November 29, 2019 • 55 mins
Doing his job has Ben with another winning week after he went 10-4 in Week 12. The season is winding now before bedlam begins during Wild Card Weekend. Follow along and enjoy the ride with only a few more weeks left in the regular season.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome, players, Welcome. It's time now Penny the Penny. It
is Benny versus the Penny. Week thirteen in the NFL.
Now we are smack dab in the middle of this
on the fifth hour with Ben Mallory. We already had
(00:23):
three games that were playing on Thanksgiving. He had the
Bears and the Lions, the Bills and the Cowboys, and
the Saints and the Falcons. So rather than talk about
those games, we have to look forward. We don't look back.
We look forward. Now we can look back to last weekend,
because when I do well, I like to look back.
And this podcast the keeper of the penny is the
(00:45):
annoying narcissist David Gascon as he is with me. You know,
it doesn't say much on this podcast, but I guess
goan last week. How did we do against the spread
against the number where that's separate rates the adults from
the children. How did we do against the spread in
week twelve? You can also call me a good looking
(01:06):
and charming You can do that if you'd like I was.
If I was blind in death, I would say that
you've finished ten and four in a week. Numbers twelve
of the National Football No need to clap guests, Scoon,
there's no need to clap their ten and four. That's
a seven fourteen winning percentage. Do we hardest goes? What?
What thing do we shine the penny in in postseason football?
(01:28):
Or will you? Will you dip your toes into that?
I know Weeks seven teams a little cautious. Um, yeah,
I usually don't do a Week seventeen because it's horrible.
There's only a couple of games where both teams are
trying and I find it repulsive. So I my advice
is always not to bet on Week seventeen. So I
don't even know if we're gonna do it for Weeks seventeen.
But and the other thing is like I usually just
(01:50):
did Benny Versus the Penning on the radio, but we
could do it on the podcast. I just don't think
we can do a standalone podcast with one or two games,
you know what I'm like, While our weekend we could
probably do it because there's four games on a wild
card weekend, but then it quickly, uh you know, it
whittles down pretty quick in the playoffs. Well, can we
test your your Benny versus the Penny metal and and
(02:13):
dip our toes into the bowl season of college football. Uh,
we could do some of that. I'd be I'd be
open to that, but it has to be like, uh,
you know, it's gotta be I'm not doing the Weed
Either Bowl or the Bahamas Bowl. It's gotta be like,
I'll do a few of the big games, the the
grand daddy of them all, the Rose Bowl and the
(02:33):
BCS playing there. They're called the BCS. The college Football
playoffs set up and all that. Yeah, we could do that.
I'll keep you away from any kind of Mac or
Mountain West activity, Uh, any kind of Independence Bowls or
anything like that, so we can we can do that
because right now we have Ohio State, l s U, Clemson,
and Georgia as your one through four, and the playoff
(02:55):
rankings that they stay as is. It should be a
nice set up as we get ready towards. Uh. Here's that.
I will show you my vast knowledge of college sports,
and uh, I will impress, I will impress the masses.
All well, let's get to it. It is again Week
thirteen in the NFL, the first game up for us. Now,
before we give you the games, a disclaimer, UH, this
(03:16):
is for entertainment purposes only unless you win, uh, then
you must tip the dealer if you win. Uh. And
also this is designed to give you. We're giving you
a lot of opinions on these games. So I always
tell people who are new to the podcast, the the
Benny versus the Penny version, that what you really should
do is wait, it handicapped the game yourself. And if
(03:41):
I agree and you agree, you do your own homework.
And if if our thoughts line up on that game,
that's a game you should probably bet on. So that's
that's how we should do. Is We'll start out with
Green Bay eight and three at New Jersey. They're playing
the Giants. It's on Fox. You better watch. Are we
doing the Dick Stockton game this week? Yes, but that
(04:03):
is not the game. Uh No, it is not the
Dick Stockton game. That is a Tom Brennaman Chris Spielman game.
And the Packers opened up a seven and a half
point favorite. They're favorite by six and a half. The
forecast in the Tri state area calls for thunderstorms thirty
six degrees at kickoff at met Life Stadium in the
(04:26):
swamp Lands of New Jersey. The pick is in. I'll
be taking the Giants in this game. Now, a couple
of thoughts. A Matt Laflare the coach at green Bay.
I believe he on the sidelines. He did not have
green Bay Packer gear. He was wearing a hazmat suit
last weekend watching the Packers melt down against the forty
(04:48):
Niners and that Sunday night game that was a placement
test game. And it appears green Bay has to repeat
the third grade. Now, obviously this is a much easier opponent,
but Green Bay was not ready to play, and they
were not ready to play in both games in California.
And it's an odd thing with the Packers because they
have this gaudy aden free record. Aaron Rodgers has eighteen
(05:12):
touchdowns and two interceptions, and yet the eyeball test says
he's leaving some money on the table. He's not playing
as well as he could play. And just for example,
Sam Donald in particular, Sam Donald has been a better
quarterback on the road this season than Aaron Rodgers. So
(05:33):
I thought that was that was interesting. This game is
a road game. You've got the growing pains of Daniel Jones. Lately,
Sequon Barkley has been a shell of what he had
been because of injury, but he's still playing. I'll give
him credit for that. But the main reason I like
the Giants despite all that the public is on green Bay.
(05:53):
The professional gamblers, the ones that are supposed to know
and bet the most, there on the side of the Giants.
Now green Bay is over rated. Uh, the Giants are
a bad team. But there's value here, all right. There's
value that the home team, Packers have not played well
in the road recently, and you're getting almost a touchdown,
(06:17):
so you have the possibility of a backdoor cover in
the fourth quarter, which is exactly what the Giants did
against Chicago last week. So I am taking the Packers
to win, but the Giants to cover. Packers twenty, Giants seventeen.
And the Penny is going with the New York Giants. Alright,
(06:40):
So the Penny piggybacking my work. They're knowing that I
am a great prognosticator. That's what more about age versus beauty.
I think since you're the elder statesman, Deepenny relies on
you going first, and then she goes. I think the
term for that is a copycat. That's a copycat. Dependis
a copycat. Next up Washington at Carolina. The Redskins are
(07:03):
two and nine, Carolina is five and six. It's on CBS.
This game not a Fox game, even though it's two
NFC teams. They've done that a few times this year.
It's Greg Gumbel and Trent Green at CBS. Now Carolina
opened a nine point favorite. They're favored by ten. It's
(07:23):
typical late November weather and the Carolinas light rain, temperatures
in the mid sixties that kickoff at Bank of America
Stadium in Charlotte. I am gonna pick the Carolina Panthers
in this game. I'm gonna do it now. Dwayne Haskins
has not only been a quarterback, he has been wretched.
And I love the story last week that he was
(07:45):
celebrated in some circles for getting his first win as
an NFL quarterback. He was taking selfies with fans and
all that Haskins had in that game against the Lions
a hundred and fifty six yards passing, no touchdowns, an interception.
His passer rating was below fifty and yet the perception is, well,
(08:08):
he's the winning quarterback, he must have played well. Uh.
Now they're even making excuses because he's been tremendously inaccurate
Dwayne Haskins, who was pretty accurate at the Ohio State University,
and now some people around the Redskins are saying that
he's got this phantom wrist injury. I'm skeptical. Washington simply
cannot compete against an average or above average team with
(08:31):
this incompetent quarterback. The way Haskins is playing. I believe
Haskins will eventually be pretty good, but he ain't pretty
good right now. This is a non starter. Plus, the
Redskins mission statement is to lose, to suck, and to blow.
They can't be winning back to back games here. They
can't now. The other thing, and the only concern I
(08:52):
have is Carolina, because Carolina, on my mind, they are
on fumes. They showed more fight against the Saints last week.
But are they gonna come out deflated and and just
go through the motions and play lethargic football because their
season is pretty much over there not making the playoffs now.
(09:13):
Kyle Allen, he had sucked for several weeks. He was
a puke, and he came out of the penalty box
and he played his first good game in several weeks.
He had three touchdowns in the Bayou and and did
a solid job. And if if he plays anywhere close
to that this week, Carolina wins this game by at
(09:34):
least twenty one points. Now, if the Panthers lose, Ron
Rivera should be fired on the spot to lose to
Dwayne Haskins at home. Panthers thirty one Redskins. Penny's gots
the Carolina Panthers. Be sure to catch live editions of
The Ben Maller Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven
(09:57):
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio the I Heart Radio Whip. Alright,
so we agree on that kind of defeating the purpose
of Benny versus the penny. If it's a year ox
copy every time. Next up, Santa Clara tennant one. This
is the game of the year in the NFL. Santa
clar A tenant one Baltimore nine and two. It's on Fox.
So you better watch who's calling this game. You think
(10:18):
it's a Dick Stockton game. No, I think this is
a Kevin Burkhard game. That is correct. It is Kevin
Burkhard and Charles Davis have the call. In the early
television window. I'm guessing the NFL wishes they had moved
this to prime time. They did not. This would be
a game you would expect to see in the late
TV window at the very least. But it is an
(10:40):
early one o'clock kickoff in Baltimore. The Ravens. Prior to
Monday night game, we're favored by four and a half.
Baltimore is now favored by six points. In this game.
You got a ten in one team against the nine
and two team, and the nine and two team is
favored by almost in touchdown. The four forecast at MNT
(11:02):
Bank Stadium, the House that Sports with Coleman built rainy
and forty three degrees at kickoff in Baltimore, the pick
is in. I'm painting for gold with the forty Niners.
I'm gonna take the forty Niners in this game. Now,
First of all, this should be a slobber knocker. The
(11:22):
Ravens are the darlings of the NFL. We all know
that for the recent performance, a deservedly so. It's one
of the great runs we've seen in NFL history. It's
such a dominant run it reminds me of the greatest
show on turf of the old St. Louis rams back
in the day. But it's not like the forty Niners
have been shop liver here in mince meat. They've been
(11:44):
turning teams into mince meat all year. They're the real McCoy.
So it's the number one defense for the forty Niners
against the most lethal dual threat quarterback who's been clicking
on all cylinders here in Lamar Jackson, who's got a
ridiculous sizzle reel. So what happens? You got the unstoppable force,
(12:04):
meaning the immovable object. We're gonna find out. I believe
the forty Niners are the right side here. Now. The
second thing, the real pressure is on Garoppolo, Jimmy Garoppolo
and the Niners running game collectively corroborative effort. They've got
to come out in what figures to be soggy conditions
in Baltimore play with the league right, come out early
(12:27):
in the game. We saw this before with Cleveland. Baltimore
style of play lends itself to being a front runner, right,
meaning that if they fall behind, that eliminates the dual
threat that puts the kabbash on the running game. They
then have to scramble with throws to try and get
back in the game. You know, people are overreacting a
(12:48):
wee bit to the Monday night game because of the
Ramps did not show up in that game. And the
Ravens are the same team that lost to Cleveland at home,
then the same team that had to go to overtime
against the Baltimore Ravens. So it's it's not like that
this team is invincible. They're hot right now if you
believe in such things. They lost one of their key
(13:11):
offensive line in their centers out for the year in
the Rams game. The forty Niners got George Kittle back.
That's huge as he returned to Santa Clara's lineup. And
at the time we are recording many versus the Penny,
it sounds like Matt Brita and d Ford a couple
of other key players could be back either way. Uh,
you got a ten in one team with the number
(13:33):
one defense and that great defensive line that should be
able to bottleneck the running game and and all that.
