't know, I just know that's not the right one. Roll out the barrel. Roll out the barrel, please. Is that what it is? Green Bay people are very polite, so. But no, police is not in there. Well, it's cheese in there? That I know of.

1:53:43Pat McAfee:I'll tell you what, I don't like that you didn't want to pay tribute to a tradition in Green Bay that's been happening for as long as you've been alive. We'll continue digitally. Big day with Big Trigs is next.

1:53:54Mark Schlabach:Nailed it. They have the Go Pack Go one. Go Pack Go. That's all I can think of. Is it a barrel of lager? No, no, no. It'd be spotted cow if it was.

1:54:08Pat McAfee:So it's a raw barrel of ass beating? What is the barrel? Cheese and beer is what we do in Wisconsin. No, it is beer. I think it is a barrel of beer. Oh, so it's a keg? I don't know. Old school. This guy's a sack of poop.

1:54:22Mark Schlabach:I mean, there's really no other way to say it. He has a sack of wine.

1:54:25Pat McAfee:And there's another song we played up there in preseason. You remember we played up there? They scored 60 on us in preseason, and there was a song that they were playing that they were singing alongside. It might have been 70, actually. I'm glad I can't remember half that shit. Yeah, I think it was maybe. God almighty. I mean, I don't know the exact. It was a lot. I remember thinking to myself, wow. Is this the most amount of points in a preseason game that a team has ever scored? I've got to come in there and go, this stuff matters. It does matter. You're like, no, let's just get the hell on the bus, get to the plane, and get the F home.

1:54:58Pat McAfee:What's it called, Nick? The beer barrel what? Polka. The beer barrel. They get your own polka. Yep. So now that you know that it's a polka, AJ, if you could please one shot, let us know what it sounds. Someone's got to play it. Someone's got to play it. Honestly, I don't know. Like I said, I don't have a musical brain. I wish I did. I wish I was more musically inclined. You took singing lessons. You got an album. Why don't you try it? Switcher did free. I don't know the song. If I knew the song, I would. I don't either off the top of my head. I really don't. Didn't Gus Belinsky write it from Home Alone?

1:55:25Polka, Polka, Polka.

1:55:27Pat McAfee:No, I think it was Home Improvement's Jonathan Taylor Thomas, actually. Oh, sorry, H. Jeez. He's going to have plenty of time to write now. Yeah, I think Jonathan Taylor Thomas is not going to be able to watch tonight's game. No. Well, maybe. I don't know. Actually, he might. Him and Brad are hanging out in prison together. unfortunately. Did you hear about JTT? He's in jail. Kicked a deputy. That's what they're alleging. In the gut. He's a great soccer player. He was a great school man. His kids are not turning out very well. I don't think he was actually allowed to parent them. I think Jill might.

1:56:01Pat McAfee:We need to talk about what's going on in Jill's house because remember Tim was checking out to the garage. Hanging out with Heidi too much as well. They were just doing a show. Here is to roll out the barrel polka by the man, the icon, Wheezy. And bomb! This is my greatest honor.

1:56:24Mark Schlabach:Let's count it down. Three, two, one. Come on!

1:57:01Pat McAfee:for the gangs on here. Hey, we did it. That was pretty sick. That video doesn't do it justice. They play that every song, every time you guys score.

1:57:13Mark Schlabach:Weezy needs to be singing it. That was before or after he said he's out on the NFL, but he needs to be singing that.

1:57:19Pat McAfee:I think this is probably before, if I had to guess, because he just said that last week.

1:57:22Mark Schlabach:Yeah, but you never know. I know they didn't play at home last week, but maybe they gathered 70 ,000 fans at Lambeau on Wednesday.

1:57:31Pat McAfee:I think that's kind of just a tradition there that you just count down to rolling out the polka. I think Lil Wayne was potentially like, you know what? My voice has been on a lot of good songs. I'm going to count down on this one and send it to the others.

1:57:43Mark Schlabach:Yeah, but he's a diehard Packers fan. Yeah. He said it was the greatest honor of his life and he didn't sing. Counting down to it.

1:57:49Pat McAfee:Yeah.

1:57:50Mark Schlabach:He could have added a couple. He could have.

1:57:54Pat McAfee:I mean, if he would have wrote the Roll Out the Barrel song.

1:57:56Mark Schlabach:or if he even would have been like, you know,

1:57:58Pat McAfee:you ain't got nothing on me

1:58:00Mark Schlabach:if he would have thrown in some of his own lyrics in between those lyrics.

1:58:04Pat McAfee:Yeah. People would have been so mad. AJ would have been on the field going, this isn't the song. You know what I mean? That's what AJ would have been saying. Right, right. AJ, how come you wouldn't just let us in on what? See, I didn't know all the words. I didn't know the zing, boom, terrero or whatever that is. That's the part I didn't know. Terrero. Terrero. What does that mean exactly? I don't know. You are a grade A dickhead. grade A. Very Wisconsin. I love it. I honestly love it. I love all the traditions they have there. Just the thought of you whenever we asked you to explain it earlier could you imagine if you would have said I don't know there's zing boom terrible in there.

1:58:36Pat McAfee:We would have mocked you so bad. We would have went after you and said okay AJ I'm sure there is and then lo and behold right there in the middle of the stanza zing boom terrible I guess you can't find a lot of words that rhyme with barrel. Okay let's get to a break Chuck is on the barrel of fun. Minus four and a half up there in Green Bay. I think I know what he's probably taking. Is this a team ride situation tonight? No. I don't think so. I'll tell you what. Wow, I don't know how I feel. Is this guy going to have another gimmick to switch his pick? Like last week where he had a Wyoming shirt underneath the desk and he said, yeah, right, I'm not going against a cowboy.

