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Mark Schlereth, NFL Week 7 Picks, And A Friday Grab Bag

Friday, October 19, 201821 takes

The Red Sox are going to the World Series and David Price has won a playoff game. Dodgers/Brewers is going back to Milwaukee and it's the Fall of Machado, both good and bad. (-) Thursday Night Football was gross but the Week 7 games have us excited, including a full Sunday slate with the London game. (-) Week 7 picks and Fantasy Fuccbois. (-) Our friend and 3X Super Bowl Champ Mark Schlereth joins the show to talk about the NFL this season, what the Broncos will do at QB, how he got John Elway and the Rock mad at him, and the definitive definition of hurt vs injured. (-) Segments include PR 101 for Lenny Dykstra crowd sourcing fleeing the country(-), Hmmm for Kevin Durant (-), Hurt or Injured Dwight Howard(-), Thoughts and Prayers to the NCAA(-), and Hanks Grab Bag. (-)

Mark Schlereth on NFL Week 7 Picks and the 'Points-a-Palooza'

David Price has finally exercised his demons by winning a road playoff game, though PFT isn't ready to hand out the participation trophy just yet.

Win
Oct 19, 2018
#2200
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

David Price's postseason demons won't be fully exercised until he wins in the World Series

I'm not ready to declare the demons exercised. The demons are warmed up. They're jazzercising right now. To be fully exercised, it has to be in the World Series.

David Price went on to win Game 2 and Game 5 of the 2018 World Series, earning the series-clinching win and effectively silencing critics.

The Red Sox are heading to the World Series, and while the Bryce Harper sweepstakes are looming for every big-market team, the guys think Boston might be the one spot where a superstar addition would actually hurt.

Win
Oct 19, 2018
#21097
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

The Bryce Harper sweepstakes is over for the Red Sox because of their current outfield chemistry

So can we put the Dunn chain on the Red Sox in terms of being in the Bryce Harper sweepstakes next year? Ooh, you don't want to mess up with that chemistry of a team that went to the World Series.

The Red Sox did not sign Bryce Harper; he signed with the Phillies in early 2019.

NFL Week 7 Preview and Fantasy Fuccbois

Turning to the gridiron, Thursday Night Football was a certified stinker between the Broncos and Cardinals. Big Cat is already putting the head coaching seat in Arizona on a permanent broil, predicting that Steve Wilks won't even make it through his rookie season.

Loss
Oct 19, 2018
#2202
Big CatBig Cat

Steve Wilks will be the first NFL coach fired in 2018

I think it is now official that Steve Wilks might be the first coach to be fired... Just fire him and then pretend it never happened. You could easily do it right now. We'll all forget.

Hue Jackson (Browns) was actually the first coach fired in 2018 (Oct 29). Wilks was fired at the end of the season.

PFT is also ready to pack Larry Fitzgerald’s bags for him, suggesting that the legendary receiver's presence is actually a net negative for the rebuilding franchise.

Loss
Oct 19, 2018
#2201
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Larry Fitzgerald is holding the Cardinals back and should retire

I think Larry Fitzgerald is holding the Cardinals back by not retiring. He's the captain, and he's taking shine away from his rookie QB... He's doing the saddest retirement tour.

The Cardinals were indeed bad (3-13), but Fitzgerald continued to be a productive veteran for several more years, showing no signs of 'holding back' the franchise through his presence alone.

In the Sunday slate, Big Cat is circling the Patriots vs. Bears matchup as the moment of truth for his squad. He's been refreshing Twitter every ten seconds for Khalil Mack ankle updates, knowing exactly what's on the line.

Push
Oct 19, 2018·Picks
#2203
Big CatBig Cat

The Bears are officially good if they can beat the Patriots

If the Bears can beat the Patriots, then they're officially good. It's going to be a big test.

The Bears lost to the Patriots 38-31, but they finished 12-4 and won the division, proving they were indeed 'good' even in a loss.

Hank, meanwhile, is looking for a massive upset in Kansas City. Despite Patrick Mahomes looking like a video game character come to life, Hank thinks the Bengals are the team to finally ground the high-flying Chiefs.

Loss
Oct 19, 2018·Picks
#2205
HankHank

The Chiefs will have a come-down-to-earth game against the Bengals

I think this is going to be the week where everything comes back down to earth. It's a little bit sloppy. They might lose, but they're probably going to be within the record.

