December 5, 2025 • 59 mins
December has a way of stripping the excuses. We kick off by framing the NFL’s prove-it month, from Bills vs Bengals as Buffalo’s window check to the Steelers’ Tomlin question and Chicago’s identity test at Lambeau. Closer to home, the Jets’ culture looks real while quarterback purgatory lingers, and the Giants juggle a fearless young QB who won’t slide, a blue-chip defender testing team standards, and a GM trying to steer a coaching search while feeling heat himself.
If your fantasy season is on the line, we get surgical: why Caleb Williams is a risky start against Green Bay’s two-high patience test, why Jared Goff indoors is a green light, how James Cook and Chase Brown become weather-proof volume plays, and when to chase Dalton Kincaid over name value elsewhere. Then we build a Week 14 card that embraces ugly: trusting a Miles Garrett takeover in Cleveland, riding a Rams-Cardinals dome over, grabbing Houston with the hook at Arrowhead, and eyeing a classic Jets-plus-points spot in the wind at MetLife.
On the hardwood, the Knicks become a case study in selective honesty. Big wings hunt their weakest links, Brunson’s size and Towns’ wandering defense get spotlighted, and the Giannis watch revives the Melo lesson: don’t overpay early when patience can preserve depth and leverage. If a veteran like Chris Paul is in the mix, it’s as a bench organizer, not a marquee fix. We wrap with baseball’s gathering storm: a CBA collision course that could threaten 2027, an AL East arms race turning rotations into weapons, the Mets building a super pen with Devin Williams, and ex-Yankees talking loud as the Bronx tries to revive its mystique.
From lineup locks to front-office calculus, the thread doesn’t change: patience beats panic, matchups beat narratives, and brand only matters when the product is serious. If you’re riding with us, hit follow, drop a quick review, and share this with the friend who always benches the wrong guy—what’s your boldest Week 14 call?
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
I guess it's only definitely positive.
Tis the season.
(00:20):
You can feel it in the air rightnow.
We've hit that part of thecalendar where everybody is
about to talk themselves intosomething that they can't undo.
Owners, GMs, coaches, fan bases.
This is the season of decisions.
You're either about to overreactor you're about to sit tight and
hope you're not the one leftholding the bay.
(00:43):
You see it all over the NFLright now.
Bill stared at the end of asix-year run with almost nothing
to show, but a couple divisionbanners while the Patriots, who
have 17 of those things, by theway, are suddenly back on top
with Drake May.
The Steelers hanging around at500 while their own legends are
on podcasts, basically writingMike Tomlin's goodbye speech for
him.
(01:03):
The Bears are trying to changethe narrative at Lambo.
And then there's here at home.
The Jets finally winning somegames, but still living in this
quarterback purgatory whereevery Sunday feels like, yeah,
but what's next?
And by the way, I don't needMahomes, man.
I don't.
I'd sign in blood right now forseven years of Chad Pennington
level stability and somemeaningful games in November.
(01:26):
God forbid, maybe December.
The Giants have their guy inJackson Dark, but he refuses to
slide.
And Abdul Carter is gettingbenched again, and Joe Shane is
somehow both on the hot seat andin charge of hiring the next
coach.
That's a decision tree that onlythe Giants could grow.
Fantasy-wise, it's the samething.
(01:46):
You're either gonna bench thewrong dude and hate yourself, or
you're gonna ride your guys tothe promised land.
So we'll touch a couplelandmines, a couple must-starts,
and then we'll roll the dicewith rice.
Last week's Thanksgiving card,this week's full slate, and plus
why the Dolphins Jets is exactlythe kind of game the Jets win
just to ruin their own draftplan.
(02:06):
On the NBA side, the Knicks arethe perfect patience test.
You got Big Cat front runningagainst bad teams and getting
hunted on defense against goodones.
Giannis now hurt and clearlyeyeing the exit in Milwaukee,
and the entire city is justbuttering under their breath.
Don't Carmelo this again.
Then we'll wrap things up withsome baseball.
We've got a whole sporttiptoeing around a potential
(02:29):
labor fight.
The Mets stealing quote unquoteDevin Williams from the Yankees.
Sonny Gray and Devin takinglittle shots at the Bronx.
And the big bad wolf suddenlynot looking so scary anymore.
That's not a talent problem,that's a brand problem.
So that's where we're goingtoday.
Not so much who are you, butmore what do you do now?
(02:49):
Do you stay patient or do youflinch?
This is Rice on the Mics.
Let's get into it.
Here we are.
Let's start where every footballweek really starts.
Figuring out who still wants tomatter in December.
(03:13):
We just came out of a sneaky,huge holiday stretch.
Thanksgiving, Chiefs, Cowboys,and Jerry World.
That felt like a playoff game inNovember.
Mahomes is looking like Mahomesagain, but Dallas shows why it
could be a terrifying succeed toface in January.
Then Black Friday, Bears,Eagles, Chicago walks right into
(03:33):
Philly and basically says, no,no, no, no, no.
We are the team that's going tobe a problem in January.
And the Eagles yet again provethat they can absolutely choke
it away with the best of them.
And then the upset of the week,Rams at Panthers.
Bryce Young, who has been apunchline for a year and a half,
suddenly looks like the numberone pick that he was supposed to
(03:56):
be at home in a big spot.
And the Rams walk out of therewith the how did we lose that
game face?
That's the part of the NFLcalendar we're in right now.
Reputation's flipping week toweek.
And it only gets nastier fromhere because from now until the
playoffs, if you're still in thehunt, every Sunday is basically
(04:18):
a playoff game.
So let's take a look at the week14 board here.
Bengals at Bills is enormous.
This is Buffalo's penance tour.
You had six years to run thisdivision.
You had Josh Allen in hisabsolute prime.
And what do you have to show forit?
A couple of division banners inthe Raptors and a whole lot of
(04:40):
yeah, but Mahomes memes.
Meanwhile, the Patriots have nowcome back to life.
They have 17 of those divisionbanners hanging.
11 in a row for the record, withprobably another one coming this
year.
And now the Bills are staring ata wild card scrap, just trying
not to waste this whole era.
(05:01):
With Burrow back in town, thatBengals team just moves
different when he is undercenter.
That's not the version ofCincinnati you want to run into
this week when you're trying tohold on to the sixth seed in the
AFC.
Colts Jags is the same deal, bythe way, just with more chaos.
Both teams eight and four, bothkind of held together with duct
(05:21):
tape at quarterback.
And Daniel Jones, I cannotbelieve this is a real sentence,
is literally playing with abroken leg.
He's got a fibula fracture.
If you saw that video of himtrying to drop back, you know
that he is not scrambling hisway out of anything.
That's a statue with a helmet.
So this thing might just comedown to who screws up less, who
(05:43):
runs it better, and who gets onebig defensive play in the
fourth.
Steelers Ravens, that's anotherone.
That's not just a for thedivision game.
That's a for the era game.
This isn't just angry callersyelling fire Tomlin on talk
radio anymore.
The talk is getting loud.
(06:03):
If Pittsburgh lets this divisionslip again, if they go through
another season where the recordlooks respectable, but every
real team seems to slap themaround, the Tomlin conversation
gets real, real fast.
You can already feel Steeltowntrying to talk itself into maybe
it's best if both sides move on,or maybe we should try and find
(06:26):
something for you.
Steelers have had three coachesin their franchise history.
If Tomlin got fired or got movedon from, there would be a line
at his door for him to coach anyteam.
But sometimes it really just isabout a change of voice in a
locker room.
Bears Packers sits right therein that same lane, too, by the
(06:48):
way.
Chicago has basically reinventedthemselves on the fly.
Big run game, defense, Calebmanaging the game instead of
being the playmaker.
And now they get the measuringstick game at Lambeau, a place
where they religiously cannotwin.
So are you just the fun storythat ruined Philly's month, or
are you actually a problem inthis conference?
(07:09):
Well, we're gonna find out realquick.
We're gonna find out what thatrevamp Bears line looks like
when a front four led by MicahParsons decides, nah, nah no,
you're not just gonna hand itoff all night.
Locally, though, it always comesback to the Jets and Giants
because both of these franchisesare also in decision season,
(07:30):
just in two totally differentways.
We'll start with the Jets.
The Jets steal one from Atlantawith the walk-off field goal,
and it was just such a Jets win,you know?
Gritty, special teams heavy,defense hanging on, and they're
running back dragging peoplearound in the fourth quarter.
Aaron Glenn keeps talking aboutsmall wins, and he's not wrong.
(07:52):
The culture does look better,which is great.
I mean, they traded guys thatweren't bought in away, and the
guys that stayed are the guysthat are bought in.
That's what you want.
You want one locker, one band,one sound, right?
The special teams unit is legit,too, by the way.
I feel like I'm watching MikeWest off coach again.
They hang around in almost everygame now instead of getting
(08:14):
blown off the field, and theirpoints per game as a defense has
actually gone down after tradingtwo of their best pieces away.
But the problem is I keep comingback to the same thing with the
Jets.
The same problem that's plaguedthis franchise for 30 years, 40
years.
I need a Jets quarterback whoactually scares a defense,
(08:38):
strikes a little fear in theother team's defensive
coordinator during the week.
I mean, they get the huge kickreturn, and my Jets brain
immediately goes, Alright, cool,we're gonna tie this game.
Because you know they'resettling for three.
You know they're not gonna beable to punch it in.
And look, I get where thisleague is going.
I see all these space ageoffenses, and then look, that
(09:01):
would be great.
That is the ultimate goal,right?
To find and develop an AaronRodgers or a Mahomes or whoever.
But I would literally settle forChad Pennington or Ken O'Brien
or Boomer Asiason for the nextseven years.
Just give me competence, give mestability and some normalcy.
(09:24):
Give me someone who lets youplay somewhat meaningful Jets
football in November and Godforbid December instead of every
single season being over beforeHalloween.
I'm tired of it.
Please.
Can we be five and five at theten at the benchmark?
And that's the choice that'sstaring them in the face this
(09:46):
offseason.
Are you finally going to pick along-term answer and live with
the ups and downs and get itright?
Or are we just going to continueto do the band-aid thing again
and again, hoping for the bestfor retreads from other teams?
And the funny part is the guysaround the quarterback are
actually starting to look likepieces.
(10:06):
I mean, Brees Hall complainedabout not being traded, right?
But week in and week out, he'sputting serious effort in
between the tackles.
Yes, it is a contract year forhim, but he could have easily
said, Oh, you know, I don't wantto get hurt.
And Adedai Mitchell is anotherperfect example of that.
Second year guy.
He comes over in the saucegardener training as what was
thought to be like a throw-in.
(10:28):
And he could have sulked.
He could have said, Man, I gottraded from an 8-14 to a 3-9
team.
But instead, he's turned himselfinto a real weapon.
Eight catches, 100 plus yards,confidence to the roof.
That's not an accident.
That's a guy taking a secondchance and squeezing it.
That's culture.
That's buy-in.
(10:48):
Him and Mechie and GarrettWilson when he comes back.
The Jets will have some decentweapons at receiver for whoever
is going to be under sendermoving forward.
And then this week, Dolphins atJets.
Division game, blood in thesand.
I'm not going to go too deep onit right now because we'll
circle back with the rollingwith the dice segment.
(11:09):
But I'll just say this.
Tua in cold, windy Met Life witha Jets defense that is hunting
for some turnovers that theyhaven't really had all year.
This has like a way too early2026 hype video written all
over, I kind of feel.
On the other side of town, theGiants are the Giants are in a
(11:33):
completely different kind ofidentity crisis, right?
That Monday night game in NewEngland was a mess to say the
least.
Defense and special teams gotburied in the first half.
It's Dart's first game back, andMike Vrabel coached circles
around Kafka.
33-15 on national television.
It looked bad.
(12:02):
Look, it was a huge shot.
It looked violent as hellbecause Jackson left his feet,
but it was a totally legalfootball hit.
He's inbounds.
He's trying to squeeze a coupleextra yards off the sideline,
and he gets absolutelydecleated.
