October 17, 2024 • 43 mins
Welcome to The Sports Cave with Biggest Puma, your ultimate destination for all things sports, hosted by the charismatic and insightful Sam Freas, also known as Biggest Puma. Broadcasting live from the east side, Sam brings you the latest and greatest in the world of sports, blending expert analysis with a touch of humor and personal anecdotes.
In this episode, Sam dives deep into the heart of the sports world, starting with a countdown to the highly anticipated Spurs opening night. With just seven days to go, he reflects on the preseason, the latest trades, and what fans can expect from the team, including the much-talked-about Wimby and the recent trade with the Kings.
Switching gears, Sam offers a comprehensive preview of NFL Week 7, focusing on the Dallas Cowboys’ much-needed bye week. He shares his candid thoughts on the team’s struggles, Troy Aikman’s recent comments on the offensive woes, and the broader implications for the season. Sam’s analysis is both critical and hopeful, providing a balanced perspective that resonates with fans.
Baseball enthusiasts will be thrilled as Sam recaps the latest action from the MLB playoffs. He breaks down Game 3 of the NLCS, highlighting the Dodgers’ dominant performance against the Mets, and previews the upcoming games. With detailed insights into key plays, player performances, and strategic decisions, Sam keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Hockey fans aren’t left out either, as Sam celebrates the Dallas Stars’ impressive start to the NHL season. He discusses the team’s recent contract extension with star goaltender Jake Oettinger and compares the Stars’ management to that of the Cowboys, offering a thought-provoking take on sports administration.
In addition to these main segments, Sam touches on NBA injury news, including the latest updates on Kawhi Leonard and Lonzo Ball, and previews the upcoming college football weekend, with a special focus on the Texas vs. Georgia game and the Formula 1 weekend in Austin.
Join Sam Freas in The Sports Cave for an engaging, informative, and entertaining journey through the world of sports. Whether you’re a die-hard fan or just looking to stay updated, this podcast has something for everyone. Don’t miss out on the latest episodes, and be sure to follow Sam on X (@biggestPuma) and Instagram (@biggest.puma) for more exclusive content and updates.
In this episode, Sam dives deep into the heart of the sports world, starting with a countdown to the highly anticipated Spurs opening night. With just seven days to go, he reflects on the preseason, the latest trades, and what fans can expect from the team, including the much-talked-about Wimby and the recent trade with the Kings.
Switching gears, Sam offers a comprehensive preview of NFL Week 7, focusing on the Dallas Cowboys’ much-needed bye week. He shares his candid thoughts on the team’s struggles, Troy Aikman’s recent comments on the offensive woes, and the broader implications for the season. Sam’s analysis is both critical and hopeful, providing a balanced perspective that resonates with fans.
Baseball enthusiasts will be thrilled as Sam recaps the latest action from the MLB playoffs. He breaks down Game 3 of the NLCS, highlighting the Dodgers’ dominant performance against the Mets, and previews the upcoming games. With detailed insights into key plays, player performances, and strategic decisions, Sam keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Hockey fans aren’t left out either, as Sam celebrates the Dallas Stars’ impressive start to the NHL season. He discusses the team’s recent contract extension with star goaltender Jake Oettinger and compares the Stars’ management to that of the Cowboys, offering a thought-provoking take on sports administration.
In addition to these main segments, Sam touches on NBA injury news, including the latest updates on Kawhi Leonard and Lonzo Ball, and previews the upcoming college football weekend, with a special focus on the Texas vs. Georgia game and the Formula 1 weekend in Austin.
Join Sam Freas in The Sports Cave for an engaging, informative, and entertaining journey through the world of sports. Whether you’re a die-hard fan or just looking to stay updated, this podcast has something for everyone. Don’t miss out on the latest episodes, and be sure to follow Sam on X (@biggestPuma) and Instagram (@biggest.puma) for more exclusive content and updates.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Light the Beam.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome into the Thursday edition of the Sports Cave with
Biggest Puma.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
I am your host, Sam Freeze.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
If you're trying to get a hold of the program here,
you can find me on x at Biggest Puma on
Instagram Biggest Dot Puma had a couple people I see
have reached out to me.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I feel like te pain.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
I just learned there is a message request folder on Instagram.
I'm still learning the platform, so bear with me. Broadcasting
live to tape here once again on the East Side
as a nice little cold front moves across our fair Birg.
Seven days now till Spurs opening night. We are officially
(00:48):
at the one week mark. If you missed, yesterday's show,
talked a little bit of Spurs in the main segment, well,
a lot of Spurs in the main segment, but the
majority of it was some wimby talk as well as
the recent trade they completed with the Kings. Spurs are
active tonight in their final preseason game. Thank god, We're
(01:10):
almost done with preseason basketball. We are at the one
week mark till we get the regular season kicking off.
Not gonna spend a lot of time on that preseason game,
so hand keld in Wimby CP three all sitting out
of tonight's contest over in Houston. So we'll have a
lot of Spurs talk on the program next week. Obviously,
(01:32):
with the season starting, I'm gonna have a lot of
NFL talk in the main segment today as we preview
week seven of a Cowboys List football weekend. And I
think I speak for a lot of people where I
need a break from that team I need. I need
them to be on their bye week so I can
(01:52):
try to enjoy football again without thinking of the impending
doom ahead for the Dallas Cowboys season. But fear not,
we will mention a little bit of Cowboys Talk today.
Troy Aikman was doing his weekly show up on DFW
radio station and said some interesting things in regards to
(02:15):
where he sees the offensive troubles this current team has,
and it's something we've talked about previously. It's just good
to see someone hear someone with a platform that big
and obviously the football a real football guy, as Jerry
would say, to hear a real football guy speak on
some of the same issues we've talked about. God Now,
(02:38):
in six weeks of this program, crazy to think we've
made it already through almost through week six of this
new operation. But as always, we start with what I
watched last night, and as has been the case for
the last three weeks now, it was a lot of
baseball again last night. I'm actually we're recording this now
(02:59):
daring game three of the ALCS. But last night we
had Game three of the NLCS. Dodgers end up winning
eight nothing over the Mets. The score is a little deceiving,
I think, because the Mets absolutely had their chances early
in the game. Dodgers now take a two to one
series lead. I mentioned the Mets stranded six runners in
(03:22):
the first three innings, and you know, Walker Buehler, who
looked a little rocky in his outing last series against
the Padres, ended up, you know, not getting any strikeouts
in that last start. He got probably his biggest strikeout
of the season for the Dodgers, struck out Francisco Lindor
with the bases loaded in the second inning, after he
(03:45):
had just struck out the number nine hitter for the
Mets the batter before, also with the bases loaded, so
get got out of the jym early. Mets left a
lot of opportunity on the base pass early, and if
you're gonna do that against the Dogs, it's gonna come
back to bite you. End up, Key k hernandez Otani
and Max Munsey all homered. But it wasn't as much
(04:07):
about the offense, because when you win a game eight nothing,
you only need one homer one run to win that game.
It was all about the pitching again for LA. Five pitchers,
including Buehler, who started go four hits thirteen strikeouts on
the night, So pretty nails from out of the bullpen.
Good start by Bueler, even though he didn't make it
(04:29):
to the five inning mark to get the win. But
I'm not sure he cares at all about that. That's
another one win closer now to the World Series for
the Dodgers. They take a two to one series lead.
They are in action again tonight. They play the later game,
the seven o'clock game. Freddie Freeman, we got word earlier combination.
(04:52):
He's obviously still battling that ankle sprain that he got
back at the end of September, but also with the
Mets starting a lefty and Jose Kintana, it makes sense
for the Dodgers to go right handed heavy on their
lineup and with a two to one series lead, now
they can afford to give Freddy Freeman at least one
(05:13):
game off, because when you're battling an ankle sprain like that,
maybe one game is all the difference to him still
being available come the World Series if they make it
that far, or at minimum in the game seven in
this series. So a lot of good baseball again on
the docket tonight. I mentioned recording this during Yankees Guardians
(05:37):
Guardians trying to avoid basically facing a sweep or a
gentleman's sweep at best. So we'll talk a lot of
baseball on tomorrow's program recapping both those games. Got some
NBA injury news to get to real quick before we
jump into NFL talk. But I got to mention. I
(05:57):
swear I won't mention the Stars every show. I'll try
not to, but when they go out and lock up
an integral piece to their Stanley Cup Final run from
four years ago in the bubble, and you know the
guy who's taking over as a top five goalie for
them over these last four years since that Stanley Cup
(06:19):
Final run, losing in the bubble, Stars, we got the
word today you knew something was coming yesterday because Brad
Albert's front office guy up there with the Stars team president.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I believe actually he tweeted out just the.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
You know eyeball emoji, and anytime he tweets anything, you
know in the past, that means it was the announcement
of the Madonna statue, or of the Winter Classic being
played at the Cotton Bowl, or you know, some of
the other long term deals they've locked up, like Miro's deal,
Hayskinin's deal a couple of years ago, last year it was,
(06:58):
and that was exactly what it was. Today we got
word that the Stars have locked up their starting goaltender,
Jake Ottender for an eight year extension. It kicks in
starting next year, so really it's a nine year contract now.
