Rice on the Mics

Jets Regroup, Giants Surge, and MLB's Wild Card Showdown

• Ian • Season 1 • Episode 31

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The NFL injury report is stacking up with Burrow headed for toe surgery, Daniels day-to-day, McCarthy out with a high ankle, and Purdy's status uncertain for San Francisco. 

• Jets defense allowed 224 rushing yards against Buffalo, prompting Quinnen Williams to vow this won't happen again
• Giants racked up 450 passing yards and multiple offensive explosions but collected 14 penalties for 160 yards in their Dallas loss
• Chiefs at 0-2 face the Giants in primetime while struggling with drops and an ineffective run game
• The "Tush Push" play has 50-50 odds of surviving spring meetings according to Dean Blandino
• Yankees survived their 13-day gauntlet going 7-5 and now face baseball's easiest remaining schedule
• Mets broke their eight-game losing streak as Pete Alonso homers in four straight games
• Juan Soto reached 100 RBIs with projected stats that put him in Barry Bonds territory
• AJ Brown and Brian Thomas Jr. represent smart buy-low fantasy options
• James Conner and Deebo Samuel are sell-high candidates due to efficiency and usage concerns

Check out our Instagram polls every Wednesday at @riceontheradio and submit your questions for next week's mailbag. Follow us on Twitter for memes and updates, and catch our YouTube channel for the video version of the podcast.


Speaker 1:

I guess there's only one way to find out. Let's do it to it right. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. All engines running, oh, oh, oh Well, hello there and welcome back to your favorite group chat disguised as a podcast.

Speaker 1:

Busy week, the kind where you blink and it's already Wednesday and you're trying to decide if you want to argue about what happened last week or get ahead what's coming next. Well, we do both, because if you're a local, you earned a little bit of closure. Episode 31 is stacked and we'll hit the locals first. Jets promising last week's defensive base plan won't happen again. Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it. The Giants coming off that wild Dallas shootout only to be staring down the Chiefs in primetime. Around the league, it's an MRI fest. Burrow to surgery out three months. Jaden Daniels day-to-day. Jj McCarthy shelled for a little bit. Brock Purdy may be back, maybe not back. And what would this league be without a little bit of drama? That's right, I'm talking about the Tush Bush. We'll wrap it up with a couple marquee games this coming week before we roll right into baseball. Yankees survive a bullpen adventure as Trent Christian goes yard twice. Mets take the Padres series behind Jonah Tong while Alonzo stays molten hot and Soto hits 100 ribbies. So much for a down year for the $750 million. Man right. Cal Riley just passed Mantle plus MLB's new winter recovery period rule to protect the young arms. A couple quick fantasy hits buy low, sell highs. Our rolling the dice with Rice pick segment after a humbling card last week and a spicy mailbag to close it out. Lots to go over this week and I've got you covered. Stay tuned.

Speaker 1:

All right, let's dive right into it, because around the league the injury tape was loud. Joe Burrow is headed for toe surgery and you're looking at months, not weeks. Joe Burrow is headed for toe surgery and you're looking at months, not weeks. So it's Jake Browning time in Cincinnati. That's great love that for Jamar Chase owners. In Chicago. Jj McCarthy's high ankle has him out two to four weeks, which means Carson Wentz gets a runway to see if he's got anything left in the tank, I guess. And in Washington Jaden Daniels is day-to-day, so if he sits, that's good. Old Marcus Mariota with a lot of manufactured touches. Brock Purdy goes from long shot to has a chance for San Fran, even as a backup. Crazy, because they said he was going to be out five weeks maybe. And yes, baker Mayfield basically got folded in half by Houston, only to pop right up and talk that shit right back at him, says he feels great. The league has been wild after just two weeks. But now we must dive into the locals, and I am starting with the Jets, because that Bills game was over before my wings even hit the table at the bar.

