The Juggernaut Packers, Realistic Clippers Punishments, and Week 2 NFL Picks With Joe House, Jason Concepcion, and Chris Ryan

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is joined by Joe House to react to the ‘TNF’ matchup between the Commanders and Packers (3:16). Then, Chris Ryan and Jason Concepcion join to discuss realistic punishment for the Clippers' scandal (21:32). Finally, House returns for Week 2 of the Ringer 107 picks (58:16). Host: Bill Simmons Guests: Joe House, Chris Ryan, and Jason Concepcion Producers: Chia Hao Tat, Eduardo Ocampo, and Steve Ceruti Get up to 40% off Back to School Essentials on Uber Eats. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit⁠⁠ www.rg-help.com⁠⁠ to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  I'm pro football Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins, and I lived for a long time with something I did not know the name of: major depressive disorder. I carried sadness and anger because I thought I could handle it alone, but I couldn't. Now I want to make sure others know that that support is out there. If you're experiencing similar symptoms, talk to a healthcare professional. Visit MDDAllies.com to watch my story.

• 0:25Speaker 01

  Paid partnership with Johnson & Johnson. Brian Dawkins has not prescribed Caplyta lumateperone.

• 0:37Speaker 02

  I needed more from my antidepressant, so my doctor added Caplyta lumateperone, proven to provide greater relief from depression symptoms than an antidepressant alone, building on my progress without starting over. Caplyta is for adults with major depressive disorder when used with an antidepressant and is available by prescription only. Individual results may vary. In clinical trials, weight gain was not common.

• 0:57Speaker 01

  Elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. Caplyta is not approved for dementia-related psychosis. Call your doctor about new or sudden mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts right away. Antidepressants may increase these risks. Report fever, confusion, stiff muscles, which may be life-threatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements, which may be permanent. High cholesterol and weight gain may occur, as can high blood sugar, which may be fatal. Monitoring is recommended. Common side effects are sleepiness, dizziness, nausea, dry mouth, feeling tired, and diarrhea. These aren't all the side effects.

• 1:24Speaker 02

  Ask your doctor about Caplyta. Learn more at caplyta.com or call 888-252-4824.

• 1:30Bill Simmons?

  The Bill Simmons Podcast is presented by FanDuel Sportsbook. We're also brought to you by The Ringer Podcast Network, where I had new rewatchables going up on last Monday. We did Legend of Billie Jean, an 80s classic. You can find that on The Ringer Movies YouTube channel as well. Watch this video podcast on Spotify next Monday.

• 1:51Bill Simmons?

  Pretty big movie coming, fairly big, starring Kevin Costner. That's your hint. You might be able to guess what it is. We, there's still some good Costner movies left that we haven't done. Anyway, that's coming on Monday. The Prestige TV podcast after Task is on HBO as soon as it ends. Me and Joanna Robinson and Rob Mahoney are doing the recap. So, uh, we had a lot of fun doing the first couple. I've only seen three episodes because we've done all of the recaps for the first story. We watch them one at a time. We don't cheat. We don't go ahead because that's, uh, not honorable. Anyway, coming up on this podcast at the very top, Joe House and I are going to, um,

• 2:34Bill Simmons?

  react to what we saw from Packers, Washington on Thursday night. House's team being involved. We had to stick around for that one. Then Chris Ryan and old friend Jason Cetepsion are gonna come on and we're gonna talk about, uh, everything we learned about the bomber scandal this week, which is really like the biggest thing that's happened in the NBA in a while, not on a basketball court. Uh, and then last but not least, Joe House is gonna come back because we did Ringer 107 for week two. We did not do well in week one. Uh, there were reasons for that. We feel good about week two. We're gonna go through the slate, go through the picks and it's all coming up next. We're gonna take a break and do Pearl Jam and then, uh, House and I on Washington Green Bay.

• 3:15Bill Simmons?

  It's the Bill Simmons Podcast presented by Fanduel and the NFL is back and thank God. Fanduel has everything. They got an awesome app. They have SGPs. They have great futures. They have good profits, live betting, your way bets, clean app. It's great to use. Uh, been using it for a few years. Every time I go back to Boston or any place that has Fanduel and I get to use it, I'm always excited. I'm on an airplane runway. You done the airplane runway?

• 3:40Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 3:41Bill Simmons?

  House.

• 3:41Speaker 04

  Everybody.

• 3:42Bill Simmons?

  Airplane runway.

• 3:43Speaker 04

  There should be a button, the runway.

• 3:45Bill Simmons?

  I'm on the airplane runway. I gotta get this in. Get your bets in, build something bold, make every game feel bigger. Download the Fanduel app or head to fanduel.com/BS to get started. The Ringer. Committed to responsible gaming, please visit rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available and listen to the end of this episode for additional details. You must be 21 plus and present in select states or 18 plus and present in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Game problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Call 1-887-89777 or visit ccpg.org/chat. Connecticut, paid endorsement.

• 4:47Bill Simmons?

  All right, recording this, it is 8:30 Pacific time. Just watched Green Bay throttle the Washington Commanders, House's favorite team. And I went to this game, and even this season, thinking the Packers had a chance to be the juggernaut, but it was a big reason why I had them tonight. I bet on them. I attached them to different parlays that some of them we're going to talk about later. But you take care of business on a Thursday night in front of Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreet and a national TV audience when you have a chance to be a juggernaut. Did you feel that way as they throttled your team?

• 5:21Speaker 04

  I mean, yes, this was, when you sit down in the summer and look at your team's schedule and try and plot out what your team's path to wins looks like, this was a schedule loss. And I'll just complain a little bit.

• 5:37Bill Simmons?

  Oh, let's hear it. Oh, I didn't know we were complaining this early.

• 5:41Speaker 04

  This could have been and should have been a measuring stick game for Washington, but traveling to Lambeau, so Green Bay gets to start the season with two home games against the Lions and the Commanders in a short week for the Commanders. The advantage early in the season is outsized. And the bummer is, in addition to, you know, the significant challenge for the team on the road. The injury stuff, man. Jaden, Jaden Reed's out. Eckler looks like he's out. Noah Brown got hurt. Like, I, I hate these early season Thursday games, this short week. We just put it right in and we're losing important players on both sides because it's just, just too early in the season for this.

• 6:26Speaker 04

  But, you know, we're just, this is old man yelling at windmill kind of bullshit. So I'll just roll with it.

• 6:33Bill Simmons?

  Counter. I had a great time watching a Thursday night game.

• 6:38Bill Simmons?

  You have an old team. That was the fear going in with Washington along with the regression and all the other stuff. Eckler gets hurt today, but this was, this is when you have a bunch of old guys, the fear is the old guys aren't going to hold up over the course of the season. So you've already lost one.

• 6:53Speaker 04

  But this is the challenge for this team in terms of its current construction, for sure. And Washington was outmatched on both sides of the football. Like, let's,

• 7:04Bill Simmons?

  that was also a problem.

• 7:05Speaker 04

  I'm complaining, but look, Green Bay was the better team. The speed of that Green Bay defense especially. And, and I, we're, we're gonna keep seeing this kid Nixon on, uh, what is he? Is he on the, the left side? He shuts down every receiver that lines up against him. And, and he was certainly, he, he played as though he knew Washington's playbook. I mean, Noah Brown got no separation. Nobody could, Jalen Lane got no separation. Nobody could, could get any separation against Nixon.

• 7:36Bill Simmons?

  They basically doubled your yardage until that last drive. They were ahead more than doubled your yardage. It ended up being 404 to 230. You're one and three on, on fourth down. Last year we were 20 and 23 for the season. So, uh, that flipped a little, but the big thing was you couldn't run the ball at all.

• 7:53Speaker 04

  Nope.

• 7:53Bill Simmons?

  And, um, over and over again, it felt like it was like third and six, third and eight, third and four, fourth and four, fourth and three. And, uh, you couldn't really get it going.

• 8:06Bill Simmons?

  I didn't understand the pace. It's not how I would have attacked the Packers. They were almost trying to do the Eagles' slow possession thing, trying to like limit the number of possessions in each half. And I actually thought the way when it got into garbage time and they started playing a little more pace, I probably would have done that. I'm also not sure it was going to matter because you had Jordan Love going, what was he, 15 for 17 in the first half, something like that?

• 8:31Speaker 04

  Yeah, I mean, that's the downside of playing with pace. You turn the ball over on three downs and the defense has been off the field for 45 seconds.

• 8:39Bill Simmons?

  Right. And then, and Love is good. And then Tucker Kraft killed you, who of course was, I started him in one league and he was on my bench in the other behind Brock Bowers, who has a big red flag on him. I don't know what I was thinking that, but.

• 8:51Speaker 04

  Well, our guy, our guy, DeBundo, loved Kraft, gave him out on our Wednesday show with the cousin Sal. Every kind of Kraft prop, a Kraft touchdown, anytime touchdown, all over it.

• 9:01Bill Simmons?

  I had that today. I had my FanDuel tweet today. I had the Kraft anytime TD.

• 9:05Speaker 04

  Well done.

• 9:06Bill Simmons?

  Plus like 230, something like that.

• 9:08Speaker 04

  Delightful.

• 9:09Bill Simmons?

  I guess the one thing with them, so they lost another receiver today. Golden, Golden, didn't, did he not have any? Yeah, I guess he had two rushes, no catches, but they missed them on a long pass.

• 9:22Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 9:24Bill Simmons?

  But I guess if you're worried about the Packers at all, like the longevity of this run, it's just like, as Schrager said on TV this week, they don't have a number one, but they have a lot of number twos. Kraft might be like a 1B. Like I don't, wouldn't put him in the Bowers, Kittle level, but maybe he has a chance to be right on that level below. And then they're running the ball really well, too, with Jacobs was 23 for 84. But it's just a good balanced team.

• 9:48Speaker 04

  That's it. That's the key. If you have a tight end with the skill level that Kraft seems to possess, and they can run the ball, like there was never a moment where it felt like they needed two or three yards, that they couldn't get it. And this is a footprint that is, you know, reminiscent of how the Eagles had their success all last year, on both sides of the ball. They're winning in the trenches. I'm just telling you, man, that defense is as fast a defense. They are, they can get horizontal and they can get vertical and they rush four and drop three and Washington had nothing. Zach Ertz didn't get a look, didn't get a target until almost the second half because the middle of the field was consumed by those backers dropping, so.

• 10:29Bill Simmons?

  And you have a guy that can, you have a possession ruiner in Parsons.

• 10:33Speaker 04

  Exactly.

• 10:33Bill Simmons?

  That won, one of the big plays when he had, he got the sack as he also drew the holding penalty. We have seven, eight possessions and he might, uh, might ruin two of them. You know, we talked about love a couple of times during the preseason. And I picked him, I think I picked him in the futures draft with the cuz at 25 to one for MVP. And Shield did some stuff with him.

• 10:59Bill Simmons?

  Before the year when he was talking about the three tiers of MVPs and how the MVP almost always comes from a 13 or 14 win team. Which seems like the, uh, the Packers are headed that way. As I go to Fandel right now, he's third in the odds. He's nine to one. Allen is three to one and Jackson's plus three eight and then Jordan Love is now nine to one in the three spot. So that makes him the NFC leading MVP begetter. But watching the game tonight, it's like, yeah, I could see the case. If he ends up 35 TDs, six picks, the team goes 14 and three. That would be kind of the blueprint. I don't know if anyone, I mean, God only knows what Allen and Lamar have in store for us the rest of the season, but that would be the case.

• 11:44Speaker 04

  Packers all the way down to plus 750 for the Super Bowl and plus 370. The Eagles are first to win the NFC at plus 360, Packers plus 370. So they are in that class. They have put themselves in that class and they deserve it, in my opinion.

• 12:02Bill Simmons?

  Well, when you say that class, we have four teams, the Baltimore, Buffalo, Philly, Green Bay, all have basically the same odds to win the Super Bowl now. And they were not, before the Parsons trade, they were in the vicinity of, I don't know, the Lions, the Rams, the Niners, teams like that.

• 12:19Speaker 04

  I have a 22 to one Green Bay Super Bowl ticket from, you know, the spring.

• 12:25Bill Simmons?

  One thing, I mean, it's one of the few kind of home teams you feel. Solid about, I feel like home field advantage has slipped at least a little bit over the years. It's not, certainly not like it was when it was, when we were growing up, when you just felt like being home was this incredible advantage, but I do feel like they have some order of advantage. I did this with the cuz last week.

• 12:47Speaker 04

  Buffalo and Green Bay, Buffalo and Green Bay, those were your two that are really stuck.

• 12:51Bill Simmons?

  I did this with the cuz, I wanted your take. They go at Cleveland, at Dallas, the next two weeks. And that Browns game is 10 days rest. Bi-week Bengals at Cards, at Steelers on a Sunday night, Panthers, home Eagles, week 10. Are they going to be undefeated as they head into that week 10 game? Could you see it?

• 13:12Speaker 04

  I think so. If they're healthy, you know, that's always the, the giant if, but if, especially on the defensive side of the ball. They're, they're the only team that could put them in a mode where you end up with something that looks like a shootout that becomes more is, is the Bengals, right? If the Bengals get their offense going, it always takes the Bengals a month. So right about that time is when they catch the Bengals. If their Bengals offense gets going a little bit, that, that's, that's the best case I can make. I am too.

• 13:42Bill Simmons?

  Then your dumb team. You got Raiders home next week.

• 13:46Speaker 04

  Fine.

• 13:47Bill Simmons?

  At Falcons, at Chargers, the next two, which are games, at Chargers, looks like a lot harder of a game than it did three weeks ago.

• 13:55Speaker 04

  Yep, yep. I don't even love at Falcons.

• 13:58Bill Simmons?

  You, you have at Cowboys, at Chiefs later in the year. You get the Dolphins in Madrid, which is a game that looks a lot more palatable than, than it used to.

• 14:08Speaker 04

  Paella for everybody.

• 14:10Bill Simmons?

  And you have at Vikings, at Giants, at Eagles is the rest of the road games. So the, the road games, somehow the Cowboys is the easiest road game of all the road games you have. The rest of those are, are not easy. So you're one and one. Be honest.

• 14:27Bill Simmons?

