September 11, 2025 • 50 mins
Nick Wright shares his predictions for Week 2 of the NFL season. Will Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and the Kansas City Chiefs get revenge on Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, and the Philadelphia Eagles for their Super Bowl loss? Are Jordan Love, Micah Parsons, and the Green Bay Packers ready to make a statement start to their season against Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders on Thursday Night Football? And how concerned should Houston Texans fans be with CJ Stroud's struggles following Houston's loss vs. Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams? How will Houston fare vs. Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football? #Volume
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome in What Driving the Great Episode three sixty four.
This episode, as always of What's Driving the Grid, is
presented to you by boost Mobile, and as always, we
encourage you to like, rate, subscribe, review to the podcast
on YouTube, iTunes, Spotify. All of that demands a little
odd episode today in that this is the rare Thursday
(00:24):
episode that is not live and not happening on Thursday.
It is still going to be released on Thursday. However,
we are doing this episode right now. It is Wednesday,
which means we are firing into Sunday lines during the
gambling portion of our show, all the way on Wednesday. Now,
there's only one game that is a total stay away
(00:47):
because of that, and that's the Niner game, because we
don't know who's playing quarterback, but you know, he could
up the degree of difficulty. We are doing that because Thursday,
when you guys are hearing this, we will be I
will be probably taping first things first. That is also
always live, except it won't be Thursday because Thursday we
(01:07):
are flying to Kansas City. So I tell you guys
that on the front end in case there's any late
breaking news, in case the NFL decides there's another player
they want to suspend for a game, but not suspend
him for a game. We're not gonna have that information
you get listen. In fact, I'm just starting there before
we even get to anything. Here's here is did you
(01:30):
read the NFL statement? Did you read those Did they
say two games?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Do they say it was a one game suspension?
Speaker 1 (01:38):
No? What they said is he is suspended and he's playing.
That's what the NFL said. The NFL said that Jalen
Carter is suspended, but he's playing. And so listen, I'm
gonna read you the NFL's self basically ludicrous statement, and
(01:59):
then we will discuss it briefly before we get to
the actual game. And by the way, I wasn't calling
for Jalen Carter to be suspended, but this is an
absolute farce. What they wrote. The NFL wrote. Here is
the first line of the NFL statement, and I quote
Philadelphia's Jalen Carter has been suspended by the commissioner for
(02:24):
one game. However, his suspension will be considered served and
he will be eligible to play in week two. I
am simply asking America if this can finally break the
Chiefs get all the breaks fever that has gripped the country.
(02:47):
We saw as my long standing belief that the refs
don't favor the Chiefs. The refs just aren't that good,
and the Chiefs playing a lot of standalone games right now,
you guys watch Vikings Bears Monday night, a standalone game.
Sure felt like a couple truly awful calls really hurt
(03:10):
the Bears in that spot, all right, where the refs
all the ref's in the bag for JJ McCarthy. No,
they're just not that good. Friday night, we saw ty
your Tart punch Travis Kelce in the face not be
thrown out of the game and then go ahead.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
I think they take it was a technicality because he
didn't close his fist.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah, that's not. But here's the thing about technicalities. Technicalities
technically need to be in the rule book, and there
is nothing about open hand versus closed fist in the
rule book. Also, it is that would be a ludicrous
technicality because if people are wearing helmets, you you're better
off going open hand at that velocity than closed fist.
(03:55):
But again, I'm not complaining about that because I'm not
a whiny loser that whinds about refs but I am
saying if the tire Tart or Jalen Carter thing, it
was Chris Jones, If Chris Jones in week one spit
on Justin Herbert and then the NFL announces Chris Jones
(04:18):
has been suspended and he'll miss zero games. Don't tell
me if it was the don't And again these aren't
apples to apples, But imagine if the NFL had said, hey,
Rashid Rice is suspended six games for the car wreck.
As it turns out, he's served him last year when
he missed the fourteen, like, give me a break, get
(04:41):
and it is the NFL is really trying to have
its cake and eat it too with the since he
never played a down, I maybe maybe Demanse can accept
that if if in fact not, maybe I would accept it.
(05:03):
If you got to ejected from a game for something
that happened pregame, if the game has not started and
you get in a fight and they say, okay, you're
rejected in the NFL, well then you were suspended. Something
happened you didn't. You weren't a part of the game.
That game had started, and the NFL is trying to
(05:24):
act as if because he that no, he didn't, but
the game had started. He was not suspended the end,
So again, I don't care. I said on the TV
show that I thought the NFL would look at the
first game as kind of a de facto suspension and
(05:44):
just find him. That's fine, It's fine with me. I
don't think spitting on a guy gets you two games,
and they're saying it got you one. That is, honest
to God, fine with me. What I am saying is,
if there is any honor or honesty left in the media,
(06:05):
including my dear friend Mike Flourio and a lot of others,
they have to acknowledge that if Chris Jones had spit
on Justin Herbert gotten thrown out. And then the NFL
said Chris Jones is suspended and it is the first
(06:25):
suspension ever where he'll play the week he's suspended. The
articles and tweets and commentary about all once again, the
league that is given it to the Chiefs would be
through the roof and everyone knows it. I will add
to it. The weird pretty dumb if you ask me.
(06:48):
Conspiracy from over the summer that the NFL was not
suspending Rashi Rice for the early part of the season,
which they ended up doing because of the ratings for
the early part of the season. Chief Slate that same
exact logic would apply to this jail and Carter non
suspension suspension, So just don't give me that nonsense. The
(07:12):
league office at times is not all that consistent. The
referees are consistently inconsistent. It is not for one team
versus another. Now we can get to the actual show.
How are you, Demanse doing great?
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Puffs?
Speaker 1 (07:28):
We have another thing actually, before we get to the
actual show that you and I have to address. We're
going to address it in the straight voicemail segment not
making the show. Mike McDaniel, listen, he knows dead man walking,
he says. The good news and positive is I don't
see how could get worse? Oh, he can get worse.
Luca Skinny, Luca nominated for Best Defensive Player at euro Basket.
(07:55):
And now there's this is Demanse trying to turn himself
into a tout And this is of course straight to voicemail,
brought to you by boost Mobile. All right, demons, I'm
not really on Instagram that much. Yeah, the producers alerted me.
So you hit your that Caleb, you hit your bet
(08:19):
fifteen bucks to win four hundred. You posted a screenshot
of it, and you wrote, hit me up if you
want betting advice. Venmo made twenty dollars to initiate the conversation.
I'm told you then raised the price. Yeah, two one
hundred dollars.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Up to two hundred.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Did you get any takers?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Yeah? I had actually had takers, but all the guys
that were takers they had my Venmo and they were
just like, yeah, give me the picks. And like, I'm like, dude,
you have my Venmo. Where's the what's going on?
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Okay? So you had no one paid you?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
No, nobody paid me.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
I was I was just that was just kidding. I
don't I don't post on.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
My story often enough for people to kind of understand
my humor.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
But I think a lot of people took that seriously
and like like, well, yeah, because there's a lot of
scammy touts out there. Yeah, and I know you're I
know you're not. And this is this is a learning
moment for the for you and the show. You're now
a legitimate public person, and our reputations are too closely
(09:32):
tied together for you to make that type of joke
and have it be open to miss to misinterpretation, the
like just the no harm done here. But I don't
I really don't want the just scrolling Twitter and come
across awful announcing and see the headline. You know what
(09:55):
I mean is demands from the What's Right podcast selling picks.
