Tom Jones, Rick's former radio partner and a longtime Tampa Bay Times columnist now at the Poynter Institute, is back for a second straight day. They open with old road stories (Rick's Milwaukee brats tale, Tom's Pittsburgh parallel, Appleton, Wisconsin, and a trip to Green Bay), then turn to the Bucs, who have three wins in the division, Chicago next, then a bye and a trip to Detroit. Rick lays out the four division games left (two against the Saints, Atlanta, and Carolina), figures nine wins will likely take the NFC South, and says Carolina is bad enough that Dave Canales' job could be in danger. He also says Michael Penix Jr. looked like he had never seen rain.
With the Vikings suffering their first loss, Rick and Tom revisit the 1972 Dolphins and their champagne ritual, and Tom recalls the 1972 AFC title game in Pittsburgh, a week after the Immaculate Reception and on the night Roberto Clemente died. From there the group talks about the Chargers, Jim Harbaugh's future, and a hypothetical Justin Herbert trade (Steve floats the Ravens), then the huge drop-off from starting to backup quarterbacks, Dan Orlovsky's "three throws a game" line, Jalen Daniels' 1-for-2 day, Baker Mayfield's operational skill, and the toll injuries are taking on the NFL product. They credit Todd Bowles' defense for its takeaways and run defense, and say Chicago will test the Bucs' passing game, with Emeka Egbuka's availability a question.
The back half is a media tour. Mike Tomlin is on NBC and may follow Bill Cowher into broadcasting, which leads to a chat about how coaches have no lives, Tom Brady as a Raiders part-owner and broadcaster, and Troy Aikman consulting with the Dolphins. They get into the reported Aikman–Joe Buck feud, using Brady's $370 million Fox deal as the benchmark, ESPN's possible options (Sean McVay, Greg Olsen, the Kelces), Aikman's ties to Jerry Jones, and Peyton Manning's media company. They end with Pat McAfee's pay and ESPN saturation, Michael Wilbon stepping aside for health reasons, the grind of a media career, a look at the show's own history (about 2,360 episodes, a September 2017 start as the Rick and Tom podcast, and ten years since the 2016 radio layoffs), and a plug for Tom's biweekly podcast and poynter.org.