Top Five NFL Week 8 Games to Watch, Packers Force Rodgers to Turn Left, Brandon Perna on How the Broncos Confuse their Fans, Plus Green Bay Great Ahman Green Ranks Packers QB Legends

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, maybe.

You know, I have a lot of great memories from my time there, a lot of great interactions with fans over the years.

You know, I grew up there.

I spent 18 years there from 21 to 39.

So I'm thankful for my time there.

Obviously, he would have loved to ride off in the sunset after a Super Bowl win, but that's not the way the league goes sometimes.

And,

you know, I knew the writing was on the wall when Jordan was picked.

And as a matter of time, I happened to win MVP the first two years he was with us.

But I knew at some point there would be a change.

And

if I wanted to play, it'd probably have to be elsewhere.

So I understand the situation.

Counterpoint, Aaron.

There might never have been an absence if Seattle had just stayed in the AFC in 2002 when the Texans joined the league.

And it might have resulted in a bizarro version of the Malcolm Butler game featuring two would-be Steelers QBs.

We now know back in ought to the NFL replaced the Oilers, who'd moved to Tennessee with the Houston Texans, and the Seahawks, in the name of balanced divisions serving as the sacrificial lamb bouncing over to the NFC West.

Now if we keep Seattle in the AFC West, someone's got to go.

Rivalries be damned.

The real losers here then are the other members of the AFC South because the division's new member is the Kansas City Chiefs, who'll be a real tough out once they draft a Texas Tech QB in 2017.

But that's still on the alternate reality horizon, so let's focus on the second decade of this century, where Peyton is transitioning from Colt to Bronco and the the AFC Hawks are on the rise with the Legion of Boom and their wee QB, Russell Wilson.

While over in the NFC, Sean Payton's bounty gate and Saints aren't enough to stand in the way of Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick, and the 49ers.

And after coming up just short against the Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII, the Niners make their second straight Super Bowl in chili, New Jersey against the Bronco.

You know, wait a second.

If Denver couldn't beat Seattle in Super Bowl 48, why would we assume they would beat them in the AFC title game?

We shouldn't.

And we won't.

So that means New Jersey is host for the Niners v.

Seattle Seahawks.

In this reality, that's a matchup we've only seen probably three or four times since the Hawks joined the NFL in 76.

Now let's give that one to the Niners if for no other reason than it had upset the snowflakes who got vapors because a QB took a knee during a song.

Better yet, maybe Bad Bunny can go back in time to play the halftime show there.

Next season, the Niners are feeling satiated with that new Lombardy of theirs, and no one gets in the way of the Packers and MVP Aaron Rodgers.

So, yes, after surviving Des Bryant's non-catch that was a catch, Green Bay heads to Super Bowl XLIX to play Russ and the Hawks.

Deja Vu.

Yeah, Hawks.

Tom Brady, Malcolm Butler, and the Pats are out, but you're still playing a Hall of Fame-bound QB who wears the number 12 and likes putting nature in his body.

Speaking of which, Sedona's too close.

Rodgers vanishes midweek for a darkness retreat and forgets it's Super Sunday till after high noon.

Very high noon.

He makes it just in time to throw the go-ahead touchdown to Jordi Nelson.

But with only seconds left and the ball near the Packers' goal line, Russ opts against running and throws it.

But Packers DB Morgan Burnett drops a would-be game-ending interception at the goal line.

Marshawn Lynch scores on the next play, and the Seahawks are champs.

Time is a flat circle, Aaron.

You'll be back.

Or you can go to the Steelers.

Which reminds me: let's start the show.

You know, in that division restructure, I was very tempted to move the Cowboys out of the NFC East and into the AFC South so Dallas and Houston would play two Lone Star Bowls every year.

Either way, let's just move on.

Hi and hello, my fellow football Americans.

Welcome to Football America, presented as ever by DraftKings.

DraftKings, the crown is yours.

It's time to get right for the weekend of football.

We've got from That's Good Sports Brandon Perna coming up to help us make our picks in the biggest games in Packers legend, Amon Green on Green Bay and all the rest of it.

Welcome to NFL Week 8.

Welcome to episode 19.

As always, fellas, Gino and Mike, Mike and Gino, let's figure this out.

Which pro football player wore that number 19 best?

I'm going to leave the floor to you.

I think the obvious one is since neither one of you, obviously, I'm not old enough to have seen him play either, but at least he's a little fresher in my brain.

It's Johnny Unidas.

How say you, fellas?

We were talking most of this over, and we mostly came up with soccer players, to be honest.

The record books say Johnny United.

Yeah, Johnny Unidas, I mean, it's also one of the

football names.

We're doing Fusibol or Fuchsiball or Futball.

You can do Young Messi before he changes number to 10.

Correct.

Before they sent Ronaldinho to AC Milan, Messi actually wore the number 19, yes.

And then we had speaking with Milan, Clarence Seedorf, the Dutch Maestro.

And I think Bradley had one, too.

Bradley had Gerd Mueller, right?

We had Dwight York.

Dwight York.

Dwight York.

Yeah, the Pride of the Trinidad and Tobago.

Also, Gerd Mueller, who

German Bayern Munich legend, who also played with Ray Hudson down here at the Fort Wallace.

Which is to say that there's not a lot of good 19th exercise Johnny United States.

Well, there's plenty of

in World Finance.

O Contrer.

O Contrer.

I don't know any of the names you just said.

I do know the name Mo Damashek.

This must be what Mo Damashek hears when I talk about football.

