It’s the second week of October. Playoff baseball is in the air, and our European Browns correspondent Zac Jackson is back in the States, where he belongs. Both of our intrepid prognosticators are … trying their best. They each lost their survivor picks last week, but maybe they can pick some winners this week.
JON GREENBERG (3-2 last week, 9-13-1 overall): Are you adjusted back to life in bucolic Ohio yet after a week in London? What was it like watching the Browns blow a game in another country? I have a buddy who’s a diehard Browns fan married to a Steelers fan, and they spent about two weeks abroad going to see the Steelers in Ireland and then the Browns in London. Good thing they’re still in the honeymoon phase.
I’ll be honest, I’m barely paying attention to football right now because I’m covering playoff baseball, which is a grind, even if I’ve skipped two of the three workout days. But I went 3-2 last week, a small step toward my bounce-back from losing. And hey, if my friend Dan Katz can win a 50-50, anything can happen.
Mentioned it on PMT but I’m giving away all my 50/50 winnings.
Sending a 75k check to @LavontSr and the Lost Boyz. Met Lavonte a couple weeks ago and he does incredible work with the kids. If you want to help them at all I’d really appreciate it https://t.co/cKSGxFjdRG
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) October 3, 2025
Side note: Have you ever won a 50-50? I did once at the first game I ever covered for The Post in Athens. I won like $24 at a hockey game. Dan won considerably more money, but he also lost like six figures in the process.
Now onto the games. #MACtion is almost here, but we have another round of Saturday games first. I like over 51.5 in UMass-Kent State, the Toilet Bowl of the conference season. Kent went over in a 31-28 loss to Buffalo, while UMass’ first conference game of its second life in the conference was a 21-3 loss to Western Michigan last week. I’m thinking 31-24 here.
I’ll also take over 48.5 in the Battle of I-75, Toledo at Bowling Green. Let’s see some fireworks in Bowling Green. I was thinking about over 45.5 in Akron-Miami, too. Would you sub out one of these picks for that one?
ZAC JACKSON (2-4, 15-18-1): I have never won a 50-50. I’ve really rarely won much outside of some JV basketball games in the mid-90s and some Sega Genesis tournaments in the dorm.
I did win my September pick of the month in this column, and the goal is to make sure we keep that streak rolling. I’m playing it a little safe this week while trying to shake the jet lag, but nothing says a return to America like diving into some MAC totals.
At first glance, I vehemently disagree on the Toledo-Bowling Green total. Toledo has a legitimately good defense, and Bowling Green’s quarterback is Drew Pyne, who’s been a shaky (at best) college quarterback since the Clinton Administration. This is a true rivalry game, and it’s one BGSU owned under old coach Scot Loeffler, so anything can happen. But I think Toledo is markedly better, and I think it’s a bit of a slow-paced, ugly kind of game that Toledo should mostly control. I lost a Toledo first-half under a few weeks ago because Toledo returned the opening kickoff 99 yards, and Akron’s surprise backup quarterback couldn’t sustain anything.
I like the first-half under a lot and the game under a little less. Mark me down for first-half under 24.5.
Starting quarterback or no starting quarterback, I’ll take Oklahoma -1.5 vs. a Texas team with a broken offense. I also like the under 50.5 in Ohio State-Illinois. The Buckeyes play really good defense, and though they also have a lot of firepower, they still have a freshman quarterback on the road. Especially if they get a lead, they won’t get greedy with it.
I did catch maybe an hour or two of college football in London last Saturday while exploring the city. I sent a tweet about running into hundreds of folks in jerseys of various soccer and rugby teams and joked that people kept stopping me to ask about this Saturday’s Kent State-UMass game. When I got home, I saw that the Kent State head coach had retweeted me.
First, mark me down for the Golden Flashes on Homecoming. Secondly, this proves I’m simply more popular than you are, Jon, and I’m slightly worried about how you’re handling it.
GREENBERG: When you were hanging out with the expansion Browns, I was in the muck covering the Bobcats back when Kent State had Jose Davis, James Harrison and head coach Dean Pees … and still stunk.
But yes, I’m jealous. I’m still waiting for the MAC to send me a flag.
But your reticence makes me feel more sure about the I-75 over. No offense.
Let’s go to the NFL.
Steelers -5.5 over the Browns is interesting to me and you, I suppose. I believe it started at 6.5, which would tell me to take the Browns. Or is 6 the magic number here? Pittsburgh will probably win on a field goal, but after a week off, I’ll take my team giving points at home against Dillon Gabriel and the gang. How will Cleveland’s defense respond after Greg Newsome II was traded?
The Cardinals just lost to the Titans, and their head coach got fined a significant amount of money for hitting a player on the sidelines. Arizona’s three losses have all been close, but I think that changes Sunday as the downward slide begins. I’ll take the Colts -7 at home.
The Raiders stink. They haven’t covered their last four games, and they were only favored once (-1 over the Bears, a 1-point loss). They just lost 40-6 to the Colts. But I think Titans rookie QB Cam Ward has problems with their defense, and the Raiders break their cycle and cover -4.5.
JACKSON: The Raiders absolutely stink. Just check my season record, as I previously couldn’t quit them, but I’ll let you have this one here.
I’d lay the 5.5 with the Steelers, who are off a bye. The Browns in the last three weeks have gone to Detroit, then London, and now to Pittsburgh, where they haven’t won a regular-season game since 2003. That’s not a misprint. The Browns didn’t turn the ball over last week. They will this week — probably multiple times.
Seattle got sloppy last week and got beat by Baker Mayfield magic. Jacksonville won an emotional Monday nighter over the Chiefs. I think the Seahawks win (+1) this week as Trevor Lawrence crashes back to reality.
