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Will Thomas Frank Get Sacked? | The Nuggets Power On Without Jokic | NFL Preseason Predictions Review
16 Plays18 days ago
Who’s Got The Ball? | Premier League Drama, NBA Star Absences & NFL Conference Championships
Premier League, NBA & NFL podcast fans — this one’s stacked.
On this week’s episode of Who’s Got The Ball?, Shane and James break down Bournemouth’s shock win over Liverpool, ask the big question “How much pressure is Thomas Frank under at Spurs?”, and preview the huge Liverpool vs Newcastle clash in the Premier League.
Over in the NBA, the lads compare how the Denver Nuggets and Milwaukee Bucks perform without their superstar players, digging into who’s stepped up and what it means moving forward.
Switching to the NFL, Evan joins the show to recap the Conference Championship games and revisit the crew’s pre-season predictions — with some very rough reading for Shane.
Plus:
- Updated Power Rankings 🔥
- Gan Seans Picks (James leads 23–20) 🎯
- Wall-to-wall analysis across NFL, NBA & Premier League!
👉 Subscribe, rate, and follow Who’s Got The Ball? for weekly NFL analysis, NBA debate, Premier League breakdowns, predictions, and bold opinions.
🎧 Listen if you’re into:
- Football (soccer) analysis
- NBA previews & predictions
- Weekly NFL reactions
- Underdog betting tips
- Draft-style sports debates
- Power rankings across multiple sports
- Sports content from an Irish perspective with global takes
🔁 New episodes drop weekly!
Follow/subscribe so you never miss a breakdown of the latest in the EPL, NBA, and NFL.
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🌍 Based in Ireland | Talking global sports weekly
(0:00) Next Week’s Show Schedule
(3:53) Bournemouth’s Big Win Over Liverpool
(11:33) How Much Pressure is Thomas Frank Under?
(15:30) Liverpool vs Newcastle Preview
(19:44) The Nuggets Continue to Roll Without Jokic
(24:12) What Are the Bucks Without Giannas?
(28:29) Gan Seans: Our Underdog Picks
(32:23) Evan Joins to Recap Championship Sunday
(41:57) NFL Preseason Predictions Review
(1:01:24) Multi-Sport Power Rankings
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Co-host Reflection
00:00:09
Speaker
Alright lads, welcome back to another episode of Who's Got the Ball. Myself and Shane here once again. Shane, what was the crack?
Shane's Health and Weekend Recap
00:00:16
Speaker
Quite enough. I'm still in the recovery phase from whatever I picked up when I was up in Dublin that time with you. So clearly I can't go back to the capital city again. I'm on another dose of antibiotics. So hopefully this one is the one that clears it out now and we can get back to normal.
00:00:31
Speaker
But other than that, all quiet. Just watched some and some really good sports, some really bad sports at the weekends and we we'll get into all of them. Yeah, yeah, 100% as a mixed bag, depending on who you're a fan of. But yeah, that that this illness is just lingering like really badly.
00:00:47
Speaker
I only really felt better than last
Super Bowl Coverage Plans
00:00:49
Speaker
like two days. and I only got to go back to the gym yesterday and I went running today. And honestly, i felt like, I'd never ran before after finishing it because yes my lungs were just like, what is this? But and a couple of of show notes are like important things to say before we get into everything. So next week, the episode will come out on Tuesday. And because as I said, I am heading to San Francisco to cover the Super Bowl for media week.
00:01:12
Speaker
and so I'll be over there from Tuesday on we'll record on Monday get it out on Tuesday and then the the plan is to go live potentially on Thursday from Media Row over in San Francisco a kind of a reasonable hour Irish time and we'll get that up on social media live and but we'll we'll communicate that next week on the Tuesday episode and hope to do it with Jimmy English part of the Gaelic Gridiron team that I'm going over with so and We'll let you know more about that next week, but that's the plan um for now. But that's definitely going to be the the day for next week's episode is going to be Tuesday. So keep an ear out for that one a little bit earlier this week.
00:01:50
Speaker
Absolutely packed episode.
Premier League Analysis: Bournemouth vs Liverpool
00:01:52
Speaker
So much, so much to get into. and We talked about the NBA, first of all. No, we didn't. That's incorrect. We talked about the Premier League, first of all. and We went into performance of the weekend, kind of touched on how Bournemouth played against Liverpool and in detail on that one, because we previewed it last week. We gave our thoughts and it's interesting to look back at how well Bournemouth did, given the way we broke it down last week and how it actually turned out. We talked then about Thomas Frank's struggles at Spurs and what we think is going to happen there because I think we're both kind of on the same side of the fence on that one. So you'll have to listen to hear what we think. Last up then, we previewed Liverpool versus Newcastle, gave our predictions, went into that one and and we both gave a score prediction.
NBA Insights: Nuggets vs Bucks
00:02:35
Speaker
Moving into the NBA then at that point, we talked about the performance of the Nuggets without Jokic and how it's been so impressive especially when compared to the performance of the Bucks without Giannis just the difference in almost willpower at some points because of how many players the Nuggets were missing but the difference in coaching and overall squad and roster and then we gave our Ganshans picks an update on the score there before Evan joined us for a very good chat and we talked about the AFC and NFC championship games last weekend but then we moved into recapping our predictions from the start of the season based on who we thought was going to make the playoffs who we thought was going to come out with an over under on on their win total all that good stuff team-based stuff i Shane any any word for the people on that for when they listen to it
00:03:24
Speaker
ah Don't listen to it. You can actually completely skip that part. Just finish the episode after you hear the Gone Chance and just get on with your life. and Everything that's said in the outro, we've been saying the intro, get us 100,000 subscribers, blah, blah, blah, the usual. So yeah, the episode ends after Gone Chance as far as I'm concerned. Yeah, safe to say you can figure out Shane might have had a few mad ones in there, but we all did to be fair about that. Yeah, there's some funny moments. So give that a listen. Power Rankings to wrap up. Let's jump straight into it.
00:03:52
Speaker
Okay, so performance of the weekend. This one is is going to sting a little bit for you, Shane, in the Premier League side of things. We had Harry on last week. and We talked a lot about this game. Liverpool and Bournemouth. Bournemouth got the win 3-2 at home. We're sure Harry's over the moon with that one. and he he couldn't push himself to predict
Tottenham's Troubles under Thomas Frank
00:04:10
Speaker
more than a two two and I went with 2-2 as well. and It was looking like it was on until the last minute. An absolute shambles in the box led to a third Bournemouth goal. wanted to focus mostly on Bournemouth here, but The main takeaway for me from Liverpool is Van Dijk was absolutely abysmal.
00:04:28
Speaker
Not for the first time this season. He was up kind of at fault for every single goal. The first one, there's no reason to let that bounce. Second one, he plays Jimenez onside. And his onite him the third one, he's standing there like a statue. Ball goes over his head and he just doesn't even react after that. he He couldn't get back, but he didn't even make it seem like he wanted to. and I thought it was embarrassing, to be honest, from him, but outside of Outside of that, any other takeaways for Liverpool before we talk about how well Bournemouth did?
00:04:58
Speaker
They just become, and I think I've said it before, but they they actually just become the stupidest football team on planet Earth when they concede when it's against their own place. Liverpool were all over Bournemouth the first 20 minutes. Bournemouth scoring, Liverpool just completely fall to pieces. Everyone forgets how to play football.
00:05:13
Speaker
like it's that's what's That's my biggest takeaway from the season is it's just how stupid they become when they can see the goal against the run of play. They just go straight into panic mode instead of saying, okay, we were dominating there for the first 22 minutes, we've gotten soccer punched, a mistake at the back, blah, blah, blah. Just keep doing what we're doing, we'll get a goal.
00:05:31
Speaker
it all of a sudden becomes long balls up to the left, long balls up to the right. Oh, give it to Salah, he'll do something. Give it to Sabaslay, he'll do something. like They just completely he forget what they were doing. They stop passing the Kirchges to the point he has to be taken off at half-time. days Literally, it's like they forget he's on the pitch when they go 1-0 down.