1:59:23Pat McAfee:You chucking kidding me? Yeah, that was incredible. What if you were on headgear? What if you got headgear? What if I went to Atlanta and then pulled out a cheese head? Go the other way. You should have thought of that, old man. Yeah, that's what we're talking about. You would have had to think that. I know we're talking about Boston. How about you shut your puss? There you go. Hey, shut your puss. Excuse me? Yeah, shut your puss. Okay? Can't find puss here anywhere. Chuck, what's that? We used to get that at the dinner table at our grandparents. You got your – Back in Schaumburg. Grandpa Domko.

1:59:59He'd burn everything, right? Grandma Cheetah was gone. Grandpa Domko. I hit you right in the push. You don't eat that portion. Okay, so –

2:00:09Pat McAfee:It's just a crack on the face. And do you think that's why you ended up playing football the way you did, where you were going face first into everybody, because you were getting shot in the push every single family holiday? Yes. Putting his puss in everyone's face now. Listen, push on ball. Push on ball, forehead on Adam's apple. You know what I mean? I like what you're doing back there. You're a wild cowboy for that Wyoming team. You're a wild cowboy. And we do appreciate the fact that you created the Pagano Punch. Let's get to a break. On the other side, we'll give our picks. We'll also break down the moments that made us say, What the Chuck?

2:00:46Pat McAfee:Oh, AJ. Didn't do it? I was honestly lost in just thinking that's one of my favorite segments that we have now. Oh, I like that. Just kind of live it in the moment. We're the best segs ever. You know what? Speaking of living in the moment. Uh-oh. Hmm? What that did?

2:00:59Mark Schlabach:Yeah, no, that worked. That did work. I told you. I knew it was going to, and my God did it. Or maybe Booney was just wrong the entire time. Did you see yesterday? Yes. Rice? What's that? Yeah, Ben Rice is a dog, but that's not what we're talking about. Okay, I'm sorry. What are you talking about? I was on a plane that doesn't get any Wi-Fi. You know what I'm saying?

2:01:18Pat McAfee:Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. Just say you didn't watch. You know I watch all the time. No, okay, but I'm just saying then I can get to what we're talking about in this exact moment. I didn't watch. I missed it. Okay, yeah. Thank you. We got there. We got there. Oh, thank you for that, Chuck. There's a lot of people that missed it, and I missed a lot too. I missed eight universe balls. I missed eight no more injuries this NFL season. Balls. There was balls scattered all over the place. Then I took an hurling, an Irish hurling slitter ball. Yep. Threw that, missed that.

2:01:50Pat McAfee:Then I grab this baseball and I go, universe ball for injuries. Throw it. Make it. So we didn't know if that was for all sports or if it was for football because we were talking football at the time, or was it potentially for baseball. Then Aaron Judge is back for the wild card. I don't know. It seems like the universe was speaking yesterday.

2:02:06Mark Schlabach:Yeah, sounds like it was.

2:02:08Pat McAfee:Aaron Judge is coming back for a wild card?

2:02:09Mark Schlabach:He said he is, and I would trust him more than I'd trust Booney at this point. I think he knows his body pretty well. If he says he's going to play, he's going to fucking play. So, yeah, Judge is back for the wild card round. He was not happy with Boone. Good on you, saving the world like that again.

2:02:23Pat McAfee:Thank you, and I tried for football a lot, and I just did. There were nowhere. Because if we lose any more quarterbacks. Yeah, does Green Bay have a hospital? Oh, yeah, they've got a great hospital system. Okay. Crazy? What was that about, Ty? I don't know. I mean, we were there. There was no buildings over 10 feet high, so I just didn't know. Well, that's because it's cool. What a stadium. 10 feet high. Well, casino. Casino had a couple floors.

2:02:46Mark Schlabach:Yeah. I didn't see the casino. That Ace Hardware is fucking big, and so is that Walgreens we stopped at. There's a couple houses.

2:02:53Pat McAfee:Casino's big. Yeah, casino's got great.

2:02:55Mark Schlabach:We didn't go to casino. I don't know why.

2:02:57Pat McAfee:Who's the family? The tribe, I'm sorry? Oneida. Oneida. Oneida tribe. Unbelievable casino. Love it. Really feels homey. Yeah. Got, like, pictures of stuff while you walk in, like, in somebody's living room.

2:03:10Mark Schlabach:Yeah. Sigs galore. A lot of Sigs. Love a good Sig at the casino. Oh, yeah. Not for me, but just for others.

2:03:17Pat McAfee:Yeah. Light up a dart. Yeah. You ever do that? 100%. You're smoking darts at casinos? Mom was teaching that Boulder. Nothing better. Nothing better. Look. I don't smoke. A cigar or a dart, a drink, and a hot slot machine. See you tomorrow. Woo! What a time. You talk dirty to me, Chuck. What a time. All right, let's get to a break. We'll be back on the other side making our picks and explaining what the Chuck is. Be your friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change your life. Take five.

2:03:51Mark Schlabach:Strong communities are built in the places where life happens, where families build their lives, where students build their futures, where businesses create opportunity. Bloom Energy provides reliable power for the places communities depend on every day. From hospitals and college campuses to stores and factories, clean, quiet power that uses little water right where it's needed so communities can keep moving forward.

2:04:17AJ Hawk:Bloom Energy. Power America relies on. This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome.

