A Giants Revival, Browns Believers, a Jets Crash, J-Dub’s Brutal Injury, and Guess the Lines With Cousin Sal
October 26, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readA Giants Revival, Browns Believers, a Jets Crash, J-Dub’s Brutal Injury, and Guess the Lines With Cousin Sal
The Seahawks beat the Chiefs on Sunday night, and Bill Simmons spent the first few minutes of the episode trying to figure out whether he can trust anything he sees anymore. "I don't know who the best team is," he told Cousin Sal. "We could talk about the Super Bowl odds on FanDuel. I have no idea who I would bet." That confusion ran through the entire conversation—a seven-week checkpoint where the NFL's hierarchy is scrambled, the AFC North is a four-team knife fight, and the Giants just beat a double-digit favorite in Houston while their former quarterback looked like a star for the other team.
The Deshaun Watson Dessert Menu and the AFC North Mess
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What you'll learn
- 1 (02:42) **Cousin Sal Joins After Sunday Night Football** - Bill and Sal recap the Seahawks’ win over the Chiefs, a rare straightforward Sunday night result.
- 2 (08:10) **AFC Landscape: Chiefs, Browns, and the Playoff Race** - The hosts break down the AFC hierarchy, from the Chiefs’ offensive line woes to a surprising Cleveland Browns playoff case.
- 3 (12:56) **Super Bowl Odds and the “Weird Year” Thesis** - Bill and Sal survey the muddled Super Bowl betting board, struggling to identify a true power team.
- 4 (15:55) **Joe Burrow’s Rope-a-Dope and the Ravens’ Second-Half Collapse** - A deep dive into the Bengals-Ravens game, where Burrow flipped a script after a brutal first half.
- 5 (19:33) **Steelers, Saints, and the Paris Game Borefest** - The hosts roast the overseas game in France and evaluate Pittsburgh’s 5-2 start.
- 6 (24:24) **The Vikings’ Flawed 6-0 Start and the JJ McCarthy Resurgence** - Bill and Sal question Minnesota’s legitimacy and marvel at how JJ McCarthy immediately revived the Giants.
- 7 (32:24) **Cross-Off Segment: The Jets Are Officially Done** - After last week’s hesitation, Bill and Sal formally cross the Jets off the playoff contender list.
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Show Notes
The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is joined by Cousin Sal to react to the Chiefs-Seahawks 'SNF' game before recapping the rest of the Week 7 matchups. Then, they Guess the Lines for Week 8 and recap the NBA weekend before ending with Parent Corner.
(0:00) Intro
(1:08) Chiefs-Seahawks
(9:26) Browns-Titans
(14:18) Bengals-Ravens
(18:14) Steelers-Saints
(22:54) Colts-Vikings
(30:53) Dolphins-Jets
(32:37) Giants-Texans
(41:14) Packers-Lions
(46:47) Rams-Raiders
(51:09) Buccaneers-Panthers
(53:38) 49ers-Falcons
(55:27) Guess the Lines Week 8
(01:09:34) NBA weekend recap
(01:23:08) Parent Corner
Host: Bill Simmons
Guest: Cousin Sal
Producers: Chia Hao Tat, Eduardo Ocampo, and Chris Wohlers
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