I I don't want that. So we're just gonna tighten
it up a bit. We're done at all. I knew
you weren't actually selling picks. And by the way, we
provide a free service to the public, like we just
all we ask is for you to like, rate, subscribe, review,
(10:18):
I actually sidebar real quick and then we'll we'll get
into the meat of it. I had a business opportunity
from a company. I don't want to say the company
because I just don't want to where they wanted. Essentially,
the idea behind it was, hey, have a have a
community that gets exclusive access to your picks. They can
(10:42):
track it with you, your bets whatever, like a social
network type thing. And I was like, yeah, I'm I'm
not opposed to that, and they're like, yeah, so you know,
we would pay you money, you know, to be a
part of the team. But then also where the real
money would come in is you, you know, to be
a part of your community. It would be like, you know,
(11:05):
a dollar a month, or two dollars or five dollars
a month. I was like, gold on a second, you
want me to charge people like to be able to
see my picks early. They're like, yeah, well that's you know,
that's how people make money on this thing. I was like,
I gotta tell you, I might you know, do something
with you guys, if you guys can set the entry
(11:26):
fee to join my community at zero dollars. And they,
by the way, they said they were to their credit,
they said they would. It's just didn't make sense for
me to do it at the time. But I'm not
the and again I'm giving you a hard time. I
knew you were kidding. I do not like the I
(11:46):
totally understand the Patreon or substack or model or whatever
it is for a lot of things, and that makes
a lot of sense. But if you have a corporation
paying you then trying to also on the back end,
you know, get a little extra money out of your
(12:06):
out of folks, I'm not into. Which also why I
never felt comfortable with the cameo thing. It's like I
the you have, well just one actually, okay, are you on?
Speaker 2 (12:23):
I guess it wasn't really a cameo. I just took
a video on Snapchat and sent it to it and sent.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
It to somebody because they asked you to. You know what,
Given everything I said, I still though you're in a
different spot than me. I kind of like the idea
of you having a cameo account like ten Bucks, a
video and they'll just see who hits it. I mean,
I don't know what is Yeah, exactly, wish you happy
(12:47):
birthday and ounce fancy draft whatever it is. All right,
probably time to get to the show. Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So, yeah, we remember how the super Bowl went, so
we've got that rematch coming up this weekend, and they
are both coming off of underwhelming divisional performances. The Eagles
obviously won, but they probably did win in the fashion
they would have liked, and the Chiefs lost. How close
to the super Bowl? How close to the super Bowl
game do you think this will be?
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Oh, I don't listen. I do not think Kansas City
is going to get blown out. I will if Kansas
City gets blown out, I will be concerned. Okay, I
also spoiler alert don't think Kansas City is going to lose.
(13:33):
And I think that the Chiefs being home dogs with
Patrick being healthy is a slap in the face, especially
because I do think it's fair to say Philly did
not look overwhelming in Week one, you know what I mean.
Philly looked fine, but they looked kind of lucky, not lucky,
(13:57):
but fortunate to get out that game with a win
against a Dallas team that there were no expectations for. Okay,
So I I also think that those of us that
have been hoping for or planning on, you know, the
(14:18):
Mahomes light show as Brew calls it, to come back,
going to have to wait some more time because obviously
they knew they weren't gonna have Hershie Rice in this game,
but now they also won't have Xavier Worthy in this game.
And so I think it's gonna be a lot of
ball control, a lot of short intermediate stuff, and a
lot of you know, Mahomes makes some magic. But I
(14:41):
think you have a pissed off urgent Patrick Mahomes, and
I think he will deliver. I'm going to add to
it that where my where my concern comes in this
game is is Jalen Hurts going to have four seconds
(15:02):
to throw and that chief secondary not be able to
hang in there. Now, I know Jalen threw nothing but
short except for the one bomb and had nothing but
time against Dallas, But I also know that Justin Herbert
had nothing but time and carved up the chief secondary.
(15:23):
The part of the Week one game that was most
dispiriting and most concerning to me Demanse was how the
overall pass defense for Kansas City looks Now? Will Philadelphia
take advantage of it? Okay, like, will Philadelphia lean into
that part of their offense? I don't know. I mean,
(15:46):
aj Brown went fifty eight minutes in Week one without
a target and they they still moved the ball and
Jalen was brilliant scrambling. But that's another piece of this
game that does con me designed pass plays. Jail and
drops back, they wait, they wait, no one the times
(16:07):
the coverage holds up, no one's open. Jalen's able to run.
So I think Philly will be able to move the
ball if they lean into the passing game. I think
the Chiefs run defense has been one of their underrated
factors the last couple of years, and even in that
Super Bowl when the Chiefs got annihilated. The run defense
(16:32):
was obviously really impactful, or I did a good job.
I should impact those the wrong word did a good
job against Saquon. The story of the Super Bowl was
the disastrous offensive line play from Kansas City. And now
I'm excited to see it because the Chiefs upgraded a
(16:56):
left tackle obviously, and the Eagles don't have the edges
they had last year. Now they still do have Jalen
Carter in this game. As we talked about, he is
suspended for this game, but he's playing in this game.
And how will those matchups look. If Patrick has even
(17:18):
a modicum of time, I believe he will be able
to make Hay against this Eagle secondary that I believe
is going to be a work in progress throughout the year. Obviously,
Degene is very good and Quinyan Mitchell is excellent, And
maybe I should call Degene excellent and Quenya Mitchell very good.
But they're both at the very least very good players.
(17:40):
But there isn't a single other person in that secondary
that you trust I as far as demands, you know,
will you panic? Should I panic? If the Chiefs are
zero to two? I The answer to that is unequivocally known.
(18:02):
And here is the thing that it is frustrating is
the wrong word, but annoying that folks don't see folks
speak with authority and don't have the memories. I guess
that I do on what the Chiefs have actually been in,
(18:25):
you know, the Mahomes era. In twenty twenty one, the
Chiefs started three and four, three and four, coming off
getting blown out in the Super Bowl by Tampa. They
started the next year three and four and then found themselves,
as they always do, at the absolute worst in overtime
(18:49):
of the AFC Championship Game in twenty twenty three. The
Chiefs in November to December lost. They had stretch where
they lost one, two, yeah, five out of eight, including
within that stretch where they lost four out of six,
(19:11):
and in that where they lost three out of four
and the only win came against the woeful Patriots, where
they didn't even look that good. And they responded to
that by winning the Super Bowl, the idea that they've
never had that had just been seen and even last year,
(19:31):
even though they never lost games, people hated how they
looked at various points in the regular season and they
found themselves in the Super Bowl again, So it is
just flatly inaccurate to say they haven't faced any regular
season adversity or downswings during this time. It's just that
(19:55):
the baseline is so high that they have been able
to obviously more than overcome it. But I so I
wouldn't panic. I will come on here, you know, Tuesday,
if not before, if they get manhandled by an Eagles
team that I don't think as good as last year
(20:15):
as Eagles team, it is time for real concern, not panic,
but concern. If it's a really good game and they
end up coming up on the short end of it,
I won't panic at all. But I think Kansas City
is better than Philadelphia. And I also think this, and
this is the.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
With like without the.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Without without Rice and Worthy. Well, so here's the thing
on that I think that when Rice and Worthy are back,
Philadelphia will be better than they are right now because
I think Philadelphia's defense so many new pieces, it's going
(21:02):
to be a you know, a work in progress, so
to speak. I also like here is and again, people
can disagree with me. People can say that I'm you know,
uh waving pom poms as Bruce says sometimes and the
you know with the pomp poms when I wave them,
all I see is you've been right every year. But
(21:25):
I firmly believe that given how Philadelphia played in Week one,
that had they been playing the Chargers, they lose similar
fashion the Chiefs do. And given how the Chiefs played
in Week one, had they been playing the Cowboys and
that defense, there's no concerns about the Chiefs offense right now.
(21:47):
Like I don't think Philly or Kansas City should be
happy at all about how Week one went. Now, I
know Philadelphia is one to zero and Kansas City's oho
and one, but it feels to me like both the
those teams had to be pretty uneasy about their performances.
The only thing Philadelphia I thought did really well in
(22:08):
Week one was Jailen. I thought Jail and Scrambles were
just elite, you know what I mean. Jalen's ability to
make something out of nothing was phenomenal. And the only
thing the Chiefs did really well in Week one was
the Mahomes kind of magic, broken play craziness. Like nobody
(22:28):
on the Chiefs or the Eagles outside of their quarterback
should feel great about Week one and so we'll see
how they both respond. But to your point, demon's about
without Rice and Worthy for Kansas City. If if Kansas
City wins the game without Rice and Worthy, that is
(22:52):
a shot in the arm. Well, I listen, I think
Philadelphie's got the infrastructure in the too much time. I
don't think, like there's not a lot of panic that
should happen in week you know, in week two if like, if.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Your top competition and they don't have like two of
their best offensive guys.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
So here's the thing, though, I don't this is for
Philadelphia or Kansas City. I simply don't believe in cross
conference rivalries in the NFL, And I don't believe in
your top competition ever being someone in the other conference,
(23:35):
like because it has to be such a perfect storm
for you guys to play in a game that matters.
