November 8, 2024 • 56 mins
Join Sam Freas in this electrifying episode of The Sports Cave with Biggest Puma, where we dive deep into the latest happenings in the world of sports! Sam is back and ready to tackle everything from college football to the NBA, all while broadcasting live from the vibrant east side of San Antonio.
With just 23 days until the highly anticipated Texas vs. Texas A&M showdown, he discusses the shifting dynamics in college football and previews key matchups in the NFL, including the Cowboys vs. Eagles.
Highlights include:
With just 23 days until the highly anticipated Texas vs. Texas A&M showdown, he discusses the shifting dynamics in college football and previews key matchups in the NFL, including the Cowboys vs. Eagles.
Highlights include:
- A recap of the Spurs’ recent games, including a tough loss to the Rockets and the impact of Jeremy Sohan’s injury.
- Insights into the Spurs’ coaching situation with Mitch Johnson stepping in for the legendary Greg Popovich.
- A look at the NBA standings and what they mean for the Spurs’ playoff hopes.
- An in-depth preview of the upcoming NFL games, focusing on the Cowboys’ struggles and their recent trade moves.
- A discussion on the college football landscape, including crucial matchups that could shape the playoff picture.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Like be like blight, be light.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Light the beam. My election night hangover is finally passed.
It is time to get back to business here on
the Sports Cave with Biggest Puma. I am your host,
Sam Freeze. As always, you can reach out to me
on x at Biggest Puma on Instagram Biggest Dot Puma
broadcasting live to tape as always here on the East
(00:35):
side of San Antonio, where we have had UIL State
Marching Band competitions all week in the neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
So far, they just about scared the hell out of me.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Last night when I popped out to burn a smoke,
I could literally hear the trumpets calling. I thought that
might have been the end of everything, but fear not
Alas we are back twenty three days now till Texas
Texas A and M, although now that matchup's not nearly
as exciting as it was last week before A and
(01:07):
M lost. We'll talk a lot of college football on
the program today. We are going to do our pigskin previews,
so we'll hit NFL, We'll talk Cowboys Eagles, we'll hit
college football, talk some of the top twenty five matchups,
as well as close out with our look around the
high school area top five rankings, as there's a few
(01:28):
teams on by going into the playoffs, which is kind
of weird to me, but the rest of the teams
looking to close out their season before the playoffs start.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Next week.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
We'll get into all that in the main segment, but
as always, we start with what I watched last night,
and this will end up being some general NBA talk
because I have watched a lot of basketball this week,
starting with the Spurs last night, dropping their second game
in a row. After every team in the league played
Monday Night and then took Tuesday off for the election,
(02:00):
Spurs were back in action last night, kind of a
mirror opposite to the game from Monday night.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Last night.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
They got down early. We're down twenty five at the half.
I could never climb back, end up losing to the
Rockets one twenty seven to one hundred. But I want
to start with that game from Monday night before we
jump into last night's game, because Monday Night's game was
history making in a lot of bad ways as well
(02:28):
as just some bad injury luck for the Spurs as well.
Starting with as we already know by now, so Jeremy
Sohan injured in Monday's game fractures his left thumb, requiring surgery.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
He's already had the surgery.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
We got the instagram post of him from the hospital
bed giving a thumbs up, although a mandatory thumbs up
because of the way the thumb was taped from surgery.
But normal recovery time is basically four to six weeks
for the injury to recover, and then there's usually a
couple of more weeks after that out of precaution to
(03:07):
avoid re injuring it immediately after surgery. So we're looking
at six weeks at the very minimum. It looks like
potentially eight or ten weeks before he's back on the court.
Of course, we haven't gotten an official update on any
kind of timeline from the Spurs, so that is just
a complete conjecture based on historical precedent of other guys
(03:30):
that have had the same injury, same surgery. And it's
really unfortunate because you anytime we've talked about the Spurs
this year specifically, something that I am really really curious
to see is the long term potential of Jeremy Sohan
being that big man pairing alongside Wemby being the guy
(03:50):
that can be your starting four man, your modern NBA
power forward next to Wimby for years to come, for
a decade to come. Jeremy was playing so well so
far this season. Was really starting to blossom in ways
that we hadn't seen previously in his years in the league,
(04:11):
yet starting to play more under control, starting to really
show you how he can impact games in terms of
playing winning basketball.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
I mean, the numbers were great.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
He had made a scoring leap up to almost seventeen
a game, sixteen I think it was fifteen and a half,
sixteen points a game, eight rebounds, was really starting to
come into some of that potential that we've all seen
from day one from his time at Baylor.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Just a terrible injury.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
For the Spurs right as they were about to potentially
get back a completely healthy roster with the news that
Devin vessel Now has been cleared for all basketball activities,
and it looks like, across your fingers, he might make
his debut Saturday against the Jazz. We'll talk a little
bit of about some of the spurs upcoming games here
(05:02):
in a minute, but the so hand injury is just
a gut punch to a team that you know has
been plucky, has has some good wins on the board already,
specifically thinking of the win against Minnesota, and you don't
have to look far to see so Han's impact on
this current roster, because I mentioned it was a historical night,
(05:25):
history making night for the Spurs, and not in a
good way. Spurs end up losing that game Monday to
the Clippers, one thirteen to one oh four, But the
story is really in the quarter by quarter breakdown. They
start the game with a forty to fourteen lead after
the first quarter, Jeremy ends up getting injured in the
(05:46):
second quarter, and the Clippers win that second quarter thirty
four to sixteen. So almost just a complete flip quarter
to quarter there in the first half. And while Jeremy
absolutely would have helped with the team defense, I mean,
the Clippers end up shooting nineteen for thirty seven. That's
a hair over fifty percent on threes for the game.
(06:07):
A coffee absolutely got insanely hot there in the second half.
But the real story was the Spurs struggles on offense.
I mean, they were on fire in that first quarter
when they open up the twenty six point lead, end
up shooting sixty two percent in that first quarter, but
only thirty seven percent for the rest of the game.
And unfortunately, the history that was made. That twenty six
(06:31):
point first quarter lead was the largest blown first quarter
lead in Spurs history. So bad loss compounded by bad injury,
and then unfortunately last night weren't able to get back
on track as they dropped that game to the Rockets.
One bright spot, I suppose if you're looking for him.
(06:52):
With sohand out of the lineup, we did get to
see Steph Castle make his first of many future NBA starts.
Rotation's going to look a little wonky now. You're going
to see a lot of Mamu. You're going to probably
see a lot of small ball Wimby. With four perimeter
players now and no real true second big man to
(07:13):
play next to, Wimby can work in doses in the league.
But you still they gotta find some rebounding, gotta find
some defense amongst this jumbled line up now, and getting
Vasel back will help with a lot of that. But
it's going to be a much more perimeter focused rotation.
It seems now that so Han's going to be out
(07:36):
for the considerable future. Luckily, it's nothing, It's just a
broken thumb with so hand. So luckily it's nothing with
long term effects or any kind of issue that's going
to remove any of his athleticism. So I would expect,
you know, as soon as he's back around, hopefully what's
the timeline there Christmas, maybe maybe he can pick up
(07:59):
right where he left off. I would expect that. It
was also the spurs third game now without Pop on
the bench, and I know the local guys have said,
you know, it's nothing that they're worried about again long term.
But Shams had a pretty shocking update earlier this week
(08:21):
on exactly what happened last Saturday night to Pop.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Like I'm told that it was a health issue and
it was a serious health issue that the Spurs dealt
with and Greg Popovich dealt with over the weekend. It
was a situation on Saturday night pregame that Greg Papovich
needed medical attention in San Antonio. It is still uncertain
when he's going to make it back on the floor
(08:46):
on the sidelines for this team. There is a great
level of concern around the situation for the Spurs for
Greg Popovic. In the meantime, assistant coach Mit Johnson has
stepped in as the acting interim head coach. He's a
rising head coach in the league. I'm told he was
a finalist for the Washington Wizards and coaching job a
season ago in the offseason that went to Brian Keith.
(09:08):
And so this is something that the Spurs are very
well regarded with. They know how important he is, how
valuable he is, and he will be at the Helm
for the foreseeable future.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
So a couple things there. One.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I guess I must have missed it, or maybe that's
the first time it's been reported. I didn't realize Mitch
Johnson was so close to getting that Wizard's job. Absolutely
deserving and if you missed it, I can't remember who
had the interview. But Chris Paul was talking earlier this
year about how he used to hate playing against the Spurs,
(09:40):
not necessarily because of pop, but because Mitch Johnson was
sitting on the bench and calling out the plays that
Chris Paul was running and directing people on the defensive
side of where to go based on what play Chris
Paul was running. So that shows great coaching instinct and
ability to adapt to what the other team's calling on
(10:02):
the fly. Look, we all think very highly of Mitch Johnson.
I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I didn't
realize he was that close to potentially becoming an NBA
head coach this past summer. And then secondly Sham's mentioning
that you know, Pop needed direct medical attention after whatever
(10:23):
happened Saturday night. Never want to hear that, and now
Pop out indefinitely missing his fourth game tonight as the
Spurs get ready to take on the Trailblazers. Hopefully we
get some kind of clarity, some kind of update soon,
because any you know, something like this health wise, with
an aging man at Pop's age, speculation just runs rampant,
(10:48):
and it would be nice to have some actual factual
reporting of exactly what happened as soon as they're comfortable
with letting everyone know, as soon as comfortable feeling better
from whatever happened. I hate to hear it, but also,
like Sham's said there, the Spurs are in very good
(11:09):
hands with Mitch Johnson sitting on the sitting in the
big chair. Even on an interim basis, we'll talk about
whatever happens in that Spurs Trailblazers game on tomorrow's episode.
It's the start of a five game homestand for the Spurs,
so it would be really nice if they could start
climbing back to five hundred before the snowball rolls too
(11:33):
far downhill and they get too far behind that five
hundred record, because there's three winnable games of the next
five here at home Portland tonight, Utah Saturday, and then
Washington as well coming into town. Other two are Kings
and Lakers, so not exactly juggernauts in the West, not
(11:56):
the upper echelon, but not as winnable as those other
So you could talk me into three out of five easily.