And I bring that name up because she told a great story about one pro football player, Mike Ditka.

Go back and listen to the episode earlier this week.

It was a positively grand time with Mo Damashek and Jeff Schwartz and our pal from Heed the Call, Mark Sessler.

A lot of reaction to that.

We appreciate you football Americans for reacting to that and spreading the good word about the show.

Keep it up, YouTube and wherever you find your audio podcasts.

You guys forgot you say Messi before he got good.

Joe Montana after his prime had already ended.

We did not say that.

We did not say that.

Messi was already good.

He was already good.

They just had another guy wearing number 10.

They got rid of that guy.

And then Messi, who was very good, got even better.

But he was already very good.

Okay.

Either way, Joe Montana goes to KC.

Kind of

like, yeah, sort of like Favre v.

Rodgers when...

Favre was on the Vikings and sort of like Rodgers v.

Love with Rodgers on the Steelers.

Joe Montana wearing number 19 against the 49ers also was a big game back in the day.

Bernie Kosar of the Cleveland Browns, of course, maybe the best quarterback in the Super Bowl era for those Cleveland Browns.

That's damning with fame.

Praise.

Keyshawn Johnson, Miles Austin.

It's a great number across the sports landscape because in baseball, Tony Gwynn and Robin Young.

And in hockey, Steve Eiserman, Joe Sackic, and Larry Robinson.

To round things out, not as impressive in the NBA, but Willis Reed, the guy who had the classic game, of course, when the Knickerbockers took down the Lakers to win that title in what was that, 1970.

So there you have it.

Number 19 honored.

And I guess we agree it's going to be Johnny Annidas here.

Time now.

I'm not even leaving you guys room to respond there because we must keep our foot on the gas.

We have much to get to.

And starting off with, it's time for this week's pick six presented as ever by DraftKings.

DraftKings.

The crown is yours.

And fellas,

you know, it's almost Halloween.

We still don't have a million dollars.

That's on you.

I'm going to step in here and try to play hero.

I'm going to give you a half dozen names.

And like I've been doing the last couple of weeks, I'm going to keep it to just touchdown scores.

I don't need yardage and otherwise.

I'm going to keep it nice and clean.

These guys are going to find the end zone.

And then come, you know, Monday morning, we'll collect a million dollars if that's okay with you.

Here we go.

You ready?

You like that?

Okay.

I know we agree on this.

Jalen hurts to score a touchdown.

Oh.

Quinchon Judkins.

Right?

I mean, just about every week.

As long as the tush push is there, half a yard at a time.

We're doing it.

Okay.

Quinchon Judkins.

I told you last week he would score a touchdown.

He scored two.

I think he does it again this week.

They do not trust Dylan Gabriel at the goal line, especially when they have Quinchon Junkins.

So I agree with you there.

Yeah, literally.

That's a great point.

Yeah, Wildcat formations at the goal line, yeah.

I hadn't really considered that, Gino, but that's absolutely right.

That, you know, half the league, two-thirds of the league is fine with pushing on the butt of their QB.

The Browns are not one of them.

They have the heavyweight in Judkins there.

Speaking of heavyweights, Cam Scatabu, now Jackson Dart likes to run into the end zone himself, but Scataboo keeps getting in there since he took over, right?

Yeah,

the memes of him being a battery runner are pretty funny.

Yeah, he may be one of those

better to burn out than fade away type of cats, but in the short term, I like him to get into the the end zone once again.

Best running back in football in 2025 is unquestionably Bajon Robinson.

He's going to get into the end zone against your beloved Miami Dolphins, right?

I mean, that'd be the obvious thing.

You also have Drake London coming up for the second one.

Throw all your Falcons.

Yeah, all your Falcons on your fantasy team.

Everybody you think.

Maybe Kyle Pitts, I'd wait on.

But Drake London, Bijan Robinson.

I'll probably throw Tyler Alger in there too, because if he gets a short yardage thing, he'll probably get it.

But play all your Falcons.

Literally, if I was giving you a pick, I'd say Michael Pennix too.

Why not?

put in two touchdowns.

You can cash Michael Pennix, Bijan, and Drake London.

So why not put them on there?

I am interested in that, but instead, I am going to travel to the banks of the Three Rivers to predict a couple touchdown passes off the right arm of number eight.

Nay, number 10, Jordan Love is going to throw at least two touchdown passes against that inexplicably lousy Steelers defense.

You saw what happened on Thursday night football week ago against Jamar Chase and T.

Higgins.

I think Jordan Love has a nice evening himself in front of a national audience.

And Aaron Rodgers and all the rest of it.

There you have it.

Your pick six there.

You want to throw some names in there, fellas?

I got one for you.

The team playing the Dallas Cowboys this week is the Denver Broncos, and they happen to be at home.

So let's do J.K.

Dobbins.

And if I'm going to take any of yours out for that one, it would be Scatterboo this time because Jalen Carter's playing.

That's the only reason.

Yeah, like I said, I'd said mine during the pick.

I'd said Michael Pennix, play everyone against the the Dolphins.

Like I said, if you get lucky, the first two touchdowns, cash all three of them.

You'll get Pennix, you'll get Bijan, and you'll get Drake London.

So throw questionable to play at the moment, but it looks like he's going to play.

Who do you take out?

Who do I take out?

Well,

I'd probably say Scataboo for the same reason, just because, you know, Jackson Dart likes to poach.

rushing touchdowns.

So Scataboo might have to take it out from like more than 10 yards out.

