Peter Schrager Talking NFL, Giants Running Back Cam Skattebo, NFL Season Long Picks + Super Bowl Winners

Pardon My Take

The Pardon My Take podcast kicks off the 2026 NFL season with a lively discussion on division winners, wild card picks, and Super Bowl predictions. The hosts dive into MVP,

Key takeaways

• The Patriots' travel schedule has dramatically increased from last year, potentially impacting their performance.

Main topics

• 2026 NFL season kickoff
• Super Bowl and division winner predictions

Notable quotes

"Football is back. You're goddamn right it's back."

Conclusion

The episode blends serious NFL analysis with comedic banter, deliverin

Transcript preview

Speaker 8 (0:00) Hey, Pardon My Take listeners, you can find every episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Speaker 2 (0:09) Stella Blue Coffee is more than just great coffee. It's coffee with a purpose. Introducing We Brew to Rescue, a nationwide campaign using proceeds from our new ready-to-drink cans to help fund 1,000 pet adoptions this year. Every can you crack open helps a real pet find a real home. Simple as that. Made with 100 % Colombian coffee, each 11-ounce can delivers smooth, drinkable energy with a boost of protein. Available in Espresso Cafe Mocha and Espresso Sweet Cream. Built for mornings, long days, and everything in between. Drink Cell Blue, fuel your day, Speaker 8 (0:47) and Speaker 2 (0:47) help save a pet's life. You can follow our progress in real time throughout the campaign by watching the adoption tracker on our site. Grab yours now at StellaBlueCoffee.com, Amazon, and select retailers nationwide. Speaker 8 (1:03) On today's part of my take, presented by DraftKings, we've got a twofer to kick off the NFL season. Speaker 2 (1:10) We've got our good friend Peter Schrager on. He gives us his Super Bowl pick, which he's been right about, I think, like four out of the last five years. He's nailed. We also have Giants running back Cam Scadabo on the show. We're going to do our Super Bowl picks, including MVP and LVP and division winners. It is. Football time. Football is all the way back. The season, the NFL 2026 season kicks off tonight as you're listening to this. Let's go. Hank, are you Speaker 6 (1:42) ready? I'm so ready. So excited. I Speaker 2 (1:44) love it. I love it. Okay. We also have hot seat. Cool throne. We have pardon your take. And it's all brought to you by our friends at twisted tea. Football season is back. It's the moment we've all been waiting for. Football season is back in full swing. which means we'll be posted up with an ice cold tea until further notice. Twisted tea is a refreshing hard ice tea made with real brewed tea and 5 % alcohol. The twisted tea party pack has a little something for everyone with original half and half raspberry and peach. It's got that refreshing taste with a little kick, no carbonation. It goes down smooth, making it the perfect drink to keep the good times going at the tailgate all day and all football season long. Whether you're tailgating at the stadium, crushing teas in your man cave, or grilling out with friends, Twisted Tea is there to turn your day up a notch and make a good time a great time. Twisted Tea is the absolute best, the half and half, the original. It's the perfect accompaniment if you're at a tailgate. Hang out at your house, watch them ball with the boys. Grab a refreshing Twisted Tea today. Keep it twisted with Twisted Tea. Okay, let's go. Speaker 2 (3:12) Welcome to part of my take presented by DraftKings. The crown is yours. Today is Wednesday, September 9th. And Hank? Speaker 6 (3:19) Yeah. Football Speaker 2 (3:21) is back. Speaker 6 (3:22) You're goddamn right it's back. Speaker 2 (3:23) You're goddamn right it's back. Speaker 8 (3:24) Yeah. Yeah. We've said it. We've said it a million times. This is the first time you're saying it. Speaker 1 (3:29) Oh, yeah. It's so back. How nervous are you? I'm excited. I'm excited. Banner night Speaker 6 (3:34) for Speaker 8 (3:34) the Seahawks. Speaker 6 (3:35) Banner night for the Seahawks, but it's the start of the championship DVD for the Patriots. We locked up Christian Gonzalez. It's exciting time. You know how it is, Dan, having kids. The summer's nice, but it can be a lot. It's nice to have fall back. Kids are gone. Work's a great distraction. Oh, Speaker 1 (3:53) you're Speaker 6 (3:53) done Speaker 1 (3:53) golfing? Speaker 6 (3:56) During the week, yeah. Yeah. Speaker 1 (3:57) Wait, what is a weekday? We need to go back and have that conversation again. Speaker 6 (4:01) Monday, yeah. Monday through Friday. Speaker 1 (4:03) So how are you feeling about this game? Speaker 6 (4:07) I'm nervous for this game. I definitely could see a world where the Patriots lose, but I think it just depends what we put out on the field. Speaker 7 (4:15) Yeah, I mean, the way that Drake made it. Speaker 6 (4:16) We played so bad in the Super Bowl. As long as we played better than we did in the Super Bowl, I can. still walk away from this game looking at it as a victory. What if you play worse? That would be troublesome. Speaker 2 (4:27) Right now, the Seahawks are minus three over-unders 44 and a half. Speaker 7 (4:30) Drake May's fourth quarter against the Seahawks was the best fourth quarter of all time. Maybe even the best quarter of any time by any quarterback in Super Bowl history. Did you miss this? He's on the right track. Yeah. We have momentum. He's Speaker 2 (4:44) running Speaker 7 (4:44) out of time. We got a Drake May lover in-house, but I might be Drake May's stalker. That's Speaker 6 (4:49) good. Speaker 