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October 7, 2025 86 mins

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Nick Wright recaps week 5 of the NFL season starting with Monday Night Football between Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs and Trevor Lawrence and that Jacksonville Jaguars. The show takes a brief detour to react to LeBron James' "Second Decision" with speculation surrounding his future with the Los Angeles Lakers. Then, Nick breaks down some of the biggest upsets of the week, including the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles losing to the Denver Broncos, and the Buffalo Bills losing to the New England Patriots. After, Nick debates if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the favorites in the NFC, if Baker Mayfield should be the MVP frontrunner, and if Justin Herbert fans need to stop making excuses for the Los Angeles Chargers' QB. Later, Nick and Damonza dive into quick hitters on teams around the league and answer your questions. #Volume

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome in What's Driving the Great Episode three seventy five.
This episode of What's Right When the GRD is brought
to you by our friends at boost Mobile. We're a
little delayed today because there have been a lot of
forces that have been trying to tell me I maybe
shouldn't do this show today, but it feels like it'd

(00:22):
be a cop out. Force one demons. Today's actually the
rare October day off from work because there's no TV
show today, so I could have And Tuesdays, which is today,
are the day of the really big card game in
Philly that I sometimes in the summer like to go

(00:44):
play in but can never during the football regular season.
So that was reason one that I could have been
like not doing the show. Reason two, I got a
phone call yesterday from Spectrum saying they're redoing the internet
on this block and there's gonna be like an eight
hour period where the TV and internet and everything doesn't work.

(01:07):
And I put in a very pleading request. Granted this
was before the Chiefs lost if they could somehow delay
that start of work a bit. I don't know if
they listen to me or not, but we're on the
internet right now, so it's fine. Reason three, the reason
we are late to the show is because for the

(01:27):
last twenty minutes my camera was just showing an old
still image not from the pod, and it was kind
of creepy because it was showing an image of when
I wasn't in the room, when the lights weren't on,
which one would make you think, how did the camera
even capture that image if the computer was closed and

(01:50):
the camera's supposed to be off. We troubleshot that for
twenty minutes, poor Paul was about to drive over here.
We were figuring out if we could do an audio
only thing, and then the solution was unplug it and
plug it back in. So despite all of that, I'm here.
Your mom can attest to this. I've been for the

(02:13):
last ten hours a little restless that loss yesterday for
reasons I will explain hit differently than any non playoff
Chiefs loss in recent memory. And it also feels a

(02:37):
little I'll be honest, I've lived a blessed life, so
I can't really complain too much, but it felt a
little unfair that I am not able to fully bask
in the glory of the greatest day Trevor has had
in three years, the greatest day he's had in the

(03:00):
NFL since you were sitting next to me on the couch,
and he was down twenty seven points to Justin Herbert
and the Chargers and came back, and certainly the best
moment he's had since he got injured on Monday Night
Football when his team was playing for the one seed.

(03:22):
I couldn't even enjoy that, and so we will explain that.
We will get into all of that. I am for
reasons I don't again, when I agreed to do these things,
I anticipated the Chiefs were going to win the game.
But I am doing Colin's show, my regular Tuesday spot
from here now. I'll be honest. If Spectrum cuts out

(03:46):
the Internet sometime between when this show ends and colin
Shows begins, it's not that I do about that. That
is not playing that I will take issue with it.
But we must forge ahn and first we gotta go
straight to voicemail. Thanks brought to you by our friends

(04:07):
at boost Mobile. The Yankees are down two oh to
the Jays. They've been outscored twenty three to eight, and
I do not think it is an unfair statement to
say the series has not been as close as twenty
three to eight. It has been an utter, thorough total
domination by the Toronto Blue Jays. Hockey starts tonight. I

(04:31):
didn't know that, so I'm finding it out right now.
And Lebron teases the second decision which is coming up
in about an hour and ten minutes, and you should
be able to use the context clues of whether or
not I think that is going to be a major
basketball career related decision, or whether or not I think

(04:53):
that is going to be an advertisement based on the
fact that we did not delay this pod by ninety
minutes to react to it. However, we must get to
the news at hand. Reminder like rate, subscribe, review, do
this show for you guys, even on days like today,
So please subscribe on iTunes and Spotify and all of it. Oh,

(05:17):
I referenced demanse I, I didn't really sleep last night
and then got up this morning, took your sister to school,
picked your mom up from the gym. I don't know
if I said ten words to either one of them.
I then just laid on the couch, which I never
do in the mornings, and tried to like take a nap.

(05:39):
That didn't work, you know, how I can tell your
mom knows I'm in a teetering emotional place. Well, here's
here's how I know that she knows and that she's empathetic,
because there were she's doing like a whole giant house

(06:01):
cleaning thing prior to I knew it her birthday. I
knew it, well, no hold on there. Within the ninety
seconds when I came downstairs, there were three things I
saw her do that she had asked me to do previously,

(06:22):
and she wasn't even mad at me. Yep, I was like, oh,
she legit feels bad for me right now. She's like
she she is really showing a real amount of empathy
because I was supposed to put those coffee cups away.
I was supposed to throw that backpack away, and she's
doing all of it, and she's doing with a smile
on her face, which means she has correctly clocked that

(06:44):
I'm not doing great. Hopefully this will be my Catharsis.
Let's get to Monday night football.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
Shout out to Audrie. So we saw what Trevor Lawrence
did to the Chiefs yesterday. It was also his twenty
sixth birthday, and he walked out of there with a dub.
What do you want to talk about first, your Prince's
success or your Chiefs downfall in this game.

Speaker 1 (07:07):
Okay, as much as I'd like to start with Trevor,
we have to start with the Chiefs. And here's the reason.
That game is so so much more upsetting than the
Charger game or the Eagle game, and so much more

(07:28):
upsetting than any recent memory regular season loss. One thing
about the Chiefs being the Chiefs is they simply do
not lose games like that. Now, they get out played.

(07:49):
Sometimes the offense we've seen over the last couple of
years get stuck in the mud. They you know, there
are ways that they can lose a game, and other
people panic or you know, talk about in what bad
shape the team is in, and I do not because

(08:10):
of the full confidence that by the end of the
year Patrick will have figured stuff out, or the team
will get healthier or whatever it is. Losing a game
like that last night, they don't blow two touchdown leads.
Every other team in the league, mate, they don't. They

(08:30):
did last night countless countless special teams mistakes, the multiple
the same player Jack Cochrane, who held on a big
kick return earlier in the game does the only thing

(08:53):
he can't do on the final kickoff of the game,
which is hold again, Because in that moment, I thought,
while I didn't like what had happened, twenty three seconds,
three timeouts, the Chief's gonna have the ball around the
twenty five thirty yard line. I fully trusted that we
were at least going to get a kick to tie

(09:14):
the game. But that hold has the double whammy of
they returned it, so you burned six of the twenty
three seconds and you started on the fifteen. Also with
the special teams, Bucker kicking it out of bounds when

(09:35):
he has been shaky buck. We are now five for
five in games this year where Bucker makes a mistake
either missus an extra point, miss it, yes, missus an
extra point, misses a kick, or kicks it out of bounds.
And then and I'm not this oddly is the part

(09:55):
of the game that was least bothersome to me. But
it was the most damaging was you know, Patrick made
a mistake he simply doesn't make, which is that ninety
nine yard pick six that flipped the entire game. Now
that you can fairly say that cost them the game,

(10:17):
I mean that was a basically a true fourteen point swing.
But I know this might sound odd to the audience.
That is the least of my concerns. The committing that
many penalties that consistently. And now, what does make me

