9-9-22 After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 2

One game down, one game out of 272. I know that we're supposed to care so passionately about all the scores in week number one and yes because it's the NFL and there are only 17 games per team every game counts but I'm just so happy that football is back real football games and scores that matter that right now I'm just basking in that glow from Los Angeles and SoFi stadium that Von Miller just called the best stadium in the NFL. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We're live from the Rocket Mortgage Studios.

Do you need to know what it takes for a home to fit your budget and your family? Rocket can. The Buffalo Bills survive four turnovers for takeaways by the Los Angeles Rams. They post more than 400 offensive yards and Josh Allen chucking duck baby. Shotgun snap they rush for moving up Alan Cox's own throws long on the run wide open falling down touch down touch down and a falling down catch by Tiggs 53 yards and the Bills go up 30 to 10. Stafford takes looks looks fires one into the end zone it is incomplete incomplete intended for Robinson and broken up by the rookie Benford he had terrific position and he broke up the pass the Bills take over on downs there's just 41 seconds left and let the party begin here in Los Angeles and back home in Buffalo. Kevin Harlan on Westwood one and then John Murphy the radio voice of the Buffalo Bills it's after hours on CBS Sports Radio. What is the after-hours game of the week? The poll is up on Twitter a law radio and also on our Facebook page and no we're not slighting you and your team if it's not in the poll we only get four options on Twitter and believe you me it's difficult and challenging to pick one every week at least we don't have to worry about including Bills and Rams because it's already in the books and to give us the scene set and the Rams reaction from Los Angeles our friend Michael Duarte who covers all things sports in LA for NBC LA Michael I gotta ask how do the Rams make this the actual Rams house because that is the hashtag on Twitter and yet it certainly does seem like all the big games that the Rams play in their own stadium their brand-new SoFi stadium that there are just as many loud fans for the opposing teams. Yeah hi Amy and welcome back from your little vacation and visiting your mom I'm glad to have you back on air and I would say that the Rams whose house Rams house mantra rallying cry if you want to call it that they do here at SoFi Stadium is probably one of the worst in sports right first of all you share the stadium so it's not just your house the Chargers call this home as well and especially on the NFL season opener on Thursday night football it was a Bills takeover and they took over the house and robbed you of all of your things and left you stranded with the cupboards bare so to speak so I thought it was at least 50-50 Bills fans to Rams fans and I started telling everybody in the press box my cohorts on the local television affiliates here wait until you know that final touchdown where they went up 31 to 10 is scored and we can now watch all the Rams fans here in LA head for the exits and now we'll really get a chance to see how many Bills fans there were because honestly the Rams blew and the Bills blew with a very similar blue so we couldn't really tell who was who just looking at the stadium but once the blowout was on and we saw the Rams fans head for the exits you really got to see the Bills mafia in full support and just how well they traveled which I was very impressed by myself how do the Rams react to that to having such a loud presence for opponents in their own stadium great question it's one question I actually asked Matthew Stafford myself after the game how do they prepare for it they actually do they believed knowing that the Bills are one of those teams that travel very well a lot of the San Francisco 49ers who also travel very well to SoFi Stadium and I'm sure there's a few other fan bases out there that we could mention that travel well when it comes to LA the thing that you mentioned and you said it in the tease right and I would take Von Miller a step further this isn't the greatest stadium in the NFL it's the greatest stadium arguably in the world especially when you're talking about the technology involved the money that went into it five six billion dollars and just the weather when you factor in the weather of Southern California the proximity to the beach the proximity to LAX the fact that you have a beautiful sunset here in the summer in Los Angeles with planes flying overhead we've had a heat wave here Amy so you know the Rams offense was just as inconsistent as the weather but it wasn't that hot today it was like the one day the temperature dropped about 10-15 degrees and so to answer your question they're prepared for fans to travel well they were prepared for the Bills mafia to travel well and be breaking some of those plastic tables in the parking lot during the tailgate so what they did was all week in practice they practiced the silent count it's similar to what they did in the Super Bowl it's similar to what they do when they travel on the road in hostile environments like they are traveling to New Orleans later this