Speaker 1: Welcome in What Draven the Great? Episode four eighty nine.
Speaker 1: This episode of What Draven the Great, as always, is
Speaker 1: presented to you by our dear friends at boost Mobile
Speaker 1: we Alsow for the first time in a while, get
Speaker 1: to welcome back demands fresh from the final days of
Speaker 1: paternity leave. And you really did time this paternity leave perfectly.
Speaker 1: As your final your first day back at work was
Speaker 1: also your newly nine month old daughters first day trying
Speaker 1: out a little daycare with other little babies, as that
Speaker 1: one milestone was hit yesterday. Great to see you. How
Speaker 1: are you good?
Speaker 2: To see you? Bops, I'm amazing. I'm amazing. Right it
Speaker 2: talks about basketball football seasons here, but yeah, I'm ready, fool.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so it is. This is kind of perfect timing
Speaker 1: as a few scheduling notes for you guys. So we're
Speaker 1: gonna have the shows this week. Then I made a
Speaker 1: quick pivot instead of going dark for two weeks while
Speaker 1: I'm out of town before football gets going, instead of
Speaker 1: re racking old episodes, and we still might do some
Speaker 1: end of week like best ofs you know from the summer.
Speaker 1: Maybe bring back a couple of the fifty greatest players
Speaker 1: the last fifty years, have some of those episodes drop
Speaker 1: in your feed something like that. I kind of made
Speaker 1: it a bit of an executive decision and hit up
Speaker 1: Ty Butler and Damon Bruce, one guy on the East Coast,
Speaker 1: one guy on the West Coast. Two great radio hosts,
Speaker 1: one from San Francisco, one from New York who both
Speaker 1: have their own YouTube shows, and for the first time
Speaker 1: ever in the five YEARSSH this show is run, we're
Speaker 1: gonna have live episodes of What's Right with Nick Wright
Speaker 1: that Nick Wright is not a part of. So we
Speaker 1: will have next week in your feed and on YouTube
Speaker 1: and on Spotify and iTunes anywhere you get your podcasts.
Speaker 1: As always, like rate Subscribe Review, we will have live episodes,
Speaker 1: but I won't be on them. It'll be Ty Butler
Speaker 1: and Damon Bruce. So those will be coming your way
Speaker 1: at the end of August, and then I will come
Speaker 1: back refreshed from Europe with my wife to get us
Speaker 1: rolling in football season. And the timing of today is
Speaker 1: also quite well, quite good because we there are some
Speaker 1: football stories and we're ramping up as we're four weeks
Speaker 1: and a day away from opening kick. But the only
Speaker 1: real big stories this time of year are usually injury
Speaker 1: related Telaramie Tunsell went down in training camp or this,
Speaker 1: you know, Micah Parson's rehab. I'm not saying it's behind schedule,
Speaker 1: but he's targeting like week six to come back. They're
Speaker 1: kind of bummers stories usually, And so the NBA gave
Speaker 1: us a bit of a gift by announcing their opening
Speaker 1: Night and Christmas Day games, which is where we will
Speaker 1: start the show. But before we do that, straight the
Speaker 1: voicemail brought to you by Boost Mobile, Quinn Williams gets
Speaker 1: a very nice extension with the Cowboys three years up
Speaker 1: to one hundred and six million dollars Panthon Niakos in Greece.
Speaker 1: The owner seems to really believe that he might be
Speaker 1: able to get Nikolejokic next offseason with any other NBA superstar,
Speaker 1: I would say that is an impossibility with Joker and
Speaker 1: the fact that he has yet to sign an extension.
Speaker 1: Daniel Earmuff's buddy, I'm not putting it at zero percent.
Speaker 1: I think it's I think.
Speaker 2: It is in his character too.
Speaker 1: On the board, Wow, Daniel, what an evolved take by Daniel.
Speaker 1: Daniel puts in the dock. As long as he doesn't
Speaker 1: NBA teams. Dude deserves to be happy. He's given me everything.
Speaker 1: So Joker's like, you know what, America, it's been cool, Deuces.
Speaker 1: I'm going to grease to play basketball. Daniel's gonna wish
Speaker 1: him well. Good for you, Daniel. I respect that. I
Speaker 1: appreciate that. Also, Ben Simmons allegedly eyeing a comeback and
Speaker 1: Bill Simmons. Listen, Bill Simmons is my friend. I consider
Speaker 1: him my friend. He did a podcast with my dear
Speaker 1: friend and Coast Kevin Wilds where Bill just casually dropped
Speaker 1: the take that he's not a seat belt guy, that
Speaker 1: he just drives his car, waits for the card the
Speaker 1: thing to stop beeping after him minute, and just doesn't
Speaker 1: wear a seat belt. It was one of the more
Speaker 1: wild takes I've ever heard. Also, just a total missed
Speaker 1: opportunity by kW on that Demons. I don't you might
Speaker 1: not get this reference, but the listeners will. kW should
Speaker 1: have just just absolutely just slid in there when Bill
Speaker 1: is just being like, yeah, I know it's bad, but
Speaker 1: I don't wear a seatbelt. All. He was sitting right
Speaker 1: there for him For kW to be like, con didn't
Speaker 1: make you buckle up, it would have been great, it
Speaker 1: would he really missed, he really missed the opportunity. If so,
Speaker 1: if I'll explain the joke now to people who aren't
Speaker 1: in the Bill Simmons lower. Bill Simmons did a podcast
Speaker 1: with Conk Nipple, who is you know just finished his
Speaker 1: rookie season in the NBA and was a long time
Speaker 1: Bill Simmons fan, and is you know nineteen years old.
Speaker 1: Bill's studio like my studio is at his house and
Speaker 1: Bill and Bill. It was actually on I was on
Speaker 1: the pod with him when he said kind of in
Speaker 1: passing and then when I was driving con home blah
Speaker 1: blah bah, and then people picked up on it. It's like,
Speaker 1: wait a minute, you drove him home. He didn't like
Speaker 1: send a car, and and so they asked men. Bill's like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I drove him home. He's nineteen years old. I didn't
Speaker 1: want to put him in an uver. It was its
Speaker 1: very adorable, but so Wild's missed an easy joke there.
Speaker 1: But more importantly, Bill, you gotta wear your seat belt, man,
Speaker 1: This isn't nineteen sixty five, like you just gotta wear
Speaker 1: your seat belt now. I I I This podcast from
Speaker 1: Bill made me do some introspection on my own seat
Speaker 1: belt wearing because I realized something that makes no sense whatsoever.
Speaker 1: I wear a seatbelt one hundred percent of the time
Speaker 1: that I am driving. I wear a seat belt one
Speaker 1: hundred percent of the time that I am riding in
Speaker 1: the front seat and my wife is driving, which is
Speaker 1: really only Daniel's only driving. If I've been drinking Jesus
Speaker 1: passenger Princess all the way, I wear a seat But
Speaker 1: then I thought about it. I was like, but in ubers,
Speaker 1: I'm at like eighty percent, and in taxis are I
Speaker 1: might be at like, yeah, eighty percent, I maybe seventy five,
Speaker 1: I don't know, And in taxis I might be at
Speaker 1: like twenty five percent, which makes no sense because those
Speaker 1: are like, they're far and away the most aggressive, reckless
Speaker 1: drivers of the cab drivers. And so I you know,
Speaker 1: I'm using Bill Simmons pod as a turning point for me.
