Tag: NFL

NFL Wild Card Weekend and Indiana Hoosiers vs. Miami Hurricanes for the Title

NFL 2026 Wild Card Weekend Mon Jan 12, 2026 Podcast. 

We discuss Wild Card Weekend. North Carolina and Myers Park High School native Drake Maye advances in the playoffs with the Patriots. The Panthers went down in an exciting game. Anne’s $100 Super Bowl bet on the Packers failed. The Indiana Hoosiers will play for the national title against Miami on Jan 19th in Miami. Anne, it was a busy sports week since last time we talked. 

Let’s start with this: 

  1. Of all the teams and players that were eliminated, who were you saddest to lose from your viewing experience? 
  • For me, it’s the Panthers. Just an extra buzz in the state when they are still in it. They gave us a great ride in that last game. Overall, this was a season where my relationship grew with the team. I can name more players. I like the guys enough to root for them. I haven’t been there since Luke Kuechly and Greg Olsen. (by the way, Olsen shouted out his assistant middle school coach as a great on the broadcast. 
  • I hated to root against Harbaugh. 
  1. Who were you most excited to have them win, so that you get to watch them again? 
  • I think the Bills because of how much fun it is to watch Josh Allen. Except for the Panthers, I cheered the loudest from my recliner on a couple of Niner plays. I like 49ers Christian McCaffrey. 

I have a few discussion topics before we start getting into the games: 

  1. Coaches who don’t like each other: There’s some animosity between Packers Coach Matt LaFleur and Bears Ben Johnson. I think he said “F the Packers.” Anne, is that enough that you’re salty in the handshake? What might make you salty? 
  • Dislike a coach? Dirty play, poor host, cheating like listening in the lockerroom, Recruiting your players, Still not sure it shows up in the handshake. 
  1. Celtics coach Red Auerbach was said to have turned up the heat in the Lakers locker room during the finals in June. Would you be that kind of coach / host?

Let’s go over our first round picks competition and talk about the games if we want. Loser of this contest between you and I has to buy the $50 gift card for our bracket challenge winner. 

  1. Rams at Panthers Sat at 4:30 with the Rams favored by 10.5 points. 
  • Anne Rams, Bill Panthers 
  • Final score: Rams beat Panthers 34-31. Bill wins pick because Panthers only lose by 3. 
  • Bill 1-0 vs. Anne in picks. 
  • Bill’s notes: 
  1. Didn’t like going for it on 4th down on first possession on own side of the field. Pass play that went nowhere. 
  2. Young interception. 
  3. Punt fumble 2:44 in the half. 
  4. Interesting that Rams didn’t kick it to end half up 10 and getting the ball back to start 2nd. 
  5. Panthers run on first play. 
  6. Electric run by Young with 37 seconds left in the half. 
  7. 2:42 in 3rd. Panthers go to 0-2 on 4th down. 
  8. Rams 4th and 1with 11:20 and they get it. (game of 4th down conversions?) 
  9. Panthers block a kick and go on to score TD. 
  10. Great catch by Rams tight end to take lead back. Panthers don’t pick up any yards with 38 seconds left and three timeouts. 

Packers at Bears Sat 8PM with Packers favored by 1.5 points. 

  • Anne Bears, Bill Packers 
  • Bears come back from 18 down to win 31-27. 
  • Anne wins the pick. Each of us are 1-1. 
  • I heard the Bears coach say that they showed the film of the Patriots come back over the Falcons in the Super Bowl. Knowing it can be done is worth a lot. 

Bills at Jaguars Sun at 1PM with Bills favored by 1.5. 

  • Anne Bills, Bill Bills 
  • Bills win and we both go to 2-1 on our picks. 
  • Jags get turnover in the 2nd when a Bills player runs into another Bills player and causes a fumble. 
  • Jags don’t take 3 and go for it. Lawrence’s knee ruled down on the challenge. Bills go over 90 yards on the drive for a TD. Allen throws hand into a helmet and hurts leg on TD score. (If I were Jags I’d have thought, just take these free points they gave me.) 
  • Back foot Josh Allen long pass on final drive. 
  • Huge Tush Push 4th Down Pick Up. 
  • 1 min 2 seconds. I say put it in even though Romo and Nance want to wait. 
  • Josh Allen: threw hand into a helmet, someone landed on his head, twisted his knee at the goalline 

San Francisco at Philly at 4:30 on Sunday with Eagles favored by 3.5. 