But the eight year extension sixty six million total. For
you non math nerds, that's eight point two to five
(07:20):
million average per year. It's also you might recognize that number.
It's the exact same deal that Jeremy Swayman just signed
after holding out in Boston. The only difference is Swayman
had an extra year of restricted free agency where Ottinger
would have hit unrestricted earlier. So Swayman's deal. It's the
(07:43):
same numbers wise, but it does have some different.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Outs throughout the deal.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
But I think if all goes to plan Outender will
be a Dallas Star through at least his age thirty
three season now, and it's hard not to It's hard
not to compare, obviously with the news of this week
being how terrible of a general manager the Dallas Cowboys have.
Look across the street, look across the Metroplex, and look
(08:12):
at what the Stars have done over the last three years,
the core young guys that they have locked up. Now,
you sign Miro to the long term deal, you sign
Rope to the long term deal. You don't give long
term money to Robertson or Harley, but both of them
sign those gap deals, so it basically like baseball. It
(08:34):
eats up the rest of their restricted free agency, so
you don't have to deal with that or arbitration as
it would be in baseball. But the overarching, the overarching
view of the club is they have their entire core
now locked up for at least two more years. So
a team that is off to the best start in
the NHL this season, they go for five and zero
(08:57):
start tonight against the Capitals. They now can add Jake
Attinger into their plans for Damn near the next decade
with this extension. And I mentioned it's hard not to
look at how good of a general manager Jim Neil
is and compare that to I don't know, the team
in Dallas that draws the most eyeballs every time they
(09:19):
step on the field, and just imagining, you know, the
way the Stars conduct their business. Obviously it's apples to oranges,
it's NHL to NFL, and I get that, but it's
really hard not to immediately compare the job Jim Neil
has done over the last three four years, especially with
the draft and developed guys. The fact that you know
(09:39):
now that Jamie Binn, Tyler Sagan, some of the aging
stars on the team or previous stars now more role
player complementary guys. The fact that the Stars have done
such a great job of drafting that they already have
their immediate replacements on the roster. Just look back at
that draft class that Ottender was in. That was also
(10:03):
the draft class where they took Miro Hayeskin and fourth overall.
So outstanding job by Jim Neil and the rest of
the front office. It makes this four and OHO start
feel even better now to know that they have a
large chunk of their what would have been their off
season business out of the way.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Now.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Really you look at their cap.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Table, it just sets up incredibly nicely for the next
few years. I was talking to a few of my
Stars buddies this morning and it's again, it's very uncomfortable
to look at how much the national media loves this
team to look at, you know, how good they've been
in aligning their business, their contracts, and to staying out
(10:48):
of that standoff drama like we saw with Swaymen and
the Bruins where he holds out through all of training
camp and then Ottender ends up getting the exact same
deal that he did without any drama. So the good times,
the exciting times are alive with the Stars again. At
least one Dallas team knows how to conduct their business.
(11:10):
Some NBA injury news to get to. I know a
lot of y'all saw this, a lot of y'all jumped
on top of this. Tell me if you've heard this before.
Kawhi Leonard is dealing with a knee injury. We got
word today he will be out indefinitely to start the season.
He's rehabbing from that right knee inflammation and now at
(11:31):
thirty three years old entering this year, the Clippers really
really appear to have mismanaged that contract extension drama from
last year with him and Paul George. You know, they
give the money to Kawhi Leonard. They tell Paul George,
we can't offer you the MAX because we want you
and Kawhi to stay, but not on the max.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Kawhi was smart.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
He took the money because I think he knows the
he's way closer to the end of his career than
he is to signing another near max extension like that.
So Kawhi takes their money as fast as he possibly can.
As soon as it's offered. Paul George holds out and
tells them it's gonna take the max to get me
to re sign. They don't budge. Paul George ends up
(12:18):
on a championship contender in Philadelphia, and now Clippers fans
have James Harden running the offense. To look forward to
that Clippers team could absolutely fall down the Western Conference
standings really really fast. If you look at the rest
of their roster, there's a lot of complimentary pieces now
(12:39):
without the guys that those pieces compliment, And that is
a bad place to find yourself in this now suddenly
stacked Western Conference with young teams wanting to grab those
spots that the Clippers have held for the last basically
the last half decade. Now you know, flow around that
(13:00):
number just anywhere from number three to six seed in
the West. The Clippers, as it looks right now, they
could find themselves as the odd team out even from
a play in spot. And wouldn't that be a shame
In the year they open their you know, other worldly
(13:21):
into it dome that they're now And if you haven't
seen any of the footage from what their first preseason
game there looked like, apparently they gave it a soft opening,
so they didn't even show off all of the gadgets
they have in store. But that arena looks insane on
the TV broadcast. I can't imagine what it looks like
(13:42):
if you're actually there. So it would be it would
be very clippers to open up the most expensive NBA
arena ever and miss the playoffs. Hell even missed the
play in But you look at that roster and now
with news of Kawhi's indefinite absence from the already aging
(14:03):
really kind of misfitting roster. I would not bet on
the Clippers to hit that over under number we talked
about last week. Also in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma
City's big money signing big money to the tune of
three years eighty seven million dollars total this last offseason.
(14:23):
Again for a guy that averaged seven points eight rebounds
with the Knicks last year. Isaiah Hartenstein fractures his left hand.
He's going to be reevaluated in five to six weeks,
but as it stands right now, that means he'll miss
the first month of the NBA season. So again a team,
you know, when we go back and think about, you
(14:44):
know what we were talking about with those NBA under
win loss win total numbers, you know, the small injuries
like this, you know, Hartenstein missing a month could be
the reason Oklahoma City doesn't get the top seed again
like they did last year, or doesn't hit that over
under number. Kind of in the same way with the
Spurs talking the Devin Vesell injury. Hopefully it's not much
(15:09):
longer than the first five to six games, as we've
been told right now, because those five or six games
could end up being the difference in a play in
spot at the end of the season. But it's not
all bad news in the NBA when it comes to injuries.
I say what you will about the Ball brothers dad,
(15:30):
and there's a lot you can say about it. But
we haven't heard from him in years, probably because Lonzo
hasn't played in years and LaMelo is in basketball purgatory
in Charlotte. But last night Lonzo Ball stepped onto an
NBA court for the first time in two and a
half years. And obviously, you know, not big on Chicago's
(15:55):
chances this year when it comes to contending or anything
like that. This might be the story of the year
for the Chicago Bulls. Last night, in a preseason game
up in Chicago, Lonzo ends up playing fifteen minutes in
the game, but puts ten points on the board. Ends
up he can still shoot, even if his knee might
(16:17):
fall off at any minute. He was four for six
last night. And I mentioned, you know, the nastiness of
his injury history, and you think back about you know, guys,
from my our childhood, my childhood, you know now thirty eight,
you know, thinking back to the mid nineties, you know,
(16:37):
early two thousands when you guys were you know, when
Amari Stodommeyer came back from arthroscopic knee surgery, and it
was a miracle that he ended up doing what he
did with the Knicks after, you know, having such a
prolific early career with the Suns to come back from
the nasty injury and still be a valuable piece, albeit
(17:02):
on a team that didn't achieve much, but still, you know,
an above average NBA player after the injury. And of
course you think back to Penny Hardaway and just how
his career was never the same. None of those guys
really came close to what Lonzo's had to deal with,
which is crazy to even think about when you consider
(17:23):
he played in an NBA preseason game last night. He's
had three arthroscopic procedures on his left knee alone, and
in March of twenty twenty three, so basically a year
and a half ago, he had a rare double cartilage transplant.