7 (4:50) I'm more obsessed. Speaker 6 (4:50) More the merrier. Speaker 7 (4:51) Yeah. Hop on board. Drake May tracker. I do. I am tracking Drake May this year, by the way. I don't know if you're familiar with this stat, Hank, but. They haven't played a game. They haven't played a game. No, it's an interesting, like, we got to have. Oh, football's back. We got to have numbers that matter. Numbers to keep our eyes on going into the season. I think it's an interesting thing that Patriots now have the biggest swing from one of the least amount of travel last year. to one of the highest number of miles traveled over the course of the season. So they went from, they were a bottom six team. I believe they were number 26 in the NFL last year. They only traveled 12,547 miles. Now this year they're traveling 27,590 miles. So they jumped to a top five travel schedule from a bottom five. Speaker 6 (5:33) Yeah, we have a much harder schedule this year. Speaker 7 (5:34) Was your schedule bad last year? Speaker 6 (5:36) I mean, just based off the teams that we played, they didn't have the best records. But this year. It's a harder schedule. When you go to the Super Bowl, that's what happens. Speaker 2 (5:44) Yep. Super Bowl losers are 6-20 against the spread week one. Speaker 6 (5:51) Yeah, I don't have the highest hopes that the Patriots are going to win this game. Speaker 2 (5:58) If it gets to three and a half, though, it feels like. Because doesn't it feel like the Seahawks are so obvious in the fact we just, you know, the last NFL game we watched, they dismantled the Patriots. Like, everyone's going to say, oh, we got to bet the Seahawks. They're going to do it again. It's like, it's a different season. Speaker 7 (6:12) It's a different season, different players. Their hands might be tired from lugging around those giant ass rings that they got. I don't know. I don't know what to expect because last year the Patriots, they took such a giant step from Speaker 1 (6:24) the year before. Speaker 7 (6:26) It's Speaker 1 (6:26) like how much better can they get? Can they improve? Are they going to regress? We don't know. Is this a Will Campbell revenge game? Speaker 6 (6:33) No. Oh, I think it is. I think Will Campbell's – he just makes some decent plays. I don't know how – I'm not super high on Will Campbell. That doesn't sound constant at all in your boy. What's Speaker 8 (6:48) the reports from camp? Speaker 6 (6:49) Are his arms longer? His arms are not longer. Reports were fine, but I don't – it's still – it's year two. We got to – we just got to see some balls go through the hoop. I don't think he's on a revenge tour yet. Speaker 7 (7:02) What does that mean when it comes to an offensive lineman? What's a ball through the hoop? A Speaker 6 (7:06) block. One block. Yeah. Speaker 1 (7:07) Okay. A block. Speaker 6 (7:09) Some good blocks. Is Speaker 1 (7:10) Travion Henderson going to play? Speaker 6 (7:11) No. Highly doubtful. Speaker 1 (7:13) Disaster for a fantasy team. But Speaker 6 (7:15) we don't have the ability to lose. Speaker 1 (7:18) We're Speaker 6 (7:18) playing on Wednesday, and then we get a full week and a half off. So I think that's good for the coming weeks. I would say no. My report is no. Speaker 2 (7:27) I do not like that the NFL season is kicking off on a Wednesday. It's weird. Speaker 6 (7:31) I also forgot. I also thought the Australia game was Wednesday until last week. I think I said it on the show, but that has thrown me off. Speaker 2 (7:37) I also memory hold the fact that I just completely forgot that. the NFL added a Wednesday night game for Thanksgiving week. That sucks. Oh, yeah. I don't like that. Blackout Wednesday game. Yeah. They're going Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. It's like, when are we going to hang Speaker 1 (7:53) out with our families? Yeah, or maybe watch some Feast Week. Oh, you're thinking college basketball. Yeah. Yeah. That's your favorite week of the year. It is. Well, now it's even Speaker 7 (8:02) better. One Speaker 1 (8:02) of my five favorite weeks of the year. Now it's even better with more football. Speaker 7 (8:05) Yeah. Have you heard the derogatory slur being tossed around about NFL fans? No. Shieldies. Oh, I'm a shieldie. Well, no, I don't think you'd agree. A lot of college, it's mainly used by college football fans. Oh, we're getting that debate going. To talk shit about NFL fans that only, you know, they parachute in and they see players that the real diehard college fans have been watching. Oh, I'm not a shield. So Speaker 8 (8:29) you're Speaker 1 (8:29) talking Speaker 8 (8:30) about, that's Jersey Jerry. Speaker 1 (8:32) Jersey Jerry is Speaker 6 (8:33) the ultimate shield. Yeah, I'm a shieldie. College football's a joke. Speaker 6 (8:39) College football is awesome. It's semi-pro. It's not the college football that we grew up loving. I do agree Speaker 7 (8:45) that one of my favorite things is Speaker 6 (8:46) when a player gets Speaker 5 (8:46) to the NFL. You Speaker 6 (8:46) have said that you Speaker 7 (8:47) didn't love college Speaker 4 (8:48) football growing up. And they're not good in college football. And then they're all Speaker 7 (8:51) of a sudden really good in the NFL. Like Bo Nix was a classic example. Every college football guy was like, you don't want to root for Bo Nix in the NFL. It's like, he looks pretty good in an NFL uniform. Speaker 2 (9:02) Bo Nix was good in Oregon. It was Auburn Bo Nix that if Auburn Bo Nix got drafted, I would have. been like, no, don't do that. But, well, yes, wait, Hank, you didn't like college football