2:04:24Mark Schlabach:You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome? That's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required compatibility and availability varies 18+.

2:05:11Pat McAfee:We'll be right back. I will say a lot of buttons, a lot of stuff going on. All the training, how do we feel? Training has kind of activated the mind as you've gone live here, a little bit different than what you've been working on? I knew it was going to be hard to actually simulate it, but I feel like I did my best to learn how to do basically everything. It's just a matter of actually doing it live in real time, you know, over and over and over again. Mike Penix. Yeah, Michael Penix tonight, 317 days, hasn't had his start. 37-year football coach, our coach, Coach Pagano. Yeah, communication.

2:05:50And then this kind of reminds you of, like, these teams that lose these offensive coordinators and they don't have a guy in waiting. I think maybe we have to prep for moments like this. Yeah, we had been. I'll tell you what. You know what I mean? Bruce and Mitt. And have a guy that can bounce in there and get the job done and not go Jameis on you?

2:06:04Pat McAfee:So I think he hasn't gone Jameis yet today. Mitt, we will find out by end of show how it is all gone. You know, there will be full conversations. He's dropped in very well. I had an incredible job. but he's actually handled himself very nicely. Now, Bruce does a lot from that seat, just like Foxy does a lot from the seat that Bruce is in. I think these two lads over the next week or two will certainly fall into place and get good experience that we need from maybe down the road if Foxy ever misses again. What is maternity leave around here? Well, we don't know. We don't know if that's what it is.

2:06:37Pat McAfee:One half of the hammer. Done. Cowboys AP Tone is here.

2:06:42Mark Schlabach:Maternity.

2:06:42Pat McAfee:And the Toxic Table is here, obviously. at Boston Conner and at Ty Schmidt. Our coach, obviously, Fogano, still here. He had the Green Bay Packers minus four and a half tonight. AJ, I, and the rest of the guys will give our picks here in a matter of moment. But we can't let this Thursday go without celebrating some moments that made us all say, what the Chuck? Okay, Chuck, what made you say what the Chuck this weekend, all around ball? I'll tell you what, there was plenty. I mean, it was hard to come up with two or three of these. You know, there were so many. So let's go to the tape. Yeah, let's definitely do that.

2:07:20And let's see some bad, bad balls. So let's set this up, Pat. Okay. All right. Down in distance, all right. They just failed on third and three. Okay. So Carolina against Atlanta. We're going to see Atlanta tonight. Again, we talked ad nauseum about Obrecht and the job he's doing down there with this defense. Who'd they lose? Cornerback A.J. who? Terrell. A.J. Terrell, right? So C.J. Henderson comes in. It's fourth and three. They're not kicking. They're going for the touchdown here. So they end up the same personnel group that they had on third and three. They did not change personnel on them.

2:07:52The thing that they changed was the formation. The other thing that they did was a speed break. So they're in the huddle. They rush to the line of scrimmage, and they're in empty formation. Most teams in fourth and three down here are going to play man coverage. They've got to play tight coverage, and you want to put pressure on Bryce Young. He's playing phenomenal this year, right? Keep him in the well. Go after him. Force him to make a throw and a catch. So what happens is all three wide outs are up top at the top of the screen, and then you've got Waller and you've got Chubba right down here, the running back, number 30.

2:08:24Chubba level game.

2:08:25Mark Schlabach:Yeah. So what's going on on the defensive side here? Not chucking much. We want communication. We've got to be on the same page. So if you run this thing a little bit, back and forth a little bit, so look how fast things happen. So go ahead and run it back. So by the time Bryce looks at the defense, all the DBs are doing what? They're looking at each other. All right? The ball snapped. The running back's over here. So the linebacker, you see the linebacker over here to the right, to our left, to the bottom of the screen before the ball snapped? Look at him before the ball snapped. You mean that's my guy?

2:09:00Watch him. He's going, that's me? That's not chucking mine. That's yours. That's a chucking safety. And then 21, you're saying, well, who the Chuck do I got then? And then 21 said, I got the tight end. You got the running back. Then we run this thing, and we got a guy wide open, uncovered, in the end zone for a touchdown. And we just say, what the Chuck?

2:09:24Pat McAfee:Yeah, I don't like that. That could be tonight the Green Bay Packers benefiting like that. It's a copycat league, Pat. It's a copycat league, mind you. You think they're going to have it figured out in four days on how to kind of check to this or figure out what. You got new players in there? No chucking way. Oh, my God. So maybe the Falcons' defense is a bunch of chucking shit tonight, is that what you're saying? Oh, my God. Can you imagine how chucking furious Olberg's going to be? Oh, especially if Jordan Love has a chucking career day on a Thursday night football when everybody's questioning whether or not the Packers can play.

2:09:56Pat McAfee:Watson and Chuck and Golden? Oh, they better figure that chucking out, then.

2:09:58Mark Schlabach:I mean, there's a decent chucking chance that Jordan Love has a massive night tonight, especially if that's the chucking defense he's seeing in the red zone. Do you agree with that chucking thing? I mean, I would hope. They better wake the chuck up. I would like to see a lot of chucking points just because you hate to see a game where there's no chucking points. But I would think that Atlanta does something to figure that out.

