- 9/5/2024
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SportsTranscript
00:00Are you ready for thursday night football? How long have we been talking
00:03about this game tonight between the Baltimore Ravens and the Kansas City
00:06Chiefs? It's been months and months on end. And I do want to look at this game
00:11where I believe the Ravens want to exact revenge. Last year was all on the
00:16table. Let's go through that 2023 season overall. The one thing we knew
00:19about the Kansas City Chiefs, they always had Patrick Mahomes, they were
00:22always going to be a threat, but they had their struggles during the season.
00:25We always thought they would win the division. But what's the always the
00:28argument? And if you take it all the way back to those New England Patriots
00:31days, guys, what was it? They're gonna get easy wins in their division. They
00:35have Tom Brady, one of the best quarterbacks in the history of
00:38professional sports here that you're gonna get an easy 5 to 6 wins. Then
00:42you're gonna win a handful of games outside of your division and you're
00:45gonna get home field advance throughout the playoffs in New England. Good luck
00:48beating Tom Brady and the Patriots. Now granted, there were scenarios where Tom
00:52Brady went on the road and still won a Super Bowl through the A. F. C. Path. I
00:55understand that. But the one thing you never want to see is it just seems
00:58like it's a rite of passage for Kansas City to be in the A. F. C. Championship
01:02game and that A. F. C. Championship game to be at home at Arrowhead. Last year
01:06you finally had, you said, You know what? Kansas City isn't as talented on
01:11offense as they were the past couple years. This is the year to get them.
01:14They no longer have the number one overall C, which meant they're gonna
01:17have to go on the road in the divisional round and the A. F. C.
01:20Championship round and the two unbelievably talented quality
01:24opponents before they even can get to the Super Bowl if they want against a
01:28team in the N. F. C. That we probably all thought would be the San Francisco
01:3149ers. And it was. We watched Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs go
01:36into Buffalo and beat the Buffalo Bills. And I said to myself, that's pretty
01:40impressive there. I thought the Buffalo Bills probably would be able to beat
01:43them. But I know in my heart that following week, the Baltimore Ravens,
01:47who to me were the best overall team in football, would finally be able to exact
01:51revenge on the Kansas City Chiefs and knock them out on their way to a Super
01:55Bowl championship. I can't remember a time in my betting history and again,
01:59fandom. We've all been destroyed and crushed, right? Worst loss I've ever
02:02watched in my life. Live was the 2002 N. F. C. Championship game last game at
02:06Veterans Stadium against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where I still think Rondae
02:10Barber is running down the field with an interception crushing my hopes and
02:14dreams. But that was as a fan here. I thought the Eagles would win the
02:16championship that year. They didn't. But watching and betting Baltimore from
02:20day one, saying this is going to be my Super Bowl team and have them play so
02:25well throughout the remaining parts of the regular season, hammering the San
02:29Francisco 49ers, having the number one overall seed. I said, this is the game
02:33they're gonna pound the Kansas City Chiefs. And they came in that with one
02:37of the worst offensive game plans I've ever seen from an NFL team getting away
02:42from their strengths, which allowed the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes
02:46and Travis Kelsey to win that football game and move on into the Super Bowl.
02:50And we know what happened there. Close game late. Correct me if I'm wrong
02:55here. I believe that game did go to overtime with a victory there for the
02:58Chiefs, a phenomenal Super Bowl overall, which brings us again to opening night.
03:03So what are we going to get out of the Baltimore Ravens in this game? We also
03:07saw last year. Hey, you're never gonna beat a team on ring night in their own
03:10building. No, we saw the Detroit Lions go in there and handle the Kansas City
03:13Chiefs. Now, was it because a couple drop passes by certain players? You
03:16probably could figure that in. Chris Jones sitting out in the stands and
03:19watching that game. Yeah, he's gonna be in uniform tonight, ready to go. But I'm
03:23just looking forward to saying if Baltimore can get back to the basics,
03:27there's no reason to believe they can't win this game. If you look at the lines
03:30here at the Fandul Sportsbook, they opened up as a minus 2.5 point favorite
03:34towards Kansas City across the board, which includes the Fandul Sportsbook.
03:37That line now sits at three, and I think that's a pretty fair line for the
03:41total here in New Jersey on the Fandul Sportsbook opened up at 46.5 today in
03:46New Jersey. It still sits at 46.5. Other outlets have moved those numbers
03:50higher to 47. We're going against, look, and I understand Kansas City. The
03:54strength of that team is never the defense. But Steve Spagnuolo, one of
03:57the single best coordinators in the NFL, always has some great things to offer.
04:02And also keep in mind, it's game number one. You know as well as I do, both of
04:07these football teams circled this game the minute the calendar came out and
04:10got ready, installing processes to try to stop Lamar Jackson and also to try
04:15to stop Patrick Mahomes. I think that could play into it. It is hard,
04:18however, to say you want an under in a game with regular season, Lamar
04:23Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, both of these quarterbacks at the end of the
04:27season. It's healthy. We'll probably be in that one, two and three in MVP
04:31voting. So the question is going to be tonight who is going to be fresher. The
04:35thing that I really like about this game as well, thinking back in the in
04:39the offseason, you have to sort of like the edge that the Ravens are going to
04:42have coming in tonight because they were embarrassed at home and all their
04:46dreams were shattered only to see Kansas City when their second straight
04:49Super Bowl title now on the road to possibly win three in a row. The thing
04:52I do get a kick out of here is Lamar Jackson in the offseason. We know he is
04:57the single most dynamic quarterback in the NFL. That's not even up for debate
05:01and he lost a couple pounds to get even quicker on this season starts because
05:05if you look at some of the profits tonight on Lamar Jackson, they're
05:09pretty fair. 217.5 passing yards. You take a look at the passing touchdowns,
05:13of course, listed at 1.5. I think you can get both of those, but I love that
05:16rushing prop and also keep him out of the fans of sportsbook earlier in this
05:20week. That rushing prop for Lamar Jackson tonight was sitting at 46.5.
