Transcription
all righty so we are on the air right now welcome to King of The Hill Survivor Pool Show I'm your host Shawn Stewart i have a new co-host his name is john all the way from Toronto how are you doing my friend I'm good I'm good how are you how are you after that insane slate of football games this weekend I am actually relaxed. Matter of fact, I actually picked two road teams that I did in week 14. And as a matter of fact, so not only are we going to also talk about, not only are we going to do a recap of week 14, but we're also going to do was some technical difficulties on the other end because that was supposed to be on a different website but apparently we got everything clear so at least it's on a Wednesday not on a Thursday so I'm not feeling too bad as well so last week by the way oh by the way uh also if you're new customers at splash sports can use my code uum2ix and get ten dollars free when you enter a contest that is ten dollars or more or if it's a combination of $10 plus. Also, Canadians are welcome to play splash sports as well. They've been in Canada for about a year now, the same year when Michigan did. So there was another thing also was that Michigan fired head coach Jerome Moore. That was just happened about three hours ago. So not too long ago, they'll be in the bowl game for about two weeks. So they won't be playing until New Year's Day. So just in case people didn't know about that. Did you hear the reasons why they fired him? Yes. Yes, I did. I did hear about that for inappropriate behavior. Correct. Yeah, I would have never expected Jerome Ward to do that. Neither would I. That was out of the ordinary. I didn't expect that on a random Wednesday. Exactly. Okay, so. And then we'll probably, well, it depends on if we want to talk. Do you want to talk about the college football survival preview after we do the recap of 14 and 15? Yeah, sure. Let's do it. Okay. So before we get into the college football playoff, because we're about like next week, so it won't be until like next Friday. Mm-hmm. Last week, we just came off of week 14, a crazy week 14 because there are some people being like one-team picks, two-team picks, or heck, even three. Three teams you have to pick. But great for me this year is I'm picking one team. every week. Because last year, I remember when I first played Survivor Pool, I had to pick two teams. So I had to be very careful of which teams to pick. And of course, I did win cash on my Survivor Pool as well. And the same thing with the College Football Survivor Pool. So last week, as I did say a couple of minutes ago, I did pick Seattle and I did pick Denver. I was very confident that Seattle was going to win that game regardless. I was like, Seattle's going to win that game. And then Denver, kind of a little bit scary because what I'm scared about Denver is it's not about the defense. I'm really worried about that offense because, as you know, New England and Denver is trying to get that first place spot in the AFC because whoever gets that first spot will get a first-round bye. Yeah, that's absolutely right. So that Denver pick, I mean... Denver's looking, I mean, they dominate the whole game, and then the Raiders come back and put up some garbage time points. If you bet the spread on that game, the Raiders covered last second, I believe. I think they had a last second field goaler to cover the game. There were a lot of people who were pissed about that. Yeah, yeah. Because that's, I mean, that's video game. That's childlike. I don't know what Pete Carroll's doing there. I don't know if he's trying to save his job on that one or what. But, I mean, the Denver game was, the Denver had absolute control. But Denver has not played up to their strengths the last couple of weeks. I mean, they played down to the commander style. two weeks ago they played I think they played down to the Raiders for most of the first quarter and then they start to pick it up and had utter control from there but Denver hasn't looked like an absolute favorite team and they have what I would call a true litmus test this week with Green Bay. I mean, they have to really prove that they're the best team in the AFC this week. If they can beat Green Bay, man, how can you not say Denver's the top team in the AFC? If they can't, that's a question. And then you also look at the Seattle Seahawks. I'm very well impressed with the Seattle Seahawks because who would ever thought that Seattle Seahawks would be like a top of the NFC, matter of fact, not only top of the NFC West, but be competitive because last year they didn't make it to the playoffs because they had a new head coach. But it looks like they're like the new Seattle Seahawks that it was like 10, 12, 13 years ago when Pete Carroll was head coach of the Seahawks. Yeah, I mean, they got a new quarterback. Minnesota didn't want him. Sam Darnold said, all right, I'll take my talents to Seattle. And man, did he get paid, and he's been paying off. He's been asked to go to wide receiver number one. He's been asked to go to Jackson Smith and Jigba, and he has. And their two running backs have done the job as well. Although their O-line has had some questions I've seen on social media, a lot of people have been... going after, I think, one of their guards or one of their tackles. But other than that, the Seahawks offense has been humming on all cylinders, and their defense has been strong as ever. I wouldn't call them the prime Seahawks defense, but they've been holding their own. Exactly. Especially get a well-garbage Atlanta Falcons team that, well, since they lost their starting quarterback out for the season, so you would expect, like, the Seahawks would put a beating in the... the Atlanta Falcons so that's no surprise but at least the Seahawks got the W and then I was very sketchy about that Tampa Bay New Orleans game because I felt like I understand it's a popular pick but do you know what you're getting yourself into because we're looking at the New Orleans but when I looked at that game the red zone I was like oh my gosh this is going to be a long day for people that pick the Tampa Buccaneers And guess what? A lot of people got knocked out of Survivor Pool alongside with the Cleveland Browns picking the Tennessee Titans. And I'm like, Uh, okay, but it's the quarterback situation for Cleveland is like, no, but I will give credit for Shadur Sanders because Shadur Sanders did put up 300 