year I'm sure they'll use that silent count in New Orleans and they did it in the in the against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship as well so they were prepared for it and they had to switch to that silent count early in this game as the Bills fans got louder and especially late in the game once the Bills started to to really take over and the route was on Michael Duarte of NBC LA is with us post season opener for the NFL at the home of the Super Bowl champion Rams it's after hours on CBS Sports Radio have you had a chance to hold one of those Super Bowl rings I have had a chance we had Jacob's jewelers who came in and did the ring they came into our station and let us all see it and put it on now I will say we got we didn't get a players ring we got an executives ring to kind of show around so I heard the players are even bigger than the ring that we got to see and a couple people today in the press box people I haven't seen the last seven months since the Super Bowl showed me their rings people who work for the Rams a little bit smaller but still impressive nonetheless I'm surprised they're wearing them because that's something I would put in a safe deposit box or something you're locking a safe that is a very expensive ring is very big it weighs your hand down but it's beautiful and another cool thing today was seeing the the Rams championship banner unveiled and the Rams even went the extra mile and having another banner made up for the 1999 championship when they were the then st. Louis Rams those banners will now live adjacent to each other side by side in the south side of the stadium forever supposedly and I just wonder what the Chargers are gonna do here this Sunday those banners will stay up while they're playing the Raiders in their home opener that is funny but it's what happens right you have to share stadiums well you can't take down everything when you flip it so that's interesting the Rams obviously are a team that's got a bunch of moving parts and even as they kick off the season you know they're missing a couple of guys because of injuries they hope to get back it was fascinating though to see Andrew Whitworth there with the Vince Lombardi Trophy and an Odell Beckham jr. standing right next to him in pregame did you know he was there was gonna be there I had no clue he was gonna be there but I was actually on the field when he walked out and I didn't get him fast enough but I got my phone ready and followed him a little bit so there's some video on my Instagram I think on Twitter it's on my tik-tok as well of Odell Beckham jr. hugging Matthew Stafford that was the first time they saw each other before the game and so I have that and the other interesting thing here Amy is I would guess that Odell Beckham jr. once he's fully healthy and ready to return this season probably after the bye week I'm looking at maybe week eight or nine similar to when he was cut by the Browns and signed with the Rams as a free agent last year that that these are the two teams at the top of his list we know Von Miller his best buddy who recruited him to the Rams is now on the bills trying to recruit him to the bills and he tweeted out after the game just how impressive the bills mafia looked with their fans and just how the bills looked on the field and he must have been impressed with what he saw from Josh Allen and the passes he was throwing to those receivers like Stefan Diggs and Gabe Davis and then you look at the Rams who have a locker at their practice facility in Thousand Oaks for Odell Beckham jr. it is still there his nameplate is on it they have jerseys and stuff in there they are waiting for his return and I'm sure guys were recruiting him tonight and there he was with the Lombardi Trophy doing the banner unveiling so these are the two teams I think at some point one of the two he'll be deciding between I think you'll end up on one of these two probably the Rams if you look at tonight as far as who needs a receiver but speaking of Andrew Whitworth they definitely could have used him tonight Amy because this game in my opinion was decided in the trenches Matthew Stafford stacked seven times the most he's ever been sacked as a member of the Rams and I think the most since like his early 2018 season with the Detroit Lions so that is not a number that the Rams want to see their quarterback especially with his ailing elbow on the turf all that much so they definitely used Andrew Whitworth and Odell Beckham jr. in my opinion on the field tonight we know OBJ loves to be loved he loves to be courted he loves to be the center of attention so no doubt he's gonna milk this for all it's worth all I saw there's a there's actually a nightclub at SoFi Stadium on the south side of the stadium in the corner of the end zone it's called bootsy bellows it's an actual club that's here in Hollywood as well and they cut to the cameras and then you're probably not gonna be surprised to see Odell Beckham jr. partying in that my gosh during the game with a lot of people around him so that didn't surprise me yet Michael Duarte from Los Angeles following the NFL season opener it's after hours on CBS Sports Radio I saw the tweet that you retweeted from Cooper Cup reflect rectify respond this is not a situation the Rams