And the crazy part, Dart comesout after the game at the podium
(12:22):
and he says, Yeah, that'sfootball.
I've played like this my wholelife.
We're not playing soccer.
It's very Pete Rose talkingabout his batting stance.
If you don't know the video I'mtalking about, there's a video
with Pete Rose on MLB Networkwith A-Rod and Frank Thomas and
Ortiz and teaching these youngBucks something about hitting.
(12:44):
Meanwhile, all three of themhave about 400 plus home runs at
least.
And he says, look, don't changeyour stance.
Your stance is what got you tothe big leagues.
That's Pete Rose.
Okay?
That's the hit king.
I'll take advice from him anyday of the week.
So for Dart, it's kind of thatsame thing.
It's don't change yourregression.
That's what got you here in thefirst place.
That's what got you to beselected in the first round.
(13:06):
And I get it, I do.
But at a certain point, man,this isn't running over SEC
corners anymore.
These are NFL linebackers insafety that get paid to put the
hurt on you.
You got four concussion checksin eight games.
You've already missed some time,and now the whole building is
basically yelling, slide duringpractice.
(13:30):
So the Dart dilemma is real.
I mean, how do you protect yourfuture without turning him into
something that he's not?
That's not a Jackson question.
That's an organizationalquestion.
Are you willing to call fewerdesign runs?
Are you willing to live withpunting instead of letting him
go full kamikaze for three extrayards in the first quarter?
I mean, he's literally 22 yearsold.
(13:52):
Think about how hard your headwas at 22.
So I get it.
But someone, either in thisorganization now or someone to
bring in, you have to bringsomebody in.
Someone has to be able to getthrough to him.
Otherwise, his career can gofrom a promising young star to
(14:13):
what could have been real quick.
Then to make matters worse,you've got Abdul Carter, who's
supposed to be one of thecornerstones on defense, and
everyone said you could put thegold jacket on him right now as
soon as he was drafted.
He even had the stones to ask ifhe could wear Lawrence Taylor's
number.
Yeah, well, he got benched againin primetime for being late to a
(14:33):
team meeting again.
Look, one time is a mistake.
Two times in three weeks, that'sa pattern.
To his credit, he owned it.
I let my team down.
They scored 17 while I wassitting.
Yeah, but you said that lasttime too, man.
And the vets are trying to keephim in line.
Dex is saying that uh staying onthe young guys.
(14:56):
Brian Burns thinks it gotthrough this time.
You can't preach new culture andaccountability and adults in a
room while your number threeoverall pick is missing meetings
because he overslept.
And over all of that is JoeShane.
Look, the rule is always thatleadership trickles down,
whether it be good or bad.
(15:18):
Well, now on the bye week, he'sdoing the media car wash saying
two and eleven is not goodenough.
That's on me, we gotta bebetter.
But also, I'm gonna be runningthe coaching search.
That's where Giant fansabsolutely have the right to
squint a little.
If your own seat might get hotin a year, are you really the
(15:42):
best person to pick the nextleader?
Are you going to hire the guywho might demand real power, who
might come in with his ownideas, maybe even knows more
ball than you, and couldultimately be the reason that
ownership looks at you and goes,Yeah, I think we need to upgrade
at GM too.
I mean, that's a real humanconflict of interest.
It's one thing to say, we'regonna do what's best for the
(16:07):
organization.
It's another thing to sit in aroom across from a guy like a
Mike Tomlin type and realize,oh, wait, this guy could outlast
me here.
And that's the fork in the roadfor the Giants right now.
So are you finally going tochoose grown-up stability and
let a strong coach reset thisthing?
(16:27):
Or are you just gonna keeptrying to thread the needle
between control and competenceand hope for the best?
That's where we are in the NFLright now.
Every game feels like a playoffgame.
And every front office meetingfeels like a job internet.
Bills, Steelers, Bears, Colts,Jags, Jets, Giants.
(16:48):
Everybody's being forced todecide who they actually want to
be for the next five years.
And speaking of decisions, well,you've got some to make too.
Fantasy playoffs are pretty muchhere.
Uh, the betting cards are lockedand loaded.
So after the break, we're gonnaget into who you shouldn't trust
in your fantasy lineup and who Iam gonna be trusting with my
(17:10):
money in the rolling the dicewith rice segment.
Keep it right here.
So, you know how we've beentalking all episode about
December being that prove itmonth?
(17:31):
Well, it applies to fantasy morethan anything.
This is the week where you findout if your regular season
darlings were real pieces orjust some pretty little lies
your phone told you in October.
So let's do this in two phases.
First, a couple lineup landminesand some green lights for your
playoff push.
(17:52):
And then we'll roll right intothe week 14 rolling the dice
with rice card.
So, fantasy playoffs, who do youactually trust?
Well, at quarterback, the onethat scares me the most this
week is Caleb Williams againstGreen Bay.
Look, on paper, it feels insaneto sit him in the fantasy
(18:14):
playoffs slash playoff push.
Big name, Bears are hot,division game, all that jazz.
But look under the hood.
Chicago has turned into a runfirst bully, and his accuracy
has dipped.
Plus, Green Bay's past defensehas quietly been really stingy
(18:34):
the last month.
They're living in that too highsafety world that forces you to
be patient, and right now theBears' best version of
themselves is a 30 carries, somequarterback keepers, and
defense.
If you've got another legit QB1option, I don't exactly hate the
idea of putting Caleb on thebench for one week and not
(18:58):
letting your season die onriding vibes.
On the other side of it though,a name that I really do like
this year that has been livingin the middle pack of
quarterbacks, Jared Goff in thedome against Dallas.
I'm in.
Look, the Cowboys are basicallya cheat code matchup for
(19:20):
quarterbacks right now.
They've tightened up against therun, which just funnels volume
to the passing game.
And they're giving up chunkplays all over the yard.
Even if Amon Ra can't go, Goffat home in a must-have December
game against a secondary that'sbeen cooked so often, that's
exactly the kind of spot whereyou plug your nose, live with
(19:43):
the occasional weird golf throw,and trust the matchup.
That Cowboys defense, eventhough it's been tightened up a
little bit, the secondary isstill terrible.
Running backs, there's a coupleof big old check your heart
spots here.
Javante Williams againstDetroit, I get why people want
(20:04):
to auto start him.
Draft Capital, season-longproduction, the workload has
been there.
But this is a tough draw thisweek.
The Lions are a brick wallagainst the run.
They've given up basicallynothing to Backs for the last
two months.
And this sets up as one of thosegames where Dallas has to throw
to keep up to avoid the front.
(20:26):
So if you've got him and you'rethin, sure.
Play him, he'll do okay.
But you can roll him out andhope for a goal line plunge.
If you're sitting on a similartier guy in that softer matchup,
I'm not exactly married tostarting Javante just because he
got me here.
Two running backs that Iabsolutely love, and they're
(20:48):
both in the same game.
Bangles, Bills.
Chase Brown has finally turnedinto this quietly terrifying
volume monster he was supposedto be all season.
He's got six straighthundred-yard games, and that's
without a ton of touchdowns.
Now he gets a Bills defensethat's been leaking rushing
(21:09):
yards and scores to backs.
You give me a hot runner withBurrow back under center and a
defense I can't really tackle,I'm in.
And then James Cook on the otherside of the field might be in
the best spot of any back thisweek.
The Bengals run defense is aturnstile.
They've given up the most yards,the most big games, and they
(21:31):
can't cover backs in the passinggame.
Buffalo just fed Cook 30 carrieslast game.
They clearly have decided, yeah,this is our guy.
So in a must-win for Buffalo,with the weather potentially
being gross, I expect both teamsto lean on their backs.
So if you have either Brown orCook, you're overthinking it.
(21:52):
You're doing too much.
Start them both.
Couple quick ones at wideout.
Xavier Worthy versus Houston.
I get the temptation.
He's fun, he's electric, he'sattached to Mahomes.
But once Rasheed Rice came back,the the volume and the upside
just haven't really matched thename.
And the Texans defense is notthe group that you want to test
(22:15):
that against.
They've been nails againstoutside receivers.
So if you're in a deep leagueand you need a swing, fine.
But if you're staring at thelineup Sunday morning thinking,
well, he could pop off, that'sexactly how people end up
texting the group chat.
I can't believe that I startedhim.
(22:37):
As for someone that I do love,Zay Flowers against Pittsburgh
is the classic don't let lastweek scare you off.
He has been frustrating, yes.
He has put up some duds, yes.
But the Steelers give up targetsafter targets after targets.
They give up yards, they give upreceptions to wide receivers,
(22:59):
like it's their job.
They might not be giving up aton of touchdowns, but in PPR,
this is exactly the kind of gamewhere eight for eighty just
falls into his lap.
If you've been wavering on Zayas of late, this might be the
week that I'm I'm willing toback it up for.
As for tight ends, DallasGoddard has hit that name bigger
(23:19):
than the fantasy output zone thelast month, and I'm treating him
that way this week too.
The volume isn't there, thetouchdowns have dried up, and
the matchup is meh.
I don't know.
If you got uh if you got aDalton Kincaid type against
Cincinnati, I'd rather kind ofplay that matchup than than the
name.
The Bengals have beenhilariously bad against tight
(23:41):
ends.
The Bengals defense has justbeen hilariously bad.
90 plus yards and basically atouchdown a week to that
position.
So if Kincaid's active, that'sthe one I'm willing to chase.
In December, you either leaninto your structural advantages,
elite matchups and elite usage,or you get bounced and you go
home.
Big picture with your fantasyroster this week, don't get
cute.
(24:01):
Don't cling to ghosts.
If the matchup's screaming atyou and the usage is broken, I
don't care what round youdrafted the guy in.
And on the other side, if thematchup is a layup and the role
is locked in, I don't care thathe's a not brand name.
December is where we stoppretending and we start playing
(24:22):
who's actually helping us win.
And speaking of pretending,you're responsible with money,
that is, let's roll the dice.
Last week's Thanksgiving cardtreated us pretty nicely.
We went two and one.
The Lions minus two and a halfwas the one that blew up the
turkey leg, but both dogs,Cowboys and Bengals, not only
covered, they won outright.
(24:43):
So the lesson there, even inquote, public holiday games, the
underdogs still have teeth ifthe matchup and the numbers are
right.
So this week's card is a littledifferent.
We got three games and then onelocal game with the Jets.
And the through line isbasically how much ugly are you
(25:05):
willing to stomach in December?
So let's get right into it.
Game one, Titans at Browns.
Battle for the number oneoverall pick.
Let's start with the Siccos.
Titans might as well be on aseparate streaming service
called You Either Live Here orYou Bet It.
This is one of those classicallygross Cleveland games, cold,
(25:27):
probably windy, two offensesthat can't really protect the
quarterback, and one absolutealien on defense in Miles
Garrett, who's chasing the sackrecord.
Tennessee season is already adraft conversation.
It's done and over.
Cleveland at least has somedefensive pride left and a pass
rush that can take the gameover.
(25:49):
I'm laying it with the Brownshere.
Under a field goal, I'll takeCleveland minus two and a half.
And if you can buy it down off athree, even better, you're
basically betting that MilesGarrett destroys whatever the
Titans are calling an offensiveline these days, and that
Cleveland can stumble into 15-20points.
It's not pretty, but again,December pretty doesn't always
(26:12):
pay.
Next up, game two Rams atCardinals.
The total is sitting at 48.5,and I like the over this week.
The Rams have been a juggernautwhen they're in rhythm.
McVay has got that thinghumming.
They scheme guys open.
And even when they stall, theytend to move the ball between
the 20s.
(26:33):
Arizona, meanwhile, is one ofthose frisky bad teams.
They got some weapons, they'rein a dome, and they take just
enough shots to drag you into atrack meet.
So it feels like one of thoseclassic NFC West games where all
of a sudden you look up halfwaythrough the third and it's
27-20, and both coaches arestill dialing scripted stuff.
(26:55):
You're just sweating red zoneexecution.
I'll take the over, 48 and ahalf here.
I trust both offenses more thanI trust either defense to get
stops for four quarters in acontrolled environment.