plus yards. I will give him credit to that. But I just felt like, why would you want to pick Cleveland in your survivor pool, especially if you have one entry? Now, I could see it if you had like four or five entries. That's one thing. But just to have one or two or even three, that just didn't even make any sense. So I just felt like, you know what, there's no game that you could pick Cleveland for the rest of the season, your survivor pool. Correct. If you have a pool with three or less entries, you should not be picking teams like Cleveland, teams like Tennessee. You should not be picking teams like the Jets or teams like Washington. These teams have packed it up for the season, although some of these guys might be playing for pride or might be paying for paychecks. These guys have packed it up for the year. I wouldn't pick them if they played against Toledo State. I mean, these teams are just some of the worst in the league. Most of these offensive lines have packed it in. Most of the quarterbacks are... I mean, other than Cam Ward, for all those teams I've listed, most of their quarterbacks are backups. And then speaking of the Jets, the Jaguars actually put a beat down on the New York Jets. And I actually did look up a stat on the Jacksonville Jaguars. They're actually got a great defense. You would never expect Jacksonville to have this great defense because, you know, they're on a four-game winning streak. But speaking of that, speaking of Jacksonville, so right now, Jacksonville is a 13 and a half favorite, by the way. By the way, because they did beat the Colts. And I really feel bad. I really feel bad for Daniel Jones because he's out for the rest of the season. Now, right now, Jacksonville is a 13 and a half point favorite. And then after that, they played Denver in week 16 on the road. Then they got to go to Indianapolis in week 17. And then the last game is Tennessee in Week 18. Now, here's the thing about this, about this situation if you have Jacksonville. Now, they're in the AFC South, and they're leading the division. So it's a matter of like, should I pick this team right now against the Jets or do I wait against Tennessee? Because the worst case scenario is, let's say like they beat the Jets, right? And then somebody, some team in their division loses and then they clinch the division. That's the worst case scenario if you save them until week 18, because this is like a moment where you'd be like, okay, I know this team may not have a valuable pick, but it's like, should I even save this team? Or what happens if they were to clinch the division and then the players be rested? So if we have Jacksonville, that's where you have to be like, oh my God, what should I do now? Depends on what your pool, survivor pool look like. Yeah, if I'm picking Jacksonville, I am picking them either this week or I am picking them week 18. I will not pick Jacksonville on the road. I think Jacksonville on the road can get a little shaky. I think Jacksonville won't look good against Denver and then going on the road against Indianapolis could be a little in over their head in that game. So if I'm picking Jacksonville, you have to pick them this week against the Jets or you're hoping to save them for the last week against the Titans and hoping that they have a win in there and they have to win to secure a playoff spot. If you want to look towards the NFC, if you want to look specifically towards the NFC West with Seattle and San Fran, they both play two very, I wouldn't say easy games, but two games that I expect both teams to play. the whoopings on it, as some would say. Now for Seattle, they play Indianapolis this week, but then they also have a pretty interesting schedule the rest of the way with the Rams, the Panthers, and then the Niners the rest of the way. So if you do want to pick Seattle for one more game this year, it would probably be this week against the banged up Indianapolis, who has a grandfather at starting quarterback. Philip Rivers? 44 years old. My goodness. 44 years old. Goodness gracious. I would have thought he would be retired for good, for heaven's sakes. Oh, man. I thought his son would come into the league before him. But I have a feeling that's going to be one of the popular picks, the Seattle Seahawks against the Indianapolis Colts. That could be one. But the biggest one could be is the San Francisco 49ers, a home game against the Tennessee Titans because right now the 49ers are fair by 12 and a half. And then another one would be the Philadelphia Eagles as they play the Raiders as the Eagles are fair by 11 and a half. So I would probably be that. Go ahead. And that's a must win for the Eagles. I mean, the Raiders are not a team that they are scared of, but they have to at least get something going with their offense after the last couple of games. They played against the Chargers. That was like a letdown because that was a game they should have won. That was a complete offensive letdown. Every aspect. I mean, Petullo hurts everyone on that team. Let themselves down. Exactly. Exactly. And then I'm looking at us like this. If you were to tell me, like, which team that can more likely play, more likely would be great in Week 18, we don't know about Jacksonville's situation because they haven't clinched the AFC South because I would have never, no one would have ever thought the AFC South would be that competitive. But I would say I would trust New England to beat the Dolphins in Week 18 because that's the game in Foxborough. then Buffalo has a home game against the Jets because I'm very iffy with Buffalo, especially on the road. I'm more comfortable with Buffalo at home than they are on the road because on the road, they could be shaky, just like they played against the Atlanta Falcons. It's like, how you losing the Atlanta Falcons like that on Monday Night Football? Y'all should be beating them. That's where I'm very, I'm very, I'm very kind of like tippy-toe on the Buffalo Bills because they went from being Super Bowl contenders just as like, where their identity in the playoff. That's where I'm thinking about with Buffalo Bills. And then I'm also looking at the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, I looked at the Kansas City Chiefs. This year, they have only had one road win this year. I kid you not. And the defense is not that good. And I'm looking at Travis Kelsey. I'm like, this is not the Travis Kelsey we have