Follow the Money | September 16, 2026 | Hour 2

Mike Palm (0:01)

This is VSiN, the SportsBetting Network.

SPEAKER_3 (0:12)

This is Follow the Money, with Mitch Moss and Pauly Howard on VSiN.

Mitch Moss (0:19)

As always, thanks for watching on YouTube TV, listening on SiriusXM Channel 189, iHeartRadio, TuneIn Radio or any of our great affiliates.

Let's start this hour off with a bang, as we go out to the Progressive Guest Line, longtime friend of the show, Hall of Famer, the great Sal Paolantonio makes his weekly appearance. Sal Paol, thanks for the time. How about Sunday night? Great call by you on the Giants winning that outright. Got to tell you one game in, I don't want to overreact. They're winning that division.

Sal Paolantonio (0:45)

Oh, I like it. I love a little overreaction. I love a little excitement going into week two. I'll play along, I'll play along with that. That they put on a heck of a performance. I knew the Cowboys were running into a buzz saw. Their offensive line was not going to be able to handle the blitz of the Giants. You know, the common denominator, gentlemen, in week one after studying the film of week one, the common denominator was attack the quarterback, attack the football.

Giants attacked Dak, Vikings attacked Love, Chiefs attacked Knicks, Washington attacked Jalen Hurts. They had one of the highest percentages of blitzes. The Jets attacked Cam Jordan.

Pauly Howard (1:32)

Cam Ward.

Sal Paolantonio (1:34)

Yeah, Cam Ward, excuse me. Baltimore attacked Daniel Jones. I mean, it was attack the quarterback, but I wanna pivot quickly to week two because it's so hard in the NFL to make the playoffs if you go and 2, right? Since 1990, here are the numbers. I just got it from Elias Sports Bureau. You probably have seen these numbers, but let me remind you of what they are.

Since 1990, that's 36 years, only 12% of NFL teams that start and 2 have made the playoffs, 12%.

And in week two, by my count, I got seven teams that have got to have it, or have got to have games week two. Oh man. Already? I got seven teams. I got seven teams. And six of them are playing at home, and all of them are listed as favorites. Houston Texans, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos, LA Chargers, LA Rams, Dallas Cowboys, all lost week one, all at home week two, all favorite to win, all must win, all on the clock. The seventh team is the Green Bay Packers.

Mitch Moss (2:51)

No doubt.

Sal Paolantonio (2:53)

They're on the road against the Revive Jets. That's the game I'm covering. Packers are road favorites at MetLife.

I mean, Matt LaFleur, Jordan Love, on the clock, must win. And I think of all the teams that must win, gotta have it, they are the most desperate team. This week. Because the Packers, they're on the road. Four of their next five games are brutal at Tampa, Chicago, Dallas and at Detroit. They do have Atlanta at home.

But the next four of the next five are absolutely brutal. And this is all before Micah Parsons comes back. So this is an absolute gotta have it game for Green Bay. I love Green Bay this week, week two against the Jets.

Pauly Howard (3:43)

Oh, okay, you love them. All right, level of concern with Dallas. Looks like the same crummy defense. I know Jerry said last year, the Super Bowl teams that went to the Super Bowl both lost week one. But what's your level of concern with what they looked like and how they couldn't get the ball in the second half? Defense couldn't get off the field and defensive breakdowns all over.

Sal Paolantonio (4:02)

What are you doing playing zone defense and not blitzing Jackson Dart? What were they doing defensively in the second half?

Pauly Howard (4:10)

Yeah.

Sal Paolantonio (4:11)

What was that all about? That may have been the worst called game by any coach in the second half week one. Dallas better get their act together because you're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. So let's look at Washington, right? They're playing in Dallas. I think Washington is going to beat Dallas.

You think Washington is going to beat Dallas?

Mitch Moss (4:34)

I'm intrigued by the points for sure.

Sal Paolantonio (4:35)

Durante Jones, the Washington commander's new defensive coordinator, an acolyte of Flores in Minnesota. Flores, by the way, blitzed Jordan Love 82 percent of the time. That never happens in the NFL, never, 82 percent, never.

His acolyte, his protege, Durante Jones, he blitzed Jalen Hurts 50.9 percent of the time at Lincoln Financial Field. They've almost came away a winner and they covered in that football game, as you know. So I like Washington to get after DAC just like the Giants got after DAC. And I like Washington in that game because Jaden Daniels, if you watch the game closely, the Eagles could not tackle him in the second half.