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna be one hundred percent seat all guy,
Speaker 1: all the time, whether I'm driving or not. I already
Speaker 1: was while I was driving, but it was a wild
Speaker 1: take hearing someone just be like, yeah, I don't I
Speaker 1: and I even in the producer saying do you sit
Speaker 1: in the front of maneuver. No I sit in the
Speaker 1: back seat of vaneuver, but I'm saying that that's what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. If I'm in the front seat of a
Speaker 1: car driving or passenger, I always wear it, but for
Speaker 1: something and I only ever sit in the back seat
Speaker 1: of ride shares or cabs. For some reason, it doesn't
Speaker 1: like I don't know why. It's not like it's safer.
Speaker 1: I just don't think of it.
Speaker 2: Maybe it's it's seat noise isn't going off.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I don't know what I see.
Speaker 1: I also did try to think of like the circumstances
Speaker 1: under which I was like, I suppose if you had
Speaker 1: like a classic convertible like from the sixties, and we're
Speaker 1: driving down like an ocean front highway, maybe you would
Speaker 1: like maybe under that specific picture in my brain, you
Speaker 1: want to just feel like totally unrestricted. But other than that,
Speaker 1: I feel like just bill for me, you know, longtime
Speaker 1: listeners and readers, friends, people that grew up watching you
Speaker 1: listening to you wear your seatbelt bro like, and I
Speaker 1: you know what, we can put this out on social
Speaker 1: and I think it will get momentum. This is I
Speaker 1: want to lead the charge of folks in media that
Speaker 1: Bill Simmons has done something for us, either by writing
Speaker 1: columns when we were in high school or college or
Speaker 1: by paving the way in a lot of ways. Because
Speaker 1: k W did not push back nearly enough, that was
Speaker 1: a moment. I would be, I honest to God, think
Speaker 1: it's if we do the math on it, like not
Speaker 1: much less reckless than if he just dropped like on
Speaker 1: the pod, like yeah, the first of every month, I
Speaker 1: do a little cocaine. Like that's just my thing, like
Speaker 1: just like Jesh's my thing, Like I and I feel
Speaker 1: like that he said that. kW would have been like, WHOA,
Speaker 1: don't do that. So like Bill, wear your seatbelt, Bro,
Speaker 1: you're driving a lot. You're in California, where your seatbelt's
Speaker 1: going to these Clipper games and into it dome.
Speaker 2: That's a farhad the amount of driving. Does that matter? No,
Speaker 2: Maybe it's a short trip down the street to the
Speaker 2: grocery store. Do you need to have a seatbull on?
Speaker 1: Yeah? I mean the thing is like it's it's I'm
Speaker 1: a gambler, right, And so there's a lot of there's
Speaker 1: risk versus reward that we have to always incorporate. And
Speaker 1: I would say there is literally zero reward from not
Speaker 1: wearing your seatbelt, just none, Like there's just you get
Speaker 1: the That's why I tried to create the scenario. I'm like,
Speaker 1: all right, maybe you're in like a nineteen sixty two
Speaker 1: Stingray convertible, the winds in your hair driving like maybe,
Speaker 1: but no, in general, guys, just driving an escalade down
Speaker 1: the p like throw a throw a seat. Just go
Speaker 1: ahead and buckle up, man, buckle up. You know what.
Speaker 1: Let's buckle up, guys. That's the that's the lesson of
Speaker 1: today's show, Scott and Bucklow. All right, let's talk NBA
Speaker 1: Opening Night. Go ahead.
Speaker 2: So the full NBA schedule releases Thursday, but they've already
Speaker 2: announced some big days. So Opening Day we've got Pistons
Speaker 2: at Celtics, Sixers at Knicks, Thunders at Spurs, and then
Speaker 2: Christmas Day you've got Spurs at Nicks, Heats at Celtics,
Speaker 2: Sixers at Lakers, Thunders at Timberwolves, Nuggets at Warriors. Which
Speaker 2: of these games are you eyeing or looking forward to?
Speaker 1: Well, so massive takeaways all over the spot. First of all,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna jump right to you know what. We'll get
Speaker 1: to the snubs later. Let's talk about the positives. Five
Speaker 1: teams got both Marquee Days, thunder Spurs, Sixers, Knicks, Celtics.
Speaker 1: Those are the five teams that are playing Opening Day
Speaker 1: and Christmas. The only I guess somewhat prize there is
Speaker 1: the Celtics' brand equity being that strong. I mean again,
Speaker 1: like I I wouldn't think the Celtics would be left out.
Speaker 1: And the Celtics are one of the greatest franchises in
Speaker 1: the history not just of the NBA of sports, and
Speaker 1: they've got a superstar in Jason Tatum, and they're supposed
Speaker 1: to be good, really good. But it it surprised me
Speaker 1: a little bit that the Celtics were. Let me put
Speaker 1: it like this, of the five teams that got double dips,
Speaker 1: the Celtics were the most surprising, even if it's not
Speaker 1: that surprising at all, so that you know, that jumped
Speaker 1: out to me. The five other teams that got a
Speaker 1: single game were the Pistons more on them in a moment,
Speaker 1: the heat more on them as well, then Timberwolves, Nuggets, Warriors. Okay,
Speaker 1: so in no particular order. My immediate first takeaway is
Speaker 1: we have a bunch four years face of the league
Speaker 1: conversations and then every single year, the NBA tells us, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's Bron, Yeah, it's just Bron. In fact, we can't
Speaker 1: even do the schedule until Lebron signs. And then when
Speaker 1: he does sign, we're gonna give his team the premier
Speaker 1: spot on Christmas Day, the three pm Chris or five
Speaker 1: pm the third game on Christmas, the the Marquee Christmas
Speaker 1: Day game. Hey, are we gonna do rematch of the finals? No,
Speaker 1: we'll put that in the morning. All right? Are we
Speaker 1: gonna do? What are other options here? We're gonna how
Speaker 1: about how about Lebron with you know, with his one
Speaker 1: game back in Los Angeles? How about that's the Marquee game? Okay,
Speaker 1: that's Christmas?
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 1: What about Opening night? Opening Night? What are we doing?
Speaker 1: Are we doing the rematch of the finals?
Speaker 2: There?
Speaker 1: No, we're not gonna do that there. Oh, okay. Are
Speaker 1: we gonna do Jail and Brown Jason Tatum that you
Speaker 1: know that? No, we'll find another spot for that. How
Speaker 1: about Lebron against the defending champs? How about the defending
Speaker 1: champs when they get to open their drop their banner?
Speaker 1: Lebron's there? Sound good for everyone? Think people will watch?
Speaker 1: Good for ratings? Good for business. Cool? What are we
Speaker 1: doing with Wimby? We'll put them on after what about?
Speaker 1: What about? What about? On Christmas Day? We'll put them
Speaker 1: on in the morning when Beal are opening their presence.
Speaker 1: We gotta make like Again, I'm not even saying this
Speaker 1: is not an evaluation of whether or not this is
Speaker 1: what they should do. This is an evaluation of what
Speaker 1: they will do. And what they're telling you is the
Speaker 1: NBA universe still revolves around Lebron James, right or wrong,
Speaker 1: and they're scheduling it accordingly. So that's first take away.
Speaker 1: Second takeaway, Steph Curry's star power is real because of
Speaker 1: the fifteen teams, not fifteen ten teams pardon me, that
Speaker 1: have games Opening Day or Christmas. The worst team by
Speaker 1: a mile is Golden State and they're you know they are.