So we're talking unprecedented levels of knee injury to come
(17:44):
back from. So I mean not that we're all of
a sudden gonna be Bulls fans, but it was the
softy the sports softy in me enjoyed seeing those highlights,
enjoyed seeing Lonzo get the standing ovation from the Bull's crowd, because,
like I said, that might be the only standing ovation
any Chicago Bull player gets this entire year. So not
(18:08):
all bad injury news, just most of it. But let's
shift gears now. We've got a lot of football to
talk about. Obviously, Cowboys on bye week, so we're not
going to preview their game for this WEEKND since they
don't have one. But as has been the case most
of this week, we can barely go twenty four hours
(18:30):
without something Cowboys related making national headlines. And we got
that again this morning as Troy Yeikman did his weekly
radio appearance with Don Harris's former college classmates, the Musers
up there on the ticket in Dallas, and Troy had
some observations about this Cowboys offense that a lot of
(18:54):
people are going to immediately say, he's just covering for Dak,
He's just covering for his fellow quarterback. But he's pointing
out some of the same things we pointed out two
three weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
I think the routes are terrible. I think they run
terrible routes. And uh. And I've thought that beyond this year,
and I think Ceed's got to improve in his route
running and as a quarterback, Uh, if you're not certain
where guys are going to be uh consistently, it's hard.
It's hard to play the position. And uh. And so
that's that's what I see. I see. I see guys
(19:27):
lazy coming off the line of scrimmage. Sometimes they sometimes
they run. Usually if they do, it's because they're anticipating
they're going to get the football in that play. But
if they're not, they don't. And it all ties together,
and so I'm not impressed with that part of it.
I've just finished watching the Baltimore Ravens because I have
them this week, and watch their receivers run routes and
uh and they come off the football and so to
(19:49):
San Francisco's and and uh, Green Bays and and others.
But uh, it's it's it's it's hard to play the
position if you're not certain how guys are going to
run outs or where they're going to be. And I'm
not speaking for Dak. Dak may say I think everything's amazing,
but as a former quarterback watching it, it's got to
get a lot better.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
It's pretty ironic that on the same week where Amari Cooper,
one of the best route runners to ever play for
the Cowboys, gets traded for more compensation than the Cowboys
originally got two and a half years ago. Now Troy
is on DFW radio talking about how no one on
the Cowboys roster amongst the running back I mean the
(20:31):
wide receiver group is good at running routes, and he
specifically mentioned CD, which I think that is obviously something
we've He's not the first person to say that about CD.
CD gets by a lot of times with pure athleticism
and playmaking ability, and it's not as much about running
(20:52):
sharp routes. It's about just getting the ball in his hands,
and that's fine to an extent. You still you gotta
find off every single play and act like you might
be the intended target. And it feels like some of
Troy's commentary there, some of his specifically mentioning the guys
that don't look like they're firing off play after play
(21:16):
after play. I would say that is probably more geared
towards CD than any of the other guys. But the
route running is more of the turpin. As we talked
about before how he turpined never. I think it was
when Truman was with me last week. You know, Turpin
never creates separation. He has damn near Olympic speed and
(21:40):
never really creates separation to open up a passing window consistently,
at least for Dak. Look at Brandon Cooks, it looks
like he is now well past his prime. And for
a guy that is undersized and relies on speed to
get on top of defenses, that's where you fall back into.
(22:02):
You got to rely on your ability to run routes,
and he's not creating separation. Tolbert is starting to show
some flashes, but i as was the case when he
was drafted, he was a small school project that really
projected to the NFL level based off of his athleticism,
(22:23):
not his precision when it came to running routes. So
it really feels like Try has some valid points there
that a lot of people don't want to hear, because,
like most things, when you look at the overall Cowboys
record or how you feel about the team through six
games of the season so far, the first name that
(22:45):
always comes to mind is Dak.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
What is Dak done?
Speaker 2 (22:49):
What has Dak done to overcome the shortcomings of the
defensive side of the ball. But I think it's impossible
to place all of that on Dak's shoulders when it's
clear as day the Cowboys just don't have the personnel
compared to even average wide receiver rooms that make the
(23:10):
passing game click when, as Troy said, when the quarterback
knows exactly where the wide receiver is going to be
and isn't worried about if he's going to run three
yards deep or five yards deep before the cut, and
that second guessing in the back of Dak's head on
every single play.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
And then you add the.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Issues with the receivers to the fact that they have
the least competent running offense run game in the entire league.
It's a bad It's a recipe for a bad offense.
And then you look at the other side of the ball.
We know the defensive issues are just as heightened, if
not more so, than the offensive issues. You know, the
(23:52):
defense gives up multiple games of forty plus while the
offense can't score in the red zone and leads league
in phild goal attempts per game. All of that combined
leads to a bad football team. And despite the three
and three record, remember, like we said earlier this week,
only the Panthers and Jaguars have given up more total
(24:14):
points than the Cowboys, So I think, hell, look at
the Saints right now, who, after beating the Cowboys forty
four to nineteen in Week two, are now on a
four game losing streak of their own. So I think,
every you know, the Cowboys three and three record is
really closer to a one in five record than it
(24:34):
is a five hundred record. Unfortunately, but I swear that
will be the last of the Cowboys talk. For the
rest of the episode. We're going to burn through the
rest of NFL Week seven, starting with I mentioned the Saints. There,
they look to end their four game losing streak as
they welcome one of their own back to New Orleans
(24:56):
for the first time. Sean Payton returns now as the
head coach of Denver. That is our Thursday Night game Tonight,
Denver traveling to New Orleans. Now a battle of rookie
quarterbacks as Bo Knicks faces off against Spencer Rattler. This
is absolutely a game New Orleans win.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Needs to win.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
More than Denver mentioned, the four game losing streak since
beating the Cowboys. You know, look at the rest of
that NFC South as Tampa Bay in Atlanta start to
separate themselves from the rest of the division, the Saints
can't afford to fall too far back, especially having already
played some division games this year. They're not going to
(25:38):
get as many opportunities on the back end of that
schedule to make up ground head to head in that division,
so can't be dropping games to an AFC team at home.
It will be interesting to see what kind of reception
Sean Payton gets as he travels back to New Orleans.
It's always a fun reminder of you know, Sean Payton's
(26:00):
career resume compared to Mike McCarthy's career resume, they are
practically identical and did it all with a Hall of
Fame quarterback throughout the majority of their you know, run
with the Packers and Saints, respectively. And I think Sean
Payton now with his new toy and bo Nix as
(26:20):
a rookie, an old rookie. But you know, starting to
show Denver sitting there at five hundred, starting to show
some signs of turning a corner, potentially with a franchise
quarterback in place. I would think Sean Payton is probably
looking for a signature win for this young Denver team,
(26:42):
especially going up against his former team. And then this
is a sobering stat for you. The Saints allow three
hundred and ninety six yards per game. That's most in
the league. Think back to the struggles the Cowboys had
against that defense in Week two and think their average
(27:03):
is almost four hundred yards giving up per game. Again,
I swear that's the last time we'll mention the Cowboys,
but that makes that Week two loss feel even worse.
To see what the rest of the league now has
been able to do against that Saints defense won't spend
a whole lot of time. The only reason this one's
getting mentioned is because I forgot last week that the
(27:25):
Jaguars were actually doubling up in London. They were in
London last week, and now turn around and God, the poor,
the poor Brits get to watch a battle of one
in five teams Sunday morning as Patriots play the Jaguars.
I'd mentioned last week, Doug Peterson should just stay and
make it a European vacation. I'm sure he's spent the
(27:48):
week booking different hostels or five star hotels for him
to tour the entire south of Europe, because I think
if the Patriots beat the Jaguars in that game, there's
no way Doug Peterson flies back to the States with
that team.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
He's booking his own flight.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Just two teams with totally different trajectories or expectations. I
should say at the beginning of the season, obviously the
Pats knew and they were starting a bridge quarterback until
Drake May was going to take over. Well, he's already
taken over starting last week against the Texans, but the
Jaguars just completely I think it was con Their owner
(28:31):
at the beginning of the year said, you know, he
believed this was their most talented roster ever assembled as
a franchise. And now to see them get off to
a one in five start, I can't imagine he has
a whole lot more patience for that subpar product there.
Since we're talking about subpar products, will burn through some
(28:51):
of the other snoozers on the docket. This weekend, one
in four Titans traveled to the four and two Bills.
The aforementioned Mark Cooper, now a member of the Buffalo Bills.
It's really interesting to see an organization that has a
four and two team like Buffalo look at their personnel
and say, we are still not where we need to
(29:13):
be to compete in the upper echelon of the AFC.
They go out and get a true number one receiver
to replace Diggs, who they traded obviously to the Texans
this past offseason. They seem to realize the mistake of
their ways, go out and get a Mari should be
No win is easy in the NFL. But if you're
(29:35):
looking for any survivor picks lock picks this week, I
would say Bills at home against the one in four Titans.