have been in under Sean McVay first time they've ever lost the season opener what do they have to say about what they do now or where they go from here great question Amy and I expected there to be more excuses than a John Gruden apology at the end of this game we weren't it was all Sean McVay taking on full responsibility a word I saw many players say in the postgame comments I'm talking about Jalen Ramsey who very frankly said we got our butts beat and not in those same words I just use but but from Cooper Cup to Bobby Wagner to Matthew Stafford to Sean McVay everybody said it was humbling this was a humbling experience and when you're the champs when you're coming off of a historic season and winning it on your field and all the dreams come true to be beaten like this in your home stadium on the night that your banner was unveiled and the last time you probably would celebrate that that championship run from last year to be beaten this badly it definitely was a wake-up call I also tweeted out because I was standing right next to it the locker room and the press conference room are literally sharing a wall they're right next to each other I heard Sean McVay go in there and lay into his team really yeah he vowed I can't repeat what he said because I don't have that many expletives in my vocabulary but there was a lot of them but what I can tell you I heard and I heard him say is he promised them this will never happen again he promised them this kind of loss like this will never happen again the way that they didn't prepare he didn't feel like Sean McVay didn't feel like he had his team prepared he didn't feel like he was he felt like he was out coached by Sean McDermott so all of these things he took ownership for and like I said everybody really felt like this was a truly humbling experience for them and like we mentioned I think they got to fix this on the offensive and defensive line I think they were not prepared for the pressure the bills were able to put on them with a four-man front led by Von Miller of course who may have some inside information because he went against that o-line a lot in practice last year and may have been able to pass that on to his teammates now with the bills the biggest takeaway I saw and I saw a stat on online Amy was Josh Allen got the ball got rid of the ball in 2.37 seconds on average and that's including the times you know he carried and then was outside the pocket and made plays with his feet whereas Matthew Stafford held on the ball too long and a lot of those sacks he took of those seven we mentioned I think could have been avoidable had he gotten rid of the ball quicker and so that's one big thing that I'm looking at the the trenches right here on both offensive and defensive line where the Rams need to improve moving forward out of curiosity was the press room full when Sean McVay was going on his initial tirade oh yeah absolutely and I would say most of us tried to go against the wall and literally put our ear against the wall to hear it and I was actually told please go take your seat eavesdropping on Sean McVay's postgame speech if you want to call it it was more of a tirade of a big chewing out but also like of him taking responsibility for it and we heard all the cliches in the book once he went to the podium after that he has to be better he needs to have his team more prepared and he takes full ownership for the loss and he wears it and we're talking about a guy who entering this game Amy was a perfect 5-0 in season openers in his tenure as the Rams head coach and this was his first ever season opening loss and there's one thing that was interesting about that step right so entering this game that's five straight years they won the opener and we know Sean McVay famously doesn't play any of his starting players in the preseason but I can tell you that a lot of guys looked incredibly rusty out there tonight including the offensive line of the Rams not prepared to block that that Bill's front four including Jalen Ramsey who you know is coming off of off season shoulder surgery he really didn't get a lot of reps he's probably still working himself back into game shape obviously he didn't even play at all in the preseason but he really didn't even play in training camp or in practice or anything so he's really not up to it and I saw a stat where he got in times that he was targeted by Josh Allen he was targeted seven times six of those were completions for a hundred and twenty four yards and two touchdowns I know two of them were big plays but Jalen Ramsey got exposed tonight hmm I love Michael Duarte for many reasons but one of them has got to be the fact that he will stand on a wall with his ear next to it to hear what's happening this is how you get the real inside information okay before I let you go I genuinely do not know the answer to this I know if there is an answer you will have it what's bigger right now is it the Dodgers and they're enormously to top the NL West and all of their World Series aspirations or is it Rams starting off defense of their title that's a great question right now I'd have to say it's the heat wave because it has avoiding anywhere where they have to be outside in triple digit heat but since the Dodgers in my opinion are about a week away