2:10:19Pat McAfee:Connor's chucking hoping, I think, from the sounds of what he is potentially picking on this particular game. Let's go to the next what-to-chuck moment for the weekend. Yeah, you got Philly down. First and goal, right? 14 seconds left. Fourth quarter. Tennessee's going to upset Philly, right? Get their first win. hold the damn phone. So we got a bunch for me. What's the common thing? These last two formations, right? We got an empty bunch, three, two a bunch. And then we're going to create another bunch here. Obviously in this situation, you got to play man again, right? Very, very common. You can play zone, but you're going to play man.

2:10:53They're in a blitz look. They're going to send more than the Philly can block. And what happens if you run this thing back, boys, okay, go to the beginning. I don't know if we can take it all the way, but they started in a bunch. All right? And then Devontae motioned out. Okay? So the corner goes, okay, because right now you've got a three-way. They're in a three-way. Those three DBs on those three wideouts, they've got it figured out. Okay? We're going to lock number two, and we'll play in and out on one and three. Does that make sense? Yep. Okay, so now Devontae leaves. They see the corner go.

2:11:28So he knows he's got man. They're not showing six up and going to drop out and play a soft zone, right, down here. So he knows he's got man. So they bring him back in. So the pass-off is off. Now it's back on. The other caveat to this, 21 and 26 up there, they're both second-year players. Oh, no. All right, a sixth - and seventh-round draft pick. Chuck and Young. And this is what happens when you don't have experience. These guys are going to be good players probably. Maybe. For Bob Sala. and Gus Bradley, who's a defensive coordinator down there at Tennessee, and they don't communicate. Devontae falls.

2:12:04Then you get the bad chucking body language. We tell the DBs, don't ever do this. Don't ever look at another chucking player, one of your chucking teammates, and throw your hands up and say, that's your chucking guy. That wasn't my chucking guy.

2:12:16Pat McAfee:Look like a chucking wuss. Not only that, you're throwing your teammates under the chucking bus, and you could potentially damage a chucking relationship for the rest of the season. So not on the same page. You've got a sixth and seventh rounder, two second-year players. Going to be good players, but they're not on the same page. Maybe. Philly gets a walk-off with Cooper. Does anybody know who Coop is? I love Coop. Great player. Good player, huh? Okay. DeGene Cooper. Yeah. Great job by Hurts here. Nobody wants to give Hurts any chucking credit. He knows how they're protecting. So what does he run away from?

2:12:49The pressure. Does that make sense? Yeah, that makes all the chucking sense in the world.

2:12:54Pat McAfee:Yeah, maybe Jalen Hurts does know some chucking bull. I think he does. Now, not knowing any chucking bull makes us all go, what the fuck? Chuck. He's kind of disrespectful to football. Yeah. This poor kid had to get on a mic and explain himself. He was trying to play ball, man, to the last second. I'm a competitor. I'm going to play to the very bitter end. Is that what he said? Yes. He said, I'm going to play to the very bitter end. I'm just a ball player. Did you have a conversation about this chucking situation, Kyle? Yeah, we talked about it on the sideline, he said. There was a lot going on.

2:13:28There was a lot of commotion. There was a lot of voices. There was a lot. And this is what Chuck can happen. Set up. It was. Hey, Chuck, credit to the defender up top who came and he blitzes and he penetrates so the quarterback could not sprint and get out of any wider. That was a big part of the play. Do you know what the call was on defense? Just go out the back of the end zone. Obviously. Pat, did we chuck and practice this all the time?

2:13:51Pat McAfee:Yes, we literally practice this once a week. And then there was different forms of safety, slow safety, fast safety, throw safety, down safety, out-of-bounds safety. There's a bunch of different styles of this to get the job done, which is we can win a damn game. We're up three right now. He had the time off to step out the back of the end zone. Throw the ball at the back of the end zone. I don't care. That's what we had to practice. You remember the game? Well, you weren't. You're West Virginia. I'm at the University of Miami, 1990. You want to take a look at it? What year was it? 1996. It was October 26, 1996.

2:14:23I was nine years old.

2:14:24Pat McAfee:I was not playing for West Virginia at the time. Okay, so let me set this thing up for you, AJ. You weren't in here, AJ. We were showing this, talking about this play. We're down 7-3. We couldn't piss a drop against the Mountaineers. Defensive battle, 7-3. There's 29 seconds to go in a game. It's fourth and two. What are you going to do if you're West Virginia? Oh, we'll just punt the ball. Haven't scored a touchdown. Haven't scored a touchdown. Let's just punt the ball. There's no way that Ryan Clement and this Hurricane offense can do anything. We're going to win the game. Well, who's on the other side that's blocked a thousand kicks in his career?

2:15:01Tremaine Mack out of Tyler, Texas. Okay. So he's going to come into the picture here. He's coming off the left side. The only way we can win this game is boom. Block the punt. Jack Holman picks it up. Hands it off to Nate Brooks. We run this son of a bitch in. Score a touchdown. Get a walk off. They throw a trash can off the top of the building, hit Randy Shannon in the head. He ends up getting$50 ,000 on a chucking lawsuit. Look at Tremaine Mack.

2:15:28Pat McAfee:Look at a kicker. He did a 360. No, it's a flip. But what the chuck happened in here for West Virginia. Don Nealon, great coach. West Virginia, I believe, was ranked at this time, right? 12th in the country. Damn. CBS Game of the Week, the whole nine yards. We've been at Miami with Butch Davis two years now trying to turn the thing back around, bring back the U to the glory days, and this is what happens. So this is why we practice all those different scenarios. Because of this exact moment right here. Because of this. And how far did we have you throwing out the back of the end zone? Okay, so that was a fun time because they could have done it here, I believe, 7-3, that much time.