He is a good pass-catching back, so it would probably be Scataboo.

Not because I don't like Scataboo, just because he's probably the one less likely out of everybody else.

But But as opposed to you two weirdos, I like to ride the hot hand and Scataboo keeps getting into the end zone, but I'm going to lean in your direction here.

I think that maybe you're right.

He can't score a touchdown every week after all.

So let's plug in one of yours.

One more question while I have Gino and Mike, Mike and Geno's ear here.

Devil, Angel on either shoulder.

I don't know which is which here, but in my fantasy league, should I start Michael Pennix?

I almost picked up Kirk Cousins on the news that Michael Pennix has a bum knee this week, but it sounds like Pennix is going to be in there.

Do I go Pennex, little hobbled against the atrocious, atrocious Miami Dolphins, or do I go with Jackson Dart against the Eagles?

Penix, whoever is playing the Dolphins has an easy game, easy mode for anyone who's playing the Dolphins.

I don't think you should be fooled too much by the last time the Giants played the Eagles.

Not saying that he can't replicate it, but the Dolphins are just so bad on defense.

Like, I would go Penix, yeah.

And if it is Kirk Cousins, go ahead and get Kirk Kirk Cousins and start him.

Yeah, that's my only concern is that Pennex is limpy.

Otherwise, he would obviously be in there throwing with that South Paw hand.

All right, listen.

Now my appetite is quite.

Let's keep talking about NFL week eight.

All right, let's get it rolling here with one of the more entertaining voices in pro football and really anything that is to be buzzed about on YouTube.

You want to be checking this cat out.

That's good sports.

It is a phenomenal program and it is a gigantic hit.

Grassroots style too.

Not backed by the deep-pocketed Pro Football League or otherwise.

In fact, about a decade or so ago, his supporters used to get all over me on social media saying, get Brandon on your show.

Get him in an NFL network and all the rest of it.

He deserves all the success he's having on YouTube.

Like I say, the name of the show is That's Good Sports.

He sings and does all the rest of it.

Just you wait, Henry Higgins.

It's our pal Brandon Perna.

How are you, pal?

I knew one person would like that restance.

It was very strong.

It was very strong.

Higgins, yes.

I'm good.

Thanks for having me, Dave.

Of course, of course.

Well, yeah, great to catch up, especially right now.

Well, you're riding high.

All Broncos fans are riding high.

What did you make of the crazy game that you saw on Sunday?

I think it

honestly confused me more about the team I root for.

Like when you can watch your team score 33 points in a single quarter and none for the first three, you don't know who your team is offensively.

Now we played the Cowboys this week, so I have no idea how that's going to go.

Confused.

I am so confused about football at this moment.

Well, sure.

Week to week, it is

confounding stuff.

I think the escape with a victory, we talk about it all the time on this show.

College football is a different beast.

If you get a W, take it and move on and ask few, if any, questions about it.

You survived the Phenom, I guess,

Phenom adjacent Jackson Dart, along with his pal Cam Scataboo.

You should be happy with the victory there.

We can't get snobby.

The Broncos aren't ready yet for there to be higher taste applied here.

Win and move on.

Bo Knicks and all the rest of it, right?

Yeah, there's a, you know, there's a lot to develop, I think, for Bo that we thought would already be happening this season based on kind of the second half of last year.

We thought that's when he and Sean Payton kind of figured out how the offense functions.

And it feels like they started over and we're dealing with the same issues we saw the first half of last year.

It's streaky.

Their offense is so streaky.

The three quarters without any points, like that's not new.

It's happened every game.

Like they score kind of in waves, and then it's just dry, and you're banking on the defense to keep them in the game.

So that's kind of how they've gone.

I think the thing I'm impressed with based on the win against the Giants is they survived the NFL officials.

They survived a terrible, terrible, egregious pass interference call.

And they still won after the Giants scored a touchdown with 30 plus seconds left.

So if you can overcome that, I think

you can win some games.

Now, the leverage penalty back in the Colts game, that was too much for them.

We learned leverage was too much, but I think they're learning how to beat the officials and their opponents, except for the fact that Dre Greenlaw is now suspended for a week because of yelling at the ref after the game.

Isn't it weird that the Broncos are on the wrong end of that call in Indy, but Indy has the A.D.

Mitchell play in L.A., and those might be the two best teams.

They are the two best teams by record.

They both have weird losses,

both have some weird strikes against them.

Sean Payton, do you, before we jump into, oh, you know what?

Actually, before anything else, you mentioned the referees and you're a philosophical sort.

What kind of human being

wants to be a referee?

Did you know any, did you know anybody growing up who like, yeah, I want to be a ball player when I grow up.

I want to be a fireman.

I want to lord the rules over all others.

How say you?

I don't know.

I've thought about that.

I'm like, as much as I complain about, you know, the refs,

it takes some courage to do that, I think.

I think it makes you a weirdo.

You have a chip on your shoulder if you're an official because you obviously wouldn't want to be close to the sport.

You'd want to be in the sport.

Oh, well, I'm not good enough to play the sport.

All right.

Well, then, then I am going to use my powers to annoy all the people that are better at this sport than I am right or no yeah if you like annoying people i think that's one maybe it's a power trip thing for some people i think there are guys who are just passionate about the game and want to be around it even if that's the only way to be around it uh who was the who's the the ref that was protecting uh jsn the other night i like that guy i like him he was a human barricade that man i respect i want more of him nate jones is his name nate jones maybe i forget yes yes mighty superhuman pro football player worth

a thousand times more than I am.