Speaker 1:

You wanted a run first keep it clean script, and instead it was penalties on third and forever business decisions on tackles and 224 rushing yards allowed from a defense that's supposed to be your identity. James Cook goes 132-2 touchdowns, josh Allen gets a 40-yard gash on a scramble and by halftime you're hate-scrolling, checking your fantasy teams, hoping for the best, the only silver lining this unit isn't actually that broken, right? I mean, these are the same dudes who finished top four in yards the last three seasons and they're still installing a new system with new defensive coordinator, steve Wilkes. Quinton Williams, who now needs to be the vocal leader on that team, said the room made a pact quote. That kind of effort will never happen again, end quote. Well, good, I hope so, because it was embarrassing. And Tampa's up next and they will hit you in the mouth and let you know about it. The Bucs are banged up up front, but Baker has found new life in Tampa and has always been fearless Going back to Oklahoma. They're getting real juice from their 1-2 combo of Bucky Irving and Rashad White. Remember when Rashad White was God and then Bucky Irving just took over? Yeah, they're both great.

Speaker 1:

Oh, and not to mention Mike Evans and Ricky Pearsall Sauce is going to have his work cut out for him this week. These are the kind of games you look up and all of a sudden, mike Evans has two touchdowns for 110 yards. Not to mention Fields is ruled out with a concussion this week. So it's going to be Tyrod leading the offense this week. So it's going to be Tyrod leading the offense, a man who, god bless him, is a paper cut away from the IR. So let's be smart, play to his strengths and make it boring. Okay, breeze early quick hitters to Garrett. Let the kid get in open space, live in second and manageable and on defense, let your front four eat against his patched up O-line. My heart wants to hit the Jets money line button so bad. But my head says just cover the number and go home happy.

Speaker 1:

The poll this week that matched the mood to the Jets panic slider was up 75% and it was hoped for more. Yeah, we all hoped for more. If you're a Jets fan, you know plenty about hope. Unfortunately, you also know plenty about disappointment too. But it's Giants time Enough about the Jets, and that was a heavyweight fight in Dallas. And, yes, two things can be true at once. You can both be proud and pissed, because Russ hangs 450 with three touchdowns. Malik neighbors shows you why he belongs in the top wide receiver conversation, going for 167 and two touchdowns.

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The long awaited, long town at Wandel. Robinson bust loose for 142 yards and a score himself. And everybody's favorite white boy, peyton Hillis I'm sorry, I mean Cam Scadavo is clearly the goal line answer that man runs like a wrecking ball and you're the building. But on the ugly side of things, they racked up 14 flags for 160 yards. Backup left tackle James Hudson basically collected a punch card in the first quarter in the first series. And that's exactly how you turn a statement win into an all-time gut punch.

Speaker 1:

I talked about this last week, with Andrew Thomas being the linchpin of the offensive line, and now it's glaringly obvious. The vibe check I ran on the polls too, was split. They should have won versus. They scored 37. Should have won, edged it out by just a little bit, and I get it. But now primetime Sunday night football.

Speaker 1:

In comes Kansas City at 0-2, which doesn't seem real, by the way. But the struggling Chiefs aren't clean either. Pacheco has been stuck in the mud. Drops are a weekly feature in this offense and their offensive talent is either old or suspended. So your read is as good as mine. On this game.

Speaker 1:

The New York media is making the case that the Giants might be able to pull the upset. Realistically, though, the Chiefs starting 0-3 seems like a different reality. If Big Blue cleans up its self-inflicted stuff, this game could maybe be a fourth-quarter game. Maybe they could squeak it out. But if it's more of the same of last week and they beat themselves, it's going to be over by halftime. Andy Reid knows how to get it done. Chiefs 0-3 just doesn't seem feasible at all.

Speaker 1:

But enough about the locals. I got some week three spotlights. You should keep your eyes on this week. If you have that NFL Sunday ticket package on YouTube games, you want to bounce around. And what's a good game this week? What's a good game here in the 1 o'clock window and the 4 o'clock window.

Speaker 1:

First off is Raiders-Commanders. It's two one-on-one teams begging to be taken seriously, and maybe no Jaden Daniels. So if it is Mariota, washington has to win with structure and defense, which they haven't really had the past two weeks. And for vegas you got rookie ashen janty, who has looked good but not great and is begging at the podium to basically feed me more after he's been stacking broken tackle after broken tackle. He's been running guys over like ap and I think he's got that kind of potential. I saw some shit on twitter that they were calling him trent richardson 2.0. No, no, no, give this guy, give this kid some time to blossom. I think he's going to be adrian peterson. Next game packers, browns and I know what you're thinking packers, they're going to blow the shit out of the browns.

