2025 NFL Season Betting Previews | NFC North & AFC North Team Predictions

How should we be betting the AFC North & NFC North heading into the 2025 NFL Season? Join Kelly Stewart and Teddy Covers for The Opening Line Report as we dissect the NFL betting market with the 2025 NFL preseason right around the corner.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, Welcome to the Opening Line Report. Kelly Stewart here. Yes,
we are talking NFL in June, joined by Teddy Covers.
You guys know him. He's the guy that's been working
on this whole thing since well what the draft? I mean, Teddy,
that's the whole premise of this show, right, is that

(00:20):
we want to get in early. We want to get
that information out early, and that's what the Opening Line
Report's all about.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Sure, I mean, we do the show first thing Monday morning.
You know, the lines just cut. You know, the lines
come up on Sunday across the board, and then Monday
morning we're locked and loaded with where's the numbers gonna move?
What just happened for real? Et cetera, et cetera. So
that first to market is meaningful. And when it comes
to NFL win totals. So look, you know what the
drill cal I've been doing this for twenty five years

(00:47):
with wind totals. The markets come out, you see numbers
right after the draft, and then they get bet maybe
for a couple of days, and then they sit and
they sit until training camps open and that's when then
markets start to move again. So this is kind of
a sweet spot time wise where we can talk about
lines and they're not moving, and it allows us at

(01:12):
this time of the year to get some of the
best bets you're going to get for NFL win totals.
So as long as you do your homework early, and
that's what we're trying to do. If you do your
homework early, you get better bets, plain and simple. That's
why we're talking NFL in June, and that's why my
win report comes out the first week of July Wednesday,
July second.

Speaker 3 (01:28):
You know, we're not screwing around, We're not dilly dallying.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Get the work done, get the bets out, get the
bets in, and we'll be getting the best of the number.
I think routinely with just about everything we're going to play.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
I was gonna make a Game of Thrones reference today,
but then I forgot what I was going to say
in regards to it. But we are talking AFC and
NFC North. You Game of Thrones fans out there will
get the reference the North remembers. Is that what it is? Anyway,
we're going to talk right now off the top to
AFC North, and this is one of my favorite divisions
in football, Teddy, Why because it seems like these teams

(02:06):
are always neck and neck. Last year, I bet the
Baltimore Ravens to win the Super Bowl, and well I
got my heart broken once again by playoff Lamar. Let's
break down this team and what we expect to see
from them here in twenty twenty five. Currently, this team
pretty much seven to one to win the Super Bowl.
Thought that was a little cheap to win the AFC

(02:27):
plus three fifty to win the division minus one forty five.
And as you talked about on last week's show, those
teams over you know, double digit wins are hard to get.
Eleven and a half wins over minus one fifteen.

Speaker 2 (02:41):
So we got to stop with the playoff Lamar narrative.
Remember Mark Andrews dropped the play.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
You know, it wasn't Lamar, Remember that, Teddy.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
It was Mark Andrews with the ball in his hand, going, oh,
I don't feel like going to the Super Bowl this year,
and then Lamar gets the blank. All right, Lamar had
another MVP caliber season last year, period, plain and simple.
He's as good a quarterback as you'll find in the league,
including Patrick Mahomes, including Josh Allen. You know He's certainly
a guy we're going to talk about at the same

(03:11):
level with those guys. Know, whatever else do you want
to put on that list? You know, Stafford, YadA, YadA.
But the Ravens last year lined as an eleven win team,
they finished twelve and five and twenty three, they were
lined as a nine and a half win team. They
went thirteen and four ten wins in twenty two, pushed
right on the number. So they've been a double digit
win team each of the last three years. We look

(03:32):
at what they did last year, looked plus six and turnovers.
It wasn't like they had crazy turnover margin. What do
they do last year? Really impressive statistical profile. Number one
in the NFL yards per play and offense by a
wide margin six point eight yards per play for Baltimore
last year, the best offense in the league. That's Lamar Jackson. Defense. Oh,

(03:53):
they were top five in defense yards for play as well,
giving up just five point two yards per play. And
they did it again. We talk about strength of schedule.
I used my Powering numbers on the week the game
was played. I don't look at the end of the
season and go, oh this team hat of what and
what record and had them all up. I used my
powering numbers that week, so we know did they face

(04:16):
teammate when they were good or when they were bad.
So based on my powering numbers, they had a much
tougher than average schedule last year, one of the five
toughest in the league. So they dominated statistically. It wasn't
all turnovers both offense and defense, and they faced a
much tougher than average schedule. So Baltimore was really really

(04:38):
good last year, they just didn't win at all. We
have John Harball back as the head coach for its
what eighteenth year on the job, Todd Monkin back as
the offense corinator, Zach Orr back as a defense correator.
So this continuity in Baltimore. And again, this wasn't a
team that had a bunch of salary cap money to spend.
It wasn't a team that had a bunch of needs
to fill necessarily. It was more about signing their key

(05:01):
guys in free agency. And of course they kept Ronnie
Stanley on the offensive line. You know, you say what
they do in the offseason where they resigned their key
guy at left tackle. Other than that, free agency wise,
it really wasn't a whole lot going. You know, DeAndre Hopkins,
he look washed up last year. Cooper Rush is a
backup quarterback. I mean, there's not a lot that they
were able to do when it comes to making big.

Speaker 3 (05:24):
Splashy pickup moves.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
But given that the team that was already there was
as dominant as any team in the league, I don't
think they needed to. You know, I'm not the all
that worry. You know, they have in theory some holes
on defense, you know, cornerback, inside linebacker, safety, edge rushers,
but look what they did in the draft. You know,
a safety, an edge rusher, a linebacker. Three of their

(05:49):
first four picks were filling legitimate holes. Worth noting Justin
Tucker's gone for Baltimore and he's been what the best
kicker in the league for the last thirteen years, and
he wasn't last year. But the ability of Tucker to
hit a sixty yarder, to hit every key field goal,
you wonder if that's going to be one of those

(06:10):
issues that maybe comes back to haunt a team that's
been haunted a lot in the postseason last year, whether
it's Mark Andrews dropping a pass or playoff Lamar or
whatever you want to call it. Justin Tucker's departure is
something of a concern for this better when it comes
to the twenty twenty five schedule for Baltimore. AFC North
teams face AFC East and NFC North, the three extra

(06:35):
games for Baltimore, Kansas City, Houston, and the Rams, and
all of them were first placed teams last year, and frankly,
based on my early numbers, all three of them a
little bit weaker than they were a year ago. Now
they have a tough early slate. Buffalo, Detroit, Kansas City, Houston,
the Rams all the six weeks before the first six
weeks before the buye. But down the stretch Cleveland, the Jets,

(07:00):
since the Pittsburgh, since you got the Patriots, the Packers,
the Steelers. You know, only Cincy and Green Bay amongst
that group are lined above five hundred this season. So,
while it's tough early, wouldn't be surprised if Baltimore it
doesn't get off to as good as started they have
in some recent seasons. They have a good chance to
make up some ground down the stretch and perhaps have

(07:21):
some momentum going into the playoffs. Baltimore looks once again
like a legit contender in the AFC.