  Does your team make the playoffs?

• 14:30Speaker 04

  It's a jump ball. I had them at nine or 10 wins. I bet on them to win 10 games. 10 and 7 makes the playoffs in the either the sixth spot.

• 14:40Bill Simmons?

  So you're saying it's a jump ball?

• 14:42Speaker 04

  Yeah, I think it's a jump ball.

• 14:44Bill Simmons?

  Well, you know who agrees with you, FanDuel, because they have you a plus 100 to miss the playoffs.

• 14:48Speaker 04

  Look, me and FanDuel.

• 14:51Bill Simmons?

  Literally a jump ball.

• 14:51Speaker 04

  We see the world the same way.

• 14:55Bill Simmons?

  Okay, well, let's go through the NFC then.

• 14:59Bill Simmons?

  What teams are you worried about taking your spots? So let's, can we just for the hell of it, put in Philly and Green Bay as those two?

• 15:09Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 15:09Bill Simmons?

  And the NFC West winner and the NFC South winner. So there's four.

• 15:15Bill Simmons?

  Who were you worried about out of? Lions? Minnesota? Arizona?

• 15:23Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 15:23Bill Simmons?

  Chicago? San Francisco?

• 15:26Speaker 04

  Definitely not. Me, probably.

• 15:29Bill Simmons?

  So you feel you're in the five to seven range, hopefully?

• 15:31Speaker 04

  Yeah, exactly. Yes. Rams and Cardinals. This Purdy injury makes it such that the Rams and the Cardinals are going to be in the in the front runner, the driver's seat for the West. And, you know, one of those, one or the other should get a spot. I don't, I mean, what's Minnesota to make the playoffs?

• 15:50Bill Simmons?

  To make it?

• 15:51Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 15:53Speaker 04

  It's gotta be plus odds.

• 15:56Bill Simmons?

  Wow. JJ had a kid, I don't know. So they're plus 110 to make the playoffs. You're, or I'm sorry, minus 110 and you're minus 120.

• 16:04Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 16:04Bill Simmons?

  And you're minus 122.

• 16:06Speaker 04

  Yeah, okay. So Washington slightly ahead of Minnesota.

• 16:10Bill Simmons?

  Listen, we have to have this part of the conversation. I hate to do this to you.

• 16:16Bill Simmons?

  Has Jaden Daniels looked that good in either of these games that you watched this year, Giants game or this game?

• 16:25Speaker 04

  Well, I'm trying to answer this in a way that's that's fair for who this team is.

• 16:32Bill Simmons?

  How about fair from a?

• 16:34Speaker 04

  They threw for 200 yards and rushed for 200 yards in week one against the Giants. That was a game where they controlled the line of scrimmage and it was fine. He hasn't really shown anything in terms of getting vertical. The offense has not gotten vertical. Everything has been yards after the catch. That's why Debo has been so important thus far. And he got that cheap touchdown. Thank God, Debo on my Yahoo fantasy team.

• 17:00Bill Simmons?

  Yeah, he got a lot of cheap yardage near the end.

• 17:02Speaker 04

  Truckstick Joseph collecting Debo yards. Debo oil out there.

• 17:07Bill Simmons?

  Yeah, but the problem is you're putting him on kickoffs and he's going to get hurt if you're going to do that. That's an injury waiting to happen.

• 17:13Speaker 04

  I detest.

• 17:14Bill Simmons?

  I can't believe they're doing that.

• 17:15Speaker 04

  I can't either. I detest it. I am, I can't say strongly enough how much I dislike that.

• 17:21Bill Simmons?

  Well, from what I've seen, it's only been two games and he might flip it around the next game. But the case for the commanders this year was that even though there are all these regression signs, you have an older team and a much harder schedule. This was the year that Jaden Daniels shows that I need to be put in that Josh, Josh Allen, Lamar, Mahomes, if I'm on your team, you're going to win between 11 and 13 games because I'm on your team. And the way he's played the first two games, it is not, not looked like he is that guy. But we'll see, it's a long season.

• 17:51Speaker 04

  Yeah, and I don't think, you know, if you're going to try and measure his performance, you have to, this is why I paused so long when you asked the question. The team misses Brian Robinson already. If you need tough yards from a running back, I liked Brian Robinson going for those yards. I don't like Bill Crosby merit so far. He's, he's tough and Eckler got a whole bunch of touches out of the backfield. And I, I don't have a good explanation for that. And his season's over.

• 18:21Bill Simmons?

  And his season's over. I, it was weird that Kirk and Al, we've seen too many of those Achilles ones.

• 18:26Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 18:27Bill Simmons?

  You know, right away at this point, I feel like we're not going to miss on a, whoa, that looked like a torn Achilles. I felt bad for him, but.

• 18:32Speaker 04

  Me too.

• 18:33Bill Simmons?

  You know, right away, they, they fall, they stop, they fall to the ground, they reach for it. You just kind of know.

• 18:38Speaker 04

  He knew.

• 18:39Bill Simmons?

  Yeah, he knew. So, so you traded Brian Robinson, you have no backup running back now. And I actually liked, I didn't mind Brian Robinson. I didn't really understand that one.

• 18:48Speaker 04

  I mean, they have a guy, this guy, Chris Rodriguez, but he's, you know, he, he didn't get on the field in week one. So I guess we're going to see some Chris Rodriguez coming up here. 10 days to, to get some rest. I mean, honestly.

• 18:59Bill Simmons?

  You know what that sounds like to me, House? We're going to see some Chris Rodriguez here. Nine and eight.

• 19:05Speaker 04

  I just said it. I mean, they, this is.

• 19:07Bill Simmons?

  Nine and eight.

• 19:08Speaker 04

  These Thursday games are survive and advance. Like try and minimize how many season ending injuries.

• 19:16Bill Simmons?

  Well, it's interesting.

• 19:16Speaker 04

  I don't like it.

• 19:18Bill Simmons?

  You go Eagles, week 16 at home on a Saturday, Cowboys, Christmas, and then you finish at Eagles in a game that.

• 19:25Speaker 04

  Come on.

• 19:26Bill Simmons?

  Might mean nothing to the Eagles. That, that might be like, let's play the third string. Who cares?

• 19:32Speaker 04

  That's the best case scenario for Washington, sitting there at eight wins at that point, maybe. Needing that ninth, ninth win to, to get into a playoff tiebreaker mode.

• 19:43Bill Simmons?

  So if you had to guess one seed in the playoffs in the NFC, you would say Green Bay?

• 19:49Speaker 04

  I don't know that I would. I, I, let's see if these.

• 19:51Bill Simmons?

  Can I give you the odds?

• 19:52Speaker 04

  Let's see the Eagles play the Chiefs.

• 19:55Bill Simmons?

  Green Bay plus 260 on Fanduel.

• 19:58Speaker 04

  And?

• 19:58Bill Simmons?

  Philly plus 350.

• 20:00Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 20:01Bill Simmons?

  Rams, 7-1. 49ers, 8-1. Get that the fuck out of there. Buccaneers, 9-1. Vikings.

• 20:12Bill Simmons?

  1220. You know what kind of makes sense is just bet the Packers and Eagles.

• 20:16Speaker 04

  Yeah, that's fine, right?

• 20:17Bill Simmons?

  One unit on each and you hit one of those, right? Who else is getting the one seed?

• 20:22Speaker 04

  Nobody, absolutely nobody.

• 20:24Bill Simmons?

  Maybe Minnesota if McCarthy's awesome?

• 20:26Speaker 04

  No. Do me a very, very quick favor. Well, I'll do it. I don't have to subject people to it to the pod. I want to see the Niners to miss the playoffs odds. I want, I want money on that right now.

• 20:36Bill Simmons?

  I have that for you.

• 20:36Speaker 04

  I don't want to wait. I don't, don't wait. I want to rush to the window. I want to get that ticket.

• 20:42Bill Simmons?

  I already bet on that like six months ago. It's plus 152.

• 20:45Speaker 04

  Great. Done. That's how, that's, that covers off the loss I'm going to take on them to win the NFC West because of that schedule that they have. It doesn't matter. If Mac Jones plays however many games it looks like he's going to play, let me have the Niners to miss the playoffs. That is a take it to the window ticket.

• 21:02Bill Simmons?

  Well, we broke down the Mac Jones Spencer Rattler matchup much later on the Ringer 107. You're going to take a break. We're going to bring in Chris Ryan and our old friend Jason Gutsipson to talk about all the latest bomber news and what's going to happen to the Clippers. And then magically, we're going to go backwards five hours to when we did Ringer 107. House, I'll see you in a little bit.

• 21:22Speaker 04

  Can't wait, buddy.

• 21:24Bill Simmons?

  Thanks, buddy. The Bill Simmons Podcast is brought to you by FanDuel. NFL Sunday's coming. You got your crew, your couch, your food, your drinks, whatever, whatever you're up to. We're not going to judge you. Just do your thing. FanDuel's coming in with something extra. It's your chance to place the perfect parlay, player prop, whatever floats your boat. Right now, all customers can get a 50% profit boost on any NFL bet. And House and I are going to have a lot of suggestions coming up when we do our Ringer 107 segment. However you play your game, FanDuel's got your back with something extra in your account because that's what Sunday should feel like. Visit FanDuel.com/BS to download the app and get in on the action before kickoff.

• 22:06Bill Simmons?

  You must be 21 plus, present in select states or 18 plus and present in DC, Kentucky, Wyoming. Opt-in required. Bonus issued as non-durable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply, including any token expiration, max wager amount. See terms at sportsbook.FanDuel.com. Game prompt, call 100 GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat in Connecticut. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Parents, if there's one thing you deserve to make it easier on yourself, it's back to school season. I know that's how I feel as well. On Uber Eats, you can get up to 40% off back to school essentials like notebooks, pencils, calculators. You got lunch boxes to fill?

• 22:48Bill Simmons?

  Get discounts on fresh fruit, juice boxes, string cheese, and more. Get everything you need for back to school, delivered right to you, just a tap away in the Uber Eats app. Offer ends September 16th. See app for details. All right, it's an absolute disgrace that this hasn't happened sooner in the 2020s. It's been a while since this threesome has gotten back together. Two of the stars, Take Hunter, the award-winning series of the 2010s, CR Chris Ryan, and our old friend, Jason Concepcion. It's great to see you. It's great to have you back. Listen, you knew it would be big circumstances to get us all back together, and I hope it's not the last time. This

• 23:33Bill Simmons?

  Balmer thing, I just found myself thinking like, man, back in the day, back in the way back, we would have been all over this, week after week on NBA Desktop. So, JC, had to get your takes. Let's just unleash them. Let's go.

• 23:51Speaker 05

  My take, well, I'll say this, first of all. It's a lot of smoke. It's a suffocating, we're suffocating in the smoke. Smoking gun, question mark? I think there's enough just ambient smoke that certainly looks as if something untoward has happened. And, you know, where are the trees, Bill? Where are the trees? No trees planted, as far as I could see, so.

• 24:15Bill Simmons?

  That's the thing, man.

• 24:16Speaker 05

  That's the bottom line, is no trees actually got on the ground. But this is what I have to say. After Kawhi and the Uncle Dennis stuff kind of bubbled to the surface after he left Toronto, ended up in the Clippers, after the Lakers complained, after Toronto complained about all these crazy asks that have since come to the surface in a recent Toronto Star article about, you know, they wanted shares in the Maple Leafs, this, that, and the other, and Uncle Dennis describing a structure that looked very much like what aspiration is. The NBA looked at it, and...

• 24:58Speaker 05

  Said, okay, carry on. So I just hope that as this investigation continues, how that happened will be part of it. Because I think that that to me-

• 25:10Bill Simmons?

  Oh, I like this. Great first take. Really nice.

• 25:13Speaker 05

  That to me is the underrated part. It's the part that we're not talking about. Because if Uncle Dennis then just said, okay, you don't want to do this, I'll go find another taker. And the NBA looked at that and said, okay, well, I guess there's nothing, seems like a speed, speeding ticket type of stuff. And so we're going to carry on. I, you know, I don't know what happened there. But what happened there seems very important to me. If now,

• 25:39Speaker 05

  this is a problem. That's my take.

• 25:42Speaker 06

  I, I'm ready to hear from Uncle Dennis and Kawhi. I feel like they got Ballmer out there with Ramona. They rolled him out there. We've had multiple Pablo Torre podcasts. Every NBA podcast has been covering this for whatever, 10 days for a week now. I, I'm kind of stunned. We have not gotten even a no comment from Kawhi. I mean, if we have gotten one, I, I haven't seen it. And I know he was at the US Open for tennis the other day. And I was like, this is amazing. Like, this guy is just like hanging out. I don't know if, if Uncle Dennis rolls with him like that and they go watch Sabalenko. But like, I'm ready for, I'm ready for like, uh, something. Because actually, I feel like the silence from

• 26:25Speaker 06

  their direction isn't doing anyone any favors on the Clipper side right now.

• 26:30Bill Simmons?

  Uncle Dennis, supposedly a huge sinner guy. That's what I heard. He's a big servant ball guy. Yeah, always the word in the street with him. So yeah, you're right. Like if, like if this happened to LeBron, or KD, or even like, you know, one of the younger stars like Anthony Edwards, this would have been treated, you know, like it was, it was like an episode of The West Wing with how they got their public response. And Kawhi, I can't tell if he's oblivious or doesn't care.

• 27:00Bill Simmons?

  Like which is it that I like to me, he probably just Jason like doesn't give a shit. He's like, he got his money.

• 27:09Speaker 05

  Yeah, I mean,

• 27:10Bill Simmons?

  The check's cleared. I think he's good.

• 27:13Speaker 05

  I think it's a, I think it's a measure and maybe a good lesson for all of us, like how how far you can get like ability wise, if you just don't say anything ever. If you simply do not speak, he's gotten a lot of mileage out of that. And, and listen, what I love, I would love to hear from Uncle Dennis, whose voice I could not like recognize from Adams.

• 27:36Bill Simmons?

  I don't know what he, I don't know what he looks like. I don't know if I've ever seen a picture of him.

• 27:40Speaker 05

  I've seen one blurry picture of him that looked like a mob photo, like they would, they would took that, like the FBI took like outside of the Bergen hunting fish club, like in the eighties from like across the street.