here from clinching yeah what's their magic number now their magic number six as my gosh and they are playing the team that's behind them so if they were to sweep the Padres this weekend in San Diego which I will be there by the way if you need anything if they were to sweep the Padres they will have clinched the the NL West on Sunday and that'll be their ninth division crown in the last ten years so I think once that happens Dodger fans will really get excited I think that's going to be at the forefront they have the best record in baseball they are on pace to potentially shatter the franchise record and wins and then still the all-time MLB record is still within sight right now though I don't think they'll get it but it's definitely still in a possibility they lead almost every offensive category in Major League Baseball so fans are really hoping that that this is the year they can do it and they can kind of put all the people that that talk about the bubble title to bed hmm interesting I asked Michael not that long ago over a text when he ever takes time off and the answer was well I didn't this year because the all-star break was in LA so no rest for you Mike I don't know how you do it you're like the energizer bunny I'm like a MasterCard Amy I'm everywhere you want to be oh my gosh how many times have you used that line only a couple first time on national radio so fine Michael on Twitter at Michael J Duarte he is award-winning for many reasons like the fact that he'll put his ear to a wall to get inside info covers Dodgers and Rams and everything else for NBC LA it's always good to talk to you Mike stay cool out there you two and give your animals a big hug for me I will do that now see another reason why Mike is our favorite good night Mike bye thanks Amy I love so we don't always get this with our guests but I love the fact that Mike always listens before he comes on the air and pays attention and he also sends me gifts of Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump so no one else does that he's the best all right you've got the game of the week poll already up already rocking on Twitter a law radio and then on our Facebook page too we're getting lots of responses it is kind of like riding a bike though I'm sure I'm gonna say something that doesn't fit the football vernacular at some point simply because I have to remember my terms and remember that rhythm and find it again but it's good to have football back and better than ever we hope right it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio you are listening to the after-hours podcast you're listening to after hours with Amy Lawrence well make the most of our time together I pleasure to speak with you I always have a great time huge fan so glad to have a female voice on sports radio I love you a little bit please so girl makes the rules around here you are absolutely right Amy I listen to you every morning on my way to work and I appreciate as do millions of others that you report like you do love it when chicks call the show it's after hours with Amy Lawrence Amy's taking your calls at eight five five two one two for CBS it feels good doesn't it it feels good to have football back and it's just the beginning I say that and I mean it with all of my heart that I'm so excited to have football back and then there are times when it feels so overwhelming as well because I know what's coming it's marathon Sundays into Mondays and I've said it a bazillion times I will say it again working football Sunday nights is one of the reasons why I choose to stay in this time slot why I choose to remain where I am I've had opportunities to change time slots and I do not want to give up Sunday nights during the NFL season but they are chaotic they are hectic and they can be overwhelming I'm really excited though that producer Jay has got a year under his belt because this time last year he was just starting what do you remember about this time last year and the fact that football was underway and the thing is you probably had no idea what you're in for it like not it was a lot it was a little bit of a blur because I was also at the same time as all this was going on getting used to a new schedule getting used to really working full-time you know so it was it was a lot going on but you know just kind of learn on the fly went well you think I do we won't tell him any different we'll let him think yeah so we have to figure out our Survivor Island no survive well our office survivor pool I will say for Survivor Island I went with the Ravens over the Jets I don't love it I don't really know what to do about it though because right now we don't know what any of these teams are I just know that the Jets are don't have their starting quarterback and they're starting Joe Flacco and I don't know it's gonna be I just I don't think I don't think that if if the Jets had Zach Wilson even that this would be a game in which they'd be favored but with Joe Flacco it's he's got cinder blocks for feet right and so and he doesn't really know the Ravens that well anymore he knows certainly knows a little of Lamar Jackson and knows John Harbaugh but the team has turned over so much but I worry because the receiving corps for the Ravens is extremely young and green so that's