Getting over six points. You gotta be kidding me. I'm
gonna take that every day of the week as certainly
gonna take that. This is one of my better plays.
The forty Niners not a fraud. They will square the circle.
(13:55):
They will find the cheat code to Lamar Jackson Niners
Ravens seven in a Classic, and the penny is Got's
cheat sheet. It is San Francisco for the one. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Ben Miller Show
wheat days at two a m. Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
(14:18):
Wait wait, wait, so we've done three games here so far,
so good. All right, you should be happy about this.
You finished ten four last week. You were gloating about
your performance. You don't know how hardiness go over and
win games. You need to win fifty five percent to
make any kind of profit and gambling. Blah blah blah
blah blah. You should be happy about the penny. Well, no,
(14:42):
it's it's just not exciting. And people like when we disagree.
But fine whatever, I fine, we agree, I'm right, so
as always I'm right. Next up, now, this is another game.
This is a game that Lucas Oil Stadium is a dome.
It's gonna be cloudy and forty one degrees outside the
dome in Indianapolis at golf of this game, the Colts
are the pick. I'm gonna take Indianapolis. Now, this is
(15:04):
the game. Originally, when I first looked at the game,
I was leaning towards Tennessee. But the I started crunching
the numbers, and I started looking at the different angles
to this game, and and then I realized there's a
dense fog advisory around the Titans. And so I'm gonna
be on the home team here, the Colts. And I'll
tell you why I don't trust Ryan Tannehill. Period hard
(15:28):
stop right and Tannehill right now is playing above his skis.
He's leading the NFL in the yards for attempt, He's
completing over seventy of his passes. This is the last
quarterback to do it is Joe Montana. This is an
out of body experience. However, I'm not drinking the kool
aid yet for two reasons. Number one, I believe these
(15:49):
are hollow numbers. Why because Ryan Tannehill has beaten up
a bunch of lightweights, hasn't done it against a good
or above average team. The Colts are a much better test.
They're a better team than anyone he's faced so far.
And the second thing here is that if you look
at the track record of the Dolphins career of Ryan Tannehill,
(16:13):
before he got to Tennessee. And this tells you what
has happened, doesn't tell you what's gonna happen. But Tannehill
would have occasional games where he looked amazing and it
would give this false hope to the Miami fan. But
we we dubbed this thing gas on the Tannehill to step.
You know what the Tannehill too step is. This is
similar Ryan Fitzpatrick. Right, you do something good, then you
(16:35):
throw a bunch of I N T s next game. Well,
it's a dance move. It's you take one step forward
and two steps back. And that's what Tannehill has done. Right,
he'll have a masterpiece and then he'll come back and
he'll have a reversal of fortune. Now, sometimes he has
a couple of masterpieces and then he follows it up
with three pieces of of feces that you know, just projectile,
(16:56):
vomit all that. So that's that's a concern. Secondly, uh,
it's not perfect. Its bets not perfect, because any is
still a mash munit unit. They are the guys, the
key players, several of them are out. The backups have
done a pretty good job. But let's not go overboard.
Here they still don't have Marlon Mack. They don't he's out.
(17:17):
Eric Ebron's gone the tight end, so it is up
to the replacements. Here. They're gonna have to run the
ball because Jacoby Brissette struggles to throw the ball. But
I like the coltst Dave Roberts would say, I like
the Colts in this spot, coming off a loss to
the Texans, having extra time to prepare. Frank Reich is
the better coach. So if it comes down to the
(17:38):
fourth quarter, close game, I'd rather have Frank wright Uh
in the game than Mike rabel And and plus the
public is all over Ryan Tannell. If he was a musician,
they'd say he's Mozart. I don't believe he's Mozarty. This
is a a key game. I will go with the
grit and the moxie of the cold to muck up
(18:01):
the game too. Muck it up and they will win
ugly yet again, but they will barely buy the skin
on their chinny chin chin cover the spread Indianapolis twenty
three and the Tennessee Titans twenty The penny is gone
(18:21):
with the Tennessee Titans. The hair on your tennage chins
and dummy. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk
lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at
Fox sports Radio dot com and within the I Heart
Radio app. Search f s R to listen live. That
is incorrect. The hair hey stupid. The expression works both ways.
(18:48):
You can either use the skin on their chinny chin chin,
or you can use hair on their chinny chin chin.
If you google it, you will see that I am
correct and that you are just unevolved. You're uneducated, and
you do not know the nuance of language the way
I do. All I do is study language, right, That's
all I do. You're out there on those dating sites
(19:08):
is what you're doing. I'm I'm studying language. Okay. Oh well,
I can see that. That's uh, it's working quite well
for you. Moving on, let repress on. Oh wow, alright,
moving on another win for me there Philadelphia five and
six at Miami two and nine. It's on Fox. Now.
(19:30):
Is this is this game with Dick Stockton game? I
was going between him and Kenny Albert and this one.
So I'm gonna say, yeahs Dick Stockton on this one.
David Guest, Karen, congratulations, you just lost the Dick Stockton
game you did not win. It is Kenny Albert who
(19:51):
has the call should have gone, you should have gone
behind curtain number one. That's a bad job by you.
Guess guy, what did he? It's odd because normally Kenny
Albert does every Giant's game, or or if they occasionally
get a Jets game. But yeah, he's doing. Dolphins Eagles
(20:12):
in beautiful Miami now Philly open attend They actually opened
a seven and appoint favorite. The line is all the
way up to ten. It's gonna be sunny eighty degrees
at kickoff at hard Rock Stadium in Miami with a
bunch of dudes from South Philly in the Delaware Valley
who will infiltrate Miami. I'm gonna take the Dolphins in
(20:35):
this game, and I know that's against popular opinion. I'll
be the contrarian here. A couple of thoughts. At first, Lance,
I agree that the Eagles should win this game in
a cake walk. But very few things have gone easy.
Very few things have gone easy for the Birds. Their
twenty nineteen offense is field goal or punch. That's the
(20:56):
offense of the Philadelphia Eagles this year. Carson Wentz has
been in a nick. His numbers are not bad. But
check this out. Twenty two games, last twenty two games
Carson Wentz is started, the Eagles have a losing record.
They're ten and twelve with Carson Wentz as their quarterback
the last twenty two games. The Eagles are lacking playmakers.
(21:16):
They are lacking the wow factor Carson Wentz. Now they're
making excuses saying he's got a mangled hand. These are
not positives when you're talking about a double digit point spread.
Now I'm not here advocating. Secondly, for the Dolphins. They
have so many issues. They need more than therapy. They
probably need to be institutionalized in the Miami Dolphins. But
(21:39):
but this is more of a bet against Philly than
it is a confidence play on Miami. And I like
to look at the psychological part of gambling. The Eagles
are coming off too high profile games against the Patriots
and the Seahawks games in Philly, games they lost, and
now now they are playing the Dolphins, a team nobody
(22:00):
gets up for. Plus they have the distraction of South
Beach and you're leaving Philly where it's forty degrees or
thirty five degrees, are going to Miami where it's eighty degrees. Uh,
so you have a chance, not a lot of opportunity,
but a night to get into some debauchery. But double
digit home doogs and being willing to bet on bad
teams has been a very good formula to win some
(22:25):
money over the years. The public almost always prefers road
favorites instead. I like to go against the public. So
I'm gonna take Philly to win. But to not cover
Eagles twenty four Dolphins twenty you stubborn bathroom. You never
learn your lesson, and Penny is picking the Eagles. Fly Fly,
(22:47):
fly fly right into weed Man's house there in South Florida.
Al right, next up Tampa Bay at Jacksonville. It's on Fox.
You better watch four and seven, four and seven the
records here? Who's calling this game? Is this? You've already
lost the Dick Stockton game. But is this the Dick
(23:07):
Stockton game? That is correct? This is the Dick Stockton
Mark Flare game. So you didn't win, but you came
close to winning the Dick Stockton game. And this game open,
how about this line? Do you see the line movement
on this Jackson Jacksonville open a four and a half
point favorite. They are now favored by one one stinking point.
(23:29):
At t i a a bank field in Jacksonville, be
cloudy and seventies seven degrees at kickoff cloudy and seventy
seven degrees. I'm taking Tampa Bay in this game, and
and I'll walk you through how I got the Tampa
Bay Alright, Ay, this is the Sunshine Bowl. Whoever wins
(23:52):
this game wins the bragging rights for Florida because the
Dolphins are worse than both these teams. Uh. Now, I
saw it where Jacks coach douglall Ron says that Nick
Foles gives his team the best chance to win, so
that's why he's starting Nick Foles. Let me, I would
like to translate that, Yes, can I have a Dakota ring?
What he left out, Doug Moron was the end of
that sentence. There should be a COMMA at the end
(24:15):
of Nick Foles gives us the best chance to win,
Comma because we are paying him fifty million dollars of
guaranteed money. Because that's really why Nick Foles is starting.
If it was based on performance, he would not be
the starting quarterback here. Uh, that's just the reality. Jackson
has been outscored seventy five to thirty since Nick Foles
(24:36):
came back from injury to the starting lineup. Keep in mind,
though that doesn't sound that bad, I guess being outscored
by forty five points, twenty one of those points came
in garbage time. So with Nick Foles in competitive football,
they've only gotten three field goals. Jacksonville has I cannot
bet on the Jacks until Nick Foles either improves or
(25:00):
or minshoe Mania returns Gardner Minshew comes back as the quarterback. Now. Secondly,
on the flip side, you've got Jameis wins Now. We
talked about him on the radio show. He is a
case study on being really good and really bad at
the same time. Right, is the glass half full? Is
the glass half empty? He is unpaced to throw for
(25:21):
close to five thousand yards a gazillion touchdowns, and at
the same time he's leading the NFL in interceptions, and
he's a turnover factory. So all those interceptions dismantle all
the goodwill that the passing yards and the touchdowns provide,
and it really harpoons the Buccaneers chances of winning most
(25:44):
of the time. They did beat Atlanta last week. The
other factor is Tampa based defense is atrocious. Despite all that, again,
I want to quote Dave Roberts. I liked the Bucks
in this spot. But it's get more to bet against
Nick Foles than it is to take take advantage of
of anything else. You've got to really go against the
(26:04):
incompetent Nick Foles. I don't even think the Buck's defense
is gonna make him look good. Buccaneers thirty four, Jags twenty,
and the Pangs on the opposite way. Going to Jaguars
on this one, Going with Jackson, all right. Next up
the New York Jets at Cincinnati. It's on CBS with
(26:26):
Spirodidas and Adam Archiletta. Now, the Jets opened a three
and a half point favorite. They are still a three
and a half point favorite in this game. It'll be
partly sunny and fifty degrees that kick off at Paul
Brown Stadium. The O and eleven Bengals the four and
seven Jets. I am gonna side with Mr oh and
Elevin here. I'm gonna take the Cincinnati Fungals in this game.
(26:50):
I'll tell you why, all right. I understand things have
been rolling along for the Big Green machine there in
all phases, by land, by air, by water. It is
amazing seeing what playing bad teams can do for your confidence.
The Jets are the NFL's number one defensive yards per
game the last three weeks. They're ahead of the forty Niners.
They're ahead of the Ravens, They're ahead of the Pacers.
(27:12):
There ahead of everybody. You toss in the fact that
Sam Donald is no longer dealing with motto, he's no
longer seeing ghosts. I guess the ghostbusters came in and
figured all this out, and you see why the Jets
fans are excited. The last three weeks against the Giants, Redskins,
and Raiders, Sam Donald has seven touchdowns and one interception.