• 27:51Speaker 06

  Captain Ramius in Hunter October, they're circling pictures of him in the back. That was a hint, Bill.

• 27:57Speaker 05

  But I would love to hear, yeah, I would love, I would love to hear from him more. But moreover, again, I kind of feel like, listen, the second apron era, right? You've got teams looking in the couch cushions for money. You've got free agents sitting on the sidelines, wondering like, when am I going to get signed? If the money is being restricted by the rules to a, to a ever increasing degree. My opinion is the deterrence should also, like if you're gonna, if you go, hey, the speed limit is now 30, but don't put a cop on the side of the highway every once in a while, then what does it really matter?

• 28:34Speaker 06

  Right.

• 28:35Speaker 05

  I kind of feel like the NBA needs to look in the mirror just a little bit and be like, what are we doing to dissuade this from happening? Because now this type of like the owner's jet, the owner's beach house kind of free perks. I think, I think you could argue that stuff matters more now in this era.

• 28:54Bill Simmons?

  Well, don't leave out the, let me tell you about this investment. Get in on this early, tell your guy. Cause I think that's the number one thing that's happened over the last few years. You talked about all the smoke. It just made me think like, let's say I had a 17 year old son. By the way, I'm not saying this is the case, but let's say I had a 17 year old son on a bad path. And every time I walked into his room, it was like the dazed and confused scene when all the people are in there. And it's just like incense is going. It's like, hey dad, what's up? And that's just happening over and over again. And I just choose not to see it. And then one day the police is there because there's just bales of marijuana in my garage that I had no idea.

• 29:36Bill Simmons?

  They, that's, Jason's basically saying that's Adam Silver right now. There's been incense just burning nonstop. And this is now, we're at the bales of marijuana stage CR.

• 29:48Speaker 06

  Do you guys think that there's anything to the, we're in such a different era now. Honestly, I mean, obviously like I think about the Colangelo story when this is happening just because of the unconventional way in which it came to light. Obviously Pablo is doing like a very different kind of thing with his podcast in terms of like, how he's parceling out information, how the reporting is kind of happening in real time with him. But you watch the reporting side of it and you watch the reaction side of it. And it's so like, kind of almost, um, it's like the way people are speaking are very, is very like human, very like everyday speech like, hey, this is happening, this is happening. Pablo's obviously very buttoned up.

• 30:30Speaker 06

  But then you have the responses from Ballmer and the league that are very like, well, we're just gonna have to let the investigation see where it leads and it's just gonna take its time. I heard Howard and Zach talking today on Zach's podcast where it was like, this might take until next spring. I'm like, people aren't waiting until next spring. You guys have to stop talking like lawyers. Like the only thing you can pray for is that we get bored and something else happens. Because otherwise this is the only thing people want to talk about with the league right now. And you can't just be like, ah, these, this law firm's just gonna have to do its due diligence and it's just gonna take nine months. People don't like that anymore. People don't use that, take that as an excuse. I wonder how long they can use that.

• 31:09Bill Simmons?

  Maybe JC, maybe a Friday news dump, like right as the two college football playoff semifinal games are starting.

• 31:16Speaker 06

  By the way, Ty Lou coaches.

• 31:18Bill Simmons?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sneak that, sneak that in.

• 31:22Speaker 05

  I will say Silver's comments outside of the governor's meeting.

• 31:29Speaker 05

  Did not lead me to believe there was a hammer about to be dropped anywhere in the offing. Like it really felt like, hey, guys, burden's on us. Like, we gotta look. And it's tough to look for this stuff. And you know, we love due process here. We're gonna let this investigation go where it leads. Again, I would be shocked if they come down like super hard, I think, at this point, even despite the amount of smoke. Like, remember the Joe Smith thing was like, they found a piece of paper that was literally like, hey, don't forget, we have to illegally pay Joe Smith. Okay, we have to do that tomorrow.

• 32:09Bill Simmons?

  All the figures were on it, the whole thing. Yeah, no, it's. So the report that that Pablo had today, it was just more smoke. It was more like, huh. And it's just, it's just, it becomes a question of how many coincidences are you gonna accept before you're like, all right, come on, guys. Because what they did with this one, with the latest report about how the minority owner had funneled 2 million to this company, right as they're laying off all a bunch of people, right as Kawhi is do a money figure that's just slightly under that. Yeah. So he doesn't do the exact figure. It's just a little more. And then it's the same thing with the bomber with the puts in 50 right as Kawhi is getting the 28 plus

• 32:51Bill Simmons?

  the 20. And it's like, just a little tilted off, but not totally. This is how you would do it if it was like a bad sports movie that we were watching, which is why I think this has gotten progressively funnier as the as the two weeks have gone.

• 33:04Speaker 06

  It's also, it kind of feels a little bit like any, any like, great piece of conspiracy text. Like, you think about like, the movie JFK or something like that, where it, it's more of like, a contagious idea that it seems like. I don't, I really, not only do I not know, I also don't have a dog in the fight, but it seems like something I could see people beneath Ballmer on the org chart, kind of freelancing a little bit more than I can see Ballmer doing it. And it's not because I have any like great admiration for Ballmer out of whack with anybody else. It's just like, I wonder whether this is like the person who was implicated today in Pablo's reporting was this guy Dennis Wong, who's a minority owner in the Clippers, but a college, old college roommate of Ballmer's.

• 33:49Bill Simmons?

  Tough day for Dennis.

• 33:50Speaker 06

  Dennis, Dennis.

• 33:53Speaker 05

  Yet another Dennis.

• 33:54Bill Simmons?

  Dennis's kids are like, dad?

• 33:56Speaker 06

  Wait, don't give away a free pot idea. Dennis and Dennis?

• 34:00Speaker 05

  I mean.

• 34:01Speaker 06

  Coming, coming from.

• 34:02Speaker 05

  I can't wait. Dennis and Dennis and then the, who is like the guy? Who is the backwards cap guy who sits there and goes, wow, that's so crazy, Dennis?

• 34:11Speaker 06

  Exactly.

• 34:12Bill Simmons?

  Need a third Dennis.

• 34:13Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 34:16Speaker 06

  But yeah, I think that, I think that there's something to this idea of, of perhaps this wasn't a conspiracy as much as it was a series of unfortunate events, but that might not matter in terms of the judgment. Do you think Bill, that part of the reason why nobody really knows what to do? Or at least like how to feel about this is because unlike say a Sarver or a Sterling. All right, I don't know. Maybe even the fact that this is like not demonstrably.

• 34:43Bill Simmons?

  Cause everyone likes Ballmer.

• 34:44Speaker 06

  Yeah, everybody's just like, that guy built a cool stadium in the All-Star games there. And he gets up on stage and screams developers and he's freaking out at like, you know, charging calls and he seems like he really likes basketball. And once like, there's part of, I wonder whether or not it's like, yeah, but he seems like, what's he, what's he done to hurt the league? Is, is seems to be an issue here.

• 35:06Bill Simmons?

  Well, and then you have on top of it. So the two biggest scandals since Donahue were both Clipper scandals.

• 35:15Bill Simmons?

  Yes. The, the whole Sterling, V. Stiviano.

• 35:18Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 35:19Bill Simmons?

  Catastrophe that like submarine the 2014 playoffs, basically. And then this, and they're both Clipper related. And it's just like, I, I mean, when I wrote my Curse of the Clippers column for Page Two, it was 2009. It was Obama's first year of his presidency. And I listed 40, 33 years of, of Clipper shit. And now that, think of all the other shit that's happened since. I don't know. J C, they, they might just have to move like this. This could be the final piece where maybe they just have to go to Seattle and we just call it a day with the L A Clippers.

• 35:54Speaker 05

  I mean, that would be an amazing outcome, I think, for everyone. I'm, I'm left wondering, like, to your point.

• 36:04Speaker 05

  And again, I'm not saying that, uh, Bomber or Dennis, other Dennis, Dennis Wong knew anything. But if they did, do you think they are wondering, man, why did we let it go bankrupt? That was the, that's the rookie mistake.

• 36:17Bill Simmons?

  Oh, why didn't he just fund it?

• 36:19Speaker 05

  Yeah. You gotta keep aspiration on its feet if it's truly like this money laundering vehicle that you hope. Yeah. I mean, there's, to your point, there's too many things. And I think that also, how, like, how many generations would actually need to pass for the Clippers to truly establish themselves, like as an equal rival to the Lakers in this city? How, how many years would have to go by?

• 36:49Bill Simmons?

  The ship has sailed. I mean, the ship sailed a long time ago. It's the same thing for the Nets and the Knicks.

• 36:55Speaker 05

  And that will, it would have to be like 50 years of the Nets kicking the Knicks ass. Like, it would have to be that.

• 37:02Bill Simmons?

  And then the Knicks could go 43 and 39 once and it'd be like, the Knicks are back.

• 37:06Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 37:07Speaker 06

  The Nets do a full identity change, like every six months. Like now they have like, like, hey, guys, Michael Porter Jr. Is our mouthpiece.

• 37:16Bill Simmons?

  We have five first rounders. They all need the ball.

• 37:19Speaker 06

  I want MPJ Jr. To weigh in on this, you know, like, I want MPJ to, to weigh in on, on Uncle Dennis in Hawaii.

• 37:25Bill Simmons?

  Honestly, a, a budding podcast star. He was coming in hot over and over again.

• 37:31Speaker 05

  MPJ should sign Dennis and Dennis to his network.

• 37:35Speaker 06

  Podcast network. Yeah.

• 37:37Bill Simmons?

  I uh, I'm gonna give you my, my hottest take of this whole scandal. And I, it's, I'm not saying I invented it, but I actually believe it might be true, but it's also crazy.

• 37:51Bill Simmons?

  What if Kawhi just never knew about any of this? And it's just all Dennis? Dennis freelance this. I, the smoking gun for this theory is Kawhi doesn't want to do any work. He doesn't want to have to do anything. Flip this around. Why would they be so determined to not have Kawhi do any work? Like, it's actually easy to go film an ad for an hour. It's easy to do like five tweets a year. This is more like Kawhi's not gonna do anything, or is this understood? It's gotta be, he gets paid to do work that he didn't actually do. Almost like when you're watching a movie or a TV show from the seventies or eighties and the guy has the fake job. And I wonder if maybe they constructed it that way.

• 38:36Bill Simmons?

  So that Kawhi never knew about the money. Yeah. And, and, but by the way, how many family members are, like the fucking Billy Joel doc that just happened? His brother-in-law just stole thirty million dollars from him. Like, I just, I'm not ruling it out. I'm not ruling out anything, Jason.

• 38:51Speaker 05

  I, that is, I have not heard that before, but honestly, it feels very plausible. Listen, if you're a pro athlete, you really aren't thinking about much other than

• 39:04Speaker 05

  workout, get ready, what's the game, what's the scouting?

• 39:09Bill Simmons?

  Porter, you're thinking about a lot of stuff.

• 39:10Speaker 05

  Yes, yes. Clearly, if you, there's, there's, there's the exception that proves rule occasionally. But this is a fairly convoluted scheme and it would not surprise me that, like, that's why you have a team. Like, when you're at that level, you have people that their job is just go out and find me opportunities, put it in front of me, I sign the thing and that's it. It would not surprise me at all.

• 39:33Bill Simmons?

  That's what CR has.

• 39:34Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 39:35Bill Simmons?

  If this was the Law and Order episode, that would be the big twist that the 48 minute mark.

• 39:40Speaker 06

  That he had no idea.

• 39:41Bill Simmons?

  They'd realize that Kawhi actually had no idea this was ever happening in the first place.

• 39:46Speaker 06

  The sort of confusing element of this is the reporting about like the how the the company had a series of like Colombian media stars who they were essentially like acting as like a laundering. Like they were money laundering where they would send them. You I send you 50 grand, you send me back 55 or whatever it is.

• 40:07Bill Simmons?

  Yeah.

• 40:08Speaker 06

  And so like there are, there is obvious elements. I just don't think that the way, if that's the case, and if this whole thing is a Ponzi scheme that had participants who were like putting in and taking out money. They're not doing a great job. Ballmer just being like, I was defrauded. These guys were frauds is not up to the level of detail of Pablo's reporting. Like he needs to be even more detailed in like, hey, look, here's, here's where I was on these days and here's my communications and here's what Kawhi and I talked about. And honestly, I was joking when it first started. But this is where somebody on the Kawhi side would be helpful to Ballmer. To be like, our relationship with this company had nothing to do with Steve Ballmer and had nothing to do with me staying with the Clippers.

• 40:52Speaker 05

  I'll make a prediction.

• 40:53Speaker 06

  It's weird that he has not said that. It is weird that nobody has said that.

• 40:56Speaker 05

  I would not be surprised. Going off your theory, Bill, if Uncle Dennis ends up being a fall guy in this.

• 41:03Bill Simmons?

  Oh. So. All right, let's stay with that for a second. All three of us love watching movies all the time.

• 41:12Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 41:14Bill Simmons?

  Who is the Donald Sutherland JFK character of this for you, CR? Who emerges from the woodwork?

• 41:21Speaker 06

  It's whoever this person with like the, the modulated voice and you know.

• 41:26Bill Simmons?

  So it's the aspiration VP?

• 41:28Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 41:29Bill Simmons?

  It's not somebody on the inside with the, with the Clippers?

• 41:33Speaker 05

  No.

• 41:34Bill Simmons?

  Cause usually in these movies, it's usually like.

• 41:36Speaker 06

  Oh, so you think it's like Lawrence Frank is meeting Pablo in the Washington Monument?

• 41:40Bill Simmons?

  Not initially, not initially. Who's the guy who's like, Pablo, you're close, but now you have to follow the money. But it's always somebody who either, maybe it's somebody who works for the Lakers. It's somebody who's around the mix, but not totally.

• 41:54Speaker 05

  What if it's Robert Downey Jr.?

• 41:56Speaker 06

  Exactly.