Liverpool's Defensive Struggles
00:05:49
Speaker
they're just yeah They're just so tick. Every single one of them are so tick. I texted my father at one point, he's like, does that does Alexis McAllister know how to sprint? like has Has he actually ever sprinted in his life? Because all he does is just jog through the middle the pitch every single time and then sweats profusely and has the reddest face of all time. He's like, you haven't even moved. like You literally haven't moved. and you're they just They drive me insane all of them. and This was just kind of, this is Liverpool's season kind of in a nutshell really, the way it went.
00:06:21
Speaker
Dominate, fall behind, get back level, last minute do something stupid. That's what they've been doing. They've done it in so many games this season. Did it against Chelsea. Went 1-0 down, got back to 1-0, last minute did something stupid.
00:06:32
Speaker
Palace, long throw. Jeremy Frimpong decides he wants to be a right winger when the ball is still bouncing around the box, 3-2. I just, I can't get over the stuff they've done all season. And yeah the long throws are just too much you just know and that's the worst part you knew against Brentford Conor Bradley puts it out for a throw and instead of hoofing it up the pitch you're like great 1-0 and it was. You knew in that Palace game that like you just the way things were going for Liverpool at the time they were scoring the last minute winners all over the place you knew they were going to concede one.
00:07:06
Speaker
Long throw comes in bang goal and there was there was no if Paddy if I had a Paddy Power on my phone I'd have been all over it the second step all when they were throwing and trying to get Bournemouth 3-2 back before the throw was taken because it was just written all over us and Bournemouth deserved it so much.
00:07:23
Speaker
Six big chances, one for Liverpool. 2.35 xG, 0.93 for Liverpool. The only positive is Liverpool scored from a corner. It only took them 123 corners. That's their second goal.
Super Bowl Predictions
00:07:35
Speaker
It's just scandalous stuff. like It really is. and I don't see what the way out of it is. I sent you that Jamie Carragher clip where he kind of summed up what you've been saying all season, where Liverpool just go completely gung-ho and leave absolutely everybody.
00:07:52
Speaker
Carragher put it, it was like two games of football, the back four and then the rest of them. It's just nonsense, honestly. I was delighted for Bournemouth because, as I said to Harry, they're the team I really like watching.
00:08:04
Speaker
they just They put it up to Liverpool from the first minute. They got 2-0 up. they didn't hold on very well, but Harry said they wouldn't anyway. And then they were like, they were the ones that were more likely to win it at the end than Liverpool were.
00:08:15
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And I think it was, it was a perfect Bournemouth game, really, for exactly how we described how it would go. Like, chaotic at this at the start, and they kind of, they weren't in great position, but they managed to crawl claw their way back in by exploiting the issues that Liverpool have of bombing full-backs forward too much.
00:08:36
Speaker
Surprisingly, it started for Impong and Kerk as in this game. and but they got caught out Liverpool obviously and gave up the first two goals and Bournemouth inevitably gave two back because it it is really what they do this time I wouldn't say it was similar to previous games because they often give up a lot of chances or The goals are, you can see them coming.
00:08:57
Speaker
Whereas in this, like it was, it was good quality from Sabasley, the corner and a good goal. Although Petrovic makes a questionable decision to's to step to the other side. And he's the only person I'm really not sold on in this Bournemouth team
NBA Injury Management
00:09:10
Speaker
so far.
00:09:10
Speaker
Something you make silly mistakes, but outside of that, like Evan Ilsen had a huge chance to score prior to the, to the goal. Yeah. to make a 3-2. He should have made a 3-2 there.
00:09:22
Speaker
And they got their just rewards then from that because, as you said, they had more big chances. They really didn't give up at all. They weren't they weren't like, look, we're 2-2 now. We'll settle for this. They never do that.
00:09:34
Speaker
um And they didn't here despite losing more players. we We highlighted how many players they lost last week and over the last couple of windows. But now they need to kick on after this. They have Wolves on Saturday at 3.
00:09:46
Speaker
It should be a game where that they win. they've They've signed Ryan, so 20 goals in 57 games for Vasco da Gama for the 19-year-old attacker last season in Brazil.
00:09:58
Speaker
Very exciting. i can't wait to see him and hopefully himself and Bournemouth do kick on a bit because they've kind of had a bit of a slump and this season, but they have all the ability when when they when they perform to the way their manager wants them to.
00:10:12
Speaker
Yeah, on Petrovic, following on from the NFL predictions about to hear from me in a couple of minutes, I think I put him in as one of my underdogs best signings of the season because I honestly thought he should have been Chelsea's number one coming into the season, but he has been pretty dodgy at times at Bournemouth. Now, I know they lost nearly their whole back four, and that is why they're conceding so many goals left, right and centre, but he's a big issue as well.
00:10:38
Speaker
He just doesn't look comfortable behind that line. Especially when they have kind of like James Hell was in there now again at the weekend and he's probably went into the season as fifth choice or fourth choice centre-back.
00:10:49
Speaker
Linfellip,
Liverpool vs Newcastle Preview
00:10:51
Speaker
no excuses. like You can't blame injuries. Bournemouth, they showed at one stage Bournemouth five lads sitting up above in the director's box. They were injured as well. They would have been playing for him. So, yeah, fair play to Bournemouth.
00:11:03
Speaker
Fully deserved it. And if Liverpool could just stop being stupid when they fall behind, I'd be really appreciative. Yeah, I think it's two teams that often give things up but and when they're ahead, but I think this one, the result panned out probably how it should have.
00:11:17
Speaker
And yeah, I think at the start of the season, I had saw Petrovic in a pre-season game against United. I know it's only pre-season, but he made a really bad mistake and that kind of coloured my thoughts on him. And he's kind of lived up to that a little bit, but still young, still a lot ahead of him.
00:11:33
Speaker
Moving to another team, this one, you'd be thankful that you're not supporting this team because they're struggling big time. We're talking about Spurs and Thomas Frank. Look, ah we're recording this on Wednesday and before the Champions League games, we don't know if they're going to finish in the top eight, but currently they're in a good spot. They're their're top five heading into the final game week. They're facing off against Frankfurt away and who only have four points so far. So let's say that they do manage to finish top eight.
00:12:02
Speaker
Is that enough for Frank to hold on to the job, if they did well in the Champions League for another few weeks, or is it time for him to go already? Because the Premier League form is really bad. They drew a Burnley 2-2 last weekend, lost to West Ham 2-1, lost to Bournemouth 3-2, drew 1-1 with Sunderland, and then 0 with Brentford. That's all in 2026.
00:12:22
Speaker
Three points from a possible 15. I don't know how really he could continue to keep his job despite the realities of the Champions League, but that's my opinion. What do you think? No, I agree with you. My first notes are there's no reasons that this man still has a job. The Arsenal Cup on top of that as well, away at Bournemouth.
00:12:43
Speaker
It's just like, yeah i know it's only a cup, but it's it's an Arsenal Cup. And it's it's just things you don't do a spares manager. There's seven seven nine in the league, so 7 wins, 7 draws, 9 losses, no win in their last five.
00:12:56
Speaker
like they're They're nearly as bad as they were last year when they finished 17th, but the football 100 times worse to watch than it was last year. There's nothing for me that signals why he should still have a job.
00:13:06
Speaker
I know the club is in a bit of a state in the back with daniel le and Daniel Levy leaving. Try and say that 10 times in a row, best of luck. With him going and stuff like that, I know there's a lot going on, but Like he hasn't made a single player better.
00:13:22
Speaker
Kudos went in there and I was like, oh my God, that's some signing. And he's just been been kind of being put on an island in the right wing when he is playing and just expected to do things on his own.
00:13:33
Speaker
The midfield is just all over the place. I don't don understand this. They claim Burnley away and they start with two defensive midfielders instead of kind of going for the small. But he's brought his Brentford mentality to a club to size the size of Spurs. And look at Brentford. They're absolutely flying under Keel Andrews. so They're the kind of things where they think maybe it wasn't just the coach, maybe it was actually just the culture of the club and he was just the face of it. I think he's the one that has to go next. in Of all the Premier League managers, and he's the one that has to go next.
