NFL Week 2 Reaction: Rams DOMINATE Giants, QB injuries RAVAGE NFL, Mahomes back SLINGING it in KC

00:00:02
Speaker 1: Welcome in What's Right with Nick Wright episode 505. NFL week two is in the books. We will hit on every single game from the weekend and Monday Night Football over the next hour or so. This episode of What's Right with Nick Wright is presented to you by Boost Mobile. DeMondse, great to see you. Hope you had a wonderful weekend. I know your mom is still out there. And you faded. missing your baby's first steps. So congrats on that. That did not happen. I was legitimately concerned about it, but it's, you know, it literally any day now, and now you're back locked in. Uh, so you look rested. You look great. We have a ton to do, um, for the audience out there, 700 ish people away from a quarter million on YouTube. So if you're watching right now, And want to throw us a subscription on YouTube. You might be the quarter of a millionth subscriber. And what does that win you? No way to tell. But it would be cool. We'd appreciate it. You can also subscribe on iTunes and Spotify. So many stories to get to in week two in the NFL. Quarterback injuries. The reaction to the quarterback injuries. The reaction of the reaction to the quarterback injuries. So we have all of that that we have to get to. My team's awesome again, and it feels really great. The Ravens are looking awesome until the end of a game and then finding a way to lose. Can't blame Harbaugh this time. So we'll discuss that. In one of the most surprising developments in my lifetime as a football fan, as it turns out, the Chargers are still the Chargers. So we will discuss that as well. A ton to get to. But first, straight to voicemail brought to you by Boost Mobile. Things we do not have time to get to today. Olivia Miles breaks Kaitlyn Clark's rookie scoring record. She's unbelievable. In Tennessee, the turf temperature is melting cleats. That seems not great. And Ole Miss gets revenge against Lane Kiffin. That made me very happy. And Lane Kiffin being like, I have emotions, too. I'm human, too. Get out of here, bro. Listen, no doubt that he's human. We all get that. But you cannot operate the way he operates and then be like, what about my feelings?
00:02:33
Speaker 2: It's like bringing a kid out to the podium.
00:02:36
Speaker 1: I mean, it's so embarrassing. Hold on. I got to fix my Boost Mobile sign. One second. Devonze, carry me for a minute. I got to fix my Boost Mobile sign.
00:02:45
Speaker 2: My good friends at Boost Mobile.
00:02:48
Speaker 1: Oh, yes.
00:02:49
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
00:02:50
Speaker 1: Obviously.
00:02:50
Speaker 2: I'll pick it up. Okay, go ahead. So, obviously, Dart went down early in that game, but the Rams looked good. Rams looked good. Devontae for nearly 200 yards. Aaron Donald was there. He was getting a little mixy. Still ramping up. Myles Garrett's still out. Puka was out. Is this the Rams team that you were expecting to see in week one?
00:03:11
Speaker 1: No. Because... In week one, I expected to see a Rams team that if they looked great, it would be a ton of Puka Nakua, who I said in the lead up to the season, might be the most indispensable non-quarterback in the NFL because of how much of the Rams offense revolved around him last year, particularly their passing offense, because... Devontae Adams, last year, had such a unique season. He had 14 touchdowns, but he had 790 yards. So he was this unbelievable red zone threat, but he was not a guy who had monster games. Like, I'm looking at it now. Last season, he had 100 yards in Week 2 against Tennessee and never had 100 yards again all year. So I just thought Devontae at his age, and he's an all-time great player, a legit, and this gets thrown around too much, but it's not being thrown around too much with him, a legit Hall of Famer that I don't know if he'll be first ballot or not, but he is not going to have to wait long. I did not think he really had the capability of carrying a team's passing offense up and down the field. And last night, he goes eight for 195 and two touchdowns. It's the biggest game he's had since he was traded to the Jets a couple years ago in the one monster game he had with Rodgers last against Jacksonville when he had nine for 198 and a couple touchdowns. So that part stunned me. And shout out Devontae. Also, obviously, we thought Myles Garrett would be a huge part of the team. He's now out indefinitely with the knee surgery. And the other thing that really surprised me about last night was that not that Aaron Donald played, we knew he was going to play, but how many snaps he played. I thought they were going to slowly ramp him up, give him like 10 to 12 pass rush specific