Sometimes schedules just don’t work.

Niko and I normally find a way to sit down on Wednesday or Thursday, fire up the cameras and give you a full episode of The Far End of the Bench. This week, that wasn’t happening. While the Atlanta Falcons were beating the hell out of the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, I was standing on the sideline at a high school football game doing my other job.

So instead of forcing two and a half hours into schedules that didn’t have two and a half hours available, we did something different.

No Episode 291 yet. No normal two-man show.

Just a FeOTB Bonus.

Niko sent me his NFL Pick’Em selections and his Fantasy Start/Sits. I added mine, threw in a preview of a massive college football Saturday, and there was absolutely no way I was going to let what happened in Green Bay go without talking about it.

Because good lord.

The Green Bay Packers Are Broken

I really don’t know what other word to use.

Broken.

Atlanta walked into Lambeau Field and beat Green Bay 35-14, and somehow the final score doesn’t even completely capture how bad this looked.

The Falcons finished with 498 total yards and 242 rushing yards. Bijan Robinson went for 194 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries. Add in his receiving work and he finished with 213 yards from scrimmage.

Drake London caught nine passes for nearly 200 yards.

Michael Penix Jr. came back into the lineup, went 18-of-25 for 256 yards, and Green Bay made him look like the left-handed Tom Brady.

What the hell are we doing?

You Knew Bijan Was Getting the Football

This is the part I cannot get over.

It wasn’t some random backup running back who came in and surprised you.

It was Bijan Robinson.

You knew who No. 7 was. You knew he was the best weapon Atlanta had. You knew exactly who needed to be stopped.

And he ran through Lambeau Field like he owned the place.

I’ve said for a few years now that Bijan and Jahmyr Gibbs are the next generation of elite NFL running backs. Christian McCaffrey and Derrick Henry are still part of that conversation, obviously, but we're watching the next wave happen right in front of us.

And I genuinely cannot remember watching someone run through Green Bay like Bijan did Thursday night unless that guy was wearing green and gold.

Then, because the Packers couldn't stop Bijan, Penix started getting comfortable.

And once Penix got comfortable, Drake London started cooking them too.

Pick your poison.

Green Bay chose both.

Give Atlanta Credit Too

I don’t want this entire thing to become me burying the Packers because Atlanta deserves credit.

This offense had not exactly inspired confidence coming into Thursday night. Then Penix gets back under center and suddenly the pieces look the way they were supposed to look.

Bijan is dominating.

London is making explosive plays.

Penix is distributing the football.

That's the Atlanta offense people expected to see.

Does one Thursday night mean the Falcons suddenly have everything figured out? No. I'm not ready to go that far.

But there is too much talent on that roster for them to be completely dismissed, and Green Bay found that out the hard way.

No, I Wouldn't Fire Matt LaFleur Yet

I saw Packers fans immediately jumping to this after the game.

Fire Matt LaFleur.

I'm not there yet.

But there were decisions Thursday night that deserve criticism.

You're down 17 late in the fourth quarter, you're inside the red zone, and you're kicking a field goal?

Why?

Put the damn ball in the end zone.

You're supposed to be the offensive guy. You're from the Sean McVay coaching tree. At some point, when your season looks like it is sliding downhill with no brakes, you've got to find something that works.

And the bigger issue might be the roster.

If the plan is basically, “Wait until Micah Parsons gets healthy and everything will be fine,” that's not a plan. One defensive player shouldn't be the difference between being respectable and getting almost 500 yards dropped on you at Lambeau.

Whatever Green Bay thought this team was entering the season, it clearly isn't that right now.

College Football Is Giving Us a Real Saturday

I've used this analogy before:

The NFL is pizza.

Even bad pizza is still pizza.

College football is seafood.

When it's great, there might not be anything better.

But bad seafood? Absolutely terrible.

Fortunately, this Saturday has plenty worth ordering.

No. 1 Texas at No. 14 Tennessee

This is the game that immediately jumps out.

Arch Manning is taking the No. 1 team in the country into Neyland Stadium.

And yes, there's the obvious Manning storyline.

Nearly 30 years after Peyton Manning became a Tennessee legend, his nephew is walking into Knoxville wearing Texas colors with the No. 1 ranking next to his team's name.

