The Favorites - NFC North Betting Preview with Field Yates

Are the Chicago Bears worth the hype? Just how rough will things get for the Minnesota Vikings? And can the Packers return to glory with Jordan Love this season? Action Network NFL experts Chad Millman and Simon Hunter are back to discuss the NFC North. They are joined by friend of the show Field Yates, the popular ESPN NFL insider. Together they talk a resurgent Detroit Lions team, Simon's love for Field's fantasy podcast, and even do a quick walk down memory lane involving hypnosis. 

Plus, for those interested in betting college football this season, Action's own Big Bets On Campus now has its own YouTube channel. Subscribe now for free early access to our conference preview episodes, our best bets, along with exclusive content all season long. #Volume #Herd

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to The Favorites, the podcast presented by BET three
sixty five. We are part of the Volume Podcast Network.
I am Chad Nooman, Chief Content Officer of the Action Network.
I am joined as always by my co host, my companion,
Mike cam Padre, my BFF Professional Better Simon Hunter, l
O soymon, Hello, Chad.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
My life will never be the same because of the
one thing in this world, Gold Zone. I don't know
if you experienced the new Gold Zone on Mbcpeacock, but
I'm addicted. I Lily wake up. I turn on a volcano,
which I know you don't know volcano ways, but young
kids know what it is. I go around the apartment,
I turn on all the TVs to the same channel
to gold put it on and it's just ten hours
of non stop action. I'm addicted to it. I can't

(00:51):
believe in a week we have to go back to
normal life. Chad.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
I am so in love with the Gold Zone. It
ate up my entire weekend. At one point, my kid
walked into the living room when I was watching it,
and he goes, am I hearing things? Or is that
Scott Hanson? And I go, dude, Christmas has come early.

(01:15):
Because NBC is so smart, they gave us the Gold
Zone with Scott Hanson and also Andrew Ceciliano, who I
thought to me, that's who I watched on Red Zone
before Scott Hanson. I love Ceciliano, He's a fucking best.
So to be getting them in Gold Zone, dude, I'm
with you one hundred percent. The only thing better than

(01:37):
Gold Zone is talking about the NFC North. For today's
third installment in our annual NFL Division Preview series, we
discuss the NFC North and we are joined by a
very special guest. He's a longtime ESPN insider, NFL expert,

(01:57):
the recently elected president of the Malik Neighbors Fan Club,
also nearly my neighbor in central Connecticut. He is Feiliates.

Speaker 3 (02:09):
Good afternoon, gentlemen, our guests, good morning, depending on what
time people are listening to this podcast. Yeah, hey, good
day somebody out there. I feel a ton of pressure
because I too am addicted to the Gold Zone, and
I too must stand for both Scott Hansen and Andrew Siciliano,
and all of a sudden, people are thinking about those
two gentlemen, which makes people very excited and makes people

(02:30):
feel a certain way that is experienced normally on Sundays
from one until about seven thirty pm e Eastern Time
for eighteen glorious Sundays during the year. They've been getting
that during the middle of July and August, I feel
like I better bring it or else I'm just going
to be an afterthought to those that have been fixated
instead on Red Zone and the upcoming season that we have.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
The way you set that up just now, how people
are feeling certain things for Scott Hansen and Andrew Siciliano.
That's how Simon usually sets things up when he is
trying to get me and Matt Mitchell, our producer nervous
that he is going to wade and do some territory
that Matt Mitchell is immediately going to have to start bleeping.
So nice job.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Get the PG on this show. Don't you best to
keep it that way the rest.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
Of the way exactly, Although if we're talking about the
NFC North, that might get ugly because there's going to
be a lot of opinions. Me as a Chicago Bears fan,
listeners of the show know I'm going to come with
some surprising takes on the Bears today based on a
lot of the research we've been doing. As a reminder,
the favorite podcast is presented by Bet three six five.
Bet three six five doesn't do ordinary. That's why you

(03:35):
get more boosts with them than with anyone else. Every
day they prot out the odds one hundreds of bets
to give you a chance to win more. Bet three
six five boost specific markets and your winnings. Bet three
sixty five boost specific markets, your winnings and even parlays.
And they don't stop there keeping that for their biggest
and best odds with the incredible super Boost. Check out
the boosts and see why it's never ordinary at Bet

(03:56):
three six five. Must be twenty one or older in
President zone in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio,
Virginia or eighteen and older in Kentucky. Gambling problem called
one eight hundred gambler or one eight hundred bets off
in Iowa terms. Conditioning restrictions apply. Also, don't forget we
have launched our popular college sports betting brands, BBOC own

(04:22):
YouTube channel. Go check it out. You're gonna get early
access to BBOC coverage like our college football conference betting
previews plus live shows and exclusive content. Subscribe now by
clicking the link in the episode description.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
All right, I want to do a really quick field story. Field.
I'm an og Fantasy Focus fan, So if you don't
know the show Field Yates is an amazing show with
our guy dop Over at ESPN. They crushed it every
week talking fantacy football. And when he came on, I
mean this is years ago. There was a guy named
Nate rap who's a weasel, and it was Matthew Berry.

(05:02):
And again I wasn't the biggest fantasy football guy back
in the day. I was all about baseball and we
wouldn't believe this Matthew Berry. That's what his specialty used
to be. Like, he was a down to miss Rodi.
He was amazing at baseball. And the worst days of
my life was when Field Yates came on and had
replaced Nate Rabbits a little. Did I know I'd eventually

(05:23):
loved this field yet it's just because he came. I
think me and Fielder around the same age. And just
like Vanning Fantasy Focused fan, I was just like they
took away my weasel. They took away my weasel for
this handsome man with an amazing smile named Field Yates.
And I'll tell you when I finally broke and really
started really liking you, Fields, Eastpin did a weird thing
where they hypnotized all you guys. Do you remember this

(05:44):
when they hypnotized you?

Speaker 3 (05:45):
Of course I do, Yeah, of course, dude.

Speaker 2 (05:47):
That was my favorite experience of my life when they
hypnotized you. And not like that you were a robot
when he hypnotized you, but it was it was hilarious.
You were so into it that you were literally full
on hypnotize. And I would love to hear your experience
on what happened when you got hypnotized. You remember that
and you come out and people are like, dude, what
just happened to you on TV?

Speaker 1 (06:07):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (06:08):
So, so a couple of things here. First of all,
Nate has nobody to blame but himself. Nate Rabbits is
just he keeps promoting himself, right, Nate, Who's like he's
a weasel influential figure. Yes, he's just he's a big boss. Now,
he doesn't I aim to, you know, waste an hour
of his day talking about fantasy football with peons like
myself and Daniel Lops, Fina mel and Mike Clay as well.
He's now this big wig. Like, I send Nate an

(06:30):
email and I'm fortunate if he writes me back. He's
got so many more important people in his life.

Speaker 2 (06:34):
That's a joke.

Speaker 3 (06:35):
Nate is very responsive. But yeah, I mean it was
actually like a little daunting stepping into that seed at
the beginning.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
Oh were you were you like twenty five, twenty six?