snaps he played more than 30 snaps last night so like that's not what happened now he had the one splash play on the TFL on the Giants running back other than that you know he did not look like vintage Aaron Donald but that's not really that surprising now with Miles Garrett out they're going to need more from him but they can ramp that up Trent McDuffie even though, you know, I've talked about how I look at him as the league's best slot corner. He wants to play on the outside. Well, he played a lot on the outside last night, was outstanding, got a pick for them, and, you know, really helped shut down the Giants' passing attack, which was having, it seemed like was going to have a rough night even before Dart went out. Jameis obviously came in, did not play well at all. But the most noteworthy thing and the most, reassuring thing demands a four Rams fans is that Stafford after in week one, he looked old, he looked old and not good. Him having an MVP type of performance, more than 10 yards per attempt, throwing it downfield for touchdowns, a one 31 rating, even with the one pick like that, that makes you, you know, more Yeah, reassured on what Stafford's going to look like. And the Rams' offensive line, which was coming into the year, to me, their only real question mark, them holding up the way they did against that Giants defensive front, It's outstanding. And then they did remind you that they have not one, but two high-quality backs. Kyron Williams, who they signed to an extension a year ago, I think it was a year ago. It might have been this offseason, whenever it was. He's been one of the more underrated backs in the league the last few years. He gave you seven a carry on 12 carries. Blake Corum, who is maybe the best backup running back in the league, and they don't quite do a timeshare. Kyron is typically their feature back. But Blake Corum gave you 79 yards on 12 carries as well. So they're two backs, 24 carries for $ 1. 64. That's just, you're going to win like every game that you have that type of rushing attack. And then Stafford got the touchdown pass. So the Rams offense looked good. the way it was supposed to look, and the defense, even without Myles Garrett, totally shut down the Giants. Now, how much of that is the dart injury, which we'll get to, we'll see, but they really needed a level-set dominant win because their next three games, at Denver, at Philly, home for the Bills, so they will, fairly or not, just chalk up week one to Australia. And McVay, you know, said, sometimes you win, sometimes you learn, sometimes you have a dumbass coach that makes travel plans to put you in a bad spot. Now, I'm not ready to say to Monze that we can just leave that mistake in the past because we'll see. The idea behind them doing it was, yeah, it might hurt us in week one, but what the Niners did is going to hurt them in week two. Well, the Niners looked pretty freaking great in week two, and now there's real divisional seeding playoff stuff in the balance to where it's close, but on polymarket right now, the Rams are the third most likely to win that division. It's weird. They're the Super Bowl favorite, but Seattle and San Francisco are are trading a little bit higher than the Rams to win the NFC West, which, of course, you don't win the division. Not only no bye, but no home playoff games, most likely. Probably outdoors, maybe some cold weather. So it could be a damaging week one loss if the Niners keep this up. But I do think we're going to chalk a lot of that up to their goofy ideas idea to fly to you know do a quick 24-hour trip to australia um all right i know you have a uh another stafford question before we get to.
00:10:09
Speaker 2: Dart With four touchdowns, Stafford passed Phillip Rivers and sits alone at No. 6 on the passing touchdowns list. Is there anything outside of an MVP that could boost his legacy?
00:10:22
Speaker 1: Well, title, obviously. Or Super Bowl, obviously. Yeah. No, I mean, listen. He is now... Again, I'll throw it around again. But he's going to be in the Hall of Fame. And his raw counting stats are already... super elite. And so for him, he's kind of plateaued on what individual statistical accolades can gain him in the all-time rankings. But yeah, if he were to go back-to-back for MVP or if they were to win another Super Bowl, that would put him in another echelon, if you will. But the biggest news of the game for many people might be what happened to the Giants and what happened to Dart. So let's get to that.
00:11:08
Speaker 2: Yeah, so Dart left early with an awkward knee injury. Wanted a return to the game. It seems like he has a sprained MCL. You know, Jackson Dart has a reckless type of play style. Do you think that this will change it at all?