• 41:58Speaker 05

  Because here's my, here's my, here's my JFK conspiracy theory about aspiration. That this thing is like a, it existed as like a money laundering Grand Central Station that served multiple properties looking to both launder and receive money. And that Bomber and Wong were just one of several clients that used this Grand Central Station to send money around. And so I think, because I think it's not clear to me how like I, the CEO went to jail or faced federal charges. And I think it's about this stuff. Like it's clearly there's other, there's a larger piece of the iceberg than just the Clippers piece of this.

• 42:41Speaker 06

  Bill, early on in this process, Cuban came out, Mark Cuban came out and while he is no longer the owner of an NBA team, he still is pretty, pretty defensive of Bomber and the, Bomber at least, if not the Clippers. Do you think it's notable that we haven't had a lot of other public offers of support from the other NBA owners?

• 43:03Bill Simmons?

  Well, here's the problem. The Clippers are good. Right? I mean, they, they took Denver to the brink. I actually thought they conceivably could have won that series and they were probably the fourth best team in the league last year. So if I'm, any of the other teams that are good, I'm like, this is great. I was worried about the, like, think about during the summer, people were saying they were the big winner of the summer with free agency. So I'm sure around the league, people are delighted by this. I like when, you know, some of the stories have talked about how furious other teams are. That this is a breach. Get the fuck out of here.

• 43:39Speaker 05

  That's how I.

• 43:39Bill Simmons?

  Half the league does this. I wish I could say 10% of the shit that I've heard over the last 20 years about all the shit that everybody does. It's unbelievable. Nobody, everything you think is happening is happening, just period.

• 43:54Speaker 05

  So I, I, I love that idea that I, the honest owner, am sick of this. I, and by the way, I, the, again, the honest owner who in the, in the business, non-sports business world and the most like hard-nosed gladiator, like killed your like dog to get an edge in a business deal. The one thing I'm scared of is Adam Silver docking me three second rounders. I'm terrified of it, guys.

• 44:27Bill Simmons?

  I don't want to get fined. I'm a multi billionaire. Uh oh, they're coming after me.

• 44:34Speaker 06

  I was kind of hoping that Ballmer was like, uh, when he was doing the Ramona interview that he was like, what you gonna do, Adam? Let's go.

• 44:44Bill Simmons?

  Well, so everyone's been talking about punishments with this, and I've been thinking about this a lot. They could dock them four or five first round picks. You're almost punishing the fans more than, more than the owner and the team, right? You're just like basically destroying basketball in some way for.

• 45:02Speaker 06

  Dozens of fans, yes.

• 45:03Bill Simmons?

  You can't find Ballmer, yeah, for dozens of, you can't find Ballmer because he's worth $150 billion. The, the, the, the, the huge card would be that you have to sell the team. Which I haven't heard anyone mention, but they did that with Sterling. They'd made him sell the team. And if they find like, if, let's say, let's say all this shit is true. All the smoke that from, from the different Pablo pods, some of the other reporting. And this is true and they did this. I think it's within.

• 45:36Speaker 06

  This is how Kawhi agreed to stay with the Clippers is if they circumvented the cap and gave him an extra $48 million.

• 45:42Bill Simmons?

  Yeah, yeah, they, they prove it. I think they could make him sell the team because they did it to Sterling.

• 45:48Speaker 06

  You know what would be dope is if he was like, cool, I'm taking the dome with me. We're turning it into a roller skating rink like, and now like, there is no, there's no, there's no Clippers home. Nobody gets to buy that.

• 45:58Bill Simmons?

  I'm buying the LA Kings. We're just gonna have hockey. But I do think it's within his, you know, we always heard that you couldn't make an owner sell, but they did make Sterling sell. Now he had to agree to sell, but they put, they all put so much pressure on him. He had to do it. I don't think that's out of thing that I think, I think we need a bigger smoking gun than what we have though, Jason.

• 46:19Speaker 05

  I, I agree. And there was also the wrinkle with the Clippers where. His wife had control of it for some other

• 46:26Bill Simmons?

  Oh, yeah, I forgot about her.

• 46:27Speaker 05

  Like tax evasion reason that Sterling was doing.

• 46:30Bill Simmons?

  Oh, right.

• 46:31Speaker 05

  So that, so that they

• 46:31Bill Simmons?

  She was planting trees as well, so, yeah.

• 46:33Speaker 05

  So that they convinced her, it was really like they got her to do it.

• 46:36Bill Simmons?

  Well, that's why she has, that's why she has mid, mid court season tickets still.

• 46:40Speaker 05

  That's right.

• 46:41Bill Simmons?

  No, seriously, that was one of her things.

• 46:43Speaker 05

  I think there's almost no chance that they make him. I think, I would not be surprised if they

• 46:47Bill Simmons?

  Really? You go no chance?

• 46:49Speaker 05

  That they sells it? I think they banish him. I think that, I think they, you see Silver go, you have to stay away from the team.

• 46:55Bill Simmons?

  But he doesn't have to sell it or something?

• 46:57Speaker 05

  And you have to stay away from the team and all of its facilities for like a year or two years or something like that.

• 47:03Bill Simmons?

  So there's history of that in different sports. That happened to George Steinbrenner. This has happened over the years where somebody's like, you're out for a year. In this case, he could say to Ballmer, like, we find you guilty, you're fine, four first round picks. And you cannot be around the Clippers for five years. And I, I mean, who enjoys going to a basketball game as an owner more than, more than Ballmer? Like, that would seriously kill him.

• 47:27Speaker 05

  He just built the, the Intuit Dome too.

• 47:30Speaker 06

  I'll put on like highlights and I'm like, Ballmer's at this Pacers, like Clippers game on like a Tuesday.

• 47:36Bill Simmons?

  Oh, my God. He loves it. I was watching him during the playoff games. Nobody is more into, like, it's almost like the way you would be if you're watching your kids play sports or something. Like, he's like five times beyond that. So I think that is one level for them.

• 47:51Speaker 06

  Yeah. For when the season, as the season approaches and, and

• 47:55Speaker 06

  does this feel like they have an unfair competitive advantage to you? Like, do you feel like this is like the Astros? Like, you mother like, like, does it feel?

• 48:06Bill Simmons?

  Yeah, I don't, I don't, I personally don't think that. You don't either, Jason?

• 48:09Speaker 05

  No, no. The rules are so strict now, basically because of Ballmer. Because of anxiety around him and his ability to throw his wealth around that you really can't move

• 48:24Speaker 05

  Use your leverage your money in the way that you used to be able to.

• 48:28Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 48:28Speaker 05

  And to Bill's point, it feels like there's so much ambient gray area stuff happening around the edges that I really don't feel like they have some massive advantage is that no one's scared of the Clippers in that way, except maybe the other owners who are terrified of Bombers wealth, but it feels like that's been neutered to an effect.

• 48:50Speaker 06

  I wonder how it'll feel like when we're in, uh, we get to like November and they're getting asked about this every single day after every single practice. And or if they are, you know what I mean? Like whether, whether there's like media scrutiny that approaches deflate gate or something like that. And there's like people in, in Ty Lou's face and Kawhi's face. And if it's not Kawhi, it's Harden or whoever. And they're like, hey, well, like, what do you think about this? Do you think it's fair this? Do you, did you read this? What's your comment on that? Whether or not that becomes just too much for the team and they have to like, you know, like make, make a more declarative statement or something. I don't know, but it, it'll be really interesting to see how this plays out as both a media

• 49:32Speaker 06

  story and whether like Pablo keeps finding stuff.

• 49:37Speaker 05

  That's the nightmare scenario, right?

• 49:38Speaker 06

  And other people keep finding stuff and there's more digging into this company. Or whether it kind of is like a lot of modern media stories where it's like, it feels like it's the biggest thing in the world for six days. And then it's like balloon boy and everybody forgets, you know? And will we, will we be watching the Clippers and just be like, oh yeah. And then there's that weird thing with Kawhi, right?

• 49:58Bill Simmons?

  Yeah.

• 50:01Bill Simmons?

  They're going to get asked about this. Adam's going to get asked about this anytime he does a press conference is going to be the first thing. Like I was trying to think like if Stern had been in charge. Cause the Donahue thing was one of Stern's greatest moments where they, they got a whiff of that there was some FBI investigation brewing, not just with Donahue, but like potentially other refs and he, they, there's some pretty good evidence that he probably leaked something to the New York Post to get it out, that there was this investigation happening. So then they basically, there was nothing more that could happen with the investigation because everybody knew about it.

• 50:37Bill Simmons?

  I think Stern in this case would be moving swift and fast to not let this overshadow.

• 50:42Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 50:43Bill Simmons?

  Yeah, you're starting this new season with Amazon, with NBC. It's this complete reboot, all this money coming in the league, these new partners that are supposed to be more positive. And you have this crazy story, but I'm with CR. I don't think competitively, to me, this isn't like that much different than letting your best player use your private plane 40 times during a year with all his buddies. Or giving people season tickets for every game that really the team is paying for. Like, there's so many gray areas to this. This is more just stupid.

• 51:16Speaker 05

  Yes, I think it's an issue of scale and less of what actually happened. Like, an outcome that I would find unsatisfying is they ding Bomber and the Clippers fairly for whatever. And then we are all left with the feeling like everybody else just got away.

• 51:33Bill Simmons?

  Yeah.

• 51:33Speaker 05

  And this is still happening on some level that's less than this. Like, if you want, if we have rules, then we have rules. And if you really want to enforce them, then clean them up. Or don't, but don't, like.

• 51:47Speaker 06

  This is where you get into like, why are you into sports, though? Like, are you into sports because you're just like, I want to watch basketball and like, I have like, my life is full and at the end of the day, I just want to watch a game? Or are you into sports because it's a window through which you view the world and fairness and competitive balance and antitrust and.

• 52:05Bill Simmons?

  Billionaires ruin everything.

• 52:06Speaker 06

  Tax rules and all this stuff and Moneyball and like the edges that guys are using. It matters to you. And I mean, you know, like, I feel like my entire life, like, you start out and you're a kid and you're just like, this is amazing. These guys are gods. I'm going to watch these games for the rest of my life. And then the more older and older you get, the more you find yourself thinking more about the cap and the law and taxes and rumors and innuendo and stuff like that. It is, it is kind of an interesting litmus test for why you watch sports.

• 52:40Bill Simmons?

  Well, if Kawhi didn't know anything about this, which I, again, I cannot rule out. It would be interesting if he got, was about to get suspended and then came out and said, I didn't know anything about this.

• 52:50Speaker 06

  If he goes, uh.

• 52:52Bill Simmons?

  He had to like proactively throw Uncle Dennis, because if this was a movie.

• 52:56Speaker 06

  Kendall Roy? He does the press conference.

• 52:58Bill Simmons?

  Yeah. If this was a movie or TV show, at some point, he would, yeah, he would turn on him.

• 53:03Speaker 05

  Is a malicious force behind the scenes corrupting everything he touches.

• 53:09Bill Simmons?

  Yeah. Uh, so we'll see. All right. Any last takes before we move on from this? Cause I had one more question for you.

• 53:17Speaker 05

  Go for it.

• 53:18Speaker 06

  Every day, there's gonna be another shoe to drop. So I feel like you just gotta wait.

• 53:22Bill Simmons?

  Well, the one today made me think.

• 53:26Bill Simmons?

  Yeah, this is.

• 53:27Speaker 05

  It doesn't look.

• 53:28Bill Simmons?

  This is, this is.

• 53:29Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 53:30Bill Simmons?

  In, in the court of, uh, my house law. I don't know if I could really make excuses.

• 53:35Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 53:36Bill Simmons?

  It's funny, cause some people in my life were like, well, you probably don't want to be true. You're a Clipper fan. It's like, I have Clipper tickets. I'm a Celtic fan. Um, if they did break the law in the NBA, they should be punished for it. I don't know what the punishment should be, because we've never been here before. Uh, Jason, what NBA storyline are you least looking forward to this year beyond this one?

• 53:57Speaker 05

  Ooh, what am I least looking forward to?

• 54:00Bill Simmons?

  Yeah.

• 54:01Speaker 05

  Gosh, I am least looking forward. I'm kinda dreading the, just the devastation of the East. I am dreading how lopsided this season certainly appears it's going to be in terms of the power balance between its conferences. So listen, the East has been the weaker conference for what feels like my entire adult life at this point. Yeah. But this season, it's, it's, um, it feels like it's really gonna be crazy and I'm not looking forward to that.

• 54:31Bill Simmons?

  How they used to be. Well, maybe I don't have to ask you.

• 54:34Speaker 06

  I'm, I think that like, uh, I saw a picture and it was like, I was scrolling fast, but it was like a picture and it's like, Embiid is, uh, practicing without a knee brace. And I was like, you sons of bitches.

• 54:50Speaker 06

  Just when I thought this heart didn't beat. And I was like, I have no idea when this picture is from or who the report was from. But I fully believe this. Uh, I am not looking forward to the will he or won't he with him this year. Um, what else am I not looking forward to?

• 55:08Bill Simmons?

  Um. I, I have the Tatum.

• 55:10Speaker 06

  I think I'm not looking forward to, uh,

• 55:15Speaker 06

  this moment where it feels like the NBA in like five years is gonna probably be different. And it's like, is this gonna be like the one of the last couple of seasons of like the Pelicans? And like, just like watching like some of the dead weight of the NBA and watching some of the stuff that doesn't quite work anymore. I was, I was thinking about that the other day because of like the expansion or not conversation. Does that mean teams are moving? Um, I, I feel like the, the way things were going at the end of the season with like the Memphis stuff. It was just kind of like a bummer and I wonder whether or not that's gonna keep, keep going with like the way, the way the media talks about the, the league affects the way people feel about the league.

• 55:55Bill Simmons?

  Hmm. Mine, mine is just the Tatum roller coaster that I'm about to go on.

• 56:00Speaker 06

  Bill, come on, man. He's just not gonna play, dude.

• 56:02Speaker 05

  I know. Don't, don't, don't believe that.

• 56:04Speaker 06

  He tore his ankle.

• 56:06Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah. Well, hold on. Like he's Wolverine or something with it.

• 56:10Speaker 06

  Just like Jalen have like a crazy.

• 56:12Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 56:13Speaker 06

  Crazy year. Enjoy it for what it is.

• 56:16Bill Simmons?

  I don't know if you noticed or you know about how fast he had the surgery after the injury.

