Episode 265: We’re Back, It’s Super Bowl Time, and We Let Niko Cook

After a week off, we’re officially back — and honestly, the timing couldn’t be better.
It’s Super Bowl week, Jokic is back on the floor, and we finally had the space to let the show breathe again.

Episode 265 of The Far End of the Bench is one of those episodes that reminds us why we do this: real conversations, real takes, and zero interest in chasing consensus.

We broke down how the Seahawks and Patriots ended up on the sport’s biggest stage, dove headfirst into Super Bowl prop bets, and then pivoted straight into basketball now that Nikola Jokic has returned and the Nuggets conversation is officially back on the table.

And yes — we brought back Player of the Week and Benchwarmer of the Week, because the people deserve accountability.

Super Bowl Time: Seahawks vs Patriots

There’s nothing subtle about this matchup. Both teams earned their way here, but they did it in very different ways.

We walked through Seattle’s road to the Super Bowl, what actually mattered in their playoff wins, and why this team feels different than some of their past iterations. On the other side, New England did what New England always does: survived, adapted, and showed up when it mattered most.

This wasn’t just a surface-level preview. We talked matchups, momentum, pressure, and what each team needs to do to lift the Lombardi Trophy — not just what they want to do.

Super Bowl Prop Bets (The Smart Ones and the Unhinged Ones)

Prop bets are where Super Bowl week becomes dangerous — and fun.

We ran through:

• The props that actually make football sense

• The ones that are purely chaos

• And the handful that could make you look like a genius or an absolute clown by Sunday night

This wasn’t a gambling tutorial — it was a conversation about value, logic, and knowing when to laugh at yourself if you’re wrong.

Jokic Is Back… So It Was Time to Talk Basketball Again

We hadn’t talked NBA in a minute, and that was intentional. Jokic being out changes everything about how the Nuggets are evaluated.

Now that he’s back, it was time to zoom out:

• What did we actually learn about Denver without him?

• Which players stepped up?

• And how much does this stretch matter when it comes to playoff positioning and expectations?

This was also the moment where we officially let Niko cook, because pretending he wasn’t waiting to unload basketball takes would’ve been dishonest.

🏆 Player of the Week

I went with Sam Darnold, and I’m not backing off it.

I said I’d give credit where it was due, and what Darnold did in the NFC Championship absolutely warranted it. Two weeks of Player of the Week honors might feel excessive — until you remember the context. The turnaround was real, the moment was massive, and I’m a man of my word.

Niko went with Jamal Murray, and honestly, it was hard to argue. Murray became an All-Star for the first time and kept the Nuggets a very respectable 10–6 without Jokic. That matters. It’s not flashy discourse — it’s reality.

🪑 Benchwarmer of the Week

I had to go with the Vikings and the Jets.

The Jets… because they’re the Jets. Some things don’t need overexplaining.

The Vikings earned their spot because Darnold’s turnaround was so monumental that Minnesota fired the GM who genuinely thought McCarthy was an upgrade. That’s not hindsight — that’s organizational malpractice.

Niko, meanwhile, couldn’t help himself. He went with Jarrett Stidham for the absolute mess he put on tape two weeks ago against the Patriots. Sometimes a performance is so bad you don’t even need extra commentary — you just point at it and move on.

Final Thoughts

Episode 265 felt like a reset in the best way.
Big games. Big moments. Real takes.

We’re back, it’s Super Bowl time, the Nuggets conversation is alive again, and the weekly accountability segments are exactly where they belong.

If you agree with our picks — cool.
If you hate them — even better.

🎙️ Episode 265 of The Far End of the Bench is live now
Let us know which take you’re arguing with the most.