  • Anne Eagles, Bill San Francisco 
  • 49ers win 23-19 and Bill wins the pick. Bill goes to 3-1 against the spread on his pick and Anne goes to 2-2. 
  • Purdy throws two picks. The Eagles have no turnovers and they still lose. 
  • You had the amazing trick play throw and catch from Jauan Jennings to McCaffrey for a TD.
  • Feel like the 49ers can convert the biggest plays with the call and the players. 
  • 49ers are extremely beat up, which is nothing new. 

Chargers at Pats Sun 8PM with Pats favored by 3.5 pts.  

  • Anne and Bill Pats. 
  • Pats win 16-3. Bill goes to 4-1 against the spread and Anne 3-2. 
  • With the score 0-0, Chargers get an interception inside the Pats 20 and don’t end up scoring. My best guess is Harbaugh knew how hard it was going to be for his team to move the ball. 
  • Pats get off their own 1 with a short pass to Stevenson that he takes all the way to the 50. 
  • Went for it to end the half near the 50? Set up a Pats FG to take a 6-3 lead at half. 
  • It was 6-3 until Pats FG with 3 min to go in third quarter. 
  • Henry catches the game winning TD on a 35 yard pass from Maye with 9:46 to go in 4th. 
  • Herbert did the splits sliding. I think I would be a bad early slider. Anne, how would you do? 
  • Herbert battered. Valiant effort. Chargers didn’t really ever threaten to score except on that one turnover. 
  • Bet Herbert is looking forward to playing football not with a broken hand. 

Texans at Pittsburgh Monday night 8:15 with Texans favored by 3.5 pts. 

  • Anne and Bill Steelers 

We had a Super Bowl Winner Draft. Let’s bold picks that are still possibilities: 

  • Anne’s picks: Rams, Eagles,  Broncos, Seahawks, Bears, Steelers, Texans 
  • Bill’s picks: Bills, Patriots, Packers, 49ers, Jaguars, Chargers, Panthers 

Hoosiers Play for the National Title 

  1. #1 15-0 Hoosiers play vs. #10 13-2 Miami Hurricanes. 
  2. Miami lost to Louisville and SMU. 
  3. Can’t believe we ever decided a national title by voting. 
  4. Game is Monday, Jan 19th at 7:30 in Miami. The Hoosiers will show up for this one, right? 

What did we end up with in our Torg Stories Playoff Bracket Challenge? 

  • Click here to check on entries and standings. We ended up with 14 entries vying for the $50 gift card.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!

NFL Playoff Preview, Hoosiers Advance and You Can Win a $50 Amazon Gift Card

Welcome to the Torg Stories Podcast. On this episode, Anne and l look ahead to the NFL Playoffs, talk about the Hoosiers advancing in the college football playoffs, and give you all a chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card if you win our group in the ESPN Pigskin Bracket Challenge.

CLICK PLAYER ABOVE TO LISTEN TO OUR NFL PLAYOFF PREVIEW

ENTER OUR ESPN GROUP TO MAKE YOUR PICKS FOR THE NFL BRACKET CHALLENGE. THE GROUP NAME IS TORG STORIES NFL PLAYOFF CHALLENGE. SEE LINK BELOW:

  • Click here to make your NFL Playoff Picks and join our Torg Stories 2026 NFL Playoff Challenge. The winner of the group will win a $50 Amazon Gift Card.

Personally, I’m excited that the Panthers are division champs and headed for the playoffs. As for Anne, her alma mater–the Indiana Hoosiers!–are in the final four of the college football playoffs. Anne, you say you’re jumping on the bandwagon? 

Let’s start with this. When you look at the final NFL Standings, what are your…

  1. Biggest surprises of being good: Seahawks 14-3 #1 seed with Sam Darnold. Broncos 14-3 with second year QB Bo Nix 
  2. Biggest disappointments: Bengals going 6-11 is pretty bad. Raiders going 3-14 with Pete Carroll. Commanders were bad 5-12 after a good year. Lions missing the playoffs. 
  3. Something you really missed when it came to your preseason expectations? I thought the Chiefs would continue to be good, and they missed the playoffs with a 6-11 record. 
  4. Anything you nailed by being really right? I was early all in on the Pats to win the division and they did. My bet on the Panthers to win the division was just a flyer on being a fan. I thought Rogers would be much better than he was for the Jets and that they could make the playoffs. 