Like let's just say for the record, or for example,
I should say that Philly does blow out Kansas City,
just annihilates them. It looks just like the Super Bowl.
(23:55):
While that would reasonably shake anyone's faith that the Chiefs
can beat the Eagles, it to me should barely shake
your faith that can the Chiefs win the Super Bowl
because like the Eagles would have to get there as
the Chiefs would have to get there obviously with the
Eagles would have to get there, you know. So the
(24:17):
in a weird way like that Charger game and how
the Chargers exploited what were Chiefs weaknesses was a bigger
concern than anything that could happen Sunday, because the Chargers
are direct competition. You play them again, you could play
them in you know, in the first round of the playoffs,
like Philadelphia maybe you know has Kansas City's number, but
(24:42):
the Packers clip. I mean, it doesn't even matter. And
so that the it is very rare that a cross
conference rivalry be the rivalry. It has to be almost
NBA Lebron Cavs STEPH Warriors style, where it's like these
two teams are just dominating. It's inevitable, right that where
(25:07):
we're gonna end up. And that's just not to me
realistic here. I know you wanted to ask me about
how I'm watching the game.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Yeah, what is what's going to be your plan for
the game? The setup are kicking people out of that.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I think I'm going to be back home. I might
stay in Kansas City for the game, but I think
I'm going to be back home. There there is a
chance I stick around and watch the game in person,
but I don't think that's what I'm gonna do. So
I don't have a I guess a good answer there
(25:44):
for you, Well, it'd be a home game, like I
certainly would never watch this a game like this on
the road. And again, if people don't know the reason
we're recording this Wednesday, the reason all being Kansas City
is we are doing the show live, the TV show
live from Power and Light two o'clock Central time on Friday,
(26:08):
and I would love any and everyone in Kansas City
to stop by. And again, anyone that shows up with
a first Thing's first related sign, all bay you a beer.
And so the logistics or legality of that, I don't
really know. But I'm just gonna come there with a
pocket full of twenties and hand them out to people
(26:30):
who have first Things first signs. So that's the plan.
It'll be great. There is a level, it would seem like,
of trepidation from some other folks of how big the
crowd's gonna be. I think the crowd's gonna be pretty big.
All right. We'll get to the other Games of the
weekend and our picks of the weekend. But first reminder
(26:50):
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or Virginia. All right, demon's eight. Let's get to Thursday
night with a game tonight for the people listening to this.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Uh yeah, So Thursday Night kicks off with Green Bay
and Washington. So both these teams have very high expectations.
Which of the teams do you think is more bound
to live up to the hype.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
I I gotta tell you, I was really impressed by
Green Bay in Week one, really impressed. And what was
your super Bowl pick? Oh?
Speaker 2 (29:01):
I gotta say that this My super Bowl pick on
the the AFC is the Ravens.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
But this game isid wow.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Yeah, Wow, it's the winner of this game. I'm going
with for the super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Okay, So that's I couldn't remember. You didn't actually make
exactly Yeah, yeah, you the you you picked the Ravens
to win the super Bowl and to win the AFC obviously,
but you didn't. That's what I couldn't remember. I was like,
I don't know if you had one. I The Packers
(29:36):
are now in a spot where they don't need Jordan
Love to be magical or you know what I mean.
They don't need Jordan Love to look like a top
five quarterback for them to beat really good teams. They
just need him to avoid the what do you do
in Jordan Love moments would still pop up, you know,
(29:58):
from time to time, sometimes in a opportune times. But
a lot of really smart people were really in on
the Packers before the year. I wasn't. Before the Mica trade,
I wasn't one of them. If you remember, I had
a missing the playoffs, not having a bad year, but
just being odd man out. And then they got Mike
(30:18):
and I said, okay, I'll put him in the playoffs.
The people who were dead in on them were saying,
the only thing that is preventing me from saying they're
going to go to the Super Bowl. Is it feels
like they're just they need one star, like a A
plus player that they have a bunch of BB plus
(30:40):
players need an eight, and then they get Micah Parsons,
and I think that team is incredibly dangerous. Now, I
have a confession about Washington. Of all the games this
past weekend, bottom two attention to a game was Washington
(31:06):
against the Giants because it was just so like it
was to me, it was so obvious they were in
total control and that the Giants just had no ability
to really move the ball that I didn't ever really
lock in on it, and I haven't rewatched, so that's
just you know, I watch everything, but I'm not gonna
(31:30):
lie to you guys and tell you I've rewatched a
game that I haven't rewatched, or that I was totally
dialed into every second of that game. Because of the
two New York teams, the game that ended up having
my attention was the Steelers Jets Classic that I did
not expect that we were going to get. What I
(31:52):
do know is this though, from just casually watching that
game and then you know, looking at the numbers. If
Washington has a legitimate non Jayden Daniels run game with
Jacrossky Merritt, whose name is JA Cory. But do you
(32:13):
know what? He goes by Demansey. This is so good.
His name is his first name is Jacory, his last
name is uh Crosskey Merrit. But he is instead of
so first name Jackry, call me Bill. That's true. He's like, yeah,
I like everyone to call me Bill. His name, his
(32:34):
name is Jackry and he goes by Bill. So you
know what more power to you? Kid? Isn't Yeah?
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Isn't Bill like a short?
Speaker 1 (32:43):
What is? What's the big name that Bill short for
William William? No, you would think maybe Jack. His name
is j A c o r Y. You'd call me Jack. No,
he goes by Bill. That I'm sure there's a reason
for it, but whatever, it's what he wants to be called.
He he's the reason they felt comfortable trading away Brian Robinson.
(33:04):
He was I think a seventh round pick that they liked.
And he goes ten for eighty two, including broke off
a forty yarder. So if they have a run game
not Jaden Reliant, that raises their ceiling. My concern with Washington,
and again I had them winning their division, so I
didn't have a huge concern. But my concern with Washington
(33:27):
going into the year was how good is that defense
going to be? The defense was phenomenal against the Giants,
But this is one of those eye test games. Eye
test is the wrong way to put it, but ror
shark test games. Pardon me, what are we saying? You
know what I mean? Was that about oh Man, Washington's
defense is better than we expected? Or was that about
(33:50):
the Giants offense is doa and so we won't really
know until we see more, you know, more stuff later
this year. So similarly, like I am really like legit
worried about the Chief's ability to create a pass rush
and you know then guard on the back end. If
(34:12):
in a month Herbert has done that to everyone and
Danny Parkins is peacocking around everywhere, and you know, then
it's like, oh, moving Joe Alt to the left tackle,
even though you lost for Sean Slater, it was fine.
Like that offensive line is just nails. Maybe y'all feel
better about it. If this weekend, what are the Chargers?
(34:33):
Chargers play the Raiders this weekend. I think if the
Raiders who we don't trust their pass rush if the
Raiders are, you know, getting home on Herbert on Monday
Night football and I'm be like, oh boy, maybe the
Chiefs pass rush even worse than I thought. So that's
the problem. That's the tough part about week one is
why are we seeing what I'm seeing? With all that said,
(34:57):
I think green Bay's got the higher of ceiling of
those two teams, and I think right now green Bay
is a real threat to come out of the conference.
Not my pick, but a real threat to come out
of the conference. As far as when it comes to
the Eagles, the Eagles, the Eagles need to be focused
(35:19):
on obviously themselves, but Washington in that they need. If
you're an Eagles fan, you are hoping Washington loses this
game because home field advantage is not the dire priority
making sure you win the NFC East. You know what
I mean. You want to start with a bit of
(35:40):
a cushion on Washington. All right, let's go to Tampa
Bay Houston.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Pell Baker and the Bucks are headed to Houston to
take on the Texans on Sunday. Stroud called out his
team in Week one and said that they didn't even
deserve to win because they came out lolligag, lolligag. Is
there a problem in Houston?
Speaker 1 (36:00):
I'd be worried. I listen the Texans now, they got
rid of their offensive coordinator, and you know, the hope
was that that would solve things for them. But dating
back to last season, this offense has just been a
(36:21):
slog And you it got papered over a bit because
they had that great playoff win against the Chargers, but
that was about Herbert melting down in the Texans defense.
The Texans defense is excellent. There is no denying how
excellent the Texans defense is. There's also no denying that.