You could talk me into four out of five if
they can split those games with the Kings Lakers. And
it's not just the five straight games here on this
homestand they've got eight of the next ten at home
(12:17):
and fourteen of the next eighteen at home if you
go all the way through Christmas. So, as we talked
about Jeremy Sohan's injury timeline, there is some silver lining
there that at least they're not facing any crazy daunting
road trips. Of course, getting a lot of home games
out of the way now because they have the Rodeo
(12:38):
road trip in the second half of the schedule, but
fourteen of the next eighteen at home is a great
opportunity to try to put some wins on the board,
especially before they get that prime time Christmas Day matchup
in Madison Square Garden. I am so looking forward to
making my family watch the Spurs when I'm back up there,
back up in North Texas for Christmas. We always every
(13:01):
year watched the NBA Christmas Day games, but Wimby on
Christmas in the Garden, in the Mecca of basketball, should
be something special. And hopefully they can have a decent
record going into the second half of the season about
the time they potentially get so hand back. And then
finally on the basketball notes here real quick, before we
(13:23):
jump into our pig Skin previews, something else we've been
keeping our eye on going back to Opening night. You
know you've heard me talk about the Spurs draft pick ownerships,
and not only do they own their own pick, they
owned the Bulls, the Hawks, and the Hornets pick all
with varying levels of protection. Hawks completely unprotected, Bulls top
(13:46):
ten protected, Hornets top fourteen protected, and as we sit
here right now, they would have the ninth pick, the
fifteenth pick and the eighteenth pick in this upcoming draft
if the season ended. And I know it's way too
early to start projecting any kind of draft pick status,
especially with the lottery system the way it is, but
(14:11):
it's something definitely to keep an eye on as the
season goes along, because you know, the East is a mess,
and with the Spurs facing all of the solid teams
above them in the standings in the West, you can
expect them to be, you know, fighting for a play
in at best on the west side of the bracket,
(14:31):
but the East side it's completely wide open. Ten games
into the season so far, or almost ten games, you know,
as we sit here, the Bulls, Hawks, and Hornets are
all either playoff teams or play in teams right now.
The Hawks would be a playoff team, wouldn't have to
(14:51):
play in the play in Bulls, and the Hornets would
be play in teams. Now a lot of basketball obviously
to be played. I wouldn't exp affect all three of
those to be end up playing postseason basketball, but definitely
something to keep an eye on because I mentioned the
East is an absolute mess. It is so top heavy,
(15:12):
unexpectedly top heavy, with some really good teams getting off
to absolutely terrible starts at Cleveland now sitting nine to zero,
the last undefeated team in the league, now that the
Thunder dropped a game to Denver last night, And while
that's not that surprising to me, Cleveland was a great
regular season team last year. They've handled some of their
(15:35):
contract business, given extensions to guys that core four or
five players that they have now under contract for multiple years.
They all know they're going to be together pending any
kind of massive trade, and that chemistry goes a long
way in the NBA, really more so than any other sport.
(15:56):
But it's less about the top end of the East.
You know, Cleveland nine to zero, Boston seven and two,
and then after that the third seed is a five
hundred team, the third seed is the four and four Pacers,
and all the way down through the rest of the
play in teams, it's a lot of surprises and a
(16:16):
lot of disappointments. I mean, Milwaukee and Philly are sitting
dead last and second to dead last in the East
right now, both of them with one in six records.
Orlando a solid playoff team last year, they're now sitting
barely in the play in spot. Their tenth but with
a three and six record, which, if you're remembering what
(16:39):
the Spurs record is right now, yes, that would mean the.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Spurs would be the eighth seed in the East.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Right now, even the Knicks are off to a pretty
disappointing start, well really disappointing start. If you're a Knicks
fan and crazy over the moon, I think they're just
going to hand you the title because of all the
offseason moves you made. Nick sitting at three and four,
although a lot of that again, I go back to
the chemistry point. I think building that chemistry with all
(17:07):
of those new guys, new pieces coming together, that was
going to take some time, no matter what their early
season schedule looked like. I'm not as ready to push
the panic button on the Knicks as probably your average
Nick fan is right now. But they are three and
four and are actually behind the Atlanta Hawks right now
(17:29):
in the rankings. In fact, Trey Young last night after
the Hawks beat the Knicks, one of the greatest, one
of the best current rivalries in the East Hawks Knicks,
Trey Young told Knicks fans to get their ask to
go home last night on the PA during his postgame interview.
So the East is upside down. I think we're gonna
(17:51):
see some normalization as the season goes along, which again
we'll have to keep an eye on because the Spurs
owning the Bulls, Hawks, and Hornets picks, I would expect
all three of those teams to fall back down towards
the bottom of the standings as soon as some of
the East normalizes. But we just got the news. Also
(18:15):
Philly's facing they just get Paul George back. Well now
Tyres Max he's gonna miss multiple weeks with injury. So
maybe Philly is just going to have a cursed season.
Maybe Milwaukee's going to be so bad that the trade
wins of Yannis potentially forcing his way out of the
Midwest might come to realization. It's the NBA can change
(18:37):
in a heartbeat. And it sure looks like the East
is going through some major, major growing pains to start
this year. And then as top heavy as the East is,
the West is just completely jumbled. One through eleven, the
number one seed Thunder are only separated by three games
(18:58):
from the number eleven seed Clippers, and then the Spurs
sitting there with the twelfth seed. But there have been
some surprises. You mention, it's a lot of chalk. It's
a lot of who we expected to be making up
those one through ten playoff play in spots. But some
teams have gotten off to really, really good starts.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Take the Warriors for example.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Warriors sitting now tied with the Thunder with the Suns
for the best record in the West, all seven and one.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
But Golden States.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Talk of Golden State's demise appears to be absolutely premature
because Steph Curry. Even with Steph Curry missing some time
already this season because of the ankle, they have absolutely
got back to their winning ways, losing Klay Thompson in
the offseason to the MAVs, allowing some of the younger
(19:52):
guys on that roster, Moses Moody Kaminga getting expanded roles. Now,
of course, Pods come in back in year two. He
hasn't gotten off to a great start. But Golden State
finds themselves not only seven and one, tied for the
best record in the West, but also five and zero
on the road. So a team that traditionally has had
(20:15):
a great home court advantage, I mean, they're two and
one at home, but you would expect that home court
advantage to maintain throughout the year. If they can keep
playing like this on the road, they will absolutely avoid
the play in, which I thought. You know, before the
season started, I had predicted them falling back into somewhere
(20:35):
in that seven to ten range, quite honestly being the
team either them or the Lakers, that if the Spurs
were going to make the play in, they would have
to pass one of Golden State LA Lakers, LA Clippers,
one of those three, or really two of those three
to get that tenth seed. Well, it doesn't look like
(20:56):
it's going to be Golden State. The Lakers are the
ten seed right now, four and four, Clippers also four
and four, the eleventh seed. But that's just it. I
mean from the one seed all the way to the Spurs.
The Spurs are only four games behind the one seed
right now, and if you just look at the East,
the twelfth seed in the East, the Washington Wizards are
(21:19):
five and a half games back. So the West is
going to be an uphill climb if the Spurs can
get into one of those playing spots. But I mentioned
the Suns as well. You know, the expectations for them
were through the roof with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant
having another year together, potentially Bradley Beal maintaining maybe a
(21:41):
little bit better health this year, and they finally they
get a real point guard on the roster and Tyas Jones,
Trey's brother. Well, the Suns look like they are going
to be a strong contender. They're seven and one, five
and oh at home, undefeated at home, right there with
the thunder who I think we all expected to be
(22:04):
fighting for that one seed throughout the year. So again,
I know it's early, but it never hurts to take
a little peek at the standings because if you're the
Spurs right now looking at fourteen of your next eighteen
at home, you could fall behind the rest of the
West very fast if this goes sideways over the next month,
(22:26):
month and a half. So we'll check back in periodically,
of course, on normal weeks where there's not a major
national election, we will do NBA talk on Wednesdays. But
it is Thursday, and that means it's time to get
into some of our pigskin previews, starting with the Philadelphia
(22:47):
Eagles visit to Jerry World.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
At that point, that's why I start hearing the fire
trucks coming down the street, it was like the far
off distance or whatever like that. Smoke started getting worse
than not seeing the gods hanging out the window, you know,
screaming at his kids was sitting there and things like that.
So I'll ran to the back door see if it
was opening.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
It was.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
I ran upstairs that I was reading with smoke. I
ran back downstairs. By that time, that matter stuff was
pulling up, and ironically, being one of my old co workers,
put the ladder off the truck, raised it up and
assistant people down. My man just like throwing babies out
the window. We was catching it. Unlike Agilar and his mishaps.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
I like to put that out there.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
That classic news clip never gets old. Eagles fans are ruthless,
and I kind of envy. I kind of envy them
in a lot of ways. I think in another life
I would have really enjoyed being an Eagles fan, basically
just getting to be an a hole and everyone says, yeah, yeah,
but they're Eagles fans. That's just how they are. That
(23:49):
kind of sounds I kind of envy that. That kind
of sounds like a lot of fun. Now booing Michael
Irvin as his career ended on their field, or throwing
snowballs with batteries in it at Santa Claus during a
Christmas game or a holiday game. Maybe not those parts
of it, but it does seem like it's really fun
(24:12):
to be an Eagles fan until their normal second half
collapse most years, but this year again, sitting six and two,
half a game behind the Commanders for the division lead
and the NFC East, traveling to Jerry World Sunday three
twenty five kickoff, Eagle seven point favorites going into this thing,
(24:32):
and I'm not gonna spend a lot of time breaking
this game down because Dallas is just such a busted
operation right now for all of the reasons that we've
talked about, and quite frankly, it's depressing to spend a
lot of time thinking or talking about the Cowboys these days.
We'll talk about their rash of injuries here in a second.
But they did make a move earlier this week at
(24:55):
the trade deadline. I jokingly said on Monday's episode, see
who they throw away a fourth round pick on at
the deadline, Like they threw a fourth round pick away
for Trey Lance. Well, I'll be damned, Jerry threw another
fourth round pick away and look, this trade could end
up turning out to be something that helps them win
(25:18):
games over the next couple years, but it's not going
to fix anything this year. And you know, right now,
as we sit here previewing the upcoming week, I really
don't think Jonathan Mingo is going to be a difference
maker if the Cowboys somehow beat the Eagles. I don't
think it's going to come down to the acquisition of
(25:38):
him on Tuesday having anything to do with the outcome
of this game. If you missed it, Cowboys did give
up a fourth round pick for Jonathan Mingo. They get
him and a seventh round pick back from the Panthers,
and on paper, there's a lot to like about the player.
I know, the memes ran rampant. He's only got twelve
catches in nine games this year for the terrible Carolina Panthers,
(26:03):
and all of that is true. But he was also
the thirty ninth pick in the draft in twenty twenty
three and someone that the Cowboys were very high on
going into that draft. Kid played at Ole Miss. He's
a raw talent. He's six ' to two, He's got
the skills you want to see out of an NFL
(26:23):
wide receiver. He's got the size you want to see.
He's I guess if you were going to try to
compare him to someone already on the roster, he's a
bit like Jalen Tolbert in the sense that he is
a raw prospect that they're hoping they can get the
best out of. And I say he might be something
that can help win games in the years to come.
(26:46):
That is because he has two more years left on
his rookie deal, and that helps explain the fourth round
compensation that the Cowboys gave up for him. But still,
you look across the league, I think there was a
lot of shock that Jonathan Mingo brought back the Panthers
a fourth round pick, because again, I will say it
(27:08):
till I'm blue in the face, I will say it
every time the Cowboys make a trade. They just gave
up a fourth round pick for a guy that had
fallen out of the depth chart in Carolina, when they
could only get a fifth round pick for Amari Cooper,
who was absolutely a Number one receiver when.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
They traded him.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Again, Jerry will tell you he's the best fn GM
for this thing, and no one could do it better.