00:14:08
Speaker
Yeah, I think so as well. And I saw that. I think sports fans are calling him David Brentford, and which is pretty funny because he's not exactly... charismatic and to make mistakes like having that Arsenal Cup kind of feeds into that almost comedic like how bad it's going. If you look at Optus predicted position for them they have them to finish 15th by the end of the season with 47 points.
00:14:33
Speaker
So that would be 19 points from their last 15. And and In that case, I think even if they managed to get to the semifinals of the Champions League, and he's tongue he would he would go. And i think for me, he's gone by the end of February because their next four games are against Man City, United, Newcastle and Arsenal.
00:14:51
Speaker
And three of those games are at home. It doesn't matter. They're awful at home. He'll be gone by the end of February with having only picked up three points this calendar year. And that's what I'm going to say on yeah because there's no way you can stomach any more than this.
00:15:05
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with you. That table and you have, who's predicted to finish fourth and fifth? and If you have it there, the off there. Let me pull it up and we'll see. But you want to move into our our prediction or our preview for the weekend and I'll pull that up then we can come back it.
00:15:23
Speaker
Not really, no. I was hoping we'd skip this part. I suppose we will talk about Liverpool again. Actually, we'll ignore Liverpool and talk about Newcastle. Yeah, so we've got Liverpool hosting Newcastle on Saturday night, the late game, 8pm in Anfield.
00:15:36
Speaker
um So this is going to be an interesting game. Very interested interesting match-up. Newcastle created chances versus Villa. They had more XG, but Villa got another long ranger and then just sat in and frustrated Newcastle.
00:15:49
Speaker
Newcastle were so bad with their final ball in that game. But I don't know. that It was a stout look at Villa defence. Liverpool's defence has been all all over the place. So it's not going to be the same challenge. And I think Liverpool at home to Carabaig having an easy game, whereas Newcastle travel to PSG, it's much different.
00:16:06
Speaker
Both are are looking like they might finish in the top eight with wins, but then again, Newcastle might not get one, which we don't know yet. But having said all that, I think that might take a little bit more out of Newcastle. That's the main thing that plays in into Liverpool for me here.
00:16:21
Speaker
Yeah, so but we said that a couple of weeks ago about Eddie Howe, that he's not very good at managing the Wednesday Saturday or Wednesday Sunday and going away to PSG is arguably the toughest game you can have in the whole competition and that's kind of It's one of the plus points to me is that that's where they are going in midweek while Liverpool are at home to a team that they should be beating. But they should have beaten PSV as well.
00:16:48
Speaker
My top note on this was don't threaten me with with a bad time talking about Liverpool again. So I don't know. and The one thing about Newcastle, Newcastle are the only team in the league who have three wins in their last five games.
00:17:02
Speaker
So they're they're clearly on a bit of a run, even though Villa got away with it again at the weekend, getting absolutely battered out of the park on XG, but winning the game, which they've done. thank you XG is meant to come back and bite you at some point. year It's meant to level out. I just don't see leveling out for Villa with the way things are going now.
00:17:18
Speaker
All their goals are absolute belters. That one from when the year was right up there again as well. The way he finished that is absolutely class. plus Yeah, this is going really, really tough game for Liverpool, unfortunately.
00:17:30
Speaker
yeah i don't see them picking up three points. I think it's going to be a tough one. I think Liverpool are too often open at full-back, which you already mentioned i think they're fragile that I've said all season. Yeah, they're fragile too. And then Newcastle, they had chances down the wing against Villa, but Villa constantly kind of packed that full-back area.
00:17:50
Speaker
and Newcastle found it difficult to get the ball inwards. I think when there's more space for the likes of Gordon, even Alanga's final ball is not as good, but he looked okay when he came on against Villa. And then either Vissa or Valtamata, whichever doesn't start against PSG, is going to start and they're going to be fresh.
00:18:07
Speaker
So i like Newcastle here in this game, and based on the way Liverpool have played lately. I think Newcastle are a better team than Bournemouth. And I know it's, although it's a way for them, I have Newcastle winning 2-1 in two one and this one.
Ganshan's Prediction Review
00:18:21
Speaker
um I have won all. Okay. That was the the best I could go. um it's It's really hard to back Liverpool in the league at the moment. It wouldn't surprise if they go out there tonight and put four or five past Carabaig because that's they've doing in the Champions League all season. Barred at one game, the Real Madrid game, they were excellent.
00:18:40
Speaker
Away at Marseille, they were excellent. they They should beat Carabaig at home, but then they come back into the Premier League and they just they just fall fall asunder again. So... I'm not going to back them to lose because it is at Anfields, but I'm not going to back him them to win either because I don't think they're going to. And they're going into February without a Premier League win in 2026. That would be an interesting stat.
00:19:04
Speaker
Sitting on the fence. I saw you are here. You don't want to be swayed. For the first time ever. not Sure, yeah, sure. um Looking at the predicted table that you said, so they have Liverpool fourth, Chelsea fifth and United it sixth. and The expected points are very, very close. So Liverpool are 61.63, Chelsea and So it's kind of splitten hairs at that point yeah sure absolutely yeah They're kind of not being sold on it. They also have Villa in second above City, which is interesting on their predictive table.
00:19:38
Speaker
um So yeah, look and see how close that is once we get back to the end of the season. and Let's move into the and NBA then. couple of teams with big injuries, but they're both dealing with it very, very differently. So we're going to first talk about the Nuggets without Jokic.
00:19:55
Speaker
So To be fair, at Denver have been doing very well without Jokic. They've not been elite to the same level they were, but they had the best player in the world on their team. and And they've also had other injuries too. So how well they've been doing is a real testament to them and to their coach.
00:20:11
Speaker
But when I see the fact that OKC are dropping games to the likes of the Pacers and and they also lost recently to the Raptors, I think...
00:20:22
Speaker
Then watching the Nuggets play so well without their best player kind of makes me more confident on my pre-season prediction that the Nuggets are going to win it. They they fought very hard versus the tough Pistons team the other night.
00:20:34
Speaker
If Murray could make his free throws at the end, they could have tied it. If he could make his free throws in general during the game... They might have won it because it was 10 of 15 on the night and they only lost by a couple of points.
00:20:45
Speaker
You can see the presence in the middle is missing, though. The Pistons drove into the paint with ease, and I think that's the biggest the biggest issue for me without Jokic. But regardless, you're looking at guys like Peyton Watson stepping up 22 points per game on 36 minutes, six boards, three assists, and an amazing 2.8 steals and blocks combined.
00:21:04
Speaker
That is brilliant with 46% from three. And just watching him He cooked the Sixers when he played against us, um but he in general he's been very good since since he's gotten more minutes under his belt.
00:21:16
Speaker
Yeah, he was someone who was going to highlight as well, but mostly for his game against Washington. and He was absolutely elite in that game for him, and everything you said I agree with. They're not pulling up any trees, but they're not falling apart
Sports Teams Power Rankings
00:21:30
Speaker
the way some people thought they would. So they've been 8-5 while Jokic has been out injured.
00:21:35
Speaker
But like with Jokic, they lost to OKC 104-95. They probably win that game with Jokic. And it's things like that they'll be looking at and saying, so like if we have our full five in the court, we can definitely get past OKC in a seven-game series.
00:21:50
Speaker
They just have so many good players. Jamal Murray as well. and He's been really, really good across this stretch. And then the bench. Then you have Valetunas. Oh, my God.
00:22:00
Speaker
but When he is there, he's quite good as well. Aaron Gordon is obviously Aaron Gordon. And then... the likes of Tim Hardaway, Bruce Brown, they've all kind of stepped up during the spell out. So when he does come back and if they can get Murray fully fit as well, then there's very little standing in their way, I think.
00:22:18
Speaker
and At the start the year, OKC looked untouchable. They're not untouchable anymore. They're very touchable, I was going to say, but I'll go with that. They are very touchable. They're into double digits for losses now as well. So Yeah, like I know they're still an absolute monster of a team, but we'll have to wait and see where they can if they can pull it back to where they were at the start of the year and if they can keep going at the relentless rate they were.