seen in previous years. Looking at the AFC East, as you were talking about, for the Bills against the Jets, the Bills, I absolutely agree. They have looked very shaky on the road. Against Houston, they couldn't get anything going offensively. Houston has an absolute stellar defensive line, and no one's going to say Houston's defense is anything below top tier. But the Bills are also coming into the season. At least we're expected to be a top tier team. We all expected that the Bills offense at least would be, if not top three in NFL, we all expected top five. I wouldn't put them in the top seven. I could fit them into the top 10. James Cook has had a great season, but I wouldn't put them in that top seven conversation. Now for New England against Miami in week 18, the one thing that stands out to me is Tom Brady's last season in New England played Miami in week, I think it was week 17 back then, but the last week of the season, and they lost with an opportunity to get the bye. If New England has an opportunity to get the bye in that game, I still think the Dolphins could come in and come in on an upset watch. Depending on how New England looks these next two games against the Ravens and against the Bills, those are going to be their true test. If they don't look too great, I don't know if I'd pick New England that Week 18 game. Because, of course, New England is an underdog, a plus one against Buffalo, a plus two on the road against the Ravens, but 17-18 on the road against the Jets, they're like... they're like a seven and a half favorite. I want to also look for the last chance is the Chicago Bears playing against, it's a home game against the Cleveland Browns as the Bears are fair by seven and a half. Now the issue what I have with Chicago is this. I'm very impressed with Chicago with their offense, but so far so many times they have been playing catch up. So if you're picking the Chicago Bears, I'm worried about Myles Garrett because the Browns do have a solid defense. I will say that about the Browns, especially Myles Garrett. And number two, the Bears need to stop playing catch-up because there have been situations where they could have lost a couple of games for playing catch-up. And Caleb Williams takes a lot of sacks. He's been working on it this year, but he takes a lot of sacks. And with Miles Garrett coming off the edge, that's about the last person you want coming around your quarterback who takes a lot of sacks. So I think Chicago, I agree. I think Chicago will win. I think they do play a lot of catch up. I think they keep this game at least closer than it should be if they don't fall behind. I think Chicago, even against I think Chicago against Detroit at the end of the season, that's going to be a close game week 18. I could see that if one of those teams is eliminated, if Detroit's eliminated from the playoffs by then, I could see Detroit resting some players and that being an easy win for Chicago. Now that go ahead. Now, is that likely? I mean, Dan Campbell-led team? Who knows? I don't know if Dan Campbell's kneecap-biting team is going to go and arrest some players, no matter if they're eliminated or not. Now, tomorrow is the Thursday night football game because we're recording on Wednesday, by the way, for those of you who are listening, whether you're watching on YouTube or listening to the audio version on Spotify, the 586 Sports website, iHeartRadio, vice versa. Tomorrow's game is the Buccaneers and the Falcons. Now, we did say the Buccaneers did lose. Both teams did lose. Now, as I'm looking with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they have dropped five out of the last seven games. They have allowed 325 points. They're 23rd in the NFL. They have failed four down conversions and turnovers. That's costing the games. And I also found this out. The Falcons has beaten Tampa Bay in three of their last five meetings. So that could be very, not only, I told you before, I don't pick Thursday night football games, but this game is very risky. It's so risky, I wouldn't even bet my own house in this Survivor Pool matchup between these two. I would definitely avoid it. Yeah, this game has a toxic sign over it in my mind. I mean, Tampa Bay is struggling with an identity crisis right now. They have a carousel of a wide receiver room with Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Emeka Ibuka all being injured and healthy at different times of the season. Who knows who's going to be wide receiver one, two, or three throughout the year. And Baker Mayfield also, it seems like is killing himself just to play football. The Tampa Bay has no identity on offense. Their running back room has also been a carousel. We could just say their entire offense has been a carousel. Except for Baker Mayfield being the one strong point on their team and literally throwing out his shoulder to stay in the game, that Bucs offense has been constant, constant injuries. And that's why they are 7-6 and the Panthers still have such a good opportunity to come back into this division and win it. Now, I think it's unrealistic for the Bucs to drop a fourth in a row, but also we've seen this play out multiple times. Like you said, the Falcons love to beat Tampa Bay. I could see the Falcons coming out with a big upset, even though they're eliminated from playoff contention. And also possibly I'm hearing about Raheem Morris with this situation, the play calling. That could be like, do we want to keep him for future or do we want to keep him one more year? Stuff like that. Yep, exactly. I mean, and when court when coaches have that fire under their butt to go and perform. And I mean, we saw it with Mike Tomlin last week. Everyone was wondering if he was going to get fired. People were wondering if he was going to go to Penn State. And then now he goes and beats the Ravens and all the questions are simmered. So this could be a big question simmering game for Raheem Morris. Absolutely. Now, I was looking up something. I was looking up the Monday Night Football game. This is another one that's a risky one. This is another one I would not put my house in this because the Monday Night Football game seems to me it's a trap game. That game I'm talking about is the Miami Dolphins and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, on paper, you would think Pittsburgh should win it. You know what I mean? Pittsburgh should win that game. But what I'm looking at