That's verbatim quote from his mouth back during training camp. Now,
obviously we all know we're being lied to when we
hear him say that, And the trade Tuesday was just
further proof. No other team in the league was knocking
(27:48):
down the Panthers door to give them a fourth round
pick for a guy that they had already practically given
up on. But I would say overall, the judgment is
out on that trade until we actually do get to
see Mingo play some meaningful snaps and not with Cooper
Rush like we're gonna see for the foreseeable future. Now,
because we did get a bit of an update on
(28:10):
Dak's injury. He's got a tear in the hamstring where
the hamstring has started torn away from the bone, and
they're debating now this week is it going to be
something that he if he sits out four weeks, if
he sits out six weeks, is it something he can
come back from before this season's over, or is it
(28:34):
just better to go ahead have the surgery now, which
would be season ending surgery, and then be prepared to
come back healthy for the offseason workouts and training camp
and not have any issue lingering If they postpone the surgery,
thinking he might be able to heal. And it reminds
me some of you know, back in twenty twenty two,
(28:55):
where Dak missed five games, Cooper Rush went four and
one as the starter, but the Cowboys didn't technically place
Dak on injured reserve. They kept waiting for the injury
to heal week by week, thinking, you know, maybe five
games would be the worst case scenario, maybe he could
come back in three. It sounds right now like they're
(29:17):
taking a similar approach to this injury, albeit this one
sounds way worse than what happened to his thumb back
in twenty twenty two. But mention Cooper Rush, and I
know there's a lot of people out there, Well, there's
three camps. I think when it comes to the Cowboys
quarterback situation. One is the anti Dak crowd. I understand
(29:41):
a lot of the sentiment, but Dak was also the
guy that got second in MVP voting last year and
led one of the best offenses in.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
The league last year.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
Playoff loss notwithstanding, but you still got to perform well
in the regular season to even get to the playoffs,
and Dak has shown he can do that consistently. And
then there's the other camp that says, well, why is
Trey Lance not starting?
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Why are we even.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Playing Cooper Rush when Trey Lance is sitting on the roster.
The Trey Lance ship has sailed as soon as they
gave Dak that contract. That meant Trey Lance is done
after this year as a Cowboy. They're not going to
re sign him to any kind of deal. He's a
free agent at the end of the year. The best
hope from the beginning for Trey Lance was that he
(30:26):
popped in practice and pushed Dak to the point where
the Cowboys actually had a decision whether to give Dak
the contract or potentially view Trey Lance as.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
The quarterback of the future.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
We all know they gave Dak the contract, thus basically
ending Trey Lance's future with the Cowboys. And then there's
the third camp that says, are we sure Cooper Rush
isn't better than Dak?
Speaker 1 (30:52):
And look, would I would tell you you're crazy right now?
I would have told you you're crazy.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Back in twenty twenty two when Cooper went four in one,
it was a completely different game plan.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
They had a running game.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
That they could rely on, that they could peel some
of the play, calling back play, more conservative on offense,
and still win football games.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
They don't have that running game now, and.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Cooper Rush is thirty now versus being in somewhat athletic
prime of mid to late twenties like he was back then.
All that being said, though, I'm not sure anymore. I mean,
I think Dak is way better than Cooper Rush on paper,
but maybe Cooper Rush, just the consistency of what he
(31:39):
brings could potentially show for a better product than what
we've seen through eight games under Dak. And there's no again,
there's no quarterback controversy, even if Cooper Rush goes five
and oh, six and oh and somehow they turn this
thing around being a defensive football team with Mica come back,
(32:00):
with potentially Deron Bland coming back. All of this is
pie in the sky. It's not happening. This season is
as good as over. And I hate to be the nihilist,
but the Cowboys nihilism is running pretty strong these days.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
But it will be.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Interesting for the Cooper Rush crowd to finally get another
opportunity to tell everybody how Cooper is better than Dak.
And I would say at this point, I'm not as
sold on the idea of that being ridiculous as I
was last year, But I also don't want to be
prisoner of the moment and think that that's not as
(32:37):
ridiculous of a statement as it probably actually is. All
that being said, Dak's not the only injury they're dealing with.
Going back to that game against the Falcon CD was
banged up, stayed in the game, ended up catching a
touchdown pass from Cooper Rush. We got the word that
he has a sprained ac joint basically shoulder that looked
(33:01):
pretty obvious from watching the game last week. He was
limited in practice, but he's saying that he is going
to play. Cowboys are saying they expect him to play,
so at least Cooper will have the Cowboys really best
and only option back on the field this week, going
up against the Eagles and then the Big One. It
(33:22):
sounds like the Lion is going to be back in uniform.
Micah has been limited in practice all week, but again
they're saying all of the right things when it comes
to his progress.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
He's saying he feels like he's.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
Going to play Sunday, but it of course comes down
to their decision. The medical staff's decision, but I think
we're going to get to see Micah's return from the
high ankle sprain, which, again, if you're starting Cooper Rush,
you've got to have some help on that defense because
I don't think you're the opportunities or the potential to
(33:58):
put as many points on the board on offense aren't
gonna be there with Cooper Rush leading the charge. So
having Micah back could absolutely help. At least maybe the
helped the Cowboys cover that seven point spread. Still no
word on Deron Bland though he unlike Micah, he still
hasn't practiced all week, which I would say is a
(34:21):
bad sign obviously as it pertains to his availability Sunday.
It turns out after six weeks of the injury, he
ended up having a setback, and they thought it would
be a ten week injury, but then with this setback
now it's pushed it a couple weeks past what they
initially thought, which again is unfortunate. Watching that Cowboys secondary
(34:44):
against Kirk Cousins and the Falcons last week, Trayvon Diggs
banged up. He was limited all week in practice this week,
but it does sound like he's going to be another
game time decision, but will probably play. But his performance,
it's over the last couple of weeks, injury or not,
hasn't been up to the level of play that earned
(35:06):
him that contract originally. And if that was the end
of the injury list, that would be a lot. But no,
let's add some more names to the list here. How
about rookie Tyler Geidon who had to miss the start
of the second half last week. He has been limited
all week again in practice, it sounds like he'll be
(35:26):
a game time decision. A couple of the veterans are
banged up. It's eight games, nine weeks into the season.
You can expect to see veterans start hitting the weekly
injury list, whether their availability is really in fluctuation or not.
We did see Zach Martin's name pop up on the
injury list. He in fact hasn't practiced all week. Eric
(35:50):
Kendricks limited today, which is progressed because he wasn't a
participant in Wednesday's practice. So a lot of questions when
it comes to availability with this Cowboys roster, and I
think obviously they were already behind the eight ball even
if they had a fully healthy roster. All these injuries
(36:11):
are going to make it quite a daunting task if
they have any plans to take down the Eagles come Sunday.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Moving on to the.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
Rest of the league, we'll talk about the Thursday night
football game on tomorrow's episode, Bengals at Ravens. Bengals win
would make that would officially make that a three team
race in the division. Add the Steelers to the mix.
Steelers and Ravens sitting at the top of it right now.
Bingals hoping to climb out of the cellar after that
(36:43):
terrible start to the season. They've gotten hot, got on
a roll. Taking down a Ravens team on the road
tonight would go a long way, at minimum putting them
squarely back in the wild card conversation. But like I said,
would potentially open that up to a three team race
at the top of the division if they could keep
(37:03):
things rolling. As for the Sunday games, I'd say there's
really two that rise above the rest. Seven and one
Lions traveling to take on the six and three Texans.
Texans coming off that bad loss to the Jets last week.
I saw the Texans are going to be wearing their
all red color Rush jerseys, including a pretty nice looking
(37:26):
red helmet Lions coming off the win at Lambeau last week,
a good opportunity for the Texans to really make a
statement and bounce back after the disappointment of losing last week.
And then the other team in that Bengals Ravens Division
six and two Steelers traveling to Washington to take on
the seven and two Commanders, a Steelers team that somehow
(37:49):
the Cowboys beat, and a Commander's team that the Cowboys
need a lot of help from teams like the Steelers
if they can climb back into the Division. Commanders looking
to defend home field with Pittsburgh coming to town.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
I'm still blown.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Away that the Cowboys were able to win that game
and in the fashion that they did up in Pittsburgh
earlier in the season. It just doesn't seem like this
team has any of the mental fortitude that would be
required to lead a game winning drive like they did
in Pittsburgh earlier in the year.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
It should be a good matchup.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
I still think the Commanders are a bit of fool's
gold when you compare them to say Detroit or even
San Francisco. If San Francisco can start to really get
back healthy, they potentially have Christian McCaffrey making his return
this week. They're taking traveling to take on the four
(38:47):
and five Buccaneers after a disappointing loss for that Buccaneers team,
losing an overtime to the Chiefs.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
Win Todd Bowles, Buddy, you got to go for two.
Speaker 3 (38:58):
Man.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
You're you're in arrowhead.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
You're giving Patrick Mahomes basically a coin flip fifty to
fifty shot to end that game in overtime. You knew
he was going to end that game with a touchdown
if they won the coin toss. I still can't believe
the Bucks didn't go for two in that game. But
the Niners sitting at five hundred now four and four,
potentially getting McCaffrey back, Buccaneers now sliding further down the standings,
(39:26):
all the way down to four and five and clearly
behind the Falcons in that NFC South race. That's a
game that you know, if the Cowboys have any chance
of climbing back to wild card contention. I saw ESPN
has on it like a three percent postseason chance, and
I frankly can't believe it's even three percent. But a
(39:48):
team like the Bucks, or hell, a team like the
forty nine ers. If they continue to stay around five hundred,
those are two teams that Dallas might be fighting for
a wild card spot late in the season if somehow
Cooper Rush is the messiah to turn things around. But
those are really the only three games that catch the
(40:10):
attention on the schedule this week, there's a lot of
mismatches and a lot of snoozers. Again the snoozers, Giants, Panthers.
Enough said, you know, Patriots, Bears, Bears trying to hang
on again, another team hoping to maybe slide into a
wild card spot. But I think even at four and
four right now, I think, as they have to play
(40:33):
the rest of that division, the best division in football
this year, NFC North, I think the Bears will slide
back to expected overall record by the time the season ends.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
Bill's Colts feels like.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
A major mismatch on paper, of course, as does Chiefs Broncos,
although I don't think that the Broncos are as bad
as the Colts are necessarily, but both teams feel a
smack dab five hundred at best by the end of
the year. Mentioned the Falcons, they take on traveling to
(41:07):
New Orleans and the post Dennis Allen Era for the Saints.
I think the Falcons are really looking to separate from
the rest of that division, and this is a great opportunity.
Saints made a couple trade, traded guys away, weakened their
roster before the deadline, and then a couple more mismatches,
Vikings traveling taking on the Jaguars a Vikings looking to
(41:30):
stay just one game behind the Lions in that NFC
North Division. Chargers in year one under Harball, really starting
to look like they might be a dangerous team come
playoff time. Five and three now hosting the Titans, and
then lastly the NFC West leading Arizona Cardinals playing the Jets,
(41:54):
who saved their season last week with the win over
the Texans. Cardinals hosting the Jets, hoping to stay atop
those standings within the division as they can see the
Niners getting healthy in their rear view mirror. And then
the Monday night game Dolphins at Rams, another NFC West
team that is just hoping to hang around and stay
(42:17):
within fighting distance in that NFC West because it really
feels like it any four of those teams could wind
up tripping and falling over themselves to win the division.