(27:35):
He's averaging over nine yards per attempt. That's great, but
the law of averages say he is due for a regression,
even against the bad team. And in the second thing, now,
the Bengals are a total ship show. I am not
gonna sit here and and say anything different, but if
you look at what they did. They originally benched Andy Dalton,
(27:56):
they brought in Ryan Finley. Now, Ryan Finley has been
such a nebbish, he has been so incompetent. He's had
such reckless disregard for his ability to play quarterback that
Cincinnati was forced to go back to the red rifle.
This is dysfunction junction. What is your function? Is what
it is? So it's rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Uh.
(28:21):
Now that said, this is a big opportunities, a brass
ring situation for Dalton. He gets another opportunity. Think of
this is a casting call, an open audition for Dalton. Really,
not for the Bengals because they're gonna draft some quarterback
with the number one pick, But for Dalton, Dalton, they
get a job somewhere else to get an opportunity to
compete for a starting job. Of Philip Rivers retires in
(28:43):
in l a. Or or to go to Pittsburgh of
Roethlisberger's out. The public is all over the Jets, and
that has me running for the Hills. The Bengals at
least have a puncher's chance. They certainly have a shot
with Andy Dalton to hang around. And the Jets, I
still don't believe they should be favored by over a
(29:03):
field goal against anyone. I liked my home dogs, Our
Jets twenty three, Bengals twenty one that's a cover for
Cincinnati and for the one that got away. I will
see the penny taking the New York Jets, Jets Jets
thirty four points in the last three victories. Then keep
(29:24):
rolling with that. Yeah, well, all good things come to
an end. All good you will learn that lesson that
the front running all right? Next up Cleveland five and
six at Pittsburgh six and five. It's on CBS. I
An Eagle and Dan Fouts have the call. This game
opened Pittsburgh by three. The Browns are favored by two.
(29:47):
The weather calls for light rain forty six degrees at
Hines Field in beautiful Pittsburgh. I'm gonna take the Steelers
in this game. Mike tomlin Is is right now like
a circus clown juggling quarterbacks. You've got Mason Rudolph gone
to the bench. Now Duck Hodges is taking over. I
(30:07):
love the whole redneck back story, the ridiculous name, the
duck calling. But instead of chicken fingers, I guess he
eats like raccoons stew or something like that. But can
can the guy play? I I don't know that the
jury is still out on whether or not you play
the Steelers offense is gonna be dumbed down here. They
(30:28):
have been even with Hut. They've been running a dumb
down office for a couple weeks. But but they've been
like the ox in the ditch. You know what. They
can't get out of it. You're in a ditch, you
can't get out of it. This is a revenge spot
for Pittsburgh against the team they traditionally beat, who they
lost to just a couple of weeks ago. And you
have that cloud of bad blood hanging over this particular game.
(30:53):
The second that the Browns they're still getting this sugar
rush from feasting on all these cupcakes. Do they now
choke on a little piece of banana cream pie on
the road. The bookmaker knows the public is all over
the Cleveland Browns, so they have to cover themselves and
they have to, you know, cover their losses. And they
(31:15):
have the Browns favored by two. This is a five
point line disparity, meaning again Pittsburgh should be favored by
three in this game. Instead you're getting five points because
the Browns are favored by two. I just don't agree
with that, the thinking that that Cleveland's all in. I've
been on Cleveland several times. I've bet against Cleveland several times. Listen, Uh,
(31:37):
look at this. The Browns picked up five points and
all they did was play the Dolphins in between the
last time they played the Steelers and Miles Garrett eight
playing you'll go be bashing people over the head somewhere else.
But he ain't gonna show up in Pittsburgh. Uh So
we don't even know if Duck Hodges is that bad.
He could be fine. As I said, it's it's an
(31:58):
open question. But just when you think Baker Mayfield has
turned the corner, that's normally the time a trapdoor opens
up and you fall into a pit of flames. So
Cleveland should win the game, but they should not be favored.
And Pittsburgh traditionally even with bums at quarterbacks, but a
very good home team Steelers seventeen. Brown's sixteen penny gun
(32:26):
with the Cleveland Browns and Bernie cos Are Birdy Cosa.
I think Ozzy Newsom's gonna have a big game. I
believe that if you go downlast Webster Slaughter could be
the key of that. What about Dante Stalwarth it's more
of a newer generation Brown player. I just don't keep
him out of the driver's seat. You'll be alright, right,
(32:49):
dirty days manslaughter, it's reasonable. All right, let's go to
Oatland six and five at Kansas City seven and four.
Notice that we're not we're not getting trivia this week.
That's uh, that's a good job by you. Well, it's
Thanksgiving week and I just wanna I want to expedite
the process game. And I know, I know you. You
(33:10):
probably have something to do. You've got to go talk
to some corporate muckety MUCKs or do some stupid conference calls.
So we'll we'll just expedite the process. We'll get we'll
get trivial next week. Okay, can we get trivial next week? Sure? Ye? Alright?
Oakland six and five Kansas City seven or four. It's
on CBS with Jim Nance and Toe Knee row Bow. Now,
(33:31):
the Chiefs open at eight and a half point favorite.
They are favored by ten at Arrowhead Cloudy in thirty
eight degrees at kick off at Arrowhead Stadium. I'm taking
the Raiders in this game. Now. I know public perception
has shifted and people whatever they see they think is
gonna happen again. And the Raiders played like dog crap.
They played like dog piss against the Jets in the
(33:54):
blink of an eye, right, the Raiders. If they just
squeaked out and win against the Jets, this would have
set up the epic a f C West Game of
the year, right underdog story of redemption the football Orphans
their last year in Oakland before they go to Vegas.
But now since they lost to the Jets, it's the
same old Raiders. Now, I'm not gonna tell you they
(34:17):
didn't play like mongrels in that game. They actually did
play like mongrels, not only in that game, but the
game before which they squeaked out a win against the
Cincinnati Bengals. They played like vermin in that game also,
So there's a couple of dud performances by the Raiders here. Uh,
they had no pulse in the game against the Jets. Now,
(34:39):
this is a late game, it's not an early game.
It's against the traditional division rival. But there is a
saying in sports wager, and it's also said by football coach,
if you get caught in a trap game, which is
clearly what happened that the Raiders were peeking ahead at
Kansas City, if you get caught looking ahead in the
peek a boo, then you've gotta in the game you
(35:00):
were looking ahead to. And even though this is not
as sexy matchup because the Raiders lost, if the Raiders
win this game, they will still be tied with Kansas City.
And you know, Oakland will be seven and five, Kansas
City will be seven and five at the end of
play on Sunday, So it's still a big game. Secondly,
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. I know some people love
(35:22):
them because they had a bye week and they had
to little see Esta in Mexico against the Chargers. But
Kansas City did not impress me in that game. They
were fortunate to beat the lowly Chargers, and that is
with Philip Rivers throwing all those interceptions. Now, now that
Lamar Jackson is the flavor of the month, Patrick Mahomes
(35:42):
has to take a back seat in the pecking order
of NFL quarterbacks, but he could certainly return some market
share here if he has a big game against the
Raiders and treats them like silly puppy. I understand Kansas
City is getting some guys back. The Chiefs should win
this game big. What I happen to love double digit dogs.
(36:02):
And what do I always say when you get over
a touchdown in a divisional game? You don't ask questions.
You take the points. The Raiders have to kick knee,
elbow poked the Chiefs in the eye. Uh to get
that cover, that backdoor cover. I believe it will happen.
Chiefs thirty four, Raiders twenty six. Penny also in agreement
(36:27):
with you and go with the Opalanda Redda's all right.
Next up on Penny versus the Penny the l A Raiders,
actually the Raiders the l A Rams. Oh boy, why
that cover? L A Rams at five? There's a throwback
to like the eighties and early nineties, the l A
Ram six and five at the Arizona Cardinals, who are
(36:48):
three seven and one. It's on Fox and a Man
that's part of the Fox Sports Radio Alumni Association. A
proud alumnus Chris Myers along with Darryl Moose Johnson to
have the call. All now. The Rams opened a three
and a half point favorite. They're favored by four in
this game. The weather, it's gonna be sunny fifty nine
(37:11):
degrees at kickoff at State Farms Stadium in Arizona and
I'm gonna surprise you guesscan I as an as an
active charity. I am gonna take the guy riding the
short bus. Yes, I'm gonna do it. I'm doing it now.
Now for before you say I'm a prison of the moment,
(37:32):
It's not just because the Rams got steam rolled by
the Ravens on Monday night. Unless it is just because
the Rams got steam rolled by the Ravens on Monday night.
You have the perfect storm working against Los Angeles. You've
got the distraction of Thanksgiving weekend. You have them as
a road favorite against the team they traditionally beat, an
(37:53):
opponent that you do not get up for. You are
coming off an emotional prime time loss where you were
emasculated by Lamar Jackson. Look like you should be playing
pop Orner football instead of the NFL. All of these
things are working against the Rams. From the psychology psychology
(38:13):
part of gambling, Sean McVeigh had no answers to Lamar Jackson.
This is the kind of neutering that takes place the
the and Lingers. Uh. The Ravens have the Rams balls
on a shelf somewhere in Maryland right now. Uh, good
luck getting back that back the Rams are a more
(38:34):
talented team. I believe they are a better team than
the Cardinals, and all things being equal, they should absolutely
win this game. But when you handicap a game, you
gotta look at all these other things and all of that.
Every box is checked against the l A Rams right there,
they're they're getting close to give up mode. It looked
(38:56):
like they gave up against the Ravens. Now. Secondly, you
are what your record says you are. The Cardinals are
one of the worst teams in the NFL. So this
is not a confidence play on Arizona Kyler Murray. As
we have pointed out, we're the only ones to do
this because we're the grown ups here. This guy's been
a Mama Luke Alright, his numbers are misleading. He's fatten
(39:17):
up his stats and games the Cardinals were way behind,
and and so you know, he's not as good as
his numbers. In a kay even though his numbers aren't
all that good. The Cardinals defensively are a football atrocity.
They are second worst to the oh and eleven Bengals.
And yet even with that, I still believe that Jared
Golf will be flummix going against Arizona the last three games.
(39:41):
Golf has no touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating
below sixty. There's no way on God's green Earth that
I am gonna bet on the Rams until Jared Goff
either gets benched. I'd rather bet on Blake Bortles or
he proves that he is not a fraud. Give me
Ale Gator Arms. Murray the oompa loompa of the NFL
(40:05):
Cardinals twenty Rams seventeen. Penny likes the way you think
and go with the up and coming Cayler Murray and
the Arizona Cardinals. You love, you love Shorty. You your
favorite movie was Get Shorty Right? That was? I think
you have vastly under estimated the power of Cayler Murray,
(40:29):
even in his rookie campaign. So he will. He will
not make you eat crow this weekend since you have
taken him and there's in the Cardinals. But he will
surprise you when you're number two. Yes, you, You've always
had a place for the pips weeak. You like the
guy's barely bigger than a garden. Do you understand that
your pairs he can play? He has played, He's played
great this season he's played great. What I think I
(40:53):
watch football? Wait? Wait, wait wait you said the word great.
You use the adjective great. I have I did I
want you as a teacher. If I had had you
as a teacher, guest scout, I would have been a
I would have several degrees if I had had you
as a professor, and instead you have how many? I have? Zero?
