Search
Login
Sign Up
Aug 22, 2025
A Numbers Game | August 22, 2025 | Hour 1
A Numbers Game | August 22, 2025 | Hour 1
00:00
44:49
1×
Transcript
0:00
[upbeat music] The numbers tell the story. They always do. He's one of those idiots who believe in analytics. This is a Numbers Game with Gil Alexander on VSiN.
0:09
Friday edition of a Numbers Game here on VSiN, the sports betting network. Matt Brown in for Gil. Last day here on the desk. Gil will be back on Monday. Kelly Bidleman alongside. We will talk some soccer with Paul Carr.
0:22
Can't wait. I'm, I'm very knowledgeable in soccer. That's right, man. So I'm just... My questions are going to be some of the best you've ever heard on- No, you know Paul, how, how he does it, man... on radio.
0:30
He's got three plays ready to go. He's gonna talk 'em through all, all of 'em for us. Uh, we'll, we will be more knowledgeable once he's gone. Chris Felica gonna join us. I have all kinds of questions for him for sure.
0:40
Jason Lisk in studio, talk some stuff going on over there at Team Rankings as well, if you haven't checked that site out, one of the many that I use- Mm-hmm... for research throughout the course of the NFL season.
0:51
So get some insight from him on everything. Kelly Bidleman, the, uh, the, the casino was hopping last evening here at the old Circa. It was jam-packed by the time I, uh, by the time I left yesterday at, like, 10:30 AM.
1:04
Yeah, it was, uh... People in town rock and rolling for this, uh, contest weekend. Went over to the, the Champions Dinner last night. Mm-hmm. Had me a little Andiamo. Over at the D, yeah. Yeah. Little, little Andiamo.
1:16
Uh, you- But you had the Champions Dinner. This is the one where they do the pr- privately with all the w- past winners. So everybody- Why were you there? Yeah, everyone that's, uh- You haven't won.
1:24
I, I- You haven't won anything... I've not won anything. [laughs] No. We're, we're, we're, we're a full-fledged in the middle of documenting it all. That's about it though.
1:30
[laughs] Uh, got over there and, uh, you know, great, great little, uh, great little steakhouse over there at Andiamo. Mm-hmm. So, uh, did, did that, and moseyed our way over to the, to the bar and, you know, f- it...
1:42
I, I've had a little, uh, moment there because, uh, Dustin was in there doing his show because they had moved him over there for- That's right... the deal and all. And I- I heard that, yeah... I hopped on the old table.
1:52
I hopped on the old table and, uh- Oh, nice. I did see, see you in the show recap last night. Uh, it's, I, I hopped on the old table for old time's sake there. I, I know you miss it. Well, here, I... We do.
2:01
Every day I miss, uh, Bob St. Cyr and, uh, waking up to him and just, uh, it just being stuck in my head all day. And the Sigma Derby going off like- And Sigma Derby going off. And, uh, it...
2:09
I was over there a couple weeks ago. Had a friend in town, and, like, there's just... Once you, once someone's gone to Sigma Derby, they always wanna go back. Like, I get it.
2:16
It, it's one of the most incredible things- Yeah... in Las Vegas to see. A- and frankly, the spectacle of it at this point- Mm... it's worth. So we went over to the D.
2:24
There was, like, nobody upstairs except for 40 people around Sigma Derby. [laughs] And I was like, "We're not waiting for this." I know you guys- Like, we're moving on...
2:32
uh, who are regular listeners know what we're talking about, but if you're just joining in, so over at the D they still have one of the original Sigma Derbies.
2:39
If you don't know what the Sigma Derby is, it's, you know, the little fake horses running around in the circle or whatever. It still actually uses coins. Mm-hmm. So it is a still coin-operated Sigma Derby machine.
2:49
And yeah, it was, it was popular obviously. Oh, yeah. Oh, I mean- It was popular... oldest operating casino game in Las Vegas, I believe. Well, I mean, it would... at this point it would have to be. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
2:59
And there's, what? I think it's w- it's one of the... There's only one other of it, and it's privately owned. Yeah. It was- It's the only one for public. Yeah. And it was, uh, it was cool.
3:08
Talked to a bunch of people who are, uh, fans of the network, fans of the show, fans of things that are going on and, and everyone thinks they're gonna win again.
3:14
You know, everyone thinks that they're gonna win this thing. And so, uh, Kelly, that... we have to go break their hearts- That's right... 'cause we're, 'cause we're gonna win. That's right.
3:20
I, I- You and I decided we're gonna shop this thing... that's a shame. Andiamo's great. I always appreciate a steak dinner where you get some spaghetti up front. You know what I mean?
3:26
Little, little spaghetti to, uh, start. I don't know if you saw the ticker out there behind us, but, uh, we got another entry. So 20- up to 20 now. Ooh. Yeah. Got another entry in the 100K, so good on them.
3:36
All you rich people, come on out. Yeah. Come on. The more the merrier. That's a lot of money. All right, bro. We've been talking about... Uh, last night, Cardinals hit the ball for us good, so that was fun.
3:45
When'd you cash that thing? In the second inning. That's nice. In the second inning. That's always good. A second inning baseball cash is the absolute best- Yeah...
3:50
'cause then you just flip the channel and go do whatever you wanna do. [laughs] You just, you just move on. You know, you don't have to worry about it and, and watch the rest of the game. So we got that home.
3:58
They get to five runs in the second inning, so we get the over four and a half. Pretty decent little week here for, uh, for baseball. Don't like anything on the card today though, so, mm, it is what it is.
4:06
We'll talk through it. Maybe we'll stumble upon something. The Brewers beat the Cubs. By the way, the Cubs put Kyle Tucker back into the lineup. He went O for four with a couple strike...
4:14
He, he just, he, he can't find it. Something is going on with him. They gave him, like a, a mental break. They, like, kept him out of the lineup for- Mental break...
4:21
a few days, like, 'cause he couldn't figure it out, and he still has not figured it out. So this Brewers team looks like that is going to be, uh, their division for sure.
4:31
Dodgers and the Padres both win, so the Padres do not gain any ground there on the Dodgers. But I guess more importantly, they don't lose any game, it's e- they don't lose- That's right... the ground either.
4:40
That's right. Yeah. So- [laughs] They, they both win, so we still got a race. That's what- We still got a race... we'll just, we'll just look at it that way as opposed to, uh, as opposed to the other way around.
4:48
I am s- I, as everyone knows, I'm a big, big Padres fan. For the next, what do we got? How many we got? Three weeks left or something like that? Like a, you know, something like that. Dodgers minus 265, Padres plus 200.
5:01
Is that it? I don't know. I'm looking at y- I'm looking at, I'm looking right now. Last day of the MLB- Oh... regular season would be Sunday, September 28th. Oh, so we got a month. Mm-hmm. We got a month.