Speaker 1: They're they were never going to be left out. Like
Speaker 1: every other team listed there should be somewhere from really
Speaker 1: good to excellent. And then there's the Warriors in a
Speaker 1: game that nobody even thinks Jimmy Butler will be back
Speaker 1: for and they are the final game on Christmas Day,
Speaker 1: so shout out to them on that to step on
Speaker 1: that front. Couple other small takeaways surprising to me. Demands
Speaker 1: that we're gonna have a Christmas Day and Opening Day,
Speaker 1: by the way, but focus on Christmas. For there's five
Speaker 1: games with no Durant, like I can't the I can't
Speaker 1: remember the last time Durant's team with the Suns. Maybe
Speaker 1: I don't think so, though, because those seems were like
Speaker 1: and Durant's on a good team. The Rockets are Rockets
Speaker 1: are a good team. To have no Durant on Christmas
Speaker 1: Day is noteworthy to me. I'm not I and again
Speaker 1: they're the only I don't know that there were snubs.
Speaker 1: I'm sure the Caves are a little annoyed, and I
Speaker 1: bet the Rockets are a little annoyed. But that's really
Speaker 1: all that jumps out to me. Let me ask you,
Speaker 1: h I am. Also, I'm a little surprised that the
Speaker 1: Pistons got invited to the party, even though it's the
Speaker 1: three pm, middle of the day opening day game. That
Speaker 1: and maybe they didn't work. It's a little surprising the
Speaker 1: Pistons are there. I would have thought maybe the heat
Speaker 1: with Giannis would have gotten both, you know, Opening Day
Speaker 1: and Christmas Day. But I guess if heat at Celtics's Christmas,
Speaker 1: You're not gonna have Celtics heat opening night. So that's
Speaker 1: where they mix in the Pistons. But it is surprising
Speaker 1: to me even that the Pistons got that slot over
Speaker 1: Cleveland or hell over Houston, like that is.
Speaker 2: Land.
Speaker 1: No, I the NBA clearly agrees with you. Like the
Speaker 1: NBA clearly agrees with you. So here are my other,
Speaker 1: you know, general takeaways. I do think for Opening Night,
Speaker 1: six Ers next thunder Spurs is awesome strategically by the
Speaker 1: league because for most people and by the Vegas odds,
Speaker 1: those are the projected conference finals. So an opportunity for
Speaker 1: the NBA season to start with those four teams basically
Speaker 1: and end with those four teams. I like that. I
Speaker 1: also would be remiss if I didn't recognize who wasn't
Speaker 1: playing on Opening Day that we haven't mentioned. So demons
Speaker 1: go ahead, because you have a fun little fact here
Speaker 1: in stat here.
Speaker 2: So the Lakers have played on Opening Night every year
Speaker 2: since twenty nineteen. How do you think that they missed
Speaker 2: the cut this year?
Speaker 1: So what happened in twenty nineteen? This kind of goes
Speaker 1: back to my original point. Bron signed there, Bron left,
Speaker 1: and the Lakers all of a sudden like, sorry, guys,
Speaker 1: we don't have a spot for you. Like Lakers at
Speaker 1: Celtics is sitting right there for anybody that wants it
Speaker 1: instead of Pistons at Celtics. And you guys know how
Speaker 1: much I the Oh yeah, Lebron got there in twenty eighteen,
Speaker 1: signed in twenty eighteen. Pardon me, you guys know how
Speaker 1: much I how much I like Luca. But the fact
Speaker 1: that the the Lakers have been supplanted in the Western
Speaker 1: Conference by the two small market juggernauts thunder Spurs, and
Speaker 1: that they just for the first time in eight years
Speaker 1: or seven years, they're not an Opening Night is I
Speaker 1: guess somewhat noteworthy to me. Well, listen, I I think
Speaker 1: it is. I'm really interested in what Luca can do
Speaker 1: this year. I they also, you know, they they looked
Speaker 1: at the team that Luca took to the NBA Finals
Speaker 1: with Dallas a few years ago and said, how can
Speaker 1: we best remake that? And that's what they tried to do.
Speaker 1: I you know, it's been I spent a lot of
Speaker 1: time while you were on paternity to leave talking about
Speaker 1: how I thought the Lakers could have handled the final
Speaker 1: year of Lebron better to where maybe he would have
Speaker 1: signed with them for the minimum rather than signing with
Speaker 1: the Sixers for the minimum. But that that's water under
Speaker 1: the bridge at this point. But the the league is
Speaker 1: making very very clear to you through this schedule, at
Speaker 1: least in my eyes that they view right now, they're
Speaker 1: three biggest attractions as the Sixers, the Spurs, and the Knicks.
Speaker 1: That's the metal stand with also receiving votes being the
Speaker 1: Thunder and the Celtics, and they I'm I'm very I'm
Speaker 1: in i am very interested in how the Thunder, what
Speaker 1: the Thunders coverage is like in national TV games, and
Speaker 1: all those things are like this year because they were
Speaker 1: never an overwhelmingly popular team outside of their own fan
Speaker 1: base to begin with. But when it's like, yeah, but
Speaker 1: they're the champs, they're the best. They're the juggernaut that
Speaker 1: you know, gives you a cachet that gets removed a
Speaker 1: bit when you don't win the title again, when you
Speaker 1: don't make the finals again. And now it feels like
Speaker 1: the Spurs having beaten them and being a team on
Speaker 1: the upswing, while the Thunder it feels like lost some
Speaker 1: you know, semi valuable parts and some pieces are a
Speaker 1: team that is potentially at least not on the down swing,
Speaker 1: but just a not quite as good as they were
Speaker 1: the last couple of years. So that's interesting. And then
Speaker 1: you know, the teams we haven't really discussed here. I
Speaker 1: mentioned the Heat that I thought maybe they could have
Speaker 1: gotten the double dip opening day on Christmas aunt LaMelo
Speaker 1: and the Timberwolves. They host the Thunder on Christmas Night
Speaker 1: and then Joker against Steph as the nightcap, with two
Speaker 1: teams that I don't think either one really thinks they
Speaker 1: have a real shot at winning the championship, despite having
Speaker 1: in Joker's case, maybe the best player in the world
Speaker 1: and in the Warriors case, with Steph, one of the
Speaker 1: greatest players ever. Before we get to these other questions,
Speaker 1: did you demonte did you have anything that jumped out
Speaker 1: to you or that or you want it about your Celtics.
Speaker 1: I am anything about the opening a few nights h. No.
Speaker 2: I was surprised that they got added to both to
Speaker 2: both of those days considering how the last couple of
Speaker 2: years has went. But I am really looking forward to
Speaker 2: seeing how the Timberwolves look this year. I'm very high
Speaker 2: on them. But uh but yeah, no, I mean, oh yeah.
Speaker 1: Because so, I mean, that'll be that seeing Aunt LaMelo
Speaker 1: is going to be a show, that's for sure.
Speaker 2: Do we not.
Speaker 1: Have any details on the first six or Celtics games.
Speaker 1: That's the other thing.
Speaker 2: That to me is, yeah, the fact that Jaylen Brown's
Speaker 2: going to be able to guard Jason Tatum all year
Speaker 2: over there and yeah.
Speaker 1: Back and forth exactly. And so now, listen, they're gonna
Speaker 1: play each other four times, but if they it that
Speaker 1: that is the other so that you know what I
Speaker 1: just stumbled upon. My other big takeaway that the league
Speaker 1: decided instead of having if they wanted to have Bron
Speaker 1: and the Sixers as the premiere Christmas game, the third
Speaker 1: Christmas game, the five PM slot, that they didn't make
Speaker 1: that Sixer Celtics, that they they they prioritized Lebron's one
Speaker 1: game back in LA over what could have been Jalen
Speaker 1: Brown's first game back in Boston.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, yeah, I mean that's definitely true, but
Speaker 1: it is, but it also feels like there's more. I
Speaker 1: don't think I don't think it's fair to call it
Speaker 1: bad blood between the Lakers and Lebron. It might not
Speaker 1: be great blood, but I don't think it's like it.