00:22:45
Speaker
I did at one stage say that they were going to break the record for the most wins in the season. So I don't think i've ever done a good prediction on this, this whole podcast now that I'm thinking about everything I've said over the last 60 episodes, 59 episodes.
00:22:58
Speaker
But yeah, um i just think the Nuggets are, they're, they're a really, really good team and there's no denying it. They're definitely the second, if not the best team in the Western Conference and they're definitely the best put together.
00:23:09
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I think, um, You noted some important things too, like all the key players that you're noting there, like they're they're of all kind of missed time. like Like you said, when Nick Murray has missed time, Gordon has missed so much time, even while Jokic is out, Christian Brown being out. like And they're still doing this. And I think that's a big difference. I think now, right now, i think you said eight and five. I think now it's up to nine and six because they've been 15 games without him in total this season. yeah And...
00:23:39
Speaker
looking at the offensive rating, it's 114.4 without him, 126 with him. So it is a jump down. But the defensive rating is 116 without him and 118 with him. So not a big difference. They're doing very well defensively. They're locking in more. They're scoring like 17 points less per game, four rebounds less, five assists less. Of course, you're without the best player in the world. It gives you amazing numbers.
00:24:04
Speaker
But the fact is that they were with him elite and now they're pretty solid without him. Whereas we're going to move into looking at the Bucks without Giannis now.
00:24:15
Speaker
They've also had 15 games without him and they're 3-12. With him this season, they were 15-15. So when with him, they're middling, just barely getting by. Probably even worse than the Nuggets are without Jokic.
00:24:30
Speaker
And then without him, they're just cratering, like falling to pieces. Their 109.1 offensive rating, it's seven less than what they were with him. Defensive rating is pretty similar, so they are at least trying there, but they're scoring seven less points per game as well.
00:24:44
Speaker
And they just cannot get it going. I watched them play against the Sixers last night, and the Sixers won quite comfortably. They won every quarter. And Embiid only had to play 29 minutes he put up 29 points.
00:24:57
Speaker
Vijay Edgecombe only played 31. Even Maxi played only 36, which is not much for him. And you're looking at McCain and Edwards getting 24 minutes each, which tells a lot because they haven't been getting much this minutes yeah much minutes this season. So all that shows the level of of the of the books without Giannis. And like I said, they were barely scraping by you as it was with him.
00:25:19
Speaker
Yeah, so when we were talking about for the Nuggets, all the players who have stood up while Jokic has been out, there isn't that many for the box, you can say, have been on a different planet since he's gone out. The only one that kind of jumped to my mind was Ryan Rollins.
00:25:34
Speaker
and think the only reason I have an eye on him is because he's in my fancy team, so I kind of keep looking at him every week. Other that, there's very little talent around it. Kyle Kuzma, I don't think, is a is a very good basketball player.
00:25:45
Speaker
I really don't. I don't think he's ever been. i think he's an NBA ring from his time at the Lakers. no yeah Yeah, so he does. But other than that, it's like, what have you actually done?
00:25:57
Speaker
And then bob Bobby Portis is his grand. He's been averaging 16.4 points per game. But... he just he's nas joe he's nas He's not an exciting name for want of a better way putting it. Myles Turner is out of 14 points per game. He's been grand, but he's another man that needs Giannis with him to really step up. and Outside of that, it's just been an absolute disaster for him. As you said, 3-12 without Giannis. Imagine if they traded him away, what would happen him then? They would be probably finished a franchise. so
00:26:30
Speaker
They're just, they're rubbish. You've mentioned all the offensive and defensive rating there. As you said, at least they're trying on defense. But... when you had Kevin Porter Jr. as one of your your key figures when Giannis is out, you know you're in tough, tough, tough, tough. he's out as well now. Yeah, he is, yeah. Yeah, it's just it's just problems everywhere. and Bobby Portis is a funny one to bring up because, yeah, he's he's doing all right. like He's trying his best. But I just found it too funny to watch him last night against the Sixers. like They're down maybe by 15 points now.
00:27:01
Speaker
You're after going 3-12 without Giannis and he makes like 1-3 and he's like mean mugging and like flexing and like yeah looking around as if yeah I'm the guy. Like, no, you're you're not. you're You are doing your best, but you need to read the situation a little bit better here. and Like Turner put up 31 points last night and he wasn't doing any of that stuff, even though he was giving it the big one the last time he played the Sixers and yeah got put back in his place when we won that game. But I think Turner's been a letdown in general.
00:27:28
Speaker
since he joined even with Giannis and he should have been better and it could be four to six more weeks with this calf strain for Giannis whereas Jokic just coming back maybe well he'd be re-evaluated next week so it could be next couple of weeks and like we said i think a couple of weeks ago that We saw the Bucks getting into the play-in mix because of Giannis. And then right after that, he got injured. And they've just gone nothing but fallen to pieces since then.
00:27:53
Speaker
So I think it shows how important he is that we were even willing to say a team that's kind of middling can still get in once they have this guy. But now he's just he's just not there anymore. So it's kind of hard. yeah It also shows how much of a curse we are.
00:28:10
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, get behind the books and they just, Giannis gets injured and falls the whole team falls to pieces. But apologies, Bucs fans, although there's, I doubt there's too many of them listening to this. Yeah, hopefully. I've never met a Bucs fan in my life, to be honest. A lot other random teams, but not Bucs.
00:28:28
Speaker
But let's let's get into Ganshan's then. and Another week where We put up kind of low numbers. We had one correct each. and So last week, I i went with United again, backed the hot hand, and they got the win for me.
00:28:41
Speaker
I had the bar Broncos to beat the Pats. That did not come off. And I had the Jazz to beat the Heat. and That was miles off. Then you had the Rams to beat the Seahawks, and which was close, as well as the the Broncos one, but ultimately did not come off. You had Palace to beat Chelsea. and that was That was a tough one. Chelsea performed quite well in that game.
00:29:02
Speaker
And then you had the Rockets to beat the Pistons, so you keep your and NBA ability to pick. correct scores right and the Rockets were were very strong in that game and they got the win so I'm sitting on 23 points you're on 20 after 20 weeks and in total so 3 point lead at the moment let's get our first 5 pointer soon we we need one let's let's hear what you've got for us this weekend yeah so I've doubled up on the NBA this week and gone for one Premier League game obviously we're not going anywhere near the Super Bowl yet because it is too far away
00:29:32
Speaker
So I've gone with the Trailblazers to beat the Knicks on Saturday night. And the Trailblazers are 23 25. And the Knicks are 28 and 18. So it is on that five, the five game difference. So it's just about in.
00:29:49
Speaker
And I've gone with the Warriors to beat the Pistons. and Kind of for the same reasons behind why went with the Rockets last week, where I think the Pistons are in easier division. So they come up against teams from...
00:30:01
Speaker
The West, sorry, yeah, from the West, they might struggle a bit more. So the Pistons are thirty four and eleven The were Warriors are 26-22. Wouldn't surprise me one bit, to be honest, if the Warriors did manage to go out there and turn them over.
00:30:16
Speaker
And the Premier League was impossible to pick because they obviously wasn't picking Newcastle to beat Liverpool. So I have gone with Thomas Frank's Tottenham Hotspurs to beat Man City. Man City are 8-13, Spurs are 15-4. They beat them earlier in the season. and Spurs are Man City's kryptonite somehow.
00:30:34
Speaker
They're the only team that Spurs can beat, it seems to be Man City. So I'm backing them to follow that up. Give me a five-pointer and the lead when you want to get one point. Yeah, it's actually funny that you said that they're kryptonite because ah when I was in like, I know, I think it was like second year in school, they brought us like on a soccer trip like every year if you wanted to go.