05:25That's now up to 48.5 and other outlets even close to 50 rushing yards. To me,
05:30sometimes you look at and say it's going to be a long NFL season. I need
05:34my guys to stay healthy. So in weeks 9, 10 and 11 instead of on third and
05:39seven selling out to get that first down, maybe I run out of bounds after
05:43five yards, live the fight another day. It doesn't feel like it's one of those
05:47environments tonight at Arrowhead. It feels like a Super Bowl birth is on the
05:52line despite it only being week number one. So you look at Patrick Mahomes on
05:56the other side. We always call this as well. And Kevin and Joe, we do the pro
06:00football today football show on Sunday mornings and certainly we'll be doing
06:04some action on Monday and Thursday during the games itself. We always talk
06:08about Patrick Mahomes as what? He's a big game runner. You don't think of
06:12Patrick Mahomes as being one of the best runners in football. But my
06:15goodness, I mean, I said anybody see it firsthand against the Philadelphia
06:18Eagles in their Super Bowl final drive of the game on a hobbled high ankle
06:22sprain, sprinting 20 to 30 yards downfield here. He's one of the best
06:26big time scramblers out there. So you look at his rushing prop tonight at 20
06:30and a half. I think both of these quarterbacks legitimately should go over
06:33the rushing props. And again, we're not even talking about running back
06:36position. We're talking about the quarterback position going over those
06:38rushing props. But also you see the passing touchdowns and the juice varies
06:42between Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes. We do know that. But looking at
06:45last year's Kansas City team, where were they devoid of talent overall,
06:49right? You just leaned on a rookie and Rasheed Rice saying be our savior at
06:54the wide receiver position. And he did a pretty good job of doing that now
06:57coming back for sex second season. It doesn't look like he's going to be
07:01suspended this year, so he should be the go to guy. But also adding Xavier
07:04worthy in the draft, that true deep threat that you have been basically
07:07lacking. And I understand. Hey, Donny, do you remember M. V. S. He was that
07:10yeah, M. V. S. Was fast, basically couldn't catch. And if he caught 15
07:14yards worth of passes in a game, it seemed like that was a massive success
07:17for the Kansas City Chiefs. But now you add worthy to the outside. You get
07:21Rasheed Rice. That's gonna be working that slot position. You also have
07:24marquees Brown, who's injured and should be back shortly in the month of
07:27September as a formidable wide receiving core. That is much better
07:30guys than what we saw last year. Travis Kelsey in his mid thirties. The one
07:35thing that you do know about football players typically most of the time you
07:38don't start the season injured, right? As the season goes on, you might say,
07:42boy, it looks like that guy lost a step. Why? Because he's a 35 year old
07:45skilled position player. We're talking about Travis Kelsey, one of the best
07:48tight ends, if not the best ever to do it. You expect him to be on his game
07:53tonight, but don't leave this one out. I know we'll get to some more profits
07:56a little bit later, but I'm just setting up the game plan here, which I
07:59do think will be effective. The 12 formation here for the Baltimore
08:02Ravens. If you're new to NFL football, just don't know that jargon. It just
08:06means two tight end sets. If you're looking at the Kansas City Chiefs,
08:08they got two solid tight ends, but maybe the best tight end duo in football. I
08:13think it resides in Baltimore. Now, Mark Andrews last year had a devastating
08:16leg injury, missed the remaining parts of the season, tried to hobble back at
08:20the end, and it didn't work out in his favor. But if you get him healthy
08:23tonight, Andrews, along with Isaiah, likely that 12 formation with those
08:27two tight ends on the football field, they can do a lot of damage. Because the
08:30one thing I don't love is the wide receiving core here for the Baltimore
08:33Ravens. Rashad Bateman, former first round draft pick, hasn't lived up to
08:36the hype. I did like what I saw last year out of Zay Flowers, and I think he
08:39can take that next step. And by the way, you know he's chomping at the bit to
08:43get after this Kansas City team, because do you remember the pivotal game in
08:46the AFC championship game? Excuse me, pivotal play in the AFC championship
08:49game last year? It was Zay Flowers diving into the end zone. Should have
08:52been a touchdown, ended up being a fumble, and that was basically a game
08:55set match right there with all that momentum flying out the window. So a lot
08:59of players have a lot to prove, but maybe none bigger than just the
09:02offensive scheme of the Baltimore Ravens as they tried to attack the
09:06Kansas City Chiefs. I'm telling you right now, look out for Lively tonight
09:09and also look out for Mark Andrews. I think they could do a lot of damage. And
09:12oh yeah, there's still Derek Henry, there's still Isaiah Pacheco. There's
09:15still a lot more to talk about in this game, and we're excited to talk about
09:18it right here on the early line. Down your right side, Ben Stevens. We'll be
09:21back. Yeah, Thursday night football right here on the early line, cracking
09:26into it, having some fun, and I understand. It feels like we've been
09:29talking about this game for months on end, but doesn't it just feel more
09:31refreshing when you're talking about the morning of the game? So many
09:34opportunities, and I always say this each and every year on opening night.