2:16:03Pat McAfee:You could take some time off, throw it out the back, then punt from the 20, and then obviously you still win this entire game and they have the ball backwards. It looked like that could have been a forward lateral, but we're not going to get into that. There was probably lack of replay whenever I was nine years old in 1996. Yeah, not at all. But, yeah, there was so many different – I will say you were – because I think you were a part of special teams, right, in Miami? Yes. How many block kicks? 39 in 59 games. Jesus. Six-year span. Wow. Yeah, he used to say that shit when he was standing next to me and punt.

2:16:30Pat McAfee:We do – Well, you have Ed Reed, Tremaine Mack, all the dudes we had. Between those two guys, they probably had 20 of those 39 in that span. 39 block punts in 59 games. Talk about a guy that actually knows special teams and appreciates special teams. I didn't know that this particular night happened against West Virginia. you know punter did nothing wrong here they literally just don't uh block them because the mindset here is you need to get this ball off that is the only thing we need to do is get this ball off or we're taking some time and we're throwing this thing out of the back and the clock doesn't stop until the ball hits something you know so the the clock can run off just like a foul ball that offenses do where the quarterback rolls right throws it high out of bounds it's not supposed to clock is not supposed to stop until it hits something so usually you can burn 12 seconds 11 seconds, 10 seconds.

2:17:13Pat McAfee:Chuck used to work. Go ahead. 15 is. No, that one's six. Six. The foul ball situation. Okay, six seconds. Seven seconds is stretching it, but six is for sure you can get it done. So Chuck instituted this one that I'd never heard of before. The ball was being snapped at like the 45-yard line, our own 45-yard line, maybe 40-yard line. So I'm standing at what, the 25 there, 26, depending upon what their front is. If they have an eight-man front, I'm 15 yards off the ball. If they have a six-man front, I'm 13 and a half, 14 yards off the ball. Let's go ahead and steal a yard, yard and a half here off the punt.

2:17:48Pat McAfee:Seems like they're not bringing it. A little bit of veteran play. So I'm standing at the 25-yard line. Chuck draws this up. He says, this is what I want you to do, slow safety. Taking a snap, you turn around, you start running backwards towards your end zone. Keep your eye on where people are. Once they get anywhere near you, we're talking 10 yards, 5, 10 yards near you, you throw that thing as far as you can through those uprights. I was like, hell yeah. So with the way the training camp was set up, our field was like a little bit elevated. And then there was another field down on the other side.

2:18:19Pat McAfee:Trainers like kind of worked people out down there. I mean, this had all the setup for this ball to be nuked. 100 yards. Yeah. And I, boy, I took that snap. I turn around. I'm watching some guys run towards me. I crow hop this thing. The cleanest a ball has ever come out of my hand. Cleanest ever. It's sailing into the next field. I think it won like 30 yards, 40 yards into the next field from where I threw it at. And all I was thinking in my mind is like, man, I hope we fucking do this one in a game. Never had to do it. Obviously, these situations never pop up until they pop up. And then whenever they pop up, you can either win a game, Sam Cook, Baltimore Ravens, slow safety against the Niners, or you can lose a game, NC State here, against Vandy with a freshman starting quarterback gets his first win in an absolutely awe-inspiring, how the hell did you want to chuck that moment in there?

2:19:07Coach, did you see Clark Lee, what he said they ran on defense? Field goal block. They ran a field goal block on that play. That's literally what they ran.

2:19:15Pat McAfee:Run that again. AJ was talking about a blitz that kept a quarterback had to be – The guy would get off up top. The guy, he went and he punctured that D-line up top. Oh, it's off sides, actually. Yeah, it looks off. Hold on. So there was off sides in this one. Probably was. This guy's way off sides. We haven't even talked about this. Is that a safety up there? Yeah, he's close. He's way off. So what we used to do, remember, versus foul ball, is we just lined right-handed quarterback. We knew they were going to sprint to the right and protect him. We just had a max pressure from the left side of the defense, their right side.

2:19:48So we'd just put every swinging deck over there to the left side and try to pull this thing up. That's what we were trying.

2:19:56Pat McAfee:Yeah, every single person that's out here. Every single human being. Yeah, we need you to be a little bit so it swings a little bit because that's what we need here. It's a game-winning play. But I cannot believe that a D1 football program. Oh, your school. No. Oh, I was back on West Virginia. Butch after the game. God damn, we got to get home. We got to practice that kind of safety. Taking a safety from that. Yeah. Jesus. I like that he practiced that. I like that. What did you say about Randy Shannon? So we're going in. After this. It's our locker room, you know, and we could look up and they're yelling, blah, blah, blah.

2:20:32We're coming in and all of a sudden we see Randy go down in a heap. We turn around. We're all cheering. We turn around. He's on the ground, knocked out. Somebody threw a 55-gallon trash can off the top rafter. I don't believe that. And hit this kid right in the head. Knocked him out. Yeah.

2:20:52Pat McAfee:I don't think it was the wind. I would not. I don't think any Mountaineer fans would be doing anything like that, especially if they were the number 12 team in the country. Right after he's on the ground and they're sitting there chucking like, that's what you deserve. No, no. How'd that feel? I'm going to have to see some footage of them saying that. And we don't know if that was potentially wind. You know, it is a windy area over there in Morgantown. But all those moments certainly made us say, what the chuck? All right, let's move along. Let's make our picks. We'll start with one half of the hammer.