00:30:54
Speaker
And I went to one and it was it was always silly because it's so cheap to get the the tickets and you can get there pretty handily on the boat. And we went to City and Spurs and it was 1-1 and Harry Kane scored a winning penalty in like the 90th minute. And the Spurs fans are like breaking through the horns and everything. So since then I always just know like Spurs are are going to beat City and Harry Kane used to have a field day at the Etihad or the Empty Hat, should I say. But my three picks are Leeds to beat Arsenal. Leeds are at home, Arsenal away. I just see Arsenal just like... hitting another slump because they've been pretty bad lately and i just think arsenal like the only thing you could see against united they scored an own goal and a corner goal and leads are going to be defending and they have big bodies to push arsenal around in the box too so it might not work against against leads so let's go for a mad leads one here
00:31:47
Speaker
I've also gone with Newcastle to beat Liverpool. I kind of alluded to that. I thought that was going to happen in my prediction. So they're 31-10. Liverpool are 4-5. Leeds are 5-1 by the way. Arsenal are 8-15. And then the last one, was teetering between two. One of them was the one you picked, the Blazers and Knicks, because I think that's a great pick. The Blazers have good physicality about them, which the Knicks do struggle with. But I ultimately ended up going back to the Clippers, which served me the week before last.
00:32:14
Speaker
Clippers 22 and 24, at the Suns 28 and 19 on Sunday night at 1am. So those are my my three picks. All right, so Evan, welcome back to the show once again. and We're going to quickly touch on our the conference championship games, but we'll dive deep into the two Super Bowl teams and what it took for them to get there next week.
00:32:36
Speaker
But We want to just touch on those games. But after we do that, we have something fun. Going to go back and look at our team-based predictions we made at the start of the season for playoff teams and some of our hot takes and stuff. So going to, the lads haven't looked back at those. So I'm going to give them to them and get their reaction to that.
00:32:55
Speaker
And some of them are pretty funny, would say. But Evan, how are you? Good, good, good. What is going on? It's a pleasure. Pleasure to be back. um I actually thought about those things that we had said at the start of the season and thinking about some of the stuff that I recall saying, and yeah, don't remember being so good.
00:33:14
Speaker
so I don't think any of us are in a good place to be fair with that. I think we're all in the same boat. It's going to be It's one of those that we should just leave the podcast from all streaming platforms and never speak about. sarah Just pretend we never had a prediction podcast in the first place.
00:33:30
Speaker
Yeah, that's the good part about it. And we'll come back to another episode when we have all the player awards and because we've made predictions on those too. And that'll be that'll be good stuff too once we find those out next week. and But conference championship review, um want to get both of your thoughts.
00:33:45
Speaker
ah To be honest, I felt like i was watching two different sports um that night between the AFC Championship and the NFC Championship game. It was yeah just crazy to watch the difference in quality. I know the weather played a factor, but up until maybe the third quarter, midweek through the third, it was still very poor play in the AFC Championship where there could have been decent play.
00:34:08
Speaker
Drake May, I know he's in the in the conversation for MVP, but and he shouldn't sniff MVP. He has a negative 17.7 EPA as a passer in the playoffs.
00:34:20
Speaker
There's only been one other player that's ever had a negative one. and that was Jimmy Garoppolo, and he had minus 0.9. So since it's this is since it's been tracked in 2016. The Patriots' offense, their EPA per play is the same in the playoffs as the Jets was during the regular season.
00:34:37
Speaker
So... How they've gotten here is down to their defense, and I would say a little sprinkle of luck here and there, but nonetheless, they're here. and The Seahawks then, on the other hand, somehow managed to defeat Matthew Stafford. He's the only quarterback in NFL history to throw for 370 yards, three touchdown passes, averaged 10-plus yards per attempt, zero turnovers, and no more than one sack, and still lose.
00:34:59
Speaker
And that's ever in the regular season or playoffs. And the Seahawks are the team that did that to him. So, yeah, the two very different sides of the coin. What did you make of the game, Zevin? Oh, they were night and day, weren't they? Like, it was absolutely crazy. And I was so excited for the Patriots-Broncos game.
00:35:16
Speaker
And it was just, yeah, i flat in its face. ah I think, obviously, yeah, you said it. and The weather was a factor. And I think going into that game, i don't know, like, how Sean Payne maybe be felt about it. But, like, obviously, points were at a premium in in a matchup like that, especially against a defense like that.
00:35:36
Speaker
You want to take everything that you can. And yeah, like going for it on fourth down instead of just taking the three points, that could have just entirely shifted the game.
00:35:47
Speaker
yeah that was That was the stop that could have sealed the deal for the most part. And then once the blizzard kicked in, it was insane. Like they chose to go for it on fourth down instead of taking the points.
00:35:58
Speaker
And then later on, went for it in a blizzard multiple times and the ball was just said hard left, hard right. It was tough to watch, but... the Patriots not through the end and the they're in the Super Bowl.
00:36:12
Speaker
Yeah, they they're going to face off against the Seahawks now. So Shane, how do you think, well, we'll get into how do you think they'll fare next week, but how do you think the Seahawks got on against the Rams and what did you make of that game in general?
00:36:26
Speaker
I thought it was an unbelievable game. It's one of those where I was telling myself, I'll watch the first half because I'm working at 8 o'clock Monday morning. And it's one of those ones you you can't turn it off then. Both quarterbacks had really, really good games. Sam Darnold, you just mentioned what Stafford did there, but Sam Darnold was 25 of 36, trained in 46 yards and three touchdowns as well. So yeah it's no like i do feel in some senses that the Rams were better team.
00:36:51
Speaker
But then when you have Jackson Smith and Jigba and you have Sam Darnold, Like it's Joe, you're always going to have a chance and Cooper Cupp was excellent as well. was 10 12, 153 yards in the touchdown against a team like the Rams to be putting up that and it's just, it was insane. And as you said, it was like watching two different sports. and Thank God the second game made up for nearly all of what the first game left in the end.
00:37:17
Speaker
But I definitely felt for Stafford and Puka as well. nine Nine for 14, 185 yards in touchdown. Like, how are you coming out the losing side when you're your quarterback is throwing 374 yards and your wide receiver one has 185 yards and a touchdown?
00:37:33
Speaker
It just doesn't make sense. But Stafford had his chance at the end and bluffed it. Yeah, it was a game of inches, really, because like you look at that Fuka catch at the end, if he was like like an inch closer to the sideline, you never know. They they literally have like they're on the 50-yard line with a chance for one play.
00:37:53
Speaker
like Stafford has the arm to get it there, and you've got some big bodies going up to catch it, which would have been crazy to even just see that. and And it's a game of seconds as well, because if they had 10 more seconds, they probably could have got up there and spiked that.
00:38:05
Speaker
So that's precious time that Sean McVay wasted when he called that timeout. And then he didn't challenge the play, but he still lost his timeout for that, and which he didn't need to do. He got very antsy about that. And to call a pass play as well there on fourth and four...
00:38:23
Speaker
after already calling two pass plays before that, like the Patriots just dropped nine into coverage because they know that Stafford can't run. So it was, yeah, it was a bit questionable. and And it kind of ties ties in as well at what you said, Evan, about Sean Payton's decision making. and I feel like,
00:38:38
Speaker
they ah They know, like they have everything assessed, but sometimes you just don't account for small things in the moment and you can really get too hyped almost and go for it. Like we've seen kind of cost the Lions a couple of years ago when Dan Campbell went for twice against the Niners and they ended up losing by three.
00:38:55
Speaker
So it's it's kind of an interesting dynamic. Do you have any other thoughts on the Seahawks and Rams game, F? yeah Yeah, just on that one as well. yeah you You live and die by your aggressive decisions. you know um Unfortunately, that one came back and bit them.
00:39:10
Speaker
um The one thing that i that I did want to bring up was how good the Seahawks were at scheming and getting JSN into plays and getting him the ball.
00:39:24
Speaker
I don't know the number, but he lined up in the backfield or motioned to the backfield Five times, give or take. And every time the pass was to him.
00:39:36
Speaker
Yeah, it was crazy. They were scheming him up and letting him run wild. I think the the the JSN touchdown was beautiful where yeah they had Koop and Shahid left side.
00:39:50
Speaker
He was on the right. They had a deep safety kind of just sitting back playing zone. And JSN motions over to the backfield. it was like a bunch on that left side.
00:40:01
Speaker
And then he just ran vert and then post. And because of the Shahid and Koop, they pulled the corners back to the center of the field and freed up JSN down there in the post, just wide open.