(36:45):
And I, you know, I somewhat tongue in cheek point
the make the line of demarcation when CJ lecturing Caleb.
But here is the truth of the matter. CJ threw
in the regular season the first his first year into
(37:07):
the first two games of year two was I think
twenty one touchdowns, five picks, and three of those picks
actually came in one game. Had a gaudy record. I'm
trying to pull it up right now. Since Week two
of last year, he is I think seventeen touchdowns to
(37:28):
thirteen picks and the team as a losing records. That's
a large sample of that Texans offense not really cooking,
and so that part is legitimately concerning. Now I'm gonna
tell you something else about this game, though, Demi Zay.
If if Baker cooks this Texans defense, then it is
(37:56):
time to really start the Baker Mayfield can win league
MVP pipe train. Like, Baker didn't have an unbelievable game
against the Falcons, but he had clutch throws and threw
for three touchdowns. Just not Yeah, poise and a book
obviously was awesome. I thought Stafford played really well against
(38:18):
the Texans defense. They scored fourteen points. Like, this Texans
defense is legit fantastic. If Baker goes into Houston and
puts up a big number, then like I will keep
the hype train going on Tampa potentially having the league's
(38:39):
best offense and that being enough to get Baker in
the MVP conversation and Tampa potentially to a super Bowl.
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All right, demons, let's get to the next games.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
All right. So these two teams didn't start the season
how they'd like, with Cincinnati coming off that one point
win against the Browns and the Ravens coming off of
just throwing the game. So in week two they've got
an easy one, but just like last year, they lost
to Vegas and one that you wouldn't have expected them to.
But which one of these fan bases do you think
should be more going.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
In the Bengals. Listen, the Ravens looked. The Ravens looked
for fifty five minutes like the best team of the
weekend by a mile. And we are now saying the
Ravens defense, you know, we have a lot of concerns
about when it looked like they were gonna allow twenty
five points to Josh Allen and the Bills, like that's fine,
(41:21):
Like there's no shame in allowing twenty five points to
the Bills with Josh Allen firing on all cylinders, and
the offense looked absolutely unstoppable. So yes, you're gonna have
in the back of your head all year long, like
are they gonna blow it? How are they gonna blow
at all that? But the Ravens, in large part for
the vast majority of that game, didn't just look good.
(41:42):
They looked like the best team in the NFL. Cincinnati
looked awful at everything, at everything that Joe Flackle's moving
the ball up and down the field. They needed the
Browns rookie kicker to miss an extra point and a
chip shot and to have not one but two interceptions
go off of Browns players' hands. It basically handing them
(42:04):
to the Bengals. They couldn't protect Burrow, they couldn't move
the ball like that was as far as bad wins.
That was as bad of a win as a team
will ever have. And so, I am, I think it
is totally I know the Bengals historically get better as
(42:25):
the year goes on. I am it is totally legitimate
to be highly concerned about Cincinnati, especially Demanse when you
look at it from this perspective, if we think Baltimore
is gonna win that division, which I think is a
fair assumption, and you look at the other teams who
(42:48):
could be fighting for wildcard spots and how they looked. Right,
So AFC East, nobody looked well, I guess the Jets
looked okay, but not then. But in their own division,
Pittsburgh looked much friskier than I think expected. In the South,
(43:11):
I listen, the Colts and Jags looked I think better
than a lot of people expected. In the West, the Jag,
I'm sorry, the Chargers looked awesome, and the Raiders looked
better than expected. The Obviously, now you might be like, well,
(43:32):
one of those team's gonna win the divisions. The Chiefs aren't.
That's fine, but go ahead and pencil the Chiefs in
for one of the playoff spots. So like the teams
that in the AFC that there were real expectations for
that looked worse than you would have hoped. Kansas City obviously,
(43:53):
Denver I think did, and the Patriots nobody else. And
so yeah, I'd be worried if I were Cincinnati, legitimately
worried if I were Cincinnati. All right, what are the
follow ups here?
Speaker 2 (44:10):
On Tuesday you brought you uh, you wrote off Bryce
Young and were starting a waiver on Caleb. Why is
your faith still on Trevor?
Speaker 1 (44:19):
Okay, to be clear, I did not write off Bryce
Young on Tuesday. I wrote off Bryce Young. Years ago.
I wrote off Bryce Young probably when he showed up
to the combine five to nine bucks seventy. It's like, Okay,
that guy's not that's not gonna work and so uh
and the I now, I did say I thought he
(44:41):
played impossibly bad this past weekend and he's a nice kid.
You feel bad, but it just is what it is.
Trevor showed you who he could be in year two
with a mediocre roster, when again I'm the only person
(45:02):
that cares about this was seventh in the MVP voting,
had a crazy playoff comeback and then lost to the
Chiefs in Arrowhead, Like there's no shame in any of that.
And then the next year, that same mediocre JAG's roster
was eight and three to start the year and then
he got hurt and the season went to hell, and
(45:23):
last year was an awful year, Like there is proof
of concept with Trevor, there was obviously never with Bryce
and with Caleb, we just haven't seen enough yet. And
so that's why. And I'm gonna listen, it's gonna be vindicated,
Like it's just the myke Trevor faith is going to
be vindicated. All right, Let's get to the Niners real quick.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
So the Niners have some injuries in some key spots
with Brock party, we don't know what's going on with him,
Juan and Jennings a little banged up, Kittles out for
at least four weeks. But they have the Saints this week.
So do you think what they're easy schedule, that they'll
be able to withstand their early injuries.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
No, Because here's the thing. At some point, your easy
schedule flips to you play a bunch of bad teams
that look at you and they're like we can beat them,
like you're the team, Like you become the easy part
of someone else's schedule. And while I don't think that's
(46:28):
the case for the Saints, that their next handful of
games given their injuries, particularly Listen, I'm no Brock purty guy,
but he's better than Mac Jones, particularly if Brock misses
time the Cardinals are right there with them. Then they
play the Jags, who are better than them. Then they
play the Rams, who are better than them. Then they
(46:49):
play the Bucks, who are much better than them. Then
they play the Falcons, who might be better than them,
and then they play the Texans, who should be better
than them. So like I understand, everyone's like, oh my god,
the Niners, and it will all now after that Giants,
(47:11):
Rams again, Cardinals again, Panthers, Browns, Titans there you go
like so that and then Colts, who we all thought
was gonna be terrible but or at least I did,
and then Bear Seahawks. But I just the you, the
entire plane can't be built out of we play a
soft schedule, especially because we don't know. We think we
(47:33):
know which teams are gonna be good or bad, but
teams will surprise you and I I don't know how
the Niners, like at some point we've got to have
a long talk about their strength and conditioning team, Like,
you can't just always have this many soft tissue injuries,
like the party thing's different, but that that doesn't playing
(47:56):
hard is not hamstring, growing calf and But one of
the things is we were worried is Christian McCaffrey gonna play,
Like how concerned are we? And then Kyle Shanahan's like
thirty one touches, like do every Christian do everything we can?
And it's just unbelievable and so uh and you know
(48:22):
he was one of the only really effective Niners in
that game.
Speaker 2 (48:26):
They go ahead, Okay, they put in the question who
has the worst injury luck? You think over the over
the league.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
The Chargers historically have dealt with some really bad ones.
But the Niners, as a team that's a real Super
Bowl contender, has just year after year after year, had
a lot of injuries. Some of it's their style of play,
but it can't all be just that. The Niners also
had one of their most important players during a Super
(48:55):
Bowl top its achilles, just coming onto the field Like
that's sickening and so like you know that, I mean,
that is so crazy that that happened, like not even
during the play. Bad luck man? All right? Ever, sign
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Bonus episode eight Thursday or early Friday. Nick Shulman, the
(50:02):
Goat coming back to preview Canelo Crawford so an extra episode.
Hope to see everyone in Kansas City on Friday if
you're around for the live taping of First Things First.
Thank you to Boost hard Rock volume, wayfair and yeah
everyone obviously at Blue Duck as well. Great job demandsday
(50:25):
like rate, subscribe, review to the channel, Talk to you
guys soon. What's right
Welcome in What Driving the Great Episode three sixty four.