Speaker 2: You know, they you don't think that's pretty either. There
Speaker 2: hasn't been the Jalen Brown situation with the Celtics and
Speaker 2: Lebron with the Lakers, like just feeling like the team
Speaker 2: has not done well by you, you know, like I
Speaker 2: feel like they both didn't have like crazy bad I
Speaker 2: didn't Jalen.
Speaker 1: Brown feel yeah, I mean yeah, I think Jalen Brown
Speaker 1: feels done dirty and has like and there has been little,
Speaker 1: you know, semi public sniping between the sides Lakers and
Speaker 1: Lebron and Luke and all that publicly has all been
Speaker 1: super positive. You know, thank you for a great run.
Speaker 1: We appreciate it. Through he did, he didn't get traded away,
Speaker 1: so you know it just even if below the surface
Speaker 1: there is you know, carping about the other side to people,
Speaker 1: it's not as obvious as I think the Celtics Jalen
Speaker 1: Brown thing. And I'm really interested. So that's the game
Speaker 1: that isn't listed here that I am. I'm most interested
Speaker 1: in singing Jalen Brown's first game, not against Boston, necessarily
Speaker 1: first game in Boston, like he obviously should get a
Speaker 1: standing ovation from the crowd. I imagine he will, but
Speaker 1: seeing him and Tatum go head to head, I think
Speaker 1: will be you know, really fun and really interesting. And
Speaker 1: so yeah, I think the you know, shout out to
Speaker 1: the NBA. Also the what are the other opening week
Speaker 1: games that we know about, demanse.
Speaker 2: So we got Lebron versus Cleveland, Denver at OKAC, and
Speaker 2: Knicks at Celtics. Do you think that any of those
Speaker 2: should have made Opening Night?
Speaker 1: H No, I think these are all exactly you know,
Speaker 1: we've listen, Lebron's been playing against the Calves without being
Speaker 1: on the Calves for almost a decade now, so like
Speaker 1: we don't need that one. Denver at OKC, I mean
Speaker 1: that was I mean that is a good matchup in
Speaker 1: a good series. Uh historically has been a good series potentially,
Speaker 1: But no, so oh you know what the game that
Speaker 1: So this one does jump out to me now that
Speaker 1: I think about it. We have Thunder at Timberwolves and
Speaker 1: Nuggets at Warriors. Nuggets at Timberwolves seems like, you know,
Speaker 1: the one of the prime rivalries right now, and you
Speaker 1: know they've played in the playoffs a bunch of times,
Speaker 1: so I think that one you maybe could have done
Speaker 1: Thunder against the Warriors, But They probably wanted to give
Speaker 1: the thunder up make that more likely to be a
Speaker 1: good game, and they think the Timberwolves will be better
Speaker 1: than the Warriors. But it does feel like Nuggets Timberwolves
Speaker 1: is the more heated rivalry and we're not. I don't
Speaker 1: know when we're getting that. And oh, one other note,
Speaker 1: the only team with top ten title odds to not
Speaker 1: be in one of these games is the Raptors. Now,
Speaker 1: I think that's twofold. One is I think it is
Speaker 1: because the way television ratings work, anytime you do a
Speaker 1: Canadian team, it kind of it's not great for the
Speaker 1: rating because you get such a boost from the home market,
Speaker 1: but the home market when you do a Canadian team's
Speaker 1: not measured because it's not the US. So I think
Speaker 1: that's a small piece of it. But the other piece
Speaker 1: of it is whatever's going on with Kawhi. I think
Speaker 1: that if they put the Raptors on Opening Night, or
Speaker 1: if they featured the Raptors in any of this, Adam
Speaker 1: Silver would be accused of either putting his finger on
Speaker 1: the scale or tipping his hand like about what penalty
Speaker 1: is or isn't coming. So I think they felt it
Speaker 1: was easier just leave the Raptors out of it. Plus again,
Speaker 1: like the Raptors aren't great for television ratings purely because
Speaker 1: they're a Canadian market. All right, I think we covered
Speaker 1: NBA Opening night really well. I still we've been on
Speaker 1: the show for a half hour. I think probably the
Speaker 1: best thing we did was the Bill Simmons seatbelt stuff.
Speaker 1: We'll see if we can top that with our football discussion.
Speaker 1: But first support for today's episode comes from Square, the
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Speaker 1: Get started today, All right, de Monte, Let's talk a
Speaker 1: little NFL training camp.
Speaker 2: Oh we are a couple weeks in the Chiefs training
Speaker 2: camp and seen some pretty good things. Patrick Mahomes, a
Speaker 2: full participant, says that he sometimes forgets about his knee
Speaker 2: injury and just plays football. He seems to be connecting
Speaker 2: very well with Cyrus Allen, the rookie wide receiver. There's
Speaker 2: also been a couple of fights out of training camp.
Speaker 2: Kenneth Walker shot a takedown apparently. So what's been catching
Speaker 2: your eye? Chiefs training camp?
Speaker 1: All right, So a few things. One is, listen, Patrick's
Speaker 1: gonna play as if he never got hurt. And there
Speaker 1: is I think because Patrick doesn't have He doesn't have
Speaker 1: the speed of Lamar, or the size of Josh Allen,
Speaker 1: or just the obvious crazy athleticism that we see from
Speaker 1: certain NFL and NBA guys. People have underrated in their
Speaker 1: head what just a sick, raw athletic specimen he is
Speaker 1: because the dad bought or whatever. But this is a
Speaker 1: player who his second year as a starter, got his
Speaker 1: kneecap dislocated on the field and missed two games in
Speaker 1: a year they went on to win their first Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: And then a player who in his fifty year as
Speaker 1: a starter, suffered a brutal high ankle sprain during the
Speaker 1: first during his first playoff game, the Divisional round that
Speaker 1: usually would keep guys out a month. He not only
Speaker 1: missed zero games, but in the AFC Championship Game and
Speaker 1: in the Super Bowl, you could argue the two biggest
Speaker 1: plays of the game were Mahomes scrambles. And it's a
Speaker 1: player who blew out his knee in December, and I
Speaker 1: feel like I can say this, I don't think he'd
Speaker 1: be upset with me. By March was texting me videos
Speaker 1: of him working out and making throws on the practice
Speaker 1: field or on the training field, whatever.
Speaker 2: It is.
Speaker 1: The combination of the fact that he got the surgery
Speaker 1: the day after the injury, his insane work ethic, and
Speaker 1: his wild natural athleticism is going to lend itself to
Speaker 1: as fast as an ACL recovery as we've seen. And
Speaker 1: that's what we're in the midst of seeing. And so
Speaker 1: I my concerns for the Chiefs are not about Patrick.
Speaker 1: Now that is not to say the Chiefs doesn't the
Speaker 1: Chiefs do not have concerns. Obviously, for the fourth consecutive year,
Speaker 1: the entire wide receiver room is uh yeah, maybe yeah,
Speaker 1: maybe Rashid Rice can play himself into shape after having
Speaker 1: an offseason that was slightly derailed by having a knee
Speaker 1: cleanup procedure and then a couple days later being sent
Speaker 1: to jail for thirty days. That was an ideal. A
Speaker 1: first round pick. And Xavier Worthy, who got hurt the
Speaker 1: first game, one of the first plays of the first
Speaker 1: game last year and then this year in camp already
Speaker 1: reaggravated that shoulder a little bit again or rec I
Speaker 1: don't even know if it's the same shoulder. Reaggravated a shoulder.