00:11:23
Speaker 1: So, you know, it's interesting because he was not hurt running around. He got sandwiched in the pocket. And so even though one of the reasons I, you know, I'm not as high on Dart as others and not as high on the Giants as others is because I thought Dart was going to play in a fashion where he was going to have to miss time. It's not really fair for me to chalk this injury up to that because he was just trying to play traditional quarterback. And even though it was weird because he kind of jumped to pass, the fact that he jumped might have actually prevented this from being a worse injury because his foot wasn't planted on the ground and that could have, you know, Instead of being a sprained MCL, maybe then you're worried about a torn ACL. So, I'm not, you know, there's no culpability, if you will, for Dart on that injury. And if I really want to go glass quarter full, here's what I would say. Maybe, maybe, If he rushes himself back, which if he wanted to come back in that game, he's going to try to come back as quickly as possible. If he comes back with an MCL at less than 100%, maybe that forces him to be a little less dual-thready and a little more of what we would call a traditional quarterback. You know, quarterback. I think our pal Dan Orlovsky would be like, that's how it should look. And maybe if he plays that style, if he has success, let me put it like this. Again, if you're a Giants fan, your season flashed before your eyes last night, then Jameis comes in and throws a pick, your worry darts out for the year, you're despondent. You're metaphorically, you know, can't even can't even muster the thumbs up in the cart when you take the towel off your face only to find out, you know, you tweaked your hamstring.
00:13:42
Speaker 2: We'll get to that later.
00:13:44
Speaker 1: The the. So if you're a Giants fan, you now find out, oh, maybe it's just a month. Maybe it's less than a month. You're looking at your schedule. Titans, Cardinals at home next two weeks. You're like, all right, we can survive those games with Jameis if Jameis plays better than he did last night against the Rams. And then when Dart comes back, if Dart comes back and is limited, yes, that would... neuter some of his dual threat ability. But if he is able to have success playing a more conservative brand of football, maybe that's good for him long-term. Maybe if he can prove to himself, I don't have to be playing rock-em-sock-em robots on the sideline to be a good player, maybe that will... stem the tide a bit of his overall running recklessness, which again, it's not how he got hurt. So I'm trying to kind of frame this as, you know, the silver lining, because I am certain that if he plays the style that he's played his whole career, whenever he comes back from this injury, he'll, we'll have another time where we're talking about on the show that Jackson Dart was knocked out of the game. And so maybe this He can learn from it. You guys also know I was not as high on the Giants going into the year as others. Was not quite as wowed by their week one performance as others. Thought that there was real chance people had just been drastically overrating the Cowboys defense. And that the Cowboys with that defense, if Dak doesn't play well, anybody can beat him. Last night, it wasn't just the dart injury that was some red flags for the Giants. Theoretically, you're supposed to have one of the league's more reliable backup quarterbacks. That's going to be tested over the next month. But let's just say dart misses a month, DeMondse. Having your next 4B, home for the Titans, home for the Cardinals... At the Commanders, they'll also be with a backup quarterback. And then home for the Saints is not the most brutal stretch imaginable. Yeah, I mean, you would... I mean, honest to God, like... Let's just say Jameis starts the next three games. Two of those games, they still have a quarterback edge. Jameis is better than Cam Ward. I'm sorry. Like... And Jameis is better than Marcus Mariota. And the one game, the middle game there, it'd be Jameis against Jacoby Brissett. I think Jacoby is better than Jameis, but Jacoby is a rollercoaster. Yeah, well, I mean, Jacoby will just have some brutal games and, you know, he'll have two pretty damn solid or pretty good games and then a brutal game and kind of, you know, he's not quite an every other week guy, but He's a two-out-of-three-week guy. So the Giants, if there was going to be a stretch of your season where your quarterback was going to be out, I think you'd pick this one. The flip side is these are the games, if you're going to be a playoff team, you've got to win. You must go 2-1 over your next three. But I think they can. I think their running game coaching... and defense should be solid enough for them to be able to, you know, home for the Titans, home Cardinals at Commanders and be all right. One other thing I want to say. Oh, go ahead.
00:17:47
Speaker 2: What were you going to say? I thought they might have lost a key defender last night.