This episode, as always of What's Driving the Grid, is
presented to you by boost Mobile, and as always, we
encourage you to like, rate, subscribe, review to the podcast
on YouTube, iTunes, Spotify. All of that demands a little
odd episode today in that this is the rare Thursday
(00:24):
episode that is not live and not happening on Thursday.
It is still going to be released on Thursday. However,
we are doing this episode right now. It is Wednesday,
which means we are firing into Sunday lines during the
gambling portion of our show, all the way on Wednesday. Now,
there's only one game that is a total stay away
(00:47):
because of that, and that's the Niner game, because we
don't know who's playing quarterback, but you know, he could
up the degree of difficulty. We are doing that because Thursday,
when you guys are hearing this, we will be I
will be probably taping first things first. That is also
always live, except it won't be Thursday because Thursday we
(01:07):
are flying to Kansas City. So I tell you guys
that on the front end in case there's any late
breaking news, in case the NFL decides there's another player
they want to suspend for a game, but not suspend
him for a game. We're not gonna have that information
you get listen. In fact, I'm just starting there before
we even get to anything. Here's here is did you
(01:30):
read the NFL statement? Did you read those Did they
say two games?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Do they say it was a one game suspension?
Speaker 1 (01:38):
No? What they said is he is suspended and he's playing.
That's what the NFL said. The NFL said that Jalen
Carter is suspended, but he's playing. And so listen, I'm
gonna read you the NFL's self basically ludicrous statement, and
(01:59):
then we will discuss it briefly before we get to
the actual game. And by the way, I wasn't calling
for Jalen Carter to be suspended, but this is an
absolute farce. What they wrote. The NFL wrote. Here is
the first line of the NFL statement, and I quote
Philadelphia's Jalen Carter has been suspended by the commissioner for
(02:24):
one game. However, his suspension will be considered served and
he will be eligible to play in week two. I
am simply asking America if this can finally break the
Chiefs get all the breaks fever that has gripped the country.
(02:47):
We saw as my long standing belief that the refs
don't favor the Chiefs. The refs just aren't that good,
and the Chiefs playing a lot of standalone games right now,
you guys watch Vikings Bears Monday night, a standalone game.
Sure felt like a couple truly awful calls really hurt
(03:10):
the Bears in that spot, all right, where the refs
all the ref's in the bag for JJ McCarthy. No,
they're just not that good. Friday night, we saw ty
your Tart punch Travis Kelce in the face not be
thrown out of the game and then go ahead.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
I think they take it was a technicality because he
didn't close his fist.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah, that's not. But here's the thing about technicalities. Technicalities
technically need to be in the rule book, and there
is nothing about open hand versus closed fist in the
rule book. Also, it is that would be a ludicrous
technicality because if people are wearing helmets, you you're better
off going open hand at that velocity than closed fist.
(03:55):
But again, I'm not complaining about that because I'm not
a whiny loser that whinds about refs but I am
saying if the tire Tart or Jalen Carter thing, it
was Chris Jones, If Chris Jones in week one spit
on Justin Herbert and then the NFL announces Chris Jones
(04:18):
has been suspended and he'll miss zero games. Don't tell
me if it was the don't And again these aren't
apples to apples, But imagine if the NFL had said, hey,
Rashid Rice is suspended six games for the car wreck.
As it turns out, he's served him last year when
he missed the fourteen, like, give me a break, get
(04:41):
and it is the NFL is really trying to have
its cake and eat it too with the since he
never played a down, I maybe maybe Demanse can accept
that if if in fact not, maybe I would accept it.
(05:03):
If you got to ejected from a game for something
that happened pregame, if the game has not started and
you get in a fight and they say, okay, you're
rejected in the NFL, well then you were suspended. Something
happened you didn't. You weren't a part of the game.
That game had started, and the NFL is trying to
(05:24):
act as if because he that no, he didn't, but
the game had started. He was not suspended the end,
So again, I don't care. I said on the TV
show that I thought the NFL would look at the
first game as kind of a de facto suspension and
(05:44):
just find him. That's fine, It's fine with me. I
don't think spitting on a guy gets you two games,
and they're saying it got you one. That is, honest
to God, fine with me. What I am saying is,
if there is any honor or honesty left in the media,
(06:05):
including my dear friend Mike Flourio and a lot of others,
they have to acknowledge that if Chris Jones had spit
on Justin Herbert gotten thrown out. And then the NFL
said Chris Jones is suspended and it is the first
(06:25):
suspension ever where he'll play the week he's suspended. The
articles and tweets and commentary about all once again, the
league that is given it to the Chiefs would be
through the roof and everyone knows it. I will add
to it. The weird pretty dumb if you ask me.
(06:48):
Conspiracy from over the summer that the NFL was not
suspending Rashi Rice for the early part of the season,
which they ended up doing because of the ratings for
the early part of the season. Chief Slate that same
exact logic would apply to this jail and Carter non
suspension suspension, So just don't give me that nonsense. The
(07:12):
league office at times is not all that consistent. The
referees are consistently inconsistent. It is not for one team
versus another. Now we can get to the actual show.
How are you, Demanse doing great?
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Puffs?
Speaker 1 (07:28):
We have another thing actually, before we get to the
actual show that you and I have to address. We're
going to address it in the straight voicemail segment not
making the show. Mike McDaniel, listen, he knows dead man walking,
he says. The good news and positive is I don't
see how could get worse? Oh, he can get worse.
Luca Skinny, Luca nominated for Best Defensive Player at euro Basket.
(07:55):
And now there's this is Demanse trying to turn himself
into a tout And this is of course straight to voicemail,
brought to you by boost Mobile. All right, demons, I'm
not really on Instagram that much. Yeah, the producers alerted me.
So you hit your that Caleb, you hit your bet
(08:19):
fifteen bucks to win four hundred. You posted a screenshot
of it, and you wrote, hit me up if you
want betting advice. Venmo made twenty dollars to initiate the conversation.
I'm told you then raised the price. Yeah, two one
hundred dollars.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Up to two hundred.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Did you get any takers?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Yeah? I had actually had takers, but all the guys
that were takers they had my Venmo and they were
just like, yeah, give me the picks. And like, I'm like, dude,
you have my Venmo. Where's the what's going on?
Speaker 1 (08:54):
Okay? So you had no one paid you?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
No, nobody paid me.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
I was I was just that was just kidding. I
don't I don't post on.
Speaker 2 (09:02):
My story often enough for people to kind of understand
my humor.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
But I think a lot of people took that seriously
and like like, well, yeah, because there's a lot of
scammy touts out there. Yeah, and I know you're I
know you're not. And this is this is a learning
moment for the for you and the show. You're now
a legitimate public person, and our reputations are too closely
(09:32):
tied together for you to make that type of joke
and have it be open to miss to misinterpretation, the
like just the no harm done here. But I don't
I really don't want the just scrolling Twitter and come
across awful announcing and see the headline. You know what
(09:55):
I mean is demands from the What's Right podcast selling picks.
I I don't want that. So we're just gonna tighten
it up a bit. We're done at all. I knew
you weren't actually selling picks. And by the way, we
provide a free service to the public, like we just
all we ask is for you to like, rate, subscribe, review,
(10:18):
I actually sidebar real quick and then we'll we'll get
into the meat of it. I had a business opportunity
from a company. I don't want to say the company
because I just don't want to where they wanted. Essentially,
the idea behind it was, hey, have a have a
community that gets exclusive access to your picks. They can
(10:42):
track it with you, your bets whatever, like a social
network type thing. And I was like, yeah, I'm I'm
not opposed to that, and they're like, yeah, so you know,
we would pay you money, you know, to be a
part of the team. But then also where the real
money would come in is you, you know, to be
a part of your community. It would be like, you know,
(11:05):
a dollar a month, or two dollars or five dollars
a month. I was like, gold on a second, you
want me to charge people like to be able to
see my picks early. They're like, yeah, well that's you know,
that's how people make money on this thing. I was like,
I gotta tell you, I might you know, do something
with you guys, if you guys can set the entry
(11:26):
fee to join my community at zero dollars. And they,
by the way, they said they were to their credit,
they said they would. It's just didn't make sense for
me to do it at the time. But I'm not
the and again I'm giving you a hard time. I
knew you were kidding. I do not like the I
(11:46):
totally understand the Patreon or substack or model or whatever
it is for a lot of things, and that makes
a lot of sense. But if you have a corporation
paying you then trying to also on the back end,
you know, get a little extra money out of your
(12:06):
out of folks, I'm not into. Which also why I
never felt comfortable with the cameo thing. It's like I
the you have, well just one actually, okay, are you on?