The Battle of Ohio is probably one that no one
expected the teams to have a combined three wins between
each other, more so an indictment of the Bengals than
(29:57):
the Browns, of course, but two and four Bengals traveling
to the one in five Browns, it does seem like
the Bengals still have a route forward to save this season,
maybe backdoor into a wild card spot. Still, if they
can get on a run and you look at their
upcoming schedule, they you know, with this Browns game, moving forward,
(30:18):
they have a run of three or four, you know,
could rattle off four out of the next five and
be back over five hundred and back in the playoff picture.
Two teams that really you know, Dolphins don't have a quarterback.
Colts can't keep a quarterback healthy. For that matter, neither
can the Dolphins. Two and three Dolphins travel to play
(30:39):
the three and three Colts. Colts are probably the closest
competitor to the Texans in that division, but it looks
like Houston will run away with it. And then two
and four Raiders versus one and four Rams, I'm not
sure what the Rams really could have prepared themselves for.
(31:00):
You lose your top two wide receivers, not just that,
but probably two of the best twelve receivers in the
entire league.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
It's hard to.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Really get any kind of offense, any kind of rhythm
going when you're just down that many weapons, especially the
way they like to run that offense, where a three
to five yard reception is basically their handoff on first down.
And now they just don't have the weapons to carry
out that offensive game plan, that scheme under McVeigh. But
(31:32):
Raiders are completely lost to Raiders. Obviously, trading DeVante Adams.
They're trying to move parts to tank for Schador or
whoever the consensus first quarterback off the board will be.
I will say, if you're looking to tank for a
quarterback this year, there are much better years on paper
(31:53):
to do that. It doesn't feel like there is a
anywhere close to a consensus number one quarterback right now
amongst the college group. I say Schador more as a
stand in, because I'm not sure anyone's looking to move
heaven and Earth to draft Carson Beck or Quinn or
(32:13):
any of the other names that will be floated out
there come draft season. Back to some games that actually
potentially could matter in the playoff race. We do have
a game in the NFC that could end up having
some wild card implications. Seattle three and three. Now, after
getting off to a great start, they have fallen back
(32:36):
close to the median And again, if you're a Seahawks fan,
I think you feel a lot better about your team's
three and three record than the Cowboys three and three record. Well,
they're traveling to four and two Atlanta, and again I'm
still viewing everything through my Cowboys glasses. Forgive me, but
(32:58):
Cols do visit Atlanta after they play San Francisco coming
out of the bye. So it could be an Atlanta
team that is rolling if they can you know, beat
the Seahawks at home. That Atlanta game on paper at
the beginning of the year, I feel a lot differently
about it now as I think about the Cowboys traveling
(33:22):
to Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
I think about, you know, the game what.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
Four years ago, five four or five years ago when
Dallas allowed dak to just absolutely get you know, mauled
had no time to throw. I think one of the
Falcons set the franchise sac record. He had like six
and a half sacks, and there's something ridiculous. Don't quote
me on that. I don't have it in front of me,
(33:46):
but I do something about traveling to Atlanta just is
bad memories to begin with. And the way that Atlanta
offense is starting to find their groove again, that could
be another That could be another you know, tough test
for this beleaguered Cowboys defense. And then the best games
(34:08):
of the week we do actually have. I'm excited because
getting to watch football this weekend without dreading or having
to take notes during a Cowboys game or anything like that.
Just get to sit back and potentially hopefully watch some
good football games. And we've got three of them. I
would say that really jump out grab my attention. Uh,
(34:32):
five and one Texans traveling to the four and two Packers.
I think this is a great test for both teams.
You know, the Packers, Jordan love Still, you know, took
a couple of weeks to get into to find a
rhythm coming back from injury. The Texans are five and one,
but they've had some close calls against bad teams so far.
(34:53):
I think this is a good barometer of you know,
I would I would lean Packers just because they're at
home really more than anything. But I think both of
these teams are kind of right there on that cusp
of the next team outside of their conference upper tier.
You know, the Texans, I think, are that next team
(35:14):
behind Kansas City, potentially behind Baltimore, you know, kind of
in that same you know, they're right there with Buffalo,
and the Packers, I would say, are right there as
that team that's right outside of San fran right outside
of Detroit. Still not sold on the Vikings, I know,
but every team in that NFC North Division would make
(35:35):
the playoffs if they if the season ended right now,
So they got to start beating up on each other
and we get our first matchup where I really think
we'll get a better idea of the staying power of
this Vikings team as they host the four and one Lions.
We know what the Lions are capable of, don't we.
Cowboys fans traveling to Minnesota playing the undefeated five and
(35:59):
zero Viking just aan a great NFC North matchup. I
would expect we don't see anything near what we saw
the Lions do last week.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
But again, when that division the.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Way they've all gotten off to hot starts, it's really
hard to predict anything in terms of week to week
up there and then final kind of big game of
the week. The five and zero undefeated Chiefs traveled to
San Francisco. Niners are only three and three, but no
team has dealt with more injuries so far through six
(36:36):
weeks than the Niners have. And of course, again with
Cowboys glasses on, I would love to see the Chiefs
go out there, and I'm not exactly like, if the
Chiefs go out there and embarrass the Niners, then the
Niners are gonna be pissed off for a week and
they're gonna want to embarrass the next team they play,
which unfortunately is Dallas. So maybe a Chief's close win,
(37:00):
so the Niners don't have as much to prove seven
days later when they face the Cowboys, but should be
a good game, definitely. I think even with the Lions
four and one record, the Niners win healthy are the
class of the NFC going up against the obvious class
of the AFC and the undefeated again Chiefs.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
And then lastly, I.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Separated NFC East matchups because those are I mean, that's
going to be the Cowboys probably only route to a
playoff spot is winning the division. I'm not sure anyone
in this division gets a wild card spot, but the
Giants could really help Dallas out. This week they two
and four Giants host the three and two Eagles. Of course,
(37:47):
this is Saquon Barkley's return to the Meadowlands, and if
you watch that Giants offseason hard knocks, believe what you
want to believe. But it doesn't seem like the owner
really want to lose Barkley. But the GM talked him
into it, talked him into the fact that Barkley's best
years were behind him. Well, he's looked pretty damn good
(38:09):
in that Philly offense. We'll see if Nick Sirianni is
yelling at any fans from the sideline this week. I
hope the Giants can do us a favor, but that
still feels it still feels like a good chance for
the Eagles to get to Foreign two. And then, speaking
of foreign two, four and two Commanders host the one
(38:31):
in five Panthers. Shouldn't be shouldn't be much of a
test for Washington. But with a rookie quarterback, with a
team that is exceeding expectations through six games, I think
this would This is what your football uncle that speaks
in nothing but cliches, this is what he would call
(38:52):
a trap game. For the record, that guy drives me insane,
the guy that speaks in nothing but nineties sports talk
radio cliches. Oh yeah, no, it's gonna be a trap game.
You know, Commanders playing at home, they're gonna overlook coach
on the field, Andy Dalton. You know that Panthers team
is close. They they're real close.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
They've been. That guy just drives me up a wall.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
But last game of the weekend Sunday Night Football two
and four Jets with the addition of DeVante Adams he
should be. It seems like he will be active all
of a sudden. That hamstring injury he had in Las
Vegas isn't bad enough to keep him out of games
going up against the somehow four and two Steelers, which
(39:37):
is even more insane when you remember that one of
their two losses is to Dallas at home on a
Sunday night. So we do have mentioned the debut of
Adams with the Jets. It does look like Russell Wilson
will be the starting quarterback for the Steelers when they
take the field Sunday night, which, if you're just in fields,
(40:01):
I mean, I know that offense wasn't humming. It wasn't
like they were winning games because of the offense, but
it's got to be a pretty sinking feeling in your
gut to go four and two and get pulled for
Russell Russell Wilson, who got benched for Stevenville's own Jarrett
Stidham last year in Denver. If I was granted, I mean,
(40:23):
I'm not a football guy, as Jerry would say, but
if I was the Steelers, I'd be looking more towards
the future and trying to get as much out of
Justin Fields as the starter than resorting to putting Russ
Wilson back in there. But they're four and two and
it should be five and one if it wasn't for
(40:43):
that Cowboys miracle up there a couple of weeks ago.