Speaker 1 (07:28):
If you're just joining us live on one of the
social media platforms that we are streaming from, we are
going over the AFC North. We'll get to the NFC
North here through the next hour. Kelly Stewart here with
Teddy covers Teddy. Let's move along to the Cincinnati Bengals.
This is the team the last few years, whether they
were in the Super Bowl versus the Rams, or they

(07:48):
were falling flat on their face and riddled with injuries.
I have been unable to figure out currently twenty to
one to win the Super Bowl, plus nine to fifty
to win the AFC, plus two thirty to win the division,
and their season win total is nine and a half.
Riddle me that, batman. What are we going to do
with this Bengals team?

Speaker 2 (08:06):
Yeah, so Baltimore eleven and a half, Cincinnati nine and
a half. The marks are saying there's a pretty big
difference between these two teams. And of course, last year
the Bengals were lined as a ten and a half
win team, they finished nine and eight. The year before
they were lined as an eleven and a half win team,
and they finished nine and eight of course, they had
the magical season in twenty two where everything went right
for them. They ended up going to the Super Bowl

(08:29):
that year with Joe Burrow, but since then under human betting,
Bengals season wins. Last year top ten yards per play
on offense five point eight yards per play, and notice
we talked about Baltimore they were six point eight and
they were number one. Since he's top ten a full
yard per play lower, and of course Baltimore last year

(08:49):
we talked about what a tough schedule they faced based
on my powering number. Since he has the other end
of that, they had a very easy schedule last year
and still under it with that schedule. Now, Zach Taylor
back for what his seventh year the head college and
he calls his own plays on the offense. New defense
careator Al Golden coming in from Notre Dame. You've coached

(09:13):
under Marcus Freeman. Last year the Irish made a run
to the National title game. Lou Anarrumo is bye bye
after some concerns a year ago with the state of
that defense. The biggest issue on the biggest offseason storyline
right now is Trey Hendrickson, the star pass rusher. He's
holding out, we're looking for a new contract, and his

(09:36):
status matters a lot for a defense that really doesn't
have a good replacement. This is a Bengals team. They
paid their guys. Burrow has been paid, Chase, you know,
Mark Chase, been paid to Higgins, all been paid and
now they got to pay Hendrickson. So when you talk
about that many stars and you have to pay them
that much money, what do you have salary cap issues?
What happens when you have salary cap issues, you have

(09:57):
depth concerns, You're unable to fill some of the holes
that you might have, and then you have to worry
about injuries a whole lot more. And this roster for Cincinnati,
let's just call it top heavy in that regard. Now,
you know, they did bring in a couple of defensive tackles,
BJ Hill, TJ. Slayton, Mike Koseki at tight end, a

(10:18):
nice signing for them, and Jaseeki essentially said that he
took less money so you could play with Burrow, which
is probably a positive sign. So you know, you resign Higgins,
you resign Chase, you resign Hill, Joseki. It's not like
this is a team that you know Slayton the defensive
tackle with perhaps the big free agent signing. Mostly it

(10:40):
was bringing their own guys back. When it comes to
roster holes, you know, going into the draft, the guard,
defensive end, the linebacker, positions of need and what happens
top three picks edge, you know, edge, rusher, linebacker, offensive guard.
So I thought that in terms of drafting for need,

(11:02):
they did a decent job in that. Regardless, see hel Shimer,
Stuart ends up for since he and we're looking at
the schedule again AFC North faced AFC East and NFC
North teams, the three extra games of four Cincinnati. We're
talking about Jacksonville, Denver, and Arizona. Three teams, all three

(11:24):
of them I think are did you know they all
might be pretty good?

Speaker 3 (11:29):
Two of the three might be really good.

Speaker 2 (11:31):
Since he's had a problem with slow starts, look at
this twenty twenty four oh and two to open the season,
twenty twenty three oh and two to open the season,
twenty twenty two oh and two to open the season,
twenty twenty one oh. They finished one and one that year,
twenty twenty oh and two to open the season oh
and two, and twenty nineteen with just Zach Taylor. But
the Borough Slash Zach Taylor era has seen them go

(11:52):
one and nine straight up over the first two weeks
of the season. They got Cleveland and Jacksonville the first
two weeks. This year they go oh and two again.
It's a problem because the rest of the schedule gets
much tougher at Minnesota, at Denver, at Detroit, at green Bay,
Pittsburgh over the next five weeks. Down the stretch, Miami, Arizona, Cleveland,

(12:13):
chance for a strong finish after Baltimore, Buffalo and Baltimore
in the previous three weeks. Since he does not have
an easy schedule wise this year, I think their schedule
is a good bit tougher than it was a year ago.
And Kelly, before we let go of the Bengals, we
were talking off air about which is the better bet

(12:33):
right now? There's line variants with Cincinnati, all right. You
can find ten on the Bengals for their win toll.
You can find nine and a half the under plus
one thirty. You can also find Cincy right now at
no to make the playoffs plus one thirty, which is

(12:57):
the better bet nine and a half wins or no
to make the playoffs at the same price plus one
thirty either way, what happens a little bit o research.
Twenty twenty two, at least one nine win team made
the playoffs, but not all the nine win teams made
the playoffs. Twenty twenty three, same story. At least one
nine win team made the playoffs, but not all of them.

(13:18):
Last year, one ten win team didn't make it. All
the nine win teams didn't make the playoffs. So here's
nine and a half plus one thirty versus no to
make the playoffs must one thirty.

Speaker 3 (13:29):
What do you think the better bet is there?

Speaker 1 (13:31):
I'm looking at the schedule here. You know, our friends
are with the Westgate have every single line out for
every single game right now, and yes, those things do change,
but I do like it as a reference point to
start the season. I know that your season win report,
you guys talk about all of this stuff a lot
more in depth. But as I see it right now,
there are seven games, as Ralph Michaels likes to say,

(13:52):
within the threes. So whether they're less than a field
goal favored or less than a field goal underdog, that's
a lot of coin flips for a team that I,
as I said, don't have the greatest read on and
haven't for the last few years. And this is the
team that has just burned people alive in Survivor. So
even as you know six point favorites, they've lost games outright,
They're only a touchdown favorite in two games.

Speaker 3 (14:14):
Here.

Speaker 1 (14:14):
This team scares the crap out of me. Mathematically. I
wish I had the answer for you in terms of
nine and a half and make the playoffs, But right now,
point blank know to make the playoffs plus one thirty
sounds like the better bet to me. As you mentioned
there have been ten win teams that haven't made the playoffs.
I don't see either of these things actually happening. I

(14:35):
think they could win nine games and not make the playoffs.
Maybe split it up and bet a little bit on both.

Speaker 2 (14:41):
And that's just it. You know. Sometimes you spend all
this time debating between two good choices and they end
up both being right. And if I'll just put it
this way, I'm debating as to which of the two
is better for the clients. And I'm not very bullish
on since since he is on the short list for
a team I'm looking to fade in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 1 (15:04):
Like I said, Teddy just buyer. Beware if you're looking
to play them, especially early, like you mentioned in Survivors.
Let's talk to Pittsburgh Steelers. Aaron Rodgers finally signed with
this team. Forty to one to win the Super Bowl,
twenty to one to win the AFC, plus five fifty
to win the Division, eight and a half. Mike Tomlin,
he's like the Bill Snyder of the NFL. He always

(15:25):
does more with less. Talk to me about Aaron Rodgers
under center for this team. Talk to me about Mike Tomlin.
Maybe you can make Marco D'Angelo finally happy with a
coach that goes over five hundred every single season.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
Sure, we'll talk about Pittsburgh in a minute, but we
are going in alphabetical order. There's a team between Cincinnati
and Pittsburgh that would be the Cleveland Browns.