5:11
All right, so we got a month of all of that. So yeah, it's, um, it's an interesting race. Obviously, the other interesting race, Red Sox, Yankees.
5:18
We talked about that, how those, th- that is going to be not only for the wild card, but maybe for the division. I mean, there's enough time for, for one of those teams- Let's go, Yanks...
5:25
to catch the Blue Jays for sure. Yankees lose. Yeah. I had to break it to you. I know. The Yankees lose six to three. Red Sox get it done.
5:32
Roman Anthony hits a, a two-run shot in the ninth inning just to kind of, uh, bolster their lead there in that one. Leading off for this team, he's got a 405 OBP. He is 21 years old.
5:45
He just got the $130 million contract at 21 years old because we're starting to see these teams when they know that they've got an awesome prospect, they don't, they don't want to wait until they have to pay him a billion dollars a year.
5:57
So they just, "Okay, we're gonna roll the dice. We'll give you 100 million before we've actually seen a ton of, of body of work," right? Mm-hmm. And, uh, so far so good for that.
6:08
Again, he is, he's raking for them, and you listen to what they're saying, he, he understands his... If there's any deficiency in Roman Anthony's game currently, it's his, it's on the defensive side.
6:17
And, uh, apparently he's- He's putting in the work. He wants to earn that $130 million Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah You know? If there are things you can fix in the off-season, or, or over several off-seasons, Matt. Yeah.
6:28
You ain't getting paid, you ain't getting paid for the glove. No. You're getting paid for the bat. For the bat. The Yankees walk nine Red Sox in that game. Nine. That's not ideal.
6:37
You're not gonna win very many games- Nine times... when, yeah, when you get [laughs] nine times. [laughs] You don't know what movie that's from. Ferris Bueller. Oh, [laughs] wow! Wow. Don't go movies with me, son.
6:46
Don't go movies with me, okay? Look at that. We had, uh, Glamorous playing on the, on the way, on the way in. Um- Uh, great song... and- I did have to double check who did it, though...
6:53
and, uh, Kelly, Kelly's singing it, bebopping along on my way into the studio. I see him just kinda like got a little pep in his step, and then he comes in and confesses that he, he didn't know who sang it.
7:02
Had to Shazam it. Shazam still works great. Yeah. It's like the first app ever on iPhone. Still works great. Fergie, um, uh, we looked up- Luda was in it. We were at Ludacris just a few months ago.
7:12
We, we looked up Fergie. 50 years old, Fergie. Yeah. 50 years old. Who would've thunk it? And apparently not married- Time flies... apparently no longer married to the, uh, the actor Josh Du- Duhamel. Duhamel? Duhamel?
7:24
Dude, I have no idea. We're gonna go with Duhamel. Uh, Kelly, you, you cashed last night. Yeah, we did.
7:29
The New York, the New York football Giants go out, and, you know, this was one of those information-based bets that you said you made earlier in the week, even though, and then we started to see some steam behind it.
7:40
Yeah. You got a better number than when this thing went off, but even with that, it was- Closing number gets home, too. Yeah...
7:46
it was still, yeah, I mean, it was, it was still just very obvious that the, the [laughs] Giants were kinda gonna be the team that had the more talent out there. It, it just took, I, I mean, it took one week.
7:55
Like, this is- Yeah... it's, it, j- this happens almost every pre-season, though, right?
7:59
Like, I, I think, I think handicapping quarterback depth charts is one of the most important things you can do if you're gonna go bet pre-season football.
8:06
And yet so, so often m- many of the bets that we make are the information races, right? Who's gonna play? Who's gonna not play? And we think that's where we can find an edge.
8:15
But man, like, the Giants, it kinda didn't matter. I d- like, I didn't really care if I didn't know at the point where I- Mm... at the time when I made the bet how much Russell Wilson, if he was gonna play, if at all.
8:24
But then you kinda figure you're still gonna see Jaxson Dart, who's looked great this pre-season, and you're gonna see Jameis Winston, you're gonna see Tommy DeVito.
8:30
And it's, well, no matter what we think of Jameis Winston and Tommy DeVito, these guys have NFL- Mm-hmm... live NFL reps, man.
8:35
Like, they've started games in the NFL, and they're going up against second half pre-season defenses, and they carved them up. I mean, those- I-...
8:41
quarterbacks combined for the Giants last night, 27 for 40 for 320 yards, five touchdowns, and one pick.
8:48
A- and Kelly, I know we talked a little bit about this yesterday, and I don't want to, I don't wanna be one of these people that comes in here and overreacts from a pre-season game, but it's not just a pre-season game.
8:58
It's kind of a pre-season just in general. I do wonder how long they're gonna be able to keep Jaxson Dart on the sideline. It, it's- Like, it, he look, he... Again, I'm not a talent evaluator- Yeah...
9:08
and I'm not at practice, and I don't get to see all the stuff that they get to see or whatever, but he looks like he can't be worse than Russell Wilson.
9:15
Well, it's, and, and it's also the, uh, like, the reports we have heard out of camp- Mm... you know, always take with a grain of salt. Yeah.
9:21
But, like, it's, they're, they're nothing but gloating, a- apparently from teammates, from everybody. It's just he's winning over the team slowly, slowly but surely, and he's looked, he's looked great.
9:31
You don't wanna overreact too much to what you've seen in pre-season. Uh, but man, I'm, I'm with you.
9:35
I, I didn't really think I, within three weeks I was gonna be starting to question that as well, of how [laughs] I, like, I think it's Ru- Russ is gonna go week one, but how, that leash, I think, has gotten shorter over the pre-season.
9:46
I would think it has to be, because you, you look at kinda that situation up there, and if, if you talk, start to talk about hot seat type of stuff, I mean, that's kinda the first conversation that comes up, is, is- Yes...
9:57
that whole front office, the coaching, all the coaching staff and everything like that. Rookie of the Year- And, and every move we, we, we've been critical of is every move- Ooh...
10:07
those guys have made has been to prolong their jobs, hence why you bring in a Jameis Winston and a Russell Wilson. Mm-hmm. Right? To have an established starting quarterback to start the year.
10:16
But what do you have now, Matt? If Jaxson Dart actually develops, you get to be the guys who, who developed Jaxson Dart into a starting quarterback. Was it Wednesday that we were doing offensive rookie of the year?
10:27
Maybe? Yeah, I believe so. What are we down to? Down to 25 on Dart. Yeah. Th- we are, we live in the most reactionary time ever. It is, it is crazy. So there it is. 25? So this is even- So, so there it is.
10:37
Yeah, so that's what I'm saying. So we, we- Let's move even just this morning. Yeah, just from last night this morning, yeah.