The Chiefs blew out the Bengals 45-10. This was the opposite of a come-down-to-earth game.

Mark Schlereth Joins the Studio

Our friend Mark Schlereth (aka Stink) stopped by to bring some much-needed offensive line perspective to the show. He broke down why the current NFL feels more like a 7-on-7 tournament than the league he played in, noting that the league has leaned into the fantasy football generation.

Win
Oct 19, 2018
#2208
Mark SchlerethMark Schlereth

The NFL is tailoring the game to fantasy football fans by creating 'Points-a-Palooza'

We've created a generation of people who have watched football based on fantasy football... and the NFL is actually going, okay, you love fantasy football? Here it is. Here's fantasy football for you. People are digging it.

The 2018 season was one of the highest-scoring in NFL history, and rule changes have continued to favor offense and high-scoring games.

Schlereth didn't hold back on the current state of the Broncos or his relationship with John Elway. He explained that Elway has definitely called him to complain about his radio takes, specifically when Stink calls the Broncos' front office out for their quarterback misses and draft blunders.

Win
Oct 19, 2018
#2209
Mark SchlerethMark Schlereth

Case Keenum is missing wide-open targets because of bad footwork

He [Case Keenum] just hasn't been very good. He's missed a bunch of wide-open targets... part of it is your offensive line stinks, and so you speed up your footwork... and the ball just gets out of your hands. The timing of your footwork and the routes don't line up.

Keenum finished 2018 with 18 TDs and 15 INTs and was traded after the season, confirming he was not the long-term solution in Denver.

He also gave us the definitive breakdown of the 'never played' card. While Schlereth respects the greats like Bill Belichick, he insists there is a physical sensation of pressure that a coach or a fan simply cannot comprehend without having been in the trenches.

Void
Oct 19, 2018
#21100
Mark SchlerethMark Schlereth

Bill Belichick cannot truly understand the pressure of a 3rd and 12 from your own goal line because he never played

Bill Belichick has no idea what – he's the greatest football coach we've ever been around... He has no idea the ass pucker you get third down and 12 from your own six-yard line right in the shadow of your own end zone... I've been there. He can't.

This is a subjective claim about the nature of empathy and experience.

We also got some incredible Hollywood stories from Stink, including how he managed to get ghosted by The Rock and Kevin Costner. Apparently, Schlereth moves from 'acquaintance' to 'ball-busting friend' a little too fast for the A-list crowd. He also gave us a masterclass in the difference between being hurt and being injured.

Void
Oct 19, 2018
#2210
Mark SchlerethMark Schlereth

You can only play with a back fracture in hockey and football

The only sports that you can play with a small back fracture are hockey and football... Injured is when you have to have surgery that holds you out. You have to play injured [in the NFL]. And more importantly, you have to play well injured.

This is a subjective claim about the threshold of pain and playability in different sports, though medially controversial.

NBA Hmmm and the Grab Bag

In a classic 'Hmmm' segment, Big Cat analyzed an Instagram comment from Kevin Durant's brother that seems to point toward KD’s imminent departure from the Bay Area.

Win
Oct 19, 2018·Hmm
#21101
Big CatBig Cat

Kevin Durant is getting one more ring and then leaving the Golden State Warriors

Kevin Durant, baby back bitch, tweeted... 'one down, 81 more, what a night.' His brother, Tony, Tony Durant, replied... 'fill in the hand up before we get out of here.' Hmm. So it looks like he's going to L.A. So he's getting another ring, and then he's getting the fuck out.

Correct. Durant left the Warriors for the Nets following the 2019 season (though the prediction specifically mentioned LA, the core 'getting out' part was right).

This led to a full-blown strategy session on how the internet can troll Durant into joining the Knicks. Big Cat is even willing to offer a peace treaty to the 'Baby Back Bitch' if he decides to move to the Garden.

Void
Oct 19, 2018·Hmm
#21102
Big CatBig Cat

I will stop calling Kevin Durant a 'baby back bitch' if he signs with the New York Knicks

If he goes to the Knicks, I've got his baby back. We will take away the triple B if he goes to the Knicks. So here we go. Kevin Durant, when you put your pros and cons on a sheet this summer, Just put in the pro, pardon my take, will stop calling me a baby back bitch.

Durant did not sign with the Knicks; he signed with the Brooklyn Nets.

