Friday Four-Pack 1.9.26
The Pats are back in the playoffs and two people deserve more credit. Drake Maye is the MVP. NFL Picks, MutStack Notes and so much more.
Note from Owner of MutStack.com, Dave Portnoy:
No note from Dave this week. He did meet up with New England’s favorite online baker, Ann Michael Maye, for a Pizza Review.
And how about this? Time Magazine listed America’s most iconic companies: #242 - Barstool Sports. Plus, the Pats are back in the playoffs. Pretty good week for the boss.
There were a million graphics or stats I could have posted here to start this week’s newsletter that would have sufficiently backed up my claim that Drake Maye should win the MVP. This one is my favorite.
In just his second year, with ZERO Pro Bowlers on offense, his name is right there with Brady, Mahomes, Lamar, and he rest of the Tier 1 QBs of the last decade. You don’t even have to know or care what EPA/Play means to understand that to be on that list, you had an elite, elite year.
Drake Maye should win the MVP.
There is no world where Matthew Stafford was more valuable to the Rams than Maye was to the Patriots. There’s too much talent on LA’s offense, including the best WR in football in Puka Nacua. And his Hall of Fame teammate, Davante Adams. Stafford was great, but he benefited greatly from all that talent.
By far the dumbest argument being made for Stafford is that he’s a veteran, and Maye is only in his second year. Why in the world should that matter? So, if Drake Maye was in Year 5 doing this, he’d have a better case? Cut the shit. It feels like a lot of these writers like Stafford and know him better, so they’re going to end up voting for him.
This is not student council or prom queen - popularity should not be a factor.
I would factor in rushing yards - Maye had 450. Stafford was credited with 1. Uno. I know, not his game, but Maye made plays with his right arm and his feet. And that makes him more valuable. Hopefully, the 50 voters ignore age and popularity and focus on the football.
If they do, the choice for MVP is clear
Meanwhile, two guys are not getting enough credit for this insane Patriots season. We have new technology that will change how you consume sports. NFL Picks were dogshit this season, but the playoffs mean a clean slate. And MutStack Notes, for the people.
All ahead in Friday Four-Pack #154.
Hitting the subscribe button is an MVP vote for Drake Maye.
Kind of. Also, it’s free.
On the Pats and Chargers and two guys not getting enough credit for the Patriots…
Imagine Kraft didn’t fire Mayo?
On the next great innovation for watching sports on television…
One TV. No high def. No remote control. Bunny ears, no cable. A limited selection of games you could actually watch.
That was the setup for most kids trying to watch sports on TV in the 1980s. Okay, there was that one kid in town who had a satellite dish, but for most of us, this was the hand we were dealt.
Now? My kids? They have it MADE. 4K. Every game on TV or streaming. Never have to leave your couch. Can it be a pain in the ass when you’re watching a game on Amazon Prime, and you can’t just hit “last channel” and flip over to The Office during commercials? Sure. But it’s worth the trade-off for the broadcast quality and the sheer amount of access we have to games.
I live outside Boston, and thanks to the Big East TV deal, every UConn Men’s Basketball game is available to me this season. That would have seemed IMPOSSIBLE 40 years ago.
Some of those games are on Peacock, the NBC Streaming service. They have a bunch of sports - NBA, MLB, NFL Sunday Night Football, and the World Cup. They’re looking to change how you watch the games by giving you control over what you hear. From Sports Business Journal:
“Bohunek shared a story from Peacock’s first exclusive NFL game when, at halftime, executives from NBCUniversal and the league both called to share thoughts on the audio — one wanted the commentary a bit louder, the other wanted the crowd noise to be turned up for the sense of emotion.
“With AC-4 and the personalization of the audio, we can let the customers do what they prefer with a very simple control in our own UI,” Bohunek said, “and maybe let them turn off commentary completely if that’s what they want.”
That last line is the most important one.
The flexibility to just hear an NFL game with natural sound - no announcers, just the field mics and the crowd? Sign. Me. Up. And this is not an anti-announcer thing at all. I yell at my kids all the time because they’re playing basketball on the mini-hoop, and it’s so loud I can’t hear Greg Olson or Joe Buck or whoever. I’d say 80% of the time, I want to hear the booth talking.
But I’d also - say in a big spot - would love to hear it au naturel. Very good play-by-play guys will get out of the way after a big play. Mike Tirico did on Sunday Night at the end of the Ravens/Steelers thriller. I’d like bigger doses of that.
We have so many options to watch games now. Shit, there’ll be thousands of NFL fans watching the Barstool Gambling Cave Streams this weekend with their own TVs muted. For years, people have wanted an easy way to sync up local radio broadcasts with TV games. In 2026, everything seems customizable. This should include the audio on the big games you’re watching.
Nerdy? Sure. But this shit fires me up. How about a big college basketball game, just the crowd and the sounds of sneakers squaking on the floor. Plus the PA guy. Give me UConn/St. John’s like that. Or a big third down Patriots/Steelers? I’m in.
We won’t have this option Wild Card Weekend. For better or worse, we’ll have six different crews calling the games. I don’t think any of them are bad, but I did spend some time ranking them from best to worst.
Tirico/Collinsworth (LAC/NE)
Buck/Aikman (HOU/PIT)
Burkhardt/Brady (SF/PHI)
Davis/Olson (LA/CAR)
Nantz/Romo (BUF/JAX)
Michaels/Herbstreit (GB/CHI)
Brady has gotten so much better. No bigger Al Michaels fan than me - he’s a legend. Lacks some energy, but still a legend.
Again, all good groups - but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t mind that MUTE option for a few plays in any of these games.