Speaker 1: That's not ideal. Uh, this, as Demonse said, the breakout
Speaker 1: guy of camp is fifth round rookie Cyrus Allen. Listen,
Speaker 1: maybe he's Pooka Nakua. We'll see. There's you know, there's
Speaker 1: a mid round wide receiver almost every year. They don't
Speaker 1: always turned into Pooka. But that is a legitimate contributor immediately.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's him. The Chiefs think it can be him.
Speaker 1: The Ravens think it can be Jakobe Lane. Like you know,
Speaker 1: the mid round wide receiver that looks great in training
Speaker 1: camp is not an unprecedented thing. Seeing that player turn
Speaker 1: into a real contributor as a rookie. That's a bit different,
Speaker 1: so the receiving room's a question mark. They spent the
Speaker 1: sixth overall pick and trade it up to get mansword
Speaker 1: de Lane. He has been, you know, not in full
Speaker 1: contact ever since a shoulder blade injury back in OTAs.
Speaker 1: I'm not as worried about him as others. I think
Speaker 1: he'll be back in the next couple of weeks. He
Speaker 1: should be there for week one. But the secondary as
Speaker 1: a whole is new and will be a work in progress.
Speaker 1: What I think the Chiefs have going for them on
Speaker 1: that front as far as the secondary, because it's young guys,
Speaker 1: it's guys who haven't played together, is they don't play
Speaker 1: what I would consider be a top flight quarterback until
Speaker 1: mid October. Their first five weeks of the season are
Speaker 1: bow Knicks, Daniel Jones, Malik Willis, and then whoever's starting
Speaker 1: for the Raiders at that point Mendoz are Cousins. Then
Speaker 1: they have a bye. The good quarterbacks on their schedule
Speaker 1: are after that and so I and again, bo Nicks
Speaker 1: has proven to be a gamer and his clutch and
Speaker 1: his and the Chiefs, but I just don't think he's
Speaker 1: gonna be whipping the ball all over the field. So
Speaker 1: the secondary will have time to gel the question. The
Speaker 1: only other major question I have, then I'll talk about
Speaker 1: the things I have confidence in, is what is the
Speaker 1: pass rush going to look like. They did not address
Speaker 1: edge in the offseason much at all. They did draft
Speaker 1: are Mason Thomas, so they hope he can be good there.
Speaker 1: They just signed Emmanuel Agba, who's been in the league
Speaker 1: ten years. He's a journeyman at this point. He did
Speaker 1: win a Super Bowl with the Chiefs. But where they
Speaker 1: are hoping they are going to generate the pass rush
Speaker 1: is Chris Jones. Alongside him Peter Woods, who sixteen months
Speaker 1: ago people thought could be the number one overall pick
Speaker 1: of last year's draft after a pretty lackadaisical year at Clemson.
Speaker 1: He fell all the way to the end of Round one.
Speaker 1: The Chiefs grabbed him and he has looked sensational sensational
Speaker 1: in camp, so they hope they can get the pass
Speaker 1: rush there. And then on the other side of the ball,
Speaker 1: where my confidence for the Chiefs this year really comes
Speaker 1: from is I believe they have right now the best
Speaker 1: offensive line Mahomes has had in four years, maybe five.
Speaker 1: You add that to the fact that for the first
Speaker 1: time since Mahomes' first ten games as a starter. They
Speaker 1: have a legitimate plus player at running back in Kenneth Walker.
Speaker 1: I think they are going to Teams are gonna have
Speaker 1: to respect the run. They're gonna be able to stay
Speaker 1: ahead of the chains, and they're not going to be
Speaker 1: asking Mahomes to do everything. The most important thing for
Speaker 1: any Patrick Mahomes team is having a solid offensive line,
Speaker 1: and the second most important thing is having a defense
Speaker 1: that can get off the field on third down. We'll
Speaker 1: see if they have that defense, if they have enough
Speaker 1: pass rush. I truly believe they have that offensive line,
Speaker 1: and I think Mahomes is gonna be a man on
Speaker 1: fire this year, even if he doesn't have the receivers
Speaker 1: necessary to be able to put up crazy numbers. But
Speaker 1: we saw him win a League MVP with his number
Speaker 1: one receiver being Marquez Valdez, Scantling, number two being McCall
Speaker 1: or Juju, number three being McColl the number four being
Speaker 1: Justin Watson, So I wouldn't put it past him. But
Speaker 1: I think they're going to be more of a run
Speaker 1: centric team and I'm fine with that. And then Eric
Speaker 1: b Enemy after the True Family tragedy that he had
Speaker 1: a few weeks ago is back with the team, and
Speaker 1: he makes a real difference with this team. So for
Speaker 1: all those reasons I am, plus the fact that I
Speaker 1: don't believe in the Chargers, and even though I have
Speaker 1: grown to begrudgingly respect what Sean Payton is built in Denver,
Speaker 1: I don't I don't think Denver is gonna repeat fourteen wins.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm bullish for Kansas City. But you win
Speaker 1: six games, you miss the playoffs, you lose obviously the
Speaker 1: air of invincibility, and you lose some of the bravado.
Speaker 1: You gotta go back out and earn it again. Schedule too, well,
Speaker 1: the schedule is light early and gets tough late. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so starting in week so, I'll just go through the
Speaker 1: schedule quickly. Here I told you the first four weeks
Speaker 1: home Denver, home Indy, at Miami at Vegas, then the bye,
Speaker 1: then a tough three game stretch, and then a little
Speaker 1: break home for the Chargers at Seattle, at Denver for
Speaker 1: home for the Jets, at Atlanta, home for Arizona. Okay,
Speaker 1: So that's the first ten games, and then the final
Speaker 1: seven games at Buffalo, at the Rams, at the Bengals
Speaker 1: home for New England home for San Francisco at the
Speaker 1: Chargers home for the Raiders. Should we do a little
Speaker 1: win loss Chiefs way too early, win loss, go through
Speaker 1: the schedule.
Speaker 2: Yeah you like that?
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, I'll do We can both do it,
Speaker 1: and we'll see what record will come up with.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: Home for Denver, Week one, Monday Night Football, Arrowhead on fire,
Speaker 1: my homes back Chiefs. Remind Denver the division still goes
Speaker 1: through them. I'll take the Chiefs there. They're one and h.
Speaker 1: You're with me against your guy Daniel Jones. Home against
Speaker 1: the Colt Sunday Night Football. We're two and oh chalking up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, two and oh.
Speaker 1: Week three at Miami, Week four at Vegas. Holy shit,
Speaker 1: the Chiefs are four and oh going into the bye. Okay,
Speaker 1: Week five, out of the bye home Andy Reid off
Speaker 1: a bye against the Chargers. We're five and oh.
Speaker 2: I'll give that.
Speaker 1: Weeks that's Week six, actually not Week five. Game games
Speaker 1: game five though, five and oh going into Seattle Sunday
Speaker 1: Night Football, Super Bowl Champs. First loss of the year.
Speaker 1: Yea five and one. We're five and one. Following Sunday
Speaker 1: Afternoon with Jim Nance and maybe Tony Romo on the
Speaker 1: call uh in Denver after having beaten Denver in Week one.
Speaker 1: We lose. We're five and two. We're five and two
Speaker 1: home for the Jets. Week nine, easy work at Atlanta.
Speaker 1: They're trailing in the fourth quarter. It looks stupid. Find
Speaker 1: a way to win. Get that win home for Arizona.