Let me protect you.

Let me put my body on the line to defend you.

So, Sean Payton, in your book now, a few years of exposure to him, coaching up your team, does he deserve the title in the year of the Lord 2025, QB Whisperer?

No, not yet.

QB Whisperer?

I think he might whisper things about quarterbacks that get him into trouble.

I heard about that.

Yeah, I think like,

I don't know, Sean is kind of a lightning rod for attention.

I don't know if it's intentional by him.

I don't know if he just has this baseline way of saying things that rub people the wrong way.

I don't know if it's overconfidence.

paired with the fact that I do think he's he's good.

I think he he knows NFL offenses.

I think my biggest issue with Sean right now is I think he truly believes he can call a game like Drew Brees is still his quarterback.

And

he can't.

And when he and Drew parted ways,

they were at this level.

And he thinks Bo can get right up there quickly.

And I'm not sure he's doing enough to help bridge the gap until Bo gets to that level, if he can get to that level.

Boy, that's super interesting.

I hadn't really considered that.

Right.

That a play designer, you would put them into two buckets, either run the offense, do the stuff that I like to do as the play caller, or adapt to the specific skill set of your player.

We've seen that happen before.

This is really for a guy who's supposed to be a whiz with offense and specifically with quarterbacks.

He is sort of like a band that was really good 20 years ago that insists on playing the hits instead of making new music.

Yeah,

that's fair.

And I think like, it's not all on Sean.

There's execution problems.

There's penalty problems.

And I think Bo's a young quarterback, right?

He's in year two.

I mean, he's a young quarterback

relatively, right?

He was in college for nine years or 20 years, whatever people want to joke about.

He's played a lot, but there are parts of his game that aren't there yet.

There are gaps in the middle of the field.

There's a tendency to just go to the check down too quickly.

Some of the same problems we saw with Russell Wilson when he was in Denver.

And I think Sean takes unfair criticism when sometimes it's probably Bose's decision to check down, swing past your running back or whatever, and that play isn't working.

So

I hope it just clicks.

And I hope it clicks for a full game.

Just show me a few full games of points scored in the first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, and fourth quarter.

I got to say, man,

it's a recurring point of mine that if you really want to know the flaws of a team, talk to somebody who is obsessed by that team and loves that team.

That's what I'm hearing from you, Perna.

You're nitpicking here when I think most of Football America is looking at the Broncos and saying, what a nice story that is.

All right, let's jump in to the NFL week eight countdown.

We'll go from five down to one, picking what we have determined to be the most important games, the most entertaining games potentially.

We'll start it off Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens, home team.

It sounds like Lamar Jackson is going to be out there, hobbled though he may be.

They're laying six and a half.

The total is 49.5 at the time of this recording.

Perna, how say you?

Are the Ravens favored here?

Oh, yeah.

The Ravens favored by.

Man, this is tricky because I was thinking about this before in that I don't think the Ravens are actually as bad as their record.

Now, they've been playing as bad as their record, and, you know, they missed Lamar there.

But we've been talking about doing a bears video and how chicago is kind of a team that's playing pretty good football and their defense is opportunistic they've got a turn a ton of turnovers and i don't feel like the bears are getting enough credit for developing into a good football team they're running the ball as well as anyone now

i think but i think the ravens are going to win i think i think i like the ravens to have a bounce back game it's just too many bad games from a team that we believe is better than this, right?

Roquan Smith looks like he's going to be back.

Yeah, I think it adds up to in a game that the Ravens just have to have.

They have to have most of the games remaining

on their schedule if they want to win the division and all the rest of it.

I say they get this one: 19-17.

Number four, NFCE showdown.

It's the New York Giants, it's the Philadelphia Eagles.

Eagles laying seven and a half, 44.5 is your total on this one.

Perna choose.

Oh, Ooh, man.

A rematch already, right?

I like Philly.

I think the Giants used too much of their luck against the Broncos.

I'm going superstition here.

Too much luck against Denver, and they still couldn't win.

And I think Philly's not going to make the same mistakes they made

from when the first time they played the Giants.

Gut punch game

for the Giants.

They would be feeling good otherwise, but blowing that one probably has created some mixed feelings for them.

I think the Eagles trying to get back in form, a good performance in week seven.

I think they continue that role.

I think they win by double digits there.

At number three, let's get to it.

The game of the week, for me, at least, we've been talking about it a little bit here.

Super Bowl 45 rematch.

Packers at the Steelers.

The Steelers, a home dog.

Plus three and a half.

Total is 45.5.

Perna, the choose.

Yeah, you know, I'm a little concerned for the Steelers because Aaron Rodgers in his

little locker room speech, I think it was yesterday, said this is not a revenge game.

He's got no animosity towards the Packers.

I think Aaron Rodgers plays best when he's

got a spite game,

when there is animosity.

Now, maybe that's just, you know, he's trying to trick us, but I need to believe this is a revenge game for Rodgers.

I think the Packers are a better team.

I think we just are seeing what Micah Parsons means to their defense in terms of

his pressure rate, how often he's double-teamed.

And as soon as I started to believe in the Steelers,

based on their defense, Flacco picked him apart.

All that said, though, I think the Steelers are going to win this game.

Wow.

So,

because I really do believe deep down, Rodgers still is angry with the Packers and I'm not betting against you think yeah.

I mean come on obviously he's saying the right things Jordan loves saying the right things.