Especially if the Niners continue to have bad injury luck.
But we'll talk about that Monday game next week. We
got to talk some college football here on our pig
(42:38):
Skin previews where there's only two ranked Top twenty five
matchups this week, but both of them have massive playoff implications.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
In this first week where we.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
Got the first official playoff rankings from the committee, not
going to go over those week by week. There's not
a whole lot of all. They the only reason they
put those out now is to drive conversation when none
of it really matters because there's so much football left
to be played. If somehow you did miss it Oregon,
(43:12):
Ohio State, Georgia, the top three, Miami four, Texas five,
Boise State would be the ATLAR or the group of
five team that would make the playoff, but a lot
of football to be played. Those rankings are going to
change significantly before the final ones are released, and really
the final ones are the one that we will spend
(43:35):
a lot of time arguing, because this first year of
the twelve team playoff is going to leave teams thirteen
through sixteen asking you know, what the hell, why did
you leave us out? And they're I think they're going
to have some solid arguments, especially if you do listen
to the committee try to explain why they picked certain
(43:55):
teams ahead of others. There's never any consistent see, it's
always designed to they're gonna say what they have to
say to cover their ass each week. There's no consistency
week to week. Uh So we're not gonna waste time
talking about them week to week for all of those reasons.
Speaker 1 (44:14):
But the rink.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
Matchups that we do have on the schedule for Saturday
will serve as somewhat pseudo elimination games because if Ole
Miss loses to Georgia number three Georgia at ole Miss.
If Ole Miss loses, they're out of the conversation. Three losses,
they're not getting in. I expect that to happen. But
we've seen Georgia slip up already this year, albeit against
(44:38):
an Alabama team who would be in the playoffs right
now if the season ended. But I think Georgia handles business.
Although they have looked pretty rocky offensively the last few weeks,
even going going back to the Texas game, it was
the defense that suffocated UT and gave Georgia that win.
I think you're gonna see that de defense again show
(45:01):
up and shut down the high power Jackson Dart led
ole miss offense shut his Heisman campaign down. And then
the other matchup, Alabama traveling to Baton Rouge traveling to
Death Valley for a night game number eleven, Bama at
number fifteen LSU again, both teams with two losses. I
(45:21):
think we're looking at an elimination game.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
I can't.
Speaker 2 (45:24):
I think BAMA would have an outside shot because they're
Bama of getting in with three losses. LSU no way,
and for all the bad luck.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
In the world. LSU is bringing.
Speaker 2 (45:36):
The Tiger back to the field level, but they're not
using their actual Tiger, Mikey. They're flying in a Tiger
from Florida to having a cage on the field. I
think that, combined with just Brian Kelly's overall bad mojo,
I think we're going to see Bama win that game
on the road. But one of, if not the greatest
(45:58):
atmospheres in all of college foot ball a night game
at Death Valley. It should make for great television viewing.
But those are your only two ranked matchups this week. Now,
looking at the rest of the top twenty five, I
do think there is some potential that we see an
upset or two. Maybe Miami still undefeated, traveling to take
(46:20):
on Georgia Tech. A Georgia Tech team that started the
year off strong starting to taper off.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
Now Miami continues.
Speaker 2 (46:28):
To get by with their explosive offense just outscoring teams.
Maybe Georgia Tech has another magic moment left in on
them here this season, Texas playing host to Florida. Florida's
got a lot of talent on that roster, and that's
exactly what Sark has said all week, like, if you
just look at the amount of talent on every sec roster,
(46:51):
Florida is damn near the top compared to anybody. It's
just a matter of coaching, it appears. Even though Florida
announced that they will be keeping Billy Napier at least
for now through this season, that's a bit of a
trap game. I could see, you know, still not entirely
sold on Indiana. I know, obviously the undefeated record, it
(47:13):
again feels a lot like Miami, where they're getting by
on the offense and playing Big ten offenses, which they'll
be playing the ultimate Big ten offense Saturday. They hosting Michigan.
Maybe Michigan can muddy the game up, can make it nasty,
hold that Indiana offense and check, keep it close, steal
(47:34):
it late.
Speaker 1 (47:35):
Maybe that's a trap game.
Speaker 2 (47:37):
And then the rivalry out West, now renewed through the
Big Twelve affiliation of both teams BYU at Utah. Don't
feel like Utah is that much of a threat, but
in a rivalry game, of course, as the cliche goes,
you never know what could happen. But that's about it
for the intriguing matchups on the college football slate this weekend.
(47:59):
We do have a trio of teams that got their
first loss last week looking to bounce back. Penn State
hosting Washington after the loss to Ohio State, James Franklin,
Gunna James Franklin, and he James Franklin in that game
against Ohio State. They are hosting Washington now looking to
(48:20):
bounce back. Speaking of Ohio State, they've got a layup
hosting Perdue this week. Shouldn't be any issue there. And
then in one of the weirdest Big Ten matchups ever,
Oregon hosting Maryland. That's a conference game now, so Top
two don't look like they'll be challenged this week, but
getting back to the other two teams that lost last
(48:42):
week for the first time. Iowa State now traveling on
the road, taking on Kansas this week looking to bounce back,
and then lastly Pitt hosting Virginia after getting embarrassed by
SMU last week. SMU looking like they might be one
one of those teams that's right outside the final twelve
(49:03):
when the final rankings come out and are left asking, hey,
what the hell what about us? But really overall, not
much intrigue on the schedule, not much marquee high ranking
matchups this week as we continue to roll through conference play.
Do have to mention before we talk a little high
school football shout out UTSA there on by this week,
(49:27):
but got a great win last week over what is
now becoming quickly becoming a conference rival in Memphis. It's
been a rival through the press at least, it's been
a rival on the recruiting trail. But UTSA defends their
massive home field advantage beats Memphis last week and a
huge bounce back after blowing the second half lead in
(49:51):
Tulsa two weeks ago, and I mentioned their massive home
field advantage under trailer. They've only lost three games the
Alamo Dome, and that is really insane when you think
about where the program was when he took over and
instantly how he was able to start protecting their home
(50:11):
field immediately with the roster that he inherited and has
only continued that trend throughout. I know he's catching a
lot of hell a lot of heat this season for
the way things have gone, but the program sure seems
like it's still in great hands. Also, while we're at it,
shout out to the roommate's Red Raiders. They handed Iowa
(50:31):
State their first loss last week, now being rewarded with
big Noon Fox Saturday crew showing up in Lubbock for
their game, hosting the Fighting Dions and the rest of
the Colorado Buffaloes. So some potentially exciting games and this
is one of those weeks where we might end up
(50:53):
seeing five or six upsets and nobody saw it coming,
because that's just how crazy college football can be. But
on paper, doesn't look like there's too much drama in store,
but you can bet that won't deter my viewership for
All day Football Saturday. Before we get out of here,
let's quickly burn through. I got the top five my
(51:17):
top five rankings of local high school football. As much
as I hate the self reverential treatment that that sounds
like these are my top five rankings.
Speaker 1 (51:29):
Still still number one.
Speaker 2 (51:31):
They played but to Johnson tonight, coming off a win
last week over Canyon blew them out sixty two to nothing.
Still eight and one, only lost being to Westlake early,
which again is not a bad loss. The deeper we
get into the season still looking like they have a
(51:53):
deep playoff run ahead of them. I should say this
is the final week of high school football before one
of the great et playoff brackets commences, that is Texas
high school football playoffs. Everyone looking to close the season
strong before starting their playoff run. Another team that should
make a very deep run Piper still undefeated. They're nine
(52:16):
to oh playing Bernie Champion tonight to close out their season,
coming off the win last week over Victoria East forty
nine to seventeen. That Piper squad is absolutely legit and
albeit at a smaller level, smaller size than Steele. They
I would love to see those two teams line up
(52:38):
and play each other, because you look at the teams
Piper has beat this year and it's not an inflated
nine to oh record. They are legit best in the state,
potentially at their division Alamo Heights on bye week they've
already closed out their undefeated season.
Speaker 1 (52:56):
Have Thelm at number three.
Speaker 2 (52:58):
They beat johnny Man's alma mater, Kerville TYV last week
thirty nine to seven. All three of those teams, and
really all five here on the rankings, have the potential
to make deep playoff runs. Those three, though, I would
be really surprised if we don't see three four rounds.
Minimum coming in at number four, first time I've had
(53:21):
him on the list, But I got to include Johnson.
They're eight and one playing Clark tonight. Clark fighting for
a playoff position. Johnson, coming off the win last week,
beat Churchill thirty five to nothing.
Speaker 1 (53:35):
Johnson's only loss.
Speaker 2 (53:36):
This year was to Piper in Week two and it
was a close game, thirty eight to twenty four. So
that tells me this Johnson team absolutely could make a
deep run. Because you play Piper their best game they've
played all season, You've absolutely got a chance to make
a deep run. Brennan coming in number five, also eight
(53:58):
and one, play Warren tomorrow Night smoked taff last week
sixty nine to nothing.
Speaker 1 (54:06):
Very nice, But there's the top.
Speaker 2 (54:08):
Five in the area in the greater San Antonio metro area.
As I see them, you know it killed me to
drop the rural badasses of poth out of the top five.
Best of the rest here. Both still undefeated nine to zero.
They played Dilly tomorrow, trying to close out their undefeated
regular season before they look to make a deep run
(54:30):
in the playoffs. A team that really haven't talked about
a lot this year because they are smaller, but within
our area, Davenport. The Davenport Wolves nine to one, made
a deep playoff run last year. Fairly new high school overall,
haven't been playing varsity football that long. Their only loss
(54:50):
of the year. Similar to Johnson, their only loss was
to Piper, Now they didn't play them as close of
a game as Johnson did Piper. Aavenport lost forty two
to seven to Piper in Week three, but they're on
a bye week this week as they prepare for the playoffs.
And then, lastly, shout out to the private schools. Holy
(55:11):
Cross nine to zero going for their undefeated season tomorrow
against a private school out of Austin. Should be a
ten and o season for Holy Cross before they get
ready for the TAPS playoffs.
Speaker 1 (55:24):
I've said it.
Speaker 2 (55:24):
All year, a lot of really really good high school
football in the area. And I've been here now thirteen
going on fourteen years, and I can't remember as good
of a top ten in the area as we have.
All of this without mentioning Southwest, who we talked about
on Monday. They stayed undefeated one their district with the
(55:47):
win over Jay last week. So a lot of good
football in the area, a lot of good college football
on deck Saturday. So mediocre football gonna be played in
Dallas on Sunday, but still some games worth checking in on,
worth watching, and you can trust, as always my sports
obsession will not wane through the weekend. We'll be watching
(56:09):
a lot of football. As for tonight, gotta watch that
Trailblazer Spurs game. We'll talk about it tomorrow as well
as Thursday night football. And hey, even my Dallas Stars
are gonna make the docket again. They return from their
trip to Finland playing host to the Blackhawks tonight in
their first game back on American soil.