(41:15):
Not a hey, schmuck, I have agree from the streets,
streets of hard knocks, all right, I have, I have
won the hard Marcus Mariota got benched. He had a
higher passer rating than Kyler Murray has right now. Gardner
Minshew also got benched. Guess what higher passer rating than
(41:36):
Kyler Murray has right now. And according to David Gascon,
who clearly shows sympathy because Kyler Murray is a teeny
leeny eaty bitty little spider, uh you you feel bad
for him, and so as an act of charity, you're
pulling for the guy who's small potatoes. He's got no
(41:58):
offensive line, he's got absolutely no running game, he's got
very few weapons on the outside, and he has an
atrocious defense. Yes, I actually think he's a pretty darn
good quarterback in his rookie season, despite all that working
against him, hold On said, I'm gonna play some music.
I'm gonna I've got the world's smallest violin. I'm gonna
play that for Kyler Murray. Okay, can I do that? Yes? Yeah,
(42:21):
you can do whatever you want. Yeah, that's right, all right,
go choke up some ravioli, all right. Next the l
A Chargers four and seven at Denver three and eight.
It's on CBS. Andrew Catalan and James Lofton have the call.
The Chargers opened and underdog Broncos were originally favored by
(42:42):
one and a half, but now the Charges are favored
by two and a half. I don't understand this mostly
sunny thirty five degrees at kickoff for your favorite NFL team.
Gag on, you love the Broncos who played in power
field at Mile High. I'm taking the Broncos. I'm riding
with the horses this week. Now. To me, this is
(43:03):
an even matchup. The Charges of the NFL's two ranked team,
the Broncos of the ranked team according to Football Outsiders,
So two even teams. I don't understand how the Bolts
are favorite in this game. Denver traditionally has been a
tough place to play. Uh, it's just all because Derwin James.
The safety is coming back to the charges. Are you
telling me a safety not not a quarterback. We're not
(43:25):
talking about a quarterback. We're talking about safety. That that
is why the charges are favored on the road. I
don't get it now. Philip Rivers over the last four
weeks has not only been a quarterback. He has been
the thirty first ranked quarterback in a thirty two quarterback league.
He has been number four. He is aging before our eyes.
He has continued to be reckless. Seven interceptions the past
(43:48):
two games. He's also mixed in a couple of fumbles.
He is as bad as any quarterback in the NFL.
Right now. He's a hot mess. I've seen no evidence
that he's gonna turn this thing around. Everyone says, well,
he'll be fine, don't worry. He's never has three bad
games in a row. Okay, all right. The Bolts offensive
line still blows. They still think, uh steak. And then
(44:11):
you've got Vic Fangio, who's supposed to be a defensive wizard.
He hasn't been so far. He's got his own quarterback
conundrum now, I would love the Broncos. This would be
one of my better players of Drew Lock plays, because
I think Drew Lock will be all right who have
some beginner's luck. He isn't likely to start this game,
at least at the time we're doing the podcast, but
could come off the bench in relief. Brandon Allen is
(44:34):
a limp noodle, is what he is. Right, he needs
a little blue pill. Uh he's lethargic. He's just he's
a junior varsity level quarterback. He's not a starting quarterback.
And nevertheless, the value tholways on the Broncos because interceptions
create opportunity for an underdog. Denver will play a very conservative,
(44:58):
close to the vest offense. Uh We talked about that
remedial game plan where you don't have a good quarterback,
you just try to not make mistakes. And uh so
I had a lot of swing passes, bubble screens, try
to run, run early, run late, ground and pound all
that kind of football. So if you do that, you
(45:19):
don't turn the ball over and you expect Rivers to
have at least two interceptions. I'm taking the Broncos to
win the game outright. Denver twenty four The Chargers, and
he was going with the Broncos as well. No surprise. Yeah,
you can't bet on the gun Slinger, the aging gun Slinger.
(45:41):
Not the way to go, not a good winning formula,
guest gun not at all all right, Uh, Next up
Sunday Night Football, New England Tenant one at Houston, seven
and four on and b C with Al Michaels and
Chris collins with you know Michael's I I know you
saw this last night. Michaels did not call the NBC
(46:05):
game on Thursday night because he's so old now he
wants to enjoy Thanksgiving. So and I think he's only
in his contract he only works one game a week,
and so he couldn't do both that game on Thanksgiving
and the Sunday night game, so he chose the Sunday
night game in Houston and Collinsworth also did not do
the game on Thanksgiving. Well, I'm gonna take I'm gonna
(46:25):
take the Patriots here that Patriots are three point favorite.
They opened four and a half, so small road favorite,
clear and sixty degrees at kickoff in the Dome at
NRG Stadium in Houston. Now, first of all, this is
another chapter in the teacher versus the pupil. Matchup of
Bill Belichick's coaching tree. Belichick against Bill O'Brien, a disciple
(46:50):
of his, has. They've coached against each other five times.
Belichick is five and all. Now, some of those games
the Texans were bad. Many of those games the Texas
were pretty good, had nice records like they do now
seven and four record. In fact, Belichick that five and
old record is by far his best record against any
former assistant. This is a gigantic coaching mismatch. In fact,
(47:14):
Belichick against all of his former assistance has He's coached
eighteen games. Against his former assistance, he's nine and nine,
So that means using mallar math. Against anyone other than
Bill O'Brien, who used to coach on belichick staff, he's
four and nine, but against O'Brien, five and oh. The
one monkey wrench for the Patriots is Tom Brady's tender elbow,
(47:39):
which got extra treatment after the Cowboy game. But let's
be honest here, Ill. We love Brady, but the Patriots
also just try to win the turnover battle. They want
to maintain offensive balance, but they also run a very
safe offensive game plan, which requires Belichick or Brady rather
to throw a lot of dump all off in short passes,
(48:01):
high percentage passes. And Brady is so smart he rarely
makes the wrong throw so he doesn't turn the ball over,
he covers for his offensive line. Those are all reasons
to like the Patriots in this particular game. Now. Secondly,
the Patriots are going to have to repeat the script
from these recent games. Right they have to play a
wonky plotting style of offense. As he said, limit the mistakes,
(48:24):
hold on the ball while the defense can create some
turbulence against the Shawn Watson. There is opportunity here against
the Shawn Watson. It is a formula that has stood
the test of time for Belichick. Against these high flying,
one dimensional teams Houston, they have to play at a
frenetic pace in the passing game. They are a one
(48:47):
trick pony. They struggle to run the ball. If you're
the defense, if you're the defensive coordinator and you know
that team struggles to run the ball, that sets up
a hyper aggress of defense, a chance to be a
ball hawking defense because you know you're gonna be throwing
a lot the other team is that you can mix
(49:07):
in some exotic blitzes and change it up and and
just mess with Deshaun Watson. Uh so, yeah, I love
the Patriots defense in this game. And and the other
way to bet on the Patriots has a bet on
the defense. Uh the Texans with this style of play,
it's either boom or bust. I'm expecting a lot of mistakes.
Patriots twenty three the Texans sixteen. Man, the pay is
(49:34):
gone with the turbulence of the defense and the Patriots
taken New England. All right? Next up, Monday Night Football.
This is the last game, will wrap up the Turkey
Week edition of Benny Versus the Penny minuteso to eight
and three at Seattle nine and two. It's on ESPN
with Joe test It Tour and Booger Booker McFarland. Uh,
(49:58):
you're a big fan of his brought cast team. A
lot of a lot of gravy on a Thanksgiving weekend. Yes,
this is gravy on top of gravy, on top of gravy.
Yes it is. Uh, how many Thanksgiving cliche's will Joe
Tessa Tore throw out on the broadcast? Well we'll find out.
But the line of this game Seattle open a three
point favorite. They are favored by three. It'll be cloudy
(50:22):
forty degrees that kick off at Century Link Field in Seattle.
Remember on the if you download the other podcast, the
Mallard Man March and schedule to take place in Seattle.
So I have a special place in my heart for
the people of Seattle, the Mallard Militia, men and women,
the p Ones that are holding this event on December
twenty nine. More on that on the other podcast. But
(50:45):
I'm sorry, I gotta take the vikings here. As a gambler,
I gotta take the vikings. I'll tell you why. In
the past you would always bet against Kirk Cousins because
he was jinx in prime time games. I that was
always the argument. The guy would be fine at one
o'clock in the afternoon or noon Midwestern time, uh newon kickoffs.
(51:09):
But but against the better teams in the prime time games,
he's like, well, Cousins is two and oh this season
in night games. He put up an oil painting against
the Cowboys in Dallas not that long ago, and the
one week spot Seattle has h to exploit here. And
the one thing that concerns me about the vikings is
the butterfingers. Cousins has eight fumbles. He's only been sacked
(51:32):
twenty two times. Ball security. That can lead to a
big flip in what you handicap in a game. Now. Secondly,
Pete Carroll check this out. Since he became the coach
in Seattle back in almost a decade, there have only
been three quarterbacks that have won multiple games on the
(51:53):
road in Seattle. Only three Carson Palmer retired, Matt the
Ice of the Falcons, and Jared Goff. Believe it or not,
Kirk Cousins has already won a game in the Pacific
Northwest back when he was with the Washington Redskins. I
believe it was in a couple of years ago in
(52:16):
uh he can add his name to that that rare
list with a win here. The Seahawks have been playing
Russian Roulette all season. They have been weaning by very
thin margins. Here they almost lost at home to the Bengals,
Bucks and Rams. It took a missed field goal by
(52:36):
the Rams kicker there the Legatron character for the Rams
lose the Buccaneers. Some crazy things happened for Tampa Bay
to win that game, and the Seahawks were blown out
by the Ravens and uh in the Saints in Seattle,
they've got issues. Despite their GATTI nine and two record,
it has not been smooth sailing for the Sea Birds. UH.
(52:59):
They have problem they have problems in their secondary they
have problems on their offensive line. You add on that
Mike Zimmer has been traditionally great when given extra time
to prepare. That's what the Vikings have here. They were
on vacation last week. It all adds up from a
gambling standpoint to take the Vikings. Now. Remember, I want
the Seahawks to win this game. I hope I'm wrong
(53:19):
because that makes the Mallard Man March, Mallard Stock Mallar
Palooza a much bigger deal December twenty nine. But Vikings
thirty three, Seahawks thirty your final penny looking at the
magic number three and going at the Minnesota Games, and
(53:40):
that is it. We put the baby to bed gas
On and I want the people to know too. Podcasts
have dropped holiday weekend. The podcast machine does not stop
showing you the great the determination that I have to
come in and do this podcast. And I think the
audio quality on this better than any other. I guess
we've done so far. I'd have to agree part of
(54:03):
that reasons because like a good lead, I have a
voice that kind of masks the deficiencies of your pipes
in the old and rotten age that you live in.
So um, I agree with you. It's well said. Yes
again David gascon proving he is the narcissist. Narcissist here
(54:24):
on the show, very superficial and whatnot there, And uh,
I think, well, in another life you were a prima donna,
right as that was your job before prima donna. I hope.
I wish there was some kind of way to prove
that to would be nice to see what kind of
money I had back in an alternate life. But uh,
but yeah, right now I'm just living the American dream, dude,
(54:45):
which is holding the water for Ben Mallory. Yeah, in
life there are good guys and villains. I'm the good guy.
You're the villain. That's the way. Anyway, have a great weekend,
way back to the radio Sunday night into Monday, and
we'll catch you next time. And thank you for supporting
The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller
Welcome, players, Welcome. It's time now Penny the Penny. It
is Benny versus the Penny. Week thirteen in the NFL.