ever in your life. It's true. So to say that you are sad that it's not the same game that you Speaker 1 (9:20) loved that you never loved. It was the Speaker 6 (9:21) rhetorical we. Speaker 1 (9:23) Okay. As a nation. Speaker 6 (9:25) Yeah. Speaker 1 (9:26) You think it's bad for Speaker 7 (9:27) us? Speaker 6 (9:28) No, I think it's fine. I think the NFL is far superior. Speaker 7 (9:32) Yeah. I think you can love both. I think there's plenty of room. If it's got a football, I'm going to watch it. Speaker 2 (9:38) It's crazy switching back and forth. We just did college football week one, and every game was minus 42, minus 51. And then you see this, and you're like, if it's three and a hook, that might be too much. They pay these guys to play football, too. Yeah. God damn. That could be too many points. Three and a hook. All right, so we're going to be streaming this. What do you want to do for food? Hamburgers? Speaker 6 (10:07) No. Clam chowder? Yeah, let's do some clam chowder. Speaker 2 (10:12) Let's get Speaker 6 (10:12) the boys belly full of Speaker 1 (10:14) clam chowder. Let's get some Speaker 6 (10:16) fish on ice. You get Speaker 1 (10:17) to decide the menu. Toss some fish around. Pike Place Market? Yeah, Speaker 6 (10:21) let's do some fish on ice for the commercial breaks. I do think there's a weird... I feel like every commercial break in Seattle, they just go to that market. It's just, you know, big fish on ice. I Speaker 2 (10:29) do think that, weirdly, the Seahawks are being, like, disrespected a little bit in the fact that all the talk is about the Rams, and the Seahawks did just win a Super Bowl in a very convincing fashion. We're going to do all of our picks in a second, but I think the Seahawks are going to be really fucking good again. Yeah. Like, what would say... I guess the Seahawks haters out there could be like, ah, Sam Darnold did it, but can he do it again? I Speaker 7 (10:54) think the Seahawks haters would say they got lucky. I don't, yeah. To get home field advantage throughout the playoffs. That's probably what they'd say. Yeah. And it's not untrue, but you have to get lucky. Like, it's a big part of football. It's just, the harder you work, the luckier you tend to get. Speaker 2 (11:11) Yeah. Banner night. Banner night. Speaker 7 (11:14) It's Speaker 2 (11:14) going to Speaker 7 (11:14) be Speaker 2 (11:14) loud. Speaker 6 (11:15) Loud. Real loud. Mm-hmm. Are you ready for Speaker 2 (11:17) that? Speaker 6 (11:17) Have you Speaker 2 (11:18) been simulating that? Speaker 6 (11:19) Yeah, I mean, it'll be loud in the cave, too. I'm excited. You ready for all the 12s? A lot of 12s, a lot of noise meters. Speaker 6 (11:27) Hopefully not a lot of highlights of the Super Bowl. I don't know how the rights works. Maybe a limited amount. Speaker 2 (11:34) Maybe some bad bony. That'd be awesome. Thursday night, we'll record after Thursday night football so you'll hear it on Friday's show. Does anyone have a pick for that game? I think we'll just have to go with the 49ers because they've been there forever. Speaker 8 (11:49) Yeah. Like, I don't know what else to say. It's Speaker 2 (11:52) a Speaker 8 (11:52) travel Speaker 2 (11:52) bet for me. Speaker 1 (11:52) It's just you have to. It's an auto travel. It's a travel bet. They've been there so long. Yeah, they are speaking Speaker 7 (11:57) Australian. They've got the accents. And then the Rams just coming in. There's no way that this works in terms of the body clock. Speaker 2 (12:05) No. If Speaker 7 (12:06) it does, it's going to revolutionize bachelor parties. Speaker 5 (12:09) Yeah. Aaron Donald also not playing in that game. Oh, Speaker 1 (12:12) officially? Officially. Okay. I didn't think that he would. I mean, that'd be crazy. You've been out of Speaker 7 (12:17) football for over two years, and then you just get on a plane, fly to Australia. Did Speaker 6 (12:21) he even fly with the team? I don't think so. Oh, man. I'd be pissed. By Speaker 8 (12:25) the way, I was thinking about it. I think that if Goodell really wants to do. That was probably Speaker 6 (12:30) part of why he came back. Yeah. I'll come back late. No, not go to Australia. I'll come back if I don't have to go to Australia. Speaker 2 (12:39) I think Roger Goodell, if he really wants to do this global expansion of football, he should have to go to every game and fly coach. Like, that's only fair. Yeah. You're making these guys go through hell traveling. But Speaker 1 (12:53) they're not Speaker 2 (12:53) flying coach. No, Speaker 1 (12:54) I know. But the fans are to get there. Yeah. I mean, most fans, I think, do fly coach. No, you had it like that. No, I'm Speaker 5 (13:02) saying Speaker 1 (13:03) I thought there were more local fans Speaker 5 (13:04) that are going to be. No, Speaker 2 (13:06) fans travel from America to these international games. They probably fly business class or coach. They go over. They collect the pins. Yeah. What's Speaker 1 (13:13) the Speaker 2 (13:13) difference? Actually, I did fly. Speaker 5 (13:14) That was so stupid of me. Yeah, no doubt. I went to an Eagles. Max is back. And I did fly coach. Speaker 7 (13:21) You fly coach. Yeah. Wasn't there a report that the Giants coaches weren't even flying coach at one point? They were flying coach. I think the assistant coaches were flying coach last year. Speaker 1 (13:32) What's the difference between coach and business class? Business, you got a suitcase. Is there a difference? No, business class Speaker 5 (13:39) is closer to first class. But Speaker 1 (13:41) that's still coach. Speaker 5 (13:42) No. No, Speaker 1 (13:43) business is first. Speaker 5 (13:44) They Speaker 1 (13:45) don't Speaker 5 (13:45) even call a coach anymore. It's like economy, economy plus business first class. But a lot of times business class is first class depending on the plane. I think it might be all leg room until you get to first class. Speaker 8 (13:57) Yeah. First in business. No, business Speaker 5 (13:59) class you get. So business class is first? Business class you get good ass seats. Business class. Depending on the plane. Speaker 1 (14:04) Coach is now economy. Got it. Yeah, Speaker 5 (14:07) there's no, I don't think, I don't think coach is a thing anymore. Speaker 1 (14:09) Why'd they call it coach? Probably a stage coach. Like probably a train car would be my guess. I want guys to fly coach's son. Speaker 2 (14:15) It's called coach on an airplane. Speaker 5 (14:19) I also think each airline calls it different. Speaker 2 (14:23) Comes from the old practice of borrowing words and seating names from earlier forms of passenger transport, specifically trains and stagecoaches. There it is. Coach. Yeah, like, you know, that's where he should fly. Roger Goodell should have to do that with a layover. Speaker 1 (14:39) I would agree, yeah. He should have to ruin his entire week. Right. He should have to attend business meetings like on Zoom over there, back on New York time. Because he's not going to all these international games. You put these games on. You have to go, Goodell. Yeah. You have to show up. You think these guys have passport day? Speaker 2 (14:56) Definitely. Speaker 1 (14:56) You remember passport day? Speaker 2 (14:57) Yeah. Big Speaker 1 (14:58) topic of conversation on part of my Speaker 7 (14:59) take in 2016. You Speaker 2 (15:01) got huge. Passport day. Yeah, they definitely have passport day. Aaron Donald probably showed Speaker 7 (15:05) up for passport day, and now he's pissed that he doesn't get to go to Australia. Yeah. Speaker 2 (15:08) I did like Speaker 7 (15:10) one thing that Devante Adams said. Yeah. They asked Devante what he was doing to get ready for going down to Australia for the games. And he said that he's just been researching what's typical for Americans to know the stuff that's going to kill you. The spiders and how dangerous all the water is there. So he said the most venomous octopus in the world is found there. Great whites on the south, saltwater crocs on the north, koalas and stuff a little bit inland. So Devante Adams is just preparing for it. Was it the blue ring octopus? I believe. Okay. So they're getting ready. They're not going to spend long enough there, I think, to get attacked by anything. But they certainly are ready about their trip. Speaker 2 (15:45) Yeah, they're very ready. All right. Should we do our picks for the season? So we're going to do our preview. Everyone's going to make a graphic of it. And then we have Peter Schrager and Cam Scadaboo coming up. Before we do our picks, DraftKings. The wait is over. Football is here, and so is DraftKings. The DraftKings Sports app is now live in all 50 states. That means from Texas to California to Florida, every fan is in on the excitement. And this September, DraftKings is giving customers the opportunity to get boosted every football game day. That's right, every game day, all month long. DraftKings customers can get a football profit boost, one app, every sport, all 50 states. New DraftKings customers sign up with code TAKE, spend just $5, and get $200 in total rewards within 21 days. Includes all markets. That's code TAKE. In partnership with DraftKings, the crown is yours. Speaker 5 (16:34) Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER. 1-800-MY-RESET. Connecticut, call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org. On Speaker 4 (16:42) behalf of Boot Hill Casino in Kansas, bet tax pass-through may apply in Illinois. 21 and over. Void in Canada. Speaker 4 (16:59) We'll be right back. Speaker 4 (17:17) Limited time offer. Speaker 8 (17:18) Okay. Memes, do you want to start? So we're going to do, give us, everyone's going to do their AFC, Speaker 2 (17:24) NFC playoff picture. So say that your division winners in wild card, and then give us your Super Bowl and the winner, and then MVP, LVP. Also, let's throw in that everyone should give a prediction that is a blood prediction for your own team so that we have it on record. What your own team's going to do, what success looks like. Just a mini preview of your team. Memes, are you ready? Speaker 5 (17:50) I am ready. Okay. Speaker 1 (17:51) I Speaker 5 (17:52) am Speaker 1 (17:52) ready. Speaker 5 (17:52) AFC. I don't care if I'm right about this one, but it would be nice. Jets, AFC East winners. Okay. I don't want to pick anybody else. Speaker 2 (18:02) Okay. Speaker 5 (18:03) Jaguars out of the South. I got the Broncos out of the West, and then Bengals went in the North. Speaker 2 (18:10) Okay. Okay. And the wild cards. Bills, Ravens, Texans. Okay. So no Chiefs, no Patriots, no Chargers. No. I don't think the Chiefs are going to be very good this year. I was looking at the AFC in preparation for this. It's tough. The AFC is tough. Like, I did a first run through, and then I was like, wait, I forgot, like, three teams. Speaker 7 (18:32) Yeah, they just said that Mahomes is going to be playing week one. Yeah. So he's good to go. Maybe not full go, but he is going to be the starting quarterback for the Chiefs. Speaker 2 (18:41) Yeah. Speaker 1 (18:42) Okay. And then NFC? Speaker 2 (18:45) Seahawks win in the West. Yep. Saints win in Speaker 1 (18:47) the Speaker 5 (18:47) South. Eagles win in the East. Vikings win in the North. Speaker 2 (18:51) Whoa. Whoa. Speaker 5 (18:53) Switching up. Speaker 2 (18:54) Okay. Speaker 5 (18:55) Wild card, Rams, Lions, Bears. Speaker 2 (18:57) Okay. So who do we leave out? We left out the 49ers, the Cowboys. The Packers. The Packers. Okay. Interesting. Now give us your Super Bowl matchup and champion. Speaker 5 (19:11) Super Bowl matchup, Bengals versus Rams rematch. In L.A.? In L.A. Bengals come out on top. Speaker 2 (19:18) Oh. Okay. Speaker 5 (19:19) That'd be fun. That Speaker 1 (19:20) would be fun. Speaker 5 (19:22) Joe Burrow MVP. Speaker 5 (19:24) I also have Will Anderson MVP, but that's just... Speaker 1 (19:27) Okay. Yeah, why not? Co-MVPs, it's happened before. Speaker 5 (19:31) And then least improved Drake May. Speaker 1 (19:33) Least improved Drake... Well, that... Wait, Speaker 5 (19:36) is Speaker 1 (19:36) it least improved? We're doing both, I think. Speaker 5 (19:39) Least improved or LVP? Least improved and LVP. Speaker 1 (19:43) And least valuable player. Oh, Speaker 5 (19:44) least... Speaker 8 (19:44) Oh, that's what that meant. So we need the least improved is Drake May, and then we need a least valuable player. Speaker 7 (19:52) They're two very different awards. Speaker 8 (19:54) Yeah, Speaker 1 (19:54) because Speaker 8 (19:55) what you're saying is Drake May was so good last year that he's not going to improve. Yeah, because it's Speaker 5 (19:58) either MVP Speaker 1 (19:59) or... Right. Speaker 6 (20:02) Win MVP. So his improvement would be MVP. The only Speaker 1 (20:06) step up could be MVP. And if not, it's Speaker 2 (20:08) a Speaker 1 (20:08) regression. Least valuable player memes. Kirk Cousins. Oh, damn. Interesting pick. Kirk-o. Okay, Max. Speaker 5 (20:22) Okay, I had to switch up my... Okay, ready? Yeah, we're ready. Speaker 5 (20:29) Bills, Ravens, Jags, Chiefs. Okay. Chiefs. Chiefs. Chiefs are going to come back. Everyone's down to Chiefs. Chiefs are going to come back. Then Chargers, Texans, Broncos. Wow. No Patriots. No Speaker 8 (20:45) Patriots, no Bengals. No Speaker 5 (20:47) Bengals. We play this game with the Bengals every year. Someone's going to get hurt. No Bengals. Speaker 1 (20:53) Okay. No Bengals. No Bengals. No Bengals. Speaker 5 (20:57) That's good Speaker 8 (20:57) analysis. I mean, I can't. Wait. Oh, Speaker 2 (21:00) we'll go back to memes. Jets thoughts. Can I Speaker 5 (21:03) change mine to Tua? The last one. Instead of Kirk. Nope. Speaker 2 (21:06) No. Fingers off the piece. Nope. Speaker 5 (21:09) All right. Ready? Yep. Lions, Saints, Rams, Cowboys. Okay. You're taking Speaker 8 (21:19) the Cowboys to win the NFC East. Then Speaker 5 (21:22) Eagles, Seahawks, Bears. Okay. Speaker 5 (21:28) Am Speaker 8 (21:28) I Speaker 5 (21:28) doing Super Bowl or no? Yeah, Super Bowl. Eagles still win the Super Bowl over the Chargers, but just out of the wild card. But the Chargers. Eagles, Chargers, Super Bowl. The Chargers are going to get healthy throughout the year. I don't even know if they're coming back or not. Well, no, not a Speaker 2 (21:42) home game because it's the Rams. Speaker 5 (21:44) That's more of an Eagles home game. Well, not only that, but it's the Rams Speaker 2 (21:47) stadium. They're just a tent. It's an apartment game for them, a sublease game for them. Speaker 5 (21:55) Right. Speaker 5 (21:57) Then I have Jalen Hurts, MVP. Kyler Murray, LVP. Oh. Jordan Love, least improved. Speaker 2 (22:07) Least improved. Okay. Speaker 8 (22:09) I like it. All right. And then Eagles. So Eagles, we miss this with memes. Give us your Jets take. What do you think the Jets are going to do? What's success? Blah, blah, blah. Speaker 5 (22:21) I think the Jets are going to be better than people think. They're plus 20,000 to win the Super Bowl, so there's no expectations from them. I think they actually have a decent to good roster. So I think they're going to be better than people think. Okay. Eagles? I think the Eagles are going to be good. It's really hard to win the NFC East two years in a row. I assume it's going to be even harder to win it three years in a row. This feels like a year that we get back to the wild card, but it also feels like a year that we win the Super Bowl. Speaker 1 (22:51) Maybe both, yeah. Speaker 5 (22:52) Yeah. So that's basically my thought process there. I think it may take – it's a brand-new offense. It may take a little while for everything to click. You may lose a couple games early, but by the end of the year, everything's going to be home. Okay. Speaker 2 (23:05) But Speaker 5 (23:06) I hope we still win this weekend against PFT. Speaker 2 (23:09) Yeah. Not a must-win. Speaker 5 (23:12) Must win for PFT. No, must win for this show. But must win for PFT, maybe. If I didn't know PFT, I wouldn't say it was a must win. But for my anger coming into the podcast on Sunday, it's a must win. Speaker 1 (23:26) You can't start week one on 10. Yeah. Speaker 5 (23:30) And Speaker 1 (23:31) you Speaker 5 (23:31) will if you Speaker 7 (23:31) lose that game. Speaker 5 (23:32) The fact that we're starting. The thing is, Speaker 7 (23:35) Max, the fact that Max is saying it wouldn't be a must win if it wasn't for PFT, that's bulletin board. I'm adding that to the bulletin board list right now. Speaker 5 (23:45) What side of the bullet? I feel like that's like a compliment to you. Front Speaker 1 (23:48) side Speaker 7 (23:48) or back side? No, it's Speaker 5 (23:49) the Speaker 7 (23:49) front side of the bulletin board, I think. And it goes back to, and I'm living in reality. Like