Speaker 3 (06:43):
It was probably yeah, because this is probably like eight
or nine, maybe ten seasons. Now, I would have been nervous.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
That's crazy. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (06:50):
Well, it's also just like they have this. Here's what
I told people is that that first season, I said,
if the show does anything other than grow, it's my fault, right,
because it's nothing had changed for me, right, So I
remember thinking, I actually, at the time ESPN, I was
living in Massachusetts, and the ESPN said, you don't actually
have to come down here and to the show, like,

(07:10):
we're totally comfortable with you doing it remote. And I
said to them, you know what, I don't feel comfortable
doing it remote with this is pre pandemic. We're like
doing something remote. It was like a far different experience
than where it is now. I went and moved in
how about this for a life experience. I went and
moved in with a friends friends of mine who were

(07:31):
engaged and going through the wedding planning process. This was
well before I was dating my now wife or anywhere
close to being engaged myself. So like, I'm sitting there
consulting on like, you know, table settings and you know,
first dance songs, like all kinds of stuff that I
wouldn't be bothered with again for like a decade. But yeah,
that first season was a little bit daunting in that regard.

(07:53):
And then to sort of just fast forward I think
it was probably three or four years later to that
hypnotist scene. Not seeing that experience. We did the Fantasy
Football Marathon every year. We've got one coming around the
corner here August nineteenth and twentieth on ESPN. And a
producer who was doing one of the shows, because the marathon,
obviously being twenty four plus hours, is going to require
lots of different hands on deck, He's like, Hey, my

(08:14):
cousin is a hypnotist down in like southern Connecticut. Who
would anybody here be gained to do it? And I
was like, you know, first of all, I was at
the point of my career, which I don't ever want
to leave entirely, but everything they threw my way, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes,
so I agreed to do it, of course. And then
I would say this, it's not just that it's somebody
who I haven't met before, but also somebody who haven't

(08:36):
met before that it's related to a friend of mine
and a colleague of mind. I wanted to make sure
that I bought into the experience. I wasn't going to
bot in of the yayah you got to buy, you know,
And so there are probably some things that I would
prime value, like being hypnotized for again in a future life,
you know, Like I've heard of friends that have snapped
bad habits by being hypnotized. If so, I have yet

(08:58):
to try that, but if I do encounter one, or
if I persist with one, that I currently have a
hypnotist available for hire, please reach out to me, because
I might be the right clients review.

Speaker 1 (09:11):
So it's funny, Simon, you don't even know this. You
just mentioned Daniel Dopp, who obviously is a regular on
the show and has gone on to a great career
at ESPN and is on air. Daniel Dopp was the
original producer of my gambling podcast on ESPN. How about

(09:31):
that when I left ESPN and he would come on
the show. When I left ESPN to start Action Network,
Daniel I offered Daniel Dopp the job to be lead
audio producer at the Action Network. Matt Matcheell is not
a part of the conversation dat I didn't even He
wasn't like he had He was still in school, he

(09:53):
was getting his graduate degree. Dopp was going to come
ESPN offered a new deal to be on air and
do some of the producing that he was doing and
eventually transitioned to being on air full time. And so
that was too good of a deal for him. He
took it. I love Top you stay in touch. He's amazing,
He's got a great career going.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
He's awesome, and he was just at the time, he
was different than what was in the fantasy space. I thought,
that's why I was like, sure, he was a smart,
smart move by you spent putting him in that spot.

Speaker 1 (10:25):
Totally smart. Number one, number two, I know you guys
are shitting on Nate. And he played a great role
on the show.

Speaker 2 (10:32):
I Love Nate.

Speaker 1 (10:32):
Also also a good friend. He was just a good friend.
Of mine and people should know, like he's actually a
good guy in real life, he's the best. But he
had a great role on the show. It would not
surprise me at all if he big timed Field.

Speaker 3 (10:44):
Just the irony of all irony is that Nate was
one of the very first people. And I'm gonna use
I guess an somewhat odd term invested me. Like when
I got to ESPN, I was doing just basically I
was doing. I was freelancing for that Massa Chusets. I
was helping them with some Patriots content, and Nate, you know,
this really successful person who has gone on to even

(11:06):
more success, was like, I think there might be something
for you, but candidly, we need you to do stuff
beyond like Mike Grace, who still covers the Patriots at
the highest of levels for ESPN. Was like, Mike's good
on his own right, Like, we don't need you in
that capacity, we need you elsewhere. So he was one
of the he was the early adopter of of of me.

(11:26):
So I have you know, I love Nate. We get
along great. We see each other often on campus. And
if he hears this, hopefully you know he continues to
further rise up the ranks and feel further and further
away from the fantasy focused university and all the people
that still yearn for the days of date rabbits.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
The weasel, we'll keep, we'll keep the stuff about. We
are one hundred percent cutting this stuff. He deserves no flowers.
All right, here's how we're going to do this. We're
going to preview the NFC North today. For those listening, reminder,
I will focus on three very specific stats or components
of each team, because you should know that when betters

(12:08):
think about these things and think about these teams, they
are oftentimes looking at success at the line of scrimmage,
offensive line, defensive line. So to me, the most important
stats to think about the rankings for these two teams,
because that is the heartbeat and the foundation of how
these teams are going to succeed or not succeed this year,
which led to a lot of different conclusions than I

(12:29):
think I would have otherwise had if I was eyeballing
this first team up. And a reminder, every single year,
for nineteen of the past twenty one years, ninety one
percent of the years an NFL team has gone from
worst to first in its division. In the NFC North.
Last year, the Lions won the division last place. Doub

(12:52):
Bears be do Bears. Lions use Lions right now. They're
oz to win the Super Bowl twelve to one, win
the division plus one fifty. Their season win total is
at ten and a half. Their strength of schedule field
that'll come to you after this twelfth artist. Their O

(13:14):
line ranking number one by a mile. This is according
to Pro Football Focus. Pinney Sewell number one rated offensive
lineman overall. Frank ragnow number one rated center. They lost
Jonah Jackson, but actually improved by signing the guy.

Speaker 3 (13:33):
From the Ravens, Hevin Zeitler.

Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah, Hevin Zeler, right, So they got better on the
offensive line, and their D line ranking is fourth because
Aiden Hutchinson is Elite grated out a top six pass rusher.
His one hundred and one QB pressures second to Mike
ca Parsons. Last year they added DJ Reader, who was
a bull for the Bengals. To me, and we talked
about this last year. Simon Alim McNeil, who now was

(13:57):
in the news because he got in that fight with
Daniel Jones at practice this week. Seventh best interior defender
and he was a problem. Like when they didn't have
him last year, they were not the same team. I
really wanted to bet on the Lions regressing. I got
back to basis, looked at their offensive defensive line and thought,
maybe not Field.

