Follow The Money | September 2, 2026 | Hour 3

**SPEAKER_1** (0:13)
This is Follow The Money with Mitch Moss and Pauly Howard on VSiN.

**Mitch Moss** (0:19)
Thanks for checking in, we're live in Vegas. Circa Resort and Casino is the spot, starting this hour off with a banger as we go out to the Progressive Guest Line. Hall of Famer, the great Sal Paolantonio joins the program now. Sal Paol, thanks for the time as always. How you been?

**Sal Paolantonio** (0:33)
Oh, I've been good. It's been a good summer. Mitch and Pauly, it's been fantastic. We're only a week away and everybody is super excited here in the Palantoneo household for my 35th NFL season covering the league ESPN and 35

**Mitch Moss** (0:48)
Congratulations on that.

**Sal Paolantonio** (0:50)
Yeah. Well, I had to prove it.

**Mitch Moss** (0:53)
We'll ask you about the Eagles here in a second. We have to begin with, I mean, then it's not the first game, but it's the second game and it's going to be in Australia. Overall, so much talk about the travel plans for the 49ers and the Rams and how they're completely different than then Donald comes back for the LA Rams. Your thoughts overall on that entire situation?

**Sal Paolantonio** (1:12)
Well, I went through that two years ago up close and personal with the Eagles and the Green Bay Packers. It was a 13-hour flight.
Much different because you don't have the time zone change. You don't have the international dateline change going to Brazil. So I served in the Indian Ocean and in the South Pacific and flew back and forth several times. And I know how bad that flight is. I know how difficult that flight is to go out there and get acclimated. I think it's a really good idea to go out early. I think it's a good idea to get acclimated from the time zone change and from the long flight. I think that will definitely help the 49ers. No question about it. I think it's smart.
But the Rams, you know, there's so much going on with the Rams. The expectations for this football team is so, so high.

**Pauly Howard** (2:12)
Yes.

**Sal Paolantonio** (2:14)
I've never really, I can't really come up with a similar scenario where expectations were this high, except when Tom Brady was on his run with New England and he had already done it.
So the expectations being so high, I think the pressure on this, in this game is fully on the ramps. I do, you know, they have the shortest odds to go to the Super Bowl now and they're three and a half point favorites in this game. And they've got the reigning MVP on both sides of the ball, quarterback and Miles Garrett. So there's so much pressure on this team to win this football game. I kind of like the Niners a little bit because of their travel plan and because there's so much pressure on the Rams. I really do.

**Pauly Howard** (3:04)
All fair points. I would expect them to win 14 games based on that. Go to the NFC title game. And this is what you added on defense. And I also would say I like your answer too. I would say the 7 Patriots, the last time you saw a lot so much hype with the team that went undefeated. How about the lid lifter with New England against Seattle? So all the talk about the Rams, all the talk about the Niners, what's going on off the field. I would say the 2001 Patriots, the last champ to receive not a lot of hype and not talked about for a team that won the Super Bowl. What do you think of Seattle that can play the no respect card in a week when they open up at home against New England?

**Sal Paolantonio** (3:45)
Well, I think Seattle's got a good chance to go back to the NFC Championship game. They're really well coached. If you are watching Hard Knocks, you can really see Mike McDonald and why he's such a good head coach and won it in the second year.
Now, it'll be obviously difficult for Sam Darnold without his offensive coordinator, Clint Kubiak, there. But Darnold has gone through a lot of changes, and I think Jordanian Price is going to live up to the hype. I remember saying to you guys right after the draft, that the Seahawks, in my view, got the steal of the first round in Jordanian Price to running back out of Notre Dame. I think that they will continue to run the ball. They will feed the rock to that young man until his face mask falls off.
And Sam Darnold, Sam Darnold will continue to make plays when he needs to make plays. And I like the Seahawks in this game against the Patriots. I watched the Patriots in the joint practice with the Eagles, was not impressed with their offensive line. They still have O-line problems. They still have problems protecting Drake May, even with AJ. Brown. And Brown was definitely the best wide receiver on the field in those joint practices with the Birds. But I'm telling you, the Patriots will have trouble blocking it up for Drake May, just like they did in the Super Bowl. I watched that practice and I'm like, against one, with the ones on the ones, they had problems blocking it up.