Speaker 1:

Well, kind of smells like a little bit of a trap game. Jordan Love has been efficient, yes, and Tucker Kraft is turning into a real problem over the middle and with the addition of Micah Parsons, that Green Bay defense has been hunting. But if Cleveland can slow it down and muddy it up with Q Sean Jenkins and make a 40-year year old Joe Flacco feel comfortable, somehow weird stuff seems to always happen by the lake. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw like the first big upset of the week. And lastly, I love the ramifications of the Broncos Charger game this week. Lots of leverage is at play while the Chiefs wobble at 0-2. If the Chargers win they're 3-0 with two division pelts. But if the Broncos win and Bo Nix gets a legitimacy stamp that the locker room can build on might be just the win that they need to start making some noise moving forward in this division. All right, before we break, I got one rules thing, because it actually kind of matters how Sundays feel and I tease it in the opening the tush push After that. Eagles-chiefs miss. Last week which, if you miss it, there was a clear early movement offsides penalty that was missed on a crucial goal line. Play.

Speaker 1:

Fox's Dean Blandino. Shout out my 16-man league, by the way, my 16-man fantasy league. We get a cameo from him every year and he reads out our draft order yes, dean Blandino, mr Dean Blandino, but anyway, blandino, he's basically saying the quiet part out loud. He said, quote it's 50-50. This place survives the spring meetings end, quote. That's a big statement for him.

Speaker 1:

He cited player safety. He cited competitive balance and officiating consistency and those are the three pillars that really make up how they build rules in the NFL. And honestly, look, let's be honest, the league cares about what the product looks like and what draws eyeballs in, right? So Cowboys, giants with two quarterbacks, trading haymakers yeah, that's the brochure that they're looking to hand out. A rugby mall with nobody sure who has the ball and two guys on each ass cheek, that's not what they're looking to sell Amazon for a billion dollars.

Speaker 1:

All right, quick music bump. And on the other side side, we're going to hit some baseball. The Yankees and Twins chaos. One bullpen heart attack and one Trent Grisham to Homer Knight. Mets take the series from the Padres behind a Jonah Tong bounce back and nuclear, nuclear, pete Alonzo, cal Riley passes Mantle and ties Griffey and the MLB also dropped a winter no scouting window. That could actually save some teenage elbows. So enjoy the music. We'll be right back in a second, diving right into the MLB.

Speaker 1:

Let's start in the Bronx, because the Yankees are staring at two very different Octobers. On one track, they've got a clear lane to the number one seed. They just survived the 13-day gauntlet in which they went 7-5, and now they hit the easiest remaining schedule in baseball, all while Judge has found his stride again, hitting .329, stacking multi-hit nights. Volpe has also made his way into the lineup, even if he is splitting time with Caballero, and Bednar has settled the concerns about the ninth. Volpe has also made his way into the lineup, even if he is splitting time with Caballero, and Bednar has settled the concerns about the ninth, not really worried about Devin Williams anymore. But and this is a big but on the other side of the track, just to play devil's advocate, the bullpen's ERA since the break has hit that 5.49 mark and it continues to just make routine wins feel like escape

Speaker 1:

rooms. Iec game one in Minnesota, a team you have owned forever. You're up 10-1 and then you watch the lead shrink down to 10-9 and you're holding on to your butts, clinching your asshole, before Bednar finally comes in and slams the door, which you wish you didn't even have to use them. But then game two reminds you why the ceiling is real for this team. You got Trent Grisham going deep twice, judge goes three for for four and they won a 10-5 game. Even with Luis Hill allowing as many earned runs in his previous four starts combined, the Yankees can play their way to the top, but if they stumble, you're suddenly going to be staring at a Red Sox-Yankees wildcard rock fight. Both outcomes are on the table. Maybe some movement between who you play, but more than likely it's either going to be you're playing the Red Sox at home or you're going to be at Houston, and God knows Houston is a house of horrors for the Yankees. All right, let's take the 7 train over to Queens, because I got a lot to say about the Mets