Speaker 3 (14:19):
Yeah, I like you over there. But it's going to
sound incongruent to some of the thoughts that I have
about the division as a whole. Part of what impressed
me for the Lions last season is that very quickly
after Week one, specifically, remember that they go to Kansas
City beat the Chiefs. There's no Travis Kelce in that game,
but it was still a convincing win by the Lions
on the road against the defending champs, and they quickly

(14:42):
went from being the hunter to the hunted, right like
that stamped them as a legitimate contender after one week.
They ended up losing Week two in this crazy overtime
game to the Seahawks, and then they go on and
have this great season. This team, I don't think is
concerned by expectations, which is something that there are other
teams that quickly risen up the ranks and I think
they're going to have to deal with And there are

(15:04):
some that I'm very confident in like the Houston Texans,
will see how they handle all the pressure. I think
it'll go pretty well. But there are also cases of
teams who all of a sudden, you have a different
level of expectation and it ends up manifesting itself in
more losses than it does more dom whinant wins. But
the Lions so good offensively. What's amazing about Detroit offensively

(15:25):
is that after Amana Saint Brown, is there a wide
receiver that scares you on this offense, at least based
off what he has accomplished at this point in his career,
I would argue not really. Jamis and Williams could certainly
get there. He was the twelfth pick in the draft
just a couple of years ago, but between scambling, suspension,
being hurt coming into the NFL, and just a relatively

(15:47):
modest role, has not yet established himself in that way.
So it's not like the Lions have like lost something
this offseason that's going to be really difficult for them
to replace. I think they probably top to bottom are
a better ross. The division I think is better as
well this year compared to where it was last year.
But I'm still optimistic. An alliance.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
Hello Detroit you die, then, yeah, I'm right there with you.
Both of you guys. It feels like we like to
be different, but this is not the time to be
different here. This is boring. And we talked about it
months ago that I had them as my third highest
graded team on my system. So people really don't understand why.

(16:29):
I think Chad has broke it down pretty simple there.
They have one of the best offensive lines in all football,
one of the best defensive lines of football, and then
throw it in the fact they're bringing back Ben Jons.
Why I think is one of the best minds in
all football. It's just it's all there. The conmunity on offense,
it's so important where so many teams are switching coordinators constantly,
where it's like no golf is. This is more comfortable
than golf has ever been in his career. It's more

(16:49):
comfortib they ever was. With McVeigh, he believes himself, he's
confident himself, he's making checks the offensive line, and you
go through and break down their film last year. The
thing I love so much about their offense cordinator is
the fact that he can see what we all see,
which is you know, all on st Brown's one of
their best players, so they're going to force feed him
when they need to. He quickly adjusted when he realized
Sam Laporta is just as important, and he designed so

(17:10):
many plays, and if you go through and break it down,
a lot of the places he stole was from Kansas City,
and it's like he's not trying to reevent the wheel.
He just realized, Oh, we have a unicorn here, and
I can just take these plays that have worked for
years with Travis Kelcey and you know, kind of fit
the end of our offenser and it really did work.
And that's the thing with this team. It's like Field
just said it the over ten and a half, I'll
take it like it's minus one thirty. So it's got

(17:32):
a little bit of juice to it. But I have
no mind paying that them as their favorite in this division.
They should be like them. The fact they're not minus
one ten, to me, that means there's value there. Plus
they're plus one fifty. I'll take that value just because
people do believe in a team. We're gonna talk about
a little bit of green Bay, so I am getting
a plus number just because green Bay is the anchor
in this division. Right now, they're the new sexy fun team.

(17:52):
So to me, I'm getting a free free points here, free,
a free you know, nice bed here on this Lion's
team that should be closer to eleven and a half,
and I think they've adjusted too much. Were Green Bay.
They actually played the lines really well last year, Like
if you go back and watch that Thanksgiving game, that's
what I think, you know, Barnwell talked about this Lion's
team as great as they perceived last year. Barmeo said

(18:14):
it they had won a lot of coin flip games,
like they had games where, you know, if it wasn't
going right, they could get blown out. I think they
made those fixes to their defense. Chat they really did
try to attack the secondary just like the Eagles did. Right,
they couldn't stop anyone thrown in the middle of the field,
just like the Eagles couldn't last year. I think Detroit
knew that and that's the position that tried to attack.
So I'm gonna get benefit of the dovalt to a
team that kept all their coaches and their offense is

(18:35):
only get better because the two rookies they drafted last
year and Gibbs and Laporta, they're only going to be
better this year. So to me, all arrows points up
to this Detroit team that this is the year. If
they don't win it this year, Ben Johnson is going
to be there next year. I really do believe they'll
move on. This has got to be the year for
Detroit finally finally break through at least to make it
to the NFC Championship Game and then maybe a Super Bowl.

Speaker 1 (18:55):
Yeah, I was. I was surprised when I was doing
the research here how much I ended up liking the
Lions because, Simon, we've been talking about the Packers and
we're going to get to them next. We've been talking
about the Packers as the team that we thought there
might be more value on. And then I see how
dominant the Lions are in the places that matter the

(19:17):
most offensively and defensively in the line of scrimmage. And
the Lions are at plus one fifty. Are you fucking
kidding me? Yeah, Like, of course we're going to bit
the Lions at plus one fifty. They should be closer
to plus one hundred minus one ten, like you said.
So that's number one. Number two, Jared Goff, don't forget
and feel I want your take on golf as a

(19:39):
quarterback and where you sort of see him within the
entire context of the NFL, because you are thinking about
this NonStop from a QB perspective. But Jared Goff is
just straight baller against the spread. The most profitable quarterback
against the spread in Week one over the past twenty years,

(20:00):
Jared Goff seven to zero against the spread. In openers,
Jared Goff indoors thirty five and seventeen against the spread,
twenty five and nine the past two season, past three
seasons thirty six, thirty five and two against the spread outdoors.
For what it's worth, the Lions have thirteen indoor games

(20:23):
this year, plus a game in Dallas in which, depending
on the weather in the fall, could be indoors field.
We're gonna have to talk about Jordan Love, but give
me a Jared Goff take. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (20:36):
And by the way, those outdoor games include an early
November game in Green Bay. It could be cold, but
it's not going to be most likely frigid, and then
a late December game in San Francisco, which, while they
play on grass, December and San Francisco, as you guys know,
could be a fairly moderate climate Goff is so exceptional
within the confines of what Detroit has asked him to do.

(20:59):
Jared Goff, I don't lose too much sleep over like
debating which quarterback is two or three or four or five.
I tend to look at quarterbacks in tiers buckets. There's
the very elite tier, maybe it's a one man tier
with Patrick Maholmes, and then that second tier of elite
signal callers. There is an eventual tier, whether it's Tier two, three, four,
somewhere in that range that I would say represents players

(21:21):
that are above the quarterback Mendoza line. I think Jared
Goff is appropriately above that quarterback Mendoza ligne, which is
that I don't think Jared Goff is going to be
the player that's going to single handedly lean carry a
team towards a deep playoff run. But I do think
Jared Goff, with the right pieces around him, can highly
can operate a system at a high level. And that's

(21:41):
exactly what Detroit has done with the pieces they have
placed around him. That great offensive line that Chad referenced
and this pretty intriguing offensive system run by Ben Johnson.
So the contract this offseason was no surprise to me.
I think it was a totally reasonable measure for Detroit
to take, and I am a general pro Jared Goff guy.