00:17:50
Speaker 1: Oh, so I think it's just a low ankle sprain. So Brian Burns. So Brian Burns. Yeah. So that's something to watch. Neighbors hurt his shoulder. But then came back in the game. So, you know, that's something to watch as well. One other thing to watch. Real quick soapbox moment. Because I think people were confused by something they saw last night. Last night, we saw in that game. I don't even remember who was going for it. Doesn't matter. A quarterback sneak attempt. The virtual measurement. And then a challenge of the virtual measurement. And people confused. They're like, wait a minute. How can you challenge the virtual measurement? It's now done with a sensor. What a dumb challenge. And it actually was a dumb challenge just because you were never going to win the challenge. But not because the virtual measurement had anything to do with it. And this is the soapbox moment. And it is to remind the audience or inform the audience that one of the most ludicrous frauds in sports right now is the virtual challenge system. I think the league has done a pretty good job of tricking some of the audience into thinking because of the virtual measurement system, the ball is being spotted digitally. Like there's a chip in the ball and therefore when the ball is being spotted by, you know, our AI overlords, that is not what's happening at all. And it's when you actually, and last night was a good example. When you actually break down just for a moment, what the virtual measurement system is, you realize it's one of the most ludicrous, time-wasting innovations we've seen in sports in a decade. The issue people have or have with how the ball gets marked in the NFL is it feels like the refs are just eyeballing it, which is because they are. They're just doing their best. They're just eyeballing it. I'm actually fine with that, but that's the issue people had. The virtual measurement system did not change that part of it at all. The refs still just eyeball it. All the virtual measurement system did is once the refs eyeball it and place it, instead of having the old dudes with the chains come out, they just have They do a, you know, like a pylon cam from there to see where the ball is on it. It's not more efficient at all. It takes longer than having the old guys with the chains. It seems totally unnecessary. And again, it improves accuracy 0%. But given the fact that people were confused as to how you could challenge a spot in our new virtual measurement paradigm made me realize, oh, the NFL really did a decent job of confusing a lot of folks into thinking that we're spotting the ball differently. We're not. We're just after it's spotted by the human beings, we're having a camera tell us whether or not it got to the first down line. Rather than the chain gang, guys. It's a total waste of time. I don't understand why they're doing it. I don't like it at all. Soapbox over with. Just so foolish. Just so silly.
00:21:37
Speaker 2: Like, I don't... It makes it right.
00:21:40
Speaker 1: Well, thank you, pal. I got a few of those other things on today's show. All right, so there's Monday Night Football. Before we get to the Chiefs win, Caleb's injury, everything, I need to tell you about the new prediction market, polymarket. It's the best new way to trade in sports. In the past, if you wanted action on the game, you'd put some money in, and if your team was doing well and you wanted to cash out, they'd lock the trade or take a huge fee. We've talked about never cashing out previously because of the giant They're calling it fee. I'd call it a vig that you would get taken out from you. Poly market's different though, because it's prediction market. The best equivalent you could call is like a stock exchange for sports, buying and selling out on your own terms. So when your team goes down to 20% chance to win, you can buy in. And if that gets up to a 40% chance, if they start making comeback, then you can sell and in theory, double your money. There's Obviously, a bunch of prediction markets out there right now. For my money, Polymarket is the best one. They're so confident you'll never go back to the other guys. They're giving you a free $ 50 on your first trade when you deposit just $ 10. So download the Polymarket app today and use code Nick Wright when you sign up. That's Nick Wright to get $ 50 free after you trade just $ 10.
00:23:02
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00:23:27
Speaker 1: All right, Demondze, let's go to Sunday night football, and then we'll get to all of the Sunday afternoon games. Chiefs.
00:23:35
Speaker 2: Chiefs look pretty good. Patrick Mahomes looked good. Had some bombs in there. Kenneth Walker continued his success. And then Travis Kelsey looked great as well. So they got the dub, and over time, I know of a team that was able to finish this in four quarters, but you guys got the dub for sure.
00:23:51
Speaker 1: Yeah, that team was able to finish it in four quarters. How'd they look the next week, pal?
00:23:55
Speaker 2: It's rough. It's rough. So, all right.