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here. It has been the full-on Kingda Ka roller coaster, with the safety bar a little loose as of late for this team. I mean, you went from an eight-game skid into an Alonzo walk-off life raft that you desperately needed to splitting a slugfest with San Diego and finally taking a series win since September 1st. September 1st because Jonah Tong, the young rookie, shoved on the hill. That finale was exactly what the doctor ordered. I mean, after the DeGrom returned to Citi Field and Jonah Tong not being able to get out of the first inning, hope for this team was at an all-time low. I was making a stake, watching the game on my phone and I'm watching. You know, duck Fart after Bloop hit and this and then that double down the line to drive in three. I literally just took the biggest sigh of defeat, double down the line to drive in three. I literally just took the biggest sigh of defeat and turned the phone off it. I thought this team was dead and just when they just when I want to get out they pull me back in Jonah ends up going five innings, eight strikeouts and an unearned run. The kid retired the last eight batters. He faced the first Mets pitcher, 22 or younger, to punch eight straights in Syndergaard in

Speaker 1:

2015. Oh and, by the way, don't look now. The boys are getting hot at the perfect time. Pete is on a heater where he could hit a home run out of a car wash. He's got homers in four straight games and a sack fly for dessert. Nimmo has a big home run, ties his career high with 24. And Soto notched his 100th ribby of the year for the supposed down year he was having and all their criticism against him. You know Buster only posted Soto's projected stat line that he's going to finish at and he's on pace for 123 runs, 106 ribbies, 150 hits, 127 walks, 44 homers and 34

Speaker 1:

steals. 55 burgers, 55 fries, 55 shakes All right, that's a niche meme, but those that get it are definitely laughing about that right now. But where are all the Soto haters now? Huh, oh, oh. And, by the way, the last player to have 100-plus walks, 100-plus ribbies and 100-plus hits in a season was Barry Bonds. That's pretty good company to be in, if you ask me. All right,

Speaker 1:

anyway. Anyway, the opener slash piggyback thing actually worked earlier this week too. Clay Mahomes into Sean Minaya for anybody who missed it because Clay Holmes can only go four to five innings and Sean Minaya can only go four to five innings. So instead of taxing the hell out of this bullpen, let's just put them together. Oh, and even in the loss, you saw the level of competition in this team rise. Machado gets up bases loaded and he hits a grand slam, which every single Met fan knew was going to happen, because Machado owns the Mets and Machado owns Citi Field. It just it is what it is. But the team fought back and Mason Miller, their closer, or not even closer, their setup man which is crazy to say, guy throws 105 miles per hour and he's not even a closer Just barely kept Soto in the park on a 102-mile-per-hour

Speaker 1:

fastball. I mean, he squared it up. He was just late on it. That's baseball season, right? Seriously, soto missed that game-tying home run by less than an inch. Literally, it made a plunk sound like it hit the foul pole, but it hit something behind it. That ballpark would have exploded if he hit that home

Speaker 1:

run. Now here's the good news the schedule. So it's at Cubs, at Nationals, at Marlins. That's how the Mets close out the season, and of the teams clawing for that last wild card spot, the Mets have the cleanest runway. Now the bad news is Mets fans have lived this movie before. Those teams absolutely love to be a thorn and play spoiler against the Mets. Chicago is parting like it's 2020 all over again because they clinched a division. Well, they clinched a playoff spot. So we'll see how they respond. This series coming up, it's a little too early for them to start setting up their rotation, but I'm sure they're going to start giving some guys some days off. Washington's kids run like their hair is on fire and they're definitely looking to pad their stats late in the season. So you know they're going to be playing hard and Miami, for God knows whatever reason, always makes it a drag-down

Speaker 1:

dogfight. Gross situation against the Mets. Look, the mandate is simple for the Mets wins the win. The ones you're supposed to keep Alonzo's bat hot. Let the rookies McLean Tong and Sprout give you honest innings while giving them some run support. For God's sake, and keep the Holmes Minaya piggyback lane thing going so it stabilizes this nightmare of a bullpen. You're up two on Arizona after the Padre series. Just keep pushing and make that last week boring for once. Please. We're begging you, just make it easy on us. God, god, we've supported you the whole year. Attendance was up 39 after uncle stevie tweeted he wanted us to come out to the games. We're here for you. We love you, we support you. Just please don't do this to us, please. All right, now that I got all that out, a quick tour around the