Panthers lose to Tampa Bay Buccaneers but still make the playoffs. 

  1. Panthers botched a flea flicker 1st and 10 on the Tampa twenty down 16-7. 
  • My basketball camp stick with what’s working
  • Haven’t heard a more detailed explanation of what was supposed to happen 
  1. Falcons needed to beat the Saints. 
  2. Alford with a big interception late. 
  3. Canales said his phone was blowing up after the game, including a short call with team owner David Tepper, who made the playoffs for the first time since he purchased the Panthers in 2018. (from ESPN) 

Let’s pick first round playoff games against the spread. What should our bet be? We decided our bet was that the loser of the first round picks had to supply the $50 Amazon Gift Card for the bracket challenge contest.

  1. Rams at Panthers Sat at 4:30 with the Rams favored by 10.5 points. 
  • Anne Rams, Bill Panthers 
  1. Packers at Bears Sat 8PM with Packers favored by 1.5 points. 
  • Anne Bears, Bill Packers 
  1. Bills at Jaguars Sun at 1PM with Bills favored by 1.5. 
  • Anne Bills, Bill Bills 
  1. San Francisco at Philly at 4:30 on Sunday with Eagles favored by 3.5. 
  • Anne Eagles, Bill San Francisco 
  1. Chargers at Pats Sun 8PM with Pats favored by 3.5 pts.  
  • Anne and Bill Pats 
  1. Texans at Pittsburgh Monday night 8:15 with Texans favored by 3.5 pts. 
  • Anne and Bill Steelers 

We invite everyone to compete in the ESPN Pigskin Bracket Challenge with us. Anne and I will go over our brackets now. Click here to join our group. 

Super Bowl Winner Draft: Our final brother sister contest: let’s draft Super Bowl Winners. Anne, you can have the first pick: 

  • Anne’s picks: Rams, Eagles,  Broncos, Seahawks, Bears, Steelers, Texans 
  • Bill’s picks: Bills, Patriots, Packers, 49ers, Jaguars, Chargers, Panthers 

We’ll finish up with some talk of the Hoosiers in the Final Four of College Football Playoff: 

  1. Indiana vs. Oregon in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta at Mercedes Benz Stadium 
  2. Fri Jan 9th at 7:30 pm. 
  3. Oregon is 13-1 with their loss being at Indiana 30-20. 
  4. Ole Miss and Miami on Jan 8th. 
  5. Jan 19 championship. Monday. 

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Torg Stories Podcast!

Panthers Upset Rams, Colts Lose a Big One, and Lane Kiffin goes to LSU

Panthers Upset Rams, Colts Lose a Big One, and Lane Kiffin goes to LSU

NFL Week 13: Panthers Upset Rams, Colts Lose a Big One, and Lane Kiffin Goes to LSU

Click the player above to listen to the episode. Thanks so much for checking out the Torg Stories Podcast!

NFL Week 6 Recap: Panthers’ Rico Dowdle Dominates Cowboys, Flacco Debuts for Bengals, Chiefs Beat Lions

We dive into Rico Dowdle’s historic “buckle up” performance against his old team, a 40-year-old quarterback’s unlikely new chapter in Cincinnati, and the salty ending to a hard-fought game in Kansas City.

What happens when a player tells his old team to “buckle up” and then delivers a historic, record-setting performance against them? That’s the story of Carolina’s Rico Dowdle, and it’s just the start of the news from NFL Week 6. We’re breaking down Dowdle’s incredible revenge game against the Cowboys, Joe Flacco’s surprisingly solid debut in Cincinnati, and the post-game saltiness that boiled over between the Chiefs and Lions. Plus, are the Colts for real? It’s a packed episode—let’s get into it.

Press play to listen to our full NFL Week 6 breakdown.

In this episode, we’ll go over the most important wins and losses for NFL Week 6. We’ll pick out what we thought was the big news, get a Colts corner update from Anne, rank our top teams, and peek ahead to next week. 

Everything is a win when the goal is the experience.

saw this on Global Mind Apparel account on TikTok

My application of the thought of the day:

  • It’s the rebounding for my girls that is the highlight; it’s the laugh on the raft when we’re bored on the French Broad River; it’s knowing that confronting issues and puzzling through problems as a coach is one of the biggest parts of the job. 

NFL Week 6 What Happened? 