00:23:58
Speaker 1: So the real talk about the Chiefs through two weeks and the, listen, Mahomes after the two of 12 start to the season has been dialed. I am not ready to say the concerns about the receiver room were overblown because he threw for nearly 400 yards. because to DeMond's point, this Colts team, especially with Chavarri's Ward dealing with an injury, Sauce Gardner in and out of the lineup, they just might have the worst secondary in the league. Zay Flowers played a half of football and looked like prime Tyreek Hill against this team. And so I do think this was, from a passing perspective, one of the easier matchups Patrick and the Chiefs are going to have all year, But that doesn't change the fact that you are already seeing, and this is a classic one by me, instantly correct. You are already seeing the impact on having a real running game, the impact that it has on what Patrick is able to see defensively and how cleaner and clearer the windows are. Because there is a real running game, there is less attention to Travis Kelsey. He all of a sudden looks better than he's looked in a couple years. Because there is a real running game, they can tee off on the pass rush less. Now all of a sudden, Patrick, even with a backup rookie left tackle playing, he has a little more time in the pocket, can throw it down the field more. Because there is a real running game, this Colts game, I guarantee you, guarantee it, that there has not been a single game in Mahomes' career where in the lead-up to the game, the opposing defense in practice and in the game plan spent more time worried about the Chiefs' running game than the Colts did this week. Which, because time is finite and everyone only has the same amount of it, that means... This Colts defense in preparing for the Chiefs spent less preparation time on Patrick Mahomes in the passing attack than any team preparing to play him in his NFL career ever has. That will pay dividends. I was saying it all offseason. I'm 100% correct on that. Kenneth Walker... While everyone was going crazy about, oh my God, the Broncos added Jalen Waddell and the Bills added DJ Moore and the Patriots added A.J. Brown. I told you all, the most impactful addition in the NFL this year would be Kenneth Walker. Not because he's necessarily a quote, better player, even though right now he looks like he is, than all those guys. But because of the upgrade from often injury Isaiah Pacheco and old man Kareem Hunt to a legitimate running attack. The Chiefs right now have three running backs to Monza better than anyone they had last year. Kenneth Walker has 370 yards from scrimmage in his first two games. It's the second most by any player this century. Emmitt Johnson, the rookie out of Nebraska, has real juice. And you saw it this week. And Rashard Smith, who was on the roster last year but was a rookie, is better than he was last year. All three of those guys are better than anybody they had running the ball last season. So that's all super positive. Super positive. Flip side is, the defense, which had a real pass rush in week one, so optimistic about how they looked against that great Denver offensive line, that regressed a bit. They really couldn't get a lot of, they didn't sack Daniel Jones. They finally pressured him at the end of the game. And so that will be, because it's a young defense, a work in progress over the course of the year. It'll ebb and flow. Mansour Delane, who is going to be a superstar corner, has played three snaps, got a pick, hurt his shoulder. Injury wasn't that bad. Practiced all week. They then did the very super rare thing to Monse of So if people don't know, you have 53 guys on your roster. Only 47 of them dress for a game. So you have six game day inactives. They dressed Mansour Delane and never played him. He was only going to play in an emergency role, which it's kind of weird to burn a roster spot like that, a game day roster, but they did it. It also means he'll definitely be ready to play this upcoming weekend. But you saw in this game, with Chamari Conner also out, that secondary's a little thin. And so that's going to, you know, they're going to need to stay healthy and need to see those guys progress. So I'm not acting like it was a perfect win. It was far from a perfect win. But it was a god-dog win. And now they're in Miami, home for the Raiders, and then a bye. And so Mahomes is playing with total confidence. The running game looks great. The defense has had some bright spots and some not so bright spots. That'll work on over the course of the year. And they're just simply a tiebreaker. tier A1 contender. And right now the Bills offense looks better and their defense looks worse. And right now, oddly, the Bengals defense looks better and their offense looks worse. And we'll see the Ravens. We'll see because the Ravens looked dominant until they didn't. But those are your frontline AFC contenders the way they typically are. And I feel great, great about where the Chiefs are. There are actually two. And also shout out to Eric Biennemi. He's back. They're all of a sudden back scoring 30 points a game. Pushing the ball down the field. Have a running game again. There are a couple Mahomes quotes. that I want to discuss. So let's talk about the first one, Demanze.
00:30:32
Speaker 2: So Mahomes on the overturned fumble says, I was actually kind of glad. I didn't want to see Twitter's reaction if they would have called it a fumble. Do the Chiefs care about how they win?
00:30:41
Speaker 1: Very fair. Listen, I think he wants to win more than anything. But he's not wrong. But I do... I don't implore you. I demand... The audience, remember this moment. Because now that the Chiefs are going to be great again, we are going to once again have the, it's rigged. It's in the bag. I want everyone to recognize we saw a very, very rare instance of the game has ended. The Chiefs have won. The call on the field. is a catch, a fumble, a clear recovery. You don't have to... Not only do you not have to rig it for the Chiefs, it's just over. All you have to do is not overturn a call. They then show us a replay, and you guys know how I feel about replay. And Florio's been all over this, and he's absolutely right. They show a replay that.
00:31:53
Speaker 1: I think it's Terry McCauley... Chris Collinsworth and Tariqo are watching it again and again and again. And they're all saying, oh man, it's so close. I don't know how you can overturn it. I don't, you know, when, when does, because Treadwell like is bobbling the ball as he's being touched. And then at some point he gets control and Snead may or may not still be touching him. And again, McCauley's like, yeah, I don't think, it's not clear and obvious. I don't know how you can overturn it. And then, my opinion, again, I don't know this to be true. It seemed pretty clear that McCauley got alerted. Oh, this is getting overturned. Because he very quickly is like, oh, actually, Mike, from this angle, look. you see Snead's hand is on his hip, and they freeze it at the very last second Snead's touching Treadwell's hip. And they're like, and you can see the ball's not moving anymore. He has possession. Ball's not moving because it is a fucking freeze frame. Nothing's moving. Like, it's a still image. Like, obviously.