(10:39):
feel like the Chiefs are very close to being the
Chiefs again, is there is a direct correlation to how
scary the Chiefs are to the rest of the world
and how quickly and loudly we get the idiotic conspiracy
theories once again, when yes, they missed a DPI on

(11:04):
an interception, but this game would have been well, I
don't know that it was a TV. I don't know
that it was worse than when the Jags are down
fourteen to nothing and it's third and fifteen and there
is a phantom DPI that kept them in the game,
Like calls get missed in both directions. The people got

(11:24):
mad because Patrick correctly pointed out to the ref we
get one yard on the rub route on Kelsey's touchdown,
and I don't know what the hell Russell Yurke was
looking at. He says, the play was snapped at the two,
juju is setting the pick at the one. That is
the definition. You literally had the little hashmark showing you

(11:48):
it was a yard and so I unders listen, they missed.
The ref's missed a really bad call, there's no question
about it. And the Chiefs got a pick out of it.
The Chiefs were penalized I think ten times more or
nine times more than Jacksonville. That was not a oh.
The Chiefs got all the calls. But also those weren't
except for the DPI on third and fifteen. Those weren't

(12:11):
bad calls against the Chiefs. They were making mistakes. And
here's the other piece of it, and this is what
is so uh And Patrick kind of said it without
saying it when he said we've already lost too many games.
They they had a nightmare, nightmare opening two weeks of

(12:34):
the season, and they had the opportunity to make it
all back by week five, go from zero and two
to Tide for first in the division, one game out
of first place in the entire conference and two and

(13:00):
you guys, notice I didn't have Kansas City minus three
and a half in knicks picks. I actually think Jacksonville
is better than people gave him credit for it. And
I was saying all week Jacksonville was three and one
despite Trevor and that if Trevor played well, they're a
very dangerous team. And we'll get to Trevor later, because

(13:22):
that was just a perfect Trevor Lawrence game. Some horrible mistakes,
some great throws, used his legs, you know, better than
he usually does, even though he's great with that. The
So I didn't It's not that I think losing to
the Jags.

Speaker 2 (13:40):
It's just that was a game that I feel like
they needed. They really wanted that game and they didn't
get it. And it was also like it was the
Jaguars at the same time, like's not.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
They needed it, Demons, they wanted it and they had
it great like the While the Chiefs don't blow teams
out the way the other excellent teams in football do
over the last few years, they just simply never beat themselves,

(14:11):
and yesterday they beat themselves. Yesterday is the first game
in four years the Chiefs have won the turnover battle
and lost the game. There have only been three games
in the last four years where they have won or
tied the turnover battle and lost the game Week one

(14:33):
against Detroit couple of years ago, the Pick six Week
one against the Chargers this year, and neither team turned
it over, and then this week with a pick six,
and so all of that just it. It's just a

(14:55):
horrible loss. Let me add another thing before I get
to the other side of it. My biggest concern with
Kansas City after week one, when every there have been
let me rephrase it. There have been two concerns that

(15:17):
I have had about the Chiefs basically from week one
on that while everyone else was focused on Mahomes in
the passing game, I was simply not worried. One was
the lack of any type of burst or explosion in

(15:39):
the running game. Now I thought that was Pacheco and Hunts,
both of them, you know, one of their better If not,
they're each of their best games of the year. My
hair is a mess. I apologize, but it still feels
like that's a spot they need to upgrade. And Patrick
leading the team in rushing is is unacceptable and makes

(16:03):
me nervous. But the other thing that was greatly concerning
to me about week one was their total inability to
generate a pass rush without sending a blitz. And I
felt like you saw that again last night. So those

(16:24):
the running back position I think can be of all
the weaknesses you can have. That to me is the
simplest to attempt to remedy, because they should be able
to relatively cheaply trade for and upgrade at running back.
The pass rush just has to get better. And Chris

(16:47):
obviously has a brutal film on the play. When Trevor
fell down, Now, I don't actually think him standing there
or if he would have been going one hundred miles
an hour, it would have changed the impact of the play.
But that is brutal, brutal tape.

Speaker 2 (17:07):
I think he could have absolutely made a play on it.
He could have stopped him from scoring touchdown. You think so,
I think I feel like he's watching the action from there.
If he starts running off to the right, might be
able to intercept Trevor Lawrence.

Speaker 1 (17:20):
Oh, I right, I agree that right there he starts
running off to the right. My point is, by the
been going full bore. If he would have been going
full bore, he wouldn't have he wouldn't have been lying
to the right. He would have gone upfield and then
but it doesn't matter. I want to make this clear.

(17:41):
It doesn't matter that he wouldn't have made the I
don't think he would have made the play. What matters
is how the hell are you doing that in that spot?
But you know what I mean, like, what is the
uh he played it almost as if the Chiefs coaching
point there was let them score, so we get the
ball back with a chance to tie it. But no

(18:03):
one else on the defense was you know, had that
was feeling that way and so all of those things
Demon's are uh truly greatly real like issues and why
this has been so such a troubling twelve hours now

(18:30):
the flip side, Patrick looks great, and he looks great.
And the offenses, I mean they would they have five
hundred yards of offense yesterday almost like now, again that's
not the Andy said it, and he's right. The goal

(18:51):
of the game is not to put up a ton
of yards, put up points. And our red zone issues
that you know, he didn't say this, I'll say Patrick's
bad mistake. The penalties, those things are how you lose
football games. But Kansas City, particularly when Rashi gets back,

(19:14):
I think, is going to be back to being a
very explosive offense again. So that part is great, but
two and three is none and you just you had
the opportunity, had you taken care of going into last

(19:35):
night's game, you were like, there were there's the four
and one Bills who you play later this year, the
four and one Colts who you play later this year,
and the Jags were sitting there with one loss and
you were playing them that night. And so it also

(19:55):
puts a lot of pressure on next week. And next
week is the Detroit Lions, who post Week one have
looked like the best team in the league. By the way,

(20:23):
Lebron just posted, I guess did Hennessy front run him
on this? That's so funny? Real quick?

Speaker 2 (20:34):
Is that the announcement?

Speaker 1 (20:35):
Or hold on, I'm just gonna let you guys hear it.
I hope, hold on, let me see if I can
do this? Hold on here it is no I got
I'm just gonna do it like this, You'll do it
old school.

Speaker 2 (20:49):
Well, everyone's on pens and needles across the country.

Speaker 1 (20:52):
Are you ready to go, Lebron? Where's the powder left
at home? Lebron fans want to know where you're taking
your talent this year. What's your decision in this fall?

Speaker 2 (21:04):
Man?

Speaker 1 (21:04):
This is tough.

Speaker 2 (21:06):
In this fall, I'm gonna be taking my talents to
nnescvk v.

Speaker 1 (21:12):
P and this was the conclusion you woke up with
this morning. That was a conclusion I woke up with
this morning.

Speaker 2 (21:18):
Why I feel like it's gonna give me the best
opportunity to win more at hosting.

Speaker 1 (21:22):
And not only that, when that signature and hotails, we
didn't have a good time, we.

Speaker 2 (21:29):
At making memories, we didn't making it look easy, win
at leaving people wanting more.

Speaker 1 (21:38):
Bron appreciate it. My decision. Okay, so real quick, quick
sidebar of course, like now listen, I would have been wrong.
I thought I had something to do with Amazon Prime
Day because he worked with Amazon. But Danny yesterday when

(22:03):
Lebron sent that tweet, he came, He's like, you saw
Lebron's thing. I'm like yeah, And he asked, he said,
do you think it's anything? I was like, I would
bet anything. It's an AD And he asked me why,
and he thought my answer was kind of ridiculous. But

(22:24):
it's why I knew it was an AD. I said,
because it's at noon. It's what he said it was
going to be. And he's like, that's the reason, and.