Game three, Houston at KansasCity.
And yes, we are actually sayinghuge game for the Chiefs if they
(27:17):
plan on staying in the playoffpicture.
What a sentence.
Here's the thing Houston'sdefensive line is real.
They get after you, they hit,they hit you hard, they can win
up front without blitzing.
And Mahomes this year has had tolive in that hero ball on every
snap world because the marginfor them is smaller.
(27:39):
Look, Arrowhead is a differentanimal, always.
But if you give me a live dogwith a legit front four and more
than a field goal, I'm gonnalisten.
So I like Houston plus three anda half here.
If they keep it clean, no backbreaking turnovers, no special
team meltdowns, they canabsolutely hang in this game.
(28:02):
You're not really betting thatthe Texans are better than
Mahomes and the Chiefs.
You're betting this is aone-score game in the fourth
quarter, and the hook goes along way.
And then the locals.
Giants are on a bye, so it'sjust Jets Dolphins this week,
and this is such a Jets spot.
(28:25):
It's disgusting.
This is 100% the kind of gamethey win outright when they
probably shouldn't.
Just enough to screw up theirown future.
You can see the scripts already.
Jets, after the trade deadline,fire sale in an 0-7 start.
They go on a little late seasonmini run, finish 6-11th, they
(28:46):
pick 8-9-10, and they somehowtalk themselves into the fourth
best quarterback on the board.
On the field, it makes sense.
Tua in a cold, windy MetLifeagainst a hungry Jets defense is
not exactly his happy place.
That defensive line is stillnasty.
They are due for a big turnovergame.
(29:09):
They are the lowest in turnoversfor the season.
You give them a couple shortfields, and suddenly the offense
doesn't have to be a fireworkshow.
It just has to be competentenough, which is what Tyrod can
do.
So I'm gonna take the Jets plusthe points.
And I do think that there isactually a very real chance that
(29:30):
they win this game outright.
This absolutely feels like oneof those 2017 how are we still
alive with this quarterback roomgames that buys everybody in
Foreign Park another offseasonof if we can just clean a couple
things up, we might be alright.
And again, it fits the theme ofthe week.
(29:52):
December is where you find outwho you can actually trust with
your money and your lineups.
Some teams are built to travelin bad weather and ugly scripts.
Some guys are built to get youfantasy points when the windows
get tighter and the games getreal.
The trick is being honest aboutwhich is which before you click
submit lineup or place bet.
(30:12):
Fantasy playoffs, card is in,theme is set.
Next up, we'll swing over to theNBA side.
Nick's Gianna's drama, cattherapy session.
We'll keep this no more maybesthing rolling along.
Keep it right here.
(30:46):
Since we are already in theDecember tells the truth kind of
mood today, let's talk about ateam that keeps trying to lie to
itself day after day, and thatwould be the New York Knicks.
Because the back-to-back thisweek was basically a perfect
little case study in who theyare and who they are not.
(31:08):
You go up to Boston, rematch ofthe playoff series, big boy
game, statement spot, and youget the full Jalen Brown
tutorial.
Four points in the firstquarter, 42 by the time the
night is over.
And it wasn't complicated.
He just went hunting.
He hunted Brunson, he huntedTowns, he hunted Kolek over and
(31:35):
over and over again.
Where's the smallest guy?
Where's the slowest guy?
Cool, get me that switch.
And the Knicks just kind of lethim.
No real adjustment, no, we'renot giving you this matchup
anymore.
No make somebody else beat us.
Just ISO after ISO after ISO.
(31:58):
And Jalen gets to have his don'tforget, I'm a max player night.
And the part is the part thatthe part that fries your brain
the most, everybody in theleague knows the scouting report
for Jalen Brown.
His biggest criticism for yearshas been that he can't really go
(32:20):
left.
It's the most basic thing thatpeople bring up about him.
And yet he still walked into 42,controlled the game, and closed
it out.
If a guy that everybody saysjust send him to the left drops
about 40 plus on your head,that's not a Jalen went off
(32:40):
tonight kind of thing.
That's a you thing.
And you see the pattern here,right?
Last year it was Halliburtoncarving him up, and then it was
Tatum getting to his spots.
Even in the win against theHornets, they let LaMelo put up
34.
Any good guard or big wing thatcan handle a little bit, take
(33:03):
control of the game, have a goodshot.
You can almost pencil them infor 30 and got whatever he felt
like in the recap.
That's not bad luck.
That's not running into a guyhaving a good night.
That's structural.
Then flip it to the very nextnight.
Back home, Hornets in thegarden, and suddenly the Knicks
(33:25):
look like the Globetrottersagain.
Kat drops 35 and 18.
Brunson cooks in the secondhalf.
Hart is stuffing the box score.
Everybody's smiling.
The ball's popping.
MSG's loud.
The organ is screaming.
And they're 11-1 at home.
And you go, yeah, yep, I knowthis movie too.
That's great.
(33:46):
But this is Kat in a nutshell.
This is his whole thing in anutshell.
He will kill bad teams.
He will absolutely stat pad onsoft matchups.
Hornets roll in with a defensemade of tissue paper, and he
looks like prime dirk.
And yes, that is what you'resupposed to do to bad teams.
I'm not saying don't eat.
(34:07):
I'm not saying go get yours.
But when all of your biggestnights are against the
Charlotte's of the world, andthe minute it's Boston or a
locked-in playoff defense, youeither disappoint or you're the
biggest problem on the floor.
That's where the frustrationcomes from.
The core issue is defense andconstruction.
(34:32):
You can survive one minusdefender in a playoff rotation.
You can even fake your waythrough two meh guys if the
other three are dogs, whichMitch, Bridges, and OG, and Josh
Hart are, by the way.
But you cannot build your entireoffense around two guys who,
(34:53):
when on the floor together, arepick and pop targets on the
other end.
Brunson gives you effort.
He'll step in, he takes charges,he'll put his body on the line.
That's not the problem.
The effort is always there.
The problem is physics.
Against long, twitchy guards, hejust doesn't, he doesn't have
(35:14):
the length to bother them.
The effort isn't in question.
Unfortunately, it's just plainand simple geometry.
It's I'm bigger than you, so Ican find the angle I need to get
a bucket.
But Towns, man, Towns justdoesn't know where to be half
(35:35):
the time.
He doesn't communicate onswitches.
He lumbers back in transition,which I could forgive if he
followed his shot, but that'snot the case.
He doesn't anchor anything.
You can see the other four guysconstantly trying to have to
cover for him, which then leadsto an extra pass and leads to a
splash dagger three all thetime.
(35:59):
You can have one guy like thatif he's giving you 30 and 15 on
the other end every singlenight.
But that's not the case againstthe real teams.
When it's him and your pointguard being hunted in every big
spot, now you're asking theother three players to play
whack-a-mole on defense.
Every single possession.
(36:21):
That's not sustainable, and it'sreally not fair to the brothers
that are on your team.
And all of that lives under thisbigger, looming question that's
hanging over this franchise'shead right now.
What do you do if Giannis reallyis in play?
Because here's the realityGiannis wants out eventually.
(36:43):
The Knicks want him, and hewants the Knicks.
The Lillard experiment did notwork, and he has always said
from day one that he wants toplay somewhere he can win
championships plural.
This has been a thing for twoseasons, and now the noise is
starting to get really loud.
The Bucs are spiraling.
He is openly evaluating hisfuture.
(37:06):
Doc Rivers is saying he's neverasked for a trade.
Yeah, well, his agent sure did.
And then just when you thinkanother NBA superstar is about
to force his way out of hiscurrent team and out of his
situation, as if on cue by thebasketball gods, he takes a
bump, he grabs at the calf, andhe's out two to four weeks.
Look, I'm not saying the injuryis some conspiracy.
(37:29):
I'm just saying that the timingis very loud.
Okay.
The vibes in Milwaukee arecooked.
The front office knows that oneway or another, they are going
to lose him.
Whether it be at the Februarytrade deadline or during the
offseason next year, Gianniswill not be a buck come the
start of 2016 season.
(37:50):
And this is where the Knickshave to decide if they're
actually if they've actuallylearned anything from their own
history.
Because it's starting to feelvery Carmelo adjacent.
Back then, everybody knew Mellowanted New York.
He wanted the garden.
He wanted the stage, the samestage that Giannis wants now.
(38:12):
And instead of waiting, becausehe was a free agent, instead of
playing it cool, they panicked.
Or should I say, Dolan panicked.
They emptied the clip.
They moved every young player,every pick, they gutted the
depth, and by the time Mello gotthere, they had traded away half
the stuff that they would havemade his life a lot easier.
Now there were extra layers backthen.
(38:34):
There was a looming lockout, theweird contract rules that might
have came in.
So there was a little morepressure to get it done early.
But that is not the case thistime.
There is no lockout clockticking.
There is no sign before therules change.
If anything, patience actuallygives you leverage here.
(38:56):
Best case scenario for theKnicks, you keep your powder
dry.
You try to stack some pickssomewhere.
Maybe you get some competentrole guys.
You wait for the moment whereMilwaukee just has to pick
between losing Giannis fornothing or taking the best
possible package.
And you want to be that teamwith a clean cap sheet.
(39:19):
You want that third team willingto jump in on the trade to help
compensate picks.
And you also still want to havesome real players left on the
roster so you don't look like aG-League outfit the second that
the trade goes through.
Now the risk, obviously, is thatif you wait too long, Giannis
might just say, I'm sick of itin Milwaukee and I don't care
(39:42):
anymore.
Get me out of here.
And then they turn into thefavorite to land him to yet
another missed opportunity thatgoes down to Nick Lore, like
Donovan Mitchell.
That's the game here.
There is no way to completely derisk the situation.
But if you panic and overpay,you might end up looking at a
(40:04):
roster of Giannis and Brunsonand a bunch of vet minimums or
some wow, he's still in theleague, guys.
And as a Knicks fan for a longtime, we've seen that movie
before.
We don't want to go back there.
You can win a championship withGiannis and Brunson.
But don't put yourself in asituation where you
(40:25):
unnecessarily overpay for asuperstar player when you
already have one in Brunson.
To me, December is not trade forGiannis month.
It's make sure Giannis stillwants to be here month.
So that means Kat cannot be outhere looking like an empty
(40:48):
calorie stat every time thelights get bright.
That means you have to keepwinning at home.
You keep looking like a realserious operation.
A team that players want to playfor, a team that players want to
make the garden in their home,not just a come two twice a year
and drop 40 on us.
(41:08):
And this injury actually comesat a perfect time because with
the rumors swirling again andgetting super loud, you don't
you don't exactly want guys inthe locker room looking around
asking, do you think they'lltrade me?
Do you think I'm on the block?
You want everyone focused on onegoal together as a unit.
You want them stacking as manywins as you can and putting
(41:31):
yourself in the best positpossible position to succeed.
So if you're practicing somepatience here and not buying
into it right away, well, what'swhat's the move?
What's the move?
What do you do while you'rewaiting?
Well, this is kind of where theChris Paul thing gets a little
(41:54):
interesting.
So if you haven't heard ChrisPaul, this is gonna be his last
year, he's 40 years old, healready announced his
retirement, playing with theClippers, where he, you know,
his his jersey will probably goin the Raptors for the Clippers.
Well, he's been dismissed bythem.
Uh for what I can only assume isactually holding guys
(42:17):
accountable, and they didn'twant to hear all that, so so
much so is that he like him andTyloo, his coach, weren't
talking.
Uh look, I don't think CP3changes your ceiling at this
stage.
It doesn't exactly scream 30 and10 a night, save your material.
But as a plan B, as a one-yearvets minimum, grown up off the
(42:40):
bench, someone to keep thesecond unit organized while
Brunson gets a blow, someone whois built almost exactly like
Brunson, a top five all-timepoint guard in his own right.
I mean, you could do worse.
You're seeing in LA that likewhen what happens when
leadership just doesn't fit theroom.
(43:00):
Paul holds everybody accountableloudly, and that clearly rubs
some people the wrong way.
So the Clippers decided they'drather move on than deal with
that friction.