Speaker 1 (22:03):
The Lions the past three years the best ATS record
since the Patriots in two thousand and sixteen. In fact,
they are one, two three, top seven in the past
twenty years. Patriots in two thousand and three to two

(22:25):
thousand and five seventy one percent, Chargers two thousand and
four to two thousand and six sixty nine percent, Patriots
sixty nine percent sixteen to eighteen, Minnesota sixty nine percent,
sixty seven, sixty nine percent twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen, Carolina
sixty seven percent, ninety four to ninety six, and then

(22:50):
the Detroit Lions. So a really good team the past
three years. And if I would say, bet regression at
your own peril, because they are good enough in the
areas that you need to be good to continue to
maintain success. They are not just an edge talent player team.
Green Bay nineteen to one to win the Super Bowl

(23:12):
plus two ten to win the Division over nine and
a half. Fourteenth, hardest schedule, offensive line ranking also middle
of the road fourteenth, defensive line ranking eleventh. I do
think there's potential with this defensive line, Like Rashaan Garry
is great, had his injuries, this use issues, so we
don't know that could be a higher number based on

(23:34):
one dominant player Devonte Wyatt, you know, Carl Brooks have potential. Honestly,
I think the biggest difference for their this defense, Simon
is Jeff Haffley, who quit as the head coach at
Boston College College Sports was going said, I am out
of here changing the defense from three four hundred Joe

(23:56):
Berry the past three seasons to a four to three.
This will be a much better defense. I don't know
that the preseason rankings reflect the potential of this defense.

Speaker 2 (24:08):
Yeah, it's the same old tune though, Chad. We've been
hearing this since bred farvdays. I mean every year you
hear that, you know, like all the ones and twos
they have on defense, all the first round, second round
picks they have on their defense, and every year they go, well,
it must be the coordinator. We'll bringing a new guy
for a couple of years, and it's just never really
panned out, right, I Mean, I still can't believe they
only have one ring to show for those Aaron Rodger years.

(24:30):
I mean, it really is mind blowing when you think
of the talent level.

Speaker 1 (24:33):
I blame McCarthy. I think it's make I honestly, I think.

Speaker 3 (24:36):
It's Brady and Mahomes and I'll explain that in a second.

Speaker 1 (24:39):
But it's also right. It's also it's also Aaron Rodgers,
like he might have been too arrogant to acquiesce to
some of the things that needed to be done. I
don't want to go into tangent. I want to talk
about this team. Nine and a half is a win
total plus two ten as the division.

Speaker 2 (24:53):
But you know there was just criminate to it like that.
One of our stupidest bets we've ever won in our
lives chat was we had the forty nine ers and a
plus number against Aaron Rodgers and we won it on
a block punt in like the fourth quarter, in which
a game that Green Bay's defense dominated the fort y
Aras offense. Fast forward to I think it was two
years later, the Fortyniners ran for like three hundred yards
against that greens Bay's defense right in the playoffs. It's

(25:15):
like it just never synced up with that Green Bay
team when their offense had it their defense and advice versas.
But the most interesting conversation about this team this year
is the fact that professionals are so split, Like I'm
talking guys that are betting down you know, six figures
big money right now on this Green Bay team because
they do believe in Jordan Love and what they saw.
And I'm just having a really hard time getting there, Chad,

(25:37):
because I want to believe because the film is unbelievable,
but it is the smallest of small samples, and it
was so perfect. I mean, he was flawless, pressure in
his face, he moved without even thinking about it outside
the pocket, throwing fifty yard bombs right down the scene
to guys right in stride. It was like, who is
this man? Like, I mean again, we had an offensive

(25:57):
tackle who played with him and pra this for years,
and he said, we never saw that in practice. He
came in our podcast talked about it, and it's just like, okay,
if that's there is saying you never saw that in practice.
They didn't know right that they had to restructure his
deal for that feature option, because even the team was like,
we really don't know what Jordan Love is. They quickly
realized this dude's a gamer, and I think Lafloor realized
that as well, because he really opened up the playbook

(26:19):
the second half of the year and that's when it
all started working out. So that's why I want to
be hard on here, being like, you have to fade
this team regression and regression regression, which I think most
common people think that way, But the tools are all there.
They have this incredible young group wide receivers that we
all just love, especially in the fantasy football community. It's
like you could debate for hours who you think is
going to be the number one receiver on this team,

(26:40):
like everyone has throwing an opinion at the end of
the day. I said it last year. I took a
lot of shit from Green Bay fans about it. Jordan
loved for them to make the playoffs. I said it,
he had to be a Pro Bowler, and I said,
I just I couldn't bet on him being a Pro bowler.
Little did I know he was going to be a
Pro Bowl and they were going to sneak in that
last seed. And it's like he had to play perfect again.
Eighteen touchdowns, win interception the end of the season, like

(27:01):
you just we had never seen anything like that. With
a guy who making his first four year as a starter,
so I get where people are at on this. My
position has not changed though. Chat as much as I
want to talk myself into take on their over, I
just can't do it. I've taken their under, especially now
it's at plus one fifty plus one forty and a
lot of books the under a minus nine and a half.
I think they're right there. Nine wins in this division. Again,

(27:22):
the Bears are not going to be a walk over.
Two to zero win for this Green Bay team. I
think they split it, and I do have the lines
as well, giving them a better game than they did
in Thanksgiving. So my view of it is just Green Bay.
They had a really benefit of the schedule down the
stretch last year. This year we already talked about it.
Their schedule is much harder. I just I can't go
to the public care. I can't take this over. But
I see why people are doing it, just because it's

(27:44):
all there, like the piece is the coaching, it's all
there for them to be great this year. It's just
I need to see it more from Jordan Love and
then I'll put my money behind it. Before Right now,
I'm happy to be the contrarion here and take their
under field.

Speaker 1 (27:56):
I'm gonna come to you in a sec. I just
wanted to put some context here because I am shocked, Simon.
There were three of the Packers and the Lions, and
we are aligned that the Packers, or that the Lions
over ten and a half and the Lions plus one
fifty are the better values in this division, and that
we have more confidence in those bets than we do

(28:17):
in the Packers at plus two to ten and the
Packers over nine and a half. Because if before I
started doing the research, if you had send to me
two weeks ago we were gonna go this way, I
would have been like, no way, Like there's too much regression,
too much hype for the Lions. I do have some
stats that after field goes.

Speaker 2 (28:32):
I mean, barbol did scare the shitt me when he
gave us allose stats about the Troy I'm not gonna lie.