Speaker 2 (22:35):
I was like, yeah, it's like more of like a
night thing.

Speaker 1 (22:38):
Yes, it's prime time He's like, if Lebron is going
to announce his retirement, it's not going to be noon
on a Tuesday. I'm gonna tell you right now. It's
just so I there there was real like questions I

(22:59):
got tech from people or whatever about what we like
this show or the TV show or whatever, what are
what we want to do? And I don't want to
say I ignored them, but I in my head, I
ignored them. I'm like, guys, I promised, this is not
like Intel. I didn't talk to I didn't. I was

(23:21):
so non plused by this, Like I obviously am real
close with some of Lebron's closest people. Maverick's a dear friend.
I see Rich a few times a year. You know,
Rich works with my agent. I didn't even send any
of them a text like with a question mark like
the it was so.

Speaker 2 (23:42):
To me.

Speaker 1 (23:43):
To me, it was just like if if he had
sent the exact same tweet and it said Monday, seven pm,
my heart would have skip to beat.

Speaker 2 (23:59):
I'd be like, oh man, run change it up a
little bit.

Speaker 1 (24:01):
Yeah, like maybe like there might be uh, there might
be something here, but Tuesday at noon, the guy is
not announcing his retirement Tuesday at noon. Now he was
if you didn't get the and I didn't show you
the he's wearing the same shirt he wore to the
original decision, like kind of right, and the the script

(24:27):
is the questions he was asked, like the no powder
that it's all the exact same beats of the original decision.
But yes, listen shout. Also, by the way, I don't
know what Hennessy you know, paid Bron, but I do
know that they are now going to get a lot

(24:48):
of free media out of it by simply Lebron sending
one tweet like so, I don't know what his tweets
are worth, but that you know, I would consider that
likely money well spent. All right, back to the discussion
we were having. What were we talking about? Oh, the

(25:08):
Lions game now is massive. Oh that's why I saw
it because I was going to hard rock bet to
see going into last night And here's a fun one.
Demon's wait. No, going into last night, it was Casey
minus a point and a half. Now, typically, oddly, when

(25:30):
a good team loses, if they don't suffer real injury,
they become bigger favorites by a tiny bit. The next week,
I don't anticipate that's what will happen here. So what, oh,
what do you think? Do you think the line moved
or stayed the same, And if it moved in what direction?

Speaker 2 (25:50):
You said yesterday it was minus one and a.

Speaker 1 (25:52):
Half, Kansas City favored by a point and a.

Speaker 2 (25:54):
Half a half. Yeah, I think it probably what is
it minus two now minus two?

Speaker 1 (26:02):
It's it stayed, it stayed the same. I thought there
was a chance it would have gone the other way,
but I think the reason it didn't was because the
Chiefs offense did look really good and that Jack's defense
is legit. It's just so frustrating. And this is all
I said going into it was if they don't turn

(26:22):
the ball over, they can't lose, and they may listen,
it was the worst type of turnover you can make.

Speaker 2 (26:28):
With that defense being how good it is, like Jacksonville's
defense is, it's legit. They even came in they got
to pick six against Patrick Malmes. Like with the Travis
Hunter thinks, I think it's so unfortunate that he wants
to play on both sides of the ball, because I
think he would make the defense that much more dominant,
or if he wanted to be one hundred percent offense,
he would just give Trevor Lawrence even that better of

(26:48):
a hand. But I think because it doesn't seem like
he's being super effective on either side, he's that guess
he's maxed out as lung right now.

Speaker 1 (26:56):
No, right now, it's kind of the worst of both worlds,
right listen. I know he made one really big play
in this game. Yeah, but the Jags aren't at a
shortage of weapons, and right now, the the the they trade,

(27:18):
the only way you can justify trading what they traded
for a non quarterback is because you thought you were
getting two players. But right now he's having less of
an impact than all the guys drafted around him who
are just one way players. And so that's the really

(27:39):
disappointing part if you're Jacksonville, Like, let me go to
real quick. Because Mason Graham, who was the fifth pick,
who was part of essentially the Travis Hunter trade, has
been great. Abdua Carter is making a real impact. Will

(27:59):
Campbell's the everyday left tackle. Mason Graham has been excellent. Genty,
I know that there have been some questions about gent
Genty's great, He's just the how often is he getting
the ball and how often are they blocking for him?
But you've seen more from him already than you've seen
Travis Mimbo has been excellent at tackle for the Jets,

(28:24):
even though they've been terrible, and Teed McMillan has made
a bigger impact the wide receiver for Carolina. For Carolina,
no Tampa Bay receivers a Buka, who's been unbelievable. But
he was you know, he was a mid first round pick.
He was nineteen and so yeah, I do think that

(28:46):
they they haven't yet figured out how to use Travis.
Now listen on the Prince. This is why he's such
a tough player to quit, because he can make that
throw to Brian Thomas Junior down the sideline, and he

(29:07):
is he at Clemson, he ran a lot and he
is big and strong and all those things and fast.
He also loves that leap over the goal line QB sneak.
That's not the first time it's been knocked out of
his hands. He also will, as Aikman pointed out, miss

(29:34):
some layups and he's it's fair is fair. He should
be better at this point than he is. But he
is now positioning himself where he is going to have
a real opportunity to have, you know, another postseason and

(29:57):
the best moment of his career came in the postseason.
And so now like it's starting to take shape a
little bit right it feels to me demanse like like
the playoff teams we can say with confidence are Buffalo, Indie, Jacksonville,

(30:20):
the four and one teams, like we just got to
give them credit. One team out of the AFC North.
I can't write off Baltimore yet, but that's the only
way Baltimore does it is if Pittsburgh. The reason I'm
not saying two teams out of the North is if
Pittsburgh just continues winning, Baltimore's cooked Like Baltimore, Baltimore's path

(30:45):
is going to be that nine wins can win you
the division. So there's four and then I obviously believe
the Chiefs are going to be in the I can't.
It would be unfair for me to say Pencil that

(31:05):
she like to put the Chiefs in pen because they're
two and three. So if we have Buffalo, Indy, Jacksonville
and an AFC North team in then it would be
Deman's three spots, four Chiefs, Broncos Chargers, Patriots. Three spots

(31:30):
for those four teams, and right now the team that
probably of those four teams this moment, which team do
you think is most anxious? Because to me, I think
it's pretty clear out of Chiefs, Chargers, Broncos, Patriots, if.

Speaker 2 (31:50):
One of them is gonna go, Chargers probably yeah, the
most anxious it's the Chargers.

Speaker 1 (31:55):
Yeah, to me, it's definitely.

Speaker 2 (31:57):
The Jay and Daniels is more respectable, but coming off injury.

Speaker 1 (32:02):
Yeah, yeah, Jake and only scoring ten points and we'll
get to that game later. Wow. The producers don't always
nail it on this show. They always try with their humor,
but sometimes they they miss. This one's pretty good, Yeah,

(32:26):
because you know, I obviously coined the tackle that turned
the tide. And by the way, I given how Patrick
has played since that moment, I think it's still even
though they lost and he threw the pick six, I
think it still applies. I thought Patrick was for seventy
five out of seventy six plays excellent yesterday. Now, the

(32:49):
one mistake he made like fair is fair. It flipped
the game, and so I'm not giving I'm not giving
him a pass, but if I were, if I were saying,
was that encouraging? Yeah? They said, was that the pick
that made Nick sick? And you know who suggested that?