00:40:14
Speaker
i I know that you know some people can look at that and be like, someone needs to account for wide receiver one. Why is nobody accounting for wide receiver one? um Yeah, it tough decisions. And I get that. They've got a game plan. And this is what's happening defensively.
00:40:30
Speaker
But somebody has to be like, guys, JSN, what are we doing? You can't leave a guy like that wide open. Yeah, because you're on on that same play. That was the concept on the left. They ran like a scissors.
00:40:43
Speaker
So the two DBs were like, right, how do we deal with scissors? and We'll do what we usually do. But like you said, I would be on the side that's like, it's unacceptable for no one to account for JSN. Obviously, they're not playing man or else it was a blown coverage completely.
00:41:01
Speaker
Um, but either way, somebody should know. And it was far too late by the time they even noticed what was going on. They got confused way too easily by that. And, you know, just something as simple as putting your wide receiver one in the backfield. I know was brilliant by Kubiak, but sometimes the Rams DBs have let them down massively this season. And thought that was moment that they did for sure.
00:41:22
Speaker
But plenty on the Seahawks and Patriots to come next week. And before we get into the big game, um Pretty crazy matchup. It's the most unlikely Super Bowl matchup ever based on odds.
00:41:35
Speaker
So if you picked the Patriots and Seahawks to get to the Super Bowl, the Patriots were the Seahawks were 60-1. That would have been 4,800-1 combined. So it's the most unlikely by 300. The other in 1999, the Tennessee Titans against the Rams. It was So most unlikely selection.
00:41:50
Speaker
was in ninety ninety nine the tennessee titans against the rams was four thousand five hundred one so most unlikely selection So bear that in mind when we get into these picks here because some them are pretty mad.
00:42:02
Speaker
Right. We'll start with our conference predictions. So I gave a kind of a score based on what we got right. And we'll see who who came out on top in these sections at the end. But AFC, first of all. so But myself and Evan had the exact same picks for playoff positions. and So we both had Bills, Ravens, Texans, Chiefs to win their divisions.
00:42:25
Speaker
Now the Bills did win their division. The Texans got into the playoffs, but they didn't win the division. um And Ravens and Chiefs obviously bowed out. They've flattened their face. Yeah, and then wildcards, we had Bengals, Broncos and Chargers.
00:42:39
Speaker
So Broncos won their division. and So kind of give us a half a point almost for that. And then the Chargers got into the wildcard. Bengals bowed out also. So both myself and Evan have four out of the seven right of the teams to get in.
00:42:54
Speaker
And then Shane picked the division winners. Started off hot. He had the Bills, Ravens, Texans, Broncos. So he had two correct there. And he had the Texans, which also made into the playoffs. So Shane's looking tasty there. Three for four.
00:43:09
Speaker
Then he got a bit wild. Chiefs, Bengals. And our recurring team, as you will see as we go on here, the Jets were his final pick for the wildcard spots.
00:43:21
Speaker
Shane, unfortunately, three out seven, finishing last in that category. How do you feel, guys? I'm not surprised. yeah there's very little to say like it's ch who could have predicted like I did predict the Chiefs wouldn't win their division and I couldn't see them falling out of the playoffs completely so that that's fair enough yeah the Jets I'm just I'm swinging on a hope and a prayer Aaron Blaine Like I'm pretty sure i had Aaron Glenn as my underdog for coach of the year as well. I was really confident the Jets were going somewhere, but obviously not. And then the Bengals, once Joe Burrow went down with Turf Toe, which is still the most ridiculous name for any injury ever. i was like, well, that's that finish as well. So...
00:44:02
Speaker
Yeah, I'm actually surprised they got three, to be honest. i was just i said The only one I could remember getting right was the Broncos, and that's because proud of it. The other two were just kind of in the back of my mind. So, yeah, I take three. You can have four. Evan, how are you feeling off the back of a four-pointer?
00:44:16
Speaker
Look, we'll take it. you know Considering how this season has gone in particular, you know it's been a wild one. So many teams at the top. had flumped and so many teams at the bottom had risen to glory.
00:44:30
Speaker
yeah Who, literally, who put the Panthers in a world-card situation? Nobody. you know And even like looking at the Jags as well, like I think a lot of people maybe would have potentially written them off as well.
00:44:45
Speaker
Duval, you know what I mean? So it's like, yeah. there There was a lot of ups and downs for um some key teams, but I think it made the season pretty electric as well yeah that we got to see some different faces show up in mled these workout rounds and stuff like that. So, yeah, we'll take it. We'll take four.
00:45:02
Speaker
Yeah, four is pretty solid, and I think three is good as well, considering the season is all over the place. Like you said, funnily enough, like none of us picked the Patriots to get in, which is if another recurring team we'll see later on and of us kind of hitting on the Patriots a little bit before the season started. But...
00:45:18
Speaker
Let's get into the NFC then. So this time... Before you move on, ah Chops does a better to start of every year of Patriots to win the Super Bowl and you United did to win the league. Oh, yeah. Put 20 quid on it to win.
00:45:30
Speaker
think he gets 96 grand if he United somehow claw Arsenal back and the Patriots go in line against the Seahawks. I know it's not happening, but... that level of delusion sometimes pays off when you think Joe was like that's why these teams have shorter odds and United were like 20 to 1 or something yeah 100% United fans backing them every year let's move on and see how bad they're dudes if if United fans didn't back their team every year like blindly and Patriots fans then the odds would be even higher than there so yeah look one of his teams is there so can't fault him too much but
00:46:02
Speaker
Moving into the NFC, we differ across the board here a little bit because I think this was one that maybe was more wide open. So I started off, I had the Eagles to win.
00:46:12
Speaker
Their division, Rams, Lions. And I went with the Falcons because I i did not like the books. and Ultimately, it was the Panthers, as Evan said. So the Rams made the playoffs. Eagles did win their division. Lions and Falcons, no.
00:46:25
Speaker
So had two there. Went into the wildcard spots. And I had the Vikings, Seahawks, and Packers. So Seahawks obviously got to the playoffs. And the Packers did get a wildcard spot. So there's a couple more. Vikings are around. So four again, not too bad.
00:46:41
Speaker
Evan also had Eagles-Rams, and he had the Packers too, but he had them to win their division. Regardless, they still made the playoffs, i'm so pretty solid there. He had the Bucs, though, and I believe this this goes a little bit further as well with the Bucs for Evan. So good start, three out of the first four. But then you went Lions, Commanders, and Bears.
00:47:02
Speaker
The Bears was a very good shoot, and they got into the playoffs. Nobody else picked them to get in there, but Lions, Commanders did not get there. So we ended with a four out of seven for you again there, Ev. Shane, he went Eagles and Rams. and So that was nice. couple of couple of good picks to start off. and From there, it just turned into a car crash. Shane went Lions, Bucks, Commanders, Vikings, Falcons.
00:47:28
Speaker
Two NFC South teams. I don't know anything don't know what the thinking was behind that. But anyway, we got two for seven. Look, it's pretty bad. How do you feel after that one, Shane?
00:47:42
Speaker
It's so what, I knew it was coming. I knew this was the side that I had made ah and a pig's ear of. so and maybe Maybe we should cut the NFL from the podcast or just bring everyone on every week and I'll drop out for the NFL section. I clearly know absolutely nothing.
00:48:03
Speaker
Oh man, look, it's pretty tough. like To be fair, most of those were kind of sound decisions to start the year. Just the two NFC South teams is a bit like... The Bucks were 1-5 on. Yeah, that's true, but to have the Falcons in there too. yeah But Bears shout, very good, very, very good.
00:48:22
Speaker
Yeah, I think that kind of does like almost siphon into first-year head coaches. Obviously, we knew Ben Johnson was going to do good, um or we assumed that he was going to do good.
00:48:35
Speaker
And then that also kind of tears then into, well, I suppose the Patriots, and looking at Vrabel, first-year head coach. We all assumed that he was going to do good. Did we think, though, that the likes of the Patriots and the Bears were going to be unreal year one? No. I don't think so, personally. I don't think that it was fair to look at either of those and be like, yeah, they're going to fucking get wild card. They're going to get clinched on the teetering of Super Bowl champions for Super Bowl 60. I don't think anyone expected that, really. So, yeah, huge shout out to them. Big swing and a big overhaul to those teams. They look so different.