The Knicks, if they do bring ina star like Giannis on the road,
they need to make sure that thevoices in the locker room are
all aligned.
So if you did bring in a CP typeon a cheap deal, it'd have to be
(43:24):
with everyone on the same pageabout how he is now.
A floor organizer, a teacher, amentor, not the guy whose name
is on the marquee anymore.
So for this week, if I'm theKnicks, I'm looking in the
mirror and I'm asking the samequestion that we've been asking
all episode.
Who are you when it's not theHornets on a Wednesday?
(43:46):
Who are we when it's Boston orthe Nuggets or Detroit or the
Thunder?
If if the honest answer is a funregular season team with two
defensive targets at the centerof our offense, then you know
what you have to do to fixbefore you can start claiming
that you're the team to be inthe East.
(44:08):
But if the answer shifts, if thedefense tightens, if Kat has a
real night against a realopponent, if Brunson and Bridges
start making life miserable forsomebody else's star, now we're
talking about a foundationplayers like Giannis actually
want to be a part of.
And when that day finally comes,those Ante Tacumpo jerseys in
(44:31):
blue and orange are going to beeverywhere in this city.
But you only get there if you'rehonest about what you are right
now, not what you wish you were.
Okay.
Alright, alright, alright.
I'm done.
MBA therapy session is over.
Let's catch our breath.
(44:52):
Then we'll slide over to the MOBside.
We got a looming labor war, theAL arms race, and why the big
bad Yankees don't feel so scaredto anybody anymore.
Baseball up against nothing saysbaseball like a 30-degree
(45:25):
December night, right?
Well, while the NFL is havingits stretch run uh melodrama,
and the NBA is leakingstorylines every 12 hours of who
wants to go where, the MLB islow-key setting up for a pretty
wild couple of years.
And I'll start with the partthat nobody wants to hear about,
(45:48):
but everybody's gonna feel it ifit goes sideways, and that would
be the labor stuff.
Look, I know, I know, nothingempties a room faster than a
collective bargaining agreement,but this is the thing that's
gonna decide whether we havebaseball in 2027 or we're
sitting around in March watchinggrainy spring training clips
(46:10):
from 2019, like it's a Zappruderfilm.
For my younger audience, theZapruder film is the JFK film.
And if you're still lost fromthere, well then I can't help
you anymore.
So here's the short version ofit.
So don't fall asleep on me, I'llgive you the cliff notes.
The current CBA expires December1st, 2026.
(46:32):
Owners are making a lot of noiseabout a hard salary cap, and the
players are basically treatingthat like a slur.
Okay.
You got Rob Manford and DanHalum on one side, and you got
Tony Clark and Bruce Meyer onthe other.
And there's already a federalinvestigation hanging over the
players' union finances.
(46:55):
So you got owners who have beencrying poor because local TV
money is evaporating.
You got small market teamsjealous of the Dodgers and the
Mets spending like crazy.
And you got a union that refusesto be the group that finally
gives in on a cap after fightingit for decades.
(47:15):
So, long of the short, if you'relooking for a pretty little
handshake deal, it's not gonnahappen.
This is not it.
So, what does this mean for us?
What does this mean for theconsumers, the diehard, the fans
of baseball?
Well, it means that 2026-2027has real serious lockout
potential.
(47:36):
And it means some teams, likethe Cubs, for example, are
already lining up contracts toexpire right when that CBA hits.
So they they can flip towhatever the new world looks
like with clean books.
Good for them.
But it also means the nextcouple winters are going to be
weird.
It means some teams are pushingall their chips in before the
(47:57):
rules change, and some teams arejust sitting on their hands
waiting to see where the dustsettles.
So, yeah, look, I know nobodywants to hear about luxury tax
thresholds and revenue sharingformulas, but long of the short,
if you like free agency, if youlike trade deadline chaos, if
you like knowing your team willactually take the field in April
(48:20):
2027, this is the fight thatdecides all of it.
Okay, that's the that's yourvegetables.
That's the stuff that's hard toswallow.
That's the stuff you don't wantto eat.
So now let's get to the funpart.
The spending spree and thedrama, right?
That's what we're here for.
We're here for the hot tea.
(48:41):
Because while the lawyers aredrawing lines on the board, the
Mets and the rest of the AL Eastare just lighting money on fire
like it's 2010.
We're gonna start in Queens,Devin Williams to the Mets,
three years, 51 million, and hehops on Instagram to fire a
little parting shot at theYankee fans on the way out.
(49:03):
Says, quote, for a bunch ofpeople that didn't want me back,
y'all sure are mad in the DMs.
End quote.
That is so perfectly Mets andYankees at the same time.
The Yankees rent this dude for ayear.
He has the worst ERA of hiscareer, melts down early, loses
(49:24):
the ninth inning job, stillshoves in the underlying
numbers, and then the Mets arego, okay, cool, yeah, we'll take
that.
Oh, and while you're at it, gotell the Bronx to piss off while
you're on the way across town.
From the Mets side, I I actuallylove this.
If, and this is a big, huge ifif it's Devin Williams and Edwin
(49:54):
Diaz.
This cannot be some actuallyDevin's our closer now.
Who's Edwin?
Nonsense.
Don't gas on me.
Don't give me that BS.
The dream is a true super pen,right?
And if David Stearns doesn'twant to pay starting pitching,
fine.
But then six, seven, eight, nineguys better be elite, elite,
(50:15):
elite, elite.
Okay?
The Diaz trumpets in the ninthand the airbender in the eighth.
Now you're shortening playoffgames to six innings.
You can tell Stearns is kind ofgoing back to his comfort zone
with this a little bit too.
This is his Milwaukee guy, whenDevin is right, he is one of
those good luck if we're aheadafter seven kind of guys.
(50:40):
The peripherals last year, eventhough didn't really look it,
and there's a lot of media, hestill was an elite reliever.
So I get the bet on him.
But if they whiff, if they loseout on Diaz and they try to sell
this as, well, we actuallyprefer Devin as our closer, he's
(51:01):
a cheap, he's cheaper, low ERA,yada yada yada.
You're you're gonna hear CityField boo in like four different
languages.
And the funniest part of allthis is that the Yankees helped
create this monster.
They dropped the famous nofacial hair rule for a year
because they thought they weregetting the next Mariano.
(51:21):
They brought Devin in, let himbe himself, then as soon as it
went sideways, they bailed,snapped the rule back into
place, and now you got areliever who they didn't really
want to pay, chirping on his wayout and signing across town.
Layer that with Sonny Gray nowin Boston saying it feels good
to go somewhere.
It's easy to hate the Yankees.
(51:42):
I never wanted to go there inthe first place.
You got a roll this Chapmantalking about I'd rather retire
on the spot than go back there.
The big bad wolf doesn't feelthat big or that bad right now.
It's starting to feel like justanother rich team that hasn't
scared anybody in a while.
That's an image problem.
If you're the front office, partof the mystique was guys feared
(52:05):
leaving the Yankees, feared notgoing to the better team, not
lining up to the task.
Now they're lining up to trashtalk on the way out.
And while the Yankees areworking on regrowing the
mustaches within the radius ofGeorge Steinbrenner's okay
portrait, the rest of the AL isquietly but very loudly building
(52:28):
pitching staffs that look likevideo game rosters.
Toronto just went to the WorldSeries, took the division, took
the Dodgers to game seven, lost,and their reaction was cool, not
enough.
Add Dylan Cease, add Cody Ponce,guys striking out the whole
planet in Korea.
They push the payroll over thetax line and say to the MLB, go
(52:51):
ahead, stop us.
Who cares?
So now if you're a hitterrolling into Toronto, you're
starting, you're staring at acombination of Gossman, Berrios,
Bieber, Yesavage, Cease, Ponce,plus a bullpen.
That's not a rotation, that's anarms convention.
And I hate to say it,unfortunately, Toronto is the
favorite to land Edwin Diazright now.
(53:12):
Meanwhile, Boston trades forSonny Gray, who's basically on a
revenge tour with a personalYankee subplot baked in.
The Orioles added Ryan Hazley onthe back end and traded for a
legit bat in Tyler Ward.
The whole division is loading upspecifically on arms.
And in the middle of all that,you got the Yankee X's popping
(53:35):
off and the team trying to rehabthe brand with grooming rules.
That's not where you thoughtthis franchise would be ten
years ago.
The through line with all ofthis, the labor battle, the Mets
stealing another ex-Yankee, theAL arms race, it's kind of the
theme of the episode, right?
December is where the truthstarts leaking out.
(53:57):
The truth on the labor side isthat this sport is about to have
a real ugly money fight.
Owners are tired of gettinglapped by super spenders.
Small markets want costcertainty.
Players refuse a cap onprinciple.
And the union's leadership isunder federal scrutiny.
Nobody's the pure good guy here.
(54:19):
Nobody's in the right.
Both sides are trying to protecttheir slice, and fans are just
going to be sitting here hopingthat we don't lose a whole
season over it.
The truth in New York is thatthe Mets are trying to steal
some of that.
Yankees old.
We are the destination energy.
Guys are leaving the Bronx andimmediately saying how happy
(54:40):
they are to be anywhere else.
Especially if that anywherecomes with less facial hair
drama and a fan base thatdoesn't have 27 rings as a
baseline.
And the truth in the AL rightnow is that if you're not
actively building a monsterpitching staff, you're already
behind.
Toronto gets that.
Boston seems to get that.
(55:01):
Baltimore is acting like theykind of get that.
Tampa just happens to alwayspull guys out of nowhere that
have a one ERA.
And the Yankees keep talkingabout it.
And look, once their guys gethealthy, they do have a great
rotation.
I'm not taking anything awayfrom them.
So while everyone else playedcatch up with the Yankees
(55:22):
rotation, now we'll see if theYankees play catch-up with
everybody else's lineups.
So when we get to March andwe're all locked into spring
training box scores, justremember the real story this
winner isn't just who signedwhere.
It's why they signed.
How long the money runs and whatit looks like if we wake up on
(55:44):
December 2nd, 2026 and there's apadlock on every spring training
facility gate.
Alright.
That's enough baseball fortoday.
That's enough CVA talk for onenight.
I might turn it to Jeff Passenif uh if I go any farther.
Let's land this thing.
We'll wrap it up with the outro,we'll tie a nice bow on
(56:07):
everything, and we'll get youout of here with something a
little lighter than possiblework stoppage in 2027.
So that's that's where we're at,man.
In baseball, you gotbillionaires and union shadow
boxing over a CBA.
(56:28):
Sonny Gray and Devin Williamstalking spicy about the Yankees,
and the Mets trying to stealback some bullpen swagger.
And somehow, all of it stillcomes down to the same thing we
talked about all episode.
Are you actually serious or areyou just saying that you are?
We hit a lot tonight.
(56:49):
Jets trying to convince us thistime it's different, I swear.
While really we all know they'reone competent quarterback away
from a completely differentlife.
Giants trying to pretend thatthe only problem was Brian
Dayball, when the real issue isa building that can't show up on
time and can't pick a direction.
(57:10):
Steelers wobbling on Tomlin,Bears and Packers playing a game
that might tell us who'sactually coming out of that
little Midwest identity crisison top.
We talk fantasy playoffs, thelandmines, the smash plays, the
week 14 card on rolling the dicewith rice.
If your season is on the linethis weekend, I hope you feel a
(57:32):
little less alone staring atthat lineup screen.
Trust me, we are all out heretrying to decide if we are brave
or dumb starting Caleb Williamsand Lambeau.
Nick's, Bucks, Giannis, Big Cat.
Same story there.
Some teams are built for thequiet games in December.
Some guys only show up when thelights are soft and the opponent
(57:54):
is bad.
The real ones, the real onesshow up when it's ugly.
That's the theme for thisepisode.
And honestly, we didn't even getwe didn't even have time to get
to everything.
The Lane Kiffin LSU Old MissBreakup is a full episode on its
own.
College Ball is doing its usualsoap opera thing, and there is
(58:15):
so much to cover there.
So we'll we'll stash that in thestory bank for another week.