the last 15 years, 20, 25 years in the NFC East, if you were asking Eagles fan, like which teams do you hate the most? It's probably the Cowboys. And the Redskins football team commanders are a way afterthought. Speaker 1 (24:06) But Speaker 7 (24:07) I'm still using that. That's bulletin board. We got to get back to that spot. I feel like Speaker 5 (24:11) that's kind of showing respect to the game. It Speaker 7 (24:14) is Speaker 5 (24:14) a little bit of respect to you. Speaker 7 (24:15) I Speaker 5 (24:15) don't Speaker 7 (24:15) know Speaker 5 (24:15) if it's respect. It's respect to you personally. I Speaker 7 (24:16) want to get back to the place where other teams hate us. And it looked like that might have been a possibility. No. Speaker 5 (24:23) Well, I hate you. I hate you too. Respectfully, Speaker 7 (24:26) I hate you. Speaker 5 (24:26) When it comes to the cave, I hate you. And I hate losing to you. So, yes. Speaker 2 (24:31) Same. Okay. Zach, you're up. Speaker 5 (24:34) All right. I've got... Speaker 5 (24:38) Chiefs, Jets, Texans, Bengals. Wait, Speaker 2 (24:41) Chiefs, Jets, Texans, Bengals. Okay. Speaker 5 (24:45) Then I've got Cowboys, Lions, Rams, Bucks. Speaker 2 (24:49) No, no, no. Cowboys. No, no, no. You got to finish the AFC. Speaker 5 (24:55) Oh, well, okay. Yeah, wild cards here. I had it in a different row. Sorry about that. So we're going to do wild card. I'm going to go Steelers, Bills, Ravens. Speaker 2 (25:02) Whoa, whoa, whoa. Give us the AFC one more time. Speaker 5 (25:06) Okay. Jets, Chiefs, Texans, Bengals. Speaker 2 (25:09) Okay. Speaker 5 (25:10) Steelers, Bills, Ravens. Speaker 2 (25:13) So we've got no Chargers, no Broncos, no Patriots. Okay. This Speaker 5 (25:20) is true. Yeah. No Jags. Speaker 2 (25:22) No Jags? Speaker 5 (25:25) All are true. Speaker 2 (25:26) Okay. Okay. It's his Speaker 5 (25:28) preview. NFC, we've got Cowboys, Lions, Rams, Bucks. Wild card, we're going to go. Speaker 2 (25:34) Cowboys, Lions, Rams, Bucks. Okay. Speaker 5 (25:37) Wild card, we're going to go Eagles, Vikings, Saints. Speaker 2 (25:40) Okay. Speaker 5 (25:42) Super Bowl winner, we're going to go with the Bengals. They're going to play against the Lions. Speaker 2 (25:48) That would be a hell of a Super Bowl. It would be. And? Speaker 5 (25:51) I do have Joe Burrow as MVP. Speaker 2 (25:55) Wait, who's winning the Super Bowl? Speaker 5 (25:56) Oh, that's going to be the Bengals. Speaker 2 (25:58) Okay. So we have two Bengals Super Bowls, huh? Damn. And Speaker 5 (26:02) then one not making Speaker 2 (26:03) the playoffs. And one no Bengals. No Bengals. It's never the Bengals. You guys didn't team up on this? Because you guys both have Bengals Super Bowl and Jets to win the AFC East. Speaker 5 (26:13) Yeah, surprisingly no team up here. Speaker 2 (26:15) Okay. Speaker 5 (26:17) But some similarities. Least improved, I'm going to go with Bryce Young. Least valuable player, I'm going to go with Travis Kelsey. Speaker 7 (26:25) All right. I love that least improved. Like Bryce, it's probably the ceiling. Yeah, he's done it. He's very much cooked so deep. Speaker 1 (26:32) He gets Speaker 7 (26:32) a tiny little cute little ceiling. The Speaker 5 (26:34) top he's got. Speaker 2 (26:35) Yeah. Speaker 1 (26:37) Okay. Speaker 2 (26:38) Good picks, Zach. Hank? Speaker 6 (26:41) AFC East, Patriots. AFC North, Steelers. AFC South, Jaguars. AFC West, Chiefs. Then I have the Bengals, Bills, and Broncos in the wild card. Speaker 1 (26:54) Not buying the Texans. Speaker 6 (26:55) Triple B, not buying the Texans. And you got the Speaker 1 (26:57) Steelers winning that division. Speaker 6 (26:59) Yeah, we talked about it. I'm a big believer in, you know. Speaker 2 (27:03) Rekindled love. Speaker 6 (27:04) Rekindled love and guys that had it having it again. Speaker 2 (27:09) Throwbacks. Mike Speaker 6 (27:10) McCarthy, Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf. Great defense. Speaker 6 (27:16) And then in the NFC, I have the Bears out of the north, the Falcons out of the south, the Cowboys out of the east, Rams out of the west, and then I have the Seahawks, Eagles, and Lions in the wild card. Speaker 1 (27:31) Okay. Super Speaker 6 (27:33) Bowl, three-peat, Patriots versus Rams, Patriots win again. Speaker 2 (27:40) Oh. Speaker 6 (27:41) I think the Patriots for the Patriots, I think by week 12, week 13, much to the chagrin of the world and especially this podcast, the Patriots will just, people will just have accepted that last year wasn't a fluke. The Patriots are once again a powerhouse and people are just going to have to deal with it for Speaker 7 (27:58) the Speaker 6 (27:58) next 20 years. It'd Speaker 7 (27:59) be a nightmare. Speaker 6 (28:00) Honestly, Speaker 7 (28:01) that'd be a nightmare. Speaker 6 (28:01) Yeah. Speaker 7 (28:02) It'd also be good for the show. Speaker 6 (28:04) I agree. But Speaker 7 (28:04) also a nightmare. Nightmare. Speaker 6 (28:06) So I have Drake May as MVP. Okay. Justin Herbert. Speaker 2 (28:12) LVP. Okay. Speaker 6 (28:13) And Sam Darnold as least improved. Speaker 2 (28:16) Because he didn't win the Super Bowl. Speaker 6 (28:18) Yeah. I Speaker 1 (28:19) don't hate that. Least improved Sam Darnold. I'm sure he'd be fine with that. Yeah. If he stays exactly the same. That'd be wonderful. Yeah. Yeah. Never strike midnight. Least improved is tricky like that. Least Speaker 5 (28:31) improved, you get worse. Speaker 1 (28:32) No. No. No. You don't understand what the opposite Speaker 5 (28:35) of improved is. Speaker 1 (28:36) Least improved could mean just you Speaker 