Speaker 3 (15:46):
I apologize the graphics are set up and all of that.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
And of course Cleveland, you know, is as low as
four and a half at someone I see four and
a half with the over minus one sixty for example
at dk Westgates five and a half even.

Speaker 3 (16:00):
Money on the Cleveland Browns.

Speaker 2 (16:02):
So there is legitimate variance for the Browns in the
betting marketplace, and again you're not likely to see a
whole lot of that come August. In September, the markets
going to decide if they like four and a half
or five and a half it's a better number for Cleveland.
Last year, Cleveland was lined as an eight and a
half win team and they finished three and fourteen. The

(16:22):
year before, they were lined as a nine and a
half win team and went eleven and six. In twenty
twenty two and nine and a half win team was
the line. They were seven and ten, and in twenty
one they were ten and a half lined the ten
and a half wins, they finished eight and nine. So
that's three losing seasons in the last four years, with
that outlier eleven and six season in between. In twenty

(16:44):
twenty three, the year that they had five different starting qbs,
and Joe Flacco with.

Speaker 3 (16:49):
The guy who left them, led them into the postseason.

Speaker 2 (16:52):
Last year, they finished with minus twenty two turnovers, which
explains a lot of the three and fourteen record that
was the worst in the NFL by a fair wide margin.
The offense nothing short of an unmitigated disaster. Four point
six yards per play full season that was number thirty
one out of thirty two NFL teams. They couldn't move
the football and they couldn't stop turning it over, and that,

(17:13):
my friends, is a recipe for a losing season. Now,
based on my Powering numbers, the Browns played the single
toughest schedule in the NFL last year, and it really
wasn't that close.

Speaker 3 (17:25):
You know. The average point spread of.

Speaker 2 (17:28):
Their opponent was more than two points higher per game
than the team that played the lowest, so they really
had a tougher schedule wise. Of course, Kevin Stefonski's five
years on the job here, he's a sharp guy.

Speaker 3 (17:40):
I don't blame him.

Speaker 2 (17:40):
Tommy Reese the new offense greaner, Jim Schwartz back as
the DC. And of course a three to fourteen team
is not supposed to have salary cap issues. Cleveland has
a ton of salary cap issues because of the Deshaun
Watson contract, and that's gonna haunt them, not just this year,
next year as well. That Putsfonski on the hot seat
GM Andrew Berry's on the hot seat, you know, and

(18:04):
there's not much hope for either guy because Cleveland is
not going to be a winning team this year even
in a best case scenario, or it'd be difficult for
Cleveland to be a winning team in a best case scenario.
So when you have those type of deals, coach on
the hot seat, GM on the hot seat.

Speaker 3 (18:19):
Miserable season last year.

Speaker 2 (18:21):
And the roster really isn't good enough and the schedule
is brutal this year, those aren't positive signs, Benny stretch
of the imagination. Now you got Kenny Pickett at QB,
you got Joe Flacco back at QB. You have shit
or Sanders, and oh yeah, the guy who they drafted
actually be the quarterback, Dylan Gabriel. And then we still

(18:41):
have to Shann Watson sit down. You know, this franchise
had forty different quarterbacks starters since their reboot in nineteen
ninety nine, and this year we could see another year
where they're three, four or five guys start a game
for Cleveland.

Speaker 3 (18:56):
Again, They've got four qbs right now, all of.

Speaker 2 (18:59):
Whom think they're a live in this quarterback chase, and
who gets the job?

Speaker 3 (19:05):
Who knows?

Speaker 2 (19:07):
In addition, you know you have because of the salary
campag you should you lose guys like Dalvin Thomlinson, Jan Thornhill,
James Hudson, you know, key core players. Thornhill's great safety,
thomasin you know, we like him on the d L.
Hudson on the Office of Line. You know, this is
a problem when you're losing quality veterans and you just

(19:29):
don't have money for them and your roster is loaded
with holes. Now, they did resign Miles Gart Kain, Garrett
Drid Garrett requested.

Speaker 3 (19:39):
A trade and he's like yes, like all right, we're
gonna pay you.

Speaker 2 (19:43):
And then they paid him. So you got your star.
But what at the cost of what other holes? You
know you got Garrett, you got Kenny Pickett and then
what you know, Lucas after the tackle. You know, not

(20:04):
a lot of other additions for Cleveland. And of course
you know they traded out of the number two spot.
They didn't get Travis Hunter. I don't blame them for that.
They have enough holes that they need more than one play. Now, guy,
I thought it was a right move for Cleveland to make.
But Mason Graham, Carson Schweesssinger both on the decent side

(20:25):
of the football with their top two picks and the running
back in a tight end and a quarterback with their
next three. I don't know, I'm not really well. Let
me talk about the schedule for Cleveland real quick. Yeah,
because this is not this is not a team that
looks good. This is not a team that feels well
run right now, and it's a team with a bunch

(20:47):
of holes. In addition, again, AFC North teams faced AFC
East and NFC North teams clear as a bottom five
rest disadvantage. All right, so opposing teams have more rest
than they do. They have multiple weeks where their opponent
has extra days to rest and they don't. Zero night games,
zero Thursday games, no Monday night, no Sunday night. The

(21:08):
league is absolutely burying this team. They're national TV games
in London against Minnesota six thirty am here in Vegas time.

Speaker 3 (21:15):
That's the only national TV spot.

Speaker 2 (21:17):
In addition, schedule wise, there's four teams on their schedule
line below five hundred Tennessee the Jets, the Dolphins, and
the Raiders. I happen to think three of those teams
might be bet on, which means even their weakest opponents
are on the up. And look how they start. Sincey Baltimore,
Green Bay, Detroit, Minnesota, that's no easy start. That's an

(21:39):
on one to five right out of the gate, unless
they can in a knockoff the Bengals, which maybe they can,
but certainly Cincinnati are Cleveland. They look like one of
the worst teams in the league. They're lined as the
worst team in the league, and you're gonna see, you know,
every year there's gonna be a two win or a
three win team or a one win team, and Cleveland

(22:01):
certainly has.

Speaker 3 (22:01):
That feel to it.

Speaker 1 (22:03):
We'll get to the Pittsburgh Steelers here in just a minute,
but you know, I'm a sucker for some of the clipbait,
some of the hot topics, if you will, So we
can't talk about the Cleveland Browns without me asking you
to set a little debate. It's a good friend of ours,
Hakeem Profit and I have an argument whether Shadur Sanders
is going to be the starting quarterback at some point
in time for the Cleveland Browns and if you think

(22:23):
he actually is going to make an impact. I know
I'm the college football like you know, like Big Fan,
NFL is very probably third place to college basketball, but
I do not see the jump from college football to
the NFL for Shadur Sanders. Do you expect to see
him maybe get the nod there in Cleveland if things
really start to go sideways.