We get another Monday night football double header. Not gonna
spend a lot of time on this. We'll talk about
this come Monday. But we do get one good game
at least four and two Ravens at the four and
two Bucks. The other game Chargers at Cardinals, so we'll
cover that one a little more on Monday. As I said,
(41:06):
a lot of baseball on tonight. I'm about to run
back into the other room to try to catch the
rest of that Guardian's Yankees game and then get ready
for the Dodgers Mets series really potentially series deciding game.
Obviously not a must win, but if the Dodgers can
go up three to one before traveling back to LA,
(41:27):
I think even the most die hard Mets fan would
probably be uncomfortable with the expected outcome at that point. Mentioned,
we'll have the small screen on for Thursday night football.
Sean Payton's return to New Orleans, and I got to
see if my stars can go five to zero for
(41:48):
you real NBA Sikos of course, spurs rockets with nothing,
but basically exhibit ten players filling out the roster in
the final preseason game. Anything crazy happens in that, you know,
we'll cover it tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, Friday, we will
have our college football preview massive, massive weekend over in Austin.
(42:12):
Not just Texas, Georgia, it's also Formula one weekend over there,
and if you saw some of what the hotel prices
we're going for, it should be an absolutely insane weekend
over in the state capitol. But we'll talk about the
entire college football slate, hit on a little local high
school football. I might even I'm throwing around the idea
(42:34):
of trying to make it out to a game here
in the next few weeks. I've got a few circled
on the calendar. If there's a good one that y'all
would suggest, reach out to me, let me know, steer
me in the right direction. But really, at some point
I want to see this Piper team play and want
to try to catch a Steel game as well, because
(42:55):
despite the loss to Westlake, I still think they have
a deep run ahead of them in the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
But we'll get into all that.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
Tomorrow, as well as the roommate's return for Who Won
the Internet. She has been sending me stuff all week,
so I think she'll have quite a bit of entertaining
content for tomorrow's show as well. But till then, as always,
I appreciate y'all riding along. Be safe, we'll talk tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (43:22):
Kids. What do we say about drugs?
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Yeah,
Light the Beam.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Welcome into the Thursday edition of the Sports Cave with
Biggest Puma.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
I am your host, Sam Freeze.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
If you're trying to get a hold of the program here,
you can find me on x at Biggest Puma on
Instagram Biggest Dot Puma had a couple people I see
have reached out to me.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I feel like te pain.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
I just learned there is a message request folder on Instagram.
I'm still learning the platform, so bear with me. Broadcasting
live to tape here once again on the East Side
as a nice little cold front moves across our fair Birg.
Seven days now till Spurs opening night. We are officially
(00:48):
at the one week mark. If you missed, yesterday's show,
talked a little bit of Spurs in the main segment, well,
a lot of Spurs in the main segment, but the
majority of it was some wimby talk as well as
the recent trade they completed with the Kings. Spurs are
active tonight in their final preseason game. Thank god, We're
(01:10):
almost done with preseason basketball. We are at the one
week mark till we get the regular season kicking off.
Not gonna spend a lot of time on that preseason game,
so hand keld in Wimby CP three all sitting out
of tonight's contest over in Houston. So we'll have a
lot of Spurs talk on the program next week. Obviously,
(01:32):
with the season starting, I'm gonna have a lot of
NFL talk in the main segment today as we preview
week seven of a Cowboys List football weekend. And I
think I speak for a lot of people where I
need a break from that team I need. I need
them to be on their bye week so I can
(01:52):
try to enjoy football again without thinking of the impending
doom ahead for the Dallas Cowboys season. But fear not,
we will mention a little bit of Cowboys Talk today.
Troy Aikman was doing his weekly show up on DFW
radio station and said some interesting things in regards to
(02:15):
where he sees the offensive troubles this current team has,
and it's something we've talked about previously. It's just good
to see someone hear someone with a platform that big
and obviously the football a real football guy, as Jerry
would say, to hear a real football guy speak on
some of the same issues we've talked about. God Now,
(02:38):
in six weeks of this program, crazy to think we've
made it already through almost through week six of this
new operation. But as always, we start with what I
watched last night, and as has been the case for
the last three weeks now, it was a lot of
baseball again last night. I'm actually we're recording this now
(02:59):
daring game three of the ALCS. But last night we
had Game three of the NLCS. Dodgers end up winning
eight nothing over the Mets. The score is a little deceiving,
I think, because the Mets absolutely had their chances early
in the game. Dodgers now take a two to one
series lead. I mentioned the Mets stranded six runners in
(03:22):
the first three innings, and you know, Walker Buehler, who
looked a little rocky in his outing last series against
the Padres, ended up, you know, not getting any strikeouts
in that last start. He got probably his biggest strikeout
of the season for the Dodgers, struck out Francisco Lindor
with the bases loaded in the second inning, after he
(03:45):
had just struck out the number nine hitter for the
Mets the batter before, also with the bases loaded, so
get got out of the jym early. Mets left a
lot of opportunity on the base pass early, and if
you're gonna do that against the Dogs, it's gonna come
back to bite you. End up, Key k hernandez Otani
and Max Munsey all homered. But it wasn't as much
(04:07):
about the offense, because when you win a game eight nothing,
you only need one homer one run to win that game.
It was all about the pitching again for LA. Five pitchers,
including Buehler, who started go four hits thirteen strikeouts on
the night, So pretty nails from out of the bullpen.
Good start by Bueler, even though he didn't make it
(04:29):
to the five inning mark to get the win. But
I'm not sure he cares at all about that. That's
another one win closer now to the World Series for
the Dodgers. They take a two to one series lead.
They are in action again tonight. They play the later game,
the seven o'clock game. Freddie Freeman, we got word earlier combination.
(04:52):
He's obviously still battling that ankle sprain that he got
back at the end of September, but also with the
Mets starting a lefty and Jose Kintana, it makes sense
for the Dodgers to go right handed heavy on their
lineup and with a two to one series lead, now
they can afford to give Freddy Freeman at least one
(05:13):
game off, because when you're battling an ankle sprain like that,
maybe one game is all the difference to him still
being available come the World Series if they make it
that far, or at minimum in the game seven in
this series. So a lot of good baseball again on
the docket tonight. I mentioned recording this during Yankees Guardians
(05:37):
Guardians trying to avoid basically facing a sweep or a
gentleman's sweep at best. So we'll talk a lot of
baseball on tomorrow's program recapping both those games. Got some
NBA injury news to get to real quick before we
jump into NFL talk. But I got to mention. I
(05:57):
swear I won't mention the Stars every show. I'll try
not to, but when they go out and lock up
an integral piece to their Stanley Cup Final run from
four years ago in the bubble, and you know the
guy who's taking over as a top five goalie for
them over these last four years since that Stanley Cup
(06:19):
Final run, losing in the bubble, Stars, we got the
word today you knew something was coming yesterday because Brad
Albert's front office guy up there with the Stars team president.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I believe actually he tweeted out just the.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
You know eyeball emoji, and anytime he tweets anything, you
know in the past, that means it was the announcement
of the Madonna statue, or of the Winter Classic being
played at the Cotton Bowl, or you know, some of
the other long term deals they've locked up, like Miro's deal,
Hayskinin's deal a couple of years ago, last year it was,
(06:58):
and that was exactly what it was. Today we got
word that the Stars have locked up their starting goaltender,
Jake Ottender for an eight year extension. It kicks in
starting next year, so really it's a nine year contract now.
But the eight year extension sixty six million total. For
you non math nerds, that's eight point two to five
(07:20):
million average per year. It's also you might recognize that number.
It's the exact same deal that Jeremy Swayman just signed
after holding out in Boston. The only difference is Swayman
had an extra year of restricted free agency where Ottinger
would have hit unrestricted earlier. So Swayman's deal. It's the
(07:43):
same numbers wise, but it does have some different.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Outs throughout the deal.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
But I think if all goes to plan Outender will
be a Dallas Star through at least his age thirty
three season now, and it's hard not to It's hard
not to compare, obviously with the news of this week
being how terrible of a general manager the Dallas Cowboys have.