Now we are smack dab in the middle of this
on the fifth hour with Ben Mallory. We already had
(00:23):
three games that were playing on Thanksgiving. He had the
Bears and the Lions, the Bills and the Cowboys, and
the Saints and the Falcons. So rather than talk about
those games, we have to look forward. We don't look back.
We look forward. Now we can look back to last weekend,
because when I do well, I like to look back.
And this podcast the keeper of the penny is the
(00:45):
annoying narcissist David Gascon as he is with me. You know,
it doesn't say much on this podcast, but I guess
goan last week. How did we do against the spread
against the number where that's separate rates the adults from
the children. How did we do against the spread in
week twelve? You can also call me a good looking
(01:06):
and charming You can do that if you'd like I was.
If I was blind in death, I would say that
you've finished ten and four in a week. Numbers twelve
of the National Football No need to clap guests, Scoon,
there's no need to clap their ten and four. That's
a seven fourteen winning percentage. Do we hardest goes? What?
What thing do we shine the penny in in postseason football?
(01:28):
Or will you? Will you dip your toes into that?
I know Weeks seven teams a little cautious. Um, yeah,
I usually don't do a Week seventeen because it's horrible.
There's only a couple of games where both teams are
trying and I find it repulsive. So I my advice
is always not to bet on Week seventeen. So I
don't even know if we're gonna do it for Weeks seventeen.
But and the other thing is like I usually just
(01:50):
did Benny Versus the Penning on the radio, but we
could do it on the podcast. I just don't think
we can do a standalone podcast with one or two games,
you know what I'm like, While our weekend we could
probably do it because there's four games on a wild
card weekend, but then it quickly, uh you know, it
whittles down pretty quick in the playoffs. Well, can we
test your your Benny versus the Penny metal and and
(02:13):
dip our toes into the bowl season of college football. Uh,
we could do some of that. I'd be I'd be
open to that, but it has to be like, uh,
you know, it's gotta be I'm not doing the Weed
Either Bowl or the Bahamas Bowl. It's gotta be like,
I'll do a few of the big games, the the
grand daddy of them all, the Rose Bowl and the
(02:33):
BCS playing there. They're called the BCS. The college Football
playoffs set up and all that. Yeah, we could do that.
I'll keep you away from any kind of Mac or
Mountain West activity, Uh, any kind of Independence Bowls or
anything like that, so we can we can do that
because right now we have Ohio State, l s U, Clemson,
and Georgia as your one through four, and the playoff
(02:55):
rankings that they stay as is. It should be a
nice set up as we get ready towards. Uh. Here's that.
I will show you my vast knowledge of college sports,
and uh, I will impress, I will impress the masses.
All well, let's get to it. It is again Week
thirteen in the NFL, the first game up for us. Now,
before we give you the games, a disclaimer, UH, this
(03:16):
is for entertainment purposes only unless you win, uh, then
you must tip the dealer if you win. Uh. And
also this is designed to give you. We're giving you
a lot of opinions on these games. So I always
tell people who are new to the podcast, the the
Benny versus the Penny version, that what you really should
do is wait, it handicapped the game yourself. And if
(03:41):
I agree and you agree, you do your own homework.
And if if our thoughts line up on that game,
that's a game you should probably bet on. So that's
that's how we should do. Is We'll start out with
Green Bay eight and three at New Jersey. They're playing
the Giants. It's on Fox. You better watch. Are we
doing the Dick Stockton game this week? Yes, but that
(04:03):
is not the game. Uh No, it is not the
Dick Stockton game. That is a Tom Brennaman Chris Spielman game.
And the Packers opened up a seven and a half
point favorite. They're favorite by six and a half. The
forecast in the Tri state area calls for thunderstorms thirty
six degrees at kickoff at met Life Stadium in the
(04:26):
swamp Lands of New Jersey. The pick is in. I'll
be taking the Giants in this game. Now, a couple
of thoughts. A Matt Laflare the coach at green Bay.
I believe he on the sidelines. He did not have
green Bay Packer gear. He was wearing a hazmat suit
last weekend watching the Packers melt down against the forty
(04:48):
Niners and that Sunday night game that was a placement
test game. And it appears green Bay has to repeat
the third grade. Now, obviously this is a much easier opponent,
but Green Bay was not ready to play, and they
were not ready to play in both games in California.
And it's an odd thing with the Packers because they
have this gaudy aden free record. Aaron Rodgers has eighteen
(05:12):
touchdowns and two interceptions, and yet the eyeball test says
he's leaving some money on the table. He's not playing
as well as he could play. And just for example,
Sam Donald in particular, Sam Donald has been a better
quarterback on the road this season than Aaron Rodgers. So
(05:33):
I thought that was that was interesting. This game is
a road game. You've got the growing pains of Daniel Jones. Lately,
Sequon Barkley has been a shell of what he had
been because of injury, but he's still playing. I'll give
him credit for that. But the main reason I like
the Giants despite all that the public is on green Bay.
(05:53):
The professional gamblers, the ones that are supposed to know
and bet the most, there on the side of the Giants.
Now green Bay is over rated. Uh, the Giants are
a bad team. But there's value here, all right. There's
value that the home team, Packers have not played well
in the road recently, and you're getting almost a touchdown,
(06:17):
so you have the possibility of a backdoor cover in
the fourth quarter, which is exactly what the Giants did
against Chicago last week. So I am taking the Packers
to win, but the Giants to cover. Packers twenty, Giants seventeen.
And the Penny is going with the New York Giants. Alright,
(06:40):
So the Penny piggybacking my work. They're knowing that I
am a great prognosticator. That's what more about age versus beauty.
I think since you're the elder statesman, Deepenny relies on
you going first, and then she goes. I think the
term for that is a copycat. That's a copycat. Dependis
a copycat. Next up Washington at Carolina. The Redskins are
(07:03):
two and nine, Carolina is five and six. It's on CBS.
This game not a Fox game, even though it's two
NFC teams. They've done that a few times this year.
It's Greg Gumbel and Trent Green at CBS. Now Carolina
opened a nine point favorite. They're favored by ten. It's
(07:23):
typical late November weather and the Carolinas light rain, temperatures
in the mid sixties that kickoff at Bank of America
Stadium in Charlotte. I am gonna pick the Carolina Panthers
in this game. I'm gonna do it now. Dwayne Haskins
has not only been a quarterback, he has been wretched.
And I love the story last week that he was
(07:45):
celebrated in some circles for getting his first win as
an NFL quarterback. He was taking selfies with fans and
all that Haskins had in that game against the Lions
a hundred and fifty six yards passing, no touchdowns, an interception.
His passer rating was below fifty and yet the perception is, well,
(08:08):
he's the winning quarterback, he must have played well. Uh.
Now they're even making excuses because he's been tremendously inaccurate
Dwayne Haskins, who was pretty accurate at the Ohio State University,
and now some people around the Redskins are saying that
he's got this phantom wrist injury. I'm skeptical. Washington simply
cannot compete against an average or above average team with
(08:31):
this incompetent quarterback. The way Haskins is playing. I believe
Haskins will eventually be pretty good, but he ain't pretty
good right now. This is a non starter. Plus, the
Redskins mission statement is to lose, to suck, and to blow.
They can't be winning back to back games here. They
can't now. The other thing, and the only concern I
(08:52):
have is Carolina, because Carolina, on my mind, they are
on fumes. They showed more fight against the Saints last week.
But are they gonna come out deflated and and just
go through the motions and play lethargic football because their
season is pretty much over there not making the playoffs now.
(09:13):
Kyle Allen, he had sucked for several weeks. He was
a puke, and he came out of the penalty box
and he played his first good game in several weeks.
He had three touchdowns in the Bayou and and did
a solid job. And if if he plays anywhere close
to that this week, Carolina wins this game by at
(09:34):
least twenty one points. Now, if the Panthers lose, Ron
Rivera should be fired on the spot to lose to
Dwayne Haskins at home. Panthers thirty one Redskins. Penny's gots
the Carolina Panthers. Be sure to catch live editions of
The Ben Maller Show weekdays at two am Eastern eleven
(09:57):
pm Pacific on Fox Sports Radio the I Heart Radio Whip. Alright,
so we agree on that kind of defeating the purpose
of Benny versus the penny. If it's a year ox
copy every time. Next up, Santa Clara tennant one. This
is the game of the year in the NFL. Santa
clar A tenant one Baltimore nine and two. It's on Fox.
So you better watch who's calling this game. You think
(10:18):
it's a Dick Stockton game. No, I think this is
a Kevin Burkhard game. That is correct. It is Kevin
Burkhard and Charles Davis have the call. In the early
television window. I'm guessing the NFL wishes they had moved
this to prime time. They did not. This would be
a game you would expect to see in the late
TV window at the very least. But it is an
(10:40):
early one o'clock kickoff in Baltimore. The Ravens. Prior to
Monday night game, we're favored by four and a half.
Baltimore is now favored by six points. In this game.
You got a ten in one team against the nine
and two team, and the nine and two team is
favored by almost in touchdown. The four forecast at MNT
(11:02):
Bank Stadium, the House that Sports with Coleman built rainy
and forty three degrees at kickoff in Baltimore, the pick
is in. I'm painting for gold with the forty Niners.
I'm gonna take the forty Niners in this game. Now,
First of all, this should be a slobber knocker. The
(11:22):
Ravens are the darlings of the NFL. We all know
that for the recent performance, a deservedly so. It's one
of the great runs we've seen in NFL history. It's
such a dominant run it reminds me of the greatest
show on turf of the old St. Louis rams back
in the day. But it's not like the forty Niners
have been shop liver here in mince meat. They've been
(11:44):
turning teams into mince meat all year. They're the real McCoy.
So it's the number one defense for the forty Niners
against the most lethal dual threat quarterback who's been clicking
on all cylinders here in Lamar Jackson, who's got a
ridiculous sizzle reel. So what happens? You got the unstoppable force,
(12:04):
meaning the immovable object. We're gonna find out. I believe
the forty Niners are the right side here. Now. The
second thing, the real pressure is on Garoppolo, Jimmy Garoppolo
and the Niners running game collectively corroborative effort. They've got
to come out in what figures to be soggy conditions
in Baltimore play with the league right, come out early
(12:27):
in the game. We saw this before with Cleveland. Baltimore
style of play lends itself to being a front runner, right,
meaning that if they fall behind, that eliminates the dual
threat that puts the kabbash on the running game. They
then have to scramble with throws to try and get
back in the game. You know, people are overreacting a
(12:48):
wee bit to the Monday night game because of the
Ramps did not show up in that game. And the
Ravens are the same team that lost to Cleveland at home,
then the same team that had to go to overtime
against the Baltimore Ravens. So it's it's not like that
this team is invincible. They're hot right now if you
believe in such things. They lost one of their key
(13:11):
offensive line in their centers out for the year in
the Rams game. The forty Niners got George Kittle back.
That's huge as he returned to Santa Clara's lineup. And
at the time we are recording many versus the Penny,
it sounds like Matt Brita and d Ford a couple
of other key players could be back either way. Uh,
you got a ten in one team with the number
(13:33):
one defense and that great defensive line that should be
able to bottleneck the running game and and all that.
Getting over six points. You gotta be kidding me. I'm
gonna take that every day of the week as certainly
gonna take that. This is one of my better plays.
The forty Niners not a fraud. They will square the circle.