Pittsburgh is, It's their lack of offense. Their offense is very inconsistent, especially Miami. Both teams are, matter of fact, they're inconsistent. Aaron Rodgers, I don't know what happened to him because his arm is not like it used to be. And then I'm looking at this, it's like, this is another team. Matter of fact, this is probably like a must win for the Pittsburgh Steelers because after the 2010 season, his student hasn't been the same ever since so it's like you you still you guys still haven't had a qb ever since ever since uh roethlisberger left so it's like another one i would avoid matter of fact i don't even think i ever picked pittsburgh in the survivor pool this year because of how bad that offense is the defense is okay but that offense is so bad especially both teams And like you said, both teams, both teams are struggling with questions and both teams, one seven and six, one six and seven. You should be questioning these teams. I mean, they're sitting right at 500 to a tongue of Iola is being questioned for if he can lead a team in the cold and this will be a cold game. So we'll be able to see the answer to that. And then also, like you said, Aaron Rodgers is being questioned for if he can still throw the ball downfield. He had that big play to DK Metcalf last week against the Ravens, but still consistently, can he make these deep passes? Can he make accurate deep passes over the middle? We don't know. We really haven't seen it from him, so I'd say typically no. But when I see Aaron Rodgers bust out that discount double check after the touchdown pass last week. Oh, my gosh. You still remember that State Farm commercial? A little bit in me was kind of like, man, maybe he can still sling it. But, I mean, both teams are being questioned. I think the loser this game, I would call this the hot seat bowl. The loser of this game, the coaching loser of this game, I say will be fired at the end of the season because one of these teams will finish with a losing record, and I think it'll be whoever loses this game. Right. And the last time Pittsburgh has ever had a losing season, I think it was, I want to say 2003 when Bill Cowher was coaching. Yeah, it was before Mike Tomlin's time, and it was over 20 years ago. So Pittsburgh has been used to this level of success and this level of great play for so long that if they do have a losing season, after the questions for so many years of if Mike Tomlin can break that 10-11 win gap, well, he'll be out the door immediately if they don't even win nine. Now, there are some couple of teams I would save in week 15 because, again, since this is Wednesday, we don't know who's the popular pick. But my assumption is that the San Francisco 49ers will more likely be the popular pick. And I said this before on the show. If the team is a popular pick, you may want to move somewhere else because if you pick somebody else outside a popular pick, you will have a benefit of like, yeah, you know what? I picked this other team in one while the other one went with the flow. So more than likely, San Francisco will probably be the popular pick when they face against the Tennessee Titans. Yeah, I see it either being San Francisco or Jacksonville. I mean, they're both playing against really lesser teams. The one problem with Jacksonville is I think everyone still questions them on if they're a true contender. I still have my own questions, and I think everyone should. The Jets could play spoiler, but with Them going into QB3 last week against the Dolphins, I don't see the Jets really playing spoiler at least this week or maybe for the next little bit. Now, I also would look at Philly against Las Vegas. Las Vegas has been nothing special in every game. Their offense looks like a flat tire, and their defense looks like Swiss cheese at best. Philly can really get some great tune-up, some great momentum against a bad Raiders team. and Pete Carroll will probably be out the door next. If Al Davis was still around, I mean, he would put Pete Carroll's projector firing up next to Lane Kiffin's. Like, my goodness, Pete Carroll's been so bad for this team. Now, as I'm looking, and then I'm also looking at Houston because Houston is a favorite by nine and a half against Arizona. I would save that team and put them in week 16 because they have a road game, not a road game, excuse me, a home game against the Raiders. And I actually do feel confident in Houston beating the Raiders in that situation. And then they also got a home game in a home game against the Colts. So that could be like, oh man, I may pick Jacksonville in week 15 and I may pick Houston in week 17 because week 17, I feel more comfortable in Houston beating the Raiders. And then also Kansas City goes on the road to play Tennessee in week 16 because the Chiefs are fair by 11 and a half. And then Buffalo... Buffalo is on the road, 8.5. And then I'm looking at Detroit. Detroit is a 6.5 favorite against the Steelers. That's a home game. And then on the road, they are a 5. Wow, the Lions are a 5 on the road against the Minnesota Vikings because that team has fell off. I don't know what the heck happened with the Minnesota Vikings. It just seems like they've just fallen off on hard times. especially the way J.J. McCartney is, because I'm a Michigan fan myself, because I watched J.J. McCartney when he played at Michigan. But it's just, the Vikings have been very disappointed this year for a lot of reasons. Now, because you're a Michigan fan, I will be nice about JJ McCarthy and my opinions on him, but he is, he excels in an offense where he is comfortable and he does not look comfortable in Kevin O'Connell's offense. if that is because he is being asked too much, they are asking too much of him, or if that is because he just simply doesn't understand the offense, he doesn't look comfortable. He looks extremely uncomfortable in that offense. And we saw with Michigan, he can win. At the very least, we know he can win. Right? Like with Jalen Hurts, we saw he can win. With the Eagles, he proved it. With Alabama, he proved it. J.J. McCarthy can win. But only when he's comfortable. And he's not comfortable. And I think with all the added pressure on him, it's not helping him out. At this point, he does need to move on from Minnesota. I know it's only their second year. I think it might need to be a Sam Darnold situation where it needs to be a different scenery. Maybe he needs to go to