Look across the street, look across the Metroplex, and look
(08:12):
at what the Stars have done over the last three years,
the core young guys that they have locked up. Now,
you sign Miro to the long term deal, you sign
Rope to the long term deal. You don't give long
term money to Robertson or Harley, but both of them
sign those gap deals, so it basically like baseball. It
(08:34):
eats up the rest of their restricted free agency, so
you don't have to deal with that or arbitration as
it would be in baseball. But the overarching, the overarching
view of the club is they have their entire core
now locked up for at least two more years. So
a team that is off to the best start in
the NHL this season, they go for five and zero
(08:57):
start tonight against the Capitals. They now can add Jake
Attinger into their plans for Damn near the next decade
with this extension. And I mentioned it's hard not to
look at how good of a general manager Jim Neil
is and compare that to I don't know, the team
in Dallas that draws the most eyeballs every time they
(09:19):
step on the field, and just imagining, you know, the
way the Stars conduct their business. Obviously it's apples to oranges,
it's NHL to NFL, and I get that, but it's
really hard not to immediately compare the job Jim Neil
has done over the last three four years, especially with
the draft and developed guys. The fact that you know
(09:39):
now that Jamie Binn, Tyler Sagan, some of the aging
stars on the team or previous stars now more role
player complementary guys. The fact that the Stars have done
such a great job of drafting that they already have
their immediate replacements on the roster. Just look back at
that draft class that Ottender was in. That was also
(10:03):
the draft class where they took Miro Hayeskin and fourth overall.
So outstanding job by Jim Neil and the rest of
the front office. It makes this four and OHO start
feel even better now to know that they have a
large chunk of their what would have been their off
season business out of the way.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Now.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Really you look at their cap.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Table, it just sets up incredibly nicely for the next
few years. I was talking to a few of my
Stars buddies this morning and it's again, it's very uncomfortable
to look at how much the national media loves this
team to look at, you know, how good they've been
in aligning their business, their contracts, and to staying out
(10:48):
of that standoff drama like we saw with Swaymen and
the Bruins where he holds out through all of training
camp and then Ottender ends up getting the exact same
deal that he did without any drama. So the good times,
the exciting times are alive with the Stars again. At
least one Dallas team knows how to conduct their business.
(11:10):
Some NBA injury news to get to. I know a
lot of y'all saw this, a lot of y'all jumped
on top of this. Tell me if you've heard this before.
Kawhi Leonard is dealing with a knee injury. We got
word today he will be out indefinitely to start the season.
He's rehabbing from that right knee inflammation and now at
(11:31):
thirty three years old entering this year, the Clippers really
really appear to have mismanaged that contract extension drama from
last year with him and Paul George. You know, they
give the money to Kawhi Leonard. They tell Paul George,
we can't offer you the MAX because we want you
and Kawhi to stay, but not on the max.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
Kawhi was smart.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
He took the money because I think he knows the
he's way closer to the end of his career than
he is to signing another near max extension like that.
So Kawhi takes their money as fast as he possibly can.
As soon as it's offered. Paul George holds out and
tells them it's gonna take the max to get me
to re sign. They don't budge. Paul George ends up
(12:18):
on a championship contender in Philadelphia, and now Clippers fans
have James Harden running the offense. To look forward to
that Clippers team could absolutely fall down the Western Conference
standings really really fast. If you look at the rest
of their roster, there's a lot of complimentary pieces now
(12:39):
without the guys that those pieces compliment, And that is
a bad place to find yourself in this now suddenly
stacked Western Conference with young teams wanting to grab those
spots that the Clippers have held for the last basically
the last half decade. Now you know, flow around that
(13:00):
number just anywhere from number three to six seed in
the West. The Clippers, as it looks right now, they
could find themselves as the odd team out even from
a play in spot. And wouldn't that be a shame
In the year they open their you know, other worldly
(13:21):
into it dome that they're now And if you haven't
seen any of the footage from what their first preseason
game there looked like, apparently they gave it a soft opening,
so they didn't even show off all of the gadgets
they have in store. But that arena looks insane on
the TV broadcast. I can't imagine what it looks like
(13:42):
if you're actually there. So it would be it would
be very clippers to open up the most expensive NBA
arena ever and miss the playoffs. Hell even missed the
play in But you look at that roster and now
with news of Kawhi's indefinite absence from the already aging
(14:03):
really kind of misfitting roster. I would not bet on
the Clippers to hit that over under number we talked
about last week. Also in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma
City's big money signing big money to the tune of
three years eighty seven million dollars total this last offseason.
(14:23):
Again for a guy that averaged seven points eight rebounds
with the Knicks last year. Isaiah Hartenstein fractures his left hand.
He's going to be reevaluated in five to six weeks,
but as it stands right now, that means he'll miss
the first month of the NBA season. So again a team,
you know, when we go back and think about, you
(14:44):
know what we were talking about with those NBA under
win loss win total numbers, you know, the small injuries
like this, you know, Hartenstein missing a month could be
the reason Oklahoma City doesn't get the top seed again
like they did last year, or doesn't hit that over
under number. Kind of in the same way with the
Spurs talking the Devin Vesell injury. Hopefully it's not much
(15:09):
longer than the first five to six games, as we've
been told right now, because those five or six games
could end up being the difference in a play in
spot at the end of the season. But it's not
all bad news in the NBA when it comes to injuries.
I say what you will about the Ball brothers dad,
(15:30):
and there's a lot you can say about it. But
we haven't heard from him in years, probably because Lonzo
hasn't played in years and LaMelo is in basketball purgatory
in Charlotte. But last night Lonzo Ball stepped onto an
NBA court for the first time in two and a
half years. And obviously, you know, not big on Chicago's
(15:55):
chances this year when it comes to contending or anything
like that. This might be the story of the year
for the Chicago Bulls. Last night, in a preseason game
up in Chicago, Lonzo ends up playing fifteen minutes in
the game, but puts ten points on the board. Ends
up he can still shoot, even if his knee might
(16:17):
fall off at any minute. He was four for six
last night. And I mentioned, you know, the nastiness of
his injury history, and you think back about you know, guys,
from my our childhood, my childhood, you know now thirty eight,
you know, thinking back to the mid nineties, you know,
(16:37):
early two thousands when you guys were you know, when
Amari Stodommeyer came back from arthroscopic knee surgery, and it
was a miracle that he ended up doing what he
did with the Knicks after, you know, having such a
prolific early career with the Suns to come back from
the nasty injury and still be a valuable piece, albeit
(17:02):
on a team that didn't achieve much, but still, you know,
an above average NBA player after the injury. And of
course you think back to Penny Hardaway and just how
his career was never the same. None of those guys
really came close to what Lonzo's had to deal with,
which is crazy to even think about when you consider
(17:23):
he played in an NBA preseason game last night. He's
had three arthroscopic procedures on his left knee alone, and
in March of twenty twenty three, so basically a year
and a half ago, he had a rare double cartilage transplant.
So we're talking unprecedented levels of knee injury to come
(17:44):
back from. So I mean not that we're all of
a sudden gonna be Bulls fans, but it was the
softy the sports softy in me enjoyed seeing those highlights,
enjoyed seeing Lonzo get the standing ovation from the Bull's crowd, because,
like I said, that might be the only standing ovation
any Chicago Bull player gets this entire year. So not
(18:08):
all bad injury news, just most of it. But let's
shift gears now. We've got a lot of football to
talk about. Obviously, Cowboys on bye week, so we're not
going to preview their game for this WEEKND since they
don't have one. But as has been the case most
of this week, we can barely go twenty four hours
(18:30):
without something Cowboys related making national headlines. And we got
that again this morning as Troy Yeikman did his weekly
radio appearance with Don Harris's former college classmates, the Musers
up there on the ticket in Dallas, and Troy had
some observations about this Cowboys offense that a lot of
(18:54):
people are going to immediately say, he's just covering for Dak,
He's just covering for his fellow quarterback. But he's pointing
out some of the same things we pointed out two
three weeks ago.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
I think the routes are terrible. I think they run
terrible routes. And uh. And I've thought that beyond this year,
and I think Ceed's got to improve in his route
running and as a quarterback, Uh, if you're not certain
where guys are going to be uh consistently, it's hard.
It's hard to play the position. And uh. And so
that's that's what I see. I see. I see guys
(19:27):
lazy coming off the line of scrimmage. Sometimes they sometimes
they run. Usually if they do, it's because they're anticipating
they're going to get the football in that play. But
if they're not, they don't. And it all ties together,
and so I'm not impressed with that part of it.
I've just finished watching the Baltimore Ravens because I have
them this week, and watch their receivers run routes and
uh and they come off the football and so to
(19:49):
San Francisco's and and uh, Green Bays and and others.
But uh, it's it's it's it's hard to play the
position if you're not certain how guys are going to
run outs or where they're going to be. And I'm
not speaking for Dak. Dak may say I think everything's amazing,
but as a former quarterback watching it, it's got to
get a lot better.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
It's pretty ironic that on the same week where Amari Cooper,
one of the best route runners to ever play for
the Cowboys, gets traded for more compensation than the Cowboys
originally got two and a half years ago. Now Troy
is on DFW radio talking about how no one on
the Cowboys roster amongst the running back I mean the
(20:31):
wide receiver group is good at running routes, and he
specifically mentioned CD, which I think that is obviously something
we've He's not the first person to say that about CD.