Speaker 2 (33:08):
Vic?

Speaker 1 (33:09):
All right, all right, well done, well done guys. But
they said, is Trevor's TD the stumble that started the succession?
That's pretty good. I think that's pretty good. I think
it's pretty good. I like it, guys. All Right, you
guys made me feel a little bit better. God, I

(33:33):
was upset. Dang, I'm gonna have to deal with It's
one thing that I'm gonna have to deal with Colin
in a couple hours. But you know who is privately,
I'm sure take demonte off camera reveling in this in
my pain? J mac oh and the chiefs and the

(33:57):
Chiefs loss. Oh boy, that's not gonna be fun. All right.
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(35:26):
conditions apply. Concerned about gambling in Florida, call one eight
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you know as a gambling problem wants help, call one
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eight hundred gambler in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee,
or Virginia. All right, let's get two. The rest of
Week five in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (35:48):
Pal So, the Eagles were up two touchdowns going into
the fourth of the Broncos and ended up blowing that game.
So the Broncos ended up winning, and they haven't won
an important game in over a year. How different are
you thinking about these two teams after that one?

Speaker 1 (36:04):
Yeah? Your your point about the Broncos is because I
know Broncos fans will be like, what do you mean?
Won an important game? Made the playoffs. They haven't beaten
a quality opponent since Week three of last season, or
whenever they played Tampa might have been Week two. That
was the first great win of the Sean Peyton era

(36:25):
and of bo Nix's career. Now I know you know,
my pal Schrager, I think overstated it a bit. When
he said that was a career defining and regime defining
moment for Sean Payton. That's a bit much. But Schrager
is you know, Schrager's my guy, and he's very open

(36:46):
and honest about the fact that he loves Sean Payton
and he's rooting for Sean Payton. So that's fine. I
think that was you know, a touch, A touch, more
touch too much. I want to do the Broncos. Then
I'll do the Eagles because I think it'll be we'll
spend more time on the Eagles. Yeah. So the last
time they beat a playoff team was September twenty second

(37:10):
of last year, so more than a year before they
had what I would call it, you know, a high
quality win. That defense is spectacular, Okay, there is no
getting around that. And we knew coming into the year
that the defense could be really, really good. And Nick
Benito has a legit case for Defensive Player of the Year.

(37:34):
He's been that caliber of player. And in that fourth quarter,
bo Nicks was excellent after starting the game off terribly
and kind of getting lucky that they let it. I
thought it was a pretty clear strip sack that somehow
they called an incomplete pass. He then was twelve to

(37:56):
fourteen some big conversions touchdown like he was really good
in the fourth quarter of that game. So here is
what is true for the Broncos. If they get anywhere
close to the bow Knicks they got late in that game,

(38:18):
then they are a legit dangerous team. The defense is excellent.
Sean Payton, why I might think he's a touch overrated
by some of his friends in the media, is obviously
a good coach, very good coach, and they just need
to have an above average offense to be a really

(38:39):
good team. I am still skeptical of that. They will
get an above average offense from bow Knicks. We'll see,
and we'll see how much Sean Payton can coach him up. Now,
demon's say they have back to back absolute must win
games to get to five and two. They get the

(39:02):
best thing you can ask for in the NFL this century,
which is back to back New York games the Jets
and the Giants. Now the by the way, neither is
in New York, ones in London, and then ones in Denver.
But that's what they have. And if you remember, oh yeah,
Broncos Giants. Broncos Giants is better than Broncos Jets.

Speaker 2 (39:28):
Broncos Jets.

Speaker 1 (39:31):
So but Broncos Jets Demons is going to be on
is a London game, So that's a six AM. That'll
be a zero watch from you. But after if you
remember with my Broncos preseason skepticism, I said, I think

(39:52):
they'll get off to an early start, people will start
chirping at me, and then we'll see what they're really
made up of late and after that Broncos, after that
Jets Giant stretch. It's not that it's an impossible stretch
of football, but it's not easy. Aside from the Raiders games,

(40:14):
because again when I was talking about it being, you know,
a brutal stretch, I didn't think the Raiders were going
to be as bad as they are. But they go Cowboys, Texans, Raiders, Chiefs, Commanders, Raiders, Packers, Jags, Chiefs, Chargers,
That's how they end the year. So they need to
be five and two and then hope that they can

(40:37):
go what with five and five in their final ten
and that gets you in the playoffs. Ten wins will
get you in. And so this was a great win
for them in a game they had no signs of
life for the first three quarters, which then takes us

(40:57):
to Philadelphia. Demonse and I don't know if you saw
the report yesterday that.

Speaker 2 (41:05):
A. J.

Speaker 1 (41:06):
Siriani and Jalen talked for a couple Oh no, no, no,
you know what, You're right. I don't think it was Siriani.
I think it was Jalen. Yeah, that's right, that they
talked for quote a few hours end quote. This is

(41:29):
gonna be one of those things I say that I
know I'm right, but if it gets captioned or aggregated it,
I'm gonna get killed for it, and it's going to
seem unfair. But I know I'm right, and all the
listeners know I'm right. That's too long to talk. You
can't be you can't you can't be talking for a

(41:52):
quote a couple hours. A couple's therapy is fifty five minutes. Like,
that's too long. That is too long to have a
conversation about the first five weeks of your season. It's
just too long. And if it couldn't whatever, you couldn't

(42:14):
come to a resolution on after forty five minutes to
an hour, you weren't gonna have this massive breakthrough in
the in hout and minute ninety eight. I know I'm right.
You know I'm right. Everyone knows I'm right. That's too long.
All right, to the more serious piece of it. Why

(42:36):
can demands they not just have a normal game.

Speaker 2 (42:41):
They're a weird football team. Their team's so weird.

Speaker 1 (42:45):
I give them credit for Listen. I know they lost
this week, but they obviously know how to win games,
and they have a bunch of different ways to beat you.
They've blocked a punt to flip a game, They've blocked
a kick to win a game, Jalen's run to win,
Jalen's throne to win, and like they've I give them
credit for that. But in the last three weeks, they

(43:10):
played a half a football with negative passing yards. They
then played a half of football with zero completions. They
then played half a football demonse that they led for
almost the entirety of and they called two running plays.

(43:32):
They called two running plays. I it feels to me
like the offensive coordinator is on a little bit of
tiltier because I don't.

Speaker 2 (43:46):
Do you think that he gets like flustered with like
how is r receivers are complaining and just doesn't know
how to how to go about it, Like it seems
like they might.

