Editing Episode 621 (section)

== Key Bits & Lore ==

* The episode title "Cool Crimes" derives from Arif's voter guide advice in the Elections Corner: candidates for obscure local offices often lack websites and policy positions, so the deciding factor comes down to criminal history — and a distinction must be drawn between uncool crimes (embezzlement, fraud) and cool crimes (civil disobedience in service of social justice). Vote for the cool crime.
* Arif vomited on the floor of an Olive Garden during a high school never-ending pasta contest, informed the host stand that "somebody threw up," cleaned himself up, returned to the table, and won by eating four more bowls. He could not eat pasta for approximately four years afterward.
* Blake Cashman had one of the best individual off-ball linebacker games Arif has ever seen: four pass deflections, three quarterback hits, two sacks, seven stops (NFL-leading for the week), first in pass rush win rate and third in quick pressure rate. The top four individual off-ball linebacker pressure performances of the 2026 season all belong to Cashman or Eric Wilson.
* Harrison Smith recorded his 40th career interception and placed the ball on the 40-yard line before leaving the field. He is a 40-20 player. Ronde Barber allegedly convinced Smith, over a drunk golf outing, to reclaim jersey number 40.
* Spencer Schrader missed two field goals indoors in a dome — uncharacteristic for the player who had led the league in field goal points above expected all season — and this moved Will Reichard to first in Arif's expected field goal points metric for the year.
* Arif's quarterback-ranking exercise placed Kyler Murray at approximately 21st in the NFL; the last quarterback on the list Arif would not prefer over Murray was Jacoby Brissett. Dak Prescott — whom Arif rated as deserving a top-seven ranking but who appeared 19th in NFL Communications' list — was described as a player who would make the Vikings "a juggernaut."
* The Vikings are the only undefeated team in the NFL. The 1972 Dolphins and 2007 Patriots are on watch.
* Marissa Mayer's AI assistant "Dazzle" described her daughter as "empathetic, creative, and an animal lover" for a school project; Arif's analysis was that these adjectives describe most children and require no personalised knowledge. Aaron Rodgers is independently theorised to have an AI partner by people unrelated to Norse Code.
* The Atlanta Falcons tweeted their new helmet stripe (brown, black, and white) behind an angular red-and-black falcon logo; the result resembled Nazi iconography. Arif noted the Falcons' colour scheme and angular bird design already required care and that adding a brown stripe completed the problem.
* Arif confirmed the upcoming Patreon bonus episode, a Blake Cashman breakdown piece from Matt Freeze at Wide Left Football, a college counting notebook, and a league-wide trends article.

[[Category:Episodes]]
[[Category:Season 2026]]