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Carson, Carson, Carson... The former #2 overall pick who was a late-season injury away from probably winning MVP and then perhaps leading his team to a Super Bowl victory that same year... Oh how far he has fallen... Since then, he has been traded away twice in two seasons. And because he landed in the NFC East (currently Beast, formerly Least) once again, he now has the opportunity to face his former Eagles quite frequently. The last time this happened, the results were quite disastrous for the Commanders. And now that he is on IR, he will miss both of the season's remaining revenge games. Week 8 against the Colts and Week 10 against the Eagles. Therefore, this week is the first-ever Carson-less Wentz Bowl, a matchup between two teams that have employed Wentz that he himself will not play in. To celebrate this momentous occasion, Indy has also decided to introduce a backup QB to the starting lineup - what a remarkable show of sportsmanship. We at Hitch Route, however, are celebrating this game by not watching it!!! Tune in to hear Alex and Rob predict how this week's matchups will go and also give their insight into which other matches are worth watching or not!

In case you live under a rock, you most likely heard that Christian McCaffrey was traded to the San Francisco 49ers. And if you heard that announcement, you almost certainly heard in the same breath that CMC went to Stanford - therefore he would be good to go for Sunday after getting traded on a Thursday. While we at Hitch Route may have *only* gone to Duke, we are quite skeptical of this claim. Surely, CMac looked good on Sunday and is a truly elite player in the NFL, but it's preposterous to use the fact he was a Cardinal in college as evidence for why he will be totally fine despite the major life interruption. Nevertheless, while this was maybe the most humorous development of the past week, there were many other exciting ones. Perhaps none other than Justin Fields and the Bears taking Gillette Stadium by storm and preventing Belichick from surpassing Papa Bear Halas in wins for at least one more week (Alex is clearly biased, but this undeniably was a major win). Tune in to hear Rob and Alex break down some of the week's major events!

When considering the performance of Russell Wilson this year in conjunction with his recent $250 million extension, it is rather unsurprising that the Denver QB finds himself under immense scrutiny. In our last episode, though, we pointed out that some trends are due for reversal or regression; Rob staunchly believes this is true for DangeRuss, and he has even put his money where his mouth is (much to his recent chagrin). Folks, while this may be a football podcast, allow us to use this moment as evidence for some brief financial advice: do not buy the dip simply because there is a dip. Market devaluations happen for a reason, so seriously consider the underlying circumstances when investing in contradiction with current trends. Back to football, though, as we near the season's halfway point, it will be quite fascinating to see what teams can reverse their own dips. Will the Packers be able to right the ship and return to contending status? Will the Jaguars be able to keep up in the AFC South after slipping from their strong start? Will the Lions finally replenish their cafeteria with a strong batch of kneecap soup? Tune in to hear Alex and Rob predict the outcome of Week 7 and try to find the answers to these questions!

Cliche as it may be, nothing lasts forever. This is true with life, truer with sports, and perhaps most true of all with Cooper Robert Rush, whose time as a starter is coming to a close. While wins are the most important statistic, there are many other stats directly related to player performance that portray the Dallas QB negatively; nevertheless, he did a wonderful job keeping Dem Boyz in the playoff race. There will always be situations and trends that are on the verge of ending, and finding those critical points within the NFL is of great interest to us at Hitch Route. Tune in to hear Rob and Alex break down some of the week's most intriguing matchups and perhaps analyze a few trends along the way!

As franchises progress over the course of the season, they often realize the need to move on from current players, coaches, or executives. Many changes are left to the offseason, but sometimes situations are so dire that they must be dealt with immediately. That is how the Browns felt when trading for Deion Jones, and that is how the Panthers felt when firing HC Matt Rhule. While it's important to use hindsight when evaluating the decisions that were made in order to learn from past mistakes, it's very interesting to consider what Carolina does now in its current position. The Panthers are facing this decision now because it looks like their season may more or less be over, but all teams will have to undergo this high-level organizational analysis at some point this year (unless maybe you're a true contender, but even those franchises can and should make changes). It's too late to know certainly who does what, but we at Hitch Route eagerly await the opportunity to analyze these changes. For now, though, tune in to hear Rob and Alex predict how Week 6 turns out!

After the absolute circus that was the first month of the NFL season, we're reaching a point where we can finally understand what exactly each team in the league is made of. Some are legit contenders, some are cesspools, and many teams are in the middle on various ends of that spectrum. The season is still early, so franchises aren't exactly defined by their records, but obviously, some are separating from the herd for better or worse. Winning a championship isn't easy, and it's even tougher to consistently contend - just look at the Rams. They basically just lose one old man from their offensive line, and now they look absolutely lost out there. Nevertheless, lots of teams are still discovering themselves, so tune in to hear Alex and Rob analyze the current state of the NFL!