No one wants to increase the heat on them pre-game

obviously listen Aaron Rodgers has has

has

spoken novels about that situation.

He then suddenly switch off those emotions.

I'm going to go Packers.

Let's reflect the Super Bowl 45 score.

31-25.

The Packers are going to to get this one.

Yeah, I feel like Rodgers cares.

It's the dynamic of Don Draper in the elevator with the junior copywriter.

Aaron Rodgers can say whatever he wants, but deep down,

he's the junior copywriter saying, I feel sorry for you.

No one would ever go to Green Bay if it hadn't been for me.

And the Packers and Jordan Love and Gutenkoons and the rest are looking back at him saying, We don't think about you at all, Aaron.

We're on the better days over here.

I do unfortunately think the Packers are going to win that game.

I hope Roger see this, sees this very clip because if he finds out he's not the Don Draper in this

metaphor or analogy, I think that's going to give him more motivation.

By the way, speaking of Don Draper, I've heard tale that he may make an appearance on a podcast called Football America next week.

Be on the lookout for that.

That would be exciting times if we did that.

In the meantime, at number two, on the there he is.

This guy.

Ham.

Yeah, you know him.

Yeah, he was the fourth lead in that movie tag.

Everybody knows him.

He did those progressive insurance ads.

He's talking about tags.

Yeah, he's done a lot of good work in show business.

All right.

At number two, we have the commies

against the Chiefs.

Time of this recording.

Casey laying 12.5.

This is a team that infamously

until, I guess, midway through last season, didn't cover against anybody in Arrowhead.

Now they've kind of turned that around.

Still, 12.5 is heavy.

47.5 is the total.

No Jaden Daniels, of course.

That's why the number is so large.

How say you, Perna?

Yeah,

the Chiefs looked to be, they appear to be pretty good right now.

They're a very healthy team.

Patrick Mahomes playing really good.

The offense is scoring a lot of points.

I don't think I could take Washington, even if Jaden Daniels was playing.

10.5 is a lot.

I like the commies to cover there, but I do not think they're going to win this game.

Chiefs buy like a touchdown.

Well, it's Mariota.

He's not a ham and egger.

He's fine.

He's a vet.

He's sort of in that role.

Now he's at the station in his career where you can probably get a nice, competent performance at minimum out of him.

Yeah.

And, you know, I want to see Von Miller get another sack on Patrick Mahomes.

That's when I knew Patrick was going to be a problem when I watched him escape like Von Miller and then throw like left-handed completions against Denver.

I'm like, wait, what just happened?

And the Chiefs just played a Raiders team that I felt like put up very little effort.

And I think it's tough when you're an NFL team coming off a game that easy and then you got to, you know,

play a, I haven't figured out Washington yet.

They've got flaws.

They're not bad.

They're not good.

They're not good.

Yeah.

They're probably last year was a magical run for them.

It doesn't mean that Jaden Daniels, you need to throw dirt on the rest of his career.

but I do think that this sophomore year collectively for Washington isn't going to be as high-end as we saw last year.

Speaking of that, and by the way, I'll take the Chiefs by two touchdowns at least at home in this one.

I think they will cover that gigantic number.

Quick question for you that we've been talking about here on the show because we want to do a good show, a noble show.

I don't like the name Commies.

for the team that plays in our nation's capital, but also we've been admonished.

We're not allowed to say their old team name anymore which is a weird thing because most slurs came around before you and i walked the big blue marble they're like a hundred or 500 years old don't call people from that ethnicity that bad word but this one is different where do you come down are you allowed to say the old name of a football team um

i think i

I resorted to the Washington Redskin potatoes for a long time.

Okay.

Okay.

I just turned it into produce.

Everybody likes potatoes.

Yeah, that's the safe play for YouTube as well.

You never know what YouTube might get you in trouble for.

And

yeah.

I think my real issue is the command, the name they went to, the Commanders, just

wasn't cool enough.

Like if their new brand had stuck, we wouldn't be talking about it.

Why weren't they the hogs?

Pay homage to your own history.

That's the move.

Everybody in the stadium would love it.

Everybody

would rally.

And you could almost keep the old logo.

All right, listen, because time is running short here.

And I want to give it the attention it deserves.

This is a fascinating historical one.

Super Bowl 12 rematch, and they're wearing the uniforms that they wore in Super Bowl 12 in New Orleans.

That was a terrible game.

Maybe this will be a terrible one, but reversed, and the Cowboys will be on the wrong end of this one.

Cowboys, Broncos, Denver, laying three and a half, 50 and a half is the total.

Perna, the choose.

Yeah, I'm not sure.

I love that the Broncos are favored.

I know the Cowboys have one of the worst

defenses in the NFL,

but I don't trust the Broncos' offense yet, even against the worst defense.

I see only two ways this game plays out.

The Cowboys win this game either 30 to 10 or the Broncos win this game 38 to 36.

Those are the only two ways.

See, to me, to to my objective eyes, I thought, boy, that number's awful low.

Just three and a half for the Cowboys.

I know Dak's having a nice year and all the rest of it.

But as you mentioned, they have no defense.

You did get close to the Super Bowl XII final, which was Cowboys 27 to 10.

I say the Broncos get this one.

They're going to cover this one.

The Broncos, I mean, the Cowboys have emerged as a surprising story.

The Broncos, I think, have more sustainable success on the way this season.

Brandon Perna, sustainable success for you and everyone following along.

We need to root for it spiritually because you're doing something that is very hard to do

right now in sports, media, media, period, which is you have taken the reins and you have built up an empire.