2:21:24Pat McAfee:Cowboys AP Tone. Numbers weird. You can take any bet because I know that your gambling record is right up there with your family and what you care about. You can take any bet for this evening, but we would appreciate you picking a side. Yeah, I will pick a side. It's for the program. It's for the television. It's what we do here. Plus the internet here. Yeah, either way. It's a digital show happening right now. YouTube's on a lot of TVs these days, so I'm going to say TV. I think it's going to be a low-scoring game, and when it's a low-scoring game, I tend to lean towards the dog, so I'll take the Falcons to the points this one.

2:21:54Pat McAfee:Falcons plus four in the half, says AP Tone. Let's go to the toxic table. At Ty Schmidt, Packers owner. They can still win and not cover. How do you see it going?

2:22:05Mark Schlabach:I think the Packers are going to win by at least ten. Hell yeah.

2:22:08Pat McAfee:We don't need to get into it. Jordan Love is going to have a big day? I believe so, yes. Is there any nerves about what tomorrow could potentially be with how the outcome comes tonight?

2:22:18Mark Schlabach:No, because it's week three, and I got a big fucking game on Saturday. So if the Packers lose tonight, who gives a shit? I expect them to win, so that's partially why I'm doing this because all I'm thinking about is Saturday right now.

2:22:30Pat McAfee:Iowa-Michigan.

2:22:31Mark Schlabach:Yeah, exactly.

2:22:32Pat McAfee:Huge one.

2:22:33Mark Schlabach:Massive.

2:22:33Pat McAfee:Potential game day implications there. Potentially, yeah.

2:22:36Mark Schlabach:And like I said, we've talked the first two weeks that the Falcons are hammered dog shit. They're the worst team in the NFL. So I don't know if Michael Penix coming back makes me think that all of a sudden they're going to be world beaters. The Packers should win this game. I know their offensive line stinks, but even without the running game, they have shown that they're kind of boom or bust offensively. When they do score, they get explosives from Christian Watson and Matthew Golden, and Tucker Craft hasn't really gotten going yet. I expect him to get going tonight. So, yes, I think home opener, Packers have won 12 home openers in a row.

2:23:12Mark Schlabach:I expect if they're not ready to go tonight, when are they going to be ready to go? So I expect them to win by at least 10.

2:23:17Pat McAfee:Chuck Pagano, Ty Schmidt on the Packers. minus four and a half. Tone Diggs on the Falcons plus four and a half due to the low scoring aspect of the evening in which he sees it. Let's go to the other half of the toxic table. Boston Connor, how do you see it going?

2:23:32Mark Schlabach:I've waffled so many times in this game. I was going to say, I think the Falcons cover, but the Packers win. But I don't think I could look myself in the mirror and fall asleep tonight if I say Falcons plus four and then the Packers go and win by 15, 20 points. so I will take the Packers minus 4-1.

2:23:50Pat McAfee:Oh, that is a late switch. Yeah, yeah. I think that is a very, very, very –

2:23:54Mark Schlabach:Right at the break, I was just saying, like, it's the Falcons. I'm taking the Falcons 4-1. All morning. All the stats, 5-0 Stefanski. But, I mean, the same thing with Penix where it's like, hey, they're going to give him, you know, a couple quick throws, get him going in the game, get Bijan going. Like, LaFleur and the Packers know they have a shitty O-line. So you assume they're also going to do the same thing on offense. Can the Falcons keep up with the scoring that the Packers – Like, if the Packers score 20 points, can the Falcons score three separate? I just don't see it. I feel like the Packers are going to win by five at least.

2:24:24Pat McAfee:Okay, five at least. Chuck, you're feeling the same way. Ty's feeling the same way. Tone's going a little bit against, but this is a Tone game. Oh, yeah. This is a Tone digs type of game where everybody's projecting low scoring. And I'll say, Tone, you've been seeing it a little bit, right? Have you not? My record on the season, hold on, I was just looking at this, is 32-24. So that's not bad. Yeah, I mean, we haven't seen it for a fucking super boost. Well, that comes from a different place, but that's for... No, we need that to come from your pick good bets place. Yeah, that is what we need out of you, Tone, is we need you to pick good bets place.

2:25:02Pat McAfee:Can we find your pick good bets place and do these boosts from that particular place? Well, I don't want to peel back the curtain on how this works, but, you know. Has anybody told you that you were not allowed to pick a winning bet for us to boost? I haven't heard anything about it, so... Oh, this guy's the fucking worst. This guy is the absolute worst. Unbelievable. Tony, please know that picking good winning bets for us to boost is certainly available anytime you'd like to do it. Good to know. What was that? Unbelievable. I mean, they know. You know. No, I actually don't know. And Bruce was asking the same question.

2:25:36Pat McAfee:He knows. No, Bruce was asking the same question. Oh, I'm sure he's throwing me under the bus for sure. What are they talking about, AJ? He said, that's not real. That's not real. Trying to figure it out. No, we get provided options. At any moment, we are allowed to pick any bet. We have sent options, and we've been thrown, turned down many, many times. There has been a couple that they have said, yeah, right, we can't do that, too. But I think they are open to that. I think they are open to the joust. And we've turned down a lot that they have sent. They don't want to give away money, obviously.

2:26:03Pat McAfee:No, they're just trying to win, I think, and we are trying to take everything they got. But we don't have to take their options. I didn't know that. They certainly do not have to take our – that is a constant flow of communication there, which is why Bruce and I both said as soon as you said that, go, what? Who says that Tone couldn't pick a bet? Oh, Bruce said that, did he? Yeah, if anybody has boost ideas, please bring them forward and, you know, don't be scared to do so. It's not like everyone's going to blame Tone if we lose. I will be very honest. I am very scared to do that. Yes, we know.