09:39Now, granted, I love college football. You know me. I enjoyed my Miami
09:42Hurricanes over the weekend, wasting the Florida Gators, and I might have an
09:45interesting season to watch on a collegiate level from a fan
09:47perspective, but I always like to remember these moments. And no, not
09:50because Ben Stevens isn't here at this point, and I'm running a solo show
09:53right now. I like to remember this because I know that pretty soon you're
09:57going to say to yourself, boy, it's already week five. Wow, how did you get
10:00to week eight? Oh, the playoffs here. How exciting. Oh no, we only have four
10:04games left in the regular season. Oh no, it's the playoffs. Oh, it's the
10:08Super Bowl. And what am I going to do? Let's break out the brackets here for
10:11March Madness. So enjoy this time, the fun of the day before the season. And
10:15also, guys, if you're in survivor contests out there, right, you're
10:18trying to line up who you're going to pick this week, the most dangerous week
10:22of the entire season. And if everybody is loaded up on those Cincinnati
10:26Bengals this weekend, and for some reason, Jamar Chase doesn't show up and
10:29you get a great defensive effort at New England Patriots, everybody's pools
10:33will be up in smoke. Fantasy seasons, people lining up and analyzing their
10:37rosters all week long, only to probably second guess themselves and make this
10:41wrong decisions. How many times have you done that? By the way, in your
10:43fantasy, guys, you have on Sunday morning. You know what? I'm gonna sit
10:46this wide receiver. I'm gonna play another wide receiver. Dude on the
10:48bench goes off six catches 108 yards, two touchdowns. You're starting. It's
10:52injured in the first quarter. Why didn't I just start that guy? So that fun is
10:55always here and the anticipation coming into it. But also sometimes just taking
10:59a look at the rosters themselves, because I always say this to the first
11:03two weeks of the season by far are the toughest two weeks in professional
11:07sports. The reason being is, yes, you're going to improve a lot between weeks
11:11one and weeks to primarily always talk about like high school and college
11:14football like a dress rehearsal out there. These are professional athletes,
11:17so it is a little bit different. But we're gonna have so many overreactions
11:21once we get to next Tuesday, when every one of these games is be completed,
11:25saying this team stinks. This team is great only to find out week number two.
11:29Hey, this team isn't as good as we thought they were, and this team nearly
11:32isn't as bad as they thought they were. But week one surprises are gonna be
11:36absolutely tremendous. If we're looking at the game itself tonight, though,
11:38right superstars all over the field. We already talked about Lamar Jackson and
11:42Patrick Mahomes. But from a betting standpoint, sometimes you get a little
11:45bit nervous, right? Because back in the day, as we like to say, we had Sean
11:49Alexander on the air with us last week. Actually, excuse me a little bit
11:52earlier this week, and we were talking about, you know how great a running
11:56back he was in the fantasy ranks. And just because he was the last, it felt
12:00like of those true three down backs that could carry the football 30 plus
12:03times a game with ease and also still do all the third down capabilities like
12:08picking up the blitz and catching the football out of the backfield. The
12:10reason I bring that up is if you're looking at Derrick Henry and Isaiah
12:13Pacheco, you might say to yourself, Oh, I wonder who the backup running backs
12:16are and how much gas will they have in the tank here for game number 165.5
12:21yards is the proper Derrick Henry. 61.5 yards is the proper Isaiah Pacheco.
12:25Legitimately, I think they both have a great chance to go over that, but
12:29primarily Derrick Henry. He's never gonna be as healthy and it's excited as
12:33he is going to be in game number one. Number two isn't the way you attack the
12:37Kansas City Chiefs, not necessarily by taking a look at throwing dart after
12:41dart down the field. You saw the well that worked for you in the AFC
12:44championship game and Ben, I'm just going over Derrick Henry stuff here
12:47tonight. I expect big things from him tonight and I would be surprised if he
12:51doesn't get 20 carries tonight. D. R. S. Where do we leave off my friend?
12:56Kudos to you for 48 minutes.
13:00Mr. Oh, I think we're still good. I hope we're still good yet. We're still
13:04here. Okay, we're ready to go. I think we are set. Derrick Henry in his debut
13:10against Kansas City D. R. S. We have often talked about if there is a
13:14blueprint in the six seasons that Patrick Mahomes has been the starting
13:18quarterback in Kansas City of finding a way to consistently compete and then
13:23beat the Chiefs. I'm not so sure there is one natural thought would be slow
13:28down the game, run it on offense, tighten up the clock and keep the ball
13:34out of 15's hands in red. I'm not entirely sure. I do think Todd Munkin
13:40probably learned from what he did in the AFC championship game in Baltimore
13:44last January to try to maybe establish the run a little bit more than possible.
13:49But there would see that recipe with Lamar Jackson being 12 and two against
13:54the spread when booked as an underdog to flock a very good underdog team. And
13:59now you add in Derrick Henry in the backfield, you would expect a lot of
14:03ground attack tonight for the flock. Yeah, because you're looking at Justice
14:07Hill, who again is a capable backup and then Rasheen Ali, who actually has been
14:11banged up in practice, not even sure he's gonna be able to go tonight. So
14:13you would figure that the bulk of the carries are going to come from Derrick
14:17Henry, rightfully so. You didn't go out and get this guy, Ben, and say, You
14:19know what? Let's easy into the season. No big deal if you get 10 carries
14:23tonight if we needed you and we lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. This game feels
14:26so much more important because at the end of the season, this is gonna be a
14:30massive tiebreaker game that you want to win this so you can ensure that you
14:34might have home field advantage in your building, depending on who wins. And the
14:37same thing bang goes for the Kansas City Chiefs as well. Look at their
14:40running back situation. You take a look at Clyde Edwards Lair, who's not gonna
14:44play for the first four games. That was a former first round draft pick that
14:47you figure could be able to get some carries. Now you take a look here to
14:50Isaiah Pacheco, Somaji Piran. Okay, how many carries and plays is he gonna
14:54steal Carson Steel? How many plays is he gonna take away from Isaiah Pacheco?