Speaker 1 (43:54):
I don't know. Like we all were saying, try to
work on the passing game some but it didn't mean
that in the game you're winning, Saquon s you'd have
six carries, like it just doesn't make sense they are.
It's these vast, drastic over corrections. And here is the

(44:15):
other the under disgusted but maybe more important story for
the Eagles demons is this. And I think it's a
fair question, but out of respect to the player and
what he's accomplished, I want to ask it quietly, what's

(44:39):
going on with Saquon? Like Saquon has last year, So
let me just give a little context for this. Okay,
last year in he played twenty games for Philly. Last year,

(45:03):
he had one, two, three, four, five, six where he
did not have one hundred yards, and he had four
where he did not have at least eighty yards. His

(45:25):
real quiet games were a win against the Browns in
Week five eighteen for forty seven the Steelers game, which
was right after AJ Brown said we need to, you know,
work on the passing game, and Jalen had a big game.
They won by two touchdowns. He had nineteen for sixty

(45:46):
five the Cowboys game where one of them where he
was fourteen for sixty six but they won by twenty eight,
and the Super Bowl where he's twenty five for fifty seven.
So here's what's noteworthy. His his four quietest games last year.
One of them was a nip and tuck game with
the Browns. The other ones were a blowout against the Cowboys,

(46:09):
a blowout against the Steelers, and a blowout against the Chiefs.
But he had six games where he didn't have one
hundred and only four games where he didn't have eighty.
This year, he has had one hundred zero times, he
has had eighty one time, and he is averaging three

(46:33):
point two yards per carry. He was eighteen for sixty
in the opener, twenty two for eighty eight against the Chiefs,
eighteen for forty six against the Rams, nineteen for forty
three against Tampa, and six for thirty against Denver. And

(46:57):
one of the things that comes to mind on that
is for a guy who has been banged up throughout
his career, when so his rookie year he had three

(47:17):
hundred and fifty regular season touches and then the next
year his production dipped a bit and the following year
he suffered a serious injury. In twenty twenty two, he
had three hundred and fifty regular season touches, and the
next year his production dipped a bit and he missed

(47:40):
a little bit of time. Last year he had three
hundred and fifty regular I'm sorry, three hundred and eighty
five regular season touches plus another seventy. He had like
four hundred and fifty touches last year, and now is
puction is DipEd massively. If Saquon is just not gonna

(48:05):
have it this year, then they do need to work
on the offense significantly. And I think that's a fair concern.
And so I think the Eagles are an excellent team
and that I was most worried about the past defense
after Week one. But Dallas has now thrown the ball

(48:26):
on everybody, and the young players in their secondary have
gotten better. But the angst and here's the other concern.
And by the way, reminder everybody watching like rate, subscribe
review and if you're just tuning in when the show ends,
you can go back and listen to my you know,
crisis about the Chiefs loss yesterday. But subscribe on YouTube

(48:51):
like great review, do all that subscribe on iTunes Spotify.
Two years ago, Demons, they were winning games, but they
were angsty like this. It was always like, yeah, we're winning,
but we're not playing the way we want to play.

(49:12):
They started ten to one that season and then they
had a historic collapse. They were winning a lot of
ugly games, nip and tuck, and there was a lot
of chatter, and then it all unraveled on them. They
lost five of their final six and then basically flat

(49:35):
quit in the playoff game against Tampa. And so that
to me is because there is a little bit of
history as to this team having a good record but
not trusting it fully and then falling apart. It's noteworthy,

(49:58):
and so that I'm not it's no reason to panic
about Philadelphia, but things are not totally copasetic there. And
now they also get a nice little gift before their
bye week where their next three games are Giants Vikings Giants,

(50:22):
so that's nice. And the fact that they have played
they've played a brutal schedule. I think they're the only
team in the league that has played nothing but good
teams Cowboys, Chiefs, Rams, Bucks, Denver, and so you give

(50:42):
them a lot of credit, But it does feel a
little off the.

Speaker 2 (50:49):
Make you nervous at all, though for your Chiefs.

Speaker 1 (50:55):
I'm not worried about the Broncos. I do listen, the
Chiefs losing yesterday, they had become briefly the favorites to
win the AFC West again, and now I would imagine,
in fact, I'm gonna look at that too with our
friends at hard Rock.

Speaker 2 (51:12):
Bet.

Speaker 1 (51:13):
I'm pulling it up right now. The Futures Division winner, the.

Speaker 2 (51:23):
I think Vegas might be.

Speaker 1 (51:25):
I'll find it. It's basically a three way tie. One
seventy five for the Chargers, one seventy five for the Broncos,
one ninety for the Chiefs. So you know they're calling
it a three way coin flip right now, And honestly,
like a fair is fair. That Chiefs lost yesterday is

(51:48):
real damaging in a lot of different ways. All right,
let's go to the next game.

Speaker 2 (51:52):
The comeback story continues for Bake Show. He was down
seven to three minutes left, led a game tying touchdown
drive and his defense came over forced to turnover. You
said that this team is the best team in the NFC,
but they just lost to Philly. How are you feeling
about the Baker.

Speaker 1 (52:07):
Yeah, no, No, Listen, I think that their ability to
They have dealt with a ton of injuries and they're
four and one, and I know they lost to Philly. However,
they even with the head to have lost to Philly,
doesn't their four and one vibes wise feel so much

(52:28):
better than Philly's four and one. Yes, like they feel
they're getting They're gonna get some of their offensive linemen back,
They're gonna get Mike Evans back. Chris Godwin is only
gonna get better coming off the injury they didn't have.
Bucky Irving, Abuka is awesome, The Seahawks are legit, and

(52:49):
Baker walked their asses down too, like and this is
I know sometimes I can do this too much, but
where I talk schedule and stuff and it might be
a better visual thing. But one of the reasons I
believed in Tampa was I said I thought they could

(53:09):
start Demon's a six and five and potentially still get
the one seed at twelve and five. They're now four
and one. Here's the reason I'm pointing this out. Their
final six games, six games more than a third of
the season are Cardinals Saints Falcons on a Thursday at

(53:38):
home Panthers, Dolphins, Panthers, bro. So if they are like,
they're four and one right now. So if you just
look at the Bucks, put their season in little buckets.
This first bucket's done with. They're four and one now.

(53:59):
The lead up two that stretch of football, it's very tough. Niners, Lions, Saints, Patriots, Bills, Rams.
If they can just Niners, Lions, Saints, Patriots, Bills, Rams,
Honest to god, if they go two and four in

(54:27):
that stretch, that would put them at six and five
and still I think be on pace for eleven or
twelve wins if they can go. But right now, two
and four, right they're home for the Niners. They're the
better team. The Saints are not good. They're home for

(54:49):
the Patriots, and while the Patriots are good, they're the
better team. And then you have very tough road games
at the Lions, at the Bills, at the Rams. I
really I think this team can win thirteen games, and
they're only gonna get healthier. So yeah, I mean I
think that right now, Baker Mayfield's the league MVP.

Speaker 2 (55:11):
Oh and he's doing all this with all these injuries. Yeah,
seems like a very good candidate.

Speaker 1 (55:17):
Yeah, Yeah, started the year at thirty five to one.
He's now I think twelve to one. I think that
I think people are the reason he's not higher is
people haven't caught on to the fact that Tampa has
a very decent shot of being the one seed and
Baker with these comebacks, plus if they're the one of
the two seed, I just think he absolutely could win

(55:41):
League MVP. And also right now Abuca is even money
to win Offensive Rookie of the Year, and so yeah,
I really believe in Tampa. A Chiefs Buck super Bowl
was my pick before. It would be very painful for
me to Monsey because I've gotten I've never quite hit

(56:02):
the Super Bowl exacta since we've been doing this show.
I came very close one year, one game away Chiefs Niners.
I then had Chiefs Cowboys. The Cowboys won twelve games
but lost to Jordan Love. I then had Chiefs Bears
and was a disaster. If I hit the long shot

(56:23):
piece of it in the Bucks, but the Chiefs are
the side that lets me down, it'd be devastating. That
would be hard, just devastating, all right, before we get
to some of the other games. Now it's time for
our new segment, College Footballs Walk On Mount Rushmore, presented
by Chad Powers, now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on

(56:45):
Disney Plus for Bundle subscribers. For the next few weeks,
I'll be revealing my Mount Rushmore college Football walk Ons,
paying tribute to the legends who started with no scholarship,
no spotlight, and still carved out unforgettable careers. Last week,
we started off with a no doubter, Baker Mayfield. Perfect segue.

