Hitch Route

In contrast to last week's slate of games, Week 3 appears to be a far blander, if not unpleasant, set of matchups. In fact, 9 out of 10 optometrists would recommend against voluntarily watching some of these games (Steelers-Browns, we're looking at you - but not actually since we value our eyes). Nonetheless, we may be proven wrong and this could be another great week of football. Or it might be somewhere in the middle like mediocre, competent slug-fests that embody the spirit of Ty Montgomery. In either case, tune in to hear who Alex and Rob will win this week!

Let's face it. Multi-score leads officially do not matter in the current NFL. We saw this time and time again in Week 2, including the Falcons almost reverse 28-3ing. And while that inability to maintain large leads (unless you're the Bills) is maddening for fans of leading teams or survivor pool competitors, it certainly makes for entertaining football. And that's exactly what this week was. Tune in to hear Rob and Alex dissect some of the week's most interesting games!

At the end of the day, regardless of your level of passion for football, it's pretty safe to say that those of us who invest in the sport do so because of how fun the NFL is as an entertainment product. And after a very enjoyable Week 1, we can only hope the same will be true for this next slate of games. The NFL cares about how much we enjoy football - primarily in the pursuit of profit, of course, but it's a win-win if you're willing to pay the price of fandom - and that goes into many of the organization's operational decisions, including the Pro Bowl. This line of thought was definitely at play when the league decided to entirely revamp the event, and now there will be a far greater emphasis placed on skills challenges rather than actual football; we here at Hitch Route certainly welcome this change and imagine that many other fans do as well. We enjoyed it so much that we may or may not have gone on a ridiculous tangent in this episode about a meme skills contest between Virginia McCaskey and the late Queen. All in the name of fun, just like the NFL. Nevertheless, tune in to hear Rob and Alex's extensive thoughts on what Week 2 will look like as well as a few wacky tangents!

After one week of football, all we at Hitch Route can say is WHAT. A. DOOZY. This was certainly one of the best, most exciting opening weeks for the NFL in recent memory. Dennis Green once said about Alex's Chicago Bears, "They are who we thought they were." Much less is true about the NFL as a whole following these introductory performances in 2022. While it goes without saying that football is an emotional, often unpredictable sport where anything can happen on any given Sunday, this week was admittedly wild. The only exception to this chaos may have been the 3-Yard Man Ty Montgomery, unwavering as ever in his new Patriots uniform. Nevertheless, while it may be tough to draw some serious conclusions about the different performances and outlooks of the different franchises after only one game, that won't stop us from trying. Tune in to hear Alex and Rob break down the NFL after the first week!

Super Bowl XLVII MVP Joseph Vincent "Vinnie Boy" Flacco is once again a starter in this NFL, and that's nowhere close to the craziest thing about this upcoming 2022 NFL season! Tune in as Alex and Rob give a little overview then dive into predictions for the first week - just in time for a potential Super Bowl matchup! Who else is pumped for Bills vs Rams!?!?!?

First, we focused on the AFC, and now it's time to shine a spotlight on the NFC. There's just something about the West, though. For some reason, both conferences' deepest divisions look like they're in the West. Our special guest Cade called the NFC West the Thunderdome, and that's a pretty fitting description. So many good teams will head into the gauntlet that is the NFL season, but only a few can perform well enough to become contenders. Tune in to hear Alex and Cade analyze the changes in the NFC landscape over this past offseason in order to determine which teams have the best shot at winning the Super Bowl!

Hello, world! The 2022 NFL season is upon us, so we here at Hitch Route are excited to break down the changes every team made over the offseason as we get a lay of the land for this upcoming year. Up first, Rob and Alex will break down the entire AFC landscape and try to predict which teams will most likely be contenders! And stay tuned for our NFC analysis, too!

We are OFFICIALLY at the start of Season 2 for Hitch Route! In case you live under a rock and somehow haven't heard the news, the OG pretty boy Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr has decided to hold off on ending his illustrious career. That's really all that needs to be said. This man decided to put all of the NFL's fans through an emotional roller coaster, and I don't intend to forgive him anytime soon. 

P.S. This is Alex as always. Much to my chagrin (and Anish's joy), I must also mention that gifted but loathsome dickweed Aaron Rodgers is back too...

Alex here. I don't know about you, but I'm NOT feeling 22. That's right - today is my 23rd birthday; I have officially started my Jordan year as Rob put it. But even on my birthday, I don't get a day off from writing these episode descriptions... Ironically, we here at HR don't have an HR department; otherwise, I would've filed numerous complaints by now, but this was definitely the last straw. Unlike Brady, though, I'm not a quitter. I'm here for the long run, so I hope you'll be hearing my nonsensical dopamine and adrenaline-fueled antics for years to come. But even if today is about me, football comes first. This week, Anish and Rob and I took a deep dive into the conference championship matches, made our Super Bowl predictions, and spent an extended time honoring and reminiscing about TB12. Even if he's gone, though, the three of us are confident in the NFL's future because of all the shining young stars we have at the QB position, not to mention the talented stalwarts who likely have at least half a decade ahead of themselves. Make sure to tune in!

Note: For legal purposes, neither Alex nor anyone associated with the Hitch Route podcast actually believes Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. is a quitter and we all have deep respect for him. Retiring after a long, illustrious career deserves nothing but praise. Unlike the Cowboys and the Packers, he was the true antithesis to choke artistry. He may not have ended the season on top like last year, but he was still as clutch and committed as can be until his last snap. 

Another week has passed, but this one was for the record books. It would not be an overreaction to say this was perhaps the best divisional round in NFL history. And the fact that both Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady were eliminated is part of the reason why (yes, Alex is writing the description as always). Half of the State Farm gang is gone -- and Mahomes is arguably only still in it because of a coin flip. It wasn't money that led to the Packers' demise, but it was Gould. The Chicago Bears will always get the last laugh, Anish. That's why we fired Matt and Ryan and replaced them with Matt and Ryan. All jokes aside, literally every game was a nail-biter that ended on the last play, and now we're in store for two very interesting conference championships. Can Joe Cool put out the red hot Chiefs? Will Sean McVay finally solve the Shanahan puzzle? Tune in to find out our takeaways from this past week and our predictions for Sunday.