Speaker 2 (12:23):
I guess it wasn't really a cameo. I just took
a video on Snapchat and sent it to it and sent.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
It to somebody because they asked you to. You know what,
Given everything I said, I still though you're in a
different spot than me. I kind of like the idea
of you having a cameo account like ten Bucks, a
video and they'll just see who hits it. I mean,
I don't know what is Yeah, exactly, wish you happy
(12:47):
birthday and ounce fancy draft whatever it is. All right,
probably time to get to the show. Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So, yeah, we remember how the super Bowl went, so
we've got that rematch coming up this weekend, and they
are both coming off of underwhelming divisional performances. The Eagles
obviously won, but they probably did win in the fashion
they would have liked, and the Chiefs lost. How close
to the super Bowl? How close to the super Bowl
game do you think this will be?
Speaker 1 (13:13):
Oh, I don't listen. I do not think Kansas City
is going to get blown out. I will if Kansas
City gets blown out, I will be concerned. Okay, I
also spoiler alert don't think Kansas City is going to lose.
(13:33):
And I think that the Chiefs being home dogs with
Patrick being healthy is a slap in the face, especially
because I do think it's fair to say Philly did
not look overwhelming in Week one, you know what I mean.
Philly looked fine, but they looked kind of lucky, not lucky,
(13:57):
but fortunate to get out that game with a win
against a Dallas team that there were no expectations for. Okay,
So I I also think that those of us that
have been hoping for or planning on, you know, the
(14:18):
Mahomes light show as Brew calls it, to come back,
going to have to wait some more time because obviously
they knew they weren't gonna have Hershie Rice in this game,
but now they also won't have Xavier Worthy in this game.
And so I think it's gonna be a lot of
ball control, a lot of short intermediate stuff, and a
lot of you know, Mahomes makes some magic. But I
(14:41):
think you have a pissed off urgent Patrick Mahomes, and
I think he will deliver. I'm going to add to
it that where my where my concern comes in this
game is is Jalen Hurts going to have four seconds
(15:02):
to throw and that chief secondary not be able to
hang in there. Now, I know Jalen threw nothing but
short except for the one bomb and had nothing but
time against Dallas, But I also know that Justin Herbert
had nothing but time and carved up the chief secondary.
(15:23):
The part of the Week one game that was most
dispiriting and most concerning to me Demanse was how the
overall pass defense for Kansas City looks Now? Will Philadelphia
take advantage of it? Okay, like, will Philadelphia lean into
that part of their offense? I don't know. I mean,
(15:46):
aj Brown went fifty eight minutes in Week one without
a target and they they still moved the ball and
Jalen was brilliant scrambling. But that's another piece of this
game that does con me designed pass plays. Jail and
drops back, they wait, they wait, no one the times
(16:07):
the coverage holds up, no one's open. Jalen's able to run.
So I think Philly will be able to move the
ball if they lean into the passing game. I think
the Chiefs run defense has been one of their underrated
factors the last couple of years, and even in that
Super Bowl when the Chiefs got annihilated. The run defense
(16:32):
was obviously really impactful, or I did a good job.
I should impact those the wrong word did a good
job against Saquon. The story of the Super Bowl was
the disastrous offensive line play from Kansas City. And now
I'm excited to see it because the Chiefs upgraded a
(16:56):
left tackle obviously, and the Eagles don't have the edges
they had last year. Now they still do have Jalen
Carter in this game. As we talked about, he is
suspended for this game, but he's playing in this game.
And how will those matchups look. If Patrick has even
(17:18):
a modicum of time, I believe he will be able
to make Hay against this Eagle secondary that I believe
is going to be a work in progress throughout the year. Obviously,
Degene is very good and Quinyan Mitchell is excellent, And
maybe I should call Degene excellent and Quenya Mitchell very good.
But they're both at the very least very good players.
(17:40):
But there isn't a single other person in that secondary
that you trust I as far as demands, you know,
will you panic? Should I panic? If the Chiefs are
zero to two? I The answer to that is unequivocally known.
(18:02):
And here is the thing that it is frustrating is
the wrong word, but annoying that folks don't see folks
speak with authority and don't have the memories. I guess
that I do on what the Chiefs have actually been in,
(18:25):
you know, the Mahomes era. In twenty twenty one, the
Chiefs started three and four, three and four, coming off
getting blown out in the Super Bowl by Tampa. They
started the next year three and four and then found themselves,
as they always do, at the absolute worst in overtime
(18:49):
of the AFC Championship Game in twenty twenty three. The
Chiefs in November to December lost. They had stretch where
they lost one, two, yeah, five out of eight, including
within that stretch where they lost four out of six,
(19:11):
and in that where they lost three out of four
and the only win came against the woeful Patriots, where
they didn't even look that good. And they responded to
that by winning the Super Bowl, the idea that they've
never had that had just been seen and even last year,
(19:31):
even though they never lost games, people hated how they
looked at various points in the regular season and they
found themselves in the Super Bowl again, So it is
just flatly inaccurate to say they haven't faced any regular
season adversity or downswings during this time. It's just that
(19:55):
the baseline is so high that they have been able
to obviously more than overcome it. But I so I
wouldn't panic. I will come on here, you know, Tuesday,
if not before, if they get manhandled by an Eagles
team that I don't think as good as last year
(20:15):
as Eagles team, it is time for real concern, not panic,
but concern. If it's a really good game and they
end up coming up on the short end of it,
I won't panic at all. But I think Kansas City
is better than Philadelphia. And I also think this, and
this is the.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
With like without the.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Without without Rice and Worthy. Well, so here's the thing
on that I think that when Rice and Worthy are back,
Philadelphia will be better than they are right now because
I think Philadelphia's defense so many new pieces, it's going
(21:02):
to be a you know, a work in progress, so
to speak. I also like here is and again, people
can disagree with me. People can say that I'm you know,
uh waving pom poms as Bruce says sometimes and the
you know with the pomp poms when I wave them,
all I see is you've been right every year. But
(21:25):
I firmly believe that given how Philadelphia played in Week one,
that had they been playing the Chargers, they lose similar
fashion the Chiefs do. And given how the Chiefs played
in Week one, had they been playing the Cowboys and
that defense, there's no concerns about the Chiefs offense right now.
(21:47):
Like I don't think Philly or Kansas City should be
happy at all about how Week one went. Now, I
know Philadelphia is one to zero and Kansas City's oho
and one, but it feels to me like both the
those teams had to be pretty uneasy about their performances.
The only thing Philadelphia I thought did really well in
(22:08):
Week one was Jailen. I thought Jail and Scrambles were
just elite, you know what I mean. Jalen's ability to
make something out of nothing was phenomenal. And the only
thing the Chiefs did really well in Week one was
the Mahomes kind of magic, broken play craziness. Like nobody
(22:28):
on the Chiefs or the Eagles outside of their quarterback
should feel great about Week one and so we'll see
how they both respond. But to your point, demon's about
without Rice and Worthy for Kansas City. If if Kansas
City wins the game without Rice and Worthy, that is
(22:52):
a shot in the arm. Well, I listen, I think
Philadelphie's got the infrastructure in the too much time. I
don't think, like there's not a lot of panic that
should happen in week you know, in week two if like, if.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Your top competition and they don't have like two of
their best offensive guys.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
So here's the thing, though, I don't this is for
Philadelphia or Kansas City. I simply don't believe in cross
conference rivalries in the NFL, And I don't believe in
your top competition ever being someone in the other conference,
(23:35):
like because it has to be such a perfect storm
for you guys to play in a game that matters.
Like let's just say for the record, or for example,
I should say that Philly does blow out Kansas City,
just annihilates them. It looks just like the Super Bowl.