I'm happy for you.

If I can say I'm proud of you, because it's hard to do, man.

Good for you.

Continue the role, pal.

Thank you.

Thank you for having me.

That's good sports.

Checking out him and Will Keys.

Oh, he's another great one, too.

Yeah.

Perna, thanks for the time, pal.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

I appreciate it.

Take good care.

Good luck this weekend.

All right, good times coming up with this guy.

He averaged almost seven yards of carry when he was at Nebraska, then during the first decade of the century as Green Bay's home run hitting runner.

He was good for 1,200 or 1,300 rushing yards annually, 50, 60 catches, and double-digit touchdowns.

Maybe I should just say this.

He's the Packers' all-time leading rusher, and he's the host of Amon Green's Gamers Lounge podcast.

Amon Green, I know that you have a Batman tattoo.

And so, before we dig in on pigskin, one of my favorite head-to-heads to talk about is who would win

a battle royale between the Justice League and the Avengers?

The floor is yours.

Oh, my goodness.

Oh, man.

I've been hit with this several times.

Oh, you have?

Oh,

I'm unoriginal then, I guess.

Yeah, I've had this one.

I would have to go, man.

I would say, obviously, in the movie sense, right?

Marvel's kicking our butts in terms of DC.

But if you've done it right, you know, if they would have done it right.

But

if

they did have to battle, I'm going to have to stay on the side of DC with Batman and Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman.

And the other, I say, a few that joined in,

Cyborg, and a few other guys, because I like the prowess of what my man got, what they got, why I have the tattoo on my leg.

Batman, he is the world's greatest detective and he knows everyone's weakness.

That's kind of his job.

Interesting.

You know, so with that, he will find and know.

We go to Marvel.

We go to Marvel side.

You know, we got from Spider-Man to

Captain Marvel or Mrs.

Marvel, Captain Marvel there.

She's the one who concerns me if she counts among the Avengers because, well, and then also thor

and doctor strange i mean there's a lot of a lot of like sort of uh metaphysical powers that i don't know how dc responds beyond say green lantern with his ring out in space and superman can be pretty much everybody i think they're the odds are stacked against them though yeah there's some deep cuts of guys that i know that are similar in the dc universe i just uh right now on the spot can't remember names but know that can rival that can go against them.

So I think it's a good battle, but I think DC has the edge there.

But not in the movie place, though.

The box office Marvel's won that score

right there.

Well, when this comes up, and it comes up way more than it should for a man of my advanced age, the thing I always point out is the fact that Superman would defeat the Hulk because he could just grab the Hulk by his big toe and drag him out into deep space and leave him out there.

There would be no answer for Hulk in response to that.

Then again, Aquaman is a major liability I mean like out of water he has no value right I mean he's just like he like why he gets so much credit when it's really the fish doing the dirty work he's like hey that that evil villain has access to a nuclear sub hey killer whales you should go do something about that and then he gets the credit for it Hey, well, they all, it's a teamwork, makes it dream work type of scenario there with Aquaman.

He knows where he stands and all that.

All right, main event.

Let's jump to Sunday here.

As it happens, I'm a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

You're a Green Bay Packers icon.

So let's talk about this showdown upcoming and start here.

2005, you're on the Green Bay Packers.

Brett Favre is thriving, obviously, one of the great stars in the game, alongside of you.

I should mention.

I gave some of the numbers at the top there.

But then the Packers draft Aaron Rodgers.

What's the vibe in the building as someone who was who was inside those four walls when it all started to go down there?

The vibe for the most of it obviously was like, you know, it was, this is going to be our Aaron Parent potential, right?

And so I understand the game.

So I'm like, okay, he's drafting the next quarterback that may be aligned.

I've been, I got there.

Matt Hasselback, Aaron Brooks were in the wings.

And we knew that at those times, Brett wasn't, you know, coming, thinking, even coming off the field at that time.

and so again was the question okay yeah this is air apparent but we know brett he has an energizer battery in him does easy keep going and going and we knew we still so in 05 we had a rough season that year i know injuries i got injured that year for you guys other um bubba tony fisher and naja damper tough tough year but a time where he got a little bit or i say he aaron got a little bit of time on the field and i say on that time on the field got ready starting to groom him then but i remember in those training camp days he he he could make some throws and that's why I knew right away we drafted the next guy in line it's just he's gonna have to wait a couple more years and that's where I think things went kind of wonky when 07 08 came around 07 they go all the way to the NSC I want to say NSC championship game and lose to the giants and then the next year McCarthy hands the keys to Aaron, but Brett's not quite ready.

That's why now then we see him as a jet.

And that's where everything was back and forth because Brett was the type of guy that you can't tell.

You can't take him off the field.

He wants to play no matter what.

But there was a connection between them.

It was a, you know, I say, I called him, I called Brett the old guy by that time because I just said this earlier during a podcast that he would get mad at Aaron for, that's when iPads or iPods was just new and he had his earbuds in.

He's like, come on, get, come on, what do I got to get him to do to get off, get off the headset?

I'm like, hey, man, it's the new generation.

This is what they do.

Boy, isn't that funny how the circle is completing the deja vu as we talk about?

I mean, obviously a few years now since Jordan Love got drafted by the Packers, but here we are talking about that.

And absence makes the heart grow fonder.

And Jordan Love loves Aaron Rodgers and Aaron Rodgers loves Jordan Love.

And of course, neither guy wants to lean into the heat that goes into this one.