• 56:21Speaker 06

  I do, but I also know that he's not Wolverine.

• 56:25Bill Simmons?

  He's four months ahead of schedule.

• 56:29Bill Simmons?

  I don't know. If the Celts hang around, I do feel like it's gonna be, I just don't even wanna go there. I don't want him to play this year, but if they're like 26 and 20 and shooting a bunch of threes and all of a sudden they're a four seed and they have the shots of him scrimmaging, I know I'm gonna get sucked in. And I'm not. Not looking forward to it. The other one, I, I, I just trying to figure out how LeBron is going to handle this season where he's clearly not the center of attention anymore as a Laker. There was an athletic story this week about Luca, how great he looked at Euro Basket. And it's changing how the Lakers feel. And just seeing LeBron pushed to the side like this, how he's going to handle it from a getting stuff out standpoint, I just think is going to be, you know, at, at some point, you gotta be Nicholson in The Departed and

• 57:14Bill Simmons?

  just like steal some scenes, but this is Leo and Damon's movie and just, just be happy to steal some scenes. And I just don't know if he's wired that way. So we'll see. Who's Damon in this? Is that Austin Reeves? Like, who are we, like, he's still? Yeah, fuck yeah, it's Austin Reeves. What do you mean? How dare you?

• 57:34Bill Simmons?

  Yeah, so that does probably my two. All right. What's, what's your favorite TV show you're watching right now, JC?

• 57:40Speaker 05

  Oh, wow. That's a good one. I'm doing a Deadwood rewatch, but I think The Studio was my favorite show that was on recently. New show.

• 57:48Bill Simmons?

  Interesting. Yeah, I know, CR's, CR's all in it. They made Task for him. Yeah. An AI machine made Task. Brad Inglespeed. Just made it for CR. Whatever it cost. As a society, it was worth it. When they had, in the third episode, I don't want to spoil it, but there's a, the guy has a Flyers phone cover, one of the characters. And I was like, they're just like fucking with CR now.

• 58:15Speaker 05

  I hope that there's a moment where like, one of the characters talks about a CR clip from a pod. That would be incredible.

• 58:23Bill Simmons?

  You see this guy? He's got a lot of great ideas. Starts talking about Take Hunter. All right. Concepcion, great to see you.

• 58:32Speaker 05

  Great to see you.

• 58:32Bill Simmons?

  Pleasure as always, CR. Great to see you as always. Thanks for popping on. I appreciate it. This episode is brought to you by Carhartt. We spend a lot of time talking about football, the players, the coaches, the big plays, but there's a whole other team we rarely think about, the people who make the game possible, the workers building stadiums, paving parking lots, growing the grass, welding the goalposts, even making the footballs. They're committed to their craft and they're doing the work long before kickoff. Carhartt is proud to outfit those crews. So next time you're watching a game, take a second to appreciate the people behind it. Learn more at carhartt.com/jointhetrades. It's football season and Uber Eats is delivering deals every single day. This week, buy a four-piece signature chicken from Popeyes and get another one free on Uber Eats.

• 59:17Bill Simmons?

  When your watch party gets hungry, order in and keep everyone's attention where it matters on the game. Order a four-piece signature chicken from Popeyes, get another one free. No matter who scores big tonight, you'll score great deals on Uber Eats all season long because it's not football without food. It really isn't. Popeyes offer valid through November 1st. Add eligible menu item to order prior to checkout. Taxes, fees, and terms apply. Product availability varies by region. Exclusions may apply. See app for details. And now it's time for Don't Settle, a new segment presented by our friends at State Farm. You may think that insurance is all the same, but let me tell you, having insurance isn't the same as having State Farm. Don't settle for just any insurance when there's State Farm.

• 1:00:02Bill Simmons?

  It's like, take the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Seemed pretty sad at receiver, right? Mike Evans, future Hall of Famer, Chris Godwin's coming back later this month. They had Jalen McMillan. Didn't seem like they needed to draft a receiver. Well, what did they do? They had the 21st pick. They drafted Amecku Egbuka from Ohio State. And by the end of August, he was a team captain. He was a fantasy football darling. He caught two touchdowns in the first game and helped them beat Atlanta. And it looks like he's going to be this year's Michael Thomas Jr. And the whole point of this is that Tampa Bay did not settle. They're like, you know what? Let's be fuck receiver. This guy's great. Let's add him to the group. You wouldn't settle for just anything for your team on the football field.

• 1:00:46Bill Simmons?

  Shouldn't it be the same for your insurance? Don't settle for just any insurance when there's State Farm, like a good neighbor. State Farm is there. All right. As promised, we traveled back in time to do Ringer 107 picks on Thursday afternoon. Joe House is in an undisclosed location, sitting in a big chair. It looks like he had a couple of drinks at dinner. It's like a little buzzed house, which I think we needed because we went one and four in Ringer 107. You know what? I look back at the picks last week, House. No regrets.

• 1:01:17Speaker 04

  I'm going to say about as you. I think we, we had the right analysis. We were on the right side. The only game honestly that I regret is the Chargers.

• 1:01:27Bill Simmons?

  And because we, we messed with Brazil, which we're never doing again, but we lost on the, lost to the Falcons. They completely outplayed the Bucks. The Bucks were incredibly lucky to win.

• 1:01:38Speaker 04

  That's right.

• 1:01:40Bill Simmons?

  And then we had the Ravens, which was the right pick. I would do that a hundred times out of a hundred. So

• 1:01:45Speaker 04

  Me too.

• 1:01:45Bill Simmons?

  Listen, I'm not going to make excuses. I'm not going to apologize. And we lost the Bears on Monday night at halftime. I thought when that pick six happened, I thought that game was over.

• 1:01:55Speaker 04

  If only the game was only 45 minutes. That the last 15 minutes really got us in that Bears game.

• 1:02:01Bill Simmons?

  Well, let's go through, we, we're going to bounce back. I'm not worried at all.

• 1:02:05Speaker 04

  Yeah, I feel fine.

• 1:02:06Bill Simmons?

  I've always done well in week two. Yeah.

• 1:02:10Bill Simmons?

  I'm going to do the stayaways first. Jaguars plus three and a half at the Bengals. Two bad offensive lines, two bad defenses. There's backdoor potential. I don't want to bet on Jacksonville. I, this is a complete stayaway to me. You agree, correct?

• 1:02:25Speaker 04

  Absolutely, because we don't want to bet on Jacksonville and Jacksonville is the correct side in view of the history of, of the Bengals in the first couple of weeks of a season. Did their defense show us anything by virtue of what they did against the Browns? I don't think so. So let's just stay away.

• 1:02:44Bill Simmons?

  The next one, Niners, Saints, where you have, that line has dropped three and a half points because Brock Purdy's out. Spencer Rattler, 0 and 7 in his career versus Mac Jones, 4 and 19 in his last 23 starts. I would lean Saints, but if it's okay with you, I'd like to move on.

• 1:03:02Speaker 04

  It's a hilarious game. I did bet on the Saints when the number was, you know, in the four and a half, five and a half range, or at the beginning of the week. Not because I thought that Purdy was going to be hurt, but just because I thought the Saints were pretty goddamn lively against the Cardinals.

• 1:03:17Bill Simmons?

  I agree. I thought they, I agree with you. They were not bad and they had a chance to win the game, but we are.

• 1:03:21Speaker 04

  We are not, we are not gambling on this game this week.

• 1:03:24Bill Simmons?

  No. Cardinals, Panthers, there's some money line potential with this. The Cards are favored by six and a half. This goes back to the, let's never put Kyler Murray in a money line or a tease, which I just think is a good rule for life. The only caveat here is the Panthers were the worst team in week one, and I don't see a lot of signs that that's going to change going forward. They're low on receivers. They've had some, some injuries already. Their defense looks awful.

• 1:03:53Speaker 04

  Awful.

• 1:03:54Bill Simmons?

  It's going to be hard to talk myself out of this, and yet I'm going to talk myself out of it.

• 1:03:58Speaker 04

  I came this close to showing up for today's show and trying to argue to you that we should get on the Cardinals, lay the points, because that Panthers run defense is as horrendous as we imagined. They have, they didn't improve one lick. And for the Jaguars to run all over them, this Cardinals run offense is good. This is a top 10 run offense. So, but the problem is the look ahead for this game was four and a half. Now it's six and a half. Just can't do it. I mean, there is.

• 1:04:32Bill Simmons?

  And the Cardinals almost lost to the Saints, or at least it was almost a tie game going to OT.

• 1:04:36Speaker 04

  There's even a great revenge argument to be made. The Cardinals, the Panthers beat the Cardinals down the stretch last year, 36 to 30 in a shootout, and it really had an effect on, on the Cardinals making the playoffs, but. I don't want to do it.

• 1:04:50Bill Simmons?

  You know why it had an effect? Cause it knocked them out of the playoffs.

• 1:04:53Speaker 04

  It knocked them out of the playoffs.

• 1:04:55Bill Simmons?

  That actually scared me for this, cause if like the Panthers, an ultimate, nobody believes in us, looked the worst out of anyone last week, but then has the belief of, hey, we beat these guys in December. Come on, I'm staying away.

• 1:05:07Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 1:05:08Bill Simmons?

  Tex, Texans Bucks, um, we're still not back for the Bucks. I thought the Bucks, um, on the one hand, I do still like them as a playoff team, but I, I really thought they were lucky in a variety of ways last week against the Falcons. And yet Houston can't block Texans favored by two and a half at home. And I, I just, I don't want any part of it. We can move on.

• 1:05:29Speaker 04

  Uh, can't do it.

• 1:05:30Bill Simmons?

  Let's go to the possibles.

• 1:05:34Bill Simmons?

  Titans Rams, this is Titans at home, plus five and a half. The Rams have some middle of the offensive line injury stuff. Tennessee arguably could have beaten Denver. They were right there. They got a bunch of turnovers. Um, they powered had a big fumble. I didn't think they played that bad. They, they, they don't have Latham at right tackle. Uh, and the Rams, you know, they had 14 points last week. I, I looked at this long and hard and I just, I couldn't get their house.

• 1:06:04Speaker 04

  Well, here's the thing, I, I share your sentiment. I think the Titans are super live and I think that, that five and a half is like two and a half points too many. If you want to say Rams by three, that's fine. But here's the problem. That goddamn coach for the Titans is a moron. He is who we thought he was. We came into this season like, well, look, the Titans are lively. Do we want to get on their futures? Well, here's the limiting factor. The coach might be a moron. He proved it beyond a reasonable doubt. This goddamn guy gave the Denver Broncos a touchdown. They lost by eight last week and he gave them a touchdown in the last 45 seconds of the first half by not just running the ball. Denver had no timeouts.

• 1:06:49Speaker 04

  The moron threw the ball three times and gave Denver the ball. They were, they were like, they were from their own one yard line. Or Denver's like, oh, thank you very much for this present. We'll take the touchdown. This dummy also. Doesn't know that an elbow counts for the purposes of inbound. They didn't challenge the fact that their their receiver was in bounds. Uh, and had a successful completion because dummy goes in front of the, the, the press and says, well, an elbow doesn't count for, for, for two knees. So I, I didn't want to challenge. We dispense with it. So that means first of all, he's getting bad advice. He's got a moron in the booth and he himself is a moron because he doesn't know the rules. We can't bet on Tennessee. I'm sorry.

• 1:07:25Bill Simmons?

  And this is what, this is what we worried about when we thought about them for, you know, a long, long, long shot for the AFC South because I don't like anyone in the AFC South, but the coach was so bad last year. He's bad in that first game. I really thought they hung with, with Denver and I thought their defense looked good. And I liked how Cam Ward played, even though the stats weren't there.

• 1:07:47Speaker 04

  No, me too.

• 1:07:48Bill Simmons?

  I had that game on, just kind of marveling at like he was hanging around. Anyway.

• 1:07:52Speaker 04

  I mean, Calvin Ridley's dropping balls. Come on.

• 1:07:55Bill Simmons?

  If you had to do a bet for the AFC South, Houston plus 175, Jacksonville 185, Indy 240, or Tennessee plus 950 on FanDuel. What's the best value in your opinion? My answer is none, but I think Tennessee plus 950 might be the best value.

• 1:08:13Speaker 04

  So something like a quarter unit on that, but honestly, we're going to find out. It might be Indy. It could be Indy. What if that, what if their defense is good? What if?

• 1:08:23Bill Simmons?

  We'll get to them. Uh, and then, uh, another possible, I have this one in bold. Jets plus six and a half against the Bills.

• 1:08:33Speaker 04

  Whew. I really want to bet on the Jets this week. I want, I'm not going to do it. I really want to do it.

• 1:08:41Bill Simmons?

  Well, I test wise, they hung with the Steelers and their offense looked good and Fields. I thought watching it, I thought Fields was, was actually good in the game. And then all the stats backed up, the advanced metrics were in his favor. He just played really well. Their offense in general played really well. They were who they told us they were going to be. They're pounding the ball. Breece Hall looked fast.

• 1:09:01Speaker 04

  Fast.

• 1:09:01Bill Simmons?

  And Fields was good. The problem is their defense couldn't stop Aaron Rodgers. And it feels like this line is three points too high when you think. Bills coming off an emotional Sunday night win. Ed Oliver's in a walking boot right now. Their secondary is in shambles. They didn't really stop the Ravens ever until they

• 1:09:20Speaker 04

  Ever.

• 1:09:20Bill Simmons?

  They got the Derrick Henry fumble and then the Ravens had to do their turtle hardened Rockets routine. We have no idea if the Bills defense is even decent and it's in Jersey.

• 1:09:32Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:09:33Bill Simmons?

  And I think the line's too high. I say, I'm not willing to cross this off yet as a possible bet for us.

• 1:09:38Speaker 04

  Let's keep it. Let's keep it because you hit on the important things. The, the, the credit that I will give to the Jets organization for constructing an offense, recognizing who Justin Fields is, this is possibly, we're only one game in, the, the smallest sample size possible, but homie was, they, they constructed an offense that maximizes his talents.

• 1:10:00Bill Simmons?

  Yeah.

• 1:10:00Speaker 04

  I mean, they were not, you know, having him sit back there and, and putting him in a position of having to make super accurate, you know, deep growth. They just, that was a very efficient offense that they ran and I, I'm impressed.