Speaker 2 (22:46):
So the question, I mean, so you're asking me to
debate him versus Gabriel, all right, who was drafted ahead
of him, And that to me is a coin flu
that's a pick them as to which of the two
guys ends up ends up getting the opportunity late in
the season. And this is what will happen, all right
for Cleveland, all right, one of the two veterans will
get hurt, the other one will be ineffective, They'll go

(23:07):
to a rookie. One of the rookies will get hurt,
the other one will come in. And I would expect
all I would not be shocked in the slightest if
all four potential starters end up starting a game for
Cleveland this year.

Speaker 3 (23:17):
That is wow, well within the realm of possibility.

Speaker 2 (23:22):
Because look, Flaco's fragile, you know, pickets fragile, The two
rookies are fragile, the opfsive line is not great, and
any quarterback that's in any game is going to be
having to drop back to the pass because they're gonna be
playing from behind. So it really sets up a scenario
where I would expect the Browns to be shuttling through
QBS this year and give me over two and a

(23:44):
half Cleveland Browns to start a start starting game of QB.

Speaker 3 (23:47):
Count me in on the over all.

Speaker 1 (23:49):
Right, sorry Cleveland fans, but Teddy does not expect that
carousel of quarterbacks to end anytime soon. Let's go to
the Pittsburgh Steelers. Like I mentioned from Marco di'angelo about
that I was going down the Super Bowl odds and
not the way of alphabetical order, let's hear about the Steelers.
I mean, like I said just a minute ago, Teddy,
this is a team that always does less with more.

(24:10):
I'm a big Aaron Rodgers fan, but the Achilles tear
is no joke. I'm not sure that someone who's my
age can really fully rebound one hundred percent from that.
What are you hearing out of Pittsburgh in terms of
him being the starter? What are you thinking he's going
to be able to do? And then also there's a
pair of k State quarterbacks on the roster as well.

(24:30):
Do you think Will Howard is going to make the roster?

Speaker 2 (24:34):
So Pittsburgh lined eight and a half wins, Juice to
the under you can find eight and a half over
plus one ten right now, and that's exactly where they've
been lined. They were lined at eight and a half
wins last year, they were lined at eight and a
half wins the year before. In twenty three they were
lined at seven and a half, and twenty twenty two
and took a bunch of over money. They were lined
at eight and a half in twenty twenty one. So
they've been right in this range the last few years.

(24:58):
And of course they've gone over the totally year ten
and seven, last year ten and seven, the year before
nine and eight, the year before nine to seven and
one the year before that going over by a hook
twelve and four in twenty twenty went over nine and
a half that year, so it's been five straight overs,
four Steeler season win backers. And again it's not like

(25:18):
they have to have a remarkable season this year. They
go nine to eight, you'll cash an over bet on
Pittsburgh again in twenty twenty five. Now, how'd they get
to nine and eight, Well, there were plus sixteen in
turnovers last year. Only the Bills were better for Buffalo,
so certainly that was a big factor in the equation.
The ability to avoid turning them ball over and creating

(25:38):
them on defense. Now, the offense only gained five point
one yards per play bottom coure tile based on my
power rating numbers. They had a much tougher than average
schedule in the NFL, one of the five toughest in
the league. Interesting that we have the two longest tenured
head coaches in the NFL, both in the same division,
Mike Tomlin and John Harball. Obviously to his nineteenth year

(26:01):
with the Steelers, Arthur Smith as the option quarterback for
his second season, Cheryl Austin back for his fourth season
as d C. So we talk about Aaron Rodgers and
what he has left. You know, Rogers last year he
put up decent stats if you watched him play. He

(26:23):
was not an elite quarterback a year ago. Now he's
in a year further out from that Achilles injury that
he suffered in twenty twenty three. In theory, you know,
they have weapons for him. The DK Metcalf trade certainly
stands out in that regard, and we've seen the Steelers
invest a ton of draft capital on the offsive line

(26:44):
in recent years. You know, four their left five starters
are recent draft choices two first round tackles, and Broderick
joins Jones and Joy Fautanum. You know, so in theory,
this offensive line is supposed to be loaded and Rogers
is supposed to be better than he was a year
a go. And of course if Rodgers get hurt, they
still have Mason Rudolph who led them to the playoffs
in twenty twenty three. After Kenny Pickett at his year

(27:09):
of troubles last year, five straight losses to close out
the season. The defense got gashed. They allowed twenty seven
plus four times. That's not what we expect out of
Pittsburgh and the success they had last year has a
lot to do. We talk about the kickers in this
division a lot. Justin Tucker By by Chris Boswell is
a guy that didn't get nearly as much love as
he should have. He hit thirteen field goals from fifty

(27:32):
plus last year and finished with a franchise record forty one.
Tomlin takes the points, which is one of the reasons
that the Steelers tend to be good underdogs. It's because Tomlin.
You know, they'll kick the field goal and they've got
a kicker that can do it. TJ Watt eleven and
a half sacks last year. He's looking for a contract
right now, but he does return. They bring in Darius
Slay at cornerback DK Metcalf via trade, obviously a wide receiver.

(27:55):
That's two huge deals with Malie Harrison at linebacker, but
you know, Slay's a pretty big a pretty big get
for them in my opinion. I like what they did
offseason wise. I like what they did in the draft.
Derek Harmon, the defense tackle out of Oregon in the
first round, Caleb Johnson with the next pick of Jack

(28:15):
Sawyer out of the Ohio State edge rusher. I think
all three of them could have an impact for Pittsburgh
this year. When it comes to the upcoming schedule, AFC
North teams faced AFC East and NFC North teams this year.
The three extra games for the Steelers, the Chargers, the Colts,
and the Seahawks, that's fairly reasonable. And look, they have

(28:38):
the Jets, the Pats, the Browns all in the first
five games. They have Seattle at home, they have many
in London. They very very winnable start for Pittsburgh is
a reason to think that the Steelers could get off
to a good start. Under Aaron Rodgers this year, something
the Jets were unable to do last year with Rogers
behind center.

Speaker 1 (28:59):
Teddy, let everybody know really quickly where they can get
your report for the season win totals. You've been doing
this for a very long time. This has always been
a part of my NFL handicaps. So let everybody know
what it is, where they can find it, and when
it'll be out.

Speaker 2 (29:14):
Yeah. The first year was two thousand and one, and
I was just kind of screwing around and I'm like,
let's you know, literally, I was going through the teams
and I'm like, let's go through the win totals and
let's just write some up. You know.

Speaker 3 (29:22):
I'm like, it'll make some bets.

Speaker 2 (29:24):
And two thousand and one went really well, and two
thousand and two went really well, and I'm like, this
is a thing now. So the record again long term,
one oh three and fifty two. I'm proud of that.
I work hard for that one.

Speaker 3 (29:38):
Again.

Speaker 2 (29:38):
Last year, well, you know, big ticket seventeen and four
with the five percent big ticket plays and again you know,
eighty one percent long term. I work hard on this
stuff over the summer, you guys see that. So it's
been a very profitable report, and the analysis that comes
with report might be the best part.

Speaker 3 (30:00):
The stuff you can use.

Speaker 2 (30:01):
All year long and you're handicapping. And the interesting thing
is the ones that I get wrong. I recognize it
usually early. And sometimes you make a lot of money
betting on a team I would bet against in the
Wind Report, or betting against the team that I bet
on in the Wind Report, because there are teams that
were paying a ton of attention to So this.

