The "Invincible" Rams, NFL Pressure Guys, and L.A.’s Crazy NBA Month With Tom Pelissero and Sam Koppelman

“I lived my own funeral for like four hours,” Tom Pelissero says, describing the moment he learned he was out at ESPN while standing in a Sky Club about to board a flight to LA. That unexpected pivot landed him at The Ringer and Netflix, and it opens a wide-ranging conversation with Bill Simmons about the NFL’s most pressurized teams, the league’s new trade culture, and the financial chaos enveloping the NBA’s billionaire ownership class.

The Rams as Super Bowl Favorites: Hype or Reality?

The Rams enter the season as prohibitive favorites, with a 5-to-1 Super Bowl line and an 11.5 win over/under. Pelissero and Simmons are skeptical. The roster is top-heavy, built around a 38-year-old Matthew Stafford, a 35-year-old Aaron Donald returning from a multi-year retirement, and a receiving corps anchored by Puka Nacua, who spent the offseason in rehab and reportedly ran through a glass door at a party. Pelissero notes that in modern NFL history, the only Hall of Fame player who sat out multiple seasons and returned was Deion Sanders, and he came back as a part-time player. The Rams plan to use Donald similarly—on third downs and in pass-rush situations alongside Miles Garrett—but the idea of a dominant 35-year-old playing 70% of snaps in January is speculative.