(23:55):
While that would reasonably shake anyone's faith that the Chiefs
can beat the Eagles, it to me should barely shake
your faith that can the Chiefs win the Super Bowl
because like the Eagles would have to get there as
the Chiefs would have to get there obviously with the
Eagles would have to get there, you know. So the
(24:17):
in a weird way like that Charger game and how
the Chargers exploited what were Chiefs weaknesses was a bigger
concern than anything that could happen Sunday, because the Chargers
are direct competition. You play them again, you could play
them in you know, in the first round of the playoffs,
like Philadelphia maybe you know has Kansas City's number, but
(24:42):
the Packers clip. I mean, it doesn't even matter. And
so that the it is very rare that a cross
conference rivalry be the rivalry. It has to be almost
NBA Lebron Cavs STEPH Warriors style, where it's like these
two teams are just dominating. It's inevitable, right that where
(25:07):
we're gonna end up. And that's just not to me
realistic here. I know you wanted to ask me about
how I'm watching the game.
Speaker 2 (25:17):
Yeah, what is what's going to be your plan for
the game? The setup are kicking people out of that.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
I think I'm going to be back home. I might
stay in Kansas City for the game, but I think
I'm going to be back home. There there is a
chance I stick around and watch the game in person,
but I don't think that's what I'm gonna do. So
I don't have a I guess a good answer there
(25:44):
for you, Well, it'd be a home game, like I
certainly would never watch this a game like this on
the road. And again, if people don't know the reason
we're recording this Wednesday, the reason all being Kansas City
is we are doing the show live, the TV show
live from Power and Light two o'clock Central time on Friday,
(26:08):
and I would love any and everyone in Kansas City
to stop by. And again, anyone that shows up with
a first Thing's first related sign, all bay you a beer.
And so the logistics or legality of that, I don't
really know. But I'm just gonna come there with a
pocket full of twenties and hand them out to people
(26:30):
who have first Things first signs. So that's the plan.
It'll be great. There is a level, it would seem like,
of trepidation from some other folks of how big the
crowd's gonna be. I think the crowd's gonna be pretty big.
All right. We'll get to the other Games of the
weekend and our picks of the weekend. But first reminder
(26:50):
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or Virginia. All right, demon's eight. Let's get to Thursday
night with a game tonight for the people listening to this.
Speaker 2 (28:36):
Uh yeah, So Thursday Night kicks off with Green Bay
and Washington. So both these teams have very high expectations.
Which of the teams do you think is more bound
to live up to the hype.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
I I gotta tell you, I was really impressed by
Green Bay in Week one, really impressed. And what was
your super Bowl pick? Oh?
Speaker 2 (29:01):
I gotta say that this My super Bowl pick on
the the AFC is the Ravens.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
But this game isid wow.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
Yeah, Wow, it's the winner of this game. I'm going
with for the super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
Okay, So that's I couldn't remember. You didn't actually make
exactly Yeah, yeah, you the you you picked the Ravens
to win the super Bowl and to win the AFC obviously,
but you didn't. That's what I couldn't remember. I was like,
I don't know if you had one. I The Packers
(29:36):
are now in a spot where they don't need Jordan
Love to be magical or you know what I mean.
They don't need Jordan Love to look like a top
five quarterback for them to beat really good teams. They
just need him to avoid the what do you do
in Jordan Love moments would still pop up, you know,
(29:58):
from time to time, sometimes in a opportune times. But
a lot of really smart people were really in on
the Packers before the year. I wasn't. Before the Mica trade,
I wasn't one of them. If you remember, I had
a missing the playoffs, not having a bad year, but
just being odd man out. And then they got Mike
(30:18):
and I said, okay, I'll put him in the playoffs.
The people who were dead in on them were saying,
the only thing that is preventing me from saying they're
going to go to the Super Bowl. Is it feels
like they're just they need one star, like a A
plus player that they have a bunch of BB plus
(30:40):
players need an eight, and then they get Micah Parsons,
and I think that team is incredibly dangerous. Now, I
have a confession about Washington. Of all the games this
past weekend, bottom two attention to a game was Washington
(31:06):
against the Giants because it was just so like it
was to me, it was so obvious they were in
total control and that the Giants just had no ability
to really move the ball that I didn't ever really
lock in on it, and I haven't rewatched, so that's
just you know, I watch everything, but I'm not gonna
(31:30):
lie to you guys and tell you I've rewatched a
game that I haven't rewatched, or that I was totally
dialed into every second of that game. Because of the
two New York teams, the game that ended up having
my attention was the Steelers Jets Classic that I did
not expect that we were going to get. What I
(31:52):
do know is this though, from just casually watching that
game and then you know, looking at the numbers. If
Washington has a legitimate non Jayden Daniels run game with
Jacrossky Merritt, whose name is JA Cory. But do you
(32:13):
know what? He goes by Demansey. This is so good.
His name is his first name is Jacory, his last
name is uh Crosskey Merrit. But he is instead of
so first name Jackry, call me Bill. That's true. He's like, yeah,
I like everyone to call me Bill. His name, his
(32:34):
name is Jackry and he goes by Bill. So you
know what more power to you? Kid? Isn't Yeah?
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Isn't Bill like a short?
Speaker 1 (32:43):
What is? What's the big name that Bill short for
William William? No, you would think maybe Jack. His name
is j A c o r Y. You'd call me Jack. No,
he goes by Bill. That I'm sure there's a reason
for it, but whatever, it's what he wants to be called.
He he's the reason they felt comfortable trading away Brian Robinson.
(33:04):
He was I think a seventh round pick that they liked.
And he goes ten for eighty two, including broke off
a forty yarder. So if they have a run game
not Jaden Reliant, that raises their ceiling. My concern with Washington,
and again I had them winning their division, so I
didn't have a huge concern. But my concern with Washington
(33:27):
going into the year was how good is that defense
going to be? The defense was phenomenal against the Giants,
But this is one of those eye test games. Eye
test is the wrong way to put it, but ror
shark test games. Pardon me, what are we saying? You
know what I mean? Was that about oh Man, Washington's
defense is better than we expected? Or was that about
(33:50):
the Giants offense is doa and so we won't really
know until we see more, you know, more stuff later
this year. So similarly, like I am really like legit
worried about the Chief's ability to create a pass rush
and you know then guard on the back end. If
(34:12):
in a month Herbert has done that to everyone and
Danny Parkins is peacocking around everywhere, and you know, then
it's like, oh, moving Joe Alt to the left tackle,
even though you lost for Sean Slater, it was fine.
Like that offensive line is just nails. Maybe y'all feel
better about it. If this weekend, what are the Chargers?
(34:33):
Chargers play the Raiders this weekend. I think if the
Raiders who we don't trust their pass rush if the
Raiders are, you know, getting home on Herbert on Monday
Night football and I'm be like, oh boy, maybe the
Chiefs pass rush even worse than I thought. So that's
the problem. That's the tough part about week one is
why are we seeing what I'm seeing? With all that said,
(34:57):
I think green Bay's got the higher of ceiling of
those two teams, and I think right now green Bay
is a real threat to come out of the conference.
Not my pick, but a real threat to come out
of the conference. As far as when it comes to
the Eagles, the Eagles, the Eagles need to be focused
(35:19):
on obviously themselves, but Washington in that they need. If
you're an Eagles fan, you are hoping Washington loses this
game because home field advantage is not the dire priority
making sure you win the NFC East. You know what
I mean. You want to start with a bit of
(35:40):
a cushion on Washington. All right, let's go to Tampa
Bay Houston.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Pell Baker and the Bucks are headed to Houston to
take on the Texans on Sunday. Stroud called out his
team in Week one and said that they didn't even
deserve to win because they came out lolligag, lolligag. Is
there a problem in Houston?
Speaker 1 (36:00):
I'd be worried. I listen the Texans now, they got
rid of their offensive coordinator, and you know, the hope
was that that would solve things for them. But dating
back to last season, this offense has just been a
(36:21):
slog And you it got papered over a bit because
they had that great playoff win against the Chargers, but
that was about Herbert melting down in the Texans defense.
The Texans defense is excellent. There is no denying how
excellent the Texans defense is. There's also no denying that.
(36:45):
And I, you know, I somewhat tongue in cheek point
the make the line of demarcation when CJ lecturing Caleb.
But here is the truth of the matter. CJ threw
in the regular season the first his first year into
(37:07):
the first two games of year two was I think
twenty one touchdowns, five picks, and three of those picks
actually came in one game. Had a gaudy record. I'm
trying to pull it up right now. Since Week two
of last year, he is I think seventeen touchdowns to
(37:28):
thirteen picks and the team as a losing records. That's
a large sample of that Texans offense not really cooking,
and so that part is legitimately concerning. Now I'm gonna
tell you something else about this game, though, Demi Zay.