00:33:08
Speaker 2: That makes a lot of sense.
00:33:10
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously the ball's not moving. Now listen, I want to be very clear here. They might have... He might have had possession right then, and Snead might have been touching him. So I'm not even saying, like, had the ruling on the field been, he was down right there, that I would have even said that was necessarily wrong. That's not my point of this. I'm not even complaining about it. I am making two points. One is, in my lifelong quest to eradicate instant replay from sports, just remember they lie to you. They swear to you the standard is clear and obvious evidence to overturn the call on the field. Nobody watched that frame-by-frame, super slow-mo replay. Where you don't also even have a good angle. Forget about when he has possession. But a good angle on when Snead actually stops touching him. You see where his hand is, but it's a 2D picture, not 3D. So you don't know if the hand is there or if it's there. And so, like, whatever. So it's just not clear and obvious.
00:34:20
Speaker 2: I've seen. That was a really weird one.
00:34:23
Speaker 1: It was... Correct. And so... What they tell you is, anything like that, the call on the field will stand. But we all know that's just not true. So that's the first point. But that's just general replay. Again, the Chiefs ended up winning.
00:34:39
Speaker 2: It's fine.
00:34:40
Speaker 1: But the more important one is this. It is impossible to square the circle of to rig for Kansas City and have that play exist. All they had to do was... not overturn a 50.1, 49.9, and the game's over. Instead, they overturn it, and by overturning it, the Chiefs become significant underdogs to win the game. So I just don't want to hear the nonsense anymore, nor does Patrick. There was another instance with the refs where, again, you know, the other team, and I'm fine with it, but the other team... got a very, very beneficial interpretation of the rules, and that was the coin toss to Monse.
00:35:37
Speaker 2: Do you think that the Colts botched OT, or do you agree with their decision?
00:35:42
Speaker 1: Well, listen, two separate things here. The Colts wanted the Chiefs to have the ball first. There's pros and cons to going second in the new overtime. The biggest pro is you're in four-down territory the whole time. You know exactly what you need. The biggest con is if there is a third possession, which there was in this game, the other team gets it. And so I think it actually, I don't think there is a across-the-board right answer that you should always kick in overtime or you should always receive in overtime. I think it is player, personnel, and team dependent because of who my team is and who my quarterback is, who's 10-2 in his career in overtime, has only lost one overtime game ever where he touched the ball and comes through every single time. Meanwhile, by the way, the guy we all bowed at the altar of all week, Josh Allen, 0-7 in overtime, and the only one game he didn't get the ball was the 13 seconds game. The other six overtime games that player has played in, he has had the ball with a chance to win. They've never won. It's neither here nor there. Because of who my quarterback is, I'll always want last licks. I'll always want the ball second. Because you give him four downs, knowing exactly what his team needs, and... even if the other team gets a touchdown, knowing, okay, we have to score and get a two-point conversion, then I'll take that. I don't know if that's the right choice for every team. The Colts kicking that field goal is closer than, it's not like the Saints going for two a week ago. The Saints going for two, there was like 20 seconds left in that game. If they kick the extra point, they are just locking in a tie. The Colts, I think, reasonably felt like, all right, we kick the field goal, we have two timeouts and there's enough time left. If we force a three and out, we then can still win. So that made it a little less objectionable. Also, the Colts, I think, might have been doing the math on, you know, a tie in the AFC South might be useful. Like it's not as bad as a loss. So I'm not, I'm not as, don't have as big of a problem with Steichen's decision as other people's. But that's not what I wanted to discuss. I wanted to discuss the coin toss. Because we have a crisis of vocabulary at this moment in the NFL. And this is on coaching staffs. So I want everyone to understand it. So this is the way the coin toss works before a game. Okay? Technically... And this is what I think people don't, certainly the players don't understand, some of them. Technically, in the NFL, whoever wins the coin, let me, one team gets to decide what they want to do after the coin toss to start the game. And the other team gets to decide what they want to do coming out of half. That is what actually happens. Which is why, before the game, now that it has become very popular for teams to want to kick off, the reason in the opening coin toss of the game teams don't say we kick we say we defer is because if you win the coin toss you get to either use your decision to kick or receive or defer your decision to the second half decision. But if you say before at the opening coin toss for the game, we kick, that then means, okay, you've used your decision. You're kicking. The other team gets to then, coming out of halftime, decide what decision they want. They will say, we receive, and they will get it both times. It's only happened like once in like six, the last six years, but it has happened where somebody screwed it up, happened another time where somebody screwed it up and the ref let him off the hook. He was like, you don't, you don't mean kick, you mean defer, right? Now, why the NFL does it this way? I don't know. Like, but it's how they do it.
