Lions–Bills Shootout Picks | Belichick's Son Resigns at UNC — Coach and Company 9/17/26

Thursday's Coach and Company opens on the news out of Chapel Hill: Steve Belichick has resigned from North Carolina [1] after an investigation the school described as showing "a disregard for Carolina's values and standards of conduct" while being "isolated in scope and not a systemic failure" — and with general manager Michael Lombardi already gone, the question on the table is how much longer Bill Belichick wants the job. Mikey P frames it as a will question rather than a can question: does Belichick believe North Carolina can become a legitimate program, and how much does losing his GM cost him if what he wants is total control. Young Peyton's read is sharper — the expectation was an old coach who just wanted to win football games, and instead the past several months have been about everything except football. (Coach's and the panel's theory that the whole North Carolina move existed to create a head-coaching runway for Steve is opinion, not reporting; UNC's statement did not address it.)

The betting block is the spine of the show. Mikey P goes Bengals +2.5 — a number he liked before Nico Collins turned up with a hamstring [3] — and Baker Mayfield two or more passing touchdowns at home against Cleveland. Young Peyton takes the Jaguars getting points in Denver, arguing that a Broncos defense that gave up 31 doesn't scare him and that Trevor Lawrence, with the ball on every snap, does more damage than one running back did. Coach buys the half-point on the Chiefs and doubles back to Cincinnati. That leads into Denver's opening stretch [4] — Kansas City, Jacksonville, the Rams, at San Francisco, at the Chargers, Seattle — and Mikey P raises the Drew Brees contact story [6]; note for the desk that the NFL has declined to comment and no league investigation has been confirmed, so that one stays in "reported, unresolved" language. Raphael Esparza's Inside Info follows: a first-quarter under 10.5 on the Thursday nighter built on primetime scoring trends, Oregon over 67.5 at home against a Portland State team that has allowed exactly 100 points in two games [7], and the Broncos on the moneyline — which Coach immediately identifies as a three-and-a-half-point middle with Peyton's Jaguars ticket.

Picks and Plays turns to the game itself, and the crew is in violent agreement about the direction. Mikey P is on Josh Allen's combined passing and rushing at 290, reasoning that Allen doesn't need a monster night — one breakaway run gets there — and calls this a legacy spot: the Bills are opening their new Highmark Stadium in the regular season [8], and 25 years from now somebody will ask what Allen did in that building. Young Peyton takes the Bills up to 6.5 and expects touchdowns rather than field goals from two good red-zone teams. Coach is on the Bills team total but raises the one thing nobody can price — physical recovery on four days, with Jahmyr Gibbs coming off 34 touches [9]. Asked to build Detroit's path, Mikey P lands on Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta, since Jamison Williams had drops in Week 1 — then gets held to account for abandoning DJ Moore the moment he left Chicago. The show closes on LSU–Ole Miss: Sam Leavitt listed doubtful [10], Raphael reporting from inside the market that the number ran to LSU −1.5 and came back to −2.5 because the books simply didn't buy it, and the crew agreeing it's Kiffin being Kiffin. Then a genuine line in the sand — Lane Kiffin's daughter is still a student at Ole Miss, people have been ugly to her, and all four voices tell the audience to knock it off. Mikey P's suggestion is that the NIL lawsuit out of Oxford [11] is the story that deserved the oxygen instead.

Housekeeping: live every weekday at 10 a.m. ET and 2 p.m. ET; seven shows at one video link and one audio link; Fight Time with Mikey P on Zuffa Boxing this week; Generational Divide with Young Peyton on Friday; Afternoon Drive Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2 p.m. ET; VOD segments via the Stadium Network distribution deal.

Episode Timestamps Time Segment 00:00 Cold open — the full BTT Studios lineup, seven shows, one link 03:00 "Opinion" — Young Peyton and Mikey P check in 04:45 Breaking: Steve Belichick resigns at North Carolina — how long does Bill stay? 08:30 Best bets, bottom up: Mikey P on Bengals +2.5 and Baker Mayfield 11:00 Young Peyton: Jaguars getting points in Denver 13:00 Denver's murderers' row schedule and the Drew Brees tampering report 14:45 Coach's plays: buying the half-point on Kansas City, back to Cincinnati 16:30 Inside Info with Raphael Esparza — first-quarter under 10.5 19:15 Raphael: Oregon over 67.5 vs Portland State 21:00 Raphael: Broncos moneyline — and the three-and-a-half-point middle 24:00 Picks and Plays — Mikey P on Josh Allen's 290 combined yards 26:30 Young Peyton: Bills up to 6.5 and a touchdown-only night 29:00 Opening the new Highmark Stadium — the last Allen–Goff meeting by the numbers 31:30 Can Detroit actually win? Gibbs, St. Brown, LaPorta — and the DJ Moore bit 35:00 LSU–Ole Miss: Sam Leavitt doubtful and a line that wouldn't move 38:00 Leave Lane Kiffin's daughter out of it 40:30 Teases and sign-off BTT Studios delivers the best in sports, entertainment, and culture.

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