• 1:10:12Bill Simmons?

  Yeah. When he used his legs, it was purposefully, it wasn't like, like almost like Caleb in that Monday night game. I'm running backwards. My guys aren't open. I'm going to run around. I'm going to go this way. Uh, we'll, we'll mark that one down. Ravens, Browns. I'm not allowing us to bet any direction.

• 1:10:28Speaker 04

  Why? Well, the Browns were like one of the most obvious sides last week against Cincinnati and you didn't allow us to bet it because it's the Browns. But another divisional game, it's way too many points.

• 1:10:44Bill Simmons?

  Well, I, so I wrote down, I wrote down, this line is four points too high.

• 1:10:49Speaker 04

  We're in agreement.

• 1:10:49Bill Simmons?

  I think this line should be Ravens by seven and a half.

• 1:10:51Speaker 04

  That would be fine. We, and then we would just dispense with it. But the reason that I, I want to stick on this and just make sure we talk it through is because the, the, it's a division game. The Browns absolutely positively snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. They invented ways to lose that game last week against Cincinnati. They beat Cincinnati pretty soundly in the underlying metrics. They just had horrendous, uh, uh, special teams. Okay. I'm convinced. That's it. No, we can't bet it. I mean, the special teams thing is like, well, you can't put that guy out and have him.

• 1:11:24Bill Simmons?

  They brought the kicker back, shit Schmidt, whatever his name is.

• 1:11:27Speaker 04

  Whatever.

• 1:11:27Bill Simmons?

  Shit Schmidt. I did read, I did some deep diving on this one because I wanted to see how the Browns felt after they should have won last week and they didn't. And then just like heading into this Ravens game, there was some, nobody believes in us quotes floating around. The defense was legit good against the Cincinnati offense that we all felt that, uh, you know, was going to be this point machine. But they had a little more juice on offense and it wasn't just that the Sean wasn't playing. This guy Fannin, the rookie tight end, who I picked up on a couple of leagues because I was watching the game. They were designing a bunch of stuff for him and he looked really good. They just have a million running backs. You never know who has the ball. They have Judy.

• 1:12:10Speaker 04

  Judy is the, dude, that's another thing, man. It's like the Flacco interceptions, they hit the receiver. I mean, that's the problem. He did, but they weren't really terrible throws. They were extremely, uh, lucky bounces for the Bengals.

• 1:12:25Bill Simmons?

  Yeah. Well, there was one terrible throw.

• 1:12:27Speaker 04

  One terrible.

• 1:12:28Bill Simmons?

  I haven't, I haven't marked Falcons Vikings. Vikings played Monday. They played 15 good minutes and won the game. They're banged up. They lost Blake Cashman, who's their shot power.

• 1:12:39Speaker 04

  Right.

• 1:12:40Bill Simmons?

  Ben Ginkel has a concussion and I always feel like with concussions, you're out for the next week. I think that's like the unwritten rule. So that there's two, they're basically four guys down on defense now. And then Darius Sawa, the left tackle and Ryan Kelly, the center are both questionable. And then on top of it, House, J J McCarthy just had a kid, like

• 1:12:59Speaker 04

  Oh.

• 1:13:00Bill Simmons?

  in the last 24 hours, had a kid.

• 1:13:02Speaker 04

  Congrats.

• 1:13:02Bill Simmons?

  Like missed practice, had a kid.

• 1:13:04Speaker 04

  Good job.

• 1:13:05Bill Simmons?

  We've had children. It's a tense 48 hours. I don't, I don't love the thought of my quarterback having a child and then having to play, you know, the Falcons on a Sunday and, uh,

• 1:13:16Speaker 04

  Did we go back to the well? Did we do it? Do we dare?

• 1:13:20Bill Simmons?

  I, listen, I, I went back, I looked at the stats. I wanted to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me. I thought the Falcons played the best, other than the Ravens, of any team that lost in week one. And I'm including the Browns. Like, you name a team. I thought they moved the ball and did whatever they want. They just did dumb shit and their kicker kept fucking up.

• 1:13:38Speaker 04

  Cause

• 1:13:38Bill Simmons?

  That's why they lost.

• 1:13:39Speaker 04

  Cause they're the Falcons. Cause

• 1:13:41Bill Simmons?

  Yeah.

• 1:13:42Speaker 04

  I mean, they, they really

• 1:13:44Bill Simmons?

  Three and a half. I like the hook. I feel like they have cheap touchdown potential.

• 1:13:47Speaker 04

  God damn it.

• 1:13:49Bill Simmons?

  And I, I think we should at least mark it.

• 1:13:51Speaker 04

  Yeah, mark it.

• 1:13:52Bill Simmons?

  Okay. Seahawks Steelers, Seahawks plus three. The Cousin Sal special is plus 503 for the Seattle wins first half Steelers win game. It's a Metcalf revenge game. I really want to take the Seahawks, but I, I'm, I'm just not going to do it. Cause that, that coach.

• 1:14:09Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:14:10Bill Simmons?

  There was that moment in that, in that game when, and Sal and I got really mad about it Sunday, when he didn't go for it and he kicked the field goal and gave the Niners back.

• 1:14:20Speaker 04

  They kicked a game losing field goal. Congratulations, Coach.

• 1:14:24Bill Simmons?

  Well, this is interesting though. He talked about it after, the coach, McDonald's, and he said his, his nerds, the, they said, go for it. The, the book says, go for it. He didn't go for it because he didn't trust the offense. And that's why I, the nerds are telling him, go for it. You gotta go for it. And he's like, I don't know. Like, that tells me he doesn't like his offense.

• 1:14:48Speaker 04

  Well, you were a call a week ago. You and I had a conversation. You really wanted to bet Seattle against San Francisco.

• 1:14:54Bill Simmons?

  You talked me out of it.

• 1:14:55Speaker 04

  Well, you know who else doesn't like their offense? Me.

• 1:14:58Bill Simmons?

  So you and my, yeah, so we're, I would take them, but I just, the fact that he doesn't like the team made me nervous. All right. Giants Cowboys.

• 1:15:09Bill Simmons?

  I think this line's too high.

• 1:15:10Speaker 04

  It's too high.

• 1:15:11Bill Simmons?

  But I don't, we're, the left tackle, Andrew Thomas, limited in practice. I'm just not betting them if we don't know if we have him or not. I'm not doing that on a Thursday and I, I just want to stay away, but I would take the Giants normally.

• 1:15:23Speaker 04

  I understand. I am endorsing your lean here and I'm also endorsing the idea of staying away because Russell Wilson not being able to move and he's as, as bad as, as we remember, like, you know.

• 1:15:37Bill Simmons?

  If he plays, like, we might just get dart on a Sunday. Like, there's too many variables.

• 1:15:41Speaker 04

  Okay. It's a stay away, but like, yeah.

• 1:15:44Bill Simmons?

  Uh, and then Eagles Chiefs.

• 1:15:48Bill Simmons?

  The Chiefs are underdogs at home. I was stunned to hear that on Sunday with Sal. The Eagles are favored by one and a half. Mahomes has never lost three straight games in his career. Mahomes is 12 and 2 as a home dog.

• 1:16:02Bill Simmons?

  And Philly threw everyone off their scent in that Dallas game when they Milton burled it. And they just pulled out like the tip. Just did enough. They didn't use AJ Brown at all. Just like a little bit of the tip, just enough to get some pee in the urinal and that was it.

• 1:16:19Bill Simmons?

  And were they saving it for this game? This is a really hard one to figure out because from a football standpoint, I feel like the Eagles are undervalued just because they didn't have Jalen Garter 10 days ago. And, and just all the narratives like, well, you gotta take Casey at home, Mahomes and all these things. But I just don't think Casey's that good.

• 1:16:39Speaker 04

  Yeah, this is the hardest game on the board. Cause I really have a strong conviction in favor of the Eagles here. Well, the, the, the, the thing that we watched in the Super Bowl was the Eagles controlling the Chiefs on both sides of the ball in the trenches. And we watched the LA Chargers go down to Brazil and repeat that exact same footprint. They beat the crap out of them physically. They were, Justin Herbert just stood back there and went through progression number one and progression number two. And he didn't have to get to progression three because he found a guy open because the secondary for the Chiefs

• 1:17:21Speaker 04

  is super vulnerable, not an impressive secondary.

• 1:17:25Bill Simmons?

  Well, the only thing that worries me about this is what if the Chargers are really good?

• 1:17:30Speaker 04

  This is exactly the concern.

• 1:17:32Bill Simmons?

  This is the problem with week two. We talk about this all the time. It's, and it's not about over action, under action. It's about the previous week coloring your opinion this week. And it's like, wow, the Chiefs didn't look that good against the Chargers. But that might be because the Chargers are good and that's what we have no idea with. I just think worthy might play, might not. No Rashi Rice. The Chiefs didn't look explosive at all. And, uh, and I really feel like Philly was rope a dope and everybody in that first week. I think there's a lot more coming with them.

• 1:18:02Speaker 04

  I think they can score when they want to score and when they think they need to score. I don't have any concern about that Philly offensive line. Putting them, you know, if they need to go down the field and get a score or a three or a seven, they can do it. I don't see the Chiefs putting up any kind of, of resistance to that. That, that defensive line, it's basically just Chris Jones. So tell me what kind of game Chris Jones is gonna have and then I'll tell you.

• 1:18:28Bill Simmons?

  This on third down.

• 1:18:29Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:18:31Bill Simmons?

  Yeah, I was thinking about narratives coming out of week two.

• 1:18:36Bill Simmons?

  Chiefs going 0-2. Heading into that Sunday night, Monday would be the biggest story in the league, right? Everyone back, oh my God, the Chiefs are 0-2. Do we have a new king of the AFC West? I just feel like we're gonna do that and then we'll, they'll probably be fine by week 10.

• 1:18:55Bill Simmons?

  This is it. We're done. And then the Chiefs will be like 7-3.

• 1:18:59Speaker 04

  Baltimore started last season 0-2.

• 1:19:03Bill Simmons?

  I don't, I don't know if we should actually bet this, but my, I have a hard, hard, hard lean on the Eagles.

• 1:19:08Speaker 04

  So do I. So we'll, we'll see, we'll see as we work this out.

• 1:19:12Speaker 00

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• 1:20:42Bill Simmons?

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Excitement is in the air. That's right, it's the start of NBA season. I can't wait to get together with friends, share some Michelob Ultras, and watch Tip Off. Plus, as the official beer sponsor of the NBA, Michelob Ultra is getting you closer to the action with experiences that make you feel like you're courtside to actual courtside tickets. Enter now for a chance to win at michelobultra.com/courtside. Michelob Ultra Courtside 26-27. No purchase necessary. Open in U.S. residents 21-plus. Begins on October 1st, 2026. Ends on June 30th, 2027. Multiple entry periods. See official rules at michelobultra.com/courtside for free entry, entry deadlines, prizes, and details. Bears Lions. Bears are getting 6.5 in Detroit.

• 1:21:27Bill Simmons?

  There's some major Lions uncertainty on the offensive line. There's some Bears defensive back uncertainty, although it seems like they're going to get some corners back. I wish we had known that for sure when we did that Bears pick on Thursday. They're basically, you could feel it in the fourth quarter, they were just on all their backup, D-backs.

• 1:21:44Speaker 04

  Down two guys. They're two, two of their best guys.

• 1:21:48Bill Simmons?

  This game, and the reason I had it bolded, was it's one of my favorite scenarios. The- The old offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator who intimately knows the team that he just coached for the last few years and knows every little button to push, every weakness, every single thing. Cause he's coaching this team week after week going, man, I hope they don't do this against us. I hope they don't realize blank. He knows all of these things. And I think the line's too high. I also don't think the Lions are, I thought they got their asses kicked. Like the DVO rankings came out for week one and they were in the bottom, bottom four, I think. Um, they got their asses kicked against the Packers and maybe the Packers.

• 1:22:28Speaker 04

  The Packers might be good. That's the problem.

• 1:22:30Bill Simmons?

  Yeah. Well, yeah, it's the problem, but um, I just thought the line was too high and it's, it seems like an overreaction maybe because of how that Monday night game played out at the end.

• 1:22:39Speaker 04

  I agree. And I especially like your angle, the correct angle of, of Ben Johnson, understanding how that the order of operation for that offense and how that offense um, can be most successful there in, in Detroit and, and you know, sitting all week with his uh, defensive coordinator and saying, this is how we're going to defend this. This is the right way to try and take away some of the stuff. And Green Bay was super effective at taking away a bunch of that, that stuff.

• 1:23:06Bill Simmons?

  Yeah, they should. Um, did you see that stat about Jared Goff when he doesn't have Sean, Sean McVay and Ben Johnson calling plays for him?

• 1:23:14Speaker 04

  He hasn't won a game, right?

• 1:23:15Bill Simmons?

  He was like, oh, and 75.

• 1:23:18Speaker 04

  Whatever it is. Yeah. It's, it's right. Exactly.

• 1:23:22Bill Simmons?

  But uh, yeah, that, I'm not done with the Bears yet. I just think that was a weird game. They got that pick six and it just felt like they were off to victory. And then, and then JJ just made a couple of big plays and big throws and the, and the Bears just kind of died. It was weird.

• 1:23:40Speaker 04

  I don't think I can get there with the Bears because they, they, they can't run the football. And if you can't run the football, if he, and it just made, you know, put Caleb in so many um, situations where he's going to have to go through um, reads and he's backpedaling and he's sprinting left, he's sprinting right.

• 1:23:56Bill Simmons?

  Did you read the excerpts from that giant piece Tyler Dundee did about Caleb?

• 1:24:00Speaker 04

  No, no.

• 1:24:01Bill Simmons?

  Talking to all the people.

• 1:24:02Speaker 04

  I had a chance to go through it.

• 1:24:03Bill Simmons?

  It's a Substack piece, but uh, it's pretty damning, man. It, it, it just did not make you feel awesome about. Whatever's happening with them, or if you have them on two fantasy teams like I do. Chargers Raiders Chargers minus three in Vegas. Which is the overreaction line of the week, I think. Carroll versus Harbaugh. But that I had the Raiders all week, but this Brock Bowers maybe not be 100%. I I'm not locking in the Raiders and then Brock Bowers is out on Monday night because that's going to be a loss.