(13:55):
They will find the cheat code to Lamar Jackson Niners
Ravens seven in a Classic, and the penny is Got's
cheat sheet. It is San Francisco for the one. Be
sure to catch live editions of The Ben Miller Show
wheat days at two a m. Eastern eleven pm Pacific.
(14:18):
Wait wait, wait, so we've done three games here so far,
so good. All right, you should be happy about this.
You finished ten four last week. You were gloating about
your performance. You don't know how hardiness go over and
win games. You need to win fifty five percent to
make any kind of profit and gambling. Blah blah blah
blah blah. You should be happy about the penny. Well, no,
(14:42):
it's it's just not exciting. And people like when we disagree.
But fine whatever, I fine, we agree, I'm right, so
as always I'm right. Next up, now, this is another game.
This is a game that Lucas Oil Stadium is a dome.
It's gonna be cloudy and forty one degrees outside the
dome in Indianapolis at golf of this game, the Colts
are the pick. I'm gonna take Indianapolis. Now, this is
(15:04):
the game. Originally, when I first looked at the game,
I was leaning towards Tennessee. But the I started crunching
the numbers, and I started looking at the different angles
to this game, and and then I realized there's a
dense fog advisory around the Titans. And so I'm gonna
be on the home team here, the Colts. And I'll
tell you why I don't trust Ryan Tannehill. Period hard
(15:28):
stop right and Tannehill right now is playing above his skis.
He's leading the NFL in the yards for attempt, He's
completing over seventy of his passes. This is the last
quarterback to do it is Joe Montana. This is an
out of body experience. However, I'm not drinking the kool
aid yet for two reasons. Number one, I believe these
(15:49):
are hollow numbers. Why because Ryan Tannehill has beaten up
a bunch of lightweights, hasn't done it against a good
or above average team. The Colts are a much better test.
They're a better team than anyone he's faced so far.
And the second thing here is that if you look
at the track record of the Dolphins career of Ryan Tannehill,
(16:13):
before he got to Tennessee. And this tells you what
has happened, doesn't tell you what's gonna happen. But Tannehill
would have occasional games where he looked amazing and it
would give this false hope to the Miami fan. But
we we dubbed this thing gas on the Tannehill to step.
You know what the Tannehill too step is. This is
similar Ryan Fitzpatrick. Right, you do something good, then you
(16:35):
throw a bunch of I N T s next game. Well,
it's a dance move. It's you take one step forward
and two steps back. And that's what Tannehill has done. Right,
he'll have a masterpiece and then he'll come back and
he'll have a reversal of fortune. Now, sometimes he has
a couple of masterpieces and then he follows it up
with three pieces of of feces that you know, just projectile,
(16:56):
vomit all that. So that's that's a concern. Secondly, uh,
it's not perfect. Its bets not perfect, because any is
still a mash munit unit. They are the guys, the
key players, several of them are out. The backups have
done a pretty good job. But let's not go overboard.
Here they still don't have Marlon Mack. They don't he's out.
(17:17):
Eric Ebron's gone the tight end, so it is up
to the replacements. Here. They're gonna have to run the
ball because Jacoby Brissette struggles to throw the ball. But
I like the coltst Dave Roberts would say, I like
the Colts in this spot, coming off a loss to
the Texans, having extra time to prepare. Frank Reich is
the better coach. So if it comes down to the
(17:38):
fourth quarter, close game, I'd rather have Frank wright Uh
in the game than Mike rabel And and plus the
public is all over Ryan Tannell. If he was a musician,
they'd say he's Mozart. I don't believe he's Mozarty. This
is a a key game. I will go with the
grit and the moxie of the cold to muck up
(18:01):
the game too. Muck it up and they will win
ugly yet again, but they will barely buy the skin
on their chinny chin chin cover the spread Indianapolis twenty
three and the Tennessee Titans twenty The penny is gone
(18:21):
with the Tennessee Titans. The hair on your tennage chins
and dummy. Fox Sports Radio has the best sports talk
lineup in the nation. Catch all of our shows at
Fox sports Radio dot com and within the I Heart
Radio app. Search f s R to listen live. That
is incorrect. The hair hey stupid. The expression works both ways.
(18:48):
You can either use the skin on their chinny chin chin,
or you can use hair on their chinny chin chin.
If you google it, you will see that I am
correct and that you are just unevolved. You're uneducated, and
you do not know the nuance of language the way
I do. All I do is study language, right, That's
all I do. You're out there on those dating sites
(19:08):
is what you're doing. I'm I'm studying language. Okay. Oh well,
I can see that. That's uh, it's working quite well
for you. Moving on, let repress on. Oh wow, alright,
moving on another win for me there Philadelphia five and
six at Miami two and nine. It's on Fox. Now.
(19:30):
Is this is this game with Dick Stockton game? I
was going between him and Kenny Albert and this one.
So I'm gonna say, yeahs Dick Stockton on this one.
David Guest, Karen, congratulations, you just lost the Dick Stockton
game you did not win. It is Kenny Albert who
(19:51):
has the call should have gone, you should have gone
behind curtain number one. That's a bad job by you.
Guess guy, what did he? It's odd because normally Kenny
Albert does every Giant's game, or or if they occasionally
get a Jets game. But yeah, he's doing. Dolphins Eagles
(20:12):
in beautiful Miami now Philly open attend They actually opened
a seven and appoint favorite. The line is all the
way up to ten. It's gonna be sunny eighty degrees
at kickoff at hard Rock Stadium in Miami with a
bunch of dudes from South Philly in the Delaware Valley
who will infiltrate Miami. I'm gonna take the Dolphins in
(20:35):
this game, and I know that's against popular opinion. I'll
be the contrarian here. A couple of thoughts. At first, Lance,
I agree that the Eagles should win this game in
a cake walk. But very few things have gone easy.
Very few things have gone easy for the Birds. Their
twenty nineteen offense is field goal or punch. That's the
(20:56):
offense of the Philadelphia Eagles this year. Carson Wentz has
been in a nick. His numbers are not bad. But
check this out. Twenty two games, last twenty two games
Carson Wentz is started, the Eagles have a losing record.
They're ten and twelve with Carson Wentz as their quarterback
the last twenty two games. The Eagles are lacking playmakers.
(21:16):
They are lacking the wow factor Carson Wentz. Now they're
making excuses saying he's got a mangled hand. These are
not positives when you're talking about a double digit point spread.
Now I'm not here advocating. Secondly, for the Dolphins. They
have so many issues. They need more than therapy. They
probably need to be institutionalized in the Miami Dolphins. But
(21:39):
but this is more of a bet against Philly than
it is a confidence play on Miami. And I like
to look at the psychological part of gambling. The Eagles
are coming off too high profile games against the Patriots
and the Seahawks games in Philly, games they lost, and
now now they are playing the Dolphins, a team nobody
(22:00):
gets up for. Plus they have the distraction of South
Beach and you're leaving Philly where it's forty degrees or
thirty five degrees, are going to Miami where it's eighty degrees. Uh,
so you have a chance, not a lot of opportunity,
but a night to get into some debauchery. But double
digit home doogs and being willing to bet on bad
teams has been a very good formula to win some
(22:25):
money over the years. The public almost always prefers road
favorites instead. I like to go against the public. So
I'm gonna take Philly to win. But to not cover
Eagles twenty four Dolphins twenty you stubborn bathroom. You never
learn your lesson, and Penny is picking the Eagles. Fly Fly,
(22:47):
fly fly right into weed Man's house there in South Florida.
Al right, next up Tampa Bay at Jacksonville. It's on Fox.
You better watch four and seven, four and seven the
records here? Who's calling this game? Is this? You've already
lost the Dick Stockton game. But is this the Dick
(23:07):
Stockton game? That is correct? This is the Dick Stockton
Mark Flare game. So you didn't win, but you came
close to winning the Dick Stockton game. And this game open,
how about this line? Do you see the line movement
on this Jackson Jacksonville open a four and a half
point favorite. They are now favored by one one stinking point.
(23:29):
At t i a a bank field in Jacksonville, be
cloudy and seventies seven degrees at kickoff cloudy and seventy
seven degrees. I'm taking Tampa Bay in this game, and
and I'll walk you through how I got the Tampa
Bay Alright, Ay, this is the Sunshine Bowl. Whoever wins
(23:52):
this game wins the bragging rights for Florida because the
Dolphins are worse than both these teams. Uh. Now, I
saw it where Jacks coach douglall Ron says that Nick
Foles gives his team the best chance to win, so
that's why he's starting Nick Foles. Let me, I would
like to translate that, Yes, can I have a Dakota ring?
What he left out, Doug Moron was the end of
that sentence. There should be a COMMA at the end
(24:15):
of Nick Foles gives us the best chance to win,
Comma because we are paying him fifty million dollars of
guaranteed money. Because that's really why Nick Foles is starting.
If it was based on performance, he would not be
the starting quarterback here. Uh, that's just the reality. Jackson
has been outscored seventy five to thirty since Nick Foles
(24:36):
came back from injury to the starting lineup. Keep in mind,
though that doesn't sound that bad, I guess being outscored
by forty five points, twenty one of those points came
in garbage time. So with Nick Foles in competitive football,
they've only gotten three field goals. Jacksonville has I cannot
bet on the Jacks until Nick Foles either improves or
(25:00):
or minshoe Mania returns Gardner Minshew comes back as the quarterback. Now. Secondly,
on the flip side, you've got Jameis wins Now. We
talked about him on the radio show. He is a
case study on being really good and really bad at
the same time. Right, is the glass half full? Is
the glass half empty? He is unpaced to throw for
(25:21):
close to five thousand yards a gazillion touchdowns, and at
the same time he's leading the NFL in interceptions, and
he's a turnover factory. So all those interceptions dismantle all
the goodwill that the passing yards and the touchdowns provide,
and it really harpoons the Buccaneers chances of winning most
(25:44):
of the time. They did beat Atlanta last week. The
other factor is Tampa based defense is atrocious. Despite all that, again,
I want to quote Dave Roberts. I liked the Bucks
in this spot. But it's get more to bet against
Nick Foles than it is to take take advantage of
of anything else. You've got to really go against the
(26:04):
incompetent Nick Foles. I don't even think the Buck's defense
is gonna make him look good. Buccaneers thirty four, Jags twenty,
and the Pangs on the opposite way. Going to Jaguars
on this one, Going with Jackson, all right. Next up
the New York Jets at Cincinnati. It's on CBS with
(26:26):
Spirodidas and Adam Archiletta. Now, the Jets opened a three
and a half point favorite. They are still a three
and a half point favorite in this game. It'll be
partly sunny and fifty degrees that kick off at Paul
Brown Stadium. The O and eleven Bengals the four and
seven Jets. I am gonna side with Mr oh and
Elevin here. I'm gonna take the Cincinnati Fungals in this game.
(26:50):
I'll tell you why, all right. I understand things have
been rolling along for the Big Green machine there in
all phases, by land, by air, by water. It is
amazing seeing what playing bad teams can do for your confidence.
The Jets are the NFL's number one defensive yards per
game the last three weeks. They're ahead of the forty Niners.
They're ahead of the Ravens, They're ahead of the Pacers.
(27:12):
There ahead of everybody. You toss in the fact that
Sam Donald is no longer dealing with motto, he's no
longer seeing ghosts. I guess the ghostbusters came in and
figured all this out, and you see why the Jets
fans are excited. The last three weeks against the Giants, Redskins,
and Raiders, Sam Donald has seven touchdowns and one interception.