If if Baker cooks this Texans defense, then it is
(37:56):
time to really start the Baker Mayfield can win league
MVP pipe train. Like, Baker didn't have an unbelievable game
against the Falcons, but he had clutch throws and threw
for three touchdowns. Just not Yeah, poise and a book
obviously was awesome. I thought Stafford played really well against
(38:18):
the Texans defense. They scored fourteen points. Like, this Texans
defense is legit fantastic. If Baker goes into Houston and
puts up a big number, then like I will keep
the hype train going on Tampa potentially having the league's
(38:39):
best offense and that being enough to get Baker in
the MVP conversation and Tampa potentially to a super Bowl.
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All right, demons, let's get to the next games.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
All right. So these two teams didn't start the season
how they'd like, with Cincinnati coming off that one point
win against the Browns and the Ravens coming off of
just throwing the game. So in week two they've got
an easy one, but just like last year, they lost
to Vegas and one that you wouldn't have expected them to.
But which one of these fan bases do you think
should be more going.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
In the Bengals. Listen, the Ravens looked. The Ravens looked
for fifty five minutes like the best team of the
weekend by a mile. And we are now saying the
Ravens defense, you know, we have a lot of concerns
about when it looked like they were gonna allow twenty
five points to Josh Allen and the Bills, like that's fine,
(41:21):
Like there's no shame in allowing twenty five points to
the Bills with Josh Allen firing on all cylinders, and
the offense looked absolutely unstoppable. So yes, you're gonna have
in the back of your head all year long, like
are they gonna blow it? How are they gonna blow
at all that? But the Ravens, in large part for
the vast majority of that game, didn't just look good.
(41:42):
They looked like the best team in the NFL. Cincinnati
looked awful at everything, at everything that Joe Flackle's moving
the ball up and down the field. They needed the
Browns rookie kicker to miss an extra point and a
chip shot and to have not one but two interceptions
go off of Browns players' hands. It basically handing them
(42:04):
to the Bengals. They couldn't protect Burrow, they couldn't move
the ball like that was as far as bad wins.
That was as bad of a win as a team
will ever have. And so, I am, I think it
is totally I know the Bengals historically get better as
(42:25):
the year goes on. I am it is totally legitimate
to be highly concerned about Cincinnati, especially Demanse when you
look at it from this perspective, if we think Baltimore
is gonna win that division, which I think is a
fair assumption, and you look at the other teams who
(42:48):
could be fighting for wildcard spots and how they looked. Right,
So AFC East, nobody looked well, I guess the Jets
looked okay, but not then. But in their own division,
Pittsburgh looked much friskier than I think expected. In the South,
(43:11):
I listen, the Colts and Jags looked I think better
than a lot of people expected. In the West, the Jag,
I'm sorry, the Chargers looked awesome, and the Raiders looked
better than expected. The Obviously, now you might be like, well,
(43:32):
one of those team's gonna win the divisions. The Chiefs aren't.
That's fine, but go ahead and pencil the Chiefs in
for one of the playoff spots. So like the teams
that in the AFC that there were real expectations for
that looked worse than you would have hoped. Kansas City obviously,
(43:53):
Denver I think did, and the Patriots nobody else. And
so yeah, I'd be worried if I were Cincinnati, legitimately
worried if I were Cincinnati. All right, what are the
follow ups here?
Speaker 2 (44:10):
On Tuesday you brought you uh, you wrote off Bryce
Young and were starting a waiver on Caleb. Why is
your faith still on Trevor?
Speaker 1 (44:19):
Okay, to be clear, I did not write off Bryce
Young on Tuesday. I wrote off Bryce Young. Years ago.
I wrote off Bryce Young probably when he showed up
to the combine five to nine bucks seventy. It's like, Okay,
that guy's not that's not gonna work and so uh
and the I now, I did say I thought he
(44:41):
played impossibly bad this past weekend and he's a nice kid.
You feel bad, but it just is what it is.
Trevor showed you who he could be in year two
with a mediocre roster, when again I'm the only person
(45:02):
that cares about this was seventh in the MVP voting,
had a crazy playoff comeback and then lost to the
Chiefs in Arrowhead, Like there's no shame in any of that.
And then the next year, that same mediocre JAG's roster
was eight and three to start the year and then
he got hurt and the season went to hell, and
(45:23):
last year was an awful year, Like there is proof
of concept with Trevor, there was obviously never with Bryce
and with Caleb, we just haven't seen enough yet. And
so that's why. And I'm gonna listen, it's gonna be vindicated,
Like it's just the myke Trevor faith is going to
be vindicated. All right, Let's get to the Niners real quick.
Speaker 2 (45:49):
So the Niners have some injuries in some key spots
with Brock party, we don't know what's going on with him,
Juan and Jennings a little banged up, Kittles out for
at least four weeks. But they have the Saints this week.
So do you think what they're easy schedule, that they'll
be able to withstand their early injuries.
Speaker 1 (46:04):
No, Because here's the thing. At some point, your easy
schedule flips to you play a bunch of bad teams
that look at you and they're like we can beat them,
like you're the team, Like you become the easy part
of someone else's schedule. And while I don't think that's
(46:28):
the case for the Saints, that their next handful of
games given their injuries, particularly Listen, I'm no Brock purty guy,
but he's better than Mac Jones, particularly if Brock misses
time the Cardinals are right there with them. Then they
play the Jags, who are better than them. Then they
play the Rams, who are better than them. Then they
(46:49):
play the Bucks, who are much better than them. Then
they play the Falcons, who might be better than them,
and then they play the Texans, who should be better
than them. So like I understand, everyone's like, oh my god,
the Niners, and it will all now after that Giants,
(47:11):
Rams again, Cardinals again, Panthers, Browns, Titans there you go
like so that and then Colts, who we all thought
was gonna be terrible but or at least I did,
and then Bear Seahawks. But I just the you, the
entire plane can't be built out of we play a
soft schedule, especially because we don't know. We think we
(47:33):
know which teams are gonna be good or bad, but
teams will surprise you and I I don't know how
the Niners, like at some point we've got to have
a long talk about their strength and conditioning team, Like,
you can't just always have this many soft tissue injuries,
like the party thing's different, but that that doesn't playing
(47:56):
hard is not hamstring, growing calf and But one of
the things is we were worried is Christian McCaffrey gonna play,
Like how concerned are we? And then Kyle Shanahan's like
thirty one touches, like do every Christian do everything we can?
And it's just unbelievable and so uh and you know
(48:22):
he was one of the only really effective Niners in
that game.
Speaker 2 (48:26):
They go ahead, Okay, they put in the question who
has the worst injury luck? You think over the over
the league.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
The Chargers historically have dealt with some really bad ones.
But the Niners, as a team that's a real Super
Bowl contender, has just year after year after year, had
a lot of injuries. Some of it's their style of play,
but it can't all be just that. The Niners also
had one of their most important players during a Super
(48:55):
Bowl top its achilles, just coming onto the field Like
that's sickening and so like you know that, I mean,
that is so crazy that that happened, like not even
during the play. Bad luck man? All right? Ever, sign
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Bonus episode eight Thursday or early Friday. Nick Shulman, the
(50:02):
Goat coming back to preview Canelo Crawford so an extra episode.
Hope to see everyone in Kansas City on Friday if
you're around for the live taping of First Things First.
Thank you to Boost hard Rock volume, wayfair and yeah
everyone obviously at Blue Duck as well. Great job demandsday
(50:25):
like rate, subscribe, review to the channel, Talk to you
guys soon. What's right
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Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
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The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.
The Charlie Kirk Show
Charlie is America's hardest working grassroots activist who has your inside scoop on the biggest news of the day and what's really going on behind the headlines. The founder of Turning Point USA and one of social media's most engaged personalities, Charlie is on the front lines of America’s culture war, mobilizing hundreds of thousands of students on over 3,500 college and high school campuses across the country, bringing you your daily dose of clarity in a sea of chaos all from his signature no-holds-barred, unapologetically conservative, freedom-loving point of view. You can also watch Charlie Kirk on Salem News Channel