10:41
Yeah, so if we're looking, if you're, those of you that are with us over on YouTube TV or on our, on our watch app, you can see when we made this graphic, Jaxson Dart 35 to one, the biggest number, the best number you can get in the market right now on him is 25.
10:55
At Fanatics, he's 16. 16. He's down to 16. I can't argue that. Would you, would you rather have a Jaxson Dart ticket or a Tyler Shuck ticket? Oh, Jaxson Dart- Me too... for sure. Me too.
11:07
Tyler Shuck's 16 to one over at DraftKings. Because- N- n- not even close... Jaxson Dart is gonna be throwing to Malik Nabers. Yeah. You know? Yep.
11:15
I, you were, you threw it out there when we put this graphic up a couple days ago, and you said, "Listen, he might not start right off, but I mean, Jaxson Dart, if you're building a portfolio," hopefully people did if they were, had any interest in that whatsoever, because that number is long gone.
11:30
Yeah. Dude, down to 25. Kinda wish I took a piece when I said it. Yeah. We were, uh, lying to you whenever we said that we would be able to talk the golf and you'd still be able to put in bets. Yeah.
11:38
That is not the case. They had to move things up due to weather. We'll check in over on the golf side of things, give you our thoughts as we move in, and some Major League Baseball thoughts as well.
11:45
It's the Numbers Game here on VSiN.
11:47
[upbeat music] A Numbers Game on VSiN, the sports betting network.
12:05
It is the Numbers Game here on a Friday. Matt Brown, Kelly Fidlin.
12:09
The next two hours as we roll through, and, uh, you know, we said we were going to come in here with some hot takes on what we saw at East Lake, and give you some bets maybe to throw into your account.
12:18
However, Mother Nature did not, uh, accommodate for that, and they had to move the starting times up. So We're underway already. Yeah. A lot, a lot of books pool markets and things and stuff like that.
12:28
If stuff was still available, guess what? It didn't present itself like we thought yesterday because Scottie Scheffler's just too damn good. He was two under through four, Kelly.
12:37
It was never, never a, never a chance for us to get in on Scottie. And despite the fact that he headed into today two strokes down, he was not only your betting favorite, his odds got shorter.
12:47
And so [laughs] it's just the algorithm gets it, the people behind the counter get it, everyone's talking. I mean, he's just, he is an absolute machine. Did you check odds when he teed off? Yeah. What were they?
12:58
D- less than they were, less than they were [laughs] whenever- He did get shorter? Yes, he got shorter. Like, it went from 150 to 140. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Okay.
13:08
The algorithm said, "Hmm, this is what, this- Just not gonna let people get in... it sat there- Just not gonna let people get in...
13:13
it, it sat there, the, the algorithm goes, "Huh, if these guys are doing good, Scottie Scheffler is definitely gonna do good." And guess what, algorithm? You were right. [laughs] He went seven under yesterday.
13:24
You were, you were right. He played pretty well. You were right. Uh- He went seven under yesterday. Yeah, round two underway. Uh, you have what? About half the golfers out there. More than half.
13:32
More than half are out on the course. There's only 30, reminder. Uh, so yeah, Henrey, Scottie Scheffler at the top. Nine under for Henrey, wish, wish I would've added him to my first-round leader, uh, bets. Yeah.
13:40
That would've been nice. It's only, you know- Turned out a heavy top 10 under... here's the deal. We only bet Russell Henley when he forgets how to play golf.
13:45
[laughs] Like, like when- I've been betting him all summer, man. We, we- Like, both the good and the bad... I have, I have, Russell Henley, boy. He is, he is the one that got away.
13:54
You know, I, I'm gonna look back and- I, that's where I w- I was definitely not, I left him off the card last week- Yeah... and hated myself for it.
14:00
I was not doing it for the last tournament of the year, but I, I don't have an outright bet. I just have a top 10. You've got Henley nine under, Scheffler seven under.
14:06
Then it is Fleetwood, Justin Thomas, Robert McIntyre, Collin Morikawa, and Patrick Cantlay at six under par. Updated odds, Scheffler plus 110, Henley four to one, Rory 11 to one, Tommy Fleetwood tw- 12 to one.
14:21
Everybody else 16 to one or longer. I guess that Rory price- [laughs]... is slightly interesting to me. He is five under right now. He's one under on his round through two.
14:30
If you want to, if you wanna play the regression monster here, I, I like Russell Henley as a player. Russell Henley made about 700 feet of putts yesterday. Oh, yeah, yeah.
14:40
And if you look at his stats, he lost around the green, he lost off the tee. He loses in two different areas, but he gained 5.39 strokes in one round putting.
14:53
Yeah, it was- So- I believe I saw his best round putting ever. So if- If not, it was one of his best... you know, we say, "Is that sustainable?" We know that regression doesn't always have to happen immediately.
15:04
It is very, very unlikely that he's gonna be able to lose off the tee today, lose around the green, and still be able to shoot, you know, a, a, a decent round. Yeah. And so I would, I would play the regression here.
15:16
Of course, when you, you look at Scottie, he just, he just gains across the board.
15:20
Again, um, the, I, I guess if there's anybody out there, if you wanted to kinda look at, at something that might, could either go one way or the other, depending on how you feel about Justin Thomas, Kelly.
15:31
So he was able to shoot six under yesterday. He lost a full stroke off the tee. Like, Justin Thomas lost a full stroke off the tee and still shot six under. Wow. So again, whether you think one way or the other, right?
15:43
I mean, if you think he can figure it out, how to hit some more fairways, maybe.
15:47
Or if you're like, "Hey, he cannot keep this up," it's just like there's no way, Justin Thomas might be somebody you either want to fade or back one way or the other.
15:54
Yeah, he was, he was someone I actually bet against in a matchup. Mm. But, uh, you know, the off the tee [laughs] the off the tee being a problem this week with- Yeah...
16:01
some of the narrow fairways, that's kinda what I was banking on, and him having some struggles there. So no, no, not great to hear that that, that part's panning out- Mm-hmm... but he's still, uh, shooting that low.
16:10
And then on the flip side, someone that you did bet, and I know it's a little frustrating, but you see Ludvig who gains a full 1.7 around the green. Ah. Which, by the way, has kinda been a problem for him. Yeah.
16:20
Which lets you know that he's worked on that, and he's done well. Gains 1.7 over there. Gains another, gains a whole stroke off the tee. Does everything well except loses 1.17 on the greens putting.
16:31
And if you were watching yesterday, you saw it was, it was brutal. It was brutal. There, there might have been a, uh, a remote tossed, uh, uh- [laughs]... from my desk at one point.
16:40
Actually, I, it's just, they're like, none, there weren't a lot of easy ones out there. Yeah. It just felt like every one of them was 8 to 12 feet, but it was every one was burning the edges. Mm-hmm.