Speaker 1 (56:32):
And of course Friday episode.
Speaker 2 (56:34):
Means we get the roommate for a little who won
the Internet, so it should be fun tomorrow. As always,
I appreciate y'all riding along till then you'll be safe.
Speaker 1 (56:43):
We'll talk tomorrow kids.
Speaker 3 (56:45):
What do we say about drugs? Yeah,
Like be like blight, be light.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Light the beam. My election night hangover is finally passed.
It is time to get back to business here on
the Sports Cave with Biggest Puma. I am your host,
Sam Freeze. As always, you can reach out to me
on x at Biggest Puma on Instagram Biggest Dot Puma
broadcasting live to tape as always here on the East
(00:35):
side of San Antonio, where we have had UIL State
Marching Band competitions all week in the neighborhood.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
So far, they just about scared the hell out of me.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Last night when I popped out to burn a smoke,
I could literally hear the trumpets calling. I thought that
might have been the end of everything, but fear not
Alas we are back twenty three days now till Texas
Texas A and M, although now that matchup's not nearly
as exciting as it was last week before A and
(01:07):
M lost. We'll talk a lot of college football on
the program today. We are going to do our pigskin previews,
so we'll hit NFL, We'll talk Cowboys Eagles, we'll hit
college football, talk some of the top twenty five matchups,
as well as close out with our look around the
high school area top five rankings, as there's a few
(01:28):
teams on by going into the playoffs, which is kind
of weird to me, but the rest of the teams
looking to close out their season before the playoffs start.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Next week.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
We'll get into all that in the main segment, but
as always, we start with what I watched last night,
and this will end up being some general NBA talk
because I have watched a lot of basketball this week,
starting with the Spurs last night, dropping their second game
in a row. After every team in the league played
Monday Night and then took Tuesday off for the election,
(02:00):
Spurs were back in action last night, kind of a
mirror opposite to the game from Monday night.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Last night.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
They got down early. We're down twenty five at the half.
I could never climb back, end up losing to the
Rockets one twenty seven to one hundred. But I want
to start with that game from Monday night before we
jump into last night's game, because Monday Night's game was
history making in a lot of bad ways as well
(02:28):
as just some bad injury luck for the Spurs as well.
Starting with as we already know by now, so Jeremy
Sohan injured in Monday's game fractures his left thumb, requiring surgery.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
He's already had the surgery.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
We got the instagram post of him from the hospital
bed giving a thumbs up, although a mandatory thumbs up
because of the way the thumb was taped from surgery.
But normal recovery time is basically four to six weeks
for the injury to recover, and then there's usually a
couple of more weeks after that out of precaution to
(03:07):
avoid re injuring it immediately after surgery. So we're looking
at six weeks at the very minimum. It looks like
potentially eight or ten weeks before he's back on the court.
Of course, we haven't gotten an official update on any
kind of timeline from the Spurs, so that is just
a complete conjecture based on historical precedent of other guys
(03:30):
that have had the same injury, same surgery. And it's
really unfortunate because you anytime we've talked about the Spurs
this year specifically, something that I am really really curious
to see is the long term potential of Jeremy Sohan
being that big man pairing alongside Wemby being the guy
(03:50):
that can be your starting four man, your modern NBA
power forward next to Wimby for years to come, for
a decade to come. Jeremy was playing so well so
far this season. Was really starting to blossom in ways
that we hadn't seen previously in his years in the league,
(04:11):
yet starting to play more under control, starting to really
show you how he can impact games in terms of
playing winning basketball.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
I mean, the numbers were great.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
He had made a scoring leap up to almost seventeen
a game, sixteen I think it was fifteen and a half,
sixteen points a game, eight rebounds, was really starting to
come into some of that potential that we've all seen
from day one from his time at Baylor.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Just a terrible injury.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
For the Spurs right as they were about to potentially
get back a completely healthy roster with the news that
Devin vessel Now has been cleared for all basketball activities,
and it looks like, across your fingers, he might make
his debut Saturday against the Jazz. We'll talk a little
bit of about some of the spurs upcoming games here
(05:02):
in a minute, but the so hand injury is just
a gut punch to a team that you know has
been plucky, has has some good wins on the board already,
specifically thinking of the win against Minnesota, and you don't
have to look far to see so Han's impact on
this current roster, because I mentioned it was a historical night,
(05:25):
history making night for the Spurs, and not in a
good way. Spurs end up losing that game Monday to
the Clippers, one thirteen to one oh four, But the
story is really in the quarter by quarter breakdown. They
start the game with a forty to fourteen lead after
the first quarter, Jeremy ends up getting injured in the
(05:46):
second quarter, and the Clippers win that second quarter thirty
four to sixteen. So almost just a complete flip quarter
to quarter there in the first half. And while Jeremy
absolutely would have helped with the team defense, I mean,
the Clippers end up shooting nineteen for thirty seven. That's
a hair over fifty percent on threes for the game.
(06:07):
A coffee absolutely got insanely hot there in the second half.
But the real story was the Spurs struggles on offense.
I mean, they were on fire in that first quarter
when they open up the twenty six point lead, end
up shooting sixty two percent in that first quarter, but
only thirty seven percent for the rest of the game.
And unfortunately, the history that was made. That twenty six
(06:31):
point first quarter lead was the largest blown first quarter
lead in Spurs history. So bad loss compounded by bad injury,
and then unfortunately last night weren't able to get back
on track as they dropped that game to the Rockets.
One bright spot, I suppose if you're looking for him.
(06:52):
With sohand out of the lineup, we did get to
see Steph Castle make his first of many future NBA starts.
Rotation's going to look a little wonky now. You're going
to see a lot of Mamu. You're going to probably
see a lot of small ball Wimby. With four perimeter
players now and no real true second big man to
(07:13):
play next to, Wimby can work in doses in the league.
But you still they gotta find some rebounding, gotta find
some defense amongst this jumbled line up now, and getting
Vasel back will help with a lot of that. But
it's going to be a much more perimeter focused rotation.
It seems now that so Han's going to be out
(07:36):
for the considerable future. Luckily, it's nothing, It's just a
broken thumb with so hand. So luckily it's nothing with
long term effects or any kind of issue that's going
to remove any of his athleticism. So I would expect,
you know, as soon as he's back around, hopefully what's
the timeline there Christmas, maybe maybe he can pick up
(07:59):
right where he left off. I would expect that. It
was also the spurs third game now without Pop on
the bench, and I know the local guys have said,
you know, it's nothing that they're worried about again long term.
But Shams had a pretty shocking update earlier this week
(08:21):
on exactly what happened last Saturday night to Pop.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
Like I'm told that it was a health issue and
it was a serious health issue that the Spurs dealt
with and Greg Popovich dealt with over the weekend. It
was a situation on Saturday night pregame that Greg Papovich
needed medical attention in San Antonio. It is still uncertain
when he's going to make it back on the floor
(08:46):
on the sidelines for this team. There is a great
level of concern around the situation for the Spurs for
Greg Popovic. In the meantime, assistant coach Mit Johnson has
stepped in as the acting interim head coach. He's a
rising head coach in the league. I'm told he was
a finalist for the Washington Wizards and coaching job a
season ago in the offseason that went to Brian Keith.
(09:08):
And so this is something that the Spurs are very
well regarded with. They know how important he is, how
valuable he is, and he will be at the Helm
for the foreseeable future.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
So a couple things there. One.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I guess I must have missed it, or maybe that's
the first time it's been reported. I didn't realize Mitch
Johnson was so close to getting that Wizard's job. Absolutely
deserving and if you missed it, I can't remember who
had the interview. But Chris Paul was talking earlier this
year about how he used to hate playing against the Spurs,
(09:40):
not necessarily because of pop, but because Mitch Johnson was
sitting on the bench and calling out the plays that
Chris Paul was running and directing people on the defensive
side of where to go based on what play Chris
Paul was running. So that shows great coaching instinct and
ability to adapt to what the other team's calling on
(10:02):
the fly. Look, we all think very highly of Mitch Johnson.
I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I didn't
realize he was that close to potentially becoming an NBA
head coach this past summer. And then secondly Sham's mentioning
that you know, Pop needed direct medical attention after whatever
(10:23):
happened Saturday night. Never want to hear that, and now
Pop out indefinitely missing his fourth game tonight as the
Spurs get ready to take on the Trailblazers. Hopefully we
get some kind of clarity, some kind of update soon,
because any you know, something like this health wise, with
an aging man at Pop's age, speculation just runs rampant,
(10:48):
and it would be nice to have some actual factual
reporting of exactly what happened as soon as they're comfortable
with letting everyone know, as soon as comfortable feeling better
from whatever happened. I hate to hear it, but also,
like Sham's said there, the Spurs are in very good
(11:09):
hands with Mitch Johnson sitting on the sitting in the
big chair. Even on an interim basis, we'll talk about
whatever happens in that Spurs Trailblazers game on tomorrow's episode.
It's the start of a five game homestand for the Spurs,
so it would be really nice if they could start
climbing back to five hundred before the snowball rolls too
(11:33):
far downhill and they get too far behind that five
hundred record, because there's three winnable games of the next
five here at home Portland tonight, Utah Saturday, and then
Washington as well coming into town. Other two are Kings
and Lakers, so not exactly juggernauts in the West, not
(11:56):
the upper echelon, but not as winnable as those other
So you could talk me into three out of five easily.
You could talk me into four out of five if
they can split those games with the Kings Lakers. And
it's not just the five straight games here on this
homestand they've got eight of the next ten at home
(12:17):
and fourteen of the next eighteen at home if you
go all the way through Christmas. So, as we talked
about Jeremy Sohan's injury timeline, there is some silver lining
there that at least they're not facing any crazy daunting
road trips. Of course, getting a lot of home games
out of the way now because they have the Rodeo
(12:38):
road trip in the second half of the schedule, but
fourteen of the next eighteen at home is a great
opportunity to try to put some wins on the board,
especially before they get that prime time Christmas Day matchup
in Madison Square Garden. I am so looking forward to
making my family watch the Spurs when I'm back up there,
back up in North Texas for Christmas. We always every
(13:01):
year watched the NBA Christmas Day games, but Wimby on
Christmas in the Garden, in the Mecca of basketball, should
be something special. And hopefully they can have a decent
record going into the second half of the season about
the time they potentially get so hand back. And then
finally on the basketball notes here real quick, before we
(13:23):
jump into our pig Skin previews, something else we've been
keeping our eye on going back to Opening night. You
know you've heard me talk about the Spurs draft pick ownerships,
and not only do they own their own pick, they
owned the Bulls, the Hawks, and the Hornets pick all
with varying levels of protection. Hawks completely unprotected, Bulls top
(13:46):
ten protected, Hornets top fourteen protected, and as we sit
here right now, they would have the ninth pick, the
fifteenth pick and the eighteenth pick in this upcoming draft
if the season ended. And I know it's way too
early to start projecting any kind of draft pick status,
especially with the lottery system the way it is, but
(14:11):
it's something definitely to keep an eye on as the
season goes along, because you know, the East is a mess,
and with the Spurs facing all of the solid teams
above them in the standings in the West, you can
expect them to be, you know, fighting for a play
in at best on the west side of the bracket,
(14:31):
but the East side it's completely wide open. Ten games
into the season so far, or almost ten games, you know,
as we sit here, the Bulls, Hawks, and Hornets are
all either playoff teams or play in teams right now.