  1. The Chiefs at home beat the Lions 30-17. 
  • Lions go to 4-2. 
  • Chiefs go to 3-3 and are one game out of first place in their division behind the Chargers and the Broncos. 
  • Lions quarterback Goff caught a touchdown pass. Bobbled it, ran into a receiver, but held on. TD was taken away because Goff didn’t pause to become a running back before going in motion. 
  • Kelce 6 catches for 78 yards. 
  • Quarterback Mahomes leads the Chiefs in rushing with 222 yards. 
  • Scuffle after the game. 
  1. The Giants upset the Eagles 34-17 on Thursday night 34-17. 
  • The Eagles are still holding on to first but the NFC East is tight. 
  • Giants Coach Daboll got in some trouble when he went into the concussion tent and then was seen yelling at the team doctor. 
  1. The Buccaneers won at home over the 49ers. 
  • Buccaneers go to 5-1. They are one of five teams in the NFL with only 1 loss. 
  • 49ers go to 4-2 and are tied with the Seahawks and the Rams as teams in the NFC West with only three losses. 
  1. The Seahawks (4-2) beat the Jaguars (4-2) 20-12. 
  • The Jaguars take a step back and fall to second behind the Colts in the AFC South. 

Torg Headlines: 

  1. Who is this running back Rico Dowdle for the Panthers? 
  • Panthers were playing the Cowboys and the Cowboys chose not to re-sign Dowdle last year. Dowdle had said before the game the Cowboys better “Buckle Up.” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said the Cowboys were shaking so bad with fear he couldn’t get them to show up to the field. 
  • He had 239 yards from scrimmage (that’s rushing and receiving) and became the 7th player in NFL history to have back to back games with at least 230 yards from scrimmage in each game. 
  • Born in Gaffney, South Carolina! Went to AC Reynolds in Asheville! Played for the South Carolina Gamecocks. 
  • Undrafted and this is his 6th year in NFL. 
  • The Panthers beat the Cowboys 30-27 and are now 3-3 and in second place behind the Buccaneers. 
  1. How would Joe Flacco do? 
  • Browns go 1-4 with Flacco starting and move him to the Bench for Dillon Gabriel. Flacco is 40 years old and won a Super Bowl with the Ravens. 
  • Five days to get ready for the game. 
  • He went 29-45 for 219 yards and two touchdowns. The second half was especially good, 21-30 for 179 yards. 
  • The Bengals lost the game to the Packers in Green Bay 27-18. The Bengals are still in second place, 2-4 and two games back of the Steelers, in their division. 
  • Per Jay Morrison of Sports Illustrated: Flacco has thrown TD passes to 66 different players. That’s 5th all time behind Drew Brees in first with 73 then comes Russell Wilson with 71, Testaverde with 70, and Brady with 67. 
  1. Are the Patriots going to be good now? 
  • They are 4-2 one game back in the win column from the Bills and they beat the Bills in Buffalo. They beat the Saints 25-19 in week 6. 
  • Second year quarterback Drake Maye threw for 261 yards with three TDs and no interceptions. 
  1. How would the Colts do as heavy favorites? 
  2. Will the Steelers keep winning? 
  • Beat the Browns 23-9 and are 4-1 leading their division. 
  • Quarterback Aaron Rogers 10 TDs and 3 interceptions. 
  • Steelers defense 20 sacks and +7 on forcing turnovers. 
  1. Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield’s first win over Niners 30-19. 
  • Bucs: first game they didn’t trail with a minute to go in the game. 
  • Niners: Prior to today’s game, all of the 49ers’ contests had been remarkably close. Their season included a 17-13 win against the Seattle Seahawks, a 26-21 victory over the New Orleans Saints, a narrow 16-15 win against the Arizona Cardinals, a 26-21 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, and a 26-23 overtime win against the Los Angeles Rams.

Teams that go for it on 4th Down: 

  1. Chiefs have converted on 9 of their 10 fourth down conversions. 
  2. The Browns have gone for it the most converting on 10-16 attempts for 62%. 
  3. Lions have gone for it 9th most with 9 attempts. They’ve converted 7-9 for 77% and that puts them 6th in conversion percentage. 
  4. The average team in the NFL goes for it about 15 times more a season than they did 10 years ago. 