That's awesome.

Tennessee is undefeated, and I've always felt Josh Heupel gets overlooked when we talk about the best and most consistent coaches in college football. His teams compete in the SEC. They're going to win games. They're going to be dangerous.

But this is their first real test.

Texas already knows what a heavyweight game feels like. This roster is experienced. Steve Sarkisian is one of the best offensive play-callers in the country, and Arch has now had time to settle into being the guy instead of just being Peyton and Eli Manning's nephew.

If Texas wants to prove it deserves that No. 1 ranking, this is the opportunity.

Go into Neyland and win.

I think Texas finds a way.

Oklahoma at No. 2 Georgia

This one was supposed to have a little more juice before Oklahoma fell out of the rankings.

But don't completely dismiss the Sooners.

Brent Venables can still create problems defensively. Oklahoma can make an offense uncomfortable.

The question is whether they can do that to Georgia for four quarters.

The Bulldogs just physically overwhelmed Arkansas. Their defensive front looked like it was barely being challenged.

Now Oklahoma has to walk into Athens and deal with that.

Could Oklahoma make this weird? Sure.

College football does that.

But I'm expecting Georgia to make a statement.

No. 4 Ole Miss at No. 21 Florida

Ole Miss just came out of an emotional win over LSU, and now they have to turn around and go into the Swamp.

That's the kind of spot where things can get weird.

Trinidad Chambliss has played himself into the conversation as one of the best players in college football this season. I don't know what his NFL future looks like, and frankly that doesn't matter right now. He's proven he knows how to win college football games.

This Ole Miss team believes in Pete Golding.

Florida is back in the Top 25 and gets its first major test at home.

I think it stays close for a while.

But I still like Ole Miss to leave Gainesville with the win.

No. 20 Oregon at No. 12 USC

Now we're talking.

Oregon and USC.

At the Coliseum.

At night.

Both ranked.

Both in the Big Ten, which still feels bizarre to type.

This is exactly the type of matchup people imagined when these West Coast programs moved conferences.

USC survived its cross-country trip to Rutgers. Oregon just absolutely destroyed Portland State after getting embarrassed by Oklahoma State.

Now we get the real test.

Oregon can beat up on Portland State by 80. Cool.

USC is not Portland State.

This is also the type of game Lincoln Riley needs to win. He's been at USC long enough. We're beyond moral victories and “the offense looked good” conversations.

I think USC gets it done at home.

Two More to Watch

Texas A&M at LSU has desperation written all over it.

Both teams are coming off losses, and somebody is going to leave Death Valley with the entire conversation around their season changing.

And then there's No. 17 Iowa at No. 18 Michigan.

Iowa's defense is still Iowa's defense.

The offense is still...Iowa's offense.

If that defense travels, this thing could get ugly, physical and low scoring.

But Michigan simply has more talent.

If the Wolverines play up to it, I think Michigan wins.

Niko Is Destroying Me in NFL Pick’Em

This has been humbling.

After winning our Pick’Em last season, I have started this year about as badly as humanly possible.

Niko went 4-0 in Week 1 and followed it with 3-1.

He's 7-1.

I went 2-2 and then followed that up with the beautiful accomplishment of going 0-4.

I'm 2-6.

So, yeah.

If you're looking at our picks and deciding which one of us to trust right now, the numbers speak for themselves.

Niko's Picks

Panthers over Browns

Chiefs over Dolphins

Bills over Chargers

Seahawks over Commanders

The Bills and Seahawks picks are probably the two of his that I feel best about.

And selfishly, I am completely fine with Josh Allen destroying the Chargers because you'll understand why when we get to fantasy.

Jimmy's Picks

I intentionally picked four different games because I'm already five games behind.

We're not catching Niko by agreeing with him.

Bengals over Steelers

I've avoided Cincinnati so far because I wanted to see what this team actually looked like after everything that happened last season.

I'm finally jumping in.

I believe in this Bengals defense, and eventually there is simply too much talent on that offense for it to stay quiet.

I'm taking Cincinnati.

Saints over Raiders

New Orleans has been frisky.

I still believe in Tyler Shough, and I think we're eventually going to see the Raiders come back toward what their actual talent level says they are.

Give me the Saints.