00:49:12
Speaker
um especially the Bears. I mean, comeback Caleb was unreal. He was exciting to watch. The ah offense was really fun to watch. um The running backs play with fear like fierce anger and aggression. They run hard.
00:49:27
Speaker
and yeah They're a fun shot to watch going forward, I think. Yeah, yeah no for sure. And I'm the only person that put the Seahawks even in the playoffs. So out of us, out of the teams in the Super Bowl, we only had one for six to even get the playoffs. Never mind get to the Super Bowl, which is nuts. Shows how crazy the Seahawks are.
00:49:47
Speaker
So 8 for 14 and 8 for 14 for me and Evan. Shane, 5 for 14. Let's just move on and and see if he can pick up pick up here on on the next couple of sections. So and championship matchups. The less said about the AFC, the better.
00:50:01
Speaker
I had Bills, Texans and the Bills to win. Nah. Evan had Bills, Ravens and the Bills to win, as did Shane. Nah. We all kind of got in on the Bills. They should have done it. They had their chance. We've talked enough about the Bills. let's Let's look at the NFC side then.
00:50:18
Speaker
Evan, you had Eagles and Bucks. And then you had the Eagles to win. Unfortunately, no, that did not come off. Shane, Lions and Eagles with the Lions to win. Both of you picked teams that did not make the playoffs and to to win or to get to the get to the game and lose. Or in Shane's case, to win in the Lions.
00:50:39
Speaker
And then I had Eagles versus Rams with the Rams to win. So the Rams are actually the only team that made it out of all of us to that to correctly pick. And the funniest part about this is I was listening back to the episode and it's like I was listening through and writing down what we took. And as soon as I picked the Rams, I throw it to Shane to make his picks. And he's just like, first of all, I think you're mad.
00:51:02
Speaker
And i was just like, that's the only one that was right. Yeah.
00:51:08
Speaker
Oh, Lord save me. Jesus Christ. So I think the less said about about all of that, the better, because the next one is really funny. The next one is our hot take. So let's start with Evan.
00:51:21
Speaker
Oh, God. This is the cliff note. Evan says, banger of the sea of a season is incoming for the Titans. Wouldn't be shocked if they got well over seven and a half wins with Cam Ward being unbelievable.
00:51:34
Speaker
Evan, thoughts on that? Oy, oy, oy. Look. yeah ah To be fair, like i i still i do I still like Cam Ward. he's like he's like He's kind of like Caleb Williams in the sense that like he he kind of extends plays. He's flashy. He's fun to watch.
00:51:53
Speaker
And I do think the Titans are going to be fun one to watch in the future. i just think that they need some investment on their own life. and And every other nation on their roster. Yeah. Yeah. But then like like the like the moments where it was like rookie to rookie with, oh my god, what was that guy's name? Oya Manor or something like that? Oh yeah, that was nice. like um and that like those Yeah, those rookie to rookie connections were fun.
00:52:18
Speaker
um and And he is a ah pretty fun wide receiver prospect to to watch in the future as well. But yeah, look, they didn't quite do it. He definitely got better, but over seven and a half wins, that's the team that's picking first overall. So Look, it doesn't get any better. To be honest, that one is and is probably the least bad out of all of the three of them. So let's let's move into next up.
00:52:41
Speaker
Mine is the worst. Let's go to your one next. All right, Shane's might be the worst. Let's go to mine next. I said the Patriots are going to have to be the same. Yeah, mine's the worst. I said way too much hype. Brayville can't change at all. May is good and so is Travion Henderson, but the O-line won't improve much, nor will the defense.
00:52:59
Speaker
So yeah, the Patriots are in the Super Bowl right now. And after watching them the last three weeks, I don't care about that take. They s stunk up this playoffs. Come at me, Patriots fans.
00:53:09
Speaker
But no, on a serious note, they won like 14 games this season. So I couldn't be more around here. They were also the first team to go 9-0 away from home. Yeah, and playing against garbage bins every single week, so that's pretty good. get the jets Give the Jets that schedule next season and we'll see them in the Super Bowl, I reckon.
00:53:29
Speaker
and We'll hear all those Patriots fans out then. Yeah, I'm pretty pretty absolutely miles off. I made a mess of that one. And then Shane, last one. Shane, the theme here is continues.
00:53:42
Speaker
The Jets are going to win a playoff game. and Okay, we'll start with that. That was pretty mad. And then the next words out of this man's mouth were, come back to me in January when I'm running around my house with my t-shirt around my head saying, I'm correct.
00:54:01
Speaker
Absolutely crazy. It was a crazy statement then and it's a crazy statement now. You don't even just leave it at the fact that they'd make the playoffs. You have to go in and say they're going to win the wildcard round.
00:54:17
Speaker
You didn't need to bring off the second purse. You could you could have left it at the wild card. I'm going to clip that together with it. That's going to be our her post this week. No, that was funny.
00:54:29
Speaker
Okay. okay Three best bets. we We were bad here. And I went for mad ones. I went for like combinations, 47 to 1, 12 to 1, 18 to 1, nothing. Nothing came off like Bills and Rams doing their conferences, Seahawks, Falcons and Vikings to make the playoffs. Seahawks did their rest to flamed out. But anyway, next up, then we did over-under wins. Evan is, or sorry, Evan went for three over-under wins with his best bets.
00:54:55
Speaker
The Cardinals, over eight and a half, they had three. The Browns under four and a half. That was pretty close. They had five. And then the Cowboys over seven and a half. They had seven. So both the two of those pretty close, but ultimately you'd knock them off. The only person to get best bet correct was Shane.
00:55:11
Speaker
Albeit it was no way it was an odds on bet, but either way, it's better than any of us. Trey McBride over five and a half touchdowns and seven to 10. So yeah, that was good. Nice.
00:55:24
Speaker
Yeah, you pulled that one out. Bijan to lead the NFL in rushing yards, nine to one. He was fourth. and so not too bad there either. And then the Jets to make the playoffs. As I said, that's going to continue to be a theme. and But last one, I think the most fun.
00:55:41
Speaker
What were the odds on the Jets to make the playoffs at the time? 5-1. five to one You don't have it. Nine to one. Is that all? Five one. have been a hundred to one. Five to one. ah Five to one.
00:55:52
Speaker
Yeah. That's even worse. Jesus. It's a bit mad. So at the start of the season, then we predicted over, under wins for teams, but we did it in a draft style. So Evan got the first pick.
00:56:05
Speaker
We're going to run through these one by one see how we get on. Evan. Started with the Cardinals going over 8.5. He said that was his lock. Yeah, that one ultimately did not come off. But don't worry.
00:56:17
Speaker
You change course here, you get you get pretty solid. And then it went to me. I went with Texans over 9.5. They had 12, which was a nice hit. Shane, Patriots under 8.5.
00:56:30
Speaker
14 wins for them. Unfortunately, that did not come off. Let's see if you can pick it up here. Chiefs, over 11.5. They had six. Unfortunately, that one did not come off. Come back to me. Falcons, over 7.5.
00:56:42
Speaker
They scraped it. Last two weeks winning, they got eight. Two for two so far. Evan, Rams, over 9.5. They got 12. Solid. Bills, over 11.5. Big call. They got there. 12. So you're two for three.
00:56:56
Speaker
Back to me, Seahawks over 8.5, 14, so 3 for 3 so far. Back to Shane, here's where he could pick it up. Oh, no, Lions over 10.5, got 9. 9.
00:57:09
Speaker
Jets over 5.5, though. No, no, no, that was 3, so Shane is 0 for 4 so far. Not too bad. Vikings over 8.5 for me, I had 9. 4 for 4 so far. Here we go.
00:57:20
Speaker
Back to Evan. Broncos over nine and a half. I got 14. We were supposed to pick five each. I think we messed up on the snake. So Evan actually only had four. So three for four. Very, very solid.
00:57:32
Speaker
Went back to me. I was perfect until I trusted in Pete Carroll with the Raiders. I went over seven and a half. He had only had one season in his entire NFL career under seven wins. of course he had another one.