CD gets by a lot of times with pure athleticism
and playmaking ability, and it's not as much about running
(20:52):
sharp routes. It's about just getting the ball in his hands,
and that's fine to an extent. You still you gotta
find off every single play and act like you might
be the intended target. And it feels like some of
Troy's commentary there, some of his specifically mentioning the guys
that don't look like they're firing off play after play
(21:16):
after play. I would say that is probably more geared
towards CD than any of the other guys. But the
route running is more of the turpin. As we talked
about before how he turpined never. I think it was
when Truman was with me last week. You know, Turpin
never creates separation. He has damn near Olympic speed and
(21:40):
never really creates separation to open up a passing window consistently,
at least for Dak. Look at Brandon Cooks, it looks
like he is now well past his prime. And for
a guy that is undersized and relies on speed to
get on top of defenses, that's where you fall back into.
(22:02):
You got to rely on your ability to run routes,
and he's not creating separation. Tolbert is starting to show
some flashes, but i as was the case when he
was drafted, he was a small school project that really
projected to the NFL level based off of his athleticism,
(22:23):
not his precision when it came to running routes. So
it really feels like Try has some valid points there
that a lot of people don't want to hear, because,
like most things, when you look at the overall Cowboys
record or how you feel about the team through six
games of the season so far, the first name that
(22:45):
always comes to mind is Dak.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
What is Dak done?
Speaker 2 (22:49):
What has Dak done to overcome the shortcomings of the
defensive side of the ball. But I think it's impossible
to place all of that on Dak's shoulders when it's
clear as day the Cowboys just don't have the personnel
compared to even average wide receiver rooms that make the
(23:10):
passing game click when, as Troy said, when the quarterback
knows exactly where the wide receiver is going to be
and isn't worried about if he's going to run three
yards deep or five yards deep before the cut, and
that second guessing in the back of Dak's head on
every single play.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
And then you add the.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Issues with the receivers to the fact that they have
the least competent running offense run game in the entire league.
It's a bad It's a recipe for a bad offense.
And then you look at the other side of the ball.
We know the defensive issues are just as heightened, if
not more so, than the offensive issues. You know, the
(23:52):
defense gives up multiple games of forty plus while the
offense can't score in the red zone and leads league
in phild goal attempts per game. All of that combined
leads to a bad football team. And despite the three
and three record, remember, like we said earlier this week,
only the Panthers and Jaguars have given up more total
(24:14):
points than the Cowboys, So I think, hell, look at
the Saints right now, who, after beating the Cowboys forty
four to nineteen in Week two, are now on a
four game losing streak of their own. So I think,
every you know, the Cowboys three and three record is
really closer to a one in five record than it
(24:34):
is a five hundred record. Unfortunately, but I swear that
will be the last of the Cowboys talk. For the
rest of the episode. We're going to burn through the
rest of NFL Week seven, starting with I mentioned the Saints. There,
they look to end their four game losing streak as
they welcome one of their own back to New Orleans
(24:56):
for the first time. Sean Payton returns now as the
head coach of Denver. That is our Thursday Night game Tonight,
Denver traveling to New Orleans. Now a battle of rookie
quarterbacks as Bo Knicks faces off against Spencer Rattler. This
is absolutely a game New Orleans win.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Needs to win.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
More than Denver mentioned, the four game losing streak since
beating the Cowboys. You know, look at the rest of
that NFC South as Tampa Bay in Atlanta start to
separate themselves from the rest of the division, the Saints
can't afford to fall too far back, especially having already
played some division games this year. They're not going to
(25:38):
get as many opportunities on the back end of that
schedule to make up ground head to head in that division,
so can't be dropping games to an AFC team at home.
It will be interesting to see what kind of reception
Sean Payton gets as he travels back to New Orleans.
It's always a fun reminder of you know, Sean Payton's
(26:00):
career resume compared to Mike McCarthy's career resume, they are
practically identical and did it all with a Hall of
Fame quarterback throughout the majority of their you know, run
with the Packers and Saints, respectively. And I think Sean
Payton now with his new toy and bo Nix as
(26:20):
a rookie, an old rookie. But you know, starting to
show Denver sitting there at five hundred, starting to show
some signs of turning a corner, potentially with a franchise
quarterback in place. I would think Sean Payton is probably
looking for a signature win for this young Denver team,
(26:42):
especially going up against his former team. And then this
is a sobering stat for you. The Saints allow three
hundred and ninety six yards per game. That's most in
the league. Think back to the struggles the Cowboys had
against that defense in Week two and think their average
(27:03):
is almost four hundred yards giving up per game. Again,
I swear that's the last time we'll mention the Cowboys,
but that makes that Week two loss feel even worse.
To see what the rest of the league now has
been able to do against that Saints defense won't spend
a whole lot of time. The only reason this one's
getting mentioned is because I forgot last week that the
(27:25):
Jaguars were actually doubling up in London. They were in
London last week, and now turn around and God, the poor,
the poor Brits get to watch a battle of one
in five teams Sunday morning as Patriots play the Jaguars.
I'd mentioned last week, Doug Peterson should just stay and
make it a European vacation. I'm sure he's spent the
(27:48):
week booking different hostels or five star hotels for him
to tour the entire south of Europe, because I think
if the Patriots beat the Jaguars in that game, there's
no way Doug Peterson flies back to the States with
that team.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
He's booking his own flight.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Just two teams with totally different trajectories or expectations. I
should say at the beginning of the season, obviously the
Pats knew and they were starting a bridge quarterback until
Drake May was going to take over. Well, he's already
taken over starting last week against the Texans, but the
Jaguars just completely I think it was con Their owner
(28:31):
at the beginning of the year said, you know, he
believed this was their most talented roster ever assembled as
a franchise. And now to see them get off to
a one in five start, I can't imagine he has
a whole lot more patience for that subpar product there.
Since we're talking about subpar products, will burn through some
(28:51):
of the other snoozers on the docket. This weekend, one
in four Titans traveled to the four and two Bills.
The aforementioned Mark Cooper, now a member of the Buffalo Bills.
It's really interesting to see an organization that has a
four and two team like Buffalo look at their personnel
and say, we are still not where we need to
(29:13):
be to compete in the upper echelon of the AFC.
They go out and get a true number one receiver
to replace Diggs, who they traded obviously to the Texans
this past offseason. They seem to realize the mistake of
their ways, go out and get a Mari should be
No win is easy in the NFL. But if you're
(29:35):
looking for any survivor picks lock picks this week, I
would say Bills at home against the one in four Titans.
The Battle of Ohio is probably one that no one
expected the teams to have a combined three wins between
each other, more so an indictment of the Bengals than
(29:57):
the Browns, of course, but two and four Bengals traveling
to the one in five Browns, it does seem like
the Bengals still have a route forward to save this season,
maybe backdoor into a wild card spot. Still, if they
can get on a run and you look at their
upcoming schedule, they you know, with this Browns game, moving forward,
(30:18):
they have a run of three or four, you know,
could rattle off four out of the next five and
be back over five hundred and back in the playoff picture.
Two teams that really you know, Dolphins don't have a quarterback.
Colts can't keep a quarterback healthy. For that matter, neither
can the Dolphins. Two and three Dolphins travel to play
(30:39):
the three and three Colts. Colts are probably the closest
competitor to the Texans in that division, but it looks
like Houston will run away with it. And then two
and four Raiders versus one and four Rams, I'm not
sure what the Rams really could have prepared themselves for.
(31:00):
You lose your top two wide receivers, not just that,
but probably two of the best twelve receivers in the
entire league.
Speaker 1 (31:07):
It's hard to.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Really get any kind of offense, any kind of rhythm
going when you're just down that many weapons, especially the
way they like to run that offense, where a three
to five yard reception is basically their handoff on first down.
And now they just don't have the weapons to carry
out that offensive game plan, that scheme under McVeigh. But
(31:32):
Raiders are completely lost to Raiders. Obviously, trading DeVante Adams.
They're trying to move parts to tank for Schador or
whoever the consensus first quarterback off the board will be.