Speaker 1: Win through ten games. We're eight and two. Short week
Speaker 1: in Buffalo, Thursday night football on Thanksgiving. That is a loss.
Speaker 1: That is an absolute lockstock loss. Loss at Buffalo. The
Speaker 1: following Thursday at Los Angeles, that's the Rams. That's a
Speaker 1: loss too, that's a loss to We're now yeah, we're
Speaker 1: eight and four, little extra rest at Cincinnati, the Bengals
Speaker 1: at that point, who knows what their team looks like,
Speaker 1: who their coach is. That's a when. We haven't lost
Speaker 1: to Cincinnati since they claimed it was Burrowhead. We're nine
Speaker 1: and four home New England, maybe with some seating on
Speaker 1: the line. Monday Night football. That's a when.
Speaker 2: Take the Chiefs there.
Speaker 1: We're ten and four the home San Francisco. The Chiefs
Speaker 1: have not lost to the Niners in Mahomes' career. It's
Speaker 1: also now it's late December. God knows how many players
Speaker 1: the substation has eaten by then. That's a when they're
Speaker 1: eleven and four. Week seventeen at the Chargers, the Chiefs
Speaker 1: are eleven and four. The Chargers probably need the game
Speaker 1: to keep their wild card hopes alive. Gritty win, the
Speaker 1: Chargers win, the Chiefs go to eleven and five, and
Speaker 1: then the final game of the year against the Raiders
Speaker 1: at home. The Chiefs win. They're twelve and five, twelve
Speaker 1: and five, four and two in the division. They are
Speaker 1: undefeated at home. They are four and five, or they
Speaker 1: have five? Yeah, I think four and five do the
Speaker 1: Is this the year they have the extra Yeah, four
Speaker 1: and five on the road, twelve and five season, the
Speaker 1: two seed in the AFC. Yeah, again, it's in pencil,
Speaker 1: not been. That doesn't sound unreasonable, right, That's not like
Speaker 1: a crazy Chiefs homer. Take those I.
Speaker 2: Could see them. I could see them winning one of
Speaker 2: those tough ones in there, like that Chargers game there
Speaker 2: at the end, and sneaky like losing.
Speaker 1: To the Racers and the last absolutely right, I was
Speaker 1: gonna say they could. Certainly. I don't have any shock
Speaker 1: shocking wins and I don't have any stupid losses.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: Like they they they might have a dumb loss in them.
Speaker 1: But twelve and five, which.
Speaker 2: If Mahomes is healthy the whole year, what's the flour.
Speaker 1: Mahomes is healthy the whole year, the floor. This year's
Speaker 1: ten wins again, I get it. Last year they won
Speaker 1: six games. They even before Mahomes got hurt, they were
Speaker 1: in big trouble. I get that. There was a they
Speaker 1: went from you know, the year before last. They were
Speaker 1: probably too lucky on those close games. Last year they
Speaker 1: lost every single close game they played. They they were
Speaker 1: beat up from the three straight Super Bowl trips. Like
Speaker 1: it was it was too much. All right, there's a
Speaker 1: fantasy football question here to month I do want to
Speaker 1: address real quick.
Speaker 2: Uh so you're not a fantasy football guy, but would
Speaker 2: you draft? Would you draft Josh Allen?
Speaker 1: I are they? Is this about Josh Allen or Cyrus?
Speaker 1: Allen Cyrus? Yeah, potentially. But here's I've got some intriguing news. I,
Speaker 1: as you guys know, I'm known to play in a
Speaker 1: few high stakes poker games every now and again. Most
Speaker 1: of them I tell you guys about. Some of them,
Speaker 1: I don't because it's with I don't know, it's with
Speaker 1: a group of people that I know. It's not loan,
Speaker 1: it's just it's just it's just just people I don't
Speaker 1: know if they're you know, publicly playing in these games always.
Speaker 1: I was in one of those games about a month ago,
Speaker 1: and somebody at the game just casually was like, and again,
Speaker 1: I know this might surprise you guys, but as well,
Speaker 1: sometimes at these games people drink, so we're have you know,
Speaker 1: a few cocktails. And one of the guys at the
Speaker 1: games like, hey, Nick, you play fantasy football, don't you?
Speaker 1: And I'm like, well, not, you know, believe it or not,
Speaker 1: not really. I bet the games. I root for the Chiefs,
Speaker 1: like it's I haven't played in a while. And he's like,
Speaker 1: he's like, oh, well, we have like a high stakes league,
Speaker 1: but we also have like a more fun, you know,
Speaker 1: mid stakes league. Somebody dropped out you want in, and
Speaker 1: I just kind of in passed it. I was like, sure, yeah,
Speaker 1: no problem. Smash cut to four days later, I vaguely
Speaker 1: remember the conversation. I'm in a WhatsApp group chat. I'm
Speaker 1: I've now been sent the buy in details. I don't
Speaker 1: know what their high stakes league is, but what they're
Speaker 1: considering a mid stakes league. I would not consider a
Speaker 1: mid stakes league, and I'm and I'm in. They've already
Speaker 1: run their draft order, and so I'm going to for
Speaker 1: the first time in a decade, have to study up
Speaker 1: on fantasy. I'm gonna I'm not gonna talk about it
Speaker 1: on the pod because I don't think it's good content.
Speaker 1: Uh content, Yeah, Blue Duck brain Trust is here. I
Speaker 1: don't know what the man so I, So I am
Speaker 1: gonna be I. I have to be in on fantasy
Speaker 1: at least to a degree this year, So keep that
Speaker 1: in mind. Speaking of fantasy stuff. By the way, just
Speaker 1: a little note because Demonte doesn't know this because he
Speaker 1: wasn't here. I'm back on Cameo and the number one
Speaker 1: thing people are requesting on Cameo is for like me
Speaker 1: to announce their draft order. I also was so bad
Speaker 1: on Cameo when I signed up for eight years ago
Speaker 1: that the platform only allows like I can only have
Speaker 1: three requests in the queue before they turned me off
Speaker 1: like before, because they're worried I'm going to disapport people
Speaker 1: the way and the last time because last time, I yeah,
Speaker 1: well last time I signed up for it, and like
Speaker 1: the second person who asked for a cameo was a
Speaker 1: young lady who's like my boyfriend's in like a high
Speaker 1: school or college student, and he wants to do what
Speaker 1: you do. Can you send him some inspiration? And it
Speaker 1: was so no, it's going the other way that you think.
Speaker 1: I just I just messaged the lady back. I'm like,
Speaker 1: just give me the kid's number. And instead of doing
Speaker 1: a threty five second cameo, I did a forty five
Speaker 1: minute phone call with him and I was like this,
Speaker 1: I don't I don't have the bandwidth for this. But
Speaker 1: I forgot to deactivate. So then requests just kept, you know,
Speaker 1: coming in over the years, and I never responded to him.
Speaker 1: So but I'm back on there. The announcing the fantasy
Speaker 1: football drafts is a big thing. I also do think
Speaker 1: that I'm at let me just look real quick. I'm
Speaker 1: opening it up. Uh all right, yeah, we're I have
Speaker 1: three open requests and one of them expires tomorrow, so
Speaker 1: I need to get I need to do one right now.
Speaker 1: Do you think they would like that? I don't know.
Speaker 1: Some of these are private. I the let me just
Speaker 1: see what this is. Hold on now, the customers requests
Speaker 1: don't share them publicly. I'm not gonna, oh, wait, hold
Speaker 1: on a second. Uh No, I'm gonna do the I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do them on the air. I that kind of ruin.