Indianapolis. Maybe he needs to go over to New York. I don't know where he can go, but he needs to get out of Dodge. I haven't heard that term in a while, get out of Dodge. Now here, that's a good one. Now here's another situation. I'm looking at the Cincinnati Bengals in week 18 when they faced against the Cleveland Browns. Now that's a home game for the Cincinnati Bengals as right now the Browns are a underdog of plus five because Cincinnati did beat them in week one. So just to refresh people's memories. that could be like, you know what? I may not have used Cincinnati in the first week. I did on my earlier survive pools, but I got eliminated. But that could be like another team that you could possibly save in your survival pool in week 18 when they face against the Cleveland Browns in week 18 as the Bengals are favored by five. And then another one I'm looking at is, but I will still avoid this one, is the Atlanta and New Orleans. Right now, the Falcons are favored by four. That's another one I would avoid. Yeah, for Week 18, I would avoid New Orleans at all costs right now. They looked too good last week to really want to pick a team to play against them. I mean, Tyler Shuck looked like a better quarterback than most people expected. New Orleans could be picking an edge rusher instead of a quarterback with the top three pick next year. And I wouldn't really call that a bad idea. If you watch college games, there's been two edge rushers over at Miami, Ruben Bain and Mezzador. Those two guys both look NFL ready. And well, if you watch New Orleans, they could use an edge rusher. So And Tyler Shuck has played good enough where you could say he's deserved an extra year. And a little secret on New Orleans. Archie Manning's been... He's been advocating for his son to stay an extra year. New Orleans wants Tyler Shuck for one more year. Who knows? Maybe if Tyler Shuck things go bad next year, then New Orleans is back in on the Archie Manning train just a year later. But we can save all that for at least the offseason. Right now, New Orleans, they need to... They are struggling with their defense. They are struggling with their superstars staying healthy and staying productive with Alvin Kamara and Chris Olave. So I would pick against New Orleans. I mean, Atlanta could go in and get an upset with Kirk Cousins or I think Michael Penix is now shut down for the year. I could be wrong. I think it's Kirk Cousins' show. I think he is shut down for the year. Yeah, but... I agree. I think New Orleans is struggling this year. And I think he got disconnected. Okay, let me put him back in. Okay. You got a little disconnected. Go ahead. Yeah, so I mean, I think New Orleans could be very silently tanking for a top three pick. They're certainly in it, so I think week 18 picking against them would certainly be a good idea. All right, now... Actually, you know what? The L.A. Rams. Now, this one is very tricky because they got Detroit, five-and-a-half favorite. Then they play Seattle on the road, plus one. Then the Falcons... On the road, 8.5 favorite. And then Arizona, 12.5 favorite. Now, this one's a very scary situation. A very, like, okay, when should I use the L.A. Rams? Because three of their games are favorite. So if I were to pick the Rams, I would wait on them on week 15 this upcoming week. I think against Seattle, as much as the Rams seem to own Sam Darnold, they even played great against them when he was in Minnesota. I would even wait that week and I would pick them against Atlanta. I think Atlanta will be their... They will probably have a playoff spot clinched, but I think that will be their division clinching game and potentially even a first or second in the conference clinching game. So I think that game they'll have a lot of motivation to win. I think there will be a lot of players up for bonuses that week, second last week of the season. And I think the Rams, if I were to save them, I would save them for that week against Atlanta. Because right now, in my opinion, I don't think it's the right idea to even pick them against the Detroit Lions. It's like, you wasted it really early. And plus, they got more valuable. They got more value. But what I'm saying is, you don't want to pick a team that has a lot of value early. You want to save them later on. And that's what the thing about Sapphire Pools. Because usually, when people play Sapphire Pools for the first time, they always pick the elite team in week one. That's the biggest no-no. Like, you don't do that. You only pick the okay teams or mid-teams early in the season, and then later on, you pick the elite teams later on, like, the end of the season. I think that's what people get it mixed up with Survivor for, because they think, like, oh, if I pick this team, I'll be all right. But they don't think about the long term. So that's what this show is. That's what King of the Hill is all about. It's all about making sure, like, you get rid of the teams that don't have a lot of value. and save the league teams later on in the week. So that's what Keenan Hill is all about. But I agree with you. It would not make any sense for you picking the Rams against the Detroit Lions, even though the game is in L.A. Correct, and if you want to go against the green for someone this week and you want to pick a team that still has something to play for and they're right on the edge, I would pick the Cowboys against Minnesota. Minnesota has not looked all that good all year, and the Cowboys still at least have some playoff odds, at least within their division. The Cowboys have something to play for. Coming off of a loss, that could be a good win for the Cowboys. Finally knock Minnesota out of playoff contention too. And you know the funny thing about the Cowboys? Not only they don't have a lot of value, but their next four games, they're actually favored. That's the crazy part about this. They're actually favored by four games. I mean, five and a half, Minnesota. That's a home game. Then they play the Chargers. That's favored by two and a half. I can see that game in overtime. And then the last two on the road is at Washington, favorite by three, and then at New York, three and a half. So as I'm thinking, I'm thinking like you could probably pick them against the Vikings. I'm not sure against the Charters. I'm not confident in the Cowboys being the Charters because the Charters are a totally better team than the Cowboys offensively and