(27:35):
He's averaging over nine yards per attempt. That's great, but
the law of averages say he is due for a regression,
even against the bad team. And in the second thing, now,
the Bengals are a total ship show. I am not
gonna sit here and and say anything different, but if
you look at what they did. They originally benched Andy Dalton,
(27:56):
they brought in Ryan Finley. Now, Ryan Finley has been
such a nebbish, he has been so incompetent. He's had
such reckless disregard for his ability to play quarterback that
Cincinnati was forced to go back to the red rifle.
This is dysfunction junction. What is your function? Is what
it is? So it's rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Uh.
(28:21):
Now that said, this is a big opportunities, a brass
ring situation for Dalton. He gets another opportunity. Think of
this is a casting call, an open audition for Dalton. Really,
not for the Bengals because they're gonna draft some quarterback
with the number one pick, But for Dalton, Dalton, they
get a job somewhere else to get an opportunity to
compete for a starting job. Of Philip Rivers retires in
(28:43):
in l a. Or or to go to Pittsburgh of
Roethlisberger's out. The public is all over the Jets, and
that has me running for the Hills. The Bengals at
least have a puncher's chance. They certainly have a shot
with Andy Dalton to hang around. And the Jets, I
still don't believe they should be favored by over a
(29:03):
field goal against anyone. I liked my home dogs, Our
Jets twenty three, Bengals twenty one that's a cover for
Cincinnati and for the one that got away. I will
see the penny taking the New York Jets, Jets Jets
thirty four points in the last three victories. Then keep
(29:24):
rolling with that. Yeah, well, all good things come to
an end. All good you will learn that lesson that
the front running all right? Next up Cleveland five and
six at Pittsburgh six and five. It's on CBS. I
An Eagle and Dan Fouts have the call. This game
opened Pittsburgh by three. The Browns are favored by two.
(29:47):
The weather calls for light rain forty six degrees at
Hines Field in beautiful Pittsburgh. I'm gonna take the Steelers
in this game. Mike tomlin Is is right now like
a circus clown juggling quarterbacks. You've got Mason Rudolph gone
to the bench. Now Duck Hodges is taking over. I
(30:07):
love the whole redneck back story, the ridiculous name, the
duck calling. But instead of chicken fingers, I guess he
eats like raccoons stew or something like that. But can
can the guy play? I I don't know that the
jury is still out on whether or not you play
the Steelers offense is gonna be dumbed down here. They
(30:28):
have been even with Hut. They've been running a dumb
down office for a couple weeks. But but they've been
like the ox in the ditch. You know what. They
can't get out of it. You're in a ditch, you
can't get out of it. This is a revenge spot
for Pittsburgh against the team they traditionally beat, who they
lost to just a couple of weeks ago. And you
have that cloud of bad blood hanging over this particular game.
(30:53):
The second that the Browns they're still getting this sugar
rush from feasting on all these cupcakes. Do they now
choke on a little piece of banana cream pie on
the road. The bookmaker knows the public is all over
the Cleveland Browns, so they have to cover themselves and
they have to, you know, cover their losses. And they
(31:15):
have the Browns favored by two. This is a five
point line disparity, meaning again Pittsburgh should be favored by
three in this game. Instead you're getting five points because
the Browns are favored by two. I just don't agree
with that, the thinking that that Cleveland's all in. I've
been on Cleveland several times. I've bet against Cleveland several times. Listen, Uh,
(31:37):
look at this. The Browns picked up five points and
all they did was play the Dolphins in between the
last time they played the Steelers and Miles Garrett eight
playing you'll go be bashing people over the head somewhere else.
But he ain't gonna show up in Pittsburgh. Uh So
we don't even know if Duck Hodges is that bad.
He could be fine. As I said, it's it's an
(31:58):
open question. But just when you think Baker Mayfield has
turned the corner, that's normally the time a trapdoor opens
up and you fall into a pit of flames. So
Cleveland should win the game, but they should not be favored.
And Pittsburgh traditionally even with bums at quarterbacks, but a
very good home team Steelers seventeen. Brown's sixteen penny gun
(32:26):
with the Cleveland Browns and Bernie cos Are Birdy Cosa.
I think Ozzy Newsom's gonna have a big game. I
believe that if you go downlast Webster Slaughter could be
the key of that. What about Dante Stalwarth it's more
of a newer generation Brown player. I just don't keep
him out of the driver's seat. You'll be alright, right,
(32:49):
dirty days manslaughter, it's reasonable. All right, let's go to
Oatland six and five at Kansas City seven and four.
Notice that we're not we're not getting trivia this week.
That's uh, that's a good job by you. Well, it's
Thanksgiving week and I just wanna I want to expedite
the process game. And I know, I know you. You
(33:10):
probably have something to do. You've got to go talk
to some corporate muckety MUCKs or do some stupid conference calls.
So we'll we'll just expedite the process. We'll get we'll
get trivial next week. Okay, can we get trivial next week? Sure? Ye? Alright?
Oakland six and five Kansas City seven or four. It's
on CBS with Jim Nance and Toe Knee row Bow. Now,
(33:31):
the Chiefs open at eight and a half point favorite.
They are favored by ten at Arrowhead Cloudy in thirty
eight degrees at kick off at Arrowhead Stadium. I'm taking
the Raiders in this game. Now. I know public perception
has shifted and people whatever they see they think is
gonna happen again. And the Raiders played like dog crap.
They played like dog piss against the Jets in the
(33:54):
blink of an eye, right, the Raiders. If they just
squeaked out and win against the Jets, this would have
set up the epic a f C West Game of
the year, right underdog story of redemption the football Orphans
their last year in Oakland before they go to Vegas.
But now since they lost to the Jets, it's the
same old Raiders. Now, I'm not gonna tell you they
(34:17):
didn't play like mongrels in that game. They actually did
play like mongrels, not only in that game, but the
game before which they squeaked out a win against the
Cincinnati Bengals. They played like vermin in that game also,
So there's a couple of dud performances by the Raiders here. Uh,
they had no pulse in the game against the Jets. Now,
(34:39):
this is a late game, it's not an early game.
It's against the traditional division rival. But there is a
saying in sports wager, and it's also said by football coach,
if you get caught in a trap game, which is
clearly what happened that the Raiders were peeking ahead at
Kansas City, if you get caught looking ahead in the
peek a boo, then you've gotta in the game you
(35:00):
were looking ahead to. And even though this is not
as sexy matchup because the Raiders lost, if the Raiders
win this game, they will still be tied with Kansas City.
And you know, Oakland will be seven and five, Kansas
City will be seven and five at the end of
play on Sunday, So it's still a big game. Secondly,
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. I know some people love
(35:22):
them because they had a bye week and they had
to little see Esta in Mexico against the Chargers. But
Kansas City did not impress me in that game. They
were fortunate to beat the lowly Chargers, and that is
with Philip Rivers throwing all those interceptions. Now, now that
Lamar Jackson is the flavor of the month, Patrick Mahomes
(35:42):
has to take a back seat in the pecking order
of NFL quarterbacks, but he could certainly return some market
share here if he has a big game against the
Raiders and treats them like silly puppy. I understand Kansas
City is getting some guys back. The Chiefs should win
this game big. What I happen to love double digit dogs.
(36:02):
And what do I always say when you get over
a touchdown in a divisional game? You don't ask questions.
You take the points. The Raiders have to kick knee,
elbow poked the Chiefs in the eye. Uh to get
that cover, that backdoor cover. I believe it will happen.
Chiefs thirty four, Raiders twenty six. Penny also in agreement
(36:27):
with you and go with the Opalanda Redda's all right.
Next up on Penny versus the Penny the l A Raiders,
actually the Raiders the l A Rams. Oh boy, why
that cover? L A Rams at five? There's a throwback
to like the eighties and early nineties, the l A
Ram six and five at the Arizona Cardinals, who are
(36:48):
three seven and one. It's on Fox and a Man
that's part of the Fox Sports Radio Alumni Association. A
proud alumnus Chris Myers along with Darryl Moose Johnson to
have the call. All now. The Rams opened a three
and a half point favorite. They're favored by four in
this game. The weather, it's gonna be sunny fifty nine
(37:11):
degrees at kickoff at State Farms Stadium in Arizona and
I'm gonna surprise you guesscan I as an as an
active charity. I am gonna take the guy riding the
short bus. Yes, I'm gonna do it. I'm doing it now.
Now for before you say I'm a prison of the moment,
(37:32):
It's not just because the Rams got steam rolled by
the Ravens on Monday night. Unless it is just because
the Rams got steam rolled by the Ravens on Monday night.
You have the perfect storm working against Los Angeles. You've
got the distraction of Thanksgiving weekend. You have them as
a road favorite against the team they traditionally beat, an
(37:53):
opponent that you do not get up for. You are
coming off an emotional prime time loss where you were
emasculated by Lamar Jackson. Look like you should be playing
pop Orner football instead of the NFL. All of these
things are working against the Rams. From the psychology psychology
(38:13):
part of gambling, Sean McVeigh had no answers to Lamar Jackson.
This is the kind of neutering that takes place the
the and Lingers. Uh. The Ravens have the Rams balls
on a shelf somewhere in Maryland right now. Uh, good
luck getting back that back the Rams are a more
(38:34):
talented team. I believe they are a better team than
the Cardinals, and all things being equal, they should absolutely
win this game. But when you handicap a game, you
gotta look at all these other things and all of that.
Every box is checked against the l A Rams right there,
they're they're getting close to give up mode. It looked
(38:56):
like they gave up against the Ravens. Now. Secondly, you
are what your record says you are. The Cardinals are
one of the worst teams in the NFL. So this
is not a confidence play on Arizona Kyler Murray. As
we have pointed out, we're the only ones to do
this because we're the grown ups here. This guy's been
a Mama Luke Alright, his numbers are misleading. He's fatten
(39:17):
up his stats and games the Cardinals were way behind,
and and so you know, he's not as good as
his numbers. In a kay even though his numbers aren't
all that good. The Cardinals defensively are a football atrocity.
They are second worst to the oh and eleven Bengals.
And yet even with that, I still believe that Jared
Golf will be flummix going against Arizona the last three games.
(39:41):
Golf has no touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating
below sixty. There's no way on God's green Earth that
I am gonna bet on the Rams until Jared Goff
either gets benched. I'd rather bet on Blake Bortles or
he proves that he is not a fraud. Give me
Ale Gator Arms. Murray the oompa loompa of the NFL
(40:05):
Cardinals twenty Rams seventeen. Penny likes the way you think
and go with the up and coming Cayler Murray and
the Arizona Cardinals. You love, you love Shorty. You your
favorite movie was Get Shorty Right? That was? I think
you have vastly under estimated the power of Cayler Murray,
(40:29):
even in his rookie campaign. So he will. He will
not make you eat crow this weekend since you have
taken him and there's in the Cardinals. But he will
surprise you when you're number two. Yes, you, You've always
had a place for the pips weeak. You like the
guy's barely bigger than a garden. Do you understand that
your pairs he can play? He has played, He's played
great this season he's played great. What I think I
(40:53):
watch football? Wait? Wait, wait wait you said the word great.
You use the adjective great. I have I did I
want you as a teacher. If I had had you
as a teacher, guest scout, I would have been a
I would have several degrees if I had had you
as a professor, and instead you have how many? I have? Zero?