As always, if you're rockingwith the show, do me the favor,
make sure you're subscribed,leave a rating, drop a review.
It's literally two clicks onyour side, and it helps the show
more than you can even imagine.
(58:37):
Make sure you come hang out onInstagram for the Wednesday mic
check polls and the clips, too.
I put up a bunch of I put out abunch of reels throughout the
week.
That's where we keep theconversation going between
episodes.
Feel free to DM me anything,anything you want.
A good meme, fantasy start,questions, whatever you need.
I got you.
Uncle Rice has you.
(58:58):
As always, I appreciate youspending part of your day with
me.
And most importantly, check inon your people.
Tell someone you love them.
Try to put a little good energyback into this world.
Do the right thing.
Hold the door a little longer.
You know?
It's the little things thatcount.
Anyway, I am Ian Rice.
(59:20):
This has been episode 42 of Riceon the Mics.
And I will talk to you same timenext week.
Take care.
I guess it's only definitely positive.
Tis the season.
(00:20):
You can feel it in the air rightnow.
We've hit that part of thecalendar where everybody is
about to talk themselves intosomething that they can't undo.
Owners, GMs, coaches, fan bases.
This is the season of decisions.
You're either about to overreactor you're about to sit tight and
hope you're not the one leftholding the bay.
(00:43):
You see it all over the NFLright now.
Bill stared at the end of asix-year run with almost nothing
to show, but a couple divisionbanners while the Patriots, who
have 17 of those things, by theway, are suddenly back on top
with Drake May.
The Steelers hanging around at500 while their own legends are
on podcasts, basically writingMike Tomlin's goodbye speech for
him.
(01:03):
The Bears are trying to changethe narrative at Lambo.
And then there's here at home.
The Jets finally winning somegames, but still living in this
quarterback purgatory whereevery Sunday feels like, yeah,
but what's next?
And by the way, I don't needMahomes, man.
I don't.
I'd sign in blood right now forseven years of Chad Pennington
level stability and somemeaningful games in November.
(01:26):
God forbid, maybe December.
The Giants have their guy inJackson Dark, but he refuses to
slide.
And Abdul Carter is gettingbenched again, and Joe Shane is
somehow both on the hot seat andin charge of hiring the next
coach.
That's a decision tree that onlythe Giants could grow.
Fantasy-wise, it's the samething.
(01:46):
You're either gonna bench thewrong dude and hate yourself, or
you're gonna ride your guys tothe promised land.
So we'll touch a couplelandmines, a couple must-starts,
and then we'll roll the dicewith rice.
Last week's Thanksgiving card,this week's full slate, and plus
why the Dolphins Jets is exactlythe kind of game the Jets win
just to ruin their own draftplan.
(02:06):
On the NBA side, the Knicks arethe perfect patience test.
You got Big Cat front runningagainst bad teams and getting
hunted on defense against goodones.
Giannis now hurt and clearlyeyeing the exit in Milwaukee,
and the entire city is justbuttering under their breath.
Don't Carmelo this again.
Then we'll wrap things up withsome baseball.
We've got a whole sporttiptoeing around a potential
(02:29):
labor fight.
The Mets stealing quote unquoteDevin Williams from the Yankees.
Sonny Gray and Devin takinglittle shots at the Bronx.
And the big bad wolf suddenlynot looking so scary anymore.
That's not a talent problem,that's a brand problem.
So that's where we're goingtoday.
Not so much who are you, butmore what do you do now?
(02:49):
Do you stay patient or do youflinch?
This is Rice on the Mics.
Let's get into it.
Here we are.
Let's start where every footballweek really starts.
Figuring out who still wants tomatter in December.
(03:13):
We just came out of a sneaky,huge holiday stretch.
Thanksgiving, Chiefs, Cowboys,and Jerry World.
That felt like a playoff game inNovember.
Mahomes is looking like Mahomesagain, but Dallas shows why it
could be a terrifying succeed toface in January.
Then Black Friday, Bears,Eagles, Chicago walks right into
(03:33):
Philly and basically says, no,no, no, no, no.
We are the team that's going tobe a problem in January.
And the Eagles yet again provethat they can absolutely choke
it away with the best of them.
And then the upset of the week,Rams at Panthers.
Bryce Young, who has been apunchline for a year and a half,
suddenly looks like the numberone pick that he was supposed to
(03:56):
be at home in a big spot.
And the Rams walk out of therewith the how did we lose that
game face?
That's the part of the NFLcalendar we're in right now.
Reputation's flipping week toweek.
And it only gets nastier fromhere because from now until the
playoffs, if you're still in thehunt, every Sunday is basically
(04:18):
a playoff game.
So let's take a look at the week14 board here.
Bengals at Bills is enormous.
This is Buffalo's penance tour.
You had six years to run thisdivision.
You had Josh Allen in hisabsolute prime.
And what do you have to show forit?
A couple of division banners inthe Raptors and a whole lot of
(04:40):
yeah, but Mahomes memes.
Meanwhile, the Patriots have nowcome back to life.
They have 17 of those divisionbanners hanging.
11 in a row for the record, withprobably another one coming this
year.
And now the Bills are staring ata wild card scrap, just trying
not to waste this whole era.
(05:01):
With Burrow back in town, thatBengals team just moves
different when he is undercenter.
That's not the version ofCincinnati you want to run into
this week when you're trying tohold on to the sixth seed in the
AFC.
Colts Jags is the same deal, bythe way, just with more chaos.
Both teams eight and four, bothkind of held together with duct
(05:21):
tape at quarterback.
And Daniel Jones, I cannotbelieve this is a real sentence,
is literally playing with abroken leg.
He's got a fibula fracture.
If you saw that video of himtrying to drop back, you know
that he is not scrambling hisway out of anything.
That's a statue with a helmet.
So this thing might just comedown to who screws up less, who
(05:43):
runs it better, and who gets onebig defensive play in the
fourth.
Steelers Ravens, that's anotherone.
That's not just a for thedivision game.
That's a for the era game.
This isn't just angry callersyelling fire Tomlin on talk
radio anymore.
The talk is getting loud.
(06:03):
If Pittsburgh lets this divisionslip again, if they go through
another season where the recordlooks respectable, but every
real team seems to slap themaround, the Tomlin conversation
gets real, real fast.
You can already feel Steeltowntrying to talk itself into maybe
it's best if both sides move on,or maybe we should try and find
(06:26):
something for you.
Steelers have had three coachesin their franchise history.
If Tomlin got fired or got movedon from, there would be a line
at his door for him to coach anyteam.
But sometimes it really just isabout a change of voice in a
locker room.
Bears Packers sits right therein that same lane, too, by the
(06:48):
way.
Chicago has basically reinventedthemselves on the fly.
Big run game, defense, Calebmanaging the game instead of
being the playmaker.
And now they get the measuringstick game at Lambeau, a place
where they religiously cannotwin.
So are you just the fun storythat ruined Philly's month, or
are you actually a problem inthis conference?
(07:09):
Well, we're gonna find out realquick.
We're gonna find out what thatrevamp Bears line looks like
when a front four led by MicahParsons decides, nah, nah no,
you're not just gonna hand itoff all night.
Locally, though, it always comesback to the Jets and Giants
because both of these franchisesare also in decision season,
(07:30):
just in two totally differentways.
We'll start with the Jets.
The Jets steal one from Atlantawith the walk-off field goal,
and it was just such a Jets win,you know?
Gritty, special teams heavy,defense hanging on, and they're
running back dragging peoplearound in the fourth quarter.
Aaron Glenn keeps talking aboutsmall wins, and he's not wrong.
(07:52):
The culture does look better,which is great.
I mean, they traded guys thatweren't bought in away, and the
guys that stayed are the guysthat are bought in.
That's what you want.
You want one locker, one band,one sound, right?
The special teams unit is legit,too, by the way.
I feel like I'm watching MikeWest off coach again.
They hang around in almost everygame now instead of getting
(08:14):
blown off the field, and theirpoints per game as a defense has
actually gone down after tradingtwo of their best pieces away.
But the problem is I keep comingback to the same thing with the
Jets.
The same problem that's plaguedthis franchise for 30 years, 40
years.
I need a Jets quarterback whoactually scares a defense,
(08:38):
strikes a little fear in theother team's defensive
coordinator during the week.
I mean, they get the huge kickreturn, and my Jets brain
immediately goes, Alright, cool,we're gonna tie this game.
Because you know they'resettling for three.
You know they're not gonna beable to punch it in.
And look, I get where thisleague is going.
I see all these space ageoffenses, and then look, that
(09:01):
would be great.
That is the ultimate goal,right?
To find and develop an AaronRodgers or a Mahomes or whoever.
But I would literally settle forChad Pennington or Ken O'Brien
or Boomer Asiason for the nextseven years.
Just give me competence, give mestability and some normalcy.
(09:24):
Give me someone who lets youplay somewhat meaningful Jets
football in November and Godforbid December instead of every
single season being over beforeHalloween.
I'm tired of it.
Please.
Can we be five and five at theten at the benchmark?
And that's the choice that'sstaring them in the face this
(09:46):
offseason.
Are you finally going to pick along-term answer and live with
the ups and downs and get itright?
Or are we just going to continueto do the band-aid thing again
and again, hoping for the bestfor retreads from other teams?
And the funny part is the guysaround the quarterback are
actually starting to look likepieces.
(10:06):
I mean, Brees Hall complainedabout not being traded, right?
But week in and week out, he'sputting serious effort in
between the tackles.
Yes, it is a contract year forhim, but he could have easily
said, Oh, you know, I don't wantto get hurt.
And Adedai Mitchell is anotherperfect example of that.
Second year guy.
He comes over in the saucegardener training as what was
thought to be like a throw-in.
(10:28):
And he could have sulked.
He could have said, Man, I gottraded from an 8-14 to a 3-9
team.
But instead, he's turned himselfinto a real weapon.
Eight catches, 100 plus yards,confidence to the roof.
That's not an accident.
That's a guy taking a secondchance and squeezing it.
That's culture.
That's buy-in.
(10:48):
Him and Mechie and GarrettWilson when he comes back.
The Jets will have some decentweapons at receiver for whoever
is going to be under sendermoving forward.
And then this week, Dolphins atJets.
Division game, blood in thesand.
I'm not going to go too deep onit right now because we'll
circle back with the rollingwith the dice segment.
(11:09):
But I'll just say this.
Tua in cold, windy Met Life witha Jets defense that is hunting
for some turnovers that theyhaven't really had all year.
This has like a way too early2026 hype video written all
over, I kind of feel.
On the other side of town, theGiants are the Giants are in a
(11:33):
completely different kind ofidentity crisis, right?
That Monday night game in NewEngland was a mess to say the
least.
Defense and special teams gotburied in the first half.
It's Dart's first game back, andMike Vrabel coached circles
around Kafka.
33-15 on national television.
It looked bad.
(12:02):
Look, it was a huge shot.
It looked violent as hellbecause Jackson left his feet,
but it was a totally legalfootball hit.
He's inbounds.
He's trying to squeeze a coupleextra yards off the sideline,
and he gets absolutelydecleated.
And the crazy part, Dart comesout after the game at the podium
(12:22):
and he says, Yeah, that'sfootball.
I've played like this my wholelife.
We're not playing soccer.
It's very Pete Rose talkingabout his batting stance.
If you don't know the video I'mtalking about, there's a video
with Pete Rose on MLB Networkwith A-Rod and Frank Thomas and
Ortiz and teaching these youngBucks something about hitting.
(12:44):
Meanwhile, all three of themhave about 400 plus home runs at
least.
And he says, look, don't changeyour stance.
Your stance is what got you tothe big leagues.
That's Pete Rose.
Okay?
That's the hit king.
I'll take advice from him anyday of the week.
So for Dart, it's kind of thatsame thing.
It's don't change yourregression.
That's what got you here in thefirst place.
That's what got you to beselected in the first round.
(13:06):
And I get it, I do.
But at a certain point, man,this isn't running over SEC
corners anymore.
These are NFL linebackers insafety that get paid to put the
hurt on you.