Speaker 1:

league. Cal Riley has made his case for AL MVP even stronger. He hits number 55 and 56 to pass Mickey Mantle's switch hit home run mark and Ty Griffey's Seattle franchise record, all while the club has ripped off 10 straight wins quietly. No one's talking about Seattle, they're out west, no one cares about them. 10 straight, that's nothing to sneeze at. The Phillies unfortunately clinched the East in a crazy 10th at Dodger Stadium. Harper comes up big again, like he always does, and then Real Muto has the go-ahead sack fly. I mean God, the Mets had a five-and-a-half game lead on this division. Now they're 12-and-a-half out. That's insane. And, as I mentioned before, the Cubs are back in for the first time since 2020. Clubhouse goggles, cigars, champagne the whole works. I guess they're pretending like the 2020 season wasn't a sham, but that's neither here nor

Speaker 1:

there. And some bigger picture stuff on the league Actually, some good news coming out of the league the MLB just dropped a winter quote recovery period for amateurs. So that means no in-person scouting, no video, no ball bat tracking for like three months. So it's like it's a true, no stress off season in a sport that really doesn't have an off season, depending on your weather climate. The look, the ugly truth that no one wants to talk about, which goes to show how people will skew analytics to prove their point and not acknowledge the stuff that goes against them. The data on teenage elbows is ugly, to say the least, and this is the league actually choosing. Rest over a december radar gun heroics thing. Look if it keeps one kid from needing Tommy John before prom. It's a win for the MLB and a smart move for a league with constant injuries to its star players, especially pitchers. Stick around, got another music

Speaker 1:

break. Next up we're heading fantasy with the week three matchups that actually moved the needle. A couple smart buy lows, sell highs. Then rolling the dice with Rice pick-em segment. After I took an absolute beating last week and we'll close with your mailbag takes, keep it right here for our final segment of today's show. We have a hodgepodge of topics to cover. First off, the fantasy segment, the rolling the dice with rice gambling segment and, last but not least, the viewer mailbag, which so many you have continued to write in for, and it's impossible to just pick three questions, but I don't want to be here all day, so I picked the best three this

Speaker 1:

week. First, though, we dive right into the fantasy stock market. Clean and simple who to buy now and who to cash out on before the floor wobbles? First target on the list is going to be AJ Brown. He is the easy buy low for this week. Look, the box scores haven't popped. He's still the top read, he is still owning a big slice of targets, and the Eagles schedule is about to give us some normal games where they might actually throw. But for somebody that you drafted in the first round or the end of the first round or the second round, or he hasn't given you that first or second round potential. So if someone in your league is spooked by two quiet weeks, don't be afraid to make the call. Give them a little nudge, give them a little. Hey, I'm looking at AJ Brown. What are you thinking? See, feel them out, because you're going to be buying volume and amazing talent at a discount guaranteed just because of his last two

Speaker 1:

weeks. Now, the other buy low and he's a little scarier but definitely has so much potential is another wide receiver that was drafted pretty high after his rookie year. Talking about Brian Thomas Jr, the scary buy low, that's where the profit is okay. You buy the stock that's in the dirt, hoping that it climbs. He's had some drops, he's got a little bit of a dinged wrist. He's had some ugly stat lines, he's got Travis Hunter on the other side of him and yet the usage is screaming future points. He gets double-digit targets every week. He gets big air yards with Trevor Lawrence just throwing deep balls and he gets red zone looks. So you don't buy the box score, you buy the role. If you listen to the fantasy show, this is exactly what I told. You buy the role, not the name, right? Try kicking the tires with Debo or someone around that quality and that's a perfect segue to Debo. Samuel is the sell. Sell him while he's

Speaker 1:

high. Washington's offense is messy to say the least. Right now the QB is banged up. They don't know who's running the ball. Ertz is vacuuming targets underneath, urts is vacuuming targets underneath and debo's production is really leaning on like manufactured touches and end arounds. So if you can pivot debo into a steadier wide receiver, two with like a safer four think jsn jackson, smith and jigba or maybe a mike evans go for it. Or even package him in a two-for-one to like climb like a higher tier. That's. That's sharp business. And the other sell high is

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james. Look, the touchdowns look nice, but the underlying efficiency does not. He's sitting near three and a half yards per carry, which is a death sentence and a telltale sign of a running back that's aging out of his position. Not to mention trey benson is carving out real passing down work that James Conner used to get. So if you have the opportunity, move Conner for a back with a better runway while you still can think. Maybe Tony Pollard, or even flip them into a wide receiver that you actually want to start every week. Before the usage tilts. Look for teams that are light in running back but have a wide receiver that they don't really want to put in the