16:49
So I, for a lo- I did have a first-round leader bet on him, too. And like, for a while, he looked like- Yeah... he was right in that mix. I don't, I think Henley would've ended up passing him, no problem anyways.
16:57
We do have, uh, we got boots on the ground out there, Matt. If anybody wa- needs a weather update, Jeff Greenway, uh, Country, Country Club South Media. [laughs] I've been on his podcast before.
17:06
You and I have played in his- Yeah... some of his golf pools before. Uh, he said it's real nasty out here. Uh, all b- all overcast and rainy this morning. Strong thunderstorms expected this afternoon.
17:16
It's only in the 70s, though, so con- as long as the rain stays away, looks like some pleasant, pleasant, uh, temperatures at least for these guys to play in.
17:23
We are, it's a little, little interesting news here from Adam Schefter. W- we previewed the Panthers yesterday, and part of our preview was the fact that we said, "You know, hey, listen.
17:32
Even at his advanced age, you have a really good possession slot receiver, a dude that if you need a third and six converted, you can look at Adam Thielen. You can look his way. He's gonna get it converted for you."
17:43
Well, you know that Jordan Addison is gonna be suspended to start the year for them, or at some point. And so the Vikings have inquired about trading for Adam Thielen.
17:52
Um, with Jordan Addison serving a three-game suspension and Jay- Jalen Naylor dealing with a hand injury, Thielen is a target for them, he says here. So the Vikings going back, trying to bring old Thielen back to town.
18:06
Yeah, we, we had, uh, when we were talking about it the other day, Kle- [laughs] Kliff Kingsbury tweeted it out. Immediately what I saw, when the Viki- you know, there was a report Vikings were interested- Mm...
18:15
in shopping for, for a wide receiver. Uh, look, I mean, from the Vikings' side, I think it makes a whole lot of sense. I think from the Carolina side, it's a little interesting, though.
18:23
I mean, we, like you said, we talked about this yesterday. And, uh, like, I'm a, I'm a big Tedd Ginn Jr. guy. Mm-hmm. I think he's gonna, I think he's gonna be great immediately for them.
18:32
But- Uh, he's still a rookie, and I think there are questions on the rest of the depth chart when you look at wide receiver. And both you and I said- Mm...
18:39
kinda, kinda been surprised and, and pleasantly surprised at how well Adam Thielen's worked out there for them. Yeah. I, I bet you they would want something decent in return for him.
18:50
Like, you're not g- I don't think you're getting away with, like, a seventh. You know, oh, yeah, you can have a s- seventh rounder, or a sixth rounder, or something. I bet you, like, gotta come with a fifth.
18:56
You think he's, like, a four? You gotta come with, like, a five or a four I bet. I b- yeah, I was thinking fifth. Like- I was thinking fifth... like, you gotta come with a five or a four.
19:02
And, like, at least with if, if you get a fourth round pick or a fifth round, like, these are dudes that are i- have a decent shot at making your team, right? You're not, like- Right, right...
19:09
giving him away for nothing. Like, you're, you're, you're getting someone that can provide some depth for you in the draft. But yeah, very interesting stuff there that, uh...
19:17
And we'll keep you obviously if anything comes down while we are, while we're on air. The, the Dodgers and Padres start a very important series today, and it's Blake Snell versus Yu Darvish.
19:26
And Kelly, I said that I didn't love anything, but this is the thing that I got closest to today, which was betting the Dodgers on the f- like, first five run line because Yu Darvish has been not Yu Darvish-like.
19:40
And I think that there are some, uh, there's some signs pointing to this Dodger team being able to get to him. By the way, we'll find out this...
19:47
And the reason I didn't pull the trigger on this bet, remember yesterday was a scheduled day off for Shohei. Oh, yeah.
19:53
And Dave Roberts said that he was confident that he would be back in the lineup today, but the fact that there is that little bit of doubt is why I didn't pull the trigger on this.
20:02
Obviously, if you're gonna talk about a first five, I'm g- I'm getting two at-bats most likely from Shohei in the first five. I want those if I'm trying to bet a first five with the Dodgers.
20:10
So until I can get that information, can't put that bet in the account. But I do at least wanna throw it out there to people that if it does end up in my account, that's, that's the, the reason why.
20:20
Or if it doesn't, that is also the reason why. So we'll have to see what Shohei's status is. Yeah, I think that makes sense. Mm-hmm. Dodgers right now, minus 125 on the money line. Padres plus 103.
20:28
Total set at eight over at DraftKings. Yeah, this is, uh, an- another interesting day because we're starting to see some of these teams, you know, look... Okay, the Brewers.
20:36
José Quintana's actually been really good for them. Is this gonna keep up? I mean, the Giants I know are not, uh, are not world beaters, but the Giants are at least froggy.
20:44
And, you know, José Quintana, like, it, if this is, if this Brewers team is going to be a real contender, if this is gonna be a real team that we have to worry about come postseason,
20:54
if Quintana can play his way into, like, "Oh, Quintana might be a contributor," you know, from a, as a, as a starter.
21:01
I, I mean this, this, this Brewers team, I don't know, continues to, continues to impress me in ways that I did not think was possible. Hey, man, yeah, uh, they're, they're on a tear right now. Yeah.
21:12
Uh, at first, first team to 80 wins this season. 18 and 48 they go to, uh, after yesterday. Uh, th- they've been on an absolute tear. I would not be getting in front of them right now.
21:21
[laughs] You're, you're like, "Oh, you know what? I don't think I'm gonna, I don't think I'm gonna bet against these guys."
21:25
I also just had, I just also had to double-check if, uh, if, uh, the Giants pit- pitcher was, uh, related to Ken Whisenhunt. But no, he's not. He's not? No, he's not.
21:34
See, this is the type of information that you tune in for here. That's right. And now- Carson Whisenhunt, not related. Yeah. Finding out that Kelly didn't know who Fergie was, and then, uh, and then- And that's, that-...
21:43
s- that, that was Ken, Ken Whisenhunt... no, it's just lies. It's just lies. Yeah. Just forgot who did the song. Guys, uh, the Travers Stakes coming up here.
21:49
First Bet is where we are going to be placing our bets over there. First Bet is the official horse racing partner of VSiN. Travers Stakes is the marquee race of the summer schedule.
21:59
You don't wanna miss a second of this action. New users on First Bet can earn up to $250 in bonus cash when you use our exclusive promo code, which is VSiN250, V-S-i-N-2-5-0, when signing up.
22:10
So go in, take a look at what you g- what this, uh, app has to offer. It's really, really cool. You go in. Horse racing happens all year round, all around the world, so you can always find some stuff to bet on.