You got four concussion checksin eight games.
You've already missed some time,and now the whole building is
basically yelling, slide duringpractice.
(13:30):
So the Dart dilemma is real.
I mean, how do you protect yourfuture without turning him into
something that he's not?
That's not a Jackson question.
That's an organizationalquestion.
Are you willing to call fewerdesign runs?
Are you willing to live withpunting instead of letting him
go full kamikaze for three extrayards in the first quarter?
I mean, he's literally 22 yearsold.
(13:52):
Think about how hard your headwas at 22.
So I get it.
But someone, either in thisorganization now or someone to
bring in, you have to bringsomebody in.
Someone has to be able to getthrough to him.
Otherwise, his career can gofrom a promising young star to
(14:13):
what could have been real quick.
Then to make matters worse,you've got Abdul Carter, who's
supposed to be one of thecornerstones on defense, and
everyone said you could put thegold jacket on him right now as
soon as he was drafted.
He even had the stones to ask ifhe could wear Lawrence Taylor's
number.
Yeah, well, he got benched againin primetime for being late to a
(14:33):
team meeting again.
Look, one time is a mistake.
Two times in three weeks, that'sa pattern.
To his credit, he owned it.
I let my team down.
They scored 17 while I wassitting.
Yeah, but you said that lasttime too, man.
And the vets are trying to keephim in line.
Dex is saying that uh staying onthe young guys.
(14:56):
Brian Burns thinks it gotthrough this time.
You can't preach new culture andaccountability and adults in a
room while your number threeoverall pick is missing meetings
because he overslept.
And over all of that is JoeShane.
Look, the rule is always thatleadership trickles down,
whether it be good or bad.
(15:18):
Well, now on the bye week, he'sdoing the media car wash saying
two and eleven is not goodenough.
That's on me, we gotta bebetter.
But also, I'm gonna be runningthe coaching search.
That's where Giant fansabsolutely have the right to
squint a little.
If your own seat might get hotin a year, are you really the
(15:42):
best person to pick the nextleader?
Are you going to hire the guywho might demand real power, who
might come in with his ownideas, maybe even knows more
ball than you, and couldultimately be the reason that
ownership looks at you and goes,Yeah, I think we need to upgrade
at GM too.
I mean, that's a real humanconflict of interest.
It's one thing to say, we'regonna do what's best for the
(16:07):
organization.
It's another thing to sit in aroom across from a guy like a
Mike Tomlin type and realize,oh, wait, this guy could outlast
me here.
And that's the fork in the roadfor the Giants right now.
So are you finally going tochoose grown-up stability and
let a strong coach reset thisthing?
(16:27):
Or are you just gonna keeptrying to thread the needle
between control and competenceand hope for the best?
That's where we are in the NFLright now.
Every game feels like a playoffgame.
And every front office meetingfeels like a job internet.
Bills, Steelers, Bears, Colts,Jags, Jets, Giants.
(16:48):
Everybody's being forced todecide who they actually want to
be for the next five years.
And speaking of decisions, well,you've got some to make too.
Fantasy playoffs are pretty muchhere.
Uh, the betting cards are lockedand loaded.
So after the break, we're gonnaget into who you shouldn't trust
in your fantasy lineup and who Iam gonna be trusting with my
(17:10):
money in the rolling the dicewith rice segment.
Keep it right here.
So, you know how we've beentalking all episode about
December being that prove itmonth?
(17:31):
Well, it applies to fantasy morethan anything.
This is the week where you findout if your regular season
darlings were real pieces orjust some pretty little lies
your phone told you in October.
So let's do this in two phases.
First, a couple lineup landminesand some green lights for your
playoff push.
(17:52):
And then we'll roll right intothe week 14 rolling the dice
with rice card.
So, fantasy playoffs, who do youactually trust?
Well, at quarterback, the onethat scares me the most this
week is Caleb Williams againstGreen Bay.
Look, on paper, it feels insaneto sit him in the fantasy
(18:14):
playoffs slash playoff push.
Big name, Bears are hot,division game, all that jazz.
But look under the hood.
Chicago has turned into a runfirst bully, and his accuracy
has dipped.
Plus, Green Bay's past defensehas quietly been really stingy
(18:34):
the last month.
They're living in that too highsafety world that forces you to
be patient, and right now theBears' best version of
themselves is a 30 carries, somequarterback keepers, and
defense.
If you've got another legit QB1option, I don't exactly hate the
idea of putting Caleb on thebench for one week and not
(18:58):
letting your season die onriding vibes.
On the other side of it though,a name that I really do like
this year that has been livingin the middle pack of
quarterbacks, Jared Goff in thedome against Dallas.
I'm in.
Look, the Cowboys are basicallya cheat code matchup for
(19:20):
quarterbacks right now.
They've tightened up against therun, which just funnels volume
to the passing game.
And they're giving up chunkplays all over the yard.
Even if Amon Ra can't go, Goffat home in a must-have December
game against a secondary that'sbeen cooked so often, that's
exactly the kind of spot whereyou plug your nose, live with
(19:43):
the occasional weird golf throw,and trust the matchup.
That Cowboys defense, eventhough it's been tightened up a
little bit, the secondary isstill terrible.
Running backs, there's a coupleof big old check your heart
spots here.
Javante Williams againstDetroit, I get why people want
(20:04):
to auto start him.
Draft Capital, season-longproduction, the workload has
been there.
But this is a tough draw thisweek.
The Lions are a brick wallagainst the run.
They've given up basicallynothing to Backs for the last
two months.
And this sets up as one of thosegames where Dallas has to throw
to keep up to avoid the front.
(20:26):
So if you've got him and you'rethin, sure.
Play him, he'll do okay.
But you can roll him out andhope for a goal line plunge.
If you're sitting on a similartier guy in that softer matchup,
I'm not exactly married tostarting Javante just because he
got me here.
Two running backs that Iabsolutely love, and they're
(20:48):
both in the same game.
Bangles, Bills.
Chase Brown has finally turnedinto this quietly terrifying
volume monster he was supposedto be all season.
He's got six straighthundred-yard games, and that's
without a ton of touchdowns.
Now he gets a Bills defensethat's been leaking rushing
(21:09):
yards and scores to backs.
You give me a hot runner withBurrow back under center and a
defense I can't really tackle,I'm in.
And then James Cook on the otherside of the field might be in
the best spot of any back thisweek.
The Bengals run defense is aturnstile.
They've given up the most yards,the most big games, and they
(21:31):
can't cover backs in the passinggame.
Buffalo just fed Cook 30 carrieslast game.
They clearly have decided, yeah,this is our guy.
So in a must-win for Buffalo,with the weather potentially
being gross, I expect both teamsto lean on their backs.
So if you have either Brown orCook, you're overthinking it.
(21:52):
You're doing too much.
Start them both.
Couple quick ones at wideout.
Xavier Worthy versus Houston.
I get the temptation.
He's fun, he's electric, he'sattached to Mahomes.
But once Rasheed Rice came back,the the volume and the upside
just haven't really matched thename.
And the Texans defense is notthe group that you want to test
(22:15):
that against.
They've been nails againstoutside receivers.
So if you're in a deep leagueand you need a swing, fine.
But if you're staring at thelineup Sunday morning thinking,
well, he could pop off, that'sexactly how people end up
texting the group chat.
I can't believe that I startedhim.
(22:37):
As for someone that I do love,Zay Flowers against Pittsburgh
is the classic don't let lastweek scare you off.
He has been frustrating, yes.
He has put up some duds, yes.
But the Steelers give up targetsafter targets after targets.
They give up yards, they give upreceptions to wide receivers,
(22:59):
like it's their job.
They might not be giving up aton of touchdowns, but in PPR,
this is exactly the kind of gamewhere eight for eighty just
falls into his lap.
If you've been wavering on Zayas of late, this might be the
week that I'm I'm willing toback it up for.
As for tight ends, DallasGoddard has hit that name bigger
(23:19):
than the fantasy output zone thelast month, and I'm treating him
that way this week too.
The volume isn't there, thetouchdowns have dried up, and
the matchup is meh.
I don't know.
If you got uh if you got aDalton Kincaid type against
Cincinnati, I'd rather kind ofplay that matchup than than the
name.
The Bengals have beenhilariously bad against tight
(23:41):
ends.
The Bengals defense has justbeen hilariously bad.
90 plus yards and basically atouchdown a week to that
position.
So if Kincaid's active, that'sthe one I'm willing to chase.
In December, you either leaninto your structural advantages,
elite matchups and elite usage,or you get bounced and you go
home.
Big picture with your fantasyroster this week, don't get
cute.
(24:01):
Don't cling to ghosts.
If the matchup's screaming atyou and the usage is broken, I
don't care what round youdrafted the guy in.
And on the other side, if thematchup is a layup and the role
is locked in, I don't care thathe's a not brand name.
December is where we stoppretending and we start playing
(24:22):
who's actually helping us win.
And speaking of pretending,you're responsible with money,
that is, let's roll the dice.
Last week's Thanksgiving cardtreated us pretty nicely.
We went two and one.
The Lions minus two and a halfwas the one that blew up the
turkey leg, but both dogs,Cowboys and Bengals, not only
covered, they won outright.
(24:43):
So the lesson there, even inquote, public holiday games, the
underdogs still have teeth ifthe matchup and the numbers are
right.
So this week's card is a littledifferent.
We got three games and then onelocal game with the Jets.
And the through line isbasically how much ugly are you
(25:05):
willing to stomach in December?
So let's get right into it.
Game one, Titans at Browns.
Battle for the number oneoverall pick.
Let's start with the Siccos.
Titans might as well be on aseparate streaming service
called You Either Live Here orYou Bet It.
This is one of those classicallygross Cleveland games, cold,
(25:27):
probably windy, two offensesthat can't really protect the
quarterback, and one absolutealien on defense in Miles
Garrett, who's chasing the sackrecord.
Tennessee season is already adraft conversation.
It's done and over.
Cleveland at least has somedefensive pride left and a pass
rush that can take the gameover.
(25:49):
I'm laying it with the Brownshere.
Under a field goal, I'll takeCleveland minus two and a half.
And if you can buy it down off athree, even better, you're
basically betting that MilesGarrett destroys whatever the
Titans are calling an offensiveline these days, and that
Cleveland can stumble into 15-20points.
It's not pretty, but again,December pretty doesn't always
(26:12):
pay.
Next up, game two Rams atCardinals.
The total is sitting at 48.5,and I like the over this week.
The Rams have been a juggernautwhen they're in rhythm.
McVay has got that thinghumming.
They scheme guys open.
And even when they stall, theytend to move the ball between
the 20s.
(26:33):
Arizona, meanwhile, is one ofthose frisky bad teams.
They got some weapons, they'rein a dome, and they take just
enough shots to drag you into atrack meet.
So it feels like one of thoseclassic NFC West games where all
of a sudden you look up halfwaythrough the third and it's
27-20, and both coaches arestill dialing scripted stuff.
(26:55):
You're just sweating red zoneexecution.
I'll take the over, 48 and ahalf here.
I trust both offenses more thanI trust either defense to get
stops for four quarters in acontrolled environment.
Game three, Houston at KansasCity.
And yes, we are actually sayinghuge game for the Chiefs if they
(27:17):
plan on staying in the playoffpicture.
What a sentence.
Here's the thing Houston'sdefensive line is real.
They get after you, they hit,they hit you hard, they can win
up front without blitzing.
And Mahomes this year has had tolive in that hero ball on every
snap world because the marginfor them is smaller.
(27:39):
Look, Arrowhead is a differentanimal, always.
But if you give me a live dogwith a legit front four and more
than a field goal, I'm gonnalisten.
So I like Houston plus three anda half here.
If they keep it clean, no backbreaking turnovers, no special
team meltdowns, they canabsolutely hang in this game.
(28:02):
You're not really betting thatthe Texans are better than
Mahomes and the Chiefs.
You're betting this is aone-score game in the fourth
quarter, and the hook goes along way.
And then the locals.