Hank closed out the show with a Grab Bag that included deep philosophical questions about where poop goes after you flush and why we call people caregivers. PFT also explained his scientific theory on why the wind never actually stops.

Loss
Oct 19, 2018·Grab Bag
#21103
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

The wind is a continuous circle caused by the Earth turning

Wind... It doesn't [stop], that's because it's a circle. It just goes forever. The earth keeps, well, the wind is caused by the earth turning.

Fact ClaimLifeMildSarcastic
Wind is caused by differences in atmospheric pressure, though the Coriolis effect (from Earth's rotation) does influence its path. It is not literally a single circle of air.

Don't let your dog out during the 9:00 AM London game unless you want it to become a stray.

nflmlbdenver-broncoskevin-durantfantasy-footballgambling

More Takes

Void
Oct 19, 2018·Picks
#2204
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

The Jets did themselves a favor by missing out on Kirk Cousins

If you know anything about Kirk Cousins, you actually did yourself a favor by not getting him because you'd rather suck out loud than be kind of around average for four years.

Cousins led the Vikings to several winning seasons and a playoff win, while the Jets struggled with Sam Darnold and Zach Wilson for years. Subjectively, the Jets likely would have preferred Cousins' stability.
Void
Oct 19, 2018
#2206
Mark SchlerethMark Schlereth

Only 12 NFL owners actually care about winning championships

I think there are legitimately 12 teams in the National Football League that are legitimately concerned about winning a Super Bowl... I think there are certain owners that are just in there to build equity... and every now and then catch the lightning.

This is an insider's professional opinion on institutional goals, which is inherently subjective but highly respected given his proximity to owners.
Win
Oct 19, 2018
#21098
Mark SchlerethMark Schlereth

The Dallas Cowboys will never win a championship until Jerry Jones stops being the General Manager

I've always said they'll never win until [Jerry Jones] is ready to actually relinquish control. I mean, it's one thing to appoint a guy, you know, head coach or whatever. It's an entirely different thing to empower that guy.

The Cowboys have not won a Super Bowl since 1995, and Jerry Jones remains the GM.
Win
Oct 19, 2018
#2207
Mark SchlerethMark Schlereth

Aaron Rodgers acts like Compound W by covering up the Packers' warts

When you've got a quarterback like that—I always just say this about Peyton Manning... he's like Compound W, just spreading himself all over warts. The issue you get into is that I think you get this self-confidence that we're pretty good... they think they're a lot better than they really are.

The Packers went 6-9-1 and missed the playoffs in 2018, proving that Rodgers could no longer mask the team's deficiencies entirely that year.
Loss
Oct 19, 2018
#21099
Mark SchlerethMark Schlereth

The Kansas City Chiefs are 'September Darlings' who will get pummeled in January

See, the thing about Kansas City for me is I like to refer to them as September's darlings. Yeah, because they're always going to win a bunch of games in September, and January's going to come around, and they're just going to get pummeled.

Incorrect. The 2018 Chiefs went to the AFC Championship and only lost in OT to the Patriots. They won the Super Bowl the following year.
Push
Oct 19, 2018·Hmm
#2211
Big CatBig Cat

The summer of 2019 will be the greatest free agent summer ever because the internet will try to troll Kevin Durant into joining the Knicks

This is going to be the greatest free agent summer of all time, because we basically have Kevin Durant being like, can an entire internet troll him into going to the Knicks just to try to get his, like, this made-up masculinity back that we've decided he doesn't have.

While the free agency summer was indeed massive (Kawhi, PG, KD, Kyrie), Durant chose the Nets over the Knicks.
Win
Big CatBig Cat

The G-League's $125k offer is a major threat to the NCAA

The G-League has come out and they have said that they are giving a $125,000 contract to players that could be eligible for the one and done and they want to skip college... This is trouble for the NCAA.

The G-League Ignite and other professional paths (Overtime Elite, NIL) eventually revolutionized college basketball and drastically changed the one-and-done landscape.
Void
Oct 19, 2018·Grab Bag
#21104
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Deja Vu is just a CD skipping in the Elon Musk computer simulation

Well, it's a glitch in the matrix because right now we're all living in a computer simulation that's being run by Elon Musk. So when you see something for the second time, it is just something that's already happened and it's being replayed by accident. It's like a CD that skips.

While simulation theory is a philosophical concept, defining deja vu as a 'skip' in Elon Musk's program is obviously a comedic claim.

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