Speaker 1 (28:36):
I do want to give some stats about Matt Lafleur
and his success, because he'd be an amazing is amazing field.
Jordan love Mendoza line quarterback, even though he's even though
he's getting you know, Lebron James money.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
Way above the Mendoza line way way above, and I'll
say this, Simon was smart and mentioning the fantas love
for the Packers wide receivers. It's almost like but it's
hard because they all could be values. But there's no
way that all four of their top receivers end up
being values. Like inevitably, one or two will rise and
one or two will fade. But what I will say

(29:15):
is that every time I think about, like which Packers
receiver do I like the most, which Packers tight end
do I like the most? Or how confident am I
in this reshaped and very very good offensive line, I
keep coming back and saying to myself, rather than worrying
about which Packers receiver I like the most or which
Packers tight ut I like the most, maybe I focus
on the possibility. And Chad, you can remove your headphones

(29:37):
for a second if you'd like the Jordan Love was
a dark horse MVP candidate this year. Oh my place
for this player to potentially be an NFL MVP not
my pick, but a dark horse MVP candidate, Jordan Love.

Speaker 1 (29:52):
Here are some stats about Matt Lafleur. Okay that I
didn't realize. Okay, it was Matt Lafleur and Aaron Rodgers,
and Matt Flora looks brilliant because Aaron Rodgers was brilliant.
And then I think in Aaron Rodgers' last couple of years,
he did things that Matt Lafleur told him to do,
and he played better than he had in sort of
earlier years, right because he was on a downward trend.

(30:15):
Last year was the first year in which we were
Matt Lafleoor was proving what a good coach he is
no matter who's on the field, and we were blown
away by what he did with Jordan Love. Since getting
the job, he's fifty three and thirty seven against the spread,
second most profitable coach against the spread behind just Dan
Campbell of the Lions. He is an underdog in the Packers'

(30:39):
first game in Brazil. Matt Lafleur's Packers had been underdogs
thirty two times. He's covered twenty two of those by
an average of four points a game. In the first
three weeks of the regular season, before anyone is able
to make adjustments, Matt Lafloor thirteen and two against against
the spread. So we do like Matt Lafleur and also

(31:02):
think about this after they opened against the Eagles in Brazil,
Colts at home, Titans on the road, Vikings at home,
Cardinals at home. This team like is going to get
off to a very hot start, which makes me think, Simon,
if the Lions falter a little bit, it's going to
be time to buy back into the Lions even more.

Speaker 2 (31:24):
I like that.

Speaker 1 (31:25):
H There you go, all right, guys, Chicago Bears, we're
still live.

Speaker 3 (31:32):
Just as for for those out there watching us live,
we just wanted to acknowledge you and thank you for yes,
thank you through that very clumsy thank you.

Speaker 1 (31:42):
We're doing We're doing video in the digital video era.
This is what's going to happen.

Speaker 2 (31:50):
I didn't know we're alive either. Thank god I didn't
make a bad joke that.

Speaker 1 (31:53):
Thought it, which means all that stuff about Nate Ravits
ends up staying in.

Speaker 2 (31:59):
It for Unfortunately.

Speaker 1 (32:02):
Chicago Bears thirty five to one to win the Super
Bowl plus two sixty five to win the division. Season
win total is eight and a half. Strength of schedule. Again,
strength of schedule is based on projections of season win
totals by odds makers Chicago in the upcoming season, Chicago

(32:23):
has the third easiest schedule, third easiest schedule, which is
going to make their collapse all the more painful for
Chicago Bears fans. O Lion rank according to Pro Football Focus,
eleventh Tevin Jenkins at guard has become an anchor on
this offensive line. I would not have expected that after
he had a very slow start to his career. Top

(32:44):
five guard in the latter half of the season. This
team generally was great. Darnell Wright first round pick. Everyone
was like, what last year? He turned out great. I
think he's headed in the right direction. They're blocking efficiency
in the last half of the year was top ten
in the NFL, top half of the NFL. I mean

(33:06):
the problem is the defensive line. Montest Sweat their twenty
seventh ranked Montest Wett was great when he joined midway
through the year. Completely changed the defense, made them much
better front to back. The Bears had to get better
in so many spots. They needed an edge rudger, they
needed to help the offensive line. They needed to get
the quarterback. They needed to get the quarterback and receiver.

(33:26):
They did the right things to me by improving the
offensive line. Drafting Roma Dunze, you got to give him
what he needs because the window is so short that
d line is going to be a problem. And then
there's history, which we're going to talk about. But first field,
where'st my bubble on the Bears?

Speaker 3 (33:45):
I so I think there are ways that we can
maybe speak out of both sides of them mouth as
it pertains to the Chicago Bears. This team's going to improve,
I think like quite a bit. And while Kayla Williams
is getting a ton of hype, I think sometimes we
are even ignoring, like what the potential extreme is here
for KILEB Williams, which is to b c J. Stroud

(34:07):
and be a quarterback that butts into the top five, six,
seven in the entire NFL right away. Strouded that last year.
Obviously that's possible for KILEB Williams, extremely bullish on the
player coming out of USC. To me, the clear cut
number one quarterback prospect, number one overall prospects in this
past two year's draft was Caleb Williams. I also am

(34:30):
going to be hesitant in just making the positive case
for all four teams in division, and I've already done
so with two teams, which means that you can't totally
be all in on four, So I think the Bears
take some steps forward. I also think that this is
a team that might come up just the hairshy of
the playoffs, which in the NFC I think could be

(34:51):
a little easier than the AFC to get to. But
I think I stepped forward for the Bear to like
eight or nine wins is very much in play without
it also including a trip to the postseason. And that's
where I'm at. Is that reasonable or no? Are you
mad at me?

Speaker 1 (35:05):
We okay, no, No, It's totally reasonable. And look there's
I'm like already game planning my Thursday night on August,
you know, this Thursday when the Bears Hard Knocks premiere
at night Thursday.

Speaker 3 (35:23):
Thursday night.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
I'm like, I'm planning a freaking party. But I'm looking
down at I'm looking down at my phone right now
because I want to find the latest odds for MVP
and look for Kayleb Williams, who right now is fifty
to one to an MVP. Okay, these would be the

(35:45):
shortest odds for any rookie in the last fifteen years.
Let me give you some of the names on this list,
and you will say to yourself, oh my God, this
guy is screwed right. Trey Lance was one hundred and
one twenty one, Joe Burrow one hundred to one, Okay
to one hundred to one, Herbert one hundred to one.

(36:07):
It's gonna get ugly after this. Leonard Fournette one hundred
to one. Kyler Murray was eighty to one, Mac Jones
was eighty to one. Melvin Gordon in twenty fifteen seventy
five to one. The Bears are minus one ten to
make the playoffs. In the last fifteen years, Chicago has

(36:29):
had minus oided to make the playoffs three times and
missed all three times. Simon, I could go on, pay Simon,
I could go on, But we got to walk away
from this Bears team.