I do suspect that one or the other will react or say something a little closer to the truth after the game.

How say you?

I don't think so.

I think they're going to keep it professional.

I look at at him as both, I say, Aaron, the mature Jedi, and Love, the Padawan in learning.

And he's getting to that point to now face his master, face his trainer, his teacher now.

And then we'll find out who's going to be on top at the end.

And at the end, it's going to be fun.

I think it's going to be a hell of a game.

And I mean, watching the way the offseason went for Aaron, it was not turbulent.

It was just basically got the deal done.

He now is a Pittsburgh Steeler.

And then they got a DK Metcalf.

And no one coached Tom Lynn.

He likes to keep things tight.

He doesn't like to let things get, you know, totally out of control in the media.

And he kept that.

They kept it that way.

So for Aaron playing as good as he is now, no surprise.

So, like I said, super excited about this game.

I wish I was trying to get there to be there in person, but I couldn't make it in.

This schedule did not work out.

But just knowing.

I wanted to go with Jean-Claude Van Damashek, my junior in high school, but he has school the next day.

They shouldn't have scheduled it in prime time.

That was selfish of the NFL to do that.

Otherwise, I would be there as well.

You know, so much of the conversation, for obvious reasons, love v.

Rodgers, but the liability that is emerging and really in week one against Justin Fields and since that point has been weirdly the Steelers' defense.

So, given Jordan Love and what this offense is capable of, and Rodgers going against the PAC, how do you see this one playing out on Sunday night?

I'm saying, I'm going to see that.

I say one big thing for the Packers' defense, what they need to do, knowing Aaron and where he likes to run because he does use, he's been still mobile this year.

And so if anything, don't let him run to his right, right?

You know, if he bells out of the pocket, I know TJ and Cameron is going to get in there.

They're going to disrupt, just like Micah and Richard.

And if Lucas is played, if Lucas Van Ness plays, they're going to disrupt as well.

But if anything, don't let him bell to his right because that's a sweet spot.

He's a right-orner quarterback.

So if anything, put that pressure and let him bell to his left or push into the pocket.

Let him, make him step up.

That's where he's not, as I say, it's not a comfortable spot for him to be in that pocket and it's collapsing down on him.

So do that.

Keep Jalen Warren out the game because if you got a run game, then Aaron knows how to feast off of that along with it because he got a DK and Phil Mooth is playing great right now.

I got him online fantasy.

So good job, Pat.

Keep it going.

So with that, with that, with those, with that information is that's what the Packers got to do.

And it's almost the same for Pittsburgh.

TJ and crew getting in there, putting that pressure on love, but they got a Josh Jacobs.

And so right now, he has been rolling.

I love what he's been doing.

I got a chance to meet him last year and talk to him.

And we're almost the same mindset, same, you know, the way style of running that we both done, similar.

And he is the X Factor because he's another receiver off the backfield.

I've seen him do it several times this season when the run game ain't is not there.

You know what?

They're not letting me run the ball.

You know, I'm going to just sleek out to the flat or I'm going to run a Texas route, catch the ball, get yards after contact and make a first down or get a touchdown out of it.

And he's done that.

So those are the,

I say those details right there for defenses on both sides of the ball to be aware of to keep both teams from getting momentum going.

But definitely for, I say for Green Bay, they've been used to the road so far.

So they've been doing a good job with that.

Well, listen, if I may critique your

assessment with just one thing, I think you were much more, like I said at the top, much more of a home run hitter than Josh Jacobs was.

Very few running backs this millennium had the ability had that high-end uh i when i think of them on green i think of you running away from whether it's collegiate uh would-be tacklers or pro tacklers it felt like you did that uh an outsized number of times during your career now yeah i'm a humble guy just be keeping it quiet that's all but yes that's why i'm here that's why i'm here to be your life

i did have the home run swing and if i would have played baseball too i would have played i would have had home run swing as well oh now it's starting to come out see there that's no no no shame in having a little bit of ego.

Lizzie, you played pro football after all.

All right.

Some other guys who played pro football for those Packers are the quarterbacks we're talking about.

So I want you to rank them for me right now.

Favre, Rogers, Love.

Go ahead.

If you want to put Bart Starr in there, you're welcome.

Oh, man.

This is a tough one.

Okay.

This is a tough one.

But I say all due respect.

I got to go Aaron first because he just understood, Like, he didn't throw into situations that my, the other guy I played with, Brett, he would throw into situations like, Brett, I know you're smarter than this.

When it's four blue jerseys, those are bear jerseys, not pack jerseys.

Don't throw the ball there.

He's like, Come on, I can get it in.

So, Aaron was wow.

This is, this is, this is bold.

This is bold from you because you weren't even there for the title game in NOLA, which he threw the bad interception in OT.

There, you were there.

I was as you mentioned.

I was in Philly, And I was in some regular season games too.

That all was like, bro, like, don't throw that ball.

He's like, I know it, mine, but I can get it in there.

I was like, I love you to death, but sometimes just hold back.

Toss it to me.

I'm in the flat.

Give it, give me a shot to get how that.

That is a weird, that's got to be a weird sort of energy that you know that he's always borderline MVP, Brett Favre, but then he throws in frigid Lambo against Eli and the Giants.

He throws the season away with a bad pick.

What is the vibe in the locker room?

Like, well, we wouldn't have been here without you, Brett.

Or are there some raw feelings?

Like, what are you doing, gunslinger?

Can't you take care of the ball in a big spot?

He's a family member that just knows, like, we know their limits.