• 1:24:34Speaker 04

  Well, Mike Mayer got all of the the routes, you know, and he was pretty successful.

• 1:24:40Bill Simmons?

  But he's not Brock Bowers like Brock Bowers killed the. So this is another one of those week two.

• 1:24:47Speaker 04

  What do you think should we should be the right line then? If it's an overreaction.

• 1:24:52Bill Simmons?

  I think it should be. I think it should be Chargers one and a half or two and a half. I don't think it should be three.

• 1:24:58Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 1:24:59Bill Simmons?

  But I think maybe some of that has to do with Bowers. I will say this, though, going back to the earlier discussion about how week one shapes week two. The Raiders might be pretty good and it might have made the Pats look a little worse than maybe they are because they're just really explosive. They have they had dudes all over the field and Gino was was hucking it. And he makes like the two or three dumb Gino plays, but for the most part they were maximizing who he was. The thing is the Pats shut down their running game. And they were still able to get all these explosive plays, but I kind of like their offense. I think. I think I think they're going to be able to move the ball.

• 1:25:36Speaker 04

  I regret not having more balls. I I should have argued with you about getting on the Raiders. I really like that situation for them.

• 1:25:44Bill Simmons?

  I said in the thing I thought they were going to win, beat the Pats in week one. I mean, there was no Gonzalez. Anyway.

• 1:25:51Speaker 04

  The Gonzalez thing, we didn't know for sure until after the show. We knew for sure.

• 1:25:56Bill Simmons?

  I knew.

• 1:25:56Speaker 04

  You, you, yeah, but you know.

• 1:26:00Bill Simmons?

  And then the last two. These are my favorites. Speaking of the Patriots. I I swear, even if the Dolphins didn't have all this crazy shit going on, I would still like the Patriots in this game. But the fact that they have all the crazy shit going on makes it even better. Patriots plus one and a half in Miami. I don't I honestly don't think Miami should be favored over any team in the league except for Carolina. And.

• 1:26:29Bill Simmons?

  Their secondary was so bad in that Colts game. They were so poorly coached. Although Colts were doing were just kind of stacked in the middle and Tua like didn't seem like he knew who to throw to. I just think Miami is a mess and I actually think the Pats might be a little better than they showed last week. I watched the game again after Sal and I did the pot and it was like, yeah, it was a little bleak, but they also like they didn't run the ball at all. Second half for some reason. I thought it was from a strategy standpoint was the bigger issue than a talent standpoint. I don't think the Pats are, I don't think they're that bad. And Gonzalez looks like he's coming back this week. Vrabel has done great against Tua over the years and I just like the Pats. So this is going to be one of my picks, House.

• 1:27:14Speaker 04

  Well, here's the, the only thing that I would want to make sure that we're feeling good about is Gonzalez coming back. He, we said at the outset that he's vital, that he's a crucial piece of that. If he, if we know he's coming back, then I feel good about this. I don't disagree with the idea that the Patriots should be favored. Though what we're really fighting against here is math because this, this, you know, the history, the trends, the legacy of a team that got beat the way that the Dolphins did in week one. There is a law, a strong inclination over the years that that team bounces back in week two. It's not nearly as bad or bleak as it looks. It's as bad and as bleak as it looks from my perspective.

• 1:27:59Bill Simmons?

  There's a counter trend to that where both teams lost against the spread in week one. The underdog is like 70 something percent in week two.

• 1:28:08Speaker 04

  Okay, okay.

• 1:28:09Bill Simmons?

  So there's, I looked at all the trends. They all like contradict each other. I'm going to look at this trend. Mike McDonald trending, Mike McDavid trending on Monday because he's been relieved of his duties after this game. I think is a likely outcome.

• 1:28:24Speaker 04

  Good. That's, this is, this one's in. Put this in. It goes in the 107.

• 1:28:28Bill Simmons?

  Cause I think the Dolphins are the worst team in the AFC. And if the Pats can't beat the Dolphins, this is going to be a disaster of a season. They should be able to beat the Dolphins. I think they're going to be able to run the ball. They'll use Henderson more. They, the thing with the Pats this year, and it really jumped out when we watched it was they do have speed this year. Like Booty, he, he's been a hundred yard guy basically for four games in a row now. They have digs.

• 1:28:57Bill Simmons?

  And they have Henderson, who I think they're just gonna end up using more, but they, there's, it's just not last year's team. I think they're gonna get Drake going, they're gonna start rolling them out. And I think if you can get a lead on Miami, you can break them. So that's one of my picks.

• 1:29:10Speaker 04

  All right.

• 1:29:10Bill Simmons?

  Then the other one, uh, I'm not gonna get shaken off the Broncos because they fell asleep at home against a team that they thought was gonna suck. And they got Super Bowl smoke blowing up their ass for the whole offseason. And Bo Nix just absolutely sucked in the game. I don't think he's gonna suck all season. He sucked in the game.

• 1:29:32Speaker 04

  He better not.

• 1:29:33Bill Simmons?

  It was a bad game. And it's not like the Colts defense is gonna harass him. I thought Tennessee's defense was good in that game. Um, this line being under three feels like a miracle to me because I would have bet crazy money on this in August. And FYI, why do we trust Daniel Dimes and the Colts? Cause they, they lit up this awful poorly coached Miami defense. Like they're, they're gonna keep doing that? I don't see it. I think the Broncos have an awesome defense.

• 1:30:03Speaker 04

  There, it's indisputable. They do have an awesome defense. And we love the idea of that defense against Mr. Daniel. The, the problem is Bo Nix. And, and I am concerned, I'll just voice the concern. I'm not gonna argue you out of this position. I like it. I endorse it. But this Colts team was about to blow the doors off this Broncos team last season.

• 1:30:29Bill Simmons?

  I remember. They had like two and a half quarters, they were doing it. Yeah.

• 1:30:32Speaker 04

  Jonathan Taylor was about to cross the goal line and the big dope dropped the ball before he, before he crossed. And that was going to be the end of the game. And we just need to see basic competency out of Bo Nix. He cannot do what he did last week. That, if he does that, we're gonna lose this bet.

• 1:30:52Bill Simmons?

  I'm betting on Sean Payton kicking these guys in the asshole week and kicking himself because he coached a really shitty game last week.

• 1:31:00Speaker 04

  He did.

• 1:31:01Bill Simmons?

  And I actually think that was a good, terrible win for them. It was like, hey, guys, we're not just showing up. Like, let's fucking try to go deep in the playoffs. Let's go. I, and I think they're gonna be actually almost like they lost last week, like with that kind of thing. And I just don't think the Colts are good enough. I Colts beating Miami Colts playing any of these AFC South teams like it's like a different caliber. It's lower, you know, they're like, the Broncos are like an SEC team. They're in a division that might have four playoff teams, by the way. I mean, there's a chance we could have four AFC West playoff teams. It's not inconceivable.

• 1:31:38Speaker 04

  Okay, I'm not gonna argue out of it.

• 1:31:40Bill Simmons?

  Like, do you like any, do you like a second AFC East team? Do you like a second AFC North team? Maybe Pittsburgh? Do you like a second AFC South team? I don't even like a first AFC South team. Like, we could go nine and eight and above in the AFC West. So I, I just think that's the best division, not only in the AFC, but maybe in the whole league. And, uh, and I've seen Daniel Dimes when he's going against a good defense and it's pretty ugly. So my two are gonna be Pats Broncos. We have to agree on two, but what's, what's your pick? What's the one? You got one.

• 1:32:13Speaker 04

  I have, I have three candidates and let's choose them.

• 1:32:18Bill Simmons?

  No, you choose. This is your call.

• 1:32:20Speaker 04

  Unfortunately, I am going back to two teams that kicked us in the nuts last week.

• 1:32:26Bill Simmons?

  Well, give us the bronze and give us the silver and then give us your gold medal winner.

• 1:32:30Speaker 04

  All right. So the bronze is gonna be the Eagles. I, I really, really, really wanna bet on the Eagles against the Chiefs, but I just have too mu- too much respect for Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid and I can't, I, I don't wanna do it. The thing that, that is the challenge with the Eagles defense is they have, it's a cast of characters that are new to a Vic Fangio defense. And we've seen so many times, so many years, it takes a little while for them to get it. They will get it ultimately, but they're so susceptible and vulnerable. They could have definitely lost that game. Now, I know no Carter, but still, uh, so that's the bronze. The silver is the Bears.

• 1:33:13Bill Simmons?

  I'm surprised. I thought you were gonna throw the Eagles at me.

• 1:33:16Speaker 04

  I really wanted to do it, but I just, you know, I just have too much respect. I don't want to sit there on Sunday evening like, God damn it, why did I go against the Chiefs? And that is counter to what I did at the Super Bowl. I love the Eagles at the Super Bowl. I bet them every which way. That proved out, but this is it. This is, Arrowhead Stadium is not a neutral stadium. And this is really it for the Chiefs. You said it. If they lose this game to the Eagles, we might be, you know, in reckoning mode, even though they can turn it around. My bronze is the Bears because the.

• 1:33:50Bill Simmons?

  No, that's your, this is your silver.

• 1:33:52Speaker 04

  I'm a silver.

• 1:33:52Bill Simmons?

  I knew you would screw this up.

• 1:33:54Speaker 04

  You're just throwing at me. The silver is the Bears.

• 1:33:57Bill Simmons?

  I'm just asking you to reverse gold medal standings.

• 1:34:00Speaker 04

  It's ridiculous. The number is ridiculous. Six and a half is preposterous. I am definitely going to bet on the Bears getting the six and a half. And yet I just don't want to be in Caleb, Caleb's hands. I just don't want to. I didn't enjoy that fourth quarter. I didn't enjoy watching him run around. I didn't enjoy the inability of the Bears to establish the run in any meaningful way. And the playbook just got thin real quick. They were on script and then when they went off script, it was a, it was a bad offense. So I just don't want any part of it.

• 1:34:33Bill Simmons?

  Okay.

• 1:34:35Speaker 04

  I'm playing on the Atlanta Falcons. I'm sorry.

• 1:34:38Bill Simmons?

  Wow.

• 1:34:39Speaker 04

  That's my pick. It's the numbers wrong. If you wanted to tell me, you know, it was like a one and a half or two or whatever, but I don't, you know, it's, it's a, it's a number based on priors and that's fine. It's, it's in line with look ahead.

• 1:34:54Speaker 04

  I just think that this Falcons team showed us a version of themselves. They're better. And what they, they'll, they lose games by self defeating. They lose games by self sabotage.

• 1:35:06Bill Simmons?

  We just take them every week until we can hit one of them.

• 1:35:09Speaker 04

  So are you, are you gonna be mad if we have to, to, to, to, you know, look at this Falcons team?

• 1:35:14Bill Simmons?

  I knew this was coming. I had them already in a spot.

• 1:35:18Speaker 04

  All right. So it's the Falcons. That's my pick.

• 1:35:21Bill Simmons?

  Well, so if we do Pats and Broncos as my two picks, now we have to agree on two. And here's where I can offer you for agreeance. Jets plus six and a half in Buffalo or at home against Buffalo.

• 1:35:38Speaker 04

  I want to do it. I mean, I, I think that, that Bills defense is so depleted and what we saw out of Baltimore, I think the Jets, that, that, they really.

• 1:35:51Bill Simmons?

  No, Ed Oliver, can they just run the ball? Could, did Buffalo? Well, let me ask you this. If Henry doesn't fumble and Baltimore just runs out the clock on them and that game is 40 to 25 and we spend the whole week going, oh my God, what's up with Buffalo's defense? What's the line for this game? Is it now plus four and a half? Did, did we just get two free points because Buffalo came back?

• 1:36:17Speaker 04

  I need to look at the look. I don't, I'll, I'll try and look at the look ahead in the meantime, but.

• 1:36:21Bill Simmons?

  No, just in your head, what would it have been if it's 40 to 25, they just lose?

• 1:36:26Speaker 04

  Honestly, Vegas zone. That's, that's what, that would have been my guess.

• 1:36:29Bill Simmons?

  That's, so somehow that bought us points. Let me, uh, let me walk you through a little thought experiment because we didn't talk about a parlay, which we're allowed to do as one of the picks.

• 1:36:40Speaker 04

  I'm listening.

• 1:36:41Bill Simmons?

  Sadly, it brings the Arizona Cardinals into our lives against Carolina.

• 1:36:48Speaker 04

  We know better.

• 1:36:52Bill Simmons?

  Well, do we? Because we could take the Eagles to plus four and a half on FanDuel

• 1:37:00Bill Simmons?

  in Kansas City and just bet on that being a close game. And we could put that with Arizona and that gets us under the minus 120 number. It's like minus 113. Arizona to win, Philly to plus four and a half in Kansas City, a team we both think is going to win. But let's say they don't win. Is Casey going to blow out Philly?

• 1:37:22Speaker 04

  No.

• 1:37:23Bill Simmons?

  They're going to win by a touchdown by 10?

• 1:37:25Speaker 04

  This is good.

• 1:37:25Bill Simmons?

  If they win, they pulled it. If they win, Mahomes pulls this out late in the game, right?

• 1:37:30Speaker 04

  A late score, field goal.

• 1:37:32Bill Simmons?

  2020 and then they, yeah, 20. But I just think this is like a tight game or Philly wins.

• 1:37:37Speaker 04

  Okay. Well, we're, tell me the number. What's the number? What do we get with that?

• 1:37:41Bill Simmons?

  We get it to minus 114.

• 1:37:44Speaker 04

  Fine. Done. Done. Say less. I'm there. I'm convinced.

• 1:37:48Bill Simmons?

  All right.

• 1:37:49Speaker 04

  So I got, I got the look ahead. The look ahead for that Buffalo Jets game was eight and a half. So it's already down two points from that, right?

• 1:38:00Bill Simmons?

  Yeah. But that, but nobody knew the Jets were going to look like that.

• 1:38:03Speaker 04

  Right.

• 1:38:05Bill Simmons?

  All right. And before we pull the trigger on this parlay, are we sure we feel okay about putting the Cardinals in anything?

