Follow The Money | August 12, 2026 | Hour 2

**Pauly Howard** (0:13)
This is Follow The Money with Mitch Moss and Pauly Howard on VSiN.

**Marc Malusis** (0:18)
Welcome back, good to have you. St. Louis beat the Phillies 7-1, off game for Wheeler. As St. Louis wins that series, and the twins took two out of three against Baltimore, they won 7-5. Tampa trying to go 9-0 on the road trip. They lead the A's 7-2 in the seventh, 11-1 and a half the in play, minus 120 Horrible performance by Kelly today, 6-1 Rockies in the fifth, 11-1 and a half the total. In that game also in play, Giants lead the Astros 1-0 in the fifth, 5-1 and a half the in play total, minus 140 to the under. The Brewers trying to avoid the sweep, lead the Padres, and Robbie Ray. That is 2-1 in the fourth ending, and we'll get to the night slate coming up in MLB, and a great article up on what to expect top storylines the rest of the season in Major League Baseball. Moose has a pick coming up at Saratoga, we'll get to in a little bit. Surprises and disappointments in the NFL and a ton of candidates, and it's great that the NFL is back and we have six games tomorrow. I'm surprised at some of these numbers and the disrespect with a couple of teams. Number one, the Denver Broncos.
They are the third choice to win the West at plus 250 in some spots, behind the Chargers and the Chiefs. Should have gone to the Super Bowl last year, I think they beat the Patriots with Knicks. It's a big year for Knicks, although he's continued to improve every year, and they have a solid record with them the last two years and made the playoffs in both years. You are going to point to the luck factor, which I understand, and their record in close games, and then the comebacks.
But to me, a big takeaway is they played down to their level of competition, should have lost to the Jets, that horrible performance in the London game, that bad performance on Sunday night against Washington when they should have lost, but they were at their best when they played the top teams. That's what I like about Denver, and I also trust Payton and the coaching staff, and I love Webb, the new offensive coordinator, who everyone's raved about taking over as well as OC to help out. So I think Denver, well, it's a brutal schedule, but still you don't know about Kansas City and how bad they were last season. The question marks, there's a lot to like about the Chargers, but they've been at a tough break with the injuries over the years. I love Herbert, but still 0-3 career in the playoffs, horrible performance against the Patriots last year as well. I'm shocked at the price with Denver to win the division and feel they're being slept on, and there's too much Charger love and Kansas City love. Minnesota is the longest shot to win the division in the North. Five to one, and the win total is only 8.5.
Repeating a lot of the points, I'm sure you've heard, but still, when you get an upgrade like that at the quarterback position and they won nine games last year with a bad quarterback play. Love Flores, love O'Connell, and it's a huge make or break a year for Murray as well. And he has plenty of weapons. And I think with that defense, if they stay healthy, they're gonna go over their win total and can compete for Detroit to win that division. And I'm with you as this will mark as well with Atlanta.
Four to one, Tua is gonna start tomorrow. ESO has been named the starting quarterback as Penex hasn't been cleared for 11 on 11 work. The win total is six and a half.
And a huge upgraded coach and an upgraded quarterback, I think, if Tua can stay healthy. But to be six and a half and four to one to win the division, and everyone's drinking the Saints Kool-Aid after the great run that they had to close the year. Plenty of concerns about Tampa. Don't like Young in Carolina. Three-way tie for the division where they all finished eight and nine to end the season. I cannot believe the Falcons' win total is six and a half.

**Pauly Howard** (4:10)
Yeah, and I think either through a couple of those storylines, whether it be the AFC West or whether it be the NFC South, I think the love falls with the quarterback play. You look at Denver and I'll disagree with you in terms of the disrespect for the Denver Broncos, but I think the concern there is Bo Nicks. What version of Bo Nicks are you going to get in 2026? You mentioned in terms of the schedule as well, and maybe the Denver Broncos a year ago missed the window. There are people, Pauly, that can't help themselves.