Bucs Host Michael Penix and the Falcons, Looking Back on Rays' Run & Florida vs. Georgia

It's Football Friday, Halloween is Saturday, and the clocks fall back, but first Rick and Steve put a bow on the Rays' season. Rick still thinks the team overachieved in every way, Steve says they probably reached the World Series a year or two early, and both worry about a likely lockout and what it does to the roster. They talk about the chemistry that carried the team (team dinners on the road, Nick Martinez's arrival, and a contrast with a talented Mets team where Lindor and Soto reportedly don't get along), whether the Rays can afford to re-sign Freddy Peralta and Martinez, how the CBA could change things with a salary floor, a cap, and shorter maximum contracts, and which prospects (Xavier Isaac, Brody Hopkins, and catcher Caden Bodine, who played at four levels this year) might help.

Rick says Chandler Simpson showed "ice in his veins" in the playoffs and relays John Smoltz's view that Simpson will become a leadoff man, while Steve explains the analytics behind Yandy Diaz leading off and says the Rays' approach is to not give young players more than they can handle. They debate Junior Caminero's postseason (he hit the ball but not for home runs, and needs protection in the lineup), and Rick tells the Tom Brady story about being "brothers as champions" to show why losing a final is so tough when you don't know if the group will ever get back. Both then remember how far this franchise has come in a year, from playing at Steinbrenner Field with the roof off the Trop to being the best team in the American League.

After a sponsor break, they turn to a big weekend in football, starting with Florida vs. Georgia in Atlanta (next year's game will be at Raymond James Stadium). They look at how first-year coach Jon Sumrall has handled a season that wobbled, the Gators' road win at Texas without their starting quarterback, a tough finish that includes Oklahoma, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, and Florida State, USF's game with UAB, Florida State hosting Clemson amid talk of a coaching change, and a Belichick-coached North Carolina team that could trap No. 1 Miami. Rick, who's lost his voice, then previews the Bucs' home game against the Falcons: Atlanta's strong run defense, Bijan Robinson, Drake London, Michael Penix Jr. (the NFC Player of the Week, playing in his hometown for the first time), a defense that Rick says is playing as well as any Bucs team since the Super Bowl era, takeaways (12, second in the league, and eight in the last three games), the 79 percent win rate of teams that win the turnover battle, the third-and-28 grudge, and Baker Mayfield's Kevin Stefanski chip. They end with the stat the Bucs would like to retire: the last Tampa Bay team to win at Raymond James Stadium was the Lightning.

Segments

• Football Friday: Halloween and daylight saving time
• The Rays' season in hindsight: overachieving and arriving early
• The lockout, team chemistry, and the Mets' clubhouse
• Re-signing Peralta and Martinez, and the CBA
• Prospects: Isaac, Hopkins, and Caden Bodine
• Chandler Simpson, the leadoff debate, and Caminero's postseason
• Tom Brady's "brothers as champions" speech
• From Steinbrenner Field to the AL's best team
• Sponsor: Breitling Boutique, International Plaza
• College football: Florida vs. Georgia in Atlanta
• Jon Sumrall's first season and the Gators' remaining schedule
• USF-UAB, Florida State-Clemson, and Miami at Belichick's North Carolina
• Bucs vs. Falcons: Penix, Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Atlanta's run defense
• The Bucs' defense and the turnover battle
• The remaining schedule, the NFC South race, and the last team to win at Raymond James

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