I will say, if you're looking to tank for a
quarterback this year, there are much better years on paper
(31:53):
to do that. It doesn't feel like there is a
anywhere close to a consensus number one quarterback right now
amongst the college group. I say Schador more as a
stand in, because I'm not sure anyone's looking to move
heaven and Earth to draft Carson Beck or Quinn or
(32:13):
any of the other names that will be floated out
there come draft season. Back to some games that actually
potentially could matter in the playoff race. We do have
a game in the NFC that could end up having
some wild card implications. Seattle three and three. Now, after
getting off to a great start, they have fallen back
(32:36):
close to the median And again, if you're a Seahawks fan,
I think you feel a lot better about your team's
three and three record than the Cowboys three and three record. Well,
they're traveling to four and two Atlanta, and again I'm
still viewing everything through my Cowboys glasses. Forgive me, but
(32:58):
Cols do visit Atlanta after they play San Francisco coming
out of the bye. So it could be an Atlanta
team that is rolling if they can you know, beat
the Seahawks at home. That Atlanta game on paper at
the beginning of the year, I feel a lot differently
about it now as I think about the Cowboys traveling
(33:22):
to Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
I think about, you know, the game what.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
Four years ago, five four or five years ago when
Dallas allowed dak to just absolutely get you know, mauled
had no time to throw. I think one of the
Falcons set the franchise sac record. He had like six
and a half sacks, and there's something ridiculous. Don't quote
me on that. I don't have it in front of me,
(33:46):
but I do something about traveling to Atlanta just is
bad memories to begin with. And the way that Atlanta
offense is starting to find their groove again, that could
be another That could be another you know, tough test
for this beleaguered Cowboys defense. And then the best games
(34:08):
of the week we do actually have. I'm excited because
getting to watch football this weekend without dreading or having
to take notes during a Cowboys game or anything like that.
Just get to sit back and potentially hopefully watch some
good football games. And we've got three of them. I
would say that really jump out grab my attention. Uh,
(34:32):
five and one Texans traveling to the four and two Packers.
I think this is a great test for both teams.
You know, the Packers, Jordan love Still, you know, took
a couple of weeks to get into to find a
rhythm coming back from injury. The Texans are five and one,
but they've had some close calls against bad teams so far.
(34:53):
I think this is a good barometer of you know,
I would I would lean Packers just because they're at
home really more than anything. But I think both of
these teams are kind of right there on that cusp
of the next team outside of their conference upper tier.
You know, the Texans, I think, are that next team
(35:14):
behind Kansas City, potentially behind Baltimore, you know, kind of
in that same you know, they're right there with Buffalo,
and the Packers, I would say, are right there as
that team that's right outside of San fran right outside
of Detroit. Still not sold on the Vikings, I know,
but every team in that NFC North Division would make
(35:35):
the playoffs if they if the season ended right now,
So they got to start beating up on each other
and we get our first matchup where I really think
we'll get a better idea of the staying power of
this Vikings team as they host the four and one Lions.
We know what the Lions are capable of, don't we.
Cowboys fans traveling to Minnesota playing the undefeated five and
(35:59):
zero Viking just aan a great NFC North matchup. I
would expect we don't see anything near what we saw
the Lions do last week.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
But again, when that division the.
Speaker 2 (36:14):
Way they've all gotten off to hot starts, it's really
hard to predict anything in terms of week to week
up there and then final kind of big game of
the week. The five and zero undefeated Chiefs traveled to
San Francisco. Niners are only three and three, but no
team has dealt with more injuries so far through six
(36:36):
weeks than the Niners have. And of course, again with
Cowboys glasses on, I would love to see the Chiefs
go out there, and I'm not exactly like, if the
Chiefs go out there and embarrass the Niners, then the
Niners are gonna be pissed off for a week and
they're gonna want to embarrass the next team they play,
which unfortunately is Dallas. So maybe a Chief's close win,
(37:00):
so the Niners don't have as much to prove seven
days later when they face the Cowboys, but should be
a good game, definitely. I think even with the Lions
four and one record, the Niners win healthy are the
class of the NFC going up against the obvious class
of the AFC and the undefeated again Chiefs.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
And then lastly, I.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
Separated NFC East matchups because those are I mean, that's
going to be the Cowboys probably only route to a
playoff spot is winning the division. I'm not sure anyone
in this division gets a wild card spot, but the
Giants could really help Dallas out. This week they two
and four Giants host the three and two Eagles. Of course,
(37:47):
this is Saquon Barkley's return to the Meadowlands, and if
you watch that Giants offseason hard knocks, believe what you
want to believe. But it doesn't seem like the owner
really want to lose Barkley. But the GM talked him
into it, talked him into the fact that Barkley's best
years were behind him. Well, he's looked pretty damn good
(38:09):
in that Philly offense. We'll see if Nick Sirianni is
yelling at any fans from the sideline this week. I
hope the Giants can do us a favor, but that
still feels it still feels like a good chance for
the Eagles to get to Foreign two. And then, speaking
of foreign two, four and two Commanders host the one
(38:31):
in five Panthers. Shouldn't be shouldn't be much of a
test for Washington. But with a rookie quarterback, with a
team that is exceeding expectations through six games, I think
this would This is what your football uncle that speaks
in nothing but cliches, this is what he would call
(38:52):
a trap game. For the record, that guy drives me insane,
the guy that speaks in nothing but nineties sports talk
radio cliches. Oh yeah, no, it's gonna be a trap game.
You know, Commanders playing at home, they're gonna overlook coach
on the field, Andy Dalton. You know that Panthers team
is close. They they're real close.
Speaker 1 (39:13):
They've been. That guy just drives me up a wall.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
But last game of the weekend Sunday Night Football two
and four Jets with the addition of DeVante Adams he
should be. It seems like he will be active all
of a sudden. That hamstring injury he had in Las
Vegas isn't bad enough to keep him out of games
going up against the somehow four and two Steelers, which
(39:37):
is even more insane when you remember that one of
their two losses is to Dallas at home on a
Sunday night. So we do have mentioned the debut of
Adams with the Jets. It does look like Russell Wilson
will be the starting quarterback for the Steelers when they
take the field Sunday night, which, if you're just in fields,
(40:01):
I mean, I know that offense wasn't humming. It wasn't
like they were winning games because of the offense, but
it's got to be a pretty sinking feeling in your
gut to go four and two and get pulled for
Russell Russell Wilson, who got benched for Stevenville's own Jarrett
Stidham last year in Denver. If I was granted, I mean,
(40:23):
I'm not a football guy, as Jerry would say, but
if I was the Steelers, I'd be looking more towards
the future and trying to get as much out of
Justin Fields as the starter than resorting to putting Russ
Wilson back in there. But they're four and two and
it should be five and one if it wasn't for
(40:43):
that Cowboys miracle up there a couple of weeks ago.
We get another Monday night football double header. Not gonna
spend a lot of time on this. We'll talk about
this come Monday. But we do get one good game
at least four and two Ravens at the four and
two Bucks. The other game Chargers at Cardinals, so we'll
cover that one a little more on Monday. As I said,
(41:06):
a lot of baseball on tonight. I'm about to run
back into the other room to try to catch the
rest of that Guardian's Yankees game and then get ready
for the Dodgers Mets series really potentially series deciding game.
Obviously not a must win, but if the Dodgers can
go up three to one before traveling back to LA,
(41:27):
I think even the most die hard Mets fan would
probably be uncomfortable with the expected outcome at that point. Mentioned,
we'll have the small screen on for Thursday night football.
Sean Payton's return to New Orleans, and I got to
see if my stars can go five to zero for
(41:48):
you real NBA Sikos of course, spurs rockets with nothing,
but basically exhibit ten players filling out the roster in
the final preseason game. Anything crazy happens in that, you know,
we'll cover it tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, Friday, we will
have our college football preview massive, massive weekend over in Austin.
(42:12):
Not just Texas, Georgia, it's also Formula one weekend over there,
and if you saw some of what the hotel prices
we're going for, it should be an absolutely insane weekend
over in the state capitol. But we'll talk about the
entire college football slate, hit on a little local high
school football. I might even I'm throwing around the idea
(42:34):
of trying to make it out to a game here
in the next few weeks. I've got a few circled
on the calendar. If there's a good one that y'all
would suggest, reach out to me, let me know, steer
me in the right direction. But really, at some point
I want to see this Piper team play and want
to try to catch a Steel game as well, because
(42:55):
despite the loss to Westlake, I still think they have
a deep run ahead of them in the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
But we'll get into all that.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
Tomorrow, as well as the roommate's return for Who Won
the Internet. She has been sending me stuff all week,
so I think she'll have quite a bit of entertaining
content for tomorrow's show as well. But till then, as always,
I appreciate y'all riding along. Be safe, we'll talk tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (43:22):
Kids. What do we say about drugs?
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Yeah,
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