Speaker 2 (36:42):
Yeah, you know, I'm the grim Reaper in comes to
this Bears team. In the hype, we had on a
guy from Chicago, a radio host, and he was Danny Perkins. Yeah,
he's my favorite classic Chicago guy where he's just blind
to the truth. I like, I feel like I stabbed
the horror. I told him the joke of Chicago's that's
where qbs go to die and he was just like, oh,

(37:02):
that's not true. And in the weather and it's like,
you know, the weather excuse doesn't work when in Green Bay,
Cleveland and Buffalo of all had guys that threw over
four thousand yards. It's just they've never had a guy
like Williams. And Williams's the breaker of all these streaks
they've had, Like he is the guy that we expect
that will change the history books for Chicago. It's if
he would have came out after his freshman year of Oklahoma,

(37:23):
he would have been the number one pick. Like this
kid has just been waiting for that day to be
the number one pick his whole life. I mean you
talk about in high school, his dad was prepping him
to be the number one pick, prepping him with media training.
It's like it's just next level. We can't even fathom
because it's just such a different world than we have
every even experienced. So Williams has so much pressure on him.
It doesn't work like that. In a football it's all
about the guys who don't see coming that work out right.

(37:46):
It's the rock parties, the Ben Roethlisberger's right, the Stroud CJ.
We thought he'd be all right, and I think this
kid was going to throw whatever it was twenty three
touchdown the five picks. No, my brain can't wrap my head.
I can't wrap my head around it. It's like we
never seen a rookie so small with the ball. That's
what Williams has to be. Like, if Kim Williams wants
to go over nine and a half wins, it's up
to nine and a half wins. Chad like that, that

(38:08):
to me is insane at this point, Like we we
talked to them getting drafted, it was seven and a half.
It has now been pushed up to nine and a half.
Chad just said they're Super Bowl odds are thirty five
to one. That is the dumbest bet you could ever
make in your life betting them to make it to
Super Bowl.

Speaker 1 (38:21):
It's lower than they were simon last year when we
love them with Justin Fields, you know.

Speaker 2 (38:27):
But they are They're a way better team this year.
That's why I understand why we're so upset that Fields
didn't get this chance. And it's like that's not how
football works, right, It's like they're the team who's doing
the best they can trying to build. I mean, Poles
has done an incredible job setting all this up, so
I already told you my bet for Chicago. If you
want to have fun, my bet is Williams overpassing yards.
I think that is something attainable. I think when we

(38:48):
talked about it was that three thousand, five hundred. It
might be up to three thoy six hundred seven hundred
now just because the hype is just boiling so high now,
it's just it's crazy. So to me, I have to
bet the under nine and a half. But they're not
my favorite under team and it's kind of like Green Bay, right,
I'm just throwing a little bit on their under stame
with Green Bay the fourth team we're gonna talk about here,
that's that's the team I love for an under. But

(39:10):
this division has just gone from you know, we didn't
really know what they were last year, right, it was
Kirk Cousins Division. Jared Goff is kind of shocked. We
didn't really know we had Jordan of Love and really
know no waving justin fields. To now this is a position,
this this division in a year or two could be
this the juggernaut in football. Right if Golf stays what
he's doing and Jordan Love keeps us sending and Caleb

(39:30):
Williams works out and JJ works out. Wow, Like this
is a really tough division with some great coach and
again we talked about it, even through is the worst
coach in this division, and it's not really close. Right,
we have the most doubts of him compared to the Vikings,
Green Bay and Detroit. So it's just the hype is
too high at this point, right, You just can't do it.
It's just not logical to bet this number, especially they're

(39:51):
over win total, even though it's at a number, it's
at one fifty forty five right now, the under nine
and a half for an under for this team at
that price, I'm only eat the fig and the juice
on that just because again it opened at seven and
a half and it's gone up two games just on hype.
So I just have to take that position.

Speaker 1 (40:07):
Chad Field Caleb Williams passing yardage that's a fantasy gold mine.
When you think about Caleb Williams as a fantasy quarterback,
doesn't match up with a yardage Hall that would go
as high as Simon is projecting.

Speaker 3 (40:29):
So I have this quarterback thirteen right now. That's where
I have KILEB Williams in my quarterback rankings, and it's
right outside kind of a tier which ends with Jaden Daniels,
the number two pick in the draft.

Speaker 1 (40:38):
But this is.

Speaker 3 (40:39):
Fantasy football, this is not real life football, where I
don't know about the future of Caleb Williams.

Speaker 2 (40:46):
At least.

Speaker 3 (40:46):
Out of the gates is how much rushing do we
see from Kileb Williams into design nature. They've got so
many players around Kileb Williams, so the Bears may say,
why bother risking our quarterback in any way, shape or
form when we can just hand the ball off to
backfill now led to by DeAndre Swift or throw to
what is immediately in competition for the best receiving trio

(41:07):
in the NFL. So yeah, the passing total is probably
the gateway for Killer Williams to have a massive fantasy season,
So I could I think I'm buying with sion is
Simon is selling right now?

Speaker 1 (41:20):
The Bears win total at nine and a half, that
would be the third team to have a win total
of nine or more after selecting a QB in the
top five of the NFL draft. The other teams twenty
twenty one San Francisco forty nine ers with Trey Lance
at ten and a half nineteen ninety two. Neither of

(41:45):
you fuckers were born yet New York Giants ninety two.

Speaker 3 (41:50):
I was born. Yeah, it was a couple of years.

Speaker 1 (41:53):
New York Giants, David Brown.

Speaker 2 (41:56):
Wow, that's a big cuts right there.

Speaker 3 (42:00):
Up.

Speaker 1 (42:01):
Here's another reason, another reason to fade the Chicago Bears.
It's the highest team over under for a drafted for
a quarter for a team that's drafted quarterback first overall
in the wild Card Era since nineteen eighty one, Team
Chicago Bears. That's it. After that again, the Giants and

(42:26):
Dave Brown, Bryce Young and the Panthers, I think they're
you too early because we know we love the Panthers
this year. And then the Rams and Jared got so
everything that is that Caleb Williams is tied to Caleb
Williams right now is unprecedented when it comes to team expectations.

Speaker 2 (42:46):
It's impossible to look up to It's it truly is impossible.

Speaker 3 (42:49):
You know. It's this is so Chad is just setting
himself up. You are just emotionally preparing yourself. Is what
you're doing here. I see it, I see it.

Speaker 1 (42:57):
By the way you nailed it. I am just so
getting ready so I can be in case it's a
little bit of an emotional hedge.

Speaker 2 (43:07):
Fair enough, it goes great if he does get the
ten wins, Chad, you can go. You can do a
whole episode just going off how great he is. I
support it because that, to me would be him going
ten and seven in that division. That would be truly
an incredible feat when.