14:58So this might be one of the better looks on opening night for starting
15:01running backs that you're gonna find this weekend, where you expect the bulk
15:05of the carries and no surprises coming from Derek Henry and Isaiah Pacheco. You
15:10know, I do wonder D. R. S. About the rushing attempts prompt for both of
15:14these backs. When you look at Derek Henry, he turned 30 in January. Normally,
15:19that's when running backs fall off, but thus he is referred to as the king last
15:24year, still led the National Football League as a member of the Titans with
15:28280 carries and finished second in rushing yardage with 1167. He went over
15:36this number of 65 in a hook in eight games last year for the Titans in seven
15:41of the eight. He had at least 17 rushing attempts, which would also then
15:45correlate to the over of the attempts prop. That might be an area I look in
15:50terms of that output against K. C. And let's not forget the Chiefs were a very
15:55good defense last year when the offensive lows were really plaguing
15:59Kansas City throughout much of the regular season. It was the defense
16:03first and foremost that stepped up under Steve Spagnuolo, which is not
16:07often the case. The R. S. When the Chiefs had won Super Bowls and appeared
16:10in the A. F. C. Championship in years past, it was a defense that improved
16:14throughout the year, certainly by postseason time. Last year, Kansas
16:18City's deal led the way. Yeah, it was. And also, Steve Spagnuolo, one of the
16:22best defensive coordinators in football. You do lose that one corner,
16:25but there's still they're not vulnerable in that secondary. I think
16:28they're vulnerable up the middle and also at the linebacker position. So
16:31something to keep an eye on. But a great game to talk about so many angles from
16:35so many certain directions here, Ben. And we'll look at the outlook for both
16:39of these teams. Will they find themselves in an A. F. C. Title game
16:42again? The first game of the 2024 NFL season was one of the final in 2023.
16:50The A. F. C. Championship game in Baltimore. The Chiefs, as a 4.5 point
16:55underdog, go into the charm city and knock off Lamar Jackson and the Ravens
16:59winning outright in that football game to appear in their fourth Super Bowl
17:05in the last six years and a second consecutive Lombardi trophy in the last
17:10football game or one of the final football games of last year is our start
17:13to this year, where we expect the end of 2024 NFL campaign. D. R. S. Both the
17:19Ravens and the Chiefs will be contending for a conference crown. Once again,
17:24Kansas City has the highest win total entering 2024 around the National
17:28Football League. 11.5 is the number the over has the juice and you might be
17:33thinking to yourself, boy, that's a little steep. Last year, an 11 and six
17:39K. C. Team was the first of the full six seasons that my homes has been the
17:43starter inside arrowhead that the Chiefs did not go over 11.5 winning at
17:48least 12 regular season games. That was the weird thing about last season. It
17:53was the first to buck a couple of trends for the Chiefs. The first time
17:58they won 11 games or less the first time they played in the A. F. C. Title
18:03game, but not in Kansas City. And yet the Chiefs still ended up winning a
18:09Super Bowl. Let's start with K. C. Your outlook for the Chiefs this year. D. R.
18:13S. Is what Super Bowl? It's all that. Isn't that what it always is, Ben? Like
18:17I just got done talking about how many times just like it's the right of
18:20passage to host the A. F. C. Championship game in Arrowhead every
18:23year. They didn't even get to do that last year. It didn't matter. They still
18:26went to the Super Bowl and then beat what I thought was a much more talented
18:29than they were team because why it's Patrick Mahomes. So I asked you this
18:33question and there were times been last year during the season when I started
18:36to say like, Oh, look at that. Travis Kelsey is really slowing down a bit
18:40here. Maybe lost a step, maybe lost a step and a half. Then looking like he's
18:43the greatest tight end in the world throughout that playoff run. So nothing
18:46is real sometimes with Kansas City. So you're not supposed to do this. I've
18:49explained this multiple times. Oh my goodness to that Patrick Holmes. I don't
18:53care who else is on the field. I'll care for offensive line stinks. The
18:55wide receiver core is bad, but it just feels that way. Right? Same way with
18:58Tom Brady. Hey, he doesn't have that many weapons here. So what? It's Tom
19:01Brady. He just makes things happen and that's what you find with Patrick
19:04Mahomes. So even if they lose this game on opening night and even last year,
19:08Ben, the struggles right around mid season for the Chiefs. Oh, they're not
19:11the same team. They were somehow Andy Reed and Patrick Holmes. If they're
19:14healthy in the playoffs, just hell on wheels out there. They don't care where
19:17they play, who they play, who they have available on their own team to use in
19:21that game. So I see to myself and see those totals. Yeah, they should be a 12
19:25win football team. They should win the division. Ben, they should have home
19:28field advantage in the A. F. C. Playoffs and who's gonna be able to knock them
19:32out in Arrowhead. Not very many teams can do that. So I look at myself and
19:36say, start to the season. Chalky don't care. Kansas City, the best team in the
19:40NFL for me. And Donna, you would expect a team that is repeated at a as a
19:46Super Bowl champ to have that a very difficult schedule. Marquee games in
19:50prime time chalked up throughout the entirety of the slate. But the A. F. C.
19:55West not expected to be nearly as good as at least the expectation was the
20:00past 345 NFL seasons. Casey actually enters this year with a 10th easiest
20:05schedule in the National Football League. The 10th most difficult that is
20:09Baltimore. They play in the most difficult division. That's the A. F. C.
20:13North. Lamar Jackson has been the starter for the Ravens in large part
20:17for the last five seasons around the National Football League. 10 and a half
20:20the wind total for the flock. The over has the juice. There are slight
20:24favorite to win the A. F. C. North for a second straight season in those five
20:28seasons with Lamar Jackson. D. R. S. Over 10.5 in three of the five. Will it
20:34be four out of six? I'm telling you, the one thing you can't do is bet
20:38against the Baltimore Ravens in the regular season. If Lamar Jackson is
20:41playing quarterback, he is phenomenal as good as it gets and so hard to
20:45prepare for on a week to week basis. There's no question about that. Now the
20:48questions do come up in the playoffs here, and it's not our fault. It's not
20:52the common. Hey, Donny better ragging on. It's not as if you say, Look, Lamar
20:55Jackson had four years in a row. We went to the playoffs, got to the Super
20:58Bowl, picked up one Super Bowl win. We would never be able to go back and say,
21:01like, Oh, this guy can't perform in the playoffs, and we're not saying he's not
21:04capable of doing that. We just don't have that track record of him going out
21:08and seizing the day he had a chance to do that in the A. F. C. Championship
21:11game. Now, granted, fumbles at the goal line do hurt, but some terrible passes
21:15down the stretch there really go. You know what? I can't bet on this team. But
21:20if this team was in the A. F. C. West, like the Chiefs are, and you put the
21:23Chiefs in the A. F. C. North, these will be two different scenarios as well.