5 (28:39) stay Speaker 1 (28:39) the same. You chill. Speaker 5 (28:41) Everyone else gets better. You stay the same. You're the least improved. But someone else would be less improved if they got worse than someone who stayed the same. Right. I'm Speaker 2 (28:48) saying everyone in Hank's world, every single player in the NFL gets better. Sam Darnold stays the exact same. Got Speaker 1 (28:54) it. Got it. Got it. Got it. Got it. It'd be a great season to watch if everybody improved. It would be incredible. Coaching's never been this good. I still don't Speaker 5 (29:01) think Speaker 1 (29:01) Sam Darnold would Speaker 5 (29:02) be okay Speaker 1 (29:02) with that. I'm sure if he won a Super Bowl, he'd be fine with it. Speaker 8 (29:05) Yeah, Speaker 1 (29:05) if everyone got better, Speaker 2 (29:06) yeah, it probably would suck for Speaker 8 (29:07) him. Speaker 1 (29:07) Yeah. And he didn't. But if he won a Super Bowl, he'd be okay with it. He's going to win a Super Bowl Speaker 5 (29:11) again. But he didn't say that he was going to win a Super Bowl. I'm Speaker 7 (29:15) saying if he did. Speaker 5 (29:16) Oh, then yeah, yeah. Then Speaker 7 (29:17) he'd be fine with it. For sure, yeah. Like at some point, the, oh man, what if Sam Darnold turns into Sam Darnold? Stop being a bad thing. And now Sam Darnold being Sam Darnold, I think is a good thing. Speaker 5 (29:28) But if he doesn't win a Super Bowl, but throws for more yards, that's still an improvement. Speaker 5 (29:34) That's disagree. Speaker 2 (29:38) I mean, I think Sam Darnold's a team guy. Speaker 5 (29:41) But there's multiple ways to improve. Speaker 1 (29:43) True. Sure, you can always get better at something. Yeah, but 1 % every day. What if he improves his husband? Speaker 1 (29:51) Improving, like, Speaker 2 (29:52) whatever. Yeah. I'm an MVP dad. What if he says that? Yeah. Says, you know what? We went 5-12 this year. Life's not all about football. Yeah. Speaker 1 (30:02) Life's not all about football. Yeah. Come on, memes. What if he made a commitment to reading a Speaker 7 (30:07) book a month and he followed through on it? Speaker 5 (30:09) Yep. Self-improvement. That's the worst. Well, I Speaker 7 (30:11) think everyone should read at least one book this year, Max. Speaker 5 (30:14) You don't have to do a new one every month. Just one total. Speaker 1 (30:18) Yeah, one total. What if he Speaker 2 (30:20) said, you know what? During this football season, I'm going to eat 101 cheeseburgers. He'd improve. I actually don't Speaker 7 (30:27) think that is. It's Speaker 5 (30:28) all Speaker 7 (30:28) about setting Speaker 2 (30:29) a goal and Speaker 7 (30:29) hitting it. Speaker 5 (30:30) I've been thinking about doing 100 salads. Speaker 5 (30:33) I'm not. Speaker 8 (30:35) What? I'm sorry. What time frame? Speaker 1 (30:38) That was a genuine laugh that I had. What Speaker 8 (30:39) time frame? Speaker 5 (30:40) I don't know. Any time frame. Do they make ice cream salad? No. They do like chicken salad. They should name something ice cream salad. It Speaker 2 (30:47) would be really funny if you did that challenge just because you would eat a salad and then you'd eat lunch. Yeah, that's true. That's very good. It's an appetizer. Yeah, you could do that. Yeah. Speaker 1 (30:56) Pasta salad. Who's your winner? Patriots over Rams. All right. PFT. Okay, I have out of the AFC, I get the Bills, Speaker 7 (31:04) the Bengals, the Texans, and the Los Angeles Chargers. Wow. Bolt up. Bolt up. I'm fully bolted. You'll see how bolted I am. The Chiefs, Colts, Broncos are going to be my wild cards. Colts. Colts. Colts. Yeah, we are the Colts. Then out of the NFC, I've got Seahawks, Saints, Lions. The Washington Commanders, shocking the world, winning that division. My wildcard teams out of the NFC are the Bears, the Cowboys, and the Los Angeles Rams. Okay. My Super Bowl is Bills and Lions. And I got the Bills winning in overtime. Wow. Speaker 6 (31:51) That'd be fun. What a Super Bowl that would be. Speaker 7 (31:53) My MVP is Justin Herbert. Has a great season. Mike McDaniels got that offense humming. He looks awesome. True definition of what an MVP regular Speaker 1 (32:05) season could be. Just an awesome regular season. So he got MVP and LVP. No, I'm Speaker 8 (32:11) saying in this group. In Speaker 1 (32:13) this Speaker 8 (32:13) preview. And Speaker 1 (32:14) AFC Speaker 8 (32:14) champion. Speaker 7 (32:15) And AFC champion. I don't think you understand how good of a regular season I think Justin Herbert's going to have this year. It's going to be an amazing regular season. MVP regular season for Justin Herbert. Then, yeah, in the Super Bowl, I do have the Bills and the Lions. And I got, yeah, Bills in overtime beating the Lions. My LVP is Marcus Mariota. because he's not going to get in at Speaker 1 (32:39) all this year. Speaker 7 (32:39) And then my least improved player is Trevor Lawrence. Speaker 2 (32:42) I Speaker 7 (32:43) think that's a max. We've seen max Trevor. Speaker 2 (32:45) He's Speaker 7 (32:46) been Trevor maxing, and it can't get more max. Okay, good Speaker 5 (32:49) picks. That Speaker 1 (32:50) would be Speaker 5 (32:50) awesome. I would love to shit. Speaker 1 (32:51) What? Speaker 5 (32:52) Fucking Prisco. Speaker 1 (32:55) Yeah. Yeah. All right. What about commanders? Speaker 7 (32:57) I think for the commanders. So last week I was as down as I've been just like, it's just the Sunday scaries for the NFL season starting again. So I went through that. I came out the other side because I sat down last night. I looked at every position