Speaker 3 (30:16):
Stuff actually helps all season long.

Speaker 2 (30:20):
It's not just a report that you you know, buy
in July, make your bets and then forget about.

Speaker 3 (30:25):
It's usable, and it's dynamic because we update it right.

Speaker 2 (30:28):
Through the start of the you know when when when necessary,
we update it right through the start of the first
week of the season. So it's not expensive, it's not crazy.
It's one ninety nine. Get to the entire report, but
don't buy it to get on board. With any extended
service package, an NFL season package, a Football Combo package,
a ninety day all access, whatever extended service package you get,

(30:52):
you'll get the report included. So you can buy the
report separate if you want. It's not the best deal.
I encourage you visit the page WI Buzz, Backslash TC
to get on board, and of course when it comes
to this show, guys, we appreciate the likes being done.
Thank you. The comments make all the difference in the
YouTube algorithms, and I love the guys. I really there's

(31:14):
a bunch of guys that come in and comment every week.
Thank you, and I try to get in and reply
to every single comment over the course of the next
couple of days. So thank you guys for doing that.
We appreciate it very much. If we haven't done so
what do we have two hundred thousand plus that have
now subscribed to the Way to Talk YouTube channel be
one of them, so you get instant alerts every time
these videos go live.

Speaker 1 (31:35):
You guys saw me screw up the order earlier because
I was looking at the Super Bowl order earlier super
Bowl order earlier. When Tenny sent me the list, I
was like, wait, you don't think the Bears are going
to win the NFC North He said, no, Kelly, of
course not. This is alphabetical order. But we're gonna start
with the Bears thirty five to one to win the
Super Bowl, sixteen to one to win the NFC plus

(31:55):
four twenty five to win the NFC North eight. Teddy,
this has been a bat of mind. I think six
or seven years in a row. Just bet the Bears
under Blindley. I think Jay Cutler hurt me one year
and that was about it. That was the last time
I lost a Bears under Talk to me about this team.
Is John Hoagland, our social media manager, going to be
disappointed once again?

Speaker 2 (32:18):
So this is the best division in football. The Bears
are the weakest team in this division, and the Bears
can make the playoffs, all right, There is all kinds
of upside for every team in this division. And again
you look at the starting point, you're absolutely right. Last
year they were lyned as a nine win team. They
finished five and twelve. The year before ligned at seven
and a half win team. They finished seven and ten.

(32:40):
Twenty twenty two a six and a half win team.
They finished three and fourteen twenty twenty one, they are
a seven and a half win team, and they finished
six and elevennder under under under they push in twenty
twenty twenty nineteen eight and eight is a nine win
team under there as well. Last year four point five
yeards for play on offense at rank thirty two in

(33:00):
the NFL dead last offensively for Chicago. Defense wasn't much better.
Five point nine yards per play allowed on defense, that's
number thirty. So the offense stunk, the defense stunk. Court
Matt everflus has gone bye bye. Don't let the door
hit you in the ass on the way out. Ben
Johnson is a guy we like, certainly as an offensive mind,

(33:23):
as a creative offensive mind. What the Lions have done
the last few years under Johnson has been remarkable. And
Johnson had his choice of jobs. This is the one
he wanted, so he wanted to work with Caleb Williams.
You bring in a new OC, Decklan Doyle, the new
DC Dennis Allen, and Dennis Allen as fine as a DC.

(33:44):
Last year there were plus eight and turnovers. That was
actually the worst in the division. The NFC North was
a plus twelve, a plus twelve, a plus nine, and.

Speaker 3 (33:50):
A plus eight.

Speaker 2 (33:51):
The plus eight was worse out and allowed an NFL
high sixty eight sex a season ago. And of course
Allen got three years an NFL coach. So what they
do in the off season. They revamped the offensive line,
they revamped the defensive line. You have three new linemen
coming in Drew Domen as the center, Grady Jarrett comes

(34:11):
in a defensive tackle, davo Anebengo comes in a defensive end.
You know, when we talk about no, they brought in
Montest Sweet last year. There's you know, they get Jonah
Jackson from the Rams, they get Joe Fooney from the Chiefs.
They had four picks in the first sixty two. Overall,

(34:33):
they got a real talent infusion. You know, Colston Loveland
has an independential, be an impact tight end, Luther Burden
can make plays from a Missouri downfield, you know. And
then offensive line of defensive line help. So a team
that was notably weak in the trenches has spent a
boatload of resources to fix their weakness in the trenches.

(34:55):
Now you have a creative offensive mind, you have a
quarterback who's office rookie season.

Speaker 3 (35:00):
I get it. It's a new offense and new OC.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
But we like the look of Chicago and in terms
of a team that has been consistently underachieving, maybe do
again this year. But Ben Johnson certainly has the potential
and this team certainly has the talent to be a
lot better than they were a year ago. They deserve
to be lyned as a five hundred level squad. The

(35:25):
NFC North faces the NFC East and the AFC North.
NFC East two good teams, two not so good teams.
Maybe I don't know how you phrase it. It depends on
how good Dallas is. The Giants certainly won't be good.
The AFC North is a tough division. Three extra games
for Chicago, the Raiders, the Saints, and the forty nine

(35:48):
ers now one negative for their schedule. They don't get
any visits from a warm weather teams to the cold
weather site. Last time a warm weather team comes as
October nineteenth, So from a we can use Soldier Field
to our advantage this standpoint, it's not really gonna work
that way this year for Chicago. That being said, on paper,

(36:10):
this team fixed their biggest weaknesses and hired a head
coach who appears to be competent. So those are certainly
two signs that point in the right direction for the
Chicago Bears in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 1 (36:24):
All right, Teddy, let's go on to the front runner
of the NFC North, the Detroit Lions ten to one
to win the Super Bowl plus four seventy five to
win the NFC plus one forty to win the division.
Another team lined at ten and a half. Talk about
that trend that you spoke about last week teams over
I think it was ten and a half wins or

(36:45):
was double digit wins?

Speaker 2 (36:46):
Please sure? And my old friend I haven't talked to
you in me probably twenty years, Gary Collin actually sent
me a note on X.

Speaker 3 (36:54):
You'll follow me on X.

Speaker 2 (36:57):
Teddy underscore covers mean nobody's like he can't mix the
seventeen win seasons with the sixteen win sixteen seventeen game
seasons with the sixteen game seasons, And I agree with
him in a sense that being said, this is mixing
the seventeen game seasons in the sixteen game seasons. But
since twenty fifteen is Ralph Michael's numbers at cal SPORTSLV

(37:21):
on X. The teams that are aligned at ten or
more wins sixteen twenty eight with seven pushes that sixteen
cash is on overs in fifty one tries. They tend
to have been pretty negative bets. And the same story
with the lowest totals, the win totals of five and
a half are lower. Only seven cashes on overs in

(37:44):
twenty two tries. So the teams like the Cleveland Browns
at the very lowest end of the spectrum will the
prevailing trend is under, and the teams like Detroit at
the highest end of the spectrum, the prevailing trend is
under as well. Well, it's the teams in the middle
of the pack they've been making money betting overs with,
not the teams at the very top or the very bottom.