22:21
And for a vast majority of the tracks out there, you can watch the races right there in the app as well. Who doesn't want a $250 sign-up bonus?
22:31
Well, you can get that over at firstbet.com right now when you use that promo code V-S-i-N250. When we come back, let's talk a little grass hockey with Paul Carr. How about it?
22:41
[upbeat music] A Numbers Game on VSiN, the sports betting network.
23:05
Numbers Game here on a Friday, closing out the week. Been a good week. Appreciate you guys, uh, letting me fill in here for Gil. He'll be back on Monday. Kelly- Hey, no problem. You killed it... Goodman alongside here.
23:16
Um, the Twitter machine is, is letting us know that, um, they would love, they would love for r- for Adam Thielen to end up back in, back in Minnesota. They wanna see that purple jersey back on him. I kinda do too.
23:30
Tho- those were fun Vikings teams- Yeah... man. Yeah. Uh, and it looks like it's about to be fun again in Minnesota. Minnesota's had a lot of fun, uh, uh, f- football teams actually over the past 20 years now.
23:39
There, there's probably people rolling their eyes, but, like, you have Justin Jefferson who can do everything. Yes. And so if you had a dude that's just, like I said, your six-yard chain mover
23:49
added to that, I mean- It's what you need, yeah. I, I, it's, it's interesting. That's why he worked- Yeah... so well opposite of Diggs and Jefferson and every, like guys like that- Yeah... for years. It could.
23:58
It could be interesting. I, uh, listen, I'm all for it even though I kinda want him... I, I kinda wanna see what Bryce Young is. And, like- Right, that doesn't help things. Yeah, yeah...
24:06
having that little security bl- yeah, like, having that little security blanket, like, makes me feel better about- So that, like, that's the part, right? Yeah. You get it from Minnesota's side.
24:13
I, I do struggle a little bit with it- Mm... from Carolina 'cause don't, don't you want every piece- Yeah... available to help him grow- Yeah... so you can figure this out quicker? I don't know. 'Cause I'm not convinced.
24:22
This is what I s- I'm still not convinced. I know. Here we go. Maybe something will [laughs] happen while we're on air, and then we can... Minnesota, uh, uh, Carolina's gonna come out and say, "Absolutely not.
24:30
He is going nowhere." Demand a first-round pick for him. [laughs] Yeah, exactly. For 35-year-old Adam Thielen. [laughs] I was gonna guess 34 too. I thought it was a year off.
24:37
Now joining us here on the program, Paul Carr, True Media Sports Expected Value podcast, @paul Carr over on the Twitter machine. Gonna talk some Premier League. Paul, how you doing, man? Where it's nice and hot.
24:50
[laughs] It's okay. We, uh, what are we, about a week and a half into the season now? Two weeks into the season? Yeah, we got week two, week two starting today. Yep. Yeah, week two, buddy. Look at that, Kelly.
25:00
So- By the way, happy birthday, Adam Thielen. 35 years old tod- as of today. Yeah. Oh. So he was 34. He was 34, yeah, last night- There you go... whenever I was thinking about it. Well done. You were right yesterday.
25:11
[laughs] Yeah, Kelly was right yesterday. He's wrong today, but that's fine. That's right. That's, that's good. Hey, Paul, let's, I wanna start with top goalscorer.
25:17
'Cause, 'cause Erling Haaland, right, week one, score, puts two in the back of the net. All of a sudden he's down to minus 110. Uh, i- i- can we jump back... Uh, should we jump in on, uh, uh, Palmer now?
25:28
Should we be looking elsewhere? Do we think there's, uh, more value with that Palmer number now?
25:33
Yeah, I mean, if you could still get the, like, plus 2800 that I ha- had pre-season that was out there, at least one book, then I think that's still worth a shot. Palmer didn't look particularly good.
25:42
Chelsea's got a lot of new pieces in attack, and they look like they're still trying to figure some things out. But again, he takes penalties, it's a good team.
25:49
I mean, 15 to 20 goals is easily in range, and you throw on half a dozen penalties or so, and he's right there in the race. Haaland is always gonna be the favorite. Uh, I'm not, you know, paying minus 110 now.
25:58
He's like plus 150-ish before the season. But, you know, now's as good a time as any if you're getting... I think you want at least plus 2500 or so if you're looking at Palmer specifically. Okay.
26:07
Yeah, 22 right now over at DraftKings. Um, biggest takeaways, Paul, I know it's just- Well, l- can I, can I- Yeah... can I, let me piggyback on this question real quick, 'cause I think this is interesting.
26:16
So, uh, Paul, we just w- we see how reactionary some of these other markets are. We watched Jackson Dart go out and have a good pre-season game, and he just went from 35 to 1 down to 25 to 1 to be Rookie of the Year.
26:27
Mm-hmm. H- how reactionary are the markets to, to the Premier League? Little bit. Uh, especially, so you throw those futures up that you had there. I think Man City's now at plus 275 to win the title.
26:38
They were plus 320, plus 330, in that range, before they went out and beat Wolverhampton 4-0, uh, in the opener, which, I mean, Wolverhampton's a bad team, so it's not like it's a surprising result.
26:48
But there, there's always a little bit, there's just those little movements here and there. It's obviously a 38-game season. Uh, there's no playoffs, so it's just, you know, how do you do in the season?
26:56
So things will move a little bit. They, they... It is fun to track them over the course of the season.
27:00
Like, last year, Chelsea was down to, I don't know, it was, like, plus 3 or 4, maybe 500 to win the title at some point. Then they lost two, three games in a row, and they're back over plus 1000.
27:08
So the deeper you get, obviously, the more reactionary everything gets. Yeah, it's, uh, y- you, I guess I would, I would think with how long Premier League season is, when you see stuff early, right? Mm-hmm.
27:18
There's probably, stuff probably moves. But when we settle into the middle of the season- Mm-hmm... probably not quite as reactionary.
27:24
Uh, Paul, just kind of big, what, any big takeaways you had from the first, first week, uh, of matches? Not particularly. I mean, Liverpool one, they hung four. City hung four.
27:34
Uh, you know, Arsenal didn't look great, but they got the win against Manchester United. So those are the three favorites. They all won. And, you know, if anything, maybe, like, Leeds looked pretty good.
27:45
They're a newly promoted team, and, uh, the last six newly promoted teams have all gone right back down.
27:49
They looked pretty good in a win against Everton, so maybe they have a little more staying power, uh, than we expected. But they were also the, the favorite of the three newly promoted teams to stay up.
27:58
So it's not a shock necessarily that they looked decent. But it's always good to kind of see it play out how you think it might, and we've, and it's just through week one.
28:07
Paul, we got a game tomorrow if people want to get into the account here. What do you got against Wolverhampton? Well, I bet them to be relegated before the season. [laughs] So I've got that against them.