21:26We've sent a look at at the 11 and a half actually should be the Baltimore
21:29Ravens. The only reason they're 10 and a half been in the regular season. They
21:32don't get there because catastrophic injuries, which we saw Lamar Jackson a
21:35few years ago, or they're just playing believable competition on a week to
21:40week basis. Two and four. That is Lamar Jackson's playoff record. But when
21:46he is one, the NFL MVP award twice in 2019 and last season, the Ravens have
21:51won at least 13 games. I expect Baltimore be back to an A. F. C. Title
21:58game that I'm a little bit more skeptical of our 2024 NFL season pick
22:03six. When our two starts next, welcome to our number to a second hour. I hope
22:09to be here for the entirety of these 60 minutes. He is Donnie right side. I
22:14am Ben Stevens. It is NFL game day. Once again, the season opens tonight in
22:202024 inside Arrowhead Stadium at the home of the two time reigning Super
22:26Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. K. C. Will play host to the Baltimore Ravens
22:31in a rematch of the A. F. C. Title game from a season ago, and we will get you
22:36set continuously for this Thursday night debut. We'll talk some college
22:40football entering a huge week to Saturday slate here in this second hour,
22:46and Donnie and I will go the season opener and beyond our 2024 NFL season
22:52pick six for the entirety of this opening half hour of our second hour.
22:57Still two more hours to go. Donny right side up until 11 a.m. Eastern feels
23:02like we had through three hours already this morning here. Still waiting on
23:05this for some of us tonight to have happened at this point. Yes. And by the
23:08way, shout it like this happens again, Ben. Let's just say you freeze up at
23:11this time. Like, don't be disappointed if I freeze up right behind you like
23:14the unprofessional thing to do to get behind studio is you can kick wires and
23:18cords out any time you want that. Oh, I don't know what happened now. You know,
23:21the arts would never do that because the people need to show to continue at
23:24this point. But if there is a point here now, we're number two where B double
23:27S goes out and I go out at the same time. Look, don't blame your boy here.
23:30Blame the technology at this point. But I'm not saying I'm doing that. The show
23:33must go on and I'm ready to do it here. So how about that? I agree. D. R. S. I
23:38would agree with you taking the day and then maybe we'll figure something out
23:41behind that. All right, let's dive into our pick six. Here are the six
23:46categories for our season long pick six in 2024. Our Super Bowl champ pick or
23:52MVP selection. A team win total. We like to the over and to the under a
23:57division winner to keep an eye on in a season long player prop where Donny and
24:03I are both going with a rookie quarterback. We'll talk about that in
24:07just a moment. Let's start with the team that will hoist the Lombardi
24:11trophy under the night sky in the big easy Super Bowl 59 in New Orleans in
24:18the middle of February. Donny, who's winning the Super Bowl in 2024? Yeah, I
24:23got the Kansas City Chiefs at a plus 5 50% just told you that now to show my
24:27how I've evolved in this business, Ben, there were times where I might have
24:31told you before, like, Hey, Don, who do you think? So in the championship, I
24:33think it's a Miami Dolphins. Oh, no, I actually picked the Kansas City Chiefs
24:36in the next segment here. So you gotta backtrack a little bit, but we're all
24:39pointing to start the season. It will be the Chiefs at a plus 5 50 price. Why? I
24:43told you it's Patrick Mahomes. Understand this. We can't enter into
24:47the season and say to ourselves, Ben, well, if this guy gets hurt, I can't
24:50win a championship. That's not how it's done. Injuries are going to happen. You
24:53just hope they're not catastrophic. And if Patrick Mahomes plays in all 17
24:57games over this 18 game schedule and into the playoffs, why not? They've done
25:01it twice in the past, and I understand if you're a trend better out there, and
25:05that's all you stick to Donny. It's been a lot of Super Bowls out there.
25:09Nobody's ever won three in a row, so you can't bet into three. Stop the
25:12madness here. Each and every season is on its own individualistic look here,
25:16right? So if I think Kansas City is the best to start the season, I can't say
25:20nobody's ever won three. So why are you betting that here? Well, nobody's ever
25:23had Patrick Mahomes for three straight Super Bowl runs like the Kansas City
25:26Chiefs are about to have it here. You could see Kelsey slow down. You could
25:30see that defense give up trunk plays. You could see the Kansas City Chiefs
25:34like they did last year, been midway through the season, struggling just a
25:37bit saying, Oh, maybe they're not the Chiefs of old, but starting this season
25:41at home ring ceremony and also sometimes you might say, like, I just
25:45want a Super Bowl. Oh, my career is complete. I have to win another one. I
25:49think the Chiefs are extra invigorated entering the season knowing they can do
25:53something that nobody has ever done in the history of this sport during the
25:57times of the Super Bowl, and that's when three in a row. That's good enough for
26:00me. I think the Chiefs have the best quarterback and the best head coach, and
26:04they should be able to win a third straight Super Bowl. I'll go chalk. I
26:07don't care. It's the Chiefs for me again. Nobody has ever won three
26:11consecutive Lombardi trophies in the history of the National Football League.