00:40:34
Speaker 2: Shouldn't it just be you kick the ball in the beginning, you, the other team gets the ball, or you get, you receive it in the second half?
00:40:41
Speaker 1: In theory, yes. The reason technically it's the way it is, DeMondsey, is because there's another option.
00:40:50
Speaker 2: Strategy of it?
00:40:51
Speaker 3: Oh.
00:40:52
Speaker 1: Because you, in theory, your choice, again, I want people to understand this because I find it interesting and I think you guys will as well. You actually have two different choices you can make. You win the coin toss. There's technically three different choices you can make. You can choose whether you want to use winning the coin toss to determine whether you kick or receive. You can choose when you win the coin toss if you want to just get the choice in the second half. Or you can choose whether or not you want to use your decision on which end of the field you go against. So that is relevant. And the reason that this exists is because, in theory, there could be certain games where the weather and the wind are so disastrous in one direction that you would prefer... The more valuable thing to choose is end of the field. Rather than kick or receive.
00:42:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're going to get it either way at some point.
00:42:03
Speaker 1: Right. And so that's why it is the way it is. Okay? So now that people understand that, we now get to an overtime coin toss. In an overtime coin toss, the same decisions exist. Whoever wins it. can choose kick or receive or they can say we want to use the choice on the wind because remember think about every coin toss you've seen the guy answers whoever won the coin toss then the other guy gets to decide on the wind thing so it's like both of these decisions are going to happen whoever wins the toss gets first you know choice on which one they prioritize all right But what does not exist in the overtime coin toss is the option to defer your decision to another half. Because there is no other half. Everybody's following me? Okay. What I have realized is NFL players, because their whole lives playing, here's what they've seen and what's happened. You go out. You win the coin toss. They ask you what you want to do. You say defer. And when you say that, your team kicks off. A lot of these guys have put in their brain, defer means kick off. It's not what it means. It means defer your decision. Which takes us to the overtime of Chiefs-Colts, where the Colts win. The ref asks the Colts player, what do you want to do? He says defer, and Patrick immediately jumps in and says defer. okay, then we'll kick. He's deferring. We'll kick. And then the ref says to him again, what do you want to do? He says, defer. Patrick again says, we'll kick. And the ref then holds his hands like to the Colts guy. He's like, so you want to kick? And he goes, yes. And Patrick gets a little annoyed. Yeah, of course. Because he was stone right about it. Yeah.
00:44:11
Speaker 2: And How are they being sent out there? The coach has got to instill that on the player, right?
00:44:17
Speaker 1: It's so bad.
00:44:18
Speaker 2: That's a big decision.
00:44:21
Speaker 1: So this is one of the reasons, and I'm going to read you Pro Football Talk's article about it, because this is a coaching thing. And it's one of the reasons Andy runs a great operation. So I'll read you exactly what Florio wrote. Um... The NFL's in its second year of its current overtime format. Some players still haven't learned the rules. Chiefs captain Patrick Mahomes tried to take advantage of that on Sunday night. Colts captain Cam Bynum called tails on the coin toss. When it came up tails, he had the option to kick, receive, or pick a goal to defend. But Bynum chose none of those, instead saying defer. Deferring is only an option for the pregame coin toss when the team that wins the toss can choose a deferred choice of kicking or receiving until the second half. Deferring is not an option for overtime. Yes, this is what I just explained to all you guys. As soon as Mahomes heard Bynum's mistake, he yelled to referee Craig Rolstad, they get the ball. Mahomes figured that if Bynum was going to defer the Colts' choice, then the Chiefs would make their choice, which was to kick off and get the ball second. Unfortunately for Mahomes, Rolstad asked Bynum follow-up questions until Bynum understood. Rolstad asked Bynum, would you like the ball? Would you like the ball? Would you like to play defense? Eventually, Bynum said the Colts wanted to start on defense, which is technically not a choice, but Rolstad knew Bynum meant the Colts wanted to kick off, and he accepted that. Rolstad announced Indianapolis won the toss. They would like to play defense. Mahomes, after the game, has a great soundbite, and I'll just read it to you because I didn't send it to our guys. because he's asked about it. He said, you're supposed to say kickoff. You can't defer in overtime. If you defer, then it's my decision. So I was like, then I want to kick off. You're supposed to say kickoff. He said defer. So I said, well, then I'll kick off. That's the rules, but I guess it didn't work. And then he went on to explain how the Chiefs have a guy named Matt Frazier who explains all this stuff to him. That is a long way of me building the bridge to say this. That's my quarterback.