28:18
Uh, but other than that, I just am not convinced they're that good. They lost their two best attackers in the off-season.
28:24
Uh, they actually, to be honest, they didn't look terrible against Man City, which is a funny thing to say in a 4-0 loss. Uh, you're just gonna look bad against City in some ways. They didn't look awful.
28:33
But I'm still going with Bournemouth here at home, minus 125 on the three-way. Uh, Bournemouth lost 4-2 to Liverpool themselves, but again, that was against Liverpool.
28:41
And Bournemouth still looked really great on the counterattack. Uh, Semenyo got both their goals that way against Liverpool.
28:46
Wolves will probably have a little more of the ball in this one, which plays more to Bournemouth's favor.
28:51
Uh, they beat 'em handily once last year, lost the other one, but that was an early red card, so you can kind of throw that one out the window. So I like Bournemouth.
28:57
This is my favorite, you know, take the better team right here. You're playing at home, minus 125, not too juicy for me. Yeah, Matt, how this works, it is the Wolverhampton Wanderers. Mm-hmm.
29:07
Everybody just calls them the Wolves. The Wolves. It's the Wandering Wolves. Not the Wolves, just W- just Wolves. Just Wolves. Yeah. Yeah. Just Wolves.
29:13
I'm still trying to wrap my mind around that one, but, you know, hey, we'll move on. Uh, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest on Sunday. That one's on your card, Paul. What do you like there?
29:22
Yeah, still leaning on priors a little bit here. I like Crystal Palace to finish top half this season after they had a pretty good year last year. Forest had a great year, too.
29:30
They were in Champions League contention till the very last day. Uh, overachieving, though, all their numbers. And the big question is, can they do this again?
29:37
They scored first in, uh, most or second-most games last season, which is just tough to sustain. But then they went out and got an early goal in the opener and won 3-1 against Brentford.
29:46
So maybe they can, but I don't, I don't think they can. Palace looked good against Chelsea. They cashed our double chance bet, uh, in week one.
29:53
They didn't play the whole A team in their midweek game, uh, in Europe, so I think they're ready to go. This is, you know, essentially a top-half team against a bottom-half team at home.
30:02
Uh, so I like Forest, or I like Palace, rather, to win at plus 140. And also, Forest has some backroom strife right now.
30:08
There's rumors their manager, Nuno Santo, may be on his way out, 'cause he's clashing with ownership and management. So that could be a thing that could come out here, too.
30:16
Again, take the better team, getting a good plus money price at home at 140. Talking to Paul Carr about the Premier League here. Paul, Everton, Brighton, you're gonna play a total.
30:25
Yeah, we're rooting against human achievement, as Gil likes to say here. [laughs] Under two and a half, minus 125. This is really about Everton. This is the kind of game that they...
30:34
I mean, this is what they do right now. They play real solid defensively, try not to give up too much, uh, under David Moyes, and maybe get a few opportunities of their own to sneak out a win, something like that.
30:44
Everton wasn't all that great at executing it against Leeds in the opener, but again, that style was there that we expect to see here. Uh, Brighton drew against Fulham 1-1. Tough draw for them.
30:54
They gave up a equalizer in stoppage time at home. So Brighton's the better team here, and even more reason for Everton to kinda keep it tight, try to pack it in and play for a low-scoring game.
31:04
So, so I think we see under two and a half here, minus 125 my price. I like it. Paul Carr, two and one last week for plus 1.45 units. Yeah, that's right, I did the math on that last week. Ooh, look at you. Uh, yes.
31:17
[laughs] Yeah, that's right. Thre- uh, three today. Bournemouth minus 125, Crystal Palace plus 140, and Everton, eh, Brighton under two and a half, uh, those last two on Sunday. Paul, know you're a big Dolphins fan.
31:29
I've been trying- Yeah... I, I feel like I've been one of the very few all summer that's been like, "Well, like, what if these guys just stay healthy and Tyreek Hill works out, and this could be pretty good?"
31:38
Training camp's been ugly, though. I, I think that's, uh, hard to argue. Yeah. What, what, what are your feelings right now on the Dolphins and kinda where they, where they fall in the AFC and AFC East?
31:47
Yeah, so as a fan, I'm definitely trying to be optimistic here. It's like, all right, you know, Tua can stay healthy. Offensive line can't be worse. They, they brought in a few new guys. They gotta be a little better.
31:56
Get Hill and Waddle back together. You know, the, surely that'll work out, and the defense will figure it out.
32:03
But the pessimistic si- msic side of me is like, they lost a lot on defense, and the defense was okay, not great anyway. Uh, you know, Hanes hurt already this season.
32:12
He's not, you know, maybe the most healthy type anyway. So I'm a little bit worried that, you know, are the wheels gonna fall off again? Obviously the, if Tua, you know, takes the wrong kinda hit, then forget about it.
32:23
So I'm a little concerned right now as we're, what, a week and a half out of the season. Yeah. He is Paul Carr, True Media Sports Expected Value podcast @paul Carr over on the Twitter machine.
32:32
Appreciate the time, my man, and good luck. Thanks, Matt. Thanks, Kelly. Oh, man, I, uh, you know, I ran into someone last... It's funny you bring this up.
32:40
I ran into someone last night over at the, uh, over at the gathering at the D who was a Dolphins guy, and he was hard selling me on why everyone's overreacting about the Dolphins.
32:51
He said, "I would be the first-" To the negative. Yeah. He said, "I would be the first to tell you if I thought that the sky was falling." He goes, "I think everybody is overreacting."
32:58
Yeah, I feel like a lot of, a lot of the Dolphins fans I've talked to, uh, including Paul Carr, but some of the ones down in South Florida, oh boy, they, it is the sky is falling big time. Yeah, see it was- I, it is-...
33:07
it's just interesting I, 'cause I- It is not the good vibes... like you said, I haven't gotten a very many, I haven't gotten very many rosy- Yeah... outlooks. But he was like, "Yeah, we're, we're overreacting."
33:14
I feel like there, there was a lot of anti-Dolphins, and then training camp started and it got even worse. And, and that's when I've kinda dialed back my love too.
33:21
Like, when you're, you're, you're just, there's not good things being said at podiums, right? Live outside of Nevada and wanna come play these big contests? Well, Winter Circle Proxy got you covered.
33:30
All you gotta do is make that one trip out here to Circa. They got you covered from there.
33:34
Wintercircleproxy.com/vsiz and they will come in, they will put in your picks for you each and every week when you send them t- to those guys.
33:41
They are trusted and put in over nine seasons, 9.3 million in winners the last couple years as well. Wintercircleproxy.com/vsiz.