Giants are on a bye, so it'sjust Jets Dolphins this week,
and this is such a Jets spot.
(28:25):
It's disgusting.
This is 100% the kind of gamethey win outright when they
probably shouldn't.
Just enough to screw up theirown future.
You can see the scripts already.
Jets, after the trade deadline,fire sale in an 0-7 start.
They go on a little late seasonmini run, finish 6-11th, they
(28:46):
pick 8-9-10, and they somehowtalk themselves into the fourth
best quarterback on the board.
On the field, it makes sense.
Tua in a cold, windy MetLifeagainst a hungry Jets defense is
not exactly his happy place.
That defensive line is stillnasty.
They are due for a big turnovergame.
(29:09):
They are the lowest in turnoversfor the season.
You give them a couple shortfields, and suddenly the offense
doesn't have to be a fireworkshow.
It just has to be competentenough, which is what Tyrod can
do.
So I'm gonna take the Jets plusthe points.
And I do think that there isactually a very real chance that
(29:30):
they win this game outright.
This absolutely feels like oneof those 2017 how are we still
alive with this quarterback roomgames that buys everybody in
Foreign Park another offseasonof if we can just clean a couple
things up, we might be alright.
And again, it fits the theme ofthe week.
(29:52):
December is where you find outwho you can actually trust with
your money and your lineups.
Some teams are built to travelin bad weather and ugly scripts.
Some guys are built to get youfantasy points when the windows
get tighter and the games getreal.
The trick is being honest aboutwhich is which before you click
submit lineup or place bet.
(30:12):
Fantasy playoffs, card is in,theme is set.
Next up, we'll swing over to theNBA side.
Nick's Gianna's drama, cattherapy session.
We'll keep this no more maybesthing rolling along.
Keep it right here.
(30:46):
Since we are already in theDecember tells the truth kind of
mood today, let's talk about ateam that keeps trying to lie to
itself day after day, and thatwould be the New York Knicks.
Because the back-to-back thisweek was basically a perfect
little case study in who theyare and who they are not.
(31:08):
You go up to Boston, rematch ofthe playoff series, big boy
game, statement spot, and youget the full Jalen Brown
tutorial.
Four points in the firstquarter, 42 by the time the
night is over.
And it wasn't complicated.
He just went hunting.
He hunted Brunson, he huntedTowns, he hunted Kolek over and
(31:35):
over and over again.
Where's the smallest guy?
Where's the slowest guy?
Cool, get me that switch.
And the Knicks just kind of lethim.
No real adjustment, no, we'renot giving you this matchup
anymore.
No make somebody else beat us.
Just ISO after ISO after ISO.
(31:58):
And Jalen gets to have his don'tforget, I'm a max player night.
And the part is the part thatthe part that fries your brain
the most, everybody in theleague knows the scouting report
for Jalen Brown.
His biggest criticism for yearshas been that he can't really go
(32:20):
left.
It's the most basic thing thatpeople bring up about him.
And yet he still walked into 42,controlled the game, and closed
it out.
If a guy that everybody saysjust send him to the left drops
about 40 plus on your head,that's not a Jalen went off
(32:40):
tonight kind of thing.
That's a you thing.
And you see the pattern here,right?
Last year it was Halliburtoncarving him up, and then it was
Tatum getting to his spots.
Even in the win against theHornets, they let LaMelo put up
34.
Any good guard or big wing thatcan handle a little bit, take
(33:03):
control of the game, have a goodshot.
You can almost pencil them infor 30 and got whatever he felt
like in the recap.
That's not bad luck.
That's not running into a guyhaving a good night.
That's structural.
Then flip it to the very nextnight.
Back home, Hornets in thegarden, and suddenly the Knicks
(33:25):
look like the Globetrottersagain.
Kat drops 35 and 18.
Brunson cooks in the secondhalf.
Hart is stuffing the box score.
Everybody's smiling.
The ball's popping.
MSG's loud.
The organ is screaming.
And they're 11-1 at home.
And you go, yeah, yep, I knowthis movie too.
That's great.
(33:46):
But this is Kat in a nutshell.
This is his whole thing in anutshell.
He will kill bad teams.
He will absolutely stat pad onsoft matchups.
Hornets roll in with a defensemade of tissue paper, and he
looks like prime dirk.
And yes, that is what you'resupposed to do to bad teams.
I'm not saying don't eat.
(34:07):
I'm not saying go get yours.
But when all of your biggestnights are against the
Charlotte's of the world, andthe minute it's Boston or a
locked-in playoff defense, youeither disappoint or you're the
biggest problem on the floor.
That's where the frustrationcomes from.
The core issue is defense andconstruction.
(34:32):
You can survive one minusdefender in a playoff rotation.
You can even fake your waythrough two meh guys if the
other three are dogs, whichMitch, Bridges, and OG, and Josh
Hart are, by the way.
But you cannot build your entireoffense around two guys who,
(34:53):
when on the floor together, arepick and pop targets on the
other end.
Brunson gives you effort.
He'll step in, he takes charges,he'll put his body on the line.
That's not the problem.
The effort is always there.
The problem is physics.
Against long, twitchy guards, hejust doesn't, he doesn't have
(35:14):
the length to bother them.
The effort isn't in question.
Unfortunately, it's just plainand simple geometry.
It's I'm bigger than you, so Ican find the angle I need to get
a bucket.
But Towns, man, Towns justdoesn't know where to be half
(35:35):
the time.
He doesn't communicate onswitches.
He lumbers back in transition,which I could forgive if he
followed his shot, but that'snot the case.
He doesn't anchor anything.
You can see the other four guysconstantly trying to have to
cover for him, which then leadsto an extra pass and leads to a
splash dagger three all thetime.
(35:59):
You can have one guy like thatif he's giving you 30 and 15 on
the other end every singlenight.
But that's not the case againstthe real teams.
When it's him and your pointguard being hunted in every big
spot, now you're asking theother three players to play
whack-a-mole on defense.
Every single possession.
(36:21):
That's not sustainable, and it'sreally not fair to the brothers
that are on your team.
And all of that lives under thisbigger, looming question that's
hanging over this franchise'shead right now.
What do you do if Giannis reallyis in play?
Because here's the realityGiannis wants out eventually.
(36:43):
The Knicks want him, and hewants the Knicks.
The Lillard experiment did notwork, and he has always said
from day one that he wants toplay somewhere he can win
championships plural.
This has been a thing for twoseasons, and now the noise is
starting to get really loud.
The Bucs are spiraling.
He is openly evaluating hisfuture.
(37:06):
Doc Rivers is saying he's neverasked for a trade.
Yeah, well, his agent sure did.
And then just when you thinkanother NBA superstar is about
to force his way out of hiscurrent team and out of his
situation, as if on cue by thebasketball gods, he takes a
bump, he grabs at the calf, andhe's out two to four weeks.
Look, I'm not saying the injuryis some conspiracy.
(37:29):
I'm just saying that the timingis very loud.
Okay.
The vibes in Milwaukee arecooked.
The front office knows that oneway or another, they are going
to lose him.
Whether it be at the Februarytrade deadline or during the
offseason next year, Gianniswill not be a buck come the
start of 2016 season.
(37:50):
And this is where the Knickshave to decide if they're
actually if they've actuallylearned anything from their own
history.
Because it's starting to feelvery Carmelo adjacent.
Back then, everybody knew Mellowanted New York.
He wanted the garden.
He wanted the stage, the samestage that Giannis wants now.
(38:12):
And instead of waiting, becausehe was a free agent, instead of
playing it cool, they panicked.
Or should I say, Dolan panicked.
They emptied the clip.
They moved every young player,every pick, they gutted the
depth, and by the time Mello gotthere, they had traded away half
the stuff that they would havemade his life a lot easier.
Now there were extra layers backthen.
(38:34):
There was a looming lockout, theweird contract rules that might
have came in.
So there was a little morepressure to get it done early.
But that is not the case thistime.
There is no lockout clockticking.
There is no sign before therules change.
If anything, patience actuallygives you leverage here.
(38:56):
Best case scenario for theKnicks, you keep your powder
dry.
You try to stack some pickssomewhere.
Maybe you get some competentrole guys.
You wait for the moment whereMilwaukee just has to pick
between losing Giannis fornothing or taking the best
possible package.
And you want to be that teamwith a clean cap sheet.
(39:19):
You want that third team willingto jump in on the trade to help
compensate picks.
And you also still want to havesome real players left on the
roster so you don't look like aG-League outfit the second that
the trade goes through.
Now the risk, obviously, is thatif you wait too long, Giannis
might just say, I'm sick of itin Milwaukee and I don't care
(39:42):
anymore.
Get me out of here.
And then they turn into thefavorite to land him to yet
another missed opportunity thatgoes down to Nick Lore, like
Donovan Mitchell.
That's the game here.
There is no way to completely derisk the situation.
But if you panic and overpay,you might end up looking at a
(40:04):
roster of Giannis and Brunsonand a bunch of vet minimums or
some wow, he's still in theleague, guys.
And as a Knicks fan for a longtime, we've seen that movie
before.
We don't want to go back there.
You can win a championship withGiannis and Brunson.
But don't put yourself in asituation where you
(40:25):
unnecessarily overpay for asuperstar player when you
already have one in Brunson.
To me, December is not trade forGiannis month.
It's make sure Giannis stillwants to be here month.
So that means Kat cannot be outhere looking like an empty
(40:48):
calorie stat every time thelights get bright.
That means you have to keepwinning at home.
You keep looking like a realserious operation.
A team that players want to playfor, a team that players want to
make the garden in their home,not just a come two twice a year
and drop 40 on us.
(41:08):
And this injury actually comesat a perfect time because with
the rumors swirling again andgetting super loud, you don't
you don't exactly want guys inthe locker room looking around
asking, do you think they'lltrade me?
Do you think I'm on the block?
You want everyone focused on onegoal together as a unit.
You want them stacking as manywins as you can and putting
(41:31):
yourself in the best positpossible position to succeed.
So if you're practicing somepatience here and not buying
into it right away, well, what'swhat's the move?
What's the move?
What do you do while you'rewaiting?
Well, this is kind of where theChris Paul thing gets a little
(41:54):
interesting.
So if you haven't heard ChrisPaul, this is gonna be his last
year, he's 40 years old, healready announced his
retirement, playing with theClippers, where he, you know,
his his jersey will probably goin the Raptors for the Clippers.
Well, he's been dismissed bythem.
Uh for what I can only assume isactually holding guys
(42:17):
accountable, and they didn'twant to hear all that, so so
much so is that he like him andTyloo, his coach, weren't
talking.
Uh look, I don't think CP3changes your ceiling at this
stage.
It doesn't exactly scream 30 and10 a night, save your material.
But as a plan B, as a one-yearvets minimum, grown up off the
(42:40):
bench, someone to keep thesecond unit organized while
Brunson gets a blow, someone whois built almost exactly like
Brunson, a top five all-timepoint guard in his own right.
I mean, you could do worse.
You're seeing in LA that likewhen what happens when
leadership just doesn't fit theroom.
(43:00):
Paul holds everybody accountableloudly, and that clearly rubs
some people the wrong way.
So the Clippers decided they'drather move on than deal with
that friction.
The Knicks, if they do bring ina star like Giannis on the road,
they need to make sure that thevoices in the locker room are
all aligned.
So if you did bring in a CP typeon a cheap deal, it'd have to be
(43:24):
with everyone on the same pageabout how he is now.
A floor organizer, a teacher, amentor, not the guy whose name
is on the marquee anymore.
So for this week, if I'm theKnicks, I'm looking in the
mirror and I'm asking the samequestion that we've been asking
all episode.
Who are you when it's not theHornets on a Wednesday?
(43:46):
Who are we when it's Boston orthe Nuggets or Detroit or the
Thunder?
If if the honest answer is a funregular season team with two
defensive targets at the centerof our offense, then you know
what you have to do to fixbefore you can start claiming
that you're the team to be inthe East.
(44:08):
But if the answer shifts, if thedefense tightens, if Kat has a
real night against a realopponent, if Brunson and Bridges
start making life miserable forsomebody else's star, now we're
talking about a foundationplayers like Giannis actually
want to be a part of.