26:16Eight teams have won two straight Super Bowl championships. All eight of those
26:21teams have all failed to reach even a third consecutive Super Bowl. We have
26:27seen three franchises playing three straight Super Bowls, but not
26:31necessarily with a chance to repeat for a third consecutive season in that
26:37third try. In fact, of the eight teams to win two consecutive and hoping to
26:42three P three have missed out on the playoffs. The team that had the best
26:48chance, at least the most recent team and hoping for three the Patriots back
26:52in the mid two thousands, they got bumped in the division around in their
26:56third season looking for that Super Bowl championship. I hope you do not
27:00think my friend that I'm putting the kibosh on your Philadelphia Eagles
27:04because they are my pick to win a Super Bowl championship in 2024, a 13 to one
27:10number on Philly. I remain pretty optimistic on the birds entering this
27:16season. When you look back at 2022, they played for a Super Bowl, had a lead
27:21late over Kansas City. I thought they would be back, but the biggest change
27:26to Philly last year was the coordinator shift. Both chain stiking and
27:30Jonathan Gannon, the O. C. In the D. C. For that 2022 NFC title winning
27:35Philadelphia team got head coaching gig. So enter Brian Johnson elevated from
27:40the quarterback spot and they brought in, of course, on the defensive side of
27:44the football, Sean Desai and then it was Matt Patricia and then it was
27:47decide it was a disaster for the birds. Nick Sirianni is not one to be actively
27:53involved in the game plan. That's fine. He's a CEO type head coach. So you gotta
27:58trust the people who are coordinating the schemes. I do. Kellen Moore, the new
28:02offensive coordinator in Philadelphia, I believe, provide the resurgence for
28:06this Eagles offense with so many pieces to love for Philly on the defensive
28:12side of the football. I don't think there's a better mind still doing it
28:16than Vic Fangio. I think Philly is going to be back in where they struggled
28:21last year. Donnie in the secondary defending the past. Quinon Mitchell
28:25Cooper to Jean welcome in to bolster up that birds secondary. I believe in
28:30Philadelphia getting back to an NFC title game, winning said NFC
28:34championship, likely over the Niners because I don't think San Francisco
28:39falters much this season, but then Philadelphia will play in New Orleans
28:43in Super Bowl 59. I think the Eagles win a Super Bowl championship this
28:47season. Yeah, and quite frankly, there's a lot of moving pieces, but you're
28:51right about this. They're not the question marks that you had last year.
28:54Let's go over Sean Desai. Hey, look, he's gonna get to be able to call the
28:57signals. Can he do it on a Super Bowl caliber team? He clearly couldn't and
29:00neither could Matt Patricia or anybody else that tried to help that defense.
29:03Kellen more on offense. We know how good he was in Dallas. Things just
29:07didn't work out on an injured squad there for the Chargers last year, but a
29:10massive upgrade of what you had last year. So if you are Nick Sirianni and
29:15you are on the hot plate here, you might say to yourself, You know what? I
29:19hope these guys succeed because I'm going to be out of here, but it's okay.
29:21CEO head coaches work. Bill Belichick didn't call the defenses and the
29:24offenses there in New England. Neither does Mike time with you. I love the CEO
29:27aspect to step back and say, Let me manage my team. And the one thing's for
29:31sure. If a coat lost the locker room, Ben, like you saw the Philadelphia
29:35Eagles last year careening down the stretch, he didn't lose the players
29:39themselves. Nobody came out and said, This guy's terrible outside of Jalen
29:42hurts you. Apparently, those two didn't get along with. You never heard of. We
29:45don't listen to this guy anymore. Otherwise, if that was the case, if
29:47five players said that he would no longer be the head coach, maybe be Bill
29:50Belichick this year for the Philadelphia Eagles. So looking forward
29:53to this season, you're right. The Eagles had to improve not just the defense
29:57itself, Ben, but did you watch down the stretch the Giants game, which was
30:00abysmal, where they got injured and also should never been playing the
30:03starters and got embarrassed. But that Tampa Bay game, everybody putting wide
30:06open. That's not necessarily a talent issue. That's a scheme issue, which
30:09means the coaches couldn't get through to the players on defense. That's not
30:13happening this year. Vic Fangio is the guy that goes, Wait a minute, two
30:16minute, two hour practice. No, no, let's make it a four hour practice with
30:19three more hours of meetings. He's gonna make sure you know where you're
30:22supposed to be, and that's half the bat with the Seagulls defense. D. R. S. I'm
30:26not sure if the wife and the kid are home right now. If you need to whisper
30:30after really anchoring the show for the opening hour. But where would a
30:34second Eagles Super Bowl title in your lifetime rank among the best days
30:38you've ever had? It would be. I'll tell you this watching that Kansas. No
30:43one already had one like in the back pocket here watching that game at the
30:46half. Who is it? Rihanna performing like this is great. Eagles are up double
30:50digits gonna get another secondary trophy here. But how exciting would
30:53have that have been? Yes, very exciting. But it's never going to be like
30:56your first. But getting a second just to say, like, Oh, it wasn't a fluke
30:59season would be nice. But I gotta tell you, told the wife the other day,
31:03like, I don't care. This is honest. I don't care if the Eagles ever win
31:06another Super Bowl. Like my life is complete. Like it really like I have
31:09everything I want in life yourself. I'm living right now. As good as you could
31:13possibly live, man, as good as you possibly can live. I guess that's sweet
31:17and romantic. Wasn't sure where that was gonna go for the pick six for 2024.
31:22Next, it's the opening day of the 2024 National Football League season. We
31:27continue our pick six here on the early line to get you set for the entirety of
31:33the 2024 campaign. We both gave you our Super Bowl winners. Donny is trusting
31:38the Chiefs to be the first team in NFL history to make history win three
31:42consecutive Lombardi trophies. I look at Donny's birds and think the Eagles
31:46getting back on top of the NFL because mainly of the coordinator change in
31:52Philadelphia. Now we will fire through the rest of our pick six. Let's start
31:57with our MVP winner in 2024. Donny, for you, who's the guy? I'm gonna go
32:02CJ Stroudness at a 12 to 1 price. Now you might say, look, when you try to
32:06level out and say, what do you need to be an MVP candidate here? You actually
32:10have to have a breakout season before you're actually the MVP. And hear me
32:13out on this. So many times you see like a great offensive tackle, a great
32:16defensive lineman. You gotta be in an all pro level, Ben. Before what? You get
32:20voted to the all pro team. Same thing in the NBA. Remember Joel Embiid had a
32:24couple MVP seasons, not able to break through, finally broke through when you
32:27knew you were ready for him. And I feel like we might be ready for CJ Stroud,
32:31even though he's young and it's a second year. He was in that MVP race in
32:35December last year, going toe to toe with the likes of Patrick Holmes and
32:38also Lamar Jackson. And if I look at the way he's performed in the preseason,
32:43they're a better football team. Now they're not gonna surprise us by saying
32:46like, Oh, I wonder if we can do that on the next weekend. I think they can win
32:50that division. I think they will win that, which would mean they're gonna be
32:52probably a top 23 seed, at least in the AFC. And heaven forbid we talk about
32:58MVP candidates. You don't get voted on the MVP through the playoffs in the
33:01Super Bowl. This is a regular season award. What happens if we find
33:05ourselves? Is it so far fetched that the Houston, Texas have a 12 win season
33:10and can vie for that top overall seed? We're ready for CJ Stroud to be great.