00:46:39
Speaker 2: Okay, man.
00:46:41
Speaker 1: For real. Know every god dog wrinkle. Understand it. And be pressing your edge whenever you can. And be a little pissed after the game. Mahomes just had one of his best statistical regular season games in years. And after the game, at the podium, he's like, yeah, I mean, they kind of screwed us on the overtime coin toss because I knew the rules they didn't. And fuck Twitter. I love him so much. It's like your little conspiracy theory Twitter will just beat you the old-fashioned way.
00:47:21
Speaker 2: And Biden had no business being out there at the coin toss, by the way.
00:47:25
Speaker 1: He's the captain, but he's not the only one. Like, I mean, again, the guy's got a lot going on, but it's so there's that. All right. We have a bunch of other stuff to get to first. Let me remind you guys, boost mobile is proving you don't have to overpay for great wireless. Unlock the savings with the $ 25 a month forever and limited plan permanent price with no contracts and no price hikes. You can keep your phone and your number. but you save up to $ 600 a year compared to the major carriers. Stop overpaying and switch to a fair price at BoostMobile.com today. Based on average annual single-line payment of AT & T, Verizon, and T-Mobile customers compared to 12 months on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan as of January 2026. For full offer details, visit BoostMobile.com. All right, Demanze, I've delayed it as long as I could.
00:48:14
Speaker 2: I appreciate it.
00:48:16
Speaker 1: Go ahead. Let's do your thing. Uh, yeah.
00:48:19
Speaker 2: So new coach, same identity, another fourth quarter league blown. Tyler Shuck freaking carving up our secondary. We ran the ball in the second half five times at Derrick Henry. And obviously Lamar throws the game ceiling interception at the end there. Um, yeah, that's rough. I, I don't know if that was a miscue with Bateman or if that was Lamar, but There's big questions there. I don't think we can end a game like that. And we didn't even need to throw it right there, is the other part. I think it wasn't a must-throw situation in that situation. It was second and ten.
00:48:56
Speaker 1: Second and ten, but there's 20 seconds left. I mean, you've got it.
00:49:00
Speaker 2: I thought it was like a minute.
00:49:02
Speaker 1: No, no, no, no, no. They had to throw. That part's wrong. I'll actually defend Lamar on the pick. Listen, it was a terrible throw. But you're at the 40-yard line down seven. You got to take some chances. And I'll actually... defend the Ravens on Derek Henry only ran the ball. You know, what did you say? Five times in the second half. So the saints had these crazy long possessions and And the Ravens, so here were the Ravens' second half possessions. First possession of the second half when Derrick Henry touched the ball a fair amount. 14-play drive to only go 37 yards, eat up seven and a half minutes on the clock, and end up, after Lamar takes a big sack, Um, like, so they have first and 10 from the 19. They give it to Derek Henry. He gets stuffed. All right. Second and 10. You're going to let Lamar pass. No problem. You're up eight, like, or you're up five at that point. Let Lamar pass. It's incomplete. Well, third and 10, you've got to let Lamar pass. He takes a sack. All right. You kick a field goal. You go up eight points after that. So that was like a normal drive. After that, the Ravens force a three and out. They get the ball up eight points. That drive, they're three and out. It starts with a false start. Then Lamar throws a dump off to Derrick Henry. He loses yards. Now you're in second and 18. You got to throw. You take a sack. All right, so you got to throw. So that went poorly. But again, you didn't have an opportunity really to run the ball, especially after the false start on first down. The Saints then go down and score a touchdown. Now it's a tie game. Tie game, that next drive, here's where I will take some issue. First down, seven-yard pass. Second down, Derrick Henry for two yards. Now it's a tie game with eight minutes left. It's third and one from the 37. They throw a bomb on third and one. I'm actually fine with that. Because I assumed, oh, okay, they've decided they're going to go for it on fourth down. But then they punt. That's not... If you