Speaker 1 (43:19):
He goes to ten, When he goes to ten and
seven throws for four thousand yards and twenty five touchdowns.
We're just turning this into the Chicago Bears podcast. God,
I can guarantee you that a podcast. It won't be
in the near future. Minnesota Vikings podcast. This team is
eighty to one plus one thousand to win the division,

(43:43):
six and a half of the win total. I think
that's being generous because their strength to schedule is fifth hardest.
Their O line rank is thirteenth. Obviously, Christian Derishad just
signed a huge contract. Third best pass block and tackle
per PFF in twenty twenty three. The rest of the
line is mediocre, and the d LI rank if the

(44:04):
Bears were like and oh at twenty seventh, the Vikings
are in oh crap at thirtieth, Daniel Hunter gone to
the Tecans. Texans their best player now Andrew Van Ginkel,
who at twenty nine just had a career year for
the Dolphins and did smart thing. Got a bag off
of that one year, but he's generally battled injuries through

(44:27):
his career. We don't know who the quarterback is yet.
Whoever it will be is playing behind an average offensive
line in a brutal opening schedule. So Field, gimme, gimme
something to hang on to for the Vikings if you can.

Speaker 3 (44:42):
All right, So, Kevin O'Connell's a really really good head coach.
Who is going to be Kevin O'Connell tutor? Yep, left,
Kevin O'Connell's going to be awesome for whoever is the
starting quarterback sounds more and more like it's going to
be Sam Darnold the beginning of the season, but it
won't last long, as I think eventually JJ McCarthy is
going to take over this job as a rookie. I'm
not going to sit here and go full Mike Golick

(45:03):
junior on you with offensive line talk, but I want
to put a little bit more respect on our guy.
Brian O'Neill, their right tackle I think is a good
player as well. And maybe if you're looking for something
to hang your hat on, it's that this team last
year when Kirk Cousins was outstayed frisky. I'm generally less
optimistic here. Somebody is going to have to finish fourth
in this division. If I had to cast my die

(45:24):
on one team as of right now, it's Minnesota. I
think the coaches on both sides of the ball are
very good. I do think there are some enough question
marks at key roster spots that I am just a
touch concern about this team.

Speaker 1 (45:38):
Where else do you have question marks? Because to me,
I don't know where you don't have question marks on
this team? Oh?

Speaker 3 (45:43):
Really?

Speaker 1 (45:44):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (45:44):
I mean the wide receiver room really really good. Justin
Jefferson by himself makes the wide receiver room good. But
Jordan Attison, a first round pick last year. We'll see
whether he finished faces punishment or not for a recent
incidents that frankly, I can't imagine how he put himself
in that that of a spot once again. Second so

(46:04):
I think it was was it speeding less or not?
We don't have to sit here and go through it all.
But yes, two separate incidents that were not good defensively.
You know, they kind of like they punched above their
weight last year. Because Brian Flores is really good, they
found an undrafted gym and I have in pace linebacker
Dallas Turner plus Andrew Van Ginkel plus Jonathan Gernard forms

(46:25):
a pretty decent pass rushing trio if you ask me.
The secondary is thin, but maybe because of the chaotic
scheme that Brian Flores employees, you don't need to be
quite as loaded at cornerback. I've talked to many, many,
many defensive coaches over many years who have told me
time and again it is much easier to cover up
for deficient cornerback room with a great rush than it

(46:47):
is the inverse, especially with the way that the NFL
is officiated these days and how restrictive the rules are
for defensive backs. So, yeah, that will be my case
for them to be a competitive team this year. More
competitive than you might think based off their roster. But
I do think this team is four out of four
in this division.

Speaker 2 (47:05):
Yeah, I'll just stay off the top. This is one
of the teams I'm taking my larger positions on to
be one of the worst teams on football, and it
stinks because I do love they're coaching so much. But
Chad just nailed it. If you're if you're not driving,
open up your phone real quick and go and look
at their schedule. Their first their first game against the
Giants is definitely winnable, but the next eight are brutal.

(47:25):
Like there, it's a brutal opening slate for them with
the let.

Speaker 1 (47:29):
Me read it, everybody right, They got the Giants and
look we like, we liked the Giants.

Speaker 2 (47:35):
I love the Giants, Simon.

Speaker 1 (47:36):
You and I have bet the Giants already. It's going
to be one of the five picks that we love.
Then they have the Niners, Texans, Packers, Jets, Lions, Rams.
If you listen to the Action Network podcast with Stucky
and Raybon, they did their AFC NFC previews in May.

(47:56):
Stucky had a great bet. Is there a team that
might be better to bet on to be the last
winless team than the Minnesota Vikings? Like they could be?
They could be and eight.

Speaker 2 (48:13):
And the only reason I haven't made that better is
just because I have so much invested in that Week
one that if can't I can't take double l's on
that if they beat the Giants, that would kill me.
But you nailed a Chad where it's just even if
they somehow improve a little bit on defense, last year
was so far above it and it's just I just

(48:33):
can't see they don't have the pieces. To me, it's
a it's a team that's in a total rebuild. And again,
we we talk all the time about this where it's
like coaching can really steal you a couple of wins.
I mean, Brian Gable won a couple of games with
his third string quarterback against you know, pretty good teams
last year. It's like these these coaches even here, you
know they have that they had the past or not
winning games for them a couple of games. We know

(48:53):
these things can happen. So again, I wouldn't be shocked
if they do. Someone I get the four wins six
and a half. Six and a half wins is what
the books are hanging it out right now. So this
is it under I've just been hitting heavy and I
know selfish, I didn't want to talk about too much
cause I wanted to keep getting a ton of value
on it so I could bet it all summer. I'm
tapped out. I don't need to put any more into this.
It's like, I am so fat on betting this game's

(49:15):
under It's like I can't, I can't bet anymore. So
if you want to go out and bet them worst
records still plus, you know, I think it was twelve
to one or thirteen to one. In most books, it's
come down to eleven to one a couple so shop around.
But and again I don't want to bring up to
sports book. There is one sports book that don't bet
any NFL futures on them because they're going to tax
you extra after January. So make sure you're with a

(49:36):
book that's not going to crush your futures after January,
because again, the season runs until after January. Now, people,
that's that's how long the season is. So this Vikings team,
to me, it's just it's a classic case of they
knew what they're going to be and they let Kirk walk, right,
They could have brought Kirk back to do another nine
and eight, ten and seven kind of season, right. That's

(49:56):
that this, like Field said, they have some of the
best receivers on football, Like, they have the pieces here
to make it all work. You know, even TJ is
coming back off a big injury. I still think he'll
be a solid play for them.

Speaker 1 (50:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (50:08):
Defensive wise, Oh, they're gonna be terrible. And now you
bring in the fact that I just talked about Jordan
Lovey in The Ultimate Gamer. Sam Donald is whatever the
opposite of that is. This is the guy who, in
practice he is number three overall, can't miss throwing dimes
in corner pocket Sam Donald. Once the game starts, Ghosts
Ghost Ghost Ghosts, and we talked about it, he's now

(50:29):
he might be starting his first game back into that
stadium that you know he has PTSD, going back to
met Life, like that's where it all went wrong for him.
So to me, they're in a spot where it's like,
I don't know why they wouldn't just start jj E.
And if he's gonna be rough out the gate, who cares? Like,
who cares? If it's rough out the gate? You're you're
literally just trying to get this guy reps and get
him experienced because he didn't have the reps in college,

(50:49):
Like he just was not passing as much as you
needed him to throw. So to me, he's my most
most exciting prospect. Me and you talked about before during
the draft chat. This is a kid that won in
high school and then he won in college, and he
was always the guy right. He was always number one ranked,
number two ranked kid coming out of high school, always
was a big known player at Michigan. He lived up

(51:10):
to all those expectations. So to me, Minnesota, I'm taking
a giant dump on your chest right now, and I'm
so sorry about it. I'm just shitting on you guys,
and I hate your team this year. The future is
so bright if he does stay with this coaching staff
and they do keep putting the pieces around him. But man,
is this season gonna suck? Like you guys? I just
said it. You could easily be zero to nine, and

(51:30):
it's like you wouldn't be shocked. That's a juggernaut start
to the season for either Sam Darnold or JJ. It's
just brutal how the schedule makers laid it out. So
I'm sorry, I'm Minnesota, but they got to be one
of my favorite unders the season.