33:15We're expecting him to be great. This is a better football team. That young,
33:18wide receiving core. Another year better. Stefan digs with the chip on
33:22his shoulder coming over from the Buffalo Bills. I like everything I've
33:26seen out of the Houston Texans in the offseason from a free agent perspective
33:30and a preparation level that I do believe I'm not just buying the hype
33:33is like, Oh, let me just throw a dart out here when it's easy to take. You
33:36know, Patrick Mahomes, I told you the Kansas City Chiefs win. It isn't hand
33:39in hand. I wanted a better price on a guy that says, You know what? There
33:42might be a chance that the Texans could get a top two seed and why not take a
33:4612 to 1 price on a great young quarterback that showed us as a rookie.
33:50He's ready to be at an MVP level, Ben NDRs. When you look at the last six
33:55years of Super Bowl winners, you mentioned Patrick Mahomes and Lamar
33:58Jackson. We have seen only three MVP winners. Lamar has to Pat has to Aaron
34:05Rogers has to. I think we get some new blood injected into this award
34:10category this year. Hard to argue. CJ Stroud, one of five rookie quarterbacks
34:15in the history of the NFL to throw for 4000 yards or more. The third most
34:19ever in a rookie season, 4108. I'm looking at Joe Burrow entering year
34:26number five in hopefully a fully healthy season. Donnie in our Super
34:31Bowl predictions. If we would have asked for the Super Bowl matchup in
34:34Nola, it would have been the Eagles over the Bengals for me. I am
34:38optimistic about Cincinnati this season, despite the offseason wide
34:42receiver drama because it is Joe Burrow in his two fully healthy seasons, his
34:472nd and third years in the National Football League 2021 2022. The Bengals
34:52won the AFC North. The Bengals played in the AFC title game. And of course,
34:56Cincinnati reached a Super Bowl in Los Angeles three seasons ago. In those two
35:01years, Joe Burrow himself playing at least 16 games through for 4475 yards
35:08or more. He had 34 touchdowns in 2021 35 TD passes in 2022, two years ago and
35:15finished fourth in the MVP voting that season. If Joe Burrow was fully
35:21healthy, I believe the Bengals are back to an AFC title game. If that is the
35:25case, correlated the quarterback being the reason Joe Burrow wins an MVP award
35:29at 10 to 1. Exactly. We're not talking about teams here. We're talking about
35:32the MVP said they're gonna be leaning on their defense. The quarterback is
35:35gonna have to steal the show, which means a lot of yards, a lot of touchdown
35:39passes and a lot of wins here. And I've said this multiple times been this
35:43all season. I'm not high on the Bengals. You know how to get me back in the
35:46fold. Give Jamar Chase a record breaking contract today or tomorrow. I
35:51want to bet them. I want to buy in on the Cincinnati Bengals. I love Joe
35:54Burrow is a quarterback. Those two wide receivers T Higgins have granted. I
35:57have no idea how T Higgins is happy, but apparently he is happy and know
36:00what else would make them happy. Jamar Chase getting a big contract. So then
36:04you would have the triplets, as we like to say, back in there doing a lot of
36:07damage. And I want to believe them. But until I see it, but I have to
36:11understand this, too. If Joe Burrow is gonna win an MVP, Jamar Chase has to
36:15be there and all in not saying, You know what? I'm gonna show up week one
36:17without a contract being playing on a million dollar base contract where, you
36:22know, at any time, Nick's bumps bruises. He's gonna skip meetings. He's not
36:25gonna be there. Get him invested so Joe Burrow could be the best that he can
36:30be. Are they a better team with Jamar Chase on the silent, unhappy? No, he's
36:33one of the best wide receivers in football to go along with a tandem and
36:36T Higgins. I want that to be true, and I do expect a big season from Joe
36:40Burrow this year. If if Jamar Chase is in that building and paid well for what
36:46it is worth when the ball was struck last year for the opening kickoff of
36:502023 in Arrowhead, it's when Joe Burrow got his record second record setting
36:56quarterback extension as well. All right, DRS, your favorite over of a win
37:00total and your favorite under. Oh, what a lightning rod here. We'll keep it
37:04quick to the New York Jets over nine and a half. The team is way too
37:08talented, Ben to win under double digit games. I understand again. It's
37:13the NFL. People get injured. Well, Don, you can't sit. Well, look, Aaron
37:17Rodgers got injured a couple plays into the season last year and wrecked that
37:20entire year. But keep in mind, if they just had a quarterback that could play
37:24average football top 20 quarterbacking out of 32 teams, they would have made
37:28the playoffs. They got like 32 out of 32 quarterbacking last year. That's my
37:33premises. I don't think the division is as strong because the Buffalo Bills I
37:37don't think are as strong as they were to pass 2-3 years. Can the Bills win
37:40the division? Maybe they can, but I'm focused on the Jets. There's no way
37:43Aaron Rodgers is healthy this season with that lights out defense and added
37:48incentive. We saw us back healthy this year. You take a look at Garrett
37:51Wilson on the one side. He's ready to take the next step. You get Mike
37:53Williams from the Chargers. It looks like he's gonna be activated for game
37:56number one. This team is too talented, Ben, to not win 10 games. So my win
38:01total. I'm going over with the Jets lightning rod team. They better be a 10
38:05with 10 and 7. Come on now. That should be easy. They have not won double
38:10digit games in New York since the 2015 NFL season nearly a decade ago. Quickly
38:17here. Your Colts under how come Anthony Richardson? I just don't trust him yet.