defensively, especially defensively. long as far as I am for consistency and fairness of the Cowboys fans. But I would rather pick them against Minnesota on the road against Washington. And I don't know against the New York Giants because they kind of been iffy though. The Giants can be kind of be iffy on certain things. It's like one thing they'll play closed in the next thing they'll get blown out. I'm very iffy on that week 18, but I would rather pick them either against Minnesota or at Washington. Yep. I agree. I think if Washington has any more brains, they saw what happened in that Minnesota game with Jaden Daniels. They saw how he went down and how awkward he went down, and they got flashbacks to RG3 and said, no, no, no, you're not playing any more games this year. You're done for. When I saw Jaden Daniels go down, I'm a Patriots fan. I have no allegiance to any commanders, and I was upset. I was upset for the man. Oh, yeah. Why is he playing in this game? It's RG3 2.0 at this point. Just take him out. Especially during the fantasy football playoffs. Yeah, exactly. That's what even makes it worse. Oh, my God. I feel bad for anybody that had Jayden Daniels in the fantasy football playoffs. Yeah. He should have just been shut down for the year. That's what I would absolutely deal with. So let's say it was going back to San Francisco. So going back to San Francisco, let's say they, well, let's say you save the 49ers against the Tennessee Titans, and then you wait until, let's say, wow. They're going to be on the road against the Colts, six and a half favorite, and then they're favored by six against the Bears. That's a home game. So week 16 is on the road, and 17 is at home against the Bears. Between those two, if anybody, let's say like somebody were to save the San Francisco 49ers against the Titans because more than likely that'd be a popular pick, which week would you be more comfortable We're picking the 49ers in that situation. Then the last game is Seattle, by the way. They're like an underdog, a .5. If I don't pick Seattle this week. I mean, San Francisco. Sorry, if I don't pick San Francisco this week, I have to take them next week on the road in Indianapolis if I want to use them. Now, if you notice something against Chicago, it might just be Chicago. It might just be Soldier Field. It might just be the wind, the Windy City. But every team struggles to play in Chicago. Chicago just grinds you down. It's a very grindy game in Chicago. Very slow, slow game. I find every Bears game I watch that they're at home. They at least cover, if not win the game. And especially this year, they've played extremely well at home. I'd be very scared of Chicago at home. Indy on the road, I'm not scared of. Whether it's Riley Leonard or Phillip Rivers or whoever at quarterback, I think Indianapolis is now done for the year. Sauce Gardner out. Daniel Jones out. I think if I don't use San Fran this week, I would have to use them against the Colts. Because the good thing about it is, so 16 is on the road against Indy, and then 17, 18, those are home games. Oh, those are home games? Yes. Excuse me, I thought that was at Soldier Field. No, no, no, they're home games. They're home games. Now, if it was on a road game, I'd be scared. I'd be like, oh, no, I would not pick that game. Because since it's December, Chicago can be very cold, and plus they're near the lake. So it does make sense. Correct. Yeah, no, those are home games. That changes everything. San Francisco, nice and sunny, nice and warm. Unless there's some heavy rain in that game, I think rain does favor the Bears. I think the Bears play better in the dirty weather, but if that game is sunny weather, San Fran is just still such a talented team. They made it to Super Bowls in two of the last five years, I believe. And they've still retained so many great players. And with Brock Purdy back at quarterback, I mean, that could be a dangerous game for San Fran. I would still take them on the road at Indianapolis. I think that for San Francisco is a bigger... playoff clinching game, I believe. I think if they go and beat Tennessee and then go on the road to Indianapolis, they will have 11 wins. I think at that point they will be a playoff team. Right. Because if they're a popular pick for this week, for this upcoming week, then it wouldn't be much of a popular pick for next week because most people pick the 49ers against the Tennessee Titans. So that's where you'd be like, okay, if they're a popular pick, I could save them for another week. Man, that's one thing about Survivor Pool. It's almost like playing chess. You got to think two steps ahead. Always two steps ahead. Exactly. Now, in a couple of, because I do college football Survivor Pools, by the way, for those of you who have been knowing me. Now, this Saturday is the Heisman Trophy. The Heisman Trophy winner. And I was looking at that game Saturday because the Big Ten Championship between Ohio State and Indiana, Hoosiers. And congratulations to the Indiana Hoosiers for winning their Big Ten Championship, especially for football. But as I look into that game, I'm just like, if Indiana wins that game, Fernando Mendoza will more likely be the Heisman Trophy winner. Because I saw on DraftKings, he is like a favorite in the state. Second one is Diego Salva of Vanderbilt as the second. And then the rest of them is like the running back for Notre Dame. And then what's that quarterback from Ohio State? He's also favored as a Heisman Trophy. But it's more likely that Mendoza will be the Heisman Trophy winner this upcoming Saturday night. Unless there's a big shift in public opinion, in public view, unless Fernando Mendoza, there's something that comes out that he's not really the saint that he's portrayed himself on social media, he most likely will be the Heisman. I think that Big Ten championship game was the Heisman decider. I think if Notre Dame had been... ranked in the playoff, you could have maybe thrown Jeremiah Love in there and say maybe these voters do like Notre Dame and maybe they do like what Love has done this season. But after Notre Dame's been eliminated, after... all the Indiana number one. And now after the big 10 championship game, I think it's Fernanda Mendoza. Absolutely. Is your Heisman. I think we're just waiting for Sunday to roll. Is it Sunday or is it Saturday? I think we're just all waiting for Saturday to roll around then and get our