2:26:32Pat McAfee:That's because you're kind of pawning it off on others right now, but we appreciate that you are having a winning season, so let's make sure we take advantage of that. Con man's on the Packers. he was on the Falcons up until 10 minutes ago. AJ, I know you were also on the Falcons this morning when you woke up. How do you see it going now? I don't know if I would say that. I woke up on the Falcons. I feel like I woke up and felt pretty good about the Packers. I thought the line was 5.5 as well, and I still felt good with the Packers at minus 5.5 at home. I think Tucker Kraft is going to get some good targets tonight.

2:27:04Christian Watson will continue to play well like he has early this season. Give me the Packers, like Ty said, probably to win by 10.

2:27:10Pat McAfee:Okay, so AJ's got the Packers minus 10. Let's make sure that. No, I got the Packers minus 4.5. I was just prognosticating what could happen. Oh, okay. I didn't know if we just wanted alternate spread because of how confident you were in the lads here early on a Thursday night. I usually always take the over. I'm not taking the over under on this one. Okay, I like that you're seeing it the same way a lot of us are, which is maybe the offense's deficiency this evening, especially with a defensive showcase at least maybe from Green Bay, even though they have 29th in points given up already because week one was pretty terrible and also short field and everything like that.

2:27:47Pat McAfee:Bajon Robinson, I think we all think is best player on field. Yes. Right? I think we all think that. And whenever we're picking Ole Miss LSU, Trinidad Chambliss is best player on field. So we're going to pick Trinidad Chambliss, especially in that environment is kind of how I looked at it. That's quarterback. When it's a running back, you've got to get the ball to him, Got to figure out how to kind of weaponize him. Not have. Gannon knows that B. John Robinson's best player on the field as well. I think he has a pretty good brain in that entire thing. I still think B. John's able to eat, but I don't think offense goes crazy for the Atlanta Falcons, which I think it would have to do because I do have faith that the Packers offense is going to turn on a little bit.

2:28:28Pat McAfee:42.5 is a low number. It is. And I don't want to say over just because it's such a low number, but I have a much different feel on what the Packers are going to do tonight. I think Jordan Love has a big game.

2:28:39Mark Schlabach:So do I.

2:28:39Pat McAfee:I think Jordan has a huge game tonight. They know they can't block for shit. They know they don't have anybody. So you would assume that the brains over there, successful organization that the Packers has been, they can figure that out. Stefanski 5-0 on Thursday nights. He's been able to figure out the short week pretty well, regardless of who he has playing football for him. That does scare me.

2:29:04Pat McAfee:I'll take the Packers minus four and a half. I was going to go Falcons right there almost. Believe me, I heard your voice.

2:29:09Mark Schlabach:I was going to go. I've talked myself into the Falcons multiple times today, especially because it's not like Panix hasn't played. I get it's his first primetime NFL game, but it's not like he hasn't played in massive games before a guy went to the college football playoff, but played in a national championship. But it's different in the NFL. Like, it really is. Low-scoring game, they haven't been in the red area, right? So we expect if they do move it a little bit, A lot of field goals. Oh. Yeah, folks three for six.

2:29:38Pat McAfee:How's that happening? I don't know. And he's indoors. Jeez, maybe he was trying to get out of there. He's one for three from 50-plus, so if they've got to trot his big ass out there. Okay, well, that's why. He's missed two field goals from 50-plus. He's 55 years old. Yeah, but these guys are making long kicks on these days. Yeah, everybody. Have you been watching any ball? None of the old guys. Charles. Get off the pipe. Get off the pipe.

2:30:01Mark Schlabach:Jesus Christ.

2:30:02Pat McAfee:You get off the pipe. Speaking of pipe, why don't you showcase yours, Chuck? Why don't you make a throw for these beautiful people out here? Last week, I don't think you made it. No. A Q's not made it. No. I yesterday missed eight footballs. But today, I feel like Chuck Pagano is going to bury a football into... Oh, wow. We'll change it up. Okay. Okay, here. He's waffling now. I don't know if we love the waffling of the target here. Fools. You should remember this morning what happened. Get on that mic, Chuck. Yeah, Chuck threw a microphone as good. This morning. It's hot this morning, AJ. This morning, Chuck made it full court.

2:30:44Oh, I saw a video of you dancing in two after he drained it.

2:30:47Pat McAfee:Yeah, swish. He wanted to give me the ball, give it a go. I go, no, Chuck, I can't do it. Then he swishes it, then we all start dancing. It was actually, here it is right here, actually, full footage from the security camera. I'm about to get up and leave, top right corner. Chuck goes, you want it? I go, no, Chuck, you're going to make it. And splash. And then obviously we start going, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Show me where your mama is. Uh-huh. What? Who are you trying to look for? All right, sweet. Bruce was trying to get to you talking. There was an exit, too. Chuck does a clean exit dance move on the way out because Chuck is smooth.

2:31:25Pat McAfee:People forget about that. Will Chuck be able to bury? Jeez Louise, Bruce. Bruce, just fucking, you missed it. Just, we moved along. You missed it.

2:31:34Mark Schlabach:Booth.com, the browser up there. We just keep it moving.