(57:06):
Now we're talking about HM winning league. MVP had to
be on there. This next guy is just as much
of a no doubter, and that is a guy who
has an argument that he has the greatest four year
stretch of defensive football and NFL history. And I was

(57:30):
able to cover that in person. And that is one
JJ Watt. JJ Watt was a scholarship player at Central
Michigan as a tight end. They then wanted to move
him to tackle. He gave up his scholarship to go

(57:51):
to Wisconsin and walk on as a defensive end. He
switched to d end and after a year redshirting. His
first year playing he had sixteen tackles for loss and
four and a half sacks, and the next year was
an All American with seven sacks, a pick, and twenty

(58:14):
one tackles for loss and turning himself into a no
doubt first round pick. He followed that up with again,
what I think is and we talk about Aaron Donald,
and I understand Aaron Donald. His career is absolutely unbelievable.
What JJ Watt did from twenty twelve to twenty fifteen

(58:38):
in the NFL hard to find a higher peak on
bad Texans teams. One of them was good that didn't
have the lead that often. In twenty twelve, he forced
four fumbles, had twenty and a half sacks, and had
thirty nine tackles for loss, again playing three to four

(59:01):
defensive end. The next year ten and a half sacks
and twenty two tackles for loss, the next year, twenty
and a half sacks, twenty nine tackles for loss, and
then seventeen and a half sacks and twenty nine tackles
for loss. In that four year stretch, JJ won three

(59:22):
Defensive Player of the Year awards. Had played sixty four games.
In those games, forced fifteen fumbles recovered ten, had sixty
nine sacks and one hundred and nineteen TFLs so he
averaged over a four year stretch three tackles for a

(59:48):
loss or sack per game, and one of those years
he added I think I'm gonna try to find it. Yeah.
One of those years he also add three touchdown catches.
Twenty fourteen, he was a walk on at Wisconsin. He
and Baker are no doubters on the college football walk

(01:00:12):
on Mount Rushmore. Make sure you check out Chad Powers,
a new episode streaming every Tuesday on Hulu and Hulu
on Disney Plus for Bundle subscribers. All right, demand, let's
get to your sad team.

Speaker 2 (01:00:26):
Yeah, so Matt Ravens got abused this weekend. We obviously
had a backup quarterback in We couldn't get anything going.
Our defense had CJ. Stroud out there thinking he was
young again. Man. But you're saying that we can still
win the division. I don't see it. I gotta say,
I don't know how much the Steelers are gonna slip.

Speaker 1 (01:00:45):
So you making the playoffs, but well, I think the
only way they can make the playoffs is winning this division. Yeah,
because I think that the So they're one and four
and they're bad. They's a bad team right now. And
Lamar is gonna and listen, I thought they could win
that game. Yeah, with that, I certainly didn't think they

(01:01:08):
were just gonna quit and get annihilated. I mean, I
can check. Uh that was uh really disheartening performance and
that's probably couldn't understating it. It was thirty six to
twenty is thirty seven to twenty three, right, Derek Well.

(01:01:32):
Derrick Henry is another guy I'm worried about this year.
Dereck Henry was unbelievable in Week one, has not done
much since then. So you guys would need, obviously the
Steelers to slip up what you have going for you.
Demonse is you let's just assume you lose to the Rams.

(01:01:57):
You then have a bye week, Lamar will be. You
then face an absolute bunch of must wins in a row,
but they're very winnable must wins home for the Bears,
off a bye at Miami on a Thursday at the
Vikings with extra rest at the Browns home for the Jets,

(01:02:19):
home for the Bengals, before you face the Steelers at
home than at the Bengals, and then a very tough
final three games of the year home for the Patriots
at the Packers, at the Steelers. The defense is awful,
just awful. And listen, it's going to take a herculean

(01:02:40):
Lamar performance once he comes back. But I can't because
I don't yet fully believe in Pittsburgh. I can't write
off Baltimore entirely. But they look terrible. And we said
going in of the year, every year there's a team

(01:03:03):
that everyone expects to be excellent as the year from hell.
Last year it was the Niners. The year before that,
it was the Bengals, the year before that it was
the Rams. The Rams are coming off of Super Bowl.
They missed the playoffs. The Bengals were coming off back
to back AFC Championship Game appearances. They missed the playoffs.

(01:03:24):
The Niners were coming off a Super Bowl appearance. They
missed the playoffs. This year, the five teams that would
have qualified for everyone thinks they're going to be good Eagles, Lions, Chiefs,
Bill's Ravens. I understand the Chiefs have had been shaky,
but there it's the Ravens right now. Yeah, and it is. Yes,

(01:03:51):
you know, you guys have just been a bad team. Yeah,
you've just been bad and everyone. Yeah, but the defense
was pretty bad even before the injury started piling up,
which is what concerns me. All right, let's go to
Pats Bills.

Speaker 2 (01:04:12):
Uh yeah, so maybe rollercoaster Josh Allen is back. They
had a few turnovers in that game. Drake may looked amazing,
But looking back on things, Buffalo came close to Baltimore
my Ravens in that one game, and one by a point. Like,
if you look at the teams these guys have played,
they haven't really beaten the best teams. What's going on
with the Bills?

Speaker 1 (01:04:31):
Well, listen, I do think the Bills were a little
over inflated, right. They played Baltimore and had that stirring comeback,
and people looked at that as a huge badge of honor.
I think you now look at it and you're like, man,
why'd you like? Everybody's scoring on Baltimore the and so
that's a little different. They then blew out the Jets,

(01:04:55):
and that was you know, you play a bad team,
you're supposed to blow them out. They did blow him out.
They get credit a ton of credit for that, not
a ton, but credit for that. Then the Dolphins game,
they're tied midway through the fourth. The Saints game, it's
a two point game midway through the fourth and then
they get to just get stone beat by the Pats.

(01:05:17):
He I have two slight concerns for the Bills. One
is more than slight. Actually, I don't think the defense
is very good, and I think the defense is, you know,
slightly below average, and I think that's concerning. The other
thing isn't so much a concern, is an observation. They

(01:05:38):
have changed what they're asking Josh to do. The last
couple of years. They have asked him not to put
the cape on his often, just take care of the ball,
and he's done a great job of doing that until
the last couple of weeks. It is if you are
going to remove the explosives, then it's a prerequisite you

(01:06:05):
don't turn the ball over. Like the Bills have become
kind of a ball control methodical offense, and it's worked
great for them. Back when Josh used to turn the
ball over a lot, they also had to play eighty
yard touchdown drives and so you could offset it a bit.

(01:06:28):
With this style of offense, Demanse, you just can't turn the
ball over and that's what got him in this game.
And so again I think the Bills are going to
be fine, and the Bills.

Speaker 2 (01:06:44):
Well, one of them was. I feel like, I don't
want to say dumb luck. Keon Coleman one can't really
blame on Josh, that's kind of I mean, obviously the pick.

Speaker 1 (01:06:52):
Is on him, but the fumble, what was the Keon
Coleman one?

Speaker 2 (01:06:56):
Well, you passed ke On Coleman. They ended up getting
a fumble.

Speaker 1 (01:07:00):
Oh no, that one's not on Josh at all.

Speaker 2 (01:07:02):
No, no, no, the mistakes.

Speaker 1 (01:07:05):
No, they had three turnovers. Keon Coleman fumbles on Keon Coleman.
The interception was bad, and then they had a missed pitch.
I'm really just talking about the interception. And so listen
at the Falcons is their game Monday night, and then

(01:07:26):
they have a bye and then they play. They're at
the Panthers before their big Chiefs game. So I think
they're fine. But I did not view them before this
game as a juggernaut, and I don't view them currently
as a juggernaut. You want to talk about the Patriots
real quick before we move on.