photo ops in. Cause we're ready to put it on Instagram. That's what we're waiting for. Honestly, they got the graphics ready. I don't blame them. So for those of you who have missed the college football playoff, because we'll be wrapping this up. So the top four teams right now is Indiana, number one, Ohio State, number two, Georgia's three, and then Texas Tech, four. So all four of those teams got to buy. So whoever wins between Alabama and Oklahoma will play Indiana. Then whoever wins between Miami and Texas A&M, they'll play the Buckeyes. Then whoever plays Tulane in Ole Miss Wednesday game will face Georgia. And then whoever wins between James Madison and Oregon, they will play Texas Tech. So what makes this interesting this year is that you finally have the Indiana Hoosiers as the number one team. I think this is really cool because who would have ever thought Indiana would be like this? great football team because for most of our lives, Indiana has been known for being a basketball school. So this is, man, if Indiana wins this college football championship, this will be so big than Bob Knight, when Bob Knight was coaching the Hoosiers, winning the NCAA March Madness. And if Indiana does win this college football playoff, it will be more impressive than Ohio State's last year, in my opinion. Oh, heck yeah, not even close. They will have to go up against, already beating Ohio State, they will have to go up against the winner of Oklahoma-Alabama. Then they will have to go up against the winner of Oregon-Texas Tech, who I think will beat Oregon. And then at that point, they will have to play either Ohio State again, Georgia, or Ole Miss, Miami, Texas A&M, Tulane. I think it'll probably be Georgia or Ohio State at that point. If they are able to win this college football playoff, what a gauntlet they have played through. They played Oregon earlier in the year, I believe, and they just absolutely ran through them. I think they played Penn State and did the same thing. They've played competition and no one has looked really solid. Now, they made Ohio State look silly. Yes, they did. And they didn't play all that great of a game. And you can see Kirk Cignetti will never have a positive facial reaction, I don't think, in his whole life. But he especially, I think, could tell that his offense was not playing up to the standards that he expects. So if we are looking at this first round of matchups, these college football playoff matchups, there's two that stand out because the other two, I think, are almost just hand them over. One team won, the other team lost. The two that stand out to me are going to be the 12 p.m. game, Miami versus Texas A&M. And then it's going to be the Friday night game, Alabama, Oklahoma. And for Alabama versus Oklahoma, I think. Oklahoma's offense has not looked good at all this year. Mateer has been injured throughout a majority of the season. I think Alabama could go in and after getting their butts kicked by Georgia, go and beat up on little brother Oklahoma and show him still who's boss. Right. Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. So for the Miami, Texas A&M game, I was just going to say A&M, although they looked really bad against Texas, they still had that very impressive comeback against South Carolina. And overall, they played weak opponents this whole year. I think this is the first true test for A&M. And if I were booking it, I don't know if I like either team really to go over 35 points. I think this is going to be a slugfest. I think both offenses are going to be stuck in the mud. And I think we will see one team come out way better than the other. And I also want to say this. Splash Sports is actually doing a college football survivor playoff contest just like they did last year. So like I said, use my promo code UUM2IX and you'll get $10 free when you enter a contest that is $10 or more. Or if you have entries that is $10 or plus, I'll put that in the description box, by the way. So don't worry about that. So you only have till next week to even do that. So hopefully I won't do it like last year because last year, I remember when I played it, I picked Ohio State over – wait, I picked Oregon over Ohio State. And, of course, everybody's bracket was busted, but good thing was everybody won $19. So at least I didn't feel that bad. So – and then next week I'll explain to you how to play it because there is a strategy in that slash for Survivor Pool for the college football playoff. And then I think, right, I think this week, I think it's the beginning of the, what the hell, the bowl games. Yep, this weekend we got Army-Navy, the classic Army-Navy week game. There's been some calls this year, actually, for them to move the Army-Navy week, either to move it to Week 0 and have no one play on Week 0 and just have Army-Navy on Week 0, or just move Army-Navy to a separate weekend because people don't like how the schedule is running into mid-January. I would move to week zero. That's what I would have done. And then get that out the way. And then have your usual bowl games and then go on from there. I can't remember which coach. I... But there was a coach recently who he was the one who proposed the idea of the week zero. There was a college football coach who proposed the idea of moving the Army Navy to week zero and moving the college football playoff up a week, which I am totally for. I just think there's a lot of diehards who are strongly for army navy to have their week at the end of the year i don't get it i don't get it personally i think army navy if you want to have their own week let's make it fourth of july like hell let's just do a random army navy game why not for july just do it at the rose bowl pack out the rose bowl right but they mostly play in the northeast though the army navy game mostly play in the northeast yeah yeah no i think um i think the army navy week maybe being moved up to week zero would be a great idea i think the college football schedule is we we saw it this year with a crazy uh just coaching transfers and moving and Lane Kiffin going. And I mean, then if you want to look outside of Lane Kiffin, there was even like five other layers of coaches who all moved and all before their teams could even play their bowl games. This is so typically unheard of. Most coaches at least stay for the bowl game. I mean, the only other instances I've seen are from Brian Kelly leaving Cincinnati, and he