2:31:37Pat McAfee:We keep it moving. Don't worry about it. We don't go backwards, Bruce. We don't go backwards. As soon as Mitt was like, that was on me, actually. It was like, well, your little tag team partner there, Bruce, said, actually, let's expose. No, that was my bad. No, Bruce, hey, not a bad day today. Not a bad day. What's up, Bruce? Bruce, Bruce. A lot better than any of us would do. And also, I think you put in a lot of work to do this. You did great, Bruce. You did great. Thank you. It is hard. Yeah. Hey. Yeah. This shit's hard. Nobody said that. Yeah. It's freaking hard. Freaking hard-ass league.

2:32:12It's a freaking hard-ass league. That panel's freaking hard. So what? Now what? Let's go. Bingo.

2:32:18Pat McAfee:Exactly. Next man up. Life happens. Exactly. Actually. Chuck and respond. That's right. That is well chucking said. How about you chuck that football into that chucking hoop right over there, and 20 people will win$500. Here you go, Chuck. For the people, Chuck, maybe an indicator on the bet. Oh, man. Best first attempt. Good line, Chuck. Good line. That's the best first attempt that you have had in some time. And because of that, we certainly will give one more.

2:32:47Mark Schlabach:We know this song, Dan. I was going to say, this one, though, dial in. The last two times you've done this, you haven't hit the fucking backboard, The chucking backboard on your second attempt has been god-awful both times.

2:33:00Pat McAfee:Yeah, you have overthought it potentially, which we don't like. Paralysis by overanalysis has certainly maybe captivated the ball attempt for the second throw. AJ actually has a little bit of a speech for you to hear, Chuck. Yeah, Chuck, I think you do best when you kind of simulate taking a snap and take a little three-step drop, you know, get to the top of it, boom, let that thing fly. Okay, I like that. Maybe we do add a little bit of a drop. And we would like a cadence, I think, too, right, AJ? Absolutely. The loud cadence. Because it will reverberate through the Thunderdome. That's right.

2:33:29Pat McAfee:Wait, hey. No, no. He's up here. He's up here. But that does sound like the right cadence. That was good. Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay. Go ahead. Wait, hey. 52 is the buyer. 52 is the buyer.

2:33:41AJ Hawk:Wait, hey. Is that?

2:33:43Pat McAfee:Oh, here we go. Chuck's feeling it. For 20 people to win$500. Good ball manipulation. Oh. We know there's no chance. No. He sucks. He sucks. He's all jacked up. Yeah, we knew there was no chance. No chance. That was good. He had those linebackers all sucked up, too, from the play action. He just overthrew the guy.

2:34:01Mark Schlabach:Yep. That was a touchdown. It's all right. Maybe next week. Maybe next week. I'm going to keep working at it. You know I ain't quitting. I ain't no quitting. This Moe. Nope. No way. That's faux show.

2:34:11Pat McAfee:That's faux show. No chucking away. No chucking away. How do you think you and Connor's relationship is going this season versus maybe seasons past? I think that's beautiful. I think so, too. Never playing catch before. Playing kits and chemistry is off the charts. Connected. Yeah. Good squad. Oh. You guys have no idea how much I love being here. All right. Shut up. We appreciate your safe travels. We all appreciate the hell out of you for letting us do this for a living. It is absolutely crazy that we get to do this. It's cool. It's fun. It's magical. We're lucky. We're grateful. And it's all because of you letting us do it.

2:34:56Pat McAfee:Be a friend. Tell a friend something nice. It might change their life. Chuck, anything for the squad? What's that? Oppressive day. Don't second-guess yourself. You're asked to step up, you step up. Like in this moment right now to give a speech? Yes. And you know. Tell him, Chuck. No, that's why you know I'm on the street. We're thankful for that Lucky to have you Thankful to have you Alright we're back tomorrow After week one Week three of the NFL season Kicks off tonight College football happening Tonight too Yep Coastal and Liberty Yep Have eyes on

2:35:38Mark Schlabach:No thanks Jeez Are you fucking kidding me Not a chance Jeopardy

2:35:42Pat McAfee:I'll be watching Obviously I like to know About all You have to

2:35:46Mark Schlabach:You have to I sure as shit don't

2:35:48Pat McAfee:No, you don't. No, you don't. But we'll do it for you. You stay locked in on your package. I will. All right. Team on me. Team on three. Good job, Bruce and Mitt. Good job, boys. One, two, three. Team. Goodbye. Before this,

2:36:07there's this. As you celebrate the game, take a deeper look at its roots. The people grow in the grass, bathe in the lots, weld in the goalposts, inspecting every football. The hardworking people that make every Sunday possible. Carhartt is proud to outfit the crews behind the game. Visit carhartt.com slash join the trades to learn more.

2:36:33Mark Schlabach:Having uncontrolled eosinophilic esophagitis or EOE can mean you're stuck in many ways, like cutting your food into tiny pieces. Or stuck chewing food for a long time. Dupixent Dupilumab, a prescription medicine for patients one year and older weighing at least 33 pounds, can help with that. It's a breakthrough treatment that can reduce inflammation in the esophagus and improve swallowing. You can get with this or you can get with that. How about this? Dupixent is not a steroid. It proactively treats EOE so you can get ahead of it.

2:37:06Pat McAfee:Severe allergic reactions, including skin reactions, can occur. Get help right away if you have trouble breathing or wheezing or swelling of your face, mouth, tongue, or throat. Tell your doctor of newer worsening joint aches and pain or a parasitic infection or asthma. Don't change or stop other treatments without talking to your doctor.

2:37:21Mark Schlabach:Feeling stuck with EOE? Start treating with Dupixent. Talk to your gastroenterologist or allergist today about Dupixent. Learn more at Dupixent.com or call 1-844-DUPIXENT.