00:57:44
Speaker
Only three wins. That let me down on the perfect five for five. Shane, Can you do it? Can you grab one? you started out Can I go five for five? You said, I'm getting the Bengals because they're sitting at ten and a half.
00:57:59
Speaker
And you said, I'm going to grab the under. And I said, no, no, no. The Bengals are nine and a half. oh So you would have got that right. yeah I said, the Bengals are nine and a half. And you said, oh, in that case, they're getting ten wins. Give me the over.
00:58:13
Speaker
Shane, you are the perfect 0 for 5, my friend. How does it feel? Yes. Get in. yeah
00:58:22
Speaker
so It's more impressive getting 0 from 5 than fluke in 1 on the last pick of the draft. I'd rather go 0 for 5 than 1 for 5. You're like the Jets, zero interception season. but You're loving it. Yeah, incredible.
00:58:35
Speaker
Evan, how do you feel? i like Me and evan but Evan didn't get the chance to pick the last one, so I'd say we tied there because we both got one wrong. and so he He had one less pick than me, but pretty solid. How do you feel about those picks?
00:58:46
Speaker
That was good. That was good. Yeah, I do feel good about us. I do feel good about us. Yeah. Unreal. Yeah. So that's our that's our recap on our picks at the start the season. and I actually put a bet on that as well. the My five picks for the Raiders absolutely screwed me because that was like 40-1 or something.
00:59:05
Speaker
for all those, and they're the only ones that let me down. It would have been really exciting going into the last week because the Vikings won like their last three games and the Falcons too, so that just like got me over, but I had already forgotten about the bet because of the Raiders just stinking the joint up.
00:59:19
Speaker
But yeah, so overall, we got a kind of an even like mixed bag across of of getting like four out of seven, four out of seven, like three out of four, four out of five, things like that, and then... ah Shane, what went up?
00:59:37
Speaker
Any final words from you, sir? i Honestly, I think I went, probably went a bit too over the top on literally everything.
00:59:48
Speaker
um There was no wrestling thinking at all. Everything was just completely off the cuff. even like Even though I thought about it, it was still like, oh yeah, that's that's one now that will get people talking. and and yeah i mean, if you got the Jets, if you removed the Jets from your mind like completely, you might have done like pretty solitaire.
01:00:07
Speaker
Yeah. but Let's go into next season where you pick the Jets again under Aaron Glenn. No, the Jets are getting absolutely no picks for me next year because then you might win the Super Bowl with the way our luck goes. So if I just don't mention them at all in next year's picks, they'll be in business.
01:00:22
Speaker
a Come back to me in January and I'll be swinging my t-shirt around my head. Unbelievable. What a quote. That's crazy. What a quote. All right. Do it anyway. Do it anywhere for yeah do it anyway. do know let' yeah Let's just see it.
01:00:37
Speaker
Thank you for coming back on, Evan. We'll have you back again when we talk about our like coaching and and player position and awards, so like MVP awards. Coach of the Year, and and Offensive Rookie the Year, all that stuff. We picked all that too, so we'll get back to that and in a few weeks' time. But appreciate you coming on once again, and we'll chat to you again soon.
01:00:58
Speaker
Absolute pleasure. Thank you both. Actually, I don't think my video recorded there, so I don't think this part's going to make it into the official podcast, unfortunately, Evan. So, yeah, it was nice to have you on for a couple of seconds, but you you won't be making the cut this week. Don't worry, we'll use your audio and we'll just clamp a Jets logo on your face.
01:01:15
Speaker
Yeah, there you go. That'll do it. Oh, gosh. 0-5, Jess Longo. Yes, sir. Nice one. Thank you. Thank you, Bob. Nice to know. Okay, let's jump into the power rankings.
01:01:27
Speaker
I'll go first with this one. Last week, I had the Seahawks top, OKC second, Arsenal third, Pistons fourth, Rams fifth, and Villa sixth. There wasn't much shake-up last week from the week before, but this week, I've shook it up a good bit. and I've still got the Seahawks first over. Overall, I think they're the best team in the NFL.
01:01:46
Speaker
And so wasn't moving them there. And I think they're going to win the Super Bowl. But again, more on that next week. Pistons then have moved up a spot. I put them ahead of OKC because although they did lose to the Rockets, the Rockets are a really good team. So it's not like they're losing to a poor teams. Like they're 8-2 in their last 10, 34-11.
01:02:05
Speaker
And then OKC are in third. The reason I've swapped these two is because since last week when we recorded, OKC have gone one and two, whereas the Pistons have gone... and They've gone four...
01:02:18
Speaker
I think they've gone, no, they've gone two and one, sorry. So one and two and two and one. So Pistons have done better since then and they've played better teams. The Rockets lost to the Raptors and Pacers. So Pistons two, OKC three.
01:02:30
Speaker
and And then fourth, I've got the Patriots. I had the Rams in last week because I just thought that they were better than the two AFC teams. But obviously now the Patriots are in the Super Bowl, so they get into fourth. Fifth, moving down is Arsenal because they lost to Man United. And sixth,
01:02:46
Speaker
then for the very, very first time ever, I'm putting Man United in this. I haven't done it all of last season and I'm doing it now. I think they're the only team unbeaten this calendar year, and only in the Premier League, only team unbeaten in their last five in the Premier League.
01:03:04
Speaker
They just beat first place and second place. It might not last forever, but they look pretty powerful right now. And I think they are good value for this based on their recent performances. and First time I've ever had them in, so I stuck them in at sixth.
01:03:17
Speaker
What have you got for us from the offense this week? I'd love to say it's a hot take, but I was very close to putting him in myself. But then I looked at it as a way that when I put Liverpool back in after they beat Real Madrid, it's like, we're back. It's like, no, I'm not doing enough not doing that with United now. I'm not putting him in after two wins. So I've actually kept my same six from last week, but just moved him around a bit.
01:03:40
Speaker
So Seahawks are remain top for me. The Pistons are up to second for me, so the top two are both the same as yours. have the Patriots in a third. They were fifth last week, so they're up to third now but because they got to the Super Bowl. OKC have dropped to four for me for the reasons you said. They had really poor week.
01:03:57
Speaker
The Pistons had about a better week, and that's why they've moved ahead of them. Newcastle are up to fifth for me. are Sorry, are they... Yeah, they're up up to fifth from sixth. So as I said when we were talking about them earlier, they're the only team in the league with three wins this in the last five.
01:04:11
Speaker
So that's what keeps them in there. And United, are sorry, not United, Arsenal are sixth. um They're literally only in there because i couldn't put United in and there isn't a single other team the league that I think deserve to be in there at the moment. No, sorry, it's not so I couldn't put United in. It's that...
01:04:29
Speaker
I didn't want to do what I did with Liverpool earlier in the season and go far too early on like I did with Liverpool. That's why United aren't in there. So Arsenal hang on by the skin of their teeth. I finally got a pun in there. and Another pun, a saying in there. So, yeah, Seahawks, Pistons, Patriots, OKC, Newcastle, Arsenal.
01:04:46
Speaker
Just outrageous stuff all around the board here. Newcastle move up after leaving the Villa and United do not get on. yeah Absolute disgrace. No bias whatsoever, If you say so.
01:04:56
Speaker
But ah yeah, that's it. Another episode wrapped up. Lots covered, lots of laughs with with our NFL chat, but let's just wrap it. Let's just end it before. Jesus and nearly fell off my chair.
01:05:11
Speaker
Let's just end it before one of us kills ourselves or begs another ridiculous prediction. Nice one. Throw it to you. Let's go. Yeah, thanks lads. We're still on the road to 100,000, so we're getting closer here week by week. So keep hitting that like, subscribe, comment, do everything you want, please and thank you. And we'll be back to you. We'll back to you earlier next week, actually, because James is off to the Super Bowl. So we'll mention in the intro as well, just in case people don't get to the end. But yeah, we'll be out on Tuesday next week. So thanks for listening and see you then.
01:05:42
Speaker
Nice to meet you. Welcome back to another episode of Who's Got the Ball with Shane and James.