The Hawks would be a playoff team, wouldn't have to
(14:51):
play in the play in Bulls, and the Hornets would
be play in teams. Now a lot of basketball obviously
to be played. I wouldn't exp affect all three of
those to be end up playing postseason basketball, but definitely
something to keep an eye on because I mentioned the
East is an absolute mess. It is so top heavy,
(15:12):
unexpectedly top heavy, with some really good teams getting off
to absolutely terrible starts at Cleveland now sitting nine to zero,
the last undefeated team in the league, now that the
Thunder dropped a game to Denver last night, And while
that's not that surprising to me, Cleveland was a great
regular season team last year. They've handled some of their
(15:35):
contract business, given extensions to guys that core four or
five players that they have now under contract for multiple years.
They all know they're going to be together pending any
kind of massive trade, and that chemistry goes a long
way in the NBA, really more so than any other sport.
(15:56):
But it's less about the top end of the East.
You know, Cleveland nine to zero, Boston seven and two,
and then after that the third seed is a five
hundred team, the third seed is the four and four Pacers,
and all the way down through the rest of the
play in teams, it's a lot of surprises and a
(16:16):
lot of disappointments. I mean, Milwaukee and Philly are sitting
dead last and second to dead last in the East
right now, both of them with one in six records.
Orlando a solid playoff team last year, they're now sitting
barely in the play in spot. Their tenth but with
a three and six record, which, if you're remembering what
(16:39):
the Spurs record is right now, yes, that would mean the.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Spurs would be the eighth seed in the East.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Right now, even the Knicks are off to a pretty
disappointing start, well really disappointing start. If you're a Knicks
fan and crazy over the moon, I think they're just
going to hand you the title because of all the
offseason moves you made. Nick sitting at three and four,
although a lot of that again, I go back to
the chemistry point. I think building that chemistry with all
(17:07):
of those new guys, new pieces coming together, that was
going to take some time, no matter what their early
season schedule looked like. I'm not as ready to push
the panic button on the Knicks as probably your average
Nick fan is right now. But they are three and
four and are actually behind the Atlanta Hawks right now
(17:29):
in the rankings. In fact, Trey Young last night after
the Hawks beat the Knicks, one of the greatest, one
of the best current rivalries in the East Hawks Knicks,
Trey Young told Knicks fans to get their ask to
go home last night on the PA during his postgame interview.
So the East is upside down. I think we're gonna
(17:51):
see some normalization as the season goes along, which again
we'll have to keep an eye on because the Spurs
owning the Bulls, Hawks, and Hornets picks, I would expect
all three of those teams to fall back down towards
the bottom of the standings as soon as some of
the East normalizes. But we just got the news. Also
(18:15):
Philly's facing they just get Paul George back. Well now
Tyres Max he's gonna miss multiple weeks with injury. So
maybe Philly is just going to have a cursed season.
Maybe Milwaukee's going to be so bad that the trade
wins of Yannis potentially forcing his way out of the
Midwest might come to realization. It's the NBA can change
(18:37):
in a heartbeat. And it sure looks like the East
is going through some major, major growing pains to start
this year. And then as top heavy as the East is,
the West is just completely jumbled. One through eleven, the
number one seed Thunder are only separated by three games
(18:58):
from the number eleven seed Clippers, and then the Spurs
sitting there with the twelfth seed. But there have been
some surprises. You mention, it's a lot of chalk. It's
a lot of who we expected to be making up
those one through ten playoff play in spots. But some
teams have gotten off to really, really good starts.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Take the Warriors for example.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
Warriors sitting now tied with the Thunder with the Suns
for the best record in the West, all seven and one.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
But Golden States.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Talk of Golden State's demise appears to be absolutely premature
because Steph Curry. Even with Steph Curry missing some time
already this season because of the ankle, they have absolutely
got back to their winning ways, losing Klay Thompson in
the offseason to the MAVs, allowing some of the younger
(19:52):
guys on that roster, Moses Moody Kaminga getting expanded roles. Now,
of course, Pods come in back in year two. He
hasn't gotten off to a great start. But Golden State
finds themselves not only seven and one, tied for the
best record in the West, but also five and zero
on the road. So a team that traditionally has had
(20:15):
a great home court advantage, I mean, they're two and
one at home, but you would expect that home court
advantage to maintain throughout the year. If they can keep
playing like this on the road, they will absolutely avoid
the play in, which I thought. You know, before the
season started, I had predicted them falling back into somewhere
(20:35):
in that seven to ten range, quite honestly being the
team either them or the Lakers, that if the Spurs
were going to make the play in, they would have
to pass one of Golden State LA Lakers, LA Clippers,
one of those three, or really two of those three
to get that tenth seed. Well, it doesn't look like
(20:56):
it's going to be Golden State. The Lakers are the
ten seed right now, four and four, Clippers also four
and four, the eleventh seed. But that's just it. I
mean from the one seed all the way to the Spurs.
The Spurs are only four games behind the one seed
right now, and if you just look at the East,
the twelfth seed in the East, the Washington Wizards are
(21:19):
five and a half games back. So the West is
going to be an uphill climb if the Spurs can
get into one of those playing spots. But I mentioned
the Suns as well. You know, the expectations for them
were through the roof with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant
having another year together, potentially Bradley Beal maintaining maybe a
(21:41):
little bit better health this year, and they finally they
get a real point guard on the roster and Tyas Jones,
Trey's brother. Well, the Suns look like they are going
to be a strong contender. They're seven and one, five
and oh at home, undefeated at home, right there with
the thunder who I think we all expected to be
(22:04):
fighting for that one seed throughout the year. So again,
I know it's early, but it never hurts to take
a little peek at the standings because if you're the
Spurs right now looking at fourteen of your next eighteen
at home, you could fall behind the rest of the
West very fast if this goes sideways over the next month,
(22:26):
month and a half. So we'll check back in periodically,
of course, on normal weeks where there's not a major
national election, we will do NBA talk on Wednesdays. But
it is Thursday, and that means it's time to get
into some of our pigskin previews, starting with the Philadelphia
(22:47):
Eagles visit to Jerry World.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
At that point, that's why I start hearing the fire
trucks coming down the street, it was like the far
off distance or whatever like that. Smoke started getting worse
than not seeing the gods hanging out the window, you know,
screaming at his kids was sitting there and things like that.
So I'll ran to the back door see if it
was opening.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
It was.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
I ran upstairs that I was reading with smoke. I
ran back downstairs. By that time, that matter stuff was
pulling up, and ironically, being one of my old co workers,
put the ladder off the truck, raised it up and
assistant people down. My man just like throwing babies out
the window. We was catching it. Unlike Agilar and his mishaps.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
I like to put that out there.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
That classic news clip never gets old. Eagles fans are ruthless,
and I kind of envy. I kind of envy them
in a lot of ways. I think in another life
I would have really enjoyed being an Eagles fan, basically
just getting to be an a hole and everyone says, yeah, yeah,
but they're Eagles fans. That's just how they are. That
(23:49):
kind of sounds I kind of envy that. That kind
of sounds like a lot of fun. Now booing Michael
Irvin as his career ended on their field, or throwing
snowballs with batteries in it at Santa Claus during a
Christmas game or a holiday game. Maybe not those parts
of it, but it does seem like it's really fun
(24:12):
to be an Eagles fan until their normal second half
collapse most years, but this year again, sitting six and two,
half a game behind the Commanders for the division lead
and the NFC East, traveling to Jerry World Sunday three
twenty five kickoff, Eagle seven point favorites going into this thing,
(24:32):
and I'm not gonna spend a lot of time breaking
this game down because Dallas is just such a busted
operation right now for all of the reasons that we've
talked about, and quite frankly, it's depressing to spend a
lot of time thinking or talking about the Cowboys these days.
We'll talk about their rash of injuries here in a second.
But they did make a move earlier this week at
(24:55):
the trade deadline. I jokingly said on Monday's episode, see
who they throw away a fourth round pick on at
the deadline, Like they threw a fourth round pick away
for Trey Lance. Well, I'll be damned, Jerry threw another
fourth round pick away and look, this trade could end
up turning out to be something that helps them win
(25:18):
games over the next couple years, but it's not going
to fix anything this year. And you know, right now,
as we sit here previewing the upcoming week, I really
don't think Jonathan Mingo is going to be a difference
maker if the Cowboys somehow beat the Eagles. I don't
think it's going to come down to the acquisition of
(25:38):
him on Tuesday having anything to do with the outcome
of this game. If you missed it, Cowboys did give
up a fourth round pick for Jonathan Mingo. They get
him and a seventh round pick back from the Panthers,
and on paper, there's a lot to like about the player.
I know, the memes ran rampant. He's only got twelve
catches in nine games this year for the terrible Carolina Panthers,
(26:03):
and all of that is true. But he was also
the thirty ninth pick in the draft in twenty twenty
three and someone that the Cowboys were very high on
going into that draft. Kid played at Ole Miss. He's
a raw talent. He's six ' to two, He's got
the skills you want to see out of an NFL
(26:23):
wide receiver. He's got the size you want to see.
He's I guess if you were going to try to
compare him to someone already on the roster, he's a
bit like Jalen Tolbert in the sense that he is
a raw prospect that they're hoping they can get the
best out of. And I say he might be something
that can help win games in the years to come.
(26:46):
That is because he has two more years left on
his rookie deal, and that helps explain the fourth round
compensation that the Cowboys gave up for him. But still,
you look across the league, I think there was a
lot of shock that Jonathan Mingo brought back the Panthers
a fourth round pick, because again, I will say it
(27:08):
till I'm blue in the face, I will say it
every time the Cowboys make a trade. They just gave
up a fourth round pick for a guy that had
fallen out of the depth chart in Carolina, when they
could only get a fifth round pick for Amari Cooper,
who was absolutely a Number one receiver when.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
They traded him.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Again, Jerry will tell you he's the best fn GM
for this thing, and no one could do it better.