Speaker 2 (01:07:43):
So the Patriots are minus two hundred to make the playoffs.
Can you name seven better AFC teams?

Speaker 1 (01:07:50):
No? I don't and that was the best win they've
had since Bill Belichick was coaching the team, and so
and Drake May played great and so. Like I said
this on the show yesterday, and I think it's fair
if you're a Patriot fan, I think a realistic ceiling

(01:08:15):
of your season now is you get you're the highest
seeded wild card team, so you're the five seed, and
you go on the road to Pittsburgh in round one
and beat them Like that would be that the Pittsburgh's

(01:08:38):
the lowest ranked, the lowest seeded divisional winner, the Patriots
are the highest seeded, you know, wild card team, and
you go get a playoff win. That would be awesome.
And I think they could do that, like I do.
I think that's in play for them. I picked them
to make the playoffs before the year. Partly was because
the schedule is so soft and and they now and

(01:09:01):
again sorry to do so much schedule stuff today that
it is now absolutely incumbent upon them. They they are
three and two. They must get to six and two.
Their next three demands at Saints, at Titans, home for Browns. Like,
if you are a real team, which you are supposed

(01:09:25):
to be right now, you've got to go take care
of business like that flatly, and I think they can
do it. I think they can get to six and
two and be, you know, a pain in Buffalo's side
all year. Hey, are you thinking about upgrading to the
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(01:09:46):
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(01:10:09):
to the last game we're to spend real time on
before we get to the quick hitters.

Speaker 2 (01:10:13):
So the Chargers have dropped two straight. Now what first?
The Giants? Now it's the Commanders. Those MVP chants for
Herbert have gotten a little quiet. He's now seventh place.
They've obviously got injuries, but you know, as justin Herbert,
you got to throw for these two hundred yards while
being down big as any any other quarterback had more excuses.

Speaker 1 (01:10:34):
Listen is made for them. Yeah, Herbert's not making the excuses,
but his defenders are. And again, he's obviously a good player.
He's obviously a good player, and he's obviously more than
good when it comes out talented, he is. But and
I know that that he's had some bad luck. But

(01:10:57):
he's in year six. Man in year six, and this
is the third straight game. And this is what is
really concerning to me. The Broncos game, Okay, they're up
ten to nothing moments into the second quarter. They then

(01:11:23):
they are sitting on thirteen with three minutes left in
the game. They now, he made that unbelievable play to
that touchdown pass, one of the best plays of the year,
to tie that game. Then they end up winning at
the gun. But the Broncos game, they score ten immediately,

(01:11:45):
then the offense goes quiet until the very end of
the game. The Giants game, they just loose. You know.
They they have ten at halftime, they finished the game
with eighteen points. They have multiple possessions in the fourth quarter,
down three, chance to tie or win, they can't take advantage,

(01:12:08):
and the Commander's game, they have ten points with three
minutes left in the first and they finish with ten points,
like they have really quieted down, and that like if
they were in such a great position being three to
zero in the division, and now all of a sudden

(01:12:33):
they're in a real dog fight with And we've known
this all year about them that they have arguably the
toughest December of any team in the league. December they
do they go Eagles, Chiefs, Cowboys, Texans, Broncos with Chiefs,

(01:12:54):
Cowboys and Broncos being on the road so they need
a margin of error built in. And losing to the
Giants and losing to the Commanders at home the first game,
Jaden's back. When you're up ten, nothing is not great.
And so listen, they looked awesome against the Chiefs, and

(01:13:18):
I give him a ton of credit for that and
they but now all of a sudden you look back
and you're like that the Raiders have been terrible. So
you know, that's what it is. And you know that
was just a whiff by me up to this point.
And the Broncos game that's a really you know, that's

(01:13:38):
a really good win. But the Giants loss is awful
and the Commander's loss was ugly, and Herbert, after starting
the year with those amazing numbers, has fallen right back
down to earth, and the injuries are piling up. Alt
is injured, Mac is still injured. Their rookie running back Hampton,

(01:14:00):
he just got put on the ir So Naji Harris
obviously done for the year. Like, the injuries are really mounting,
and so I I think that there is real concern
with the Chargers, and I think that you're not gonna
be able to blame the coach on this one. Like hardball,

(01:14:22):
everybody thinks he's great. And again, I don't think Herbert's
played terribly or anything. I just you just want a
little more. You just want a little bit more. All right,
what's the follow up here?

Speaker 2 (01:14:33):
So Jayde Daniels obviously just came back beat the charges
coming off that injury. We were just talking about Drake
may Do you think that Jaydon Daniels has some competition
and best quarterback in the class?

Speaker 1 (01:14:44):
Yeah, listen, I still think it's a three way race.
And by the way, Jaden against Caleb Monday night, who's
the third and Jayden Caleb Drake, Oh, Caleb, Yeah, that's what. No,
I think Caleb's still in it. He hasn't. Again, Caleb's
had at this point as good of, if not a better,

(01:15:07):
career than Drake May. Like the Drake May just got
a signature win, you know what I mean. We just
saw Drake May with a signature win in a standalone game.
Caleb might get that this weekend. I mean it's Monday
Night against Jayden. Like, I just think the it wasn't
too early to say CJ was better than Bryce because

(01:15:30):
Bryce was so bad and CJ was so good. But
with and Jayden was so good, no doubt about it.
But Drake and Caleb weren't terrible. They just weren't last
was immediately. Yeah, Jayden had an amazing start to his career,
but the the injuries with I think he's going to

(01:15:51):
be more of an injury risk than the other two
as well, which is a real concern. All right, let's
do the real quick.

Speaker 2 (01:15:58):
All the other games, uh, Thursday night football, we had
Niners defeating the Rams twenty six to twenty three going overtime.

Speaker 1 (01:16:04):
Unbelievable job by Kyle Shanahan and by Mac Jones, and
a brutal loss for the Rams. Just a painful. You
can't lose that game.

Speaker 2 (01:16:16):
Yeah, I mean, listen, hey, they're paying him too much, but.

Speaker 1 (01:16:18):
They're paying him. Yeah, they not paid him, there would
be a real quarterback controversy, but they paid him. And
I think Purty's better than Mac by the way, but
this is one.

Speaker 2 (01:16:28):
Of those things they disagree.

Speaker 1 (01:16:32):
But also I I think people expect me to take
like a I told you so, Victory lap On party
in the Shanahan system and all this stuff. I don't
really need to because it was so clear all along
for anyone without an agenda, that I was right. And

(01:16:55):
it's not that Purty's not good. It's that Kyle Shanahan's system,
particularly once you had Christian McCaffrey, particularly once you had
Christian McCaffrey and all these other weapons, is a great
inflation system for whatever quarterbacks in it, as long as
they have just baseline starting ability. And he can make

(01:17:16):
Jimmy Garoppolo look really good, can make Mac Jones look
really good, and can make Purdy, who's better than both
of those guys, look great, even though Garoppolo is flatly bad.
Mac Jones, prior to his time with the Niners, had
been flatly bad and party. We don't, you know, I
think is fine, but he can like that. It's a

(01:17:38):
Shanahan thing. And credit to the Niners. They've dealt with
all these injuries and they're fine, and they're four and
one and now play a huge game this weekend against Tampa.

Speaker 2 (01:17:48):
Next there are London game this week. Vikings to feeding
the Browns twenty one seventeen.