Speaker 1 (51:43):
Check now you're.

Speaker 3 (51:45):
Allowed back in the Twin Cities again.

Speaker 1 (51:47):
Field. You talk to a lot of guys and you
mentioned Kevin O'Connell, and I love Kevin O'Connell. I agree
with him. I love him. I think he's a great coach.
And I felt like, you know, Brian Daball and him
started the same time, and I felt like Brian Daball
got too much credit for being a great coach that
first year with the Giants, and I don't think Kevin

(52:07):
O'Connell got enough credit last year.

Speaker 2 (52:09):
Well, he did beat him on the row with Daniel j.

Speaker 1 (52:12):
I'm not saying. I'm not saying Brian David didn't deserve
the credit and that Kevin O'Connell didn't deserve the blame
for those games. I'm saying last year, Brian, what Kevin
O'Connell did, after Kirk Cousins went out, after Justin Jefferson
went out with a really poorous defense that Brian Flores
was doing as good as he could could with. He
still put that team in a lot of great spots

(52:35):
where they had a path to the playoffs, starting guys
like off the street. When you look at Kevin O'Connell,
you mentioned he's a good coach. What do you like
about him, What do you like about what he does
with quarterbacks? What do you hear from other people you
talk to in the league.

Speaker 3 (52:47):
Yeah, so Kevin O'Connell is an excellent making the quarterback
decisions easy coach for him. Right, I'm not saying that
there aren't complex nuances to the offense. There certainly are,
but he allows things to slow down for quarterbacks. He
also allows them to not have to worry about factors
that are out of their control. If they have poorous
offensive line play, if the receivers are hurt, he can

(53:08):
find ways to help make the scheme easier. His demeanor
is really good as well. I think we are more
and more in a generation or an era, whatever you
want to call it, of tough love coaching not being
the norm anymore. Right in part, I think you can
trace that to the roots of college football, where these
guys are now getting paid, and if you have a coach,
it's dropping the hammer on a kid. He can say,
I'm gonna take my millions upon millions of dollars from

(53:31):
nil money and go somewhere else because I have an
opportunity to go somewhere where they might tribute, like Worldy,
even if I'm in a bit of a funk. So
Kevin O'Connell is a very high relatability level. Maybe it's
because he played in the NFL as a quarterback, even
if it was briefly really smart guy, somebody who seems
to have the capacity to ride the wave a little

(53:52):
bit as well. Things haven't always been easy for the Vikings.
We saw that last year when Kirk Cousins was hurt.
They still found a way to kind of keep that
outlook and they ended up like proving it right, like
they were hanging tougher than many of us expected down
the stretch last season, which not only excluded Kirk Cousins,
but of course did not include Justin Jefferson for a

(54:14):
huge stretch of games.

Speaker 1 (54:16):
A couple weeks ago, I think it was last week, actually,
Simon was in Connecticut and he came by my house
and we had lunch together in the kitchen with my wife.
He met my younger son, and when he and I
were having lunch with my wife, he was talking about betting,
and you know, she was surprised to learn that I
had a podcast and that somebody else to me, and

(54:40):
we were talking about betting and the way he talked
about betting with the confidence he talked about it. That night,
Stacey looked at me and she says, how are we
not giving this guy all of our money. I feel
like no matter what we give him, we would come
out better in the end.

Speaker 3 (54:58):
The jillionaires, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (55:00):
Jillionaires, we'd have. So she was so taken and enamored
by his confidence and his story and his humanity, and
he's so personable. She loved it. So I think all
of us we should just pull our money and just
give it to Simon.

Speaker 2 (55:14):
Tell her six and a half check.

Speaker 1 (55:16):
Well, that's what I'm gonna say. What we're gonna do
with that money to recap, We're gonna put it all
in the Lions plus one fifty. We're going to put
in the Lions over ten and a half, and we
are going to go to town. This is the strongest take
you've had of the previous we've done so far at
the AFC and NFC South and now the NFC North
Vikings under six and a half. Simon loves it. I

(55:38):
love it. I feel I don't want to put words
in your mouth. Do you have an opinion on Vikings
under six six and a half? I do you know.

Speaker 3 (55:46):
I continue to feel as though this is a team
that might be four of four years. So I think
we largely agree on our assessment of where things are
going to shake out. I feel even stronger about how
I view the vikings after and I didn't realize previously
how difficult their schedule is out of the shoots. That
is very tough pre buy and even those three weeks

(56:07):
after the buye as well.

Speaker 2 (56:08):
Would you still take Justin Jefferson the first round knowing
all what you know now? Or would you? Yeah, you
wouldn't bump him down a little bit.

Speaker 3 (56:15):
No, he's fine by me. He's you know, generational in
terms of talent, are close to it. And you know,
quarterback play didn't really defy him last year, right, I
mean he came back and was playing with Jaron Pall
and Nick Mullins and drive a schm morgas sport of
quarterbacks and absolutely bald out when he was healthy after
that hamstring strain for whatever it was eight or nine
games that he missed, which stump.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
Obviously as a reminder of the favorite podcast is presented
by a bet three six five. Bet three six five
doesn't do ordinary. That's why you get more boosts with
them than with anyone else. Every day they powered the
odds on hundreds of bets to give you a chance
to win more Bet three six five Boost specific markets.
You're winnings and even parlays, and they don't stop there.
Keep an eye for their biggest and best odds with
the incredible super Boost. Check out the Boost and see

(56:56):
why It's never ordinary at Bet three six five. Must
be twenty one or old and president in Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana,
North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia or eighteen and older
in Kentucky. Gambling problem called one eight hundred gambler or
one eight hundred bets off in Iowa terms Conditions restrictions apply.
Simon and I are back with our next episode of
The Favorites on the Action Network. You two page Thursday,

(57:17):
eleven am Eastern to talk AFC North with special guest
Warren Sharp. Downloads from Spotify, Apple Pods wherever you get
your pods, Rate review, subscribe, We was five stars. Say
whatever you want. Feedback is a gift. Until next time,
Love you. Action Network reminds you please gamble responsibly. If

(57:44):
you or someone you care about has a gambling problem,
help is available twenty four to seven at one eight
hundred Gambler