my big scare but that's the one I'm going with on Survivor Island but what are we doing for our office pool I want to go with the Ravens one but a part of it just seems like too easy okay great don't try to talk me out of this now well you brought it up last hour I said well if the Jets are gonna win a lot of us gonna be kicked off the island I think that's true but now it's like out there in the world and it's in existence so I'm a little getting a little tentative with your jinxes oh my gosh so wait let's just talk about what happened earlier shall we so Jay is he's all excited about Josh Allen because as I made fun of him yesterday on the show he got really excited over eager and drafted Josh Allen in the third round of his fantasy draft okay late third round because that makes a difference I did I accurately say third round yes so third round it wasn't that late you were picking number six weren't you okay yeah in fact it would be early third round instead of 14 or whatever it is anyway he picks him middle of the third round and initially is like jazzed up and then has buyers remorse like right away so of course when he looks like a genius after the season opener actually not even after the season opener after the first quarter he looks like a genius because Josh Allen completes his first ten passes he's already got a touchdown to Gabe Davis he's he is like flying hide and by this I mean producer Jay he is on cloud nine and the second he says via text about how Josh Allen is crushing it he throws an interception no it was second second well by the time I read it and so if now this interception wasn't on Josh it was a ball that went right through the hands of his receiver I remember who was but right away I get this text back about how he jinxed it in all capital letters yes Jay because you had something to do with that receiver letting the ball go through his hands I put it out there and what happened within seconds of me saying Oh Josh Allen killing it how smart do I look interception well I said how you didn't toot your own horn you just said Josh Allen's crushing it I was I wasn't I wasn't uh sliding the pick anymore I was no you're all about it basking in the glow of Josh Allen but I can't say that anymore no more text like that Josh Allen's doing well I'm just gonna let the universe keep Josh Allen doing well all right so no more tuning your own horn is what you're saying oh I didn't say that I don't believe I don't believe that for a second so that does not explain the survivor pool pick that we need other than to say that you're nervous because you think it's too easy it seems like the Ravens over the Jets seems a little too easy so then where are we going instead I don't know yet maybe the Niners but Trey Lance's first like starters or official starter scares me a little bit is he gonna be ready in week one why is it that all of the teams that would seem to be quote-unquote easy now remember it's the NFL it's week one there's no such thing as a cupcake anyway all the ones that seem to be easy are on the road that's what makes me nervous Philadelphia is in Detroit San Francisco is in Chicago let's see Green Bay is in Minnesota Tampa well Dallas that Dallas defense better show up Denver's in Seattle so all the teams that you would think would be heavily favored the teams that are heavily favored they're on the road so the only the one where I don't think that would be much of an issue would be the Niners one there I'm more afraid you want to go Niners in Chicago a little bit I just don't think the Bears are able to beat the Niners defense only they're gonna score many points which is where I think Lance can do enough Marco can you weigh in here the two that I would look at I know you don't like the road games I doesn't bother me as much Denver in Seattle I'd be stunned if the if the Seahawks won that game he's stunned and I'd be off Survivor Island if they did I'd also be very very surprised that the Texans can beat the Colts stunned but also a game that is I get it it's also inside it it's indoors it's cold it's Matt Ryan's first game I get it you can have all this yeah we go around and around the NFL and it's week one the Colts and the Broncos to me would be two pretty easy plays Jay how do you feel about the Colts in Houston I don't mind the cult see I'm actually a big Davis Mills fan I think he's done but the cold defense no the coach should handle them for doubt with that said yeah they should they should beat them pretty handedly do you do survivor pulls Marco sorry Jay I mean I don't have one this year I've done him before yeah no I've never won one so I'm not the guy to ask but I've gotten pretty far really I've never been best we'd six no I got into like there was one year that I got to that like there was four of us left and it was week 15 or something like that so and that's when that I was I was basically out of teams there was nothing left I rolled the dice and came up with nothing and I think you got the three yeah the other three won they they wound up tied they won all three of them so I was the only one that went out and that was it oh my gosh that's amazing Jay what's the farthest you ever been I really I really haven't done them for that long I maybe only two years I've been doing the