Torg’sTop Ten NFL Teams as of Week 6: 

  1. Bills 4-1 with potentially the best quarterback in the league. Right there with Mahomes. 
  • Beat the Ravens 41-40 in the opener when the Ravens were at full strength. 15 point comeback. 
  • Through the first three games of the season, the Bills became the first team in NFL history to score over 100 points, commit zero turnovers, have fewer than 15 penalties, average over 150 rushing yards, and average over 250 passing yards in any three-game stretch.
  1. Colts 5-1. 
  • The Colts rank third in the league in total offense, averaging 376.8 yards per game.
  1. Buccaneers are 5-1. 
  • 49ers a quality win and signals team is for real. 
  1. Eagles 4-2 and I don’t think the Chiefs could stop their run game. 
  • Beat the Chiefs on the road 20-17. 
  • The Eagles are the number one red zone offense in the NFL, scoring a touchdown on 87.5% of their drives inside the 20-yard line.
  1. Chiefs 3-3 and getting healthy. 
  • Win over the Lions is impressive! I had the Lions as the NFL’s best team last week. 
  • Chiefs lead the league in 4th down conversions. 
  1. Lions 4-2. 
  • The Lions are tied for 3rd in the entire NFL with a +6 turnover differential.
  1. Packers 3-1-1
  •  Beat the Lions in the first game 27-13. 
  • The Packers’ offense is currently ranked #1 in the NFL in third-down conversion percentage at 52.3%.
  1. 49ers 4-2. 
  • Won at the Rams 26-23. 
  • The 49ers currently have the top-ranked passing offense in the NFL, averaging 306.3 yards per game just ahead of the Rams and the Cowboys. 
  1. Steelers 4-1. 
  • Tied for league lead with +7 turnover margin and Rogers is playing super competent and clutch football. 
  • Steelers are second in sacks behind the Broncos. 
  1. Patriots 4-2. 
  • They beat the Bills in Buffalo and I have the Bills as my best team. 
  • Quarterback Maye is playing well with 10 TDs and 2 interceptions. 

Thought about including them in the top 10:  them: 

  • Rams, Jags, Broncos, Seahawks 

Worst Teams:

  1. Jets are the worst with a record of 0-6 but a chance to get a win over the 3-3 Panthers. 
  2. Titans are the second worst at 1-5. Lost 20-10 to the Raiders who have looked bad. They play the Texans on 11/16. 
  3. Saints or Dolphins here? I’ll go with the Saints as edging out the Dolphins for worst team. I like the Saints 25-19 loss to the Pats and the win over the Giants is looking better, BUT the Dolphins played the Pats and Bills tough and have lost three games by 6 or less points. 

NFL Week 7 Games I’m Looking At: 

  1. Pittsburgh at Cincinnati on Thursday with two 40 year old or older quarterbacks. 
  2. Carolina at the Jets. Can Carolina get to a winning record or will the Jets win their first game? 
  3. Indy at Chargers. Anne has another chance to see her team at 4:05 pm. 
  4. Monday night October 20th. Whew, another tough one for Detroit! Tampa Bay at Detroit. 

Torg’s Week 6 Bets Results: 

  1. Jags moneyline over Seahawks with Lawrence 175+ passing yards +118. Loss because Jags lost 20-12. 0-1. 
  2. Pats winning by over 3.5 over Saints with Maye 175+ passing yards +120. Win Pats win 25-19 and Maye 261 passing yards. 1-1. 
  3. Colts by 8 or more over Cards +124. Loss Colts win 31-27 but don’t cover. 1-2. 
  4. Panthers moneyline over Cowboys +102 and Panthers win 30-27. 2-2. 
  5. Niners moneyline over Bucs boosted to +193. Bucs win 30-19. Loss 2-3. 
  6. Bengals within 14.5 with Flacco over 175 yards +104. Bengals cover 27-18 and Flacco throws for 219 yards. 3-3. 
  7. Chiefs moneyline over Lions with Mahomes 225+ passing yards and at least 2 TDs at +194. Chiefs win 30-17, Mahomes 257 yards, and 3 TDs. 4-3 on the week so far. 

Video Podcast:

Thanks for listening to the Torg Stories Podcast! 

If Anne was the Colts Coach…

From Our NFL Week 4 Podcast Recorded on Mon Sept 29, 2025:

  • Anne gets after Colts players Adonai Mitchell and Jonathan Taylor for costly fumbles. She cautions team about their TD celebrations. But in the end, she believes in them! Good thing Anne didn’t get into coaching!