(38:06):
That being said, those numbers are at least modestly flawed,
just because we're talking about mixing sixteen and seventeen game
seasons when it comes to Detroit this year. And let
me just scroll back down to my Lions note, so
I'll babble for a second.

Speaker 3 (38:22):
There we go.

Speaker 2 (38:23):
Last year, twenty twenty four, lined at ten and a
half wins, they finished fifteen and two fly over the total.
Twenty twenty three lined at nine and a half wins,
twelve and five fly over the total. Twenty twenty two
lined at six wins, they finished nine and eight fly
over the total, and that of course came after felt
like two decades of unders for Detroit. But certainly the

(38:48):
Dan Campbell era has been you know, a complete change
of pace for any Lions fans. That's franchise has been
awful for the better part of the last you know,
since Berry Sanders retired, and that has not been the
case in the Dan Campbell here again, you know twenty
twenty one, three and thirteen, twenty twenty five and eleven
to out of nineteen three and twelve, and I can
go back twenty more years before that struggle, struggle struggle,

(39:11):
they were plus nine and turnovers last year that was
top ten turnaver margin.

Speaker 3 (39:14):
We'd expect that.

Speaker 2 (39:15):
And again when the team has a team is a
real positive turn of margin and a real negative turn
of margin, you expect that to revert to the mean
in general, although when you have a good quarterback or
you have a defense that's going to create havoc, you
don't necessarily expect that to revert to the mean, But
the bigger margins you do. There were number two in
the NFL yards for play offensively six point three yards

(39:35):
per player, tied for number two, number twenty nine in
the NFL, and yards per play defensively you have five
point eight yards per play and that had everything to
do with the injuries on the defensive side of the football.
That doomed them in the postseason, obviously, when Washington came
and let them up at Ford Field in Detroit. Campbell's
back for his fifth season on the job. John Morton

(39:56):
new offense cornator, Kelvin Sheppard new defense cornator. That's certainly
worth noting. And Campbell's had the same coordinators. Now he
has two new coordinators. Morton was the option cordinator for
the Raiders and the Jets. Neither stint lansted long or
was very good. He did help design an offense for
Jared Goff in twenty twenty one. He's been the passing
game coordinator in Denver over the last two seasons. Now.

(40:19):
Last year, by September, they were down thirteen players on
their defense, including their top three pass rushers and their
top three cornerbacks.

Speaker 3 (40:26):
You know, Aaron Glenn.

Speaker 2 (40:28):
He tried to load up on blitzes to cover up
the missing as rushers.

Speaker 3 (40:31):
It didn't work, obviously. When all was said and done.

Speaker 2 (40:34):
This year, just about everybody that got hurt is back.

Speaker 3 (40:38):
You know.

Speaker 2 (40:38):
The only departing starter on the defense side of the
football was just one, Carlton Davis, and he got replaced
by DJ Reid, who I think is at at least
a lateral movee might be an upgrade in that regard.
You know, they re signed Marcus Davenpoint, that resigned Derek Barnes,
and the number one picker, the top draft choice, came
on the dem side of the football as well, Tahlik Williams,

(41:01):
a three and thirty pound nose tackle who should be
very helpful against the run. But this is a team
that had twenty six different players have one hundred defensive
snaps last year, and that's not what you want. You know,
since two thousand and seven, only two teams have had
more players for at least one hundred snaps and had
a winning record, the twenty three Steelers and the twenty

(41:21):
two Detroit Alliance. They've been doing this the last couple
of years. But the defense allowed thirty plus four times
in the last six games they had six starters out.
They still finished number one of the NFL in third
down defense and allowed the second lowest completion percentage to
opposing quarterback. And of course they got twenty to twenty
two starters back, so they're basically running it back. You know,
Derek Barnes, a linebacker quote, this is a winning program.

(41:43):
Now we built a culture where going to the playoffs
is not going to be enough for us. There's urgency
right now for Detroit, all right, They had salary cap
space this year. Next year, the timing golf gets paid.
I'm on Rossing Brown saying it gets paid. Panna Suwell
gets paid, Ali McNeil get paid. Those four players combined
just sixty six million on the cap this year, one

(42:06):
hundred and sixty million on the cap next year.

Speaker 3 (42:09):
So this is a huge season for Detroit. I'm not
gonna say now or never, but.

Speaker 2 (42:14):
Things will be tougher for them a year from now
to get the roster that they want given all the
contact extensions that are going to kick in. Got a
kicker and Jake Bates who get a NFL high four
game tying or game winning field goal attempts the last
two minutes or overtime. The punter Jack Fox, first team
All Pro, NFL record for net punting average. Special teams

(42:36):
are great in Detroit. You know, there's a lot of
things to really like about this team. And again I
thought they did well in the draft. Again, so concentrating
on the trenches. You look at the schedule NFC North
versus NFC East and AFC North teams. There are three
extra games Pittsburgh, the Rams, and Tampa Bay. Now it's

(42:57):
tough early, you know, Green Bay, Chica, Baltimore, since the KC, Tampa, Minnesota, Washington, Philly.
That's their first ten games. The only easy one is Cleveland.
One of the toughest schedules in the NFL when it
comes to opponent by opponent, but when it comes to
net rest advantage, Lions have break after break. Week two
they get the Bears off Monday Night football. Week five

(43:19):
they get the Bengals who are off Monday Night football.
Week six, they get the Chiefs who are off Monday
Night football, so short weeks in each of them. Week nine,
they're off of bye. They play the Vikings, who are
not off a bye. Week eleven they play the Eagles,
who are off a Monday night football game. Week fifteen,
Lions play on Thursday. Week fourteen, so they have extra time.
They play the Rams who have don't don't.

Speaker 3 (43:38):
Have extra time.

Speaker 2 (43:39):
Week sixteen they play Pittsburgh, who's off Monday Night football.
Another advantage. Detroit. Week eighteen Lions played off a mini
bi they played earlier because of the Christmas holiday. They
got the Bears who are not off of that mini bye.
So literally week two, five, six, nine, eleven, fifteen, sixteen,
and eighteen, the Lions have arest edge. That's eight different games.
That's meaningful for this better, especially for a team that

(44:01):
has the urgency that Detroit does in twenty twenty five.
They're not going to have the same roster next year.
This time, I'm I can say now or never, but
it would be who the Lions to make their run
this year. They'll be issues when it comes to salary
cap situations and hav enough jettison players a year from now.

Speaker 1 (44:17):
With this time, well, it's now or never for me
to get this promo in for Johnny Detroit because we're
got two games left here in the or two teams
left here in the NFC North. Right now, for the
next three days only, we are giving new customers exclusive
access to our expert sports picks for just twenty nine bucks.
That's right, less than ten bucks a day. You're going
to get insider insights and expert betting picks from your

(44:39):
favorite handicapper at wager talk dot com. The best part
is you get to decide how you use your three
day access. Want to stick with your favorite capper for
all three days, like Teddy covers perfect. Do you want
to mix things up, No problem. You can choose our
flex plan and pick the handicapper that you want for
each day Teddy Covers. Let's move along to the Green
Bay pack I was just talking to jave Cash here

(45:02):
in the comments section, and he and I both liked
the Packers. Obviously, you mentioned this is the toughest division
in sports. The Green Bay Packers twenty to one to
win the Super Bowl, tend to want to win the
NFC plus two sixty to win the division. Nine and
a half is their season win total. Talk to me
about these Green Bay Packers and if you think it's

(45:23):
worth a little sprinkle on the divisional odds.