33:48
[upbeat music] A numbers game on VSiN, the sports betting network.
34:10
Numbers game here on VSiN. Matt Brown, Kelly Fidlin. Nearly everybody has teed off.
34:16
We're still waiting on, I think, the final two groups to get going out there, but Bob McIntyre goes out, birdies one, so he's finds himself a T2 at seven under. We see Cam Young making a, a push today. Yeah.
34:29
Three under through six. Yeah. Yeah. So good for him. Your low scores on the course right now are, one, Keegan Bradley, the captain. Mm-hmm. Five under through 13, and five under for his tournament.
34:41
And then Harry Hall, five under through 10, five under for his tournament. Harris Hall. Those guys even, even- Let's see how he got there, because I'm gonna guess- Well, we're also doing li- lift, clean and place today.
34:53
Don't know if you caught that, but yeah. Hmm. With these soggy conditions to make it even easier for the...
34:58
If we're not doing that for majors, why are we doing that for the tour championship with the 30 best golfers on the course? Yeah, I mean, listen, I am always for lift, clean... Like, always. Like, I mean,
35:08
dude, hitting the ball with a giant piece of mud on it, like, why? That doesn't make any sense. I don't really- That's not how it was meant to be played. I don't really care either way, but I don't like...
35:18
I, I didn't like... What major was that? I don't even remember anymore. But I don't like when they just change, they just change their minds on these rules so much. All willy-nilly like. Yes. Yeah.
35:26
I, I would be okay w- if they, if- Yeah... if, if they chose any weather in the area whatsoever, cool, we're just gonna call it now lift, clean and place. And here's the thing. Here's the other thing.
35:35
If, if, if the ball goes in a divot- Called willy-nilly. You're right, that was the perfect way to say it. If the ball- That's what I meant... if the ball goes in a divot, you, you get to move it out of the divot.
35:42
This is stupid. This, it's stupid that you have to hit it out of a divot. Yeah. The divot is not part of the golf course. Yeah. Someone created it. It's not your fault that you're good... See, here's the other thing.
35:51
You go later on in the afternoon because you've accomplished so mu- You get to, you get the later tee time. Sure, and you're at a disadvantage. Everyone's already... Yeah.
36:00
Everyone's already run through the course, and so there's all, like, in the landing areas and all the stuff like that, where these, most of the guys hit it, is where all the divots are.
36:07
So you come in, and your, your reward for being the leader of the tournament is that you get to go and, like, have a higher chance of hitting one of these divots and then having to hit out of a divot It's stupid.
36:17
It's, it's- It's a dumb rule... it is. It's, it's also insane how robotic these guys are that, like, that happens. Yeah. Right?
36:23
It's like, "Hey, I just, uh, blasted a 320-yard drive," and, like, the next guy up just put it in the, literally the- Yeah... exact same spot that my ball is.
36:31
If you go to, I mean, you go to any of these pro tournaments, you can stan- you know where the landing zone is. Like, you can stand, and, like, nearly every drive will land somewhere in like the 20- Yeah, like 40 yards.
36:40
Yeah... like it was like 20 to 30 yard- It's wild... like, landing zone. Yeah, it's, it's, uh, absolutely crazy. They're all just, they all just blast it now.
36:46
Guys, if you think you're better than the experts, you can prove it in the Edge Boost Average Joe contest. Same format as the Circa Friday Football Invitational, but contestants are the average Joes instead of the pros.
36:56
Yes, you sh- can come in. It's free to play. Register any time throughout the season and still be eligible for the weekly and the quarterly prizes.
37:04
The grand prize, a spot in next year's 25-man pro handicap Circa Invitational field. Sign up now, vsin.com/joe. That is V-S-I-N.com/J-O-E.
37:15
Free to enter, so if it's free, take the time, go in, just go ahead and, and do it. And plus, weekly and quarterly prizes.
37:21
It's kinda like those deals where it's like, you know, you forget one week 'cause you're not dead, because you can still win a week. Yeah, weekly, that's nice. Yeah. There we go. Weekly and, and the quarterly stuff.
37:28
Maybe we should start doing [laughs]- I was gonna say, I need that, Circa... [laughs] I was gonna say, we need g- g- like, I don't even care if it's just, like, I win $25 or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know?
37:36
'Cause I've never won one red cent [laughs] in any, in- Right. I haven't taken a dollar from these guys in a contest... in, in the millions. Yeah, I mean, in the millions.
37:41
It's like, God, I don't even like five games a week. So the f- I know... that you have to- That's always the problem, yeah... yes... that you have to, and you can't pick totals.
37:48
It, like, there, so it's just has to be the spread, too. I have split an entry with a friend back east for I- the entire time, seven years now. Mm-hmm. Uh, we've done it. But it's always that, right?
37:58
We, like, y- you c- each come to the table, we have a discussion every week. It's a great way to catch up with friends. Another reason why you should sign up for the contest. Yes.
38:04
You split, if you got someone in Vegas like a me, you can split it- [laughs]... with a me, and then you have a conversation every week and catch up. It's great.
38:11
Y- you know, you, we get a little older, we don't talk to some of these friends as much. Mm-hmm. Right? Um, so we have great conversations, but we come to the table each with, like, games we like. G- guess what happens?
38:19
You match on one or two, you cancel out a couple because you're on opposite sides. Yeah.
38:24
And then we sit there for 45 minutes going through the entire card trying to find the one or two to add that, guess what, I'm gonna guess lifetime we're, like, 38% on. Yeah. The added games at the end.
38:35
Yeah, it's just 'cause it's hard to like five games a week. It's hard, it's hard to like five games a week. If you're, I mean, if you're doing it right, anyway, you know?
38:41
If you're doing it right, it's hard to find five that you like. Okay, NFC West, we said we were going to talk about them. We will. I have a very unpopular opinion that I'm a little bit down on the 49ers.
38:51
Now, I do understand that the schedule is very, very favorable for them. It's incredible.
38:55
So that is the reason why I s- I can't have them necessarily, I can't say th- definitively that this team is going to be bad, because I don't think they even have to be good to still be, to, uh, I, I, I, to still be, like, in the playoff hunt, probably in the division hunt, all of that, because the schedule is so incredibly soft.
39:16
But, you know, I'm a little bit higher, I think, on, than the, on the Cardinals than maybe market is as well.
39:21
I think that this is a team that has finally gotten to a point where they have a decent amount of talent and enough talent to maybe- Yeah... compete with all of that.
39:30
And the thing that I just can't get there with, Kelly, with the 49ers is I just think a lot of assumptions are being made about this team, which is we're just assuming that Brandon Aiyuk is gonna come back and look like Brandon Aiyuk.
39:40
We're just assuming that a 30-year-old running back is gonna come back off his second major injury of his career and just be Christian McCaffrey yet again.