Speaker 1 (01:17:55):
Uh, yeah, that I watched this whole game. I also
made just a as square of a bet as one
can make. I I the Browns were getting four before kickoff.
At halftime, I bet the Browns laying two and a

(01:18:16):
half because I thought Carson Wentz was out for the game,
and then he wasn't, and then the Vikings won, and
so that was a painful one. We don't need Dylan. Listen,
Dylan Gabriel was fine. Dylan Gabriel was not great. He
was fine and he'll be the start of there for
the foreseeable future.

Speaker 2 (01:18:35):
Next, we got the Cowboys defeating the Jets thirty seven
to twenty two.

Speaker 1 (01:18:40):
Yeah, we said before the year that Dak was gonna
and the Cowboys were gonna have to do their best.
Joe Burrow and the Bengals impersonation from last year, and
it's exactly what they're doing right around five hundred. They
are actually exactly five hundred and two to two and one,
and and they and Dak is putting up an MVP

(01:19:06):
caliber season. If we don't care about the team's record,
just like Joe did last.

Speaker 2 (01:19:10):
Year, next we got the Saints to feed the Giants
twenty six to fourteen.

Speaker 1 (01:19:15):
I have no interest in discussing this game. I guess
Rattler's been fine. Good for him for avoiding going zero
to eleven as a starter. That's a horrible loss for
the Giants. And if you remember, we said that that
line was fishy, that who in the world was betting
the Saints laying points against the Giants team coming off
that win and the Saints control the whole game.

Speaker 2 (01:19:39):
Colts defeat the Raiders forty to six.

Speaker 1 (01:19:42):
All Right, I might have been wrong about the Raiders.
They just have to accept it. Gino's been brutal, the
team's been awful. And here's here is something else that
I was saying Demanse that the Colts after or two
weeks they reminded me of last year's Saints. I want

(01:20:05):
to amend that because I found a way better comp
They are last year's Vikings, the team out of nowhere
with the retread quarter that puts up these crazy numbers,
gets off to a gaudy record in the regular season

(01:20:28):
and then gets clocked in their first playoff games.

Speaker 2 (01:20:34):
Playoff game.

Speaker 1 (01:20:35):
Well, I listen, it won't be the first of his
career because he but yeah, yeah, yes, yeah. I think
the a f C Wild Guard I think whatever the
a f C Wild Guard teams are demons are going
to have a real good chance of beating the a
f C South and a f C North Division winners

(01:20:56):
on the road in the playoffs. So but the rule,
I mean, listen to the Colts. The Colts have played
two legitimate teams and played them both to the wire,
the Broncos, who they won and the Rams who they lost.
And they've played three bad teams and just smoked them all.
So credit to them.

Speaker 2 (01:21:17):
Next, Panthers defeat the Dolphins twenty seven to twenty four.

Speaker 1 (01:21:22):
Man, Mike McDaniels seems so sad. Uh.

Speaker 2 (01:21:26):
Yeah, I saw the oppressor that he did. It seemed
like he said nothing for like thirty seconds. I don't know,
man's trying to get fired.

Speaker 1 (01:21:34):
I don't think he's trying to get fired. But he's
he he's he's on till and it's not great.

Speaker 2 (01:21:44):
Sad to see.

Speaker 1 (01:21:45):
Uh. And and by the way, like Bryce has some
of the worst plays you've ever seen in your life,
and then late in these games rallies a bit. But
like that fumble was just unbelievable. All right, let's go
to the next thame.

Speaker 2 (01:21:57):
Think like the Jackson Dart fumble to feed the Cardinals
twenty two to twenty one.

Speaker 1 (01:22:03):
I turned this game off and went full screen Baker Seahawks,
and I couldn't believe what when I saw.

Speaker 2 (01:22:13):
That touchdown I've ever seen in my life. I don't
think I've ever seen a touchdown scored in that type
of fashion.

Speaker 1 (01:22:18):
Why literally the fumble and then that and then all
of it. Also Jonathan Gannon getting a bit of a
pass for seemingly punching his couple of times. That was crazy.
That was crazy. Also, let me say one other thing
I think he scored.

Speaker 2 (01:22:35):
That was that I thought that one was really close too.

Speaker 1 (01:22:38):
I thought it was way too close to overturn. It
felt like they were that they overturned it, like on principle,
like you shouldn't have been screwing around making an example. Yeah,
I thought that was a Listen, obviously the guy made
a big mistake, but I think he I thought he
scored all.

Speaker 2 (01:22:55):
Right, Last Lives to Feed the Bengals thirty seven to
twenty four.

Speaker 1 (01:23:00):
Yeah, Lions look excellent. The Bengals are cooked the bank.
I mean, the Bengals are just flat cooked. All right,
Let's get to a few listener questions.

Speaker 2 (01:23:11):
If uh waffle says Nick, the Knick's hair will never
be as nice as Trevor's and we're gonna throw away.

Speaker 1 (01:23:18):
Well, no, that's obviously true that. I mean, that's listen.
The guy's got the guy's got glorious hair. There's no
there's no question my nice as Trevers. I'm not going
for it. The producers are trying to do a bit here. Graphically,
they figured out how to do it. They're trying to
put They need me to, like, I think, rotate in

(01:23:39):
my chair. Guys, we're gonna have to save this for
another time. Let's go on to the question.

Speaker 2 (01:23:44):
Curtis asked, if the Lions beat the Chiefs next week,
are they the Super Bowl favorites? I feel like, uh,
it's Lions here due to the lack of any serious
threats in the UNFC.

Speaker 1 (01:23:56):
They might be favorites already. But here's the thing, No,
the Bills are still the favorites the I don't think.
Right now, the NFC looks harder than the AFC. Right now,
it looks like So here's the part. If you're let
me real quick, Josh and Patrick are gonna make the

(01:24:20):
playoffs and look around at the other quarterbacks and they
are going to see old man Aaron Rodgers, Daniel Jones,
Drake may maybe bone knicks my guy, Trevor Right, that's
what they're gonna be looking at. In the NFC, it's

(01:24:41):
gonna be Super Bowl champion, Jalen Hurts, playoff stud, Baker Mayfield,
Matt Stafford, Jared Goff, who's been to a Super Bowl,
Jaden Daniels, who's been to NFC champion. You know what
I mean. It's this has not been how it's been
the last decade. But the projected quarterback field in the

(01:25:02):
NFC is way deeper than the projected quarterback field in
the AFC.

Speaker 2 (01:25:07):
It's like school in the AFC, younger guy, ye new
school AFC, older guys n FC.

Speaker 1 (01:25:14):
Right, which is not how it's been. It's very interesting.
All right.

Speaker 2 (01:25:17):
Next, Danny, as, is Chris Jones having a save my
best effort for the playoff season or is he washed?

Speaker 1 (01:25:25):
He's definitely not washed. But he's got to play better. Listen,
Chris has to play better. And I'm not you know,
last week was special when he went to that funeral,
flew back day of and you know, played in that
Ravens game. Uh. But and he's getting double teamed or

(01:25:45):
triple team to every play. I get that. But he's
got to play better and he's gotta, you know, give
better effort on the final plays. Like that's all fair.
But I believe Chris Jones future first ballot Hall of Famer.
I believe in him. All right. Reminder Life Rate subscribe,
review to the pod. Shout out to our great sponsors,
hard Rock, Bet, Boost Mobile, Chad Powers on Hulu, and

(01:26:07):
of course our friends at Zen. Thank you to Blue Duck,
and thank you to the volume. I will be on
with Colin in about forty five minutes. I will see
you there. What's right,
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Colin Cowherd

Colin Cowherd

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