Speaker 2 (45:26):
So, uh, first, I want to talk about what you
were saying a moment ago, this twenty nine bucks. We're
really looking for first timers. So if you've never bought
from waytertalk dot com before, this is a great opportunity
to do so. We really appreciate everyone's business, but first timers,
this is a you know, see see what we're about,

(45:49):
and to cost you less than thirty bucks. And there's
no bs, there's no bait and switch We're not gonna
call you at home and say got to buy the
upsell package.

Speaker 3 (45:58):
That's not how we work.

Speaker 2 (46:00):
Check it out. I encourage you first time buyers twenty
nine bucks for three days all access. You don't have
to use it me, you use anybody. Now, let's talk
about green Bay. Green Bay line. Guess what nine and
a half wins pretty much across the board a little
bits used to the over minus one twenty at many books.
Last year the lined to ten wins. They were eleven
win team went over the number. In twenty twenty three,

(46:21):
they lined at seven and a half wins. They finished
nine to eight. We cast a five percent big ticket
on the Packers over that year. So last couple years
have been good for over betters, and in twenty nineteen,
twenty twenty, and twenty twenty one they went over by
at least four games every year twenty twenty two the
only under for the Packers in the last six seasons.

(46:42):
When it comes to season wins, there.

Speaker 3 (46:44):
Were plus twelve and turnovers.

Speaker 2 (46:45):
Last year tight for third in the NFL. Number five
in offense six point one yards per play, Number five
in defense, allowing only five point two yards per play.

Speaker 3 (46:54):
So there's room for regression in those numbers.

Speaker 2 (46:57):
Plus twelve turnovers, number five in offense, number five in defense,
and they went one to five A division last year.
You know, they went on and six against the Eagles, Lions,
and Vikings. They did not step up well against the
better teams. That being said, Jordan Love was dealing with
the knee injury all year last year and it really
held him back. Matt Lafleur back for what a seventh
season on the job, Adam Stenovich back as the offense

(47:18):
point or his fourth year. Jeff Hafley, who I thought
might get a head coaching gig this past offseason, did not.
He's certainly a guy who is looking to get back
into the head coaching gig. He was head coach at
Boston College. For taking this gig in Green Bay. He's
back at d C. You know, the last two season
post Aaron Rodgers, they were the number seven seed in

(47:38):
the playoffs both years, nine and then eleven wins. Halfley's
defense last year number six and scoring less than twenty
points per game, allowed number five in yards, number eight
in sacks, despite having no dominant pass rush. It really
was a defense that in many ways overachieved a year
of go. When you look at the offseason moves, you're
bringing Nate Hobbs at cornerback, you bring in Aaron Banks,

(47:59):
and off the line, with the two big free agent signings,
you resign Isaiah McDuffie at linebacker.

Speaker 3 (48:05):
You know McManus, the kicker, you resign.

Speaker 2 (48:07):
I mean it wasn't like they had a bunch of
money to spend. You know, Banks seventy seven million, Hobbs
forty eight million, both longer term deals. So when it
comes to the draft choices for Green Bay, everyone was excited.

(48:32):
They had the draft of Lambeau and Matthew Golden. They
finally signed, had a wide receiver at number one, and
Golden he's at Speedster and that receiving corp and people
like who's the number one? Who's the number one? They
got a lot of weapons for Jordan Love to throw
to off the tackle. But in the second round, another receiver,
in the third round, edge rusher, after that in the
fourth and fifth a pair of Ed's rushers.

Speaker 3 (48:53):
So I mean this is a team.

Speaker 2 (48:55):
They lost some key pieces, you know, Josh Myers at center,
Slaton a defensive tackle, but they look every bit as
good as they did a year ago. Green Bay is
a legit contender. Yes, when the contenders to win the division.
Every team is a contender to win this division. You know,
there's not a bad team in the NFC North. There's
not a Weeklings, There's not a team you're like this.
They got a weakness, they got a bell that's gonna
kill them. There's their achilles. Green Bay is the potential

(49:18):
to make a have a great season and have to
make a deep run of the postseason. NFC North teams
face NFC East and AFC North. The three extra games Arizona, Carolina,
Denver two of the three. Fairly tough. They have four
night games the first ten weeks. The NFL is showcasing
this team. They don't mind the green Bay ends up
being a solid squad.

Speaker 3 (49:38):
Once again, and frankly, they look pretty good on paper.

Speaker 1 (49:44):
All right, let's talk about the last team here, and
that is the Minnesota Vikings. Teddy, this was one of
my favorite teams to bet on when coach Zimber was there,
and I thought, oh boy, that is going to be
a problem with Kevin O'Connell. But he did not miss
a beat. Eleven and five, five and one, against the
spread last year. Actually, for this Vikings team currently thirty

(50:05):
to one to win the super Bowl eight and a
half juice to the over minus one forty five regular
season wins. We got about eight nine minutes left in
the show. Give me your breakdown on the Vikings.

Speaker 2 (50:18):
Yeah, I mean, so the eight and a half, If
you shop around, you can find a lot better than
minus one forty five on the Vikings over. That's the
DK number I was looking at Westgate third fifteen cents
lower than that, and some books are even lower than that.
So the line itself eight and a half is not
There's no variance on that that I've seen, But juice wise,
there's always variants at this time of the year from
book to book. Again, that's a big advantage of putting

(50:40):
out the win report early once again into August, it's
pretty much every book's going to be painted with the
same number, and that's not the case necessarily in June
and into July. So this is a team again lined
eight and a half wins. Last year they were lined
at seven wins. They finished fourteen and three a plus seven.
I believe it was the highest differential between where a
team was lined and how they finished, I'll see, it's

(51:00):
hard to finish. It's hard to catch you win total
by seven, going over by seven, well over or under.
But Minnesota they able to do that last year. Of course,
the year before they went seven and ten, eight and
a half win team that relyed as eight and a
half win teams. That was when Kirk Cousins played eight games,
and then Nick Mullins and then Josh Dobbs and there
were QB issues. Twenty twenty two nine win team that

(51:24):
went thirteen and four, and they were nine wins in
twenty twenty one. Line at nine wins, nine wins in
twenty twenty, nine wins in twenty nineteen. So they're kind
of lined in the same range largely where they've bid
for much of the modern era. Kevin O'Connell back for
his fourth season on the job. He was the NFL
Coach of the Year last year. He wasn't closed in

(51:45):
my opinion. West Phillips returns as well as Colin that
plays on offense, Brian Flores back on defense again continuity
in Minnesota. This is in a scenario where you got
a new coach here and a new coach there, and
you're installing new systems.

Speaker 3 (51:59):
They're not.

Speaker 2 (52:00):
There were plus twelve and turnovers last year. That's ty
for third in the league. They led the NFL in
interceptions by a wide margin. How much of that is floris,
how much that is lucking random. You can't count on
Minnesota being a plus twelve turnover team, especially when we're talking.