That's verbatim quote from his mouth back during training camp. Now,
obviously we all know we're being lied to when we
hear him say that, And the trade Tuesday was just
further proof. No other team in the league was knocking
(27:48):
down the Panthers door to give them a fourth round
pick for a guy that they had already practically given
up on. But I would say overall, the judgment is
out on that trade until we actually do get to
see Mingo play some meaningful snaps and not with Cooper
Rush like we're gonna see for the foreseeable future. Now,
because we did get a bit of an update on
(28:10):
Dak's injury. He's got a tear in the hamstring where
the hamstring has started torn away from the bone, and
they're debating now this week is it going to be
something that he if he sits out four weeks, if
he sits out six weeks, is it something he can
come back from before this season's over, or is it
(28:34):
just better to go ahead have the surgery now, which
would be season ending surgery, and then be prepared to
come back healthy for the offseason workouts and training camp
and not have any issue lingering If they postpone the surgery,
thinking he might be able to heal. And it reminds
me some of you know, back in twenty twenty two,
(28:55):
where Dak missed five games, Cooper Rush went four and
one as the starter, but the Cowboys didn't technically place
Dak on injured reserve. They kept waiting for the injury
to heal week by week, thinking, you know, maybe five
games would be the worst case scenario, maybe he could
come back in three. It sounds right now like they're
(29:17):
taking a similar approach to this injury, albeit this one
sounds way worse than what happened to his thumb back
in twenty twenty two. But mention Cooper Rush, and I
know there's a lot of people out there, Well, there's
three camps. I think when it comes to the Cowboys
quarterback situation. One is the anti Dak crowd. I understand
(29:41):
a lot of the sentiment, but Dak was also the
guy that got second in MVP voting last year and
led one of the best offenses in.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
The league last year.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
Playoff loss notwithstanding, but you still got to perform well
in the regular season to even get to the playoffs,
and Dak has shown he can do that consistently. And
then there's the other camp that says, well, why is
Trey Lance not starting?
Speaker 1 (30:05):
Why are we even.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
Playing Cooper Rush when Trey Lance is sitting on the roster.
The Trey Lance ship has sailed as soon as they
gave Dak that contract. That meant Trey Lance is done
after this year as a Cowboy. They're not going to
re sign him to any kind of deal. He's a
free agent at the end of the year. The best
hope from the beginning for Trey Lance was that he
(30:26):
popped in practice and pushed Dak to the point where
the Cowboys actually had a decision whether to give Dak
the contract or potentially view Trey Lance as.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
The quarterback of the future.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
We all know they gave Dak the contract, thus basically
ending Trey Lance's future with the Cowboys. And then there's
the third camp that says, are we sure Cooper Rush
isn't better than Dak?
Speaker 1 (30:52):
And look, would I would tell you you're crazy right now?
I would have told you you're crazy.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Back in twenty twenty two when Cooper went four in one,
it was a completely different game plan.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
They had a running game.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
That they could rely on, that they could peel some
of the play, calling back play, more conservative on offense,
and still win football games.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
They don't have that running game now, and.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Cooper Rush is thirty now versus being in somewhat athletic
prime of mid to late twenties like he was back then.
All that being said, though, I'm not sure anymore. I mean,
I think Dak is way better than Cooper Rush on paper,
but maybe Cooper Rush, just the consistency of what he
(31:39):
brings could potentially show for a better product than what
we've seen through eight games under Dak. And there's no again,
there's no quarterback controversy, even if Cooper Rush goes five
and oh, six and oh and somehow they turn this
thing around being a defensive football team with Mica come back,
(32:00):
with potentially Deron Bland coming back. All of this is
pie in the sky. It's not happening. This season is
as good as over. And I hate to be the nihilist,
but the Cowboys nihilism is running pretty strong these days.
Speaker 1 (32:14):
But it will be.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Interesting for the Cooper Rush crowd to finally get another
opportunity to tell everybody how Cooper is better than Dak.
And I would say at this point, I'm not as
sold on the idea of that being ridiculous as I
was last year, But I also don't want to be
prisoner of the moment and think that that's not as
(32:37):
ridiculous of a statement as it probably actually is. All
that being said, Dak's not the only injury they're dealing with.
Going back to that game against the Falcon CD was
banged up, stayed in the game, ended up catching a
touchdown pass from Cooper Rush. We got the word that
he has a sprained ac joint basically shoulder that looked
(33:01):
pretty obvious from watching the game last week. He was
limited in practice, but he's saying that he is going
to play. Cowboys are saying they expect him to play,
so at least Cooper will have the Cowboys really best
and only option back on the field this week, going
up against the Eagles and then the Big One. It
(33:22):
sounds like the Lion is going to be back in uniform.
Micah has been limited in practice all week, but again
they're saying all of the right things when it comes
to his progress.
Speaker 1 (33:36):
He's saying he feels like he's.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
Going to play Sunday, but it of course comes down
to their decision. The medical staff's decision, but I think
we're going to get to see Micah's return from the
high ankle sprain, which, again, if you're starting Cooper Rush,
you've got to have some help on that defense because
I don't think you're the opportunities or the potential to
(33:58):
put as many points on the board on offense aren't
gonna be there with Cooper Rush leading the charge. So
having Micah back could absolutely help. At least maybe the
helped the Cowboys cover that seven point spread. Still no
word on Deron Bland though he unlike Micah, he still
hasn't practiced all week, which I would say is a
(34:21):
bad sign obviously as it pertains to his availability Sunday.
It turns out after six weeks of the injury, he
ended up having a setback, and they thought it would
be a ten week injury, but then with this setback
now it's pushed it a couple weeks past what they
initially thought, which again is unfortunate. Watching that Cowboys secondary
(34:44):
against Kirk Cousins and the Falcons last week, Trayvon Diggs
banged up. He was limited all week in practice this week,
but it does sound like he's going to be another
game time decision, but will probably play. But his performance,
it's over the last couple of weeks, injury or not,
hasn't been up to the level of play that earned
(35:06):
him that contract originally. And if that was the end
of the injury list, that would be a lot. But no,
let's add some more names to the list here. How
about rookie Tyler Geidon who had to miss the start
of the second half last week. He has been limited
all week again in practice, it sounds like he'll be
(35:26):
a game time decision. A couple of the veterans are
banged up. It's eight games, nine weeks into the season.
You can expect to see veterans start hitting the weekly
injury list, whether their availability is really in fluctuation or not.
We did see Zach Martin's name pop up on the
injury list. He in fact hasn't practiced all week. Eric
(35:50):
Kendricks limited today, which is progressed because he wasn't a
participant in Wednesday's practice. So a lot of questions when
it comes to availability with this Cowboys roster, and I
think obviously they were already behind the eight ball even
if they had a fully healthy roster. All these injuries
(36:11):
are going to make it quite a daunting task if
they have any plans to take down the Eagles come Sunday.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
Moving on to the.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
Rest of the league, we'll talk about the Thursday night
football game on tomorrow's episode, Bengals at Ravens. Bengals win
would make that would officially make that a three team
race in the division. Add the Steelers to the mix.
Steelers and Ravens sitting at the top of it right now.
Bingals hoping to climb out of the cellar after that
(36:43):
terrible start to the season. They've gotten hot, got on
a roll. Taking down a Ravens team on the road
tonight would go a long way, at minimum putting them
squarely back in the wild card conversation. But like I said,
would potentially open that up to a three team race
at the top of the division if they could keep
(37:03):
things rolling. As for the Sunday games, I'd say there's
really two that rise above the rest. Seven and one
Lions traveling to take on the six and three Texans.
Texans coming off that bad loss to the Jets last week.
I saw the Texans are going to be wearing their
all red color Rush jerseys, including a pretty nice looking
(37:26):
red helmet Lions coming off the win at Lambeau last week,
a good opportunity for the Texans to really make a
statement and bounce back after the disappointment of losing last week.
And then the other team in that Bengals Ravens Division
six and two Steelers traveling to Washington to take on
the seven and two Commanders, a Steelers team that somehow
(37:49):
the Cowboys beat, and a Commander's team that the Cowboys
need a lot of help from teams like the Steelers
if they can climb back into the Division. Commanders looking
to defend home field with Pittsburgh coming to town.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
I'm still blown.
Speaker 2 (38:05):
Away that the Cowboys were able to win that game
and in the fashion that they did up in Pittsburgh
earlier in the season. It just doesn't seem like this
team has any of the mental fortitude that would be
required to lead a game winning drive like they did
in Pittsburgh earlier in the year.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
It should be a good matchup.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
I still think the Commanders are a bit of fool's
gold when you compare them to say Detroit or even
San Francisco. If San Francisco can start to really get
back healthy, they potentially have Christian McCaffrey making his return
this week. They're taking traveling to take on the four
(38:47):
and five Buccaneers after a disappointing loss for that Buccaneers team,
losing an overtime to the Chiefs.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
Win Todd Bowles, Buddy, you got to go for two.
Speaker 3 (38:58):
Man.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
You're you're in arrowhead.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
You're giving Patrick Mahomes basically a coin flip fifty to
fifty shot to end that game in overtime. You knew
he was going to end that game with a touchdown
if they won the coin toss. I still can't believe
the Bucks didn't go for two in that game. But
the Niners sitting at five hundred now four and four,
potentially getting McCaffrey back, Buccaneers now sliding further down the standings,
(39:26):
all the way down to four and five and clearly
behind the Falcons in that NFC South race. That's a
game that you know, if the Cowboys have any chance
of climbing back to wild card contention. I saw ESPN
has on it like a three percent postseason chance, and
I frankly can't believe it's even three percent. But a
(39:48):
team like the Bucks, or hell, a team like the
forty nine ers. If they continue to stay around five hundred,
those are two teams that Dallas might be fighting for
a wild card spot late in the season if somehow
Cooper Rush is the messiah to turn things around. But
those are really the only three games that catch the
(40:10):
attention on the schedule this week, there's a lot of
mismatches and a lot of snoozers. Again the snoozers, Giants, Panthers.
Enough said, you know, Patriots, Bears, Bears trying to hang
on again, another team hoping to maybe slide into a
wild card spot. But I think even at four and
four right now, I think, as they have to play
(40:33):
the rest of that division, the best division in football
this year, NFC North, I think the Bears will slide
back to expected overall record by the time the season ends.
Speaker 1 (40:45):
Bill's Colts feels like.
Speaker 2 (40:47):
A major mismatch on paper, of course, as does Chiefs Broncos,
although I don't think that the Broncos are as bad
as the Colts are necessarily, but both teams feel a
smack dab five hundred at best by the end of
the year. Mentioned the Falcons, they take on traveling to
(41:07):
New Orleans and the post Dennis Allen Era for the Saints.
I think the Falcons are really looking to separate from
the rest of that division, and this is a great opportunity.
Saints made a couple trade, traded guys away, weakened their
roster before the deadline, and then a couple more mismatches,
Vikings traveling taking on the Jaguars a Vikings looking to
(41:30):
stay just one game behind the Lions in that NFC
North Division. Chargers in year one under Harball, really starting
to look like they might be a dangerous team come
playoff time. Five and three now hosting the Titans, and
then lastly the NFC West leading Arizona Cardinals playing the Jets,
(41:54):
who saved their season last week with the win over
the Texans. Cardinals hosting the Jets, hoping to stay atop
those standings within the division as they can see the
Niners getting healthy in their rear view mirror. And then
the Monday night game Dolphins at Rams, another NFC West
team that is just hoping to hang around and stay
(42:17):
within fighting distance in that NFC West because it really
feels like it any four of those teams could wind
up tripping and falling over themselves to win the division.
Especially if the Niners continue to have bad injury luck.
But we'll talk about that Monday game next week. We
got to talk some college football here on our pig
(42:38):
Skin previews where there's only two ranked Top twenty five
matchups this week, but both of them have massive playoff implications.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
In this first week where we.