And when that day finally comes,those Ante Tacumpo jerseys in
(44:31):
blue and orange are going to beeverywhere in this city.
But you only get there if you'rehonest about what you are right
now, not what you wish you were.
Okay.
Alright, alright, alright.
I'm done.
MBA therapy session is over.
Let's catch our breath.
(44:52):
Then we'll slide over to the MOBside.
We got a looming labor war, theAL arms race, and why the big
bad Yankees don't feel so scaredto anybody anymore.
Baseball up against nothing saysbaseball like a 30-degree
(45:25):
December night, right?
Well, while the NFL is havingits stretch run uh melodrama,
and the NBA is leakingstorylines every 12 hours of who
wants to go where, the MLB islow-key setting up for a pretty
wild couple of years.
And I'll start with the partthat nobody wants to hear about,
(45:48):
but everybody's gonna feel it ifit goes sideways, and that would
be the labor stuff.
Look, I know, I know, nothingempties a room faster than a
collective bargaining agreement,but this is the thing that's
gonna decide whether we havebaseball in 2027 or we're
sitting around in March watchinggrainy spring training clips
(46:10):
from 2019, like it's a Zappruderfilm.
For my younger audience, theZapruder film is the JFK film.
And if you're still lost fromthere, well then I can't help
you anymore.
So here's the short version ofit.
So don't fall asleep on me, I'llgive you the cliff notes.
The current CBA expires December1st, 2026.
(46:32):
Owners are making a lot of noiseabout a hard salary cap, and the
players are basically treatingthat like a slur.
Okay.
You got Rob Manford and DanHalum on one side, and you got
Tony Clark and Bruce Meyer onthe other.
And there's already a federalinvestigation hanging over the
players' union finances.
(46:55):
So you got owners who have beencrying poor because local TV
money is evaporating.
You got small market teamsjealous of the Dodgers and the
Mets spending like crazy.
And you got a union that refusesto be the group that finally
gives in on a cap after fightingit for decades.
(47:15):
So, long of the short, if you'relooking for a pretty little
handshake deal, it's not gonnahappen.
This is not it.
So, what does this mean for us?
What does this mean for theconsumers, the diehard, the fans
of baseball?
Well, it means that 2026-2027has real serious lockout
potential.
(47:36):
And it means some teams, likethe Cubs, for example, are
already lining up contracts toexpire right when that CBA hits.
So they they can flip towhatever the new world looks
like with clean books.
Good for them.
But it also means the nextcouple winters are going to be
weird.
It means some teams are pushingall their chips in before the
(47:57):
rules change, and some teams arejust sitting on their hands
waiting to see where the dustsettles.
So, yeah, look, I know nobodywants to hear about luxury tax
thresholds and revenue sharingformulas, but long of the short,
if you like free agency, if youlike trade deadline chaos, if
you like knowing your team willactually take the field in April
(48:20):
2027, this is the fight thatdecides all of it.
Okay, that's the that's yourvegetables.
That's the stuff that's hard toswallow.
That's the stuff you don't wantto eat.
So now let's get to the funpart.
The spending spree and thedrama, right?
That's what we're here for.
We're here for the hot tea.
(48:41):
Because while the lawyers aredrawing lines on the board, the
Mets and the rest of the AL Eastare just lighting money on fire
like it's 2010.
We're gonna start in Queens,Devin Williams to the Mets,
three years, 51 million, and hehops on Instagram to fire a
little parting shot at theYankee fans on the way out.
(49:03):
Says, quote, for a bunch ofpeople that didn't want me back,
y'all sure are mad in the DMs.
End quote.
That is so perfectly Mets andYankees at the same time.
The Yankees rent this dude for ayear.
He has the worst ERA of hiscareer, melts down early, loses
(49:24):
the ninth inning job, stillshoves in the underlying
numbers, and then the Mets arego, okay, cool, yeah, we'll take
that.
Oh, and while you're at it, gotell the Bronx to piss off while
you're on the way across town.
From the Mets side, I I actuallylove this.
If, and this is a big, huge ifif it's Devin Williams and Edwin
(49:54):
Diaz.
This cannot be some actuallyDevin's our closer now.
Who's Edwin?
Nonsense.
Don't gas on me.
Don't give me that BS.
The dream is a true super pen,right?
And if David Stearns doesn'twant to pay starting pitching,
fine.
But then six, seven, eight, nineguys better be elite, elite,
(50:15):
elite, elite.
Okay?
The Diaz trumpets in the ninthand the airbender in the eighth.
Now you're shortening playoffgames to six innings.
You can tell Stearns is kind ofgoing back to his comfort zone
with this a little bit too.
This is his Milwaukee guy, whenDevin is right, he is one of
those good luck if we're aheadafter seven kind of guys.
(50:40):
The peripherals last year, eventhough didn't really look it,
and there's a lot of media, hestill was an elite reliever.
So I get the bet on him.
But if they whiff, if they loseout on Diaz and they try to sell
this as, well, we actuallyprefer Devin as our closer, he's
(51:01):
a cheap, he's cheaper, low ERA,yada yada yada.
You're you're gonna hear CityField boo in like four different
languages.
And the funniest part of allthis is that the Yankees helped
create this monster.
They dropped the famous nofacial hair rule for a year
because they thought they weregetting the next Mariano.
(51:21):
They brought Devin in, let himbe himself, then as soon as it
went sideways, they bailed,snapped the rule back into
place, and now you got areliever who they didn't really
want to pay, chirping on his wayout and signing across town.
Layer that with Sonny Gray nowin Boston saying it feels good
to go somewhere.
It's easy to hate the Yankees.
(51:42):
I never wanted to go there inthe first place.
You got a roll this Chapmantalking about I'd rather retire
on the spot than go back there.
The big bad wolf doesn't feelthat big or that bad right now.
It's starting to feel like justanother rich team that hasn't
scared anybody in a while.
That's an image problem.
If you're the front office, partof the mystique was guys feared
(52:05):
leaving the Yankees, feared notgoing to the better team, not
lining up to the task.
Now they're lining up to trashtalk on the way out.
And while the Yankees areworking on regrowing the
mustaches within the radius ofGeorge Steinbrenner's okay
portrait, the rest of the AL isquietly but very loudly building
(52:28):
pitching staffs that look likevideo game rosters.
Toronto just went to the WorldSeries, took the division, took
the Dodgers to game seven, lost,and their reaction was cool, not
enough.
Add Dylan Cease, add Cody Ponce,guys striking out the whole
planet in Korea.
They push the payroll over thetax line and say to the MLB, go
(52:51):
ahead, stop us.
Who cares?
So now if you're a hitterrolling into Toronto, you're
starting, you're staring at acombination of Gossman, Berrios,
Bieber, Yesavage, Cease, Ponce,plus a bullpen.
That's not a rotation, that's anarms convention.
And I hate to say it,unfortunately, Toronto is the
favorite to land Edwin Diazright now.
(53:12):
Meanwhile, Boston trades forSonny Gray, who's basically on a
revenge tour with a personalYankee subplot baked in.
The Orioles added Ryan Hazley onthe back end and traded for a
legit bat in Tyler Ward.
The whole division is loading upspecifically on arms.
And in the middle of all that,you got the Yankee X's popping
(53:35):
off and the team trying to rehabthe brand with grooming rules.
That's not where you thoughtthis franchise would be ten
years ago.
The through line with all ofthis, the labor battle, the Mets
stealing another ex-Yankee, theAL arms race, it's kind of the
theme of the episode, right?
December is where the truthstarts leaking out.
(53:57):
The truth on the labor side isthat this sport is about to have
a real ugly money fight.
Owners are tired of gettinglapped by super spenders.
Small markets want costcertainty.
Players refuse a cap onprinciple.
And the union's leadership isunder federal scrutiny.
Nobody's the pure good guy here.
(54:19):
Nobody's in the right.
Both sides are trying to protecttheir slice, and fans are just
going to be sitting here hopingthat we don't lose a whole
season over it.
The truth in New York is thatthe Mets are trying to steal
some of that.
Yankees old.
We are the destination energy.
Guys are leaving the Bronx andimmediately saying how happy
(54:40):
they are to be anywhere else.
Especially if that anywherecomes with less facial hair
drama and a fan base thatdoesn't have 27 rings as a
baseline.
And the truth in the AL rightnow is that if you're not
actively building a monsterpitching staff, you're already
behind.
Toronto gets that.
Boston seems to get that.
(55:01):
Baltimore is acting like theykind of get that.
Tampa just happens to alwayspull guys out of nowhere that
have a one ERA.
And the Yankees keep talkingabout it.
And look, once their guys gethealthy, they do have a great
rotation.
I'm not taking anything awayfrom them.
So while everyone else playedcatch up with the Yankees
(55:22):
rotation, now we'll see if theYankees play catch-up with
everybody else's lineups.
So when we get to March andwe're all locked into spring
training box scores, justremember the real story this
winner isn't just who signedwhere.
It's why they signed.
How long the money runs and whatit looks like if we wake up on
(55:44):
December 2nd, 2026 and there's apadlock on every spring training
facility gate.
Alright.
That's enough baseball fortoday.
That's enough CVA talk for onenight.
I might turn it to Jeff Passenif uh if I go any farther.
Let's land this thing.
We'll wrap it up with the outro,we'll tie a nice bow on
(56:07):
everything, and we'll get youout of here with something a
little lighter than possiblework stoppage in 2027.
So that's that's where we're at,man.
In baseball, you gotbillionaires and union shadow
boxing over a CBA.
(56:28):
Sonny Gray and Devin Williamstalking spicy about the Yankees,
and the Mets trying to stealback some bullpen swagger.
And somehow, all of it stillcomes down to the same thing we
talked about all episode.
Are you actually serious or areyou just saying that you are?
We hit a lot tonight.
(56:49):
Jets trying to convince us thistime it's different, I swear.
While really we all know they'reone competent quarterback away
from a completely differentlife.
Giants trying to pretend thatthe only problem was Brian
Dayball, when the real issue isa building that can't show up on
time and can't pick a direction.
(57:10):
Steelers wobbling on Tomlin,Bears and Packers playing a game
that might tell us who'sactually coming out of that
little Midwest identity crisison top.
We talk fantasy playoffs, thelandmines, the smash plays, the
week 14 card on rolling the dicewith rice.
If your season is on the linethis weekend, I hope you feel a
(57:32):
little less alone staring atthat lineup screen.
Trust me, we are all out heretrying to decide if we are brave
or dumb starting Caleb Williamsand Lambeau.
Nick's, Bucks, Giannis, Big Cat.
Same story there.
Some teams are built for thequiet games in December.
Some guys only show up when thelights are soft and the opponent
(57:54):
is bad.
The real ones, the real onesshow up when it's ugly.
That's the theme for thisepisode.
And honestly, we didn't even getwe didn't even have time to get
to everything.
The Lane Kiffin LSU Old MissBreakup is a full episode on its
own.
College Ball is doing its usualsoap opera thing, and there is
(58:15):
so much to cover there.
So we'll we'll stash that in thestory bank for another week.
As always, if you're rockingwith the show, do me the favor,
make sure you're subscribed,leave a rating, drop a review.
It's literally two clicks onyour side, and it helps the show
more than you can even imagine.
(58:37):
Make sure you come hang out onInstagram for the Wednesday mic
check polls and the clips, too.
I put up a bunch of I put out abunch of reels throughout the
week.
That's where we keep theconversation going between
episodes.
Feel free to DM me anything,anything you want.
A good meme, fantasy start,questions, whatever you need.
I got you.
Uncle Rice has you.
(58:58):
As always, I appreciate youspending part of your day with
me.
And most importantly, check inon your people.
Tell someone you love them.
Try to put a little good energyback into this world.
Do the right thing.
Hold the door a little longer.
You know?
It's the little things thatcount.
Anyway, I am Ian Rice.
(59:20):
This has been episode 42 of Riceon the Mics.
And I will talk to you same timenext week.
Take care.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.