got hated for that. And then Lane Kiffin back against Tennessee, and he also got in shit for that. Exactly. So the first game, that will be eighth-ranked Oklahoma and ninth-ranked Alabama. That will be next week. I'm looking at it. Is that 8 p.m.? So that will be on ABC, ESPN, or watch ESPN. And then Saturday, those are the three games. Seventh-ranked Texas A&M against Miami. That's a noon game. Then... Ole Miss will play Tulane. That's a 330 game. That's on TNT, but that's sub-licensed, by the way. And then, actually two games, and then the other one is Oregon and James Madison. So both of those games will be on TNT. So ABC will do the Friday night game and the early Saturday game. I think it'll be a lot better than it was last year because I think last year nobody expected for the college football playoffs and the NFL will face-to-face each other. Yeah, I think at least they won't be going head-to-head. I think the games will be better this year too. You know, I don't even want to... Normally, if JMU and Tulane had their head coaches, both teams lost their head coaches already. If both teams had had their head coaches, maybe I would have thrown in one of them to get an upset. Right. But when you both lose your head coaches, there's probably a lot of players who are already considering transferring. I mean, for at least Tulane, they're playing a team who also lost their head coach. So, you know, tit for tat right there. But... For JMU and Tulane, they're spotting the playoffs. I think we're going to see a real change because of these two being in the playoffs. I think they've probably done more harm for G5 teams than good. I think the college football playoff has gotten more upset because there's two of these teams in than one last year with Boise State. So I think really, as much as they're happy to be in, I wouldn't expect this... any group of five team if nevertheless two group of five teams being in ever again and matter of fact i was looking at james madison because those of you that don't know about james madison they're based out of harrisburg virginia and the last time they won a national title was back in 2016 as a fcs as a fcs so right now they're in the fbs because those are totally the big dogs Right, so those are two totally different things because I know right now the FCS is having their playoff right now. Shout out North Dakota State. I have a few buddies who go to North Dakota State. I know they lost this week in the FBS playoffs, but they are an FCS absolute powerhouse. They are an FCS powerhouse, North Dakota State. But JMU, some quick trivia for anyone out there. Do you know who the last head coach of JMU was before the one who just left? No, I do not. It was actually Kirk Cignetti, the head coach of Indiana, where he led JMU to a Sunbelt championship. And he led them. I think they were an undefeated season. Maybe they had one win. I'll be damn. Yeah. He's. Oh, my gosh. I didn't even know this. Me and Kirk Cignetti. We share a birthday. And I'll give you another one. Me and Bob Knight actually share our birthday. Our birthday is October 25th. Oh, that's awesome. Bob Knight. I'd rather have Bob Knight in my opinion. No offense, Kirk Cignetti. You know what? Actually, if Kirk Cignetti goes on to win the Natty, I take that back. If he wins the national championship, I take that back. Okay. So he went 8-3 his first year with James Madison and then 11-1 his second year. Wow. Oh, that is very impressive, especially for a coach like him. So we are going to wrap this show up. So like I said, so this will be on the 5A6 Sports website for the audio version. So just in case if anybody can't able to watch it on YouTube, you can actually listen to it on the audio version. And not only that, there will be a transcript. So that's what even make it cool. So It will be also available on Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Apple Podcasts. So give it a couple of times once it's in the 586 Sports website because it gets the feed and all that other stuff and information by that. So you can also follow 586 Sports on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok. as well. And where could listeners find you by the way? So you can find me, you can find Bert, Bert picks on a Tik TOK right now. I post daily picks. So I'll give out a couple of picks every day. We've done pretty well so far. If you want to follow along with the series on Tik TOK, all lowercase B E R T P I C K S Bert picks on Tik TOK. I will gladly put that on the description box. And also, if you're looking for something to watch tonight, as we're doing this recording on Wednesday, ESPN is actually doing a 30 for 30. And that 30 for 30 is about Stuart Scott, the former SportsCenter host, as he passed away from cancer 10 years ago. My goodness. It's been 10 years since he passed away. I remember where I was at when he passed away. He was only 49 years old. 49 years young. Yeah, he was very exciting. So it was him and Rich Eisen. I'll never forget those. I'll never get the SportsCenter days back when SportsCenter was to watch. Yeah, man. Love SportsCenter as a kid. Yeah, but since Toronto, you guys have SportsCentra because you guys have TSN. Yep, we have in Toronto, we got instead of ESPN, we have TSN. And then we also have Sports Central. And then there's another one that's pretty big here. We have, oh, let me find it. SportsNet. SportsNet is also really big in Toronto. If you're looking for hockey games, typically you'll find them on SportsNet. Okay. That's very great. And I know, of course, CBC has Hockey Night in Canada. Back when I had my U-verse, I used to watch Hockey Night in Canada, especially during the playoff. So we had the American version or the Canadian version. Most people will watch the Canadian version if they didn't have cable. So, or... And you know what? And you know what? This year, with the Winter Olympics coming up, the Canada-US rivalry from the four nations is going to be reignited again this year. Oh, my gosh. We might have to have some talks about that later into the winter. I think that's in February, I believe. All right. That would be great. So we will see you guys next Wednesday at a regular time at 630. So like I said, it was kind of like a small delay, but not too big of a big deal. So at least I got it on Wednesday. So take care. You guys have a nice and wonderful week. And good luck with your all-survivor pool picks. One pick. One throne.