On your Wild Card Weekend NFL Picks…
Week 18 Results: 1-2 | Jonnu ATD❌ | Cardinals ML ❌
On the Season: 21-33 | ATD bets 4-15| ML Dog 6-5
A dreadful NFL season for the MutStack NFL Picks. Props especially. Trash.
The good news is, a clean slate for the playoffs. Going to keep the same format, but will add my leans and other stuff I like below the actual plays.
Odds below from DraftKings as of Friday morning.
The Side
PACKERS ML (-120) AT BEARS. The Packers opened as a slight dog, but as that line is long gone, I’ll play the Packers ML here. The Bears went all out against the Lions last week and scored ZERO points through three quarters. They scored late because that’s what they do -they had five or six wins this year that came in the final minutes of games this season. They seem lucky to me, and that stuff can flip in the playoffs - as can health. There are rumblings that Green Bay lightened the workload for Josh Jacobs over the last month. He said himself it’s the best felt in six weeks. He gets to face a Bears DL that’s not very good and a Bears Run D ranked 5th-worst DVOA. Per Action Network, QBs making their first playoff start vs QBs who have playoff experience are 20-39-1 ATS (34%) and 20-40 SU since 2002—we get that here with Caleb Williams. I’ve been betting against the Bears all year, and no reason to stop now.
The Total
EAGLES VS. 49ERS UNDER 44.5 (-110). The 49ers are sooooo banged up. As of posting for this Friday, OL Trent Williams seems likely to miss. WR Ricky Pearsall has not practiced all week. Fellow WR Jauan Jennings is playing hurt. And the guy filling in for All-Pro LB Fred Warner, Tatum Bethune, he’s on IR. The only way for the 49ers to win this road playoff game is a grind it out, run the ball, and shorten the game. On the other side, the Eagles are getting OL Lane Johnson back - they’re 122-62-1 when he plays. Eagles don’t play slow, but they struggled on offense this year, going over their team total in just 6 of 11 games this season. In outdoor Wild Card games with a total of 41+, the UNDER has crushed, 42-14 (75%) since 2004.
The Prop
KENNETH GAINWELL O 33.5 REC YARDS (-109). Aaron Rodgers is going to be under fire all day from that Texans defense, and Gainwell has become his ultimate security blanket. I will be laddering this at 40+, 50+, and 60+. And a small bet at 100+ at 30-1 on DK.
The ATD
TOMMY TREMBLE (+600). Played almost the entire game last week and caught a TD. The Panthers playing catch-up all day as a huge home dog can only help.
The ML Dog Mut Says is Barking
STEELERS +130 VS TEXANS. Just a classic Mike Tomlin Home Dog Spot. I have Tomlin at 20-6-1 (75%?!) ATS as a home dog in any game after Week 5. His teams have also been nails on Monday Night Football - 12-1 SU at home and 7-6 ATS per Action Network. Low-scoring, defensive game. Gainwell catching a million balls out of the backfield. This is the Wild Card Dog I feel best about this weekend, by a wide margin.
Leans: RAMS/PANTHERS UNDER. BLAKE CORUM ATD. PATRIOTS. MAYE 30+ RUSH (+117)
On your weekly MutStack Notes…
⚾ I’d make a special note of the explicit tag on Episode 8 of Dirty Water - A Boston Sports Podcast. Yankees fans will hate this one. Many laughs as we wait for the Red Sox and or Alex Bregman to make some decisions.
🏇🏻 Very nice of the voice of Santa Anita (and Saratoga) Frank Mirahmadi to shout out the Go Go Greys Stable Tour last Friday as they were loading for Race 1. Dave was extremely generous with his time - I had planned for 20 minutes, and we went about 45. Had no idea Dave was playing in NHC events every weekend. Or that he had a horse named in honor of Rico Bosco and his fans. I should have gotten to more fan questions. Next time. Appreciate all the feedback. You can watch the Stable Tour here ⬇️⬇️
➡️ BIG NEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWS/ Klemmer voice
Same day as the Belmont. There’s a little casino near Laconia we’ll have to bet the races from before the show…
🏀 ENOUGH with this NBA Live angle, NBC Sports Boston. It stinks. No one likes it. Just stop.
🎙️ A lot of response to last week’s breakdown of the fall sports radio ratings in Boston. I heard Kirk say on Thursday that WEEI should reach out to ‘The Big O’ Glenn Ordway and let him do afternoons - rebuild his own show. I’d listen every day. Alas, I don’t think WEEI can afford him. And I don’t think Glenn would be interested. But I’m 100% for it.
❓Does Tate have to follow Mintzy around forever after the incredible content of the last 72 hours? Both guys crushed it in their own different ways.
🏈 It has benefited UConn basketball, and it will continue to benefit UConn basketball, but I Hate the NCAA transfer portal. Capital H, Hate.
⚾ Rob Manfred said MLB is toying with the idea of an “NBA Cup” style in-season tournament for MLB. Can you imagine the stupidity of Garrett Crochet blowing out his arm trying to win an MLB Cup game? Moronic idea.
I think that’s enough Stack for this week.
Good luck with all your Wild Card Weekend bets this weekend. Go Pats. And thanks for reading. And watching.
There's no way Barstool cracks the top 250 of America's Most Iconic Companies without the acquisition of Mutstack.com. Hope to see you and the rest of the Minifans/Mutsluts in Laconia.
shout out to Google for their contract dispute with NBC back in the summer. I get all of those Peacock exclusive games included in my cable package, except for the NFL exclusives. we even get the 11pm NBA Tuesday games now!