Speaker 1:

flex. All right, on to the tickets and it's accountability time. So week one, we went one for two. Week two, oh boy. Well, we wore it on our chests. We went 0 for 3 and missed every game by the hook. But regardless, that's what it is, that's one for five on the season. We don't run from it. The goal now is to stack wins, not chase, and it's a good thing that we have a lot of season left. So let's get into Rice on the mics. Ian Rice's week three card First game on the list is Packers minus seven and a

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half. I am going to be buying it down to minus six and a half. I'm just telling you the line is minus seven and a half. Look, love has been very efficient and very precise. Tucker Craft is a problem over the middle, and that Green Bay defense, with the addition of Micah Parsons, has panned out to be pretty damn good. I don't think 40-year-old Joe Flacco is going to enjoy this game, and I know, I know, I said that this is a potential trap game earlier in the episode, but that's exactly why I'm buying it down to minus six and a half, not seven and a

Speaker 1:

half. Okay, next on the list, falcons money line at carolina. I'm a sucker for the falcons, they're two and oh and bijan looks like a problem. Drake london is a stud and this kind of feels like, finally, a kyle pitts oh god, he figured it out. Game against a. A Carolina defense that's been soft against the run and up the middle in the seams Division game, atlanta's trying to get some pelts on the wall. I think Atlanta runs this game. No problem. Atlanta money line Book

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it. Last pick of the week Cowboys money line, or plus one and a half at Chicago. The line feels like a trap. You know, after that big performance everybody's going to say how could the Cowboys be getting points at Chicago? Well, it's because the Cowboys' defense stinks. But Chicago's defense also is terrible. And how much do you trust Caleb Williams? You know that's what it comes down to. Look, dallas is built to throw and I don't think that the Bears' secondary can hold up against Seedy and

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Pickens. I'm taking the money line for the points and if you're Dallas, if you plan on being a contender, you don't drop this game. This is the game that you need to win to solidify yourself as a potential playoff contender. Alternatively, I think that the over at 49.5 is a super safe play. Both teams can't cover. Both teams have a lot of potential to score. So three road teams this week and if you're feeling spicy, if you want to parlay all three, it's paying out at around plus 426. So that's 4-1 on your

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money. As for the locals, chiefs at giants, look, I'll take kansas city on the money line, but I do expect big blue to hang around, depending on where the number goes. If they clean up the penalties, I think they're in it late. They have the potential to cover, but I don't see them winning. As much as everybody will tell you they have a chance, I don't see them winning. And on the other side of the fence, jets at Bucks, Full bleeding green Homer. Here my heart says Jets money line line, but my head says grab the points and pray that the defense shows up after that quote. We'll never do that again. Pact that they sent out. I don't know, just because I am a Jets fan, I'll end up taking the money line this week. I mean, it's got to hit eventually, right? But more than likely I'll be heartbroken if I'm the jets. If you're betting on the jets, which? Why would you ever bet on the jets? Take the points, but if you're me, I'm taking the money line because, fuck it, why not right? Important thing to remember keep the units in check. Vegas is not in the charity business. The the Thursday night Fins vs Bills game closed at 11.5, and the Bills won by 10 late. Trust me, they know exactly what they're

Speaker 1:

doing. Okay, time for the mailbag now. You guys wrote in and I got flooded with questions. Guys wrote in and I got flooded with questions. I tried to pick a couple that I thought would do well for this episode. We've got three here, so let's roll right through

Speaker 1:

them. First on the list is Pete in Cranford and he says he wants a new blood in the Super Bowl and his prediction is Lions versus the Chargers. Well, I'm definitely with you. I'm wanting some new blood, some fresh blood in the Super Bowl, but I don't quite see Detroit getting all the way there, losing both coordinators and this and the other. I know they look good as of late, but in the NFC I see Green Bay. To be honest with you, they just feel alive, they feel re-energized. They got a wealth of talent On the offensive side. Love looks composed and the defense Looks fast. I'm going to take Green Bay coming out of the NFC and in the AFC. It's hard for me to keep penciling in the Chiefs again and again and again. Honestly, I think they get bounced early and this is the year we get that Bills-Ravens collision in the AFC Championship. For one of them to mix it