Survivor League last year I got to week three in our after-hour survivor pool and the year before that maybe like week six or five something like that really not that far is the farthest I've ever been I'm so stressed week one before oh yeah multiple times I've been bounced in week one I'm trying to think Oh Seattle a couple years ago to remember who they were playing they bounced me in week number one so yeah that's definitely happened all the Saints remember when the Saints lost to who do they lose to a couple of years ago in the season opener oh shoot I forgot who it was very very familiar yes it maybe it was the Buccaneers but it was Jamis Winston's Buccaneers I can't remember who it was but I said the Saints and the Seahawks have both gotten me and we could ever won speaking of the Saints Saints at Atlanta no potential one no no no we don't know I have no idea Dennis Allen Jamis Winston's coming off a torn ACL I don't know what he he's the king of interceptions what he wants to be so no plus what about Michael Thomas when I mean I just I don't know no no all right we'll rule that one I dare you to pick the Panthers over the brown I dare you the one thing I'll say is look and I we've all been guilty of this don't just automatically go to the home team find the best match I'm trying I'm trying so like I said leaning toward the Ravens but I like the Colts that's a good one I'm just and also throwing it out there cuz I mean when we talk about home field advantage again I realize I'm the guy that's always piling on is the 12 really gonna make up for the fact that Geno Smith is your quarterback I mean really one false start penalty because you were able to get loud for five seconds is really gonna make up for Geno Smith and the barrage of mistakes that he's gonna make I find it difficult especially hard to get loud when you suck well I think they're actually gonna be happy to see Russell Wilson maybe I mean he got traded I think you I think they're boom really I didn't for a long time but the last week or so with the both sides going back and forth and yeah you know they wanted to trade me and all this stuff it seems like Russell Wilson's going out of his way to kind of put the stamp on his previous stop and I think Seattle fans are tired of it now I think they're now starting to get annoyed with Russell Wilson it's almost like the the look the wound is a little fresh he's throwing a little salt in it and then when you see Geno Smith lead you out to the field I think they're gonna be a little salty the fact is they're already cranky because of what their team's gonna look like yeah rightfully so okay so maybe that game except there's a personal element to it of course so what we'll think about that but we have a little time you all have time when it comes to Survivor Island but not too much time so I would suggest you hop to it peeps find the link on our show Twitter after-hours CBS on our Facebook page while you're there vote for the after-hours game of the week I do love the I do love the smack talking that's kind of veiled even as we head into week number one where they're little undercurrents going on here there and everywhere you are listening to the after-hours podcast this is after hours with Amy Lawrence coming up at the top of the hour we will pivot just a tad someone asked me my favorite friends episode of all time as part of ask Amy anything this week and all I responded with in all caps of course was pivot exclamation point exclamation point exclamation point we will pivot just a little bit because there are a couple baseball storylines that I want to throw out there but we will not stray from football very long I would love to talk to you about what's on the schedule this weekend so our phone number eight five five two one two four two two seven that's eight five five two one two four CBS it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio of course it's also week two of the college football season well it's technically I guess depending on how you count them some people start with week zero when the very first games kick off which would mean week one and week two follow that technically this would be the third weekend with college football games but the first the second excuse me full weekend in which we've had the majority of the teams in action so count however you would like to count but there's also a lot of college football coming up including Alabama and Texas when I was in Houston last weekend I went to church with my mom and her husband and depending upon who you ask it's either Texas A&M country because they're not that far from College Station not even an hour from College Station where my mom lives or and and the church is even closer to it than that or they're Texas fans which you're gonna get those all over the state of course all over the longs the Lone Star State and so I happen to be speaking to a guy my mom introduced me to him and he kind of knew what I did for a living and I just mentioned that it was my busy season I was getting ready to dive into football and he said oh yeah how do you think Texas is going to do against Alabama next weekend and so I kind of hit my face a little bit behind my hand just like I don't think the Longhorns are quite there yet I think that they've had so