(41:15):
Not a hey, schmuck, I have agree from the streets,
streets of hard knocks, all right, I have, I have
won the hard Marcus Mariota got benched. He had a
higher passer rating than Kyler Murray has right now. Gardner
Minshew also got benched. Guess what higher passer rating than
(41:36):
Kyler Murray has right now. And according to David Gascon,
who clearly shows sympathy because Kyler Murray is a teeny
leeny eaty bitty little spider, uh you you feel bad
for him, and so as an act of charity, you're
pulling for the guy who's small potatoes. He's got no
(41:58):
offensive line, he's got absolutely no running game, he's got
very few weapons on the outside, and he has an
atrocious defense. Yes, I actually think he's a pretty darn
good quarterback in his rookie season, despite all that working
against him, hold On said, I'm gonna play some music.
I'm gonna I've got the world's smallest violin. I'm gonna
play that for Kyler Murray. Okay, can I do that? Yes? Yeah,
(42:21):
you can do whatever you want. Yeah, that's right, all right,
go choke up some ravioli, all right. Next the l
A Chargers four and seven at Denver three and eight.
It's on CBS. Andrew Catalan and James Lofton have the call.
The Chargers opened and underdog Broncos were originally favored by
(42:42):
one and a half, but now the Charges are favored
by two and a half. I don't understand this mostly
sunny thirty five degrees at kickoff for your favorite NFL team.
Gag on, you love the Broncos who played in power
field at Mile High. I'm taking the Broncos. I'm riding
with the horses this week. Now. To me, this is
(43:03):
an even matchup. The Charges of the NFL's two ranked team,
the Broncos of the ranked team according to Football Outsiders,
So two even teams. I don't understand how the Bolts
are favorite in this game. Denver traditionally has been a
tough place to play. Uh, it's just all because Derwin James.
The safety is coming back to the charges. Are you
telling me a safety not not a quarterback. We're not
(43:25):
talking about a quarterback. We're talking about safety. That that
is why the charges are favored on the road. I
don't get it now. Philip Rivers over the last four
weeks has not only been a quarterback. He has been
the thirty first ranked quarterback in a thirty two quarterback league.
He has been number four. He is aging before our eyes.
He has continued to be reckless. Seven interceptions the past
(43:48):
two games. He's also mixed in a couple of fumbles.
He is as bad as any quarterback in the NFL.
Right now. He's a hot mess. I've seen no evidence
that he's gonna turn this thing around. Everyone says, well,
he'll be fine, don't worry. He's never has three bad
games in a row. Okay, all right. The Bolts offensive
line still blows. They still think, uh steak. And then
(44:11):
you've got Vic Fangio, who's supposed to be a defensive wizard.
He hasn't been so far. He's got his own quarterback
conundrum now, I would love the Broncos. This would be
one of my better players of Drew Lock plays, because
I think Drew Lock will be all right who have
some beginner's luck. He isn't likely to start this game,
at least at the time we're doing the podcast, but
could come off the bench in relief. Brandon Allen is
(44:34):
a limp noodle, is what he is. Right, he needs
a little blue pill. Uh he's lethargic. He's just he's
a junior varsity level quarterback. He's not a starting quarterback.
And nevertheless, the value tholways on the Broncos because interceptions
create opportunity for an underdog. Denver will play a very conservative,
(44:58):
close to the vest offense. Uh We talked about that
remedial game plan where you don't have a good quarterback,
you just try to not make mistakes. And uh so
I had a lot of swing passes, bubble screens, try
to run, run early, run late, ground and pound all
that kind of football. So if you do that, you
(45:19):
don't turn the ball over and you expect Rivers to
have at least two interceptions. I'm taking the Broncos to
win the game outright. Denver twenty four The Chargers, and
he was going with the Broncos as well. No surprise. Yeah,
you can't bet on the gun Slinger, the aging gun Slinger.
(45:41):
Not the way to go, not a good winning formula,
guest gun not at all all right, Uh, Next up
Sunday Night Football, New England Tenant one at Houston, seven
and four on and b C with Al Michaels and
Chris collins with you know Michael's I I know you
saw this last night. Michaels did not call the NBC
(46:05):
game on Thursday night because he's so old now he
wants to enjoy Thanksgiving. So and I think he's only
in his contract he only works one game a week,
and so he couldn't do both that game on Thanksgiving
and the Sunday night game, so he chose the Sunday
night game in Houston and Collinsworth also did not do
the game on Thanksgiving. Well, I'm gonna take I'm gonna
(46:25):
take the Patriots here that Patriots are three point favorite.
They opened four and a half, so small road favorite,
clear and sixty degrees at kickoff in the Dome at
NRG Stadium in Houston. Now, first of all, this is
another chapter in the teacher versus the pupil. Matchup of
Bill Belichick's coaching tree. Belichick against Bill O'Brien, a disciple
(46:50):
of his, has. They've coached against each other five times.
Belichick is five and all. Now, some of those games
the Texans were bad. Many of those games the Texas
were pretty good, had nice records like they do now
seven and four record. In fact, Belichick that five and
old record is by far his best record against any
former assistant. This is a gigantic coaching mismatch. In fact,
(47:14):
Belichick against all of his former assistance has He's coached
eighteen games. Against his former assistance, he's nine and nine,
So that means using mallar math. Against anyone other than
Bill O'Brien, who used to coach on belichick staff, he's
four and nine, but against O'Brien, five and oh. The
one monkey wrench for the Patriots is Tom Brady's tender elbow,
(47:39):
which got extra treatment after the Cowboy game. But let's
be honest here, Ill. We love Brady, but the Patriots
also just try to win the turnover battle. They want
to maintain offensive balance, but they also run a very
safe offensive game plan, which requires Belichick or Brady rather
to throw a lot of dump all off in short passes,
(48:01):
high percentage passes. And Brady is so smart he rarely
makes the wrong throw so he doesn't turn the ball over,
he covers for his offensive line. Those are all reasons
to like the Patriots in this particular game. Now. Secondly,
the Patriots are going to have to repeat the script
from these recent games. Right they have to play a
wonky plotting style of offense. As he said, limit the mistakes,
(48:24):
hold on the ball while the defense can create some
turbulence against the Shawn Watson. There is opportunity here against
the Shawn Watson. It is a formula that has stood
the test of time for Belichick. Against these high flying,
one dimensional teams Houston, they have to play at a
frenetic pace in the passing game. They are a one
(48:47):
trick pony. They struggle to run the ball. If you're
the defense, if you're the defensive coordinator and you know
that team struggles to run the ball, that sets up
a hyper aggress of defense, a chance to be a
ball hawking defense because you know you're gonna be throwing
a lot the other team is that you can mix
(49:07):
in some exotic blitzes and change it up and and
just mess with Deshaun Watson. Uh so, yeah, I love
the Patriots defense in this game. And and the other
way to bet on the Patriots has a bet on
the defense. Uh the Texans with this style of play,
it's either boom or bust. I'm expecting a lot of mistakes.
Patriots twenty three the Texans sixteen. Man, the pay is
(49:34):
gone with the turbulence of the defense and the Patriots
taken New England. All right? Next up, Monday Night Football.
This is the last game, will wrap up the Turkey
Week edition of Benny Versus the Penny minuteso to eight
and three at Seattle nine and two. It's on ESPN
with Joe test It Tour and Booger Booker McFarland. Uh,
(49:58):
you're a big fan of his brought cast team. A
lot of a lot of gravy on a Thanksgiving weekend. Yes,
this is gravy on top of gravy, on top of gravy.
Yes it is. Uh, how many Thanksgiving cliche's will Joe
Tessa Tore throw out on the broadcast? Well we'll find out.
But the line of this game Seattle open a three
point favorite. They are favored by three. It'll be cloudy
(50:22):
forty degrees that kick off at Century Link Field in Seattle.
Remember on the if you download the other podcast, the
Mallard Man March and schedule to take place in Seattle.
So I have a special place in my heart for
the people of Seattle, the Mallard Militia, men and women,
the p Ones that are holding this event on December
twenty nine. More on that on the other podcast. But
(50:45):
I'm sorry, I gotta take the vikings here. As a gambler,
I gotta take the vikings. I'll tell you why. In
the past you would always bet against Kirk Cousins because
he was jinx in prime time games. I that was
always the argument. The guy would be fine at one
o'clock in the afternoon or noon Midwestern time, uh newon kickoffs.
(51:09):
But but against the better teams in the prime time games,
he's like, well, Cousins is two and oh this season
in night games. He put up an oil painting against
the Cowboys in Dallas not that long ago, and the
one week spot Seattle has h to exploit here. And
the one thing that concerns me about the vikings is
the butterfingers. Cousins has eight fumbles. He's only been sacked
(51:32):
twenty two times. Ball security. That can lead to a
big flip in what you handicap in a game. Now. Secondly,
Pete Carroll check this out. Since he became the coach
in Seattle back in almost a decade, there have only
been three quarterbacks that have won multiple games on the
(51:53):
road in Seattle. Only three Carson Palmer retired, Matt the
Ice of the Falcons, and Jared Goff. Believe it or not,
Kirk Cousins has already won a game in the Pacific
Northwest back when he was with the Washington Redskins. I
believe it was in a couple of years ago in
(52:16):
uh he can add his name to that that rare
list with a win here. The Seahawks have been playing
Russian Roulette all season. They have been weaning by very
thin margins. Here they almost lost at home to the Bengals,
Bucks and Rams. It took a missed field goal by
(52:36):
the Rams kicker there the Legatron character for the Rams
lose the Buccaneers. Some crazy things happened for Tampa Bay
to win that game, and the Seahawks were blown out
by the Ravens and uh in the Saints in Seattle,
they've got issues. Despite their GATTI nine and two record,
it has not been smooth sailing for the Sea Birds. UH.
(52:59):
They have problem they have problems in their secondary they
have problems on their offensive line. You add on that
Mike Zimmer has been traditionally great when given extra time
to prepare. That's what the Vikings have here. They were
on vacation last week. It all adds up from a
gambling standpoint to take the Vikings. Now. Remember, I want
the Seahawks to win this game. I hope I'm wrong
(53:19):
because that makes the Mallard Man March, Mallard Stock Mallar
Palooza a much bigger deal December twenty nine. But Vikings
thirty three, Seahawks thirty your final penny looking at the
magic number three and going at the Minnesota Games, and
(53:40):
that is it. We put the baby to bed gas
On and I want the people to know too. Podcasts
have dropped holiday weekend. The podcast machine does not stop
showing you the great the determination that I have to
come in and do this podcast. And I think the
audio quality on this better than any other. I guess
we've done so far. I'd have to agree part of
(54:03):
that reasons because like a good lead, I have a
voice that kind of masks the deficiencies of your pipes
in the old and rotten age that you live in.
So um, I agree with you. It's well said. Yes
again David gascon proving he is the narcissist. Narcissist here
(54:24):
on the show, very superficial and whatnot there, And uh,
I think, well, in another life you were a prima donna,
right as that was your job before prima donna. I hope.
I wish there was some kind of way to prove
that to would be nice to see what kind of
money I had back in an alternate life. But uh,
but yeah, right now I'm just living the American dream, dude,
(54:45):
which is holding the water for Ben Mallory. Yeah, in
life there are good guys and villains. I'm the good guy.
You're the villain. That's the way. Anyway, have a great weekend,
way back to the radio Sunday night into Monday, and
we'll catch you next time. And thank you for supporting
The Fifth Hour with Ben Maller
Host
Ben Maller
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