group. I compared it to 2024 across the board. Every single position group on the commanders going into this year should be better. than it was in 2024 with maybe the exception of cornerbacks because we're still waiting to get Amos back. And once he gets back, I would put that group above 2024. So what am I getting so worked up about? It should be a better team than it was in 2024. And Jaden's healthier than he was all season last year. So I'm back. I'm back. I'm fully in. I think we're Speaker 1 (33:43) in Speaker 7 (33:43) a great spot because... the noise against the commanders has gotten so loud now that I actually think it has been a benefit in terms of like they can actually play the nobody believes in us. Speaker 2 (33:53) Yeah, I mean, in 2024, no one expected that. Yeah, Speaker 7 (33:55) so I'm fully back in. I can't wait for Sunday. It is a must win. Actually, first three games. Yeah, Speaker 2 (34:02) you guys have a tough start. Speaker 7 (34:03) We got to go one and two at the minimum in the first three games. Can't go 0-3 because we got the Eagles. the Cowboys and the Seahawks in the first three weeks. So we have to get at least a third of a win against the Eagles this upcoming Sunday. Yeah. Okay. America's game of Speaker 1 (34:19) the Speaker 7 (34:19) week, Max. Speaker 2 (34:19) All right. I will do my picks. I have in the AFC, AFC East Bills, AFC North Ravens, AFC West Broncos, AFC South Texans. My wildcard teams are the Chiefs. the Bengals, and the Patriots. So I don't have Jaguars. I don't have Chargers. I don't have Steelers. Yeah, I'm not. I think the Ravens are going to be really good. I've talked myself into the Ravens recently. I mean, yeah, they've got a lot of pieces. Yeah, I've talked myself into the Ravens. Okay, in the NFC, I have the NFC East Eagles, the NFC North Bears, the NFC South Bucks. NFC West Rams. And then my wildcard teams are the Seahawks, the Lions, and Cowboys. The New York Giants. Okay. You love the Giants. Weren't Speaker 6 (35:16) you Speaker 2 (35:16) talking about the Cowboys? I've switched to the Giants. That's insane. What do you want me to do? I've switched. Speaker 6 (35:23) You said Texas Super Bowl like a week ago. Speaker 2 (35:25) And then I got off it because someone told me that that's stupid. I can't remember who told me that was stupid. You're allowed to change your mind, though. Yeah. You are allowed to change your mind, Hank. Speaker 5 (35:33) Schrager also said that he likes the Giants. Yeah, Speaker 2 (35:36) yeah, yeah. I can't remember who Speaker 1 (35:40) said that the Cowboys were going to suck. Who the fuck told me? I mean, there's a good chance that right when the Cowboys, you Speaker 7 (35:47) have the expectations of the world on them. That's when they let you down the most. I Speaker 2 (35:51) also wanted to take one crazy one. So that was really what it is. If you made me bet right now, I'd say, yeah, probably the Cowboys over the Giants. But I want to take one. There's got to be one team that no one sees going into the playoffs. I do Speaker 7 (36:02) think that Tyler Smith, the guard from the Cowboys, being out. That's a big deal. He's the highest paid guard in the NFL. He's played close to 100 % of their snaps since he's been in the league. Speaker 2 (36:12) He's Speaker 7 (36:12) a very, very big part of that offensive line and that offense. So him being out for the first month, I do think that's a massive deal. Speaker 2 (36:19) Yeah. The Super Bowl. It's going to be a fun one, boys, for this show. And we're going to have a really fun time talking about the Super Bowl on Super Bowl Sunday, February 14th, I believe, for that Monday part of my take. It is going to be the Buffalo Bills defeating the Fall of the Eagles. Speaker 2 (36:43) Imagine how we'd love that. That would be a crazy Super Bowl. We'd love that, yeah. Be a crazy Super Bowl. I Speaker 1 (36:47) can Speaker 2 (36:47) see it. On Valentine's Speaker 1 (36:48) Day? Speaker 2 (36:48) I can see it. Speaker 1 (36:50) Valentine's Day massacre? Buffalo Bills over the fall. That would rock. Holy shit. Speaker 8 (36:55) My MVP is Josh Allen. Speaker 2 (36:57) We know what that entails. My LVP is Josh Jacobs because he's a scumbag. And I don't even know if he's going to play. So can't be valuable if you're not on the field. And they kind of need him. Speaker 7 (37:12) You're forcing me to take the side of Josh Jacobs in this argument. Yeah. What if their running game absolutely stinks? Then it's like, by omission, how valuable was Josh Jacobs to this offense? Speaker 8 (37:22) Right, but if the running game stinks and he's out for six weeks, that's his fault. And Speaker 5 (37:27) there's more to life than football. There's more to life than football. We already established that. Like being a good human. Speaker 8 (37:32) Bad. Yeah. Speaker 7 (37:33) But couldn't you also say, like, most improved player for Josh Jacobs if he, like, doesn't beat any women in the next 12 months? Speaker 1 (37:39) Yeah, if he's acquitted, I guess. Like, great job on not beating anyone. Yeah. Something to think about. My Speaker 8 (37:44) least improved player, I think Deshaun Watson's going to get worse. Speaker 2 (37:50) Okay. I think he's going to get even worse. I think it's going to be comically, comically bad. So he's going to go backwards. Even further backwards. Speaker 7 (38:01) Did you see what the Browns just said? That Shador might not even be the number two quarterback? Oh, is Speaker 2 (38:07) it Dylan Gabriel? Speaker 7 (38:08) No. No, he got hurt, right? No. Speaker 2 (38:09) Yeah. Speaker 7 (38:09) Yeah.