And it's like, bro, we try to warn them beforehand, too.

We're trying to help them out, right?

And they just don't want to listen.

It's just like that type of thing.

Because at the end of the day, we still love them and just, you know what?

Just don't do that.

Please don't do that at the time, but it does happen.

And then we got to live with it, unfortunately.

So that's just the way things go.

Like I said, still love Brett, hell of a player.

I'm glad.

I mean, I have a resume of quarterbacks that I play with from Aaron to Brett to Warren Moon, my rookie year in Seattle.

I'm not, I'm not going to complain about that, but you know, we're not perfect, we're players, we're trying to ball out, do our thing.

But sometimes, you couldn't, in some situations, you could have pulled back, but you didn't because

you've just had that inkling that I think I could get it in there.

You know what?

It's okay.

Boy, that's I forget about how up close you've been to some of these 40-plus-year-old 40-plus-year-old QBs.

It's not just Brett Favre, who went over to Minnesota and all of that, but also, yeah, like you say, Warren Moon, who had one of the high-end years, one of the very small handful of high-end years for a 40-plus QB, right?

When you got to pro football,

that was a trick question, though.

You ranked them based on football.

I was really asking which guy would be most likely to pick up a spendy dinner bill.

Oh, Favre Rogers Love.

You know what?

I've learned.

So probably I'll start with Aaron.

And I say the young buck is learning right now love and then Brett because I know Brett still owes me on a dinner that we went out on.

And he was,

yeah.

So we, one day I'll pick that bone with him when I get down to Mississippi because I don't think he's going anywhere else no time soon.

So I got to drive over there.

I'm in Houston anyway.

So I'm a little bit closer.

So there you go.

So I was rough few minutes for

number four here.

Let's go out on this.

The new class, or at least the nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame are out.

What jumps out to you from this list?

And if you, you know, you said that you like to keep it modest.

I remember having conversations when you were in the prime of your career, pointing out like this guy may wind up with a gold jacket, but here we are in 2025.

Any names jump out at you as guys who must get in there, guys who've been held out for a little too long, in your opinion, or otherwise?

um dude looking at the list i say guys i say maybe my name maybe needs to be on there so there you go see we just start here first be let's be real um but i read from the running backs seeing freak frank gore lashawn mccoy todd gurley freddie t man me and freddie t was the same draft class so definitely he uh he had he has his 10k on the ground how do you figure he's not in the hall of fame which is the bigger omission fred taylor or tori holt i go with the latter at this point it's very strong because you were you were playing when the rams were doing their thing.

And somehow Isaac Bruce is in the Hall of Fame, but the guy who was a tick better than him is not strange.

Very true.

True.

And so that one's a tough one.

Right.

And it's just about his time on the field.

He was on the part of the Super Bowl teams, but still, there's some voting in there that obviously is skewed.

But another guy that I thought was in there, like I just mentioned, Freddie Taylor, he was the first back off the off the slate.

And then after that was like a slew of guys you'll hear a name, like a Curtis Ines, a Skip Hicks, hicks, and then me.

You know, I was probably like 15 picks after him.

So, to be watching him, because I watched all the guys that got drafted my year.

And so, from the whatever position, Randy Moss, Freddie Taylor, myself was all part of that class and the high school class.

So, just seeing him do what he did in a place where it came in, it was a good team, but then later, you know, kind of into his career, they weren't that.

And he had a few injuries and battled through them and still had 10K rushing.

I was right on the brink of 10K, I'm around 9,000 yards.

So, to understand what that takes as a running back that's a lot of respect there and then looking at at the quarterbacks drew brees philip rivers eli manning another good bunch of guys that are i say getting in there finally um but i know it's a i say it's a it's a slippery slope for any player for that matter to get into on that list and to get in the hall of fame because uh the things they have to i say after football you got to stay relevant you got to do those type of things to kind of work towards that along with being one hell of a player on the football field i hear you on all that And

it is funny as you tick through, let's skip Hicks and Curtis Enos and all of that.

You guys are all the same.

You can tick through all the guys at your position who were drafted ahead of you.

It is remarkable, the ability for pro football guys to keep that chip on the shoulder, not just through their career, but after their career.

And like you say, you're doing some great stuff.

I'm on Green's Gamers Lounge podcast.

Make sure you check it out.

Gaming and Beyond, maybe some insights on superheroes, some Star Wars talk talk there, all the rest of it.

Pro football, college football, dynamite stuff.

Great to catch up with you, Amon.

Keep, uh, hope everything continues to go well for you and hope to catch up soon.

Yeah, definitely, Dave.

Keep everything going and have a good time.

Good luck to your, good luck to your Packers, and good luck to you.

Maybe getting one of those gold jackets.

Thank you.

Oh, for sure.

That's going to happen very soon, probably next couple of years.

I get it.

Fingers crossed.

Fingers crossed.

All right.

And that's that.

Good stuff from Amon Green, from Brandon Perna, from Mike and Gene Ofuentes, Bradley Campbell, and all the rest at Meadowlark Media.

We appreciate you checking it out.

Like I said earlier, keep spreading the good word, YouTube, and wherever you find your podcast.

That's where you'll find Football America.

Get on board, be a patriot.

We'll be back after NFL week out, week eight, to break it down for you.

Try and make some sense of it for you.

Like I said earlier, we may have a special guest for you and our usual great guest, Jeff Schwartz.

Until then, thanks so much, my fellow football Americans.

It's been a thin slice of heaven.