39:47
We're just under the assumption that despite the numbers that we saw last year from Brock Purdy, that he actually is one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL, that he's not just middling. He's not bad.
39:56
The numbers didn't say that he's bad. The numbers just said he's in the middle, which the middle, it's fine. It's, you're in a better position than most teams are because most teams have- I think he's above average...
40:04
because most teams have bad quarterbacks. Yeah. And so y- your, it's fine. You're, you're not in a, in a bad spot with him, but I don't think that you're necessarily getting an elite guy under center each and every week.
40:13
And so just, just, uh, there was, by the way, lost a ton on the defensive side of the ball- Yeah... as well in free agency. Like, there's just...
40:20
Crowning them just because it says 49ers on their jersey and just because Shanahan is the coach, I think we're just getting a little ahead of ourselves. Absolutely terrible special teams last year, too.
40:28
It's not something we often talk about. Mm. But, you know, three phases, right? They, they were absolutely awful last year on special teams. Uh, that was something that jumped out to me. But hey, Matt, I hear you.
40:38
Like, I've gone back and forth I think for the past couple years of really how do I, how good do I think this team is. They have lost, they, they've lost a lot of talent this off season. Mm.
40:46
I, I mean, this, it's what happens, right? When you gotta pay, you gotta pay guys, you're gonna lose some of these veterans and let 'em walk, and that's what happens.
40:53
But man, every time I just look at this schedule- Yeah... and it's just so, it's such cake that, like, I, I don't...
41:00
Matt, as down as I could be on this team, I, I think they're penciling them into the playoffs right now. Like, if this was the AFC, I'd feel different. It, it's the NFC.
41:08
I'm not necessarily saying they're gonna win the division. I think this is a fascinating, one of the most- Mm... fun divisions in the NFL this year. 'Cause I'm with you. I am high on the Cardinals. I am high on the Rams.
41:17
Uh, and the 49er schedule I think is just so easy that they're gonna be right in the mix the entire way. So I bet the Rams to win the division.
41:24
I did this obviously before the back injury, uh, for Matthew Stafford, so I don't love it. I can't really sit here and, and advocate for it now- Yeah...
41:32
because there is a big X factor that you and I won't know until we see it out on the field, right? I never made a division bet, but I w- I would stay away right now as well. Yeah. Uh, it, there's three teams here.
41:42
The one bet I have in th- in this division is the Seahawks to finish last. Mm. Uh, fourth in division at plus 120. I, and it's not even that I'm so low on the Seahawks. Mm.
41:52
Like, I think that defense is gonna continue to get bender, better under McDonald. I do have major concerns on the offensive side of the ball. That offensive line has been a mess for the past couple years.
42:00
They've struggled to stay healthy. I question how talented it is. I'm not the biggest Sam Darnold guy. Geno Smith leaving town, I think this, D.K. Metcalf out, I think that offense is gonna take some time.
42:11
But really, Matt, it's just about being, being fourth in a division with three teams that I'm relatively high on.
42:16
I'll tell you, if somebody gave me a free $100 right now and said, "You have to bet the division," given what I know now about Stafford and how I feel about the 49ers, I'd probably bet the Cardinals at four and a, at 425.
42:27
Like, that would probably be- If I had to make a bet today, that's what it would be... the, the bet for me.
42:30
And so they went out, and I think that, you know, like we saw, there's a concerted effort in a lot of these teams to go, and it was, it was...
42:37
It's very interesting as I dug into all of these teams in the off season, Kelly, because you, you did notice there was much more of the, "We are going to go and fix this- This year than I've seen in, in years past, and that happened with the Cardinals.
42:52
So they signed Josh Sweat, an edge. They signed Dalvin Tomlinson, a defensive tackle. They signed Calais Campbell at defensive tackle. They signed linebacker Hakeem Davis-Gaither.
43:00
They drafted defensive tackle Walter Nolen and cornerback Will Johnson.
43:04
So they said, "We have to fix this defense," like s- a couple of these other teams did, and they go out and, and their, all of their big free agent signings... Oh, by the way, they also brought in J.K.
43:12
Brisset to back up Ky- Kyler Murray. Yeah. Which, say what you want to a- about teams having to start him in years past and things like that, but like as a backup- He's a great backup, yeah...
43:20
you feel pretty, you feel pretty good about having him if he's gotta make a start or two for you, 'cause your quar- or because your starter goes down.
43:25
So with the pickups, I mean, at least on paper, again, like this defensive line is actually really good now, and they have a really good cornerback c- combo. They have a really good safety combo.
43:35
Like, I think the defense for this Cardinals team is going to be one of the sneaky good defenses in the NFL this year. Wow, okay. And so if the offense can catch up,
43:44
they might be able to contend with this Rams team and this 49ers team.
43:46
Yeah, I, I mean, I guess I was thinking they were gonna be going from a bottom third, one of the worst t- uh, defenses in the league, but h- look, th- they've dealt with a lot of injuries too over the past couple years.
43:57
Um, I, I think I was expecting to go bottom third to kind of middle o- of the table, but if you're ta- if you're talking top 10 or something with this defense, then yeah, the ceiling is very high for this team.
44:08
I mean, it, it's just completely rebuilt, and like that doesn't mean necessarily- It is, it is, yeah...
44:11
it doesn't necessarily mean that it's gonna equal success out on the field, but again, at least on paper, when you start putting Calais Campbell and Tomlinson and Sweat a- and all these, you, you know, you draft Johnson, all, like you, you do all these different things to, to upgrade the position, it still needs to manifest out on the field.
44:26
Mm-hmm. Don't get me wrong, but, uh, I like what they did. I think it's gonna be pretty interesting with the Cardinals. And we di- and we didn't say once it depends on how g- i- if Marvin Harrison Jr. can be good. Right.
44:36
He's gonna have to step up, though. There's no doubt about it. When we come back, let's talk some college football with Chris Felica. [upbeat music]
A Numbers Game
Listen on
Apple Podcasts
Apple Podcasts
Pocket Casts
Pocket Casts
Castro
Castro
Recent episodes
A Numbers Game | September 17, 2026 | Hour 1
Sep 17, 2026
Best of A Numbers Game | September 16, 2026
Sep 16, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 16, 2026 | Hour 3
Sep 16, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 16, 2026 | Hour 2
Sep 16, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 16, 2026 | Hour 1
Sep 16, 2026
Best of A Numbers Game | September 15, 2026
Sep 15, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 15, 2026 | Hour 3
Sep 15, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 15, 2026 | Hour 2
Sep 15, 2026
A Numbers Game | September 15, 2026 | Hour 1
Sep 15, 2026
Best of A Numbers Game | September 11, 2026
Sep 11, 2026