• 1:38:16Speaker 04

  They just have to win, right?

• 1:38:18Bill Simmons?

  Just have to win.

• 1:38:19Speaker 04

  That's all we're asking. Go home. Like if they're gonna be a team that, that, that, you know, contends in the NFC West, every, a darling to win the NFC West, the Cardinals, a lot of people got in on them.

• 1:38:34Bill Simmons?

  Cause we could also nudge the Bears up to like 11 and a half and do that.

• 1:38:40Bill Simmons?

  Put that in double digits against Detroit.

• 1:38:43Speaker 04

  I, I know how ludicrous it is. I trust Kyler more than I trust Caleb.

• 1:38:49Bill Simmons?

  Okay.

• 1:38:50Speaker 04

  That's it.

• 1:38:51Bill Simmons?

  Also, maybe the Saints are okay. Maybe that's why the Cardinals looked a little shaky. I personally think the Cardinals should be able to rush for like 290 yards against the Saints.

• 1:38:59Speaker 04

  I feel the same way.

• 1:39:00Bill Simmons?

  I mean, against the Panthers.

• 1:39:01Speaker 04

  I share your conviction.

• 1:39:03Bill Simmons?

  Yeah, okay.

• 1:39:04Speaker 04

  I didn't hesitate. I think that Cardinals Eagles combo is a nice one. It's tasty.

• 1:39:09Bill Simmons?

  All right. Great. So those would be the two we agree on. Okay. As always, today's Ringer 107 is brought to you by our friends at Fanduel. The Ringer 107 picks for week two. Tough start for us, one and four. I only regret one of the four losses. We easily should have been three and two. We should mention that I called you as the Ravens were up by 15 points to talk about how we still had a chance to get to three and two for a week. And like Derrick Henry, it's like his ears are ringing. And, uh, and, and he fumbled in, in the rest of his history. You know who else's ears were ringing? Chris Chen, our friend who, um, who joined the Bel Air Country Club last week.

• 1:39:51Speaker 04

  Buddy Chris Chen.

• 1:39:53Bill Simmons?

  Yeah. And we, we talked about how he joined and he was like, all these people are hitting me up to play. Like, can you not talk about that on the podcast again? So I want to apologize for, to Chris Chen for not, uh,

• 1:40:05Speaker 04

  For, for nothing.

• 1:40:06Bill Simmons?

  For telling people last week that he belongs to the Bel Air Country Club. And by the way, is available for golf. If you've ever met Chris Chen.

• 1:40:14Speaker 04

  Magnificent.

• 1:40:14Bill Simmons?

  Just ask him. He'll host you. It'll be great. He'll set you up. Yeah. Chris Chen available. Okay. The Ringer 107 picks for week two, one and four last week.

• 1:40:27Bill Simmons?

  Your pick. The one you loved was the Atlanta Falcons. I really do love it. Who absolutely kicked us in the nuts and broke our hearts last week. They did that. And we think against a little bit of a depleted Vikings team, coming off a big win last week. Big comeback win.

• 1:40:42Bill Simmons?

  Tough spot. J.J. McCarthy just had a kid.

• 1:40:43Bill Simmons?

  Short week. Short week. Defense is, injuries all over the place. Yeah. And very least Falcons, like, like there's some backdoor cover potential, all kinds of stuff. We're taking the Falcons plus three and a half. We agree on the Jets plus six and a half against the Bills. We do. It's in Jersey and we think they can run the ball and that this game could be a nice competitive game. By the way, shout out to Membo, the right tackle for the Jets, because I talked in the preseason about how he was really bad at a preseason game. And he was like lights out in the PFF rankings, so. He was. Maybe they got a thing, but it's, I, I feel like they can hang in this game.

• 1:41:23Bill Simmons?

  And, uh, and this, this is like a let's be careful out there if you're throwing the Bills in a parlay tease, um, elimination pool, whatever, I would, I would, I would steer clear because the Jets looked good last week. Uh, and by the way, they lost on a 60 yard field goal. And because their punt returner who they waived. Yes. Messed up a punt. That's true.

• 1:41:44Bill Simmons?

  Two things, two variables that, you know. Yep. The next one we agreed on is a little parlay. We're going to use our parlay card here. The Arizona money line at home against Carolina, the worst team in either conference, unless Miami can top them. With Philadelphia in Kansas City, adjusted outline on FanDuel, plus four and a half. Put those together, it's minus 113. So Eagles plus four and a half, Arizona money line, that's our fourth. Broncos, you were a little nervous about this, in Indianapolis, this is one of my picks. This is, I, I'm not wavering from preseason, I think the Broncos are really good. Yeah, I'm not talking you out of it. And I'm not, and I know who Daniel Dimes is, and I'm doing Broncos minus two and a half Colts. That's fine.

• 1:42:29Bill Simmons?

  And then last but not least, I didn't think the Pats would win last week, and they didn't. I thought the Pats are going to be terrible last year, and they were. I think the Pats are going to win in Miami this week. I like the plus one and a half, I'm grabbing it. Um, I think this is.

• 1:42:46Bill Simmons?

  Maybe even a little less about how bad the Dolphins are and a little more about, I think there's something in there with the Pats, especially if Gonzalez can come back. So those are our Ringer 107 picks for week two. Today's Ringer 107 was brought to you by our friends at Fanduel. Remember, odds are subject to change over the course of the weekend. I'm just gonna start calling the country club and charging stuff to Chris Chen.

• 1:43:10Speaker 04

  Also an amazing-

• 1:43:11Bill Simmons?

  Can I get two orders of the pigs in the blanket, just for the bar? Thanks.

• 1:43:14Speaker 04

  They have it off the menu burger that's phenomenal.

• 1:43:18Bill Simmons?

  I wanted to shout out Louis K. too, our publicist.

• 1:43:21Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:43:22Bill Simmons?

  Because he sent me the voicemail like eight out of nine times.

• 1:43:26Speaker 04

  What happened?

• 1:43:27Bill Simmons?

  I texted him and I was like, if you send me the voicemail again, I'm gonna be looking for somebody else, even though we've been friends for 23 years. So to his credit, he was like, I'm out of screening, I'll call you when I get out. And he called me. So we're okay for now, but I would just monitor it.

• 1:43:42Speaker 04

  He's busy. He's got, you know, Amy Croler's calling him.

• 1:43:45Bill Simmons?

  Well, that's the thing. It's like, you know, at some point you gotta-

• 1:43:48Speaker 04

  Jimmy Kimmel's calling him.

• 1:43:49Bill Simmons?

  You gotta figure out how to juggle me a little bit with your, with your massive clients. So anyway, shout out to him. How you feeling about the guillotine league we're in?

• 1:43:58Speaker 04

  Oh, I'm phenomenal.

• 1:43:59Bill Simmons?

  And try to be nice.

• 1:44:01Speaker 04

  Well, first of all, the, the, the concept is amazing. I can't believe we've, you know, we're slightly behind the curve in terms of guillotine. You've been doing it a couple of years now?

• 1:44:10Bill Simmons?

  No, I only did it last year and I went to a Dodger game with our friend Dave, just randomly, who was one of the people threatening to be cut. And he needed just a little more from Deandre Swift down the stretch. And, and we're in somebody's suite watching this Bears game, over watching the Dodgers, who by the way, were throwing a no hitter at the time.

• 1:44:35Speaker 04

  A no hitter on the baseball field in front of your face.

• 1:44:37Bill Simmons?

  And he's just staring at, just praying for a Deandre Swift touch. And they finally get the ball back. Near the end, they're down whatever and they had, they're just in like- And he's studying which receivers are out for like the hail Mary lateral play. It's Swift's not out there. It's like, ah, ends up losing by two points. The guillotine is great. It really is.

• 1:45:01Speaker 04

  It's really amazing.

• 1:45:02Bill Simmons?

  He was devastated. He was like, I love this league. I didn't want to leave. It's really like Survivor where it's like you, you, you fly to, you know, some crazy location.

• 1:45:12Speaker 04

  But the shame.

• 1:45:13Bill Simmons?

  You get voted out in a day.

• 1:45:14Speaker 04

  I offered my team to him. I finished in first. I offered if he wanted to pay me.

• 1:45:20Bill Simmons?

  Over, over the winnings of what the league would have been. Yeah.

• 1:45:23Speaker 04

  A fair amount of money. That's all. I mean, if, do you want the first place team? That's, I tried to make a fair price. That's what I offered. He didn't bite.

• 1:45:31Bill Simmons?

  So I had George Kittle in this league and I'd never have George Kittle in fantasy because he always gets hurt.

• 1:45:39Bill Simmons?

  And this year he was sitting there. We were doing like a snake draft. And I was like, all right, George Kittle was healthy last year. He'll be fine. He's fine. Got hurt in like an hour.

• 1:45:48Speaker 04

  It's the worst.

• 1:45:48Bill Simmons?

  So I had to pick up Finn and on the Browns. So now I've got Harold Finn in stock.

• 1:45:53Speaker 04

  That's pretty good.

• 1:45:54Bill Simmons?

  Well, and then we're in the Ringer Yahoo fantasy thing too, which, um, which, which we did for the, for the Ringer. And I did my five QB strategy and I think one of them has already been waived, Matthew Stafford. Tua, Tua is on the chopping block.

• 1:46:12Speaker 04

  Why would you waive Stafford and keep Tua?

• 1:46:15Bill Simmons?

  Well, cause I, I just can't do it with Stafford. He's.

• 1:46:18Speaker 04

  All right.

• 1:46:19Bill Simmons?

  I can't.

• 1:46:19Speaker 04

  Fine, fine.

• 1:46:21Bill Simmons?

  I can't.

• 1:46:21Speaker 04

  I understand completely.

• 1:46:23Bill Simmons?

  I can't, he can't move anymore. I mean, God bless him, but.

• 1:46:26Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:46:26Bill Simmons?

  You know, 14 points last week. Anyway, fantasy is the, this is the most fun it's ever been.

• 1:46:32Speaker 04

  Don't call it a comeback. It's great.

• 1:46:34Bill Simmons?

  Yeah. All right, House. Great to see you.

• 1:46:37Speaker 04

  Always.

• 1:46:38Bill Simmons?

  Thanks for staying relatively sober for us. Do you have any last, last thoughts on the Steve Ballmer scandal before we go? I talked about it earlier in the pod.

• 1:46:46Speaker 04

  Well, I, it is what we thought it was like you've made the point. A lot of smart people have made the point. It doesn't matter. We don't need to go find smoking guns. And I think there are some, I mean, Pablo keeps on digging up more stuff that makes it look worse and worse. But the appearance of impropriety is sufficient. You just can't have the thing that that they that they did. He invested in a closed investment and Kawhi benefited in almost exactly the same amount of money. That's enough. We don't, we don't need any other discussion about it. It looks bad to the other owners. And then what's coming out of this owners meeting will be really interesting.

• 1:47:24Bill Simmons?

  I don't have a sponsor yet for this new studio. And so I'm calling it the aspiration studio for now. The aspiration dome. Get ready to go.

• 1:47:33Speaker 04

  I'm worried about that, though. Why would you want to do that? They don't have any money.

• 1:47:37Bill Simmons?

  Well, they're, they're hot right now. It's a hot brand.

• 1:47:39Speaker 04

  You're putting the stink on your, on your studio.

• 1:47:42Bill Simmons?

  Oh, that's a good point.

• 1:47:43Speaker 04

  It's a Ponzi, it's a Ponzi scheme.

• 1:47:46Bill Simmons?

  Yeah, that's a good point. All right. I'll come up with another name. All right, House. Let's, uh, let's celebrate our Rainer 107 comeback in a couple of days and I'll see you next week.

• 1:47:54Speaker 04

  Only when the games are over. Don't send me any texts while the games are going on. Please, for the love of God.

• 1:48:00Bill Simmons?

  By the way, when's Ryder Cup?

• 1:48:02Speaker 04

  It's in two weeks. And I'm gonna go, I will be there.

• 1:48:05Bill Simmons?

  When do you start getting fairway rolling, like the odds and start talking about all that? Next week or the week?

• 1:48:09Speaker 04

  We've been talking about it, but we'll, we'll have a little bit next week and, and more of the week of the Ryder Cup for sure.

• 1:48:15Bill Simmons?

  All right. See you, House.

• 1:48:16Speaker 04

  See you, buddy.

• 1:48:17Bill Simmons?

  All right. That's it for the podcast. Thanks to House and CR and Concepcion. Thanks to Gahal and Eduardo as well. And I am not going to be back until, uh, Sunday, which will be the same day we put up that Prestige TV podcast with, uh, the recap of episode two of TASS. I'll see you with the Cuz on Sunday.

• 1:48:51Bill Simmons?

  Must be 21 plus in President select states for Kansas and affiliation with Kansas Star Casino, or 18 plus in President DC, Kentucky, or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit RG-help.com. Call 1-887-897777, or visit ccpg.org/chat in Connecticut, or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplineMA.org, or call 800-327-5050 for 24/7 support in Massachusetts, or call 1-8778-HOPE-NY, or text HOPE-NY in New York. This episode is brought to you by Searchlight Pictures Wild Horse 9. John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, I like those guys, star in the sharp-witted comedy thriller

• 1:49:35Bill Simmons?

  from Academy Award winner Martin McDonagh. Writer-director of The Banshees of Inisherin and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, set in the 1970s, filmed on location on Easter Island. Malkovich and Rockwell play CIA agents Chris and Lee, who are caught in a dangerous game of secrets and survival. Also starring Steve Buscemi, another one of my guys. Parker Posey and Tom Waits. Wild Horse 9 is being hailed by critics as a revitalizing shot of pure entertainment and easily one of the best films of the year. Don't miss Wild Horse 9, only in theaters Friday. Get tickets now. This episode is brought to you by Core Power Protein Shakes. You know how we always talk about the little things that separate great athletes?

• 1:50:19Bill Simmons?

  Post-workout recovery is a big factor. Core Power Protein Shakes help you keep going after your workout with high-quality protein to build muscle and electrolytes to help hydrate. It's all you need for your recovery in one bottle. Available in 26 and 42 gram protein options to pick what works best for you. Visit corepower.com to learn more.