Speaker 1: Then then the person might be like, why not even
Speaker 1: pay for it? I could have just gotten it. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna right, but people, the big thing on there
Speaker 1: is like announcing fantasy draft orders. That's why I was
Speaker 1: thinking of it all right. Before we get to the bills,
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Speaker 1: boost mobile dot com. All right, demante, let's talk bills.
Speaker 2: So the bills open their new stadium and got new jerseys,
Speaker 2: and it seems that the fans are not fans, saying
Speaker 2: that the scoreboard is too small and the few as obstructed.
Speaker 2: Josh Allen also threw four picks in front of all
Speaker 2: the fans at training camp. Are the vibes already off
Speaker 2: to a bad start in Buffalo?
Speaker 1: No, I think, listen, I think the new stadium's fine.
Speaker 1: I you know, I think the huge video boards can
Speaker 1: be overrated at times. And now, granted, I've never been
Speaker 1: to Jerry World, so I've never seen the inverse of
Speaker 1: that of what like the huge video board is, but
Speaker 1: it's a Western New York stadium. Also, on the obstructed
Speaker 1: views thing, sometimes they don't actually even though there's a
Speaker 1: seat there, Sometimes the teams don't actually sell that seat.
Speaker 1: So I do before I kill them for it. Like,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if that's like a seat people actually
Speaker 1: are buying. I can't imagine that you're gonna charge you know,
Speaker 1: a PSL in the season ticket price for an obstructive
Speaker 1: view seat. But people are also some people are complaining
Speaker 1: about the you know that it's not that covered. Listen.
Speaker 1: They wanted an open air stadium, and they should. They're
Speaker 1: in that should be a part of their home field
Speaker 1: advantage is that they are used to playing in the
Speaker 1: elements and other teams aren't, so I will support them
Speaker 1: on that. It's you guys know how I feel about
Speaker 1: that the Chiefs are no longer going to be in
Speaker 1: an open air stadium, and so that part to me
Speaker 1: is uh. I don't want to say a non story,
Speaker 1: but I actually think it is a story, and I
Speaker 1: think it's good that it's an open air stadium. I'm
Speaker 1: not as much of a Jersey zealot as other people are.
Speaker 1: I don't get super excited about alternate jerseys or the
Speaker 1: color rush jerseys or so I didn't actually have as
Speaker 1: big of a problem as some people did with these
Speaker 1: Bill's gray uniforms. But I'm also not really a Jersey guy.
Speaker 1: My and I talked to this on the TV show yesterday,
Speaker 1: so I don't have to spend a ton of time
Speaker 1: on it here. But Josh Allen, when he says, you know,
Speaker 1: he still hasn't fully gotten over basically his role in
Speaker 1: McDermott being fired once again was evidence that Josh Allen
Speaker 1: is more comfortable with Josh Allen taking accountability than so
Speaker 1: many people in the media are comfortable with Josh Allen
Speaker 1: taking accountability. It is so difficult for many of my
Speaker 1: colleagues in the media to balance both of these objective truths.
Speaker 1: Josh Allen is one of the best players in the
Speaker 1: NFL right now. Josh Allen at his best, at his
Speaker 1: best is about as dangerous and about as good as
Speaker 1: any quarterback who's ever played. Josh Allen is building, not
Speaker 1: has built, but is building a Hall of fame resume.
Speaker 1: Josh Allen will likely likely one day get to and
Speaker 1: win a Super Bowl. Balancing all of those objective truths
Speaker 1: with this objective truth. Every single playoff loss he's had
Speaker 1: since the thirteen Seconds Game, he played beneath his standard.
Speaker 1: And every single one of those playoff losses he had
Speaker 1: ample opportunity, and many people thought going into those games
Speaker 1: a better team than his opponent, and he was not
Speaker 1: good enough. Both of those facts are true. Thirteen Seconds
Speaker 1: game he played close to perfect football. It was just
Speaker 1: a bummer for him that the quarterback on the other
Speaker 1: side actually did play perfect football. Or you can say
Speaker 1: they both played perfect football and somebody had to lose,
Speaker 1: just got unlucky.
Speaker 2: Fine.
Speaker 1: The next year, he was a home favorite in the
Speaker 1: snow against Joe Burrow and the Bengals, and they got
Speaker 1: blown out and he didn't play well. The next year,
Speaker 1: he was a home favorite against what was supposed to
Speaker 1: be the weakest, most vulnerable Chiefs team of any you
Speaker 1: know of the Mahomes era got the ball back down
Speaker 1: three points in a game that he did not light
Speaker 1: up the stat sheet prior to it. But that's okay.
Speaker 1: Have an opportunity to go, ball in your hands, and
Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs or beat him in a
Speaker 1: game where again he had one hundred and eighty yards
Speaker 1: passing in an eighty six passer rating, gets the Bills,
Speaker 1: you know, right around decent field goal range, not in
Speaker 1: the end zone. Doesn't put a stake in the Chief's heart.
Speaker 1: Even if they had. If Bass had made that field goal,
Speaker 1: for the record, what would have happened in that spot
Speaker 1: would have been Patrick would have gotten the ball back
Speaker 1: with a minute forty left in a tie game. But
Speaker 1: he misses the kick and they lose. The next year,
Speaker 1: and that's in his building. The next year, in a
Speaker 1: game that he actually played pretty well in to his credit,
Speaker 1: once again have the ball in his hands three and
Speaker 1: a half minutes left, down three points field goal, forces
Speaker 1: overtime touchdown, wins it, they get seventeen total yards and
Speaker 1: they lose. And then last year, after having three turnovers
Speaker 1: in regulation to go along with one of the worst
Speaker 1: turnover or anyone's ever seen at the end of the
Speaker 1: first half, your defense in overtime gets a stop ball
Speaker 1: in your hand, go get three points and win, and
Speaker 1: he throws a pick and they lose the game for
Speaker 1: his fourth turnover of the game. So yes, it's true
Speaker 1: the defenses could have been better in these playoff losses.
Speaker 1: It is also true that, aside from the thirteen seconds game,
Speaker 1: Josh Allen's in his playoff losses since the thirteen second game,
Speaker 1: I should say Josh has a passer rating in his
Speaker 1: four playoff losses of eight five. In one of the
Speaker 1: games he was at home, they scored ten points and
Speaker 1: got blown out. In the next game, he was at
Speaker 1: home with the ball in his hands for a chance
Speaker 1: to go keep Mahomes off the field win the game,
Speaker 1: they got zero points. The next game he had the
Speaker 1: ball in his hands with a chance to send Mahomes home,
Speaker 1: he got zero points. And the next game he had
Speaker 1: the ball in his hands in Denver with a chance
Speaker 1: to move on to the AFC Championship game. He got
Speaker 1: zero points, So all of those things can be true.
Speaker 1: Josh is way more comfortable excepting that the latter is
Speaker 1: true along with the former, the media as a whole
Speaker 1: is not. And I get a little vexed at the
Speaker 1: some of the commentary where they take Josh's overall playoff numbers,
Speaker 1: which are exceptional, and conflate them with the fact that
Speaker 1: he is six and one with sixteen touchdowns and two
Speaker 1: picks with a one fourteen passer rating in the wild
Speaker 1: card round and two and six with a ninety passer
Speaker 1: rating in the divisional and conference championship round. And again
Speaker 1: one of those games he was the thirteen second game
Speaker 1: where he was out of this world. So I I
Speaker 1: think he's the second best player in the league, and
Speaker 1: I think one day he likely gets through. But some
Speaker 1: of the stuff, and this is where a lot of
Speaker 1: the Josh Allen criticism is actually a media criticism. It
Speaker 1: has to do with like and I had a long
Speaker 1: back and forth with Bill about this over the weekend,
Speaker 1: with like Bill Barnwell saying he'd that if the All
Speaker 1: Decade team were released today, he'd be the quarterback on
Speaker 1: the All Decade team. What what Like I I think
Speaker 1: he has a very strong argument. I think he has
Speaker 1: a strong argument that he would be second team All Decade.