38:22You gotta show me that you're gonna be around 500 with that quarterback there
38:25and staying healthy for the season. Couldn't do it last year. Rescued by
38:28Gardner Minshew. No Gardner Minshew this year, Ben. So I need to see it out
38:32of him and I don't know if we get it. I'm going under. It's truly his de
38:36facto debut in rookie season. Only four games last year. Only two complete for
38:41the pick six. Next, let's finish out this 2024 NFL season pick six. My
38:46favorite win totals at this moment. I'm going to the bottom of the barrel. We
38:50go over five and a half wins for the Carolina Panthers. The only is gaining
38:55juice at minus 1 34 Donny. It is tough to trust the team that saw Bryce Young
39:00underperform in his rookie campaign. Be booked as an underdog. All 17 tries and
39:05only cover four times for 11 and two against the spread, let alone two
39:10outright victories. This year things change. I was optimistic about the
39:14Panthers entering Bryce's rookie season because of the pieces in place in
39:19Carolina. The offensive line got better. I believe there are some offensive
39:22pieces there. Miles Sanders, tuba Hubbard, whatever way you want to do it.
39:26I love the addition of Xavier Leggett, who was there as the wide receiver spot
39:30as well with the best accent in all of the National Football League. Defense
39:34will be okay. The 11th easiest schedule for Carolina. Do not think they're a
39:39playoff team. Don't even think they get the seven wins, but over five and a
39:42half. I think Carolina can do that and give me the Patriots under with some
39:47plus money. If you find four wins on this resume for the Pats, congrats.
39:52They're going to be booked as an underdog in all 17 games. Can they
39:56cover numbers? Maybe. Can they win games? No. Can they stumble into a
40:01couple? Sure. They were a four win football team last year under
40:05Belichick in his final and 24th season in New England. It was the only time
40:11they won less than seven games. I don't expect it to be better this year.
40:15Patriots under four and a half wins. If you want to entice me with an alternate
40:20win total under of three and a half or even more plus money, I would hear you
40:25by the way on the Patriots. I don't know. I don't think anybody thinks
40:28they're going to win week number one, but it just seems like the game flow
40:31Ben is going to determine game number one. If you're going to get those four
40:35and a half wins, even in a law, like if it's 27 to three, like many people
40:39probably anticipated being in that game, which is crazy. Like on opening
40:43day, anything typically supposed to happen. It's like there's no way
40:46they're winning five games, but maybe if they can hang around like 27 21,
40:50it's like, Oh, maybe they can maybe steal a few games. I can't wait to
40:53watch that just to see because when we talk about that 35 to three efforts,
40:57you're like, Oh, my goodness, this might be one of the historically bad
41:00teams. We see on offense when it's not necessarily should be that way. Now,
41:03granted, I like where you're going on the Panthers. You get the auntie
41:06Johnson out of Pittsburgh. You still got Adam feeling. There's a very good
41:09third down option. You add some other young weapons and a quarterback coach.
41:13That's your head coach. Now that goes, Hey, look, I had a turmoil kid last
41:17year. Did you see the contract he signed the year we had? We won the
41:20division and we also went to the playoffs. I can do the same things for
41:24you. We're not calling for the Panthers to win the championship or the
41:27division. You're just calling for them to be competent. If they are a
41:30competent football team, Ben gets at least the six wins here. So I like
41:33where you're going with that with the Panthers. 11 easiest schedule for
41:37Carolina. They play in the NFC South. I believe that is a benefit. The second
41:41most difficult schedule for New England. A detriment. Your division
41:45winner. D. R. S. You're optimistic about the New York Jets. Will it be
41:49the first division of crown for gangrene since 2000 and two? It's an
41:55awesome division. Remove the New England Patriots. You have three teams
41:58jockeying for position up top. And also let's keep in mind the Buffalo Bills
42:01were the darlings of the past two years and also the darlings of the pre
42:04season here. They were the favorites at the Fandula Sportsbook to actually
42:08win that division. Now looks like it's gonna be the Jets. And I find myself
42:11as well agreeing with the Fandula Sportsbook and buying into the Jets. So
42:15it is correlated. If I think the Jets are gonna get the 10 wins, they better
42:19be in the running to at least win that division at that plus 1 60 price. I
42:23think pound for pound for the most talented team on the roster in that
42:27division and I'll take them. First divisional title since 2000 and two.
42:32It would also quench New York's first playoff berth since 2010. A 13 season
42:39playoff drought for the New York Jets. The longest in the major men's
42:43professional sports leagues in America. I'm going to the A. F. C. South. It's
42:49a team. I bet right away when the market opened up when there was only
42:52five cents of difference between the Texans and the Jags. Houston had a
42:55great offseason. They are now a short favorite to win the A. F. C. South. But
42:59I stick to my guns. Jacksonville was really good defensively a season ago.
43:0412 best scoring defense in the league. I referenced that because Trevor
43:08Lawrence is going to be healthy and better. The Jacksonville Jaguars got
43:12off to an eight and three start before they dropped five of their final six
43:16games. When they got off to an eight and three start entering December, they
43:19were eight and three at a minus 1000 favorite to win the A. F. C. South. They
43:24have the second easiest schedule in what we expect to be a competitive
43:28division. Jacksonville plus 2 90 season long prop fire away. D. R. S. Jaden
43:34Daniels over 575.5 rushing yards. A rookie quarterback that has electric
43:39legs out there. Hey, that first read is an open bend. We're not going to the
43:42second. We are running. Yes, I love it. Go Jade. How about a team captain in
43:48mile high? Bo Nix over 28 50.5. The number is now north of 3000. Russell
43:55Wilson threw for 3070 yards last year. Bo Nix will better that the mouth in
44:01the south joins us next on the early line.
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