Lions over Jets

The Jets have made improvements.

They're still the Jets.

There is still too much stink around that franchise for me to trust them against Detroit.

I'm taking the Lions.

Broncos over Rams

This is probably the pick that interests me most.

Rams-Broncos on Sunday Night Football gives us Sean McVay against Sean Payton and one of the best individual receiver-corner matchups you can ask for.

Davante Adams against Patrick Surtain II.

The Rams have already had a weird start to the season, while Denver's defense is good enough to keep this game within reach.

If this thing is close in the fourth quarter, Bo Nix has shown an ability to make plays late.

Give me Denver.

And yes, I desperately need it.

Fantasy Football Start/Sit

Niko sent me his fantasy choices without being there to give the full argument himself, so I gave my reaction to them before getting into my own.

Niko's Starts

Start Devaughn Vele

I actually really like this one.

Through the first couple of games, Vele has been producing consistently for New Orleans and has become a big target when Tyler Shough needs somewhere to go with the football.

This is also the type of fantasy recommendation I like.

Everybody knows to start the superstars.

Finding the guy sitting on your bench who can actually give you useful production is where Start/Sit becomes valuable.

Start Isaiah Likely

Niko continues his Isaiah Likely campaign.

If you have Likely in a league with Niko and want him, apparently send the trade offer now.

Until then, he's starting him.

Likely has already shown he can command targets, and even with the quarterback situation changing in New York, there's reason to believe the middle of the field can remain a major part of this offense.

Niko's Sits

Sit Puka Nacua

Part of this is health.

Part of it is Denver.

Even if Puka plays, you're asking him to return against one of the most talented secondaries in football.

Denver also has to decide how it wants to handle Davante Adams, which creates an interesting chess match across the entire Rams receiving corps.

Puka can obviously make you look stupid for ever sitting him.

But this isn't an easy matchup.

Sit Denzel Boston

This is the bold one.

Boston has already put together two strong games and found the end zone in both.

Now comes the question every fantasy player has to answer when a relatively unknown player explodes early:

Did we find something real, or are we chasing last week's points?

Niko is betting on regression.

Jimmy's Starts

Start Josh Allen

Don't overthink this.

He scored five touchdowns last week and essentially helped win my fantasy matchup by himself.

Josh Allen is Josh Allen.

If he's on your roster, put him in the lineup and move on.

Start Brock Purdy

If you drafted Brock Purdy and haven't been using him yet, you're missing out.

He's been efficient, he's producing touchdowns, and now he gets an Arizona defense that I think gives him an opportunity for another huge game.

Purdy doesn't have to play superhero ball.

He just has to operate that offense.

Start him.

Jimmy's Sits

Sit Trevor Lawrence

Week 1 looked great.

Week 2 did not.

That's Trevor Lawrence in a nutshell sometimes.

Now he's dealing with a New England defense that still has plenty of talent, even if the Patriots offense hasn't always looked the way you'd expect from a team coming off a Super Bowl appearance.

Until Lawrence shows me which version I'm getting consistently, I'm keeping him out.

Sit Colston Loveland

I actually had one of my seventh graders ask me whether he should drop Loveland.

My answer was no.

Don't drop him.

But don't start him either.

There is a difference.

Five targets, one catch and three yards through two games isn't enough, especially when you're also dealing with instability at quarterback.

Hold him and see what develops.

Just let him develop on your bench.

This Is Why We Put Out the Bonus Show

Could we have simply taken the week off?

Sure.

The world wasn't going to end because FeOTB skipped one episode.

But I'm trying to build this into more than two friends sitting down and talking sports once a week.

We're six years and more than 290 episodes into this thing.

We have The Morning After. We have fantasy content. We have Pick’Em. We have clips. We're part of All Gloves Off Sports Media.

I'm trying to build a legitimate sports media brand.

Sometimes that means the show looks different.

This week it meant Jimmy on the mic by himself, Niko sending his picks in, and us keeping everything moving until we're back together.

Episode 291 is next.

Niko will be back.

The NHL season is getting started.

Football is fully rolling.

And The Morning After isn't going anywhere.

So subscribe to @FeOTBpod, follow us everywhere, and keep rocking with us.

We'll see you on the Far End of the Bench.