Speaker 2: But it's the physicals if you if you take out
Speaker 2: like all right, he hasn't won a Super Bowl, his
Speaker 2: playoff success hasn't been great, but he is no but it's.
Speaker 1: But that's not what all decade is. But but I
Speaker 1: mean the thing is like again, if I were doing
Speaker 1: an All decade quarterback, there an All decade team right now,
Speaker 1: Mahomes is obviously the All decade quarterback and then second
Speaker 1: team because they have first team second team. There's an argument,
Speaker 1: in fact, I would argue Josh over Lamar for the
Speaker 1: second team. I would, but there's certainly a strong argument
Speaker 1: for Lamar for second team, and some could argue if
Speaker 1: there were a third team, there's an argument for Stafford
Speaker 1: there or Stafford for second team Lamar. It is easier,
Speaker 1: far easier to make the argument that Josh Allen of
Speaker 1: the twenty twenties has been the fourth best quarterback than
Speaker 1: the best. Again, I think he's been the second best probably,
Speaker 1: but for the All Decade thing, again, Mahomes doesn't even
Speaker 1: get his first MVP or his first super Bowl or
Speaker 1: his first time beating Josh in the playoffs. But just
Speaker 1: in the twenty twenties, Mahomes has one MVP, four trips
Speaker 1: to the super Bowl, two Super Bowl wins, two Super
Speaker 1: Bowl MVPs, one first Team All Pro. Stafford has one MVP,
Speaker 1: one first Team All Pro, one trip to the super Bowl,
Speaker 1: no Super Bowl MVPs. Lamar has one MVP, two first
Speaker 1: Team All pros, no trips to the super Bowl. Josh
Speaker 1: has one MVP, zero first Team All Pro, zero trips
Speaker 1: to the super Bowl. Just very hard to like and
Speaker 1: his Yeah, he doesn't have far like of the decade,
Speaker 1: Lamar actually has the best passing stats, believe it or not.
Speaker 1: So I just I don't some of that stuff. I
Speaker 1: just don't totally follow, to be honest, I don't understand
Speaker 1: the logic for some people. All Right, let's do Caleb
Speaker 1: and the Bears for a moment.
Speaker 2: Caleb and Benn are entering year two coming off a
Speaker 2: very promising year, but you could say that that took
Speaker 2: some lucky bounces for them to get there. Do you
Speaker 2: think that Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson are legit or
Speaker 2: is their luck involved?
Speaker 1: Well, listen, there's a lot of you know, the reasons
Speaker 1: people thought Demon's the Commanders might regress last year because
Speaker 1: of the way they won games in Year one certainly
Speaker 1: can apply to the Bears, where there were so many games,
Speaker 1: including their playoff win against the Packers, where they just
Speaker 1: pulled it out of the fire or Caleb made some
Speaker 1: magic and then you saw the Commanders they did regress. Now,
Speaker 1: part of that was the Commander's dealt with brutal injury
Speaker 1: stuff with Jaden only playing seven games and an older
Speaker 1: team got hurt. Excuse me, sorry. So I do think
Speaker 1: that the Bears won't be quite as good at the
Speaker 1: end of games, and I do think think that the
Speaker 1: defense won't force quite as many turnovers. I totally anticipate
Speaker 1: that to be offset by the fact that I think
Speaker 1: Caleb is going to make another huge leap, Like when
Speaker 1: you saw Caleb go from being one of the most
Speaker 1: sacked players in history to being one of you know,
Speaker 1: having lack of sacks, be one of the better spots
Speaker 1: on his resume from last year. That level of improvement
Speaker 1: after year one of Ben Johnson, it just feels to
Speaker 1: me like, Okay, what does he need to do it what's
Speaker 1: his biggest thing he needs to improve on now? Not
Speaker 1: missing the layups, you know, improving the completion percentage from
Speaker 1: it was sixty two as a rookie, it was fifty
Speaker 1: eight last year. Getting that up to sixty three sixty four,
Speaker 1: which is a tenable number. That's the number one thing
Speaker 1: he's gotta work on. I just believe you. I believe
Speaker 1: you will. I think he is a superstar talent. I
Speaker 1: think he now has a head coach who could be elite,
Speaker 1: and I think that the Bears. I think that improvement
Speaker 1: will be enough to offset the obvious regression that's coming
Speaker 1: on the turnover side and the end of game stuff.
Speaker 1: But I also think some of that end of game
Speaker 1: stuff demons is the guy is dynamic, clutch and a playmaker.
Speaker 1: Like he's going to be better in two minutes and
Speaker 1: end of game situations than just your average good quarterback
Speaker 1: because of his athleticism and escapability and creativity. He just
Speaker 1: needs to be in fewer of those situations by playing
Speaker 1: better earlier in the games. He did.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Colin, I should reported that he lost some He
Speaker 2: lost some way. Uh do you think that's good or
Speaker 2: bad for him? I think it's great for him, I
Speaker 2: don't see him getting injured. It's that much faster. But
Speaker 2: that is a lot of weight.
Speaker 1: I got to see how he looks. Thirteen pounds is
Speaker 1: a lot. But we've seen you remember Lamarge weight fluctuating. Yeah,
Speaker 1: like he lost weight intentionally one year.
Speaker 2: Then gained it back.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't. I didn't thirteen pounds a lot of
Speaker 1: weight to lose. I didn't think, like, I don't mind
Speaker 1: my quarterbacks having a little extra I will, yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I will trade a fraction of a second of speed
Speaker 1: for more durability. Now, maybe you know the losing the
Speaker 1: weight can make you more durable in a different way.
Speaker 1: But I don't always look at NFL guys losing weight
Speaker 1: as a good thing. And so I I that was
Speaker 1: I didn't see that in the rundown. I hadn't seen
Speaker 1: that news. So that actually was noteworthy to me, so
Speaker 1: to speak. All right, I think I think that covers
Speaker 1: it for today. I've got to go do Colin. You've
Speaker 1: got to go do Colin. We've got work to do again.
Speaker 1: A few scheduling notes. We'll be back on Thursday as always,
Speaker 1: and then the next couple of weeks when Demons and
Speaker 1: I are off. Ty Butler and Damon Bruce are gonna
Speaker 1: be in hosting live shows, So the Blue Duck and
Speaker 1: the Volume team are gonna be taking care of you guys.
Speaker 1: They're gonna do great. I have no idea what they're
Speaker 1: gonna talk about. The only pointer I gave them was
Speaker 1: that pointing out things they think I'm dead wrong about
Speaker 1: is always good content. So I would imagine if you've
Speaker 1: been waiting for some real chief skepticism on the show,
Speaker 1: you know those, the last couple weeks of August should
Speaker 1: be good. Subscribe to the channel. Helps us out on iTunes,
Speaker 1: on Spotify. Demansey, you look great. It's great to have
Speaker 1: you back. Enjoy everybody enjoying the rest of their day.
Speaker 1: I'll see you guys on Colin in a little over
Speaker 1: an hour. Thank you to Boost, thank you to Square,
Speaker 1: thank you to Volume, thank you to Blue Duck. Talk
Speaker 1: to you guys soon. What's right