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up. Next out of the mailbag is Rob in Philly and he asks does Burrow's reputation start to crack if Cincy hums without him? And if so, should he get the same criticism that Jalen Hurts does? Well, being as though you're from Philly, I can understand you defending your boy, but it's different comps than Hurts. Hurts gets internet-brained because of the tush-bush right, but he still makes the big boy throws and he wins the games. But he wins because the best GM in football recognized what he has and has amassed talent around him. Before Saquon it was DeAndre Swift and Miles Sanders. Before the AJ Brown trade, it was Devontae Smith and Jalen Rager and Nelson Aguilar. Howie Roseman saw what he had and built around Hurts, whereas Burrow, on the other hand, look, he got lucky that he's been able to have his college wide receiver, that he won a national championship with on his team receiver that he won a national championship with on his team, but he's had to deal with an owner and a GM who won't pay any talent that they they have either amassed or drafted, and he doesn't get enough credit for dragging a leaky offensive line and a terrible defense, all while being in a brutal division. He is elite-adjacent, mostly because of his health, but if you drop Burrow in the NFC, the conversation changes from elite-adjacent to leader of the NFC. I mean, the guy can flat-out play, the body just has to

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cooperate. Last out of the mailbag today is Kloos in Jersey. He says Giants and Chiefs on Sunday night will come down to a bombing of bad secondaries. Kloos, I love the energy. I sounded like that last week picking the Jets against the Bills. Look, can the Giants land some haymakers? Sure, but an 0-2 Chiefs team coming into MetLife with their season, more than likely on the line, with Andy Reid in their pocket, that's a different animal. That's a horse of a different color. That's a different animal. That's a horse of a different color. If the Giants keep the flags in their pocket and can protect Russ, it's a fourth quarter game for sure. If not. I don't know, man, you might end up like me and out of the game before your pizza even gets delivered to the house. All right, that's the fantasy. Buys and sells the week three card and your mailbag

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heaters. We'll land the plane with a quick recap of the picks, what we're watching for the rest of the week and where you can find the show and fire off next week's questions. If you tailed or faded anything, send me the slips. Not going to hurt my feelings, I'd like to make you some money one way or the other. The links are in the show notes and if you've got a start sit headache or a scorching take for week three, drop it in the DMs, drop it in the inbox. I'll read it on the show. I'll DM you right away. Whatever you need, stick around, enjoy the tunes. I'll catch you in a second. All right, that's going to do it for this

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one. We hit the league-wide chaos and injuries, ranted about the Jets' no-show and what has has to change. We gave the Giants their flowers and the guardrails heading into Chiefs week and even kicked around whether the Tush Push Survives. Spring On the diamond. We talked Yankees, two track October, the Mets, god awful roller coaster and soft runway coming up, plus that new MLB recovery period that might actually save some young elbows. Then we rolled through Fantasy Plus Buy lows, sell highs, week three tickets and your mailbag heaters. If you're new here, welcome and make sure you follow slash subscribe so you don't miss out on the next

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one. At rice on the radio is the Instagram tag where there are polls to vote on every Wednesday, and the mailbag to submit your questions for the show. It is also the Twitter handle where you can find some great memes and it's also the YouTube channel where you can see me live in living color, if you like watching video while you listen to your podcasts. Hey, to each their own. I don't judge. I'm a handsome man. I am not shy on camera. If you have been rocking with me, drop a rating and a quick review if you don't mind. It literally takes you two clicks and it helps me immensely, helps me get to the front of the page on whatever platform you leave it on, so that everyone else can enjoy the Rice on a mic's experience, just like you do, and I'm not a stuck up or too big for my britches podcaster

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either. Send me your start sit dilemmas. Send me your gambling slips, your spicy takes, even a good meme. Send it all in my dms. I promise you you will get an answer and, honestly, if it's really juicy, it might make the show. Also, do not forget, every saturday morning I do an ig live with my buddy nicky, who is a college football savant. His handle is at Wolves of Wisdom Sports, exactly how you think it's spelled

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W-O-L-V-E-S-O-F-W-I-S-D-O-M-S-P-O-R-T-S. If NCAA is your vice, this man has the picks that you have been searching for all week. All the more reason to be following my Instagram from when we go live. Anyway, I appreciate you listening and, most importantly, make sure you tell someone you love them and spread good energy in this world. Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented or fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? This has been episode 31 of Rice on the Mics. I am your host, ian Rice, and I'll catch you all next week.