Speaker 2 (42:50):
Got the first official playoff rankings from the committee, not
going to go over those week by week. There's not
a whole lot of all. They the only reason they
put those out now is to drive conversation when none
of it really matters because there's so much football left
to be played. If somehow you did miss it Oregon,
(43:12):
Ohio State, Georgia, the top three, Miami four, Texas five,
Boise State would be the ATLAR or the group of
five team that would make the playoff, but a lot
of football to be played. Those rankings are going to
change significantly before the final ones are released, and really
the final ones are the one that we will spend
(43:35):
a lot of time arguing, because this first year of
the twelve team playoff is going to leave teams thirteen
through sixteen asking you know, what the hell, why did
you leave us out? And they're I think they're going
to have some solid arguments, especially if you do listen
to the committee try to explain why they picked certain
(43:55):
teams ahead of others. There's never any consistent see, it's
always designed to they're gonna say what they have to
say to cover their ass each week. There's no consistency
week to week. Uh So we're not gonna waste time
talking about them week to week for all of those reasons.
Speaker 1 (44:14):
But the rink.
Speaker 2 (44:15):
Matchups that we do have on the schedule for Saturday
will serve as somewhat pseudo elimination games because if Ole
Miss loses to Georgia number three Georgia at ole Miss.
If Ole Miss loses, they're out of the conversation. Three losses,
they're not getting in. I expect that to happen. But
we've seen Georgia slip up already this year, albeit against
(44:38):
an Alabama team who would be in the playoffs right
now if the season ended. But I think Georgia handles business.
Although they have looked pretty rocky offensively the last few weeks,
even going going back to the Texas game, it was
the defense that suffocated UT and gave Georgia that win.
I think you're gonna see that de defense again show
(45:01):
up and shut down the high power Jackson Dart led
ole miss offense shut his Heisman campaign down. And then
the other matchup, Alabama traveling to Baton Rouge traveling to
Death Valley for a night game number eleven, Bama at
number fifteen LSU again, both teams with two losses. I
(45:21):
think we're looking at an elimination game.
Speaker 1 (45:24):
I can't.
Speaker 2 (45:24):
I think BAMA would have an outside shot because they're
Bama of getting in with three losses. LSU no way,
and for all the bad luck.
Speaker 1 (45:34):
In the world. LSU is bringing.
Speaker 2 (45:36):
The Tiger back to the field level, but they're not
using their actual Tiger, Mikey. They're flying in a Tiger
from Florida to having a cage on the field. I
think that, combined with just Brian Kelly's overall bad mojo,
I think we're going to see Bama win that game
on the road. But one of, if not the greatest
(45:58):
atmospheres in all of college foot ball a night game
at Death Valley. It should make for great television viewing.
But those are your only two ranked matchups this week. Now,
looking at the rest of the top twenty five, I
do think there is some potential that we see an
upset or two. Maybe Miami still undefeated, traveling to take
(46:20):
on Georgia Tech. A Georgia Tech team that started the
year off strong starting to taper off.
Speaker 1 (46:26):
Now Miami continues.
Speaker 2 (46:28):
To get by with their explosive offense just outscoring teams.
Maybe Georgia Tech has another magic moment left in on
them here this season, Texas playing host to Florida. Florida's
got a lot of talent on that roster, and that's
exactly what Sark has said all week, like, if you
just look at the amount of talent on every sec roster,
(46:51):
Florida is damn near the top compared to anybody. It's
just a matter of coaching, it appears. Even though Florida
announced that they will be keeping Billy Napier at least
for now through this season, that's a bit of a
trap game. I could see, you know, still not entirely
sold on Indiana. I know, obviously the undefeated record, it
(47:13):
again feels a lot like Miami, where they're getting by
on the offense and playing Big ten offenses, which they'll
be playing the ultimate Big ten offense Saturday. They hosting Michigan.
Maybe Michigan can muddy the game up, can make it nasty,
hold that Indiana offense and check, keep it close, steal
(47:34):
it late.
Speaker 1 (47:35):
Maybe that's a trap game.
Speaker 2 (47:37):
And then the rivalry out West, now renewed through the
Big Twelve affiliation of both teams BYU at Utah. Don't
feel like Utah is that much of a threat, but
in a rivalry game, of course, as the cliche goes,
you never know what could happen. But that's about it
for the intriguing matchups on the college football slate this weekend.
(47:59):
We do have a trio of teams that got their
first loss last week looking to bounce back. Penn State
hosting Washington after the loss to Ohio State, James Franklin,
Gunna James Franklin, and he James Franklin in that game
against Ohio State. They are hosting Washington now looking to
(48:20):
bounce back. Speaking of Ohio State, they've got a layup
hosting Perdue this week. Shouldn't be any issue there. And
then in one of the weirdest Big Ten matchups ever,
Oregon hosting Maryland. That's a conference game now, so Top
two don't look like they'll be challenged this week, but
getting back to the other two teams that lost last
(48:42):
week for the first time. Iowa State now traveling on
the road, taking on Kansas this week looking to bounce back,
and then lastly Pitt hosting Virginia after getting embarrassed by
SMU last week. SMU looking like they might be one
one of those teams that's right outside the final twelve
(49:03):
when the final rankings come out and are left asking, hey,
what the hell what about us? But really overall, not
much intrigue on the schedule, not much marquee high ranking
matchups this week as we continue to roll through conference play.
Do have to mention before we talk a little high
school football shout out UTSA there on by this week,
(49:27):
but got a great win last week over what is
now becoming quickly becoming a conference rival in Memphis. It's
been a rival through the press at least, it's been
a rival on the recruiting trail. But UTSA defends their
massive home field advantage beats Memphis last week and a
huge bounce back after blowing the second half lead in
(49:51):
Tulsa two weeks ago, and I mentioned their massive home
field advantage under trailer. They've only lost three games the
Alamo Dome, and that is really insane when you think
about where the program was when he took over and
instantly how he was able to start protecting their home
(50:11):
field immediately with the roster that he inherited and has
only continued that trend throughout. I know he's catching a
lot of hell a lot of heat this season for
the way things have gone, but the program sure seems
like it's still in great hands. Also, while we're at it,
shout out to the roommate's Red Raiders. They handed Iowa
(50:31):
State their first loss last week, now being rewarded with
big Noon Fox Saturday crew showing up in Lubbock for
their game, hosting the Fighting Dions and the rest of
the Colorado Buffaloes. So some potentially exciting games and this
is one of those weeks where we might end up
(50:53):
seeing five or six upsets and nobody saw it coming,
because that's just how crazy college football can be. But
on paper, doesn't look like there's too much drama in store,
but you can bet that won't deter my viewership for
All day Football Saturday. Before we get out of here,
let's quickly burn through. I got the top five my
(51:17):
top five rankings of local high school football. As much
as I hate the self reverential treatment that that sounds
like these are my top five rankings.
Speaker 1 (51:29):
Still still number one.
Speaker 2 (51:31):
They played but to Johnson tonight, coming off a win
last week over Canyon blew them out sixty two to nothing.
Still eight and one, only lost being to Westlake early,
which again is not a bad loss. The deeper we
get into the season still looking like they have a
(51:53):
deep playoff run ahead of them. I should say this
is the final week of high school football before one
of the great et playoff brackets commences, that is Texas
high school football playoffs. Everyone looking to close the season
strong before starting their playoff run. Another team that should
make a very deep run Piper still undefeated. They're nine
(52:16):
to oh playing Bernie Champion tonight to close out their season,
coming off the win last week over Victoria East forty
nine to seventeen. That Piper squad is absolutely legit and
albeit at a smaller level, smaller size than Steele. They
I would love to see those two teams line up
(52:38):
and play each other, because you look at the teams
Piper has beat this year and it's not an inflated
nine to oh record. They are legit best in the state,
potentially at their division Alamo Heights on bye week they've
already closed out their undefeated season.
Speaker 1 (52:56):
Have Thelm at number three.
Speaker 2 (52:58):
They beat johnny Man's alma mater, Kerville TYV last week
thirty nine to seven. All three of those teams, and
really all five here on the rankings, have the potential
to make deep playoff runs. Those three, though, I would
be really surprised if we don't see three four rounds.
Minimum coming in at number four, first time I've had
(53:21):
him on the list, But I got to include Johnson.
They're eight and one playing Clark tonight. Clark fighting for
a playoff position. Johnson, coming off the win last week,
beat Churchill thirty five to nothing.
Speaker 1 (53:35):
Johnson's only loss.
Speaker 2 (53:36):
This year was to Piper in Week two and it
was a close game, thirty eight to twenty four. So
that tells me this Johnson team absolutely could make a
deep run. Because you play Piper their best game they've
played all season, You've absolutely got a chance to make
a deep run. Brennan coming in number five, also eight
(53:58):
and one, play Warren tomorrow Night smoked taff last week
sixty nine to nothing.
Speaker 1 (54:06):
Very nice, But there's the top.
Speaker 2 (54:08):
Five in the area in the greater San Antonio metro area.
As I see them, you know it killed me to
drop the rural badasses of poth out of the top five.
Best of the rest here. Both still undefeated nine to zero.
They played Dilly tomorrow, trying to close out their undefeated
regular season before they look to make a deep run
(54:30):
in the playoffs. A team that really haven't talked about
a lot this year because they are smaller, but within
our area, Davenport. The Davenport Wolves nine to one, made
a deep playoff run last year. Fairly new high school overall,
haven't been playing varsity football that long. Their only loss
(54:50):
of the year. Similar to Johnson, their only loss was
to Piper, Now they didn't play them as close of
a game as Johnson did Piper. Aavenport lost forty two
to seven to Piper in Week three, but they're on
a bye week this week as they prepare for the playoffs.
And then, lastly, shout out to the private schools. Holy
(55:11):
Cross nine to zero going for their undefeated season tomorrow
against a private school out of Austin. Should be a
ten and o season for Holy Cross before they get
ready for the TAPS playoffs.
Speaker 1 (55:24):
I've said it.
Speaker 2 (55:24):
All year, a lot of really really good high school
football in the area. And I've been here now thirteen
going on fourteen years, and I can't remember as good
of a top ten in the area as we have.
All of this without mentioning Southwest, who we talked about
on Monday. They stayed undefeated one their district with the
(55:47):
win over Jay last week. So a lot of good
football in the area, a lot of good college football
on deck Saturday. So mediocre football gonna be played in
Dallas on Sunday, but still some games worth checking in on,
worth watching, and you can trust, as always my sports
obsession will not wane through the weekend. We'll be watching
(56:09):
a lot of football. As for tonight, gotta watch that
Trailblazer Spurs game. We'll talk about it tomorrow as well
as Thursday night football. And hey, even my Dallas Stars
are gonna make the docket again. They return from their
trip to Finland playing host to the Blackhawks tonight in
their first game back on American soil.
Speaker 1 (56:32):
And of course Friday episode.
Speaker 2 (56:34):
Means we get the roommate for a little who won
the Internet, so it should be fun tomorrow. As always,
I appreciate y'all riding along till then you'll be safe.
Speaker 1 (56:43):
We'll talk tomorrow kids.
Speaker 3 (56:45):
What do we say about drugs? Yeah,
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