Speaker 3 (52:13):
About a rookie QB this year. So that's an era
that points down.

Speaker 2 (52:17):
That being said, they were a top ten yards for
playing team on defense. They were middle of the pack
yards for play team on offense. So Minnesota from a
statistical standpoint defense, solid offense.

Speaker 3 (52:30):
You know, the Sam Donald year was good but not insane.

Speaker 2 (52:34):
Now, I loved what they did in the offseason in
the terms of they didn't have to. They decided not
to pay Sam Donald, and I don't blame them for that,
especially what Donald did then in the last two regular
season games in.

Speaker 3 (52:45):
The playoff game. You're like, yeah, yeah, that's the guy
I remember from the Jets.

Speaker 2 (52:49):
But the fact that they didn't pay him allowed them
to go on a huge spending spree in free engy.
Three million dollars they spent. You know, they retained Aaron Jones,
they retained Byron Murphy. They brought in a new center,
Ryan Kelly. They brought in a new guard, Will Freeze,
And of course this is an offensive line that the
first round pick, Donovan Jackson, that OL like Chicago's.

Speaker 3 (53:10):
OL, should be pretty darn good.

Speaker 2 (53:14):
You know, we talked about JJ McCarthy, what he's you know,
here's a court from Justin Jefferson. By the way, he
definitely has an arm, that's for sure. You can zip
it wherever he needs to. The Vikings made him drafted,
traded up, and made him the number ten pick in
twenty twenty four. He said eighteen days that this is
coming into the off season, eighteen days of training camp,

(53:35):
fifteen OTAs, three days of rookie minicamp, six days of
veteran minicamp, and a preseason game. So it's not like
he hasn't done anything. He's been around enough and they've
seen him enough. And I remember this when Andy Reid said,
you know what I like um space and it was

(53:57):
Alex Smith. Now who was the quarterback they had the four.
I like the quarterback we had, But our guy moving
forward is going to be Patrick Mahomes. You know, you
you're veteran, you can go bye bye and read basically
staking his job, not his job, but it's you know,
I believe in the guy we drafted. This feels like

(54:19):
that for Minnesota's like you know, and I'm not saying J. J.
McCarthy is going to be Patrick Mahomes. I'm saying this
is a head coach and off the cointer who said
we don't want that guy. We want this guy, and
the coach has a track.

Speaker 3 (54:32):
Cricker that we trust. I think McCarthy will be just fine.

Speaker 2 (54:36):
And McCarthy talking about the extra time quote, it's been
awesome because they really push the limits on what I
can handle.

Speaker 3 (54:41):
That's what I asked for.

Speaker 2 (54:42):
I'd rather sweat in training and limit the bleeding on
the battlefield when we get there. So, you know, the
JJ McCarthy question, it's not going to be answered early
on necessarily, but the fact that Minnesota has made him
the clear choice, the fact that he's had as much
as he had, the fact that he's gotten a year
to look at film.

Speaker 3 (55:02):
I think these are positive signs. I really do.

Speaker 2 (55:06):
So you know, we talk about bringing in Ryan Kelly
and will freeze Jonathan Allen all you know in the
trenches type of guys. That's a positive for this better
And of course you know they already had the tackles
in terms of Darisaw and Brian O'Neal, two guys who
are locked up to long term deals. You know, there's

(55:26):
certainly upside for a Minnesota team. Again, their line is
a five hundred squad in twenty twenty five. Now they
do still have you know, they got Murphy, they still
have cornerback questions in theory, and you know, draft choices.
They didn't have a ton because of what they had
to do last year to get McCarthy. But Donovan Jackson,

(55:47):
certainly from Ohio State, is going to help. And I
wouldn't be surprised if ty Felton had an impact early
on as well.

Speaker 3 (55:53):
Schedule wise for.

Speaker 2 (55:55):
Minnesota, NFC North versus NFC East and AFC North opponents
three extra games Atlanta. The Chargers Seattle not brutal in
that regard, kind of an anomaly. They have one true
road game the first seven weeks, two games in London
during that span, and the fact they have back to
back games in London I think gives them an edge
as well. Only three home games from October twentieth to

(56:15):
Christmas and the three home games Brutal Baltimore, Washington, Chicago
all tough, then a short on Christmas and Green Bay
Week eighteen at home. So from a schedule standpoint, not
going to be easy for Minnesota. There are things to
like about the Vikings without necessarily betting the Vikings over
their season win total, because like I said, that schedule

(56:36):
does look a little bit rough, but that's certainly the
lean right now, Minnesota one of the handful of teams
I have on my short list to bet over their
season win total and report coming out what the ten
days now, nine days from them?

Speaker 1 (56:51):
Nine days from now, you guys can get your season
win report from Teddy. As he mentioned, it has been
very successful for over twenty five yearsided to get that,
I can use it as a cheat sheet. I'm not
gonna lie like I do. College football first, and then
NFL starts to trickle in just in time for bet
on it to come out Teddy really quickly, because we

(57:12):
have a couple more minutes. Let everybody know what they
can expect over the next let's call it five six
weeks until the preseason starts. You're gonna be doing a
show every single Monday.

Speaker 2 (57:24):
So we're doing a show this Monday. We're doing a
show next Monday, and then in July we're gonna take
the rest of July off for NFL Opening Line Report.
There's nothing going on. The Winter Report will be out.
You guys will already have those are interests, will already
have purchased it, and we'll start up again.

Speaker 3 (57:41):
I think I get a date right here. It's the
first day of us like the last day of a liar,
the first day of August.

Speaker 1 (57:47):
And you you and Drew have AFC and NFC South left, correct.

Speaker 2 (57:52):
Yes, the South. We'll do next week exactly, and then
we'll start up again for the beginning of preseason. And
we do this every and m So when we start
doing the weekly shows, it's a whole different story than
the team preview shows because we just go through game
by game. We talk about what really happened, but we
just saw in the preseason. We talk about what we

(58:13):
can expect to see, what we've heard from the coaches
and that we talk about where we expect the lines
to move.

Speaker 3 (58:17):
We're going to bring back the emergency betting alert.

Speaker 2 (58:19):
Yeah year, and that's a part of the reason why
we made the show, or you know we used to
we're going at ten am Eastern, I'll storry at Tenney
and Pacific.

Speaker 3 (58:26):
Now we're going at eight am.

Speaker 2 (58:27):
Pacific, and that makes a big difference in terms of
getting those lines before they move.

Speaker 3 (58:31):
So this is the show you.

Speaker 2 (58:33):
Want to watch live every week if you can, and
of course if you can't, it doesn't matter watching on
replay and tell your friends appreciate that very much as well.

Speaker 1 (58:43):
Very excited for that show to start this football season.
It will be a must watch eleven am Eastern, eight
am Pacific every single Monday morning. I'm saying we're the
first to market, and that all network might be, but
they're definitely not talking about betting the way. Teddy covers
will be breaking it down every single Monday morning here
on the wager Talk YouTube channel. Thank you guys for

(59:03):
hanging out with us today. Make sure you guys go
back wager Talk YouTube channel, check out AFC West, NFC West,
AFC East, NFC East, and then of course next week
they will be previewing the South divisions. Again, guys, make
sure you hit that subscribe button on the wager Talk
YouTube channel so you never miss another show.