much transition over the last couple of years it's been really hard for them to find any consistency I even said to him how many head coaches have they had since Mac Brown departed and that's been kind of the issue I tell you all the time in sports constant change equals constant losing and that's been the case for the Texas Longhorns they're kind of going through this cycle where they just can't seem to find the right formula or yes just as importantly they don't stick with any coach or any system long enough to know if it is the right formula so now it's Steve Sarkeesian who of course comes from Alabama has his time under Nick Saban and you've got once again Saban playing against one of his former coaches and generally his track record is impeccable not always lost to Georgia in the national championship game so not always but now it's tied versus Longhorns not Saban versus Sark. You never know what a horse can pull until you give them a heavy load so we obviously have a huge challenge pretty heavy load in terms of playing on the road against a good team and I think everybody needs to understand if you're going to pull the load you got to prepare the right way you got to work the right way can't make mental errors got to be able to stay focused when you're playing on the road got to overcome you know their emotion their intensity the crowd all kinds of challenges so we'll kind of see what we're ready to pull when we go out there and play on Saturday. That's an early game Alabama kicks off in Austin against Texas at 11 o'clock in the morning central time so it's a noon Eastern Time start nationally televised on Fox but it's an earlier game for these college teams who have to be out there on the field long before kickoff at 11 so it's another weekend of college football I think that the once we get those marquee matchups the matchups with the ranked teams facing each other like Ohio State Notre Dame like Georgia and Oregon though it didn't turn out to be a competitive game a lot of times now in this second and third week so the second third weeks of non-conference you'll see fewer ranked teams facing each other it's not going to be the case everywhere only that generally most teams don't schedule three ranked opponents in a row if they have aspirations of going to the college football playoff but we do have Baylor on the road at BYU and Baylor is ranked in the top 10 initially and then there was another game I saw too Oh Florida that's right Florida is hosting Kentucky you remember how Florida started out its season so there will be some intriguing matchups no doubt there will also be some upsets last weekend was well it was drama like it always is in college football and of course the news coming really filtering we're getting it piecemeal but filtering in that there will in fact be an expanded playoff they're shooting for 2024 is the latest that I heard there were a bunch of commissioners who were speaking on Thursday when they were I think they got together for a big powwow outside the Dallas Airport and we're talking about the options and how to get all the details worked out before they get to 2024 so they can expand the playoffs so there's that undertone to college football right now but it's not just that right it's the NIL it's the fact that you've had so many players change teams the transfer portal all of that and then you generally have the same teams that are on top of the rankings even though the preseason rankings don't mean a whole lot but right now they're debating about revenue I'm sure you're shocked to hear that and how they would schedule what the different models look like for the newly expanded college football playoff at the very latest it will start in 2026 but they're hoping of course because of revenue that they will kick off after the 2024 regular season get this 1.6 billion dollars would be the payout for the 12-team field according to CBS Sports 1.6 billion dollars would be divvied up with the revenue models that they're working out right now for the 12-team field no wonder they want to kick it off as soon as possible that's total insanity but if you have any concerns forget that's the wrong word not concerns if you have any questions that maybe the commissioners are doing it out of the goodness of their heart because they're also college football fans and they think this would be really good for their sport think again that is not why the commissioners are getting together and agreeing to expand the playoff no it's because these games get massive TV ratings because the games are cash cows they can charge huge advertising dollars for sponsors and corporate partners to be part of these games it's one of those the more the merrier similar model to what the NFL uses if 16 regular season games is good well 17 is better if two wild card games in each conference is good well three is better if playing on Thursday Sunday and Monday is good well playing on Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday and Monday is better trust me it's all about real estate it's all about greed and gobbling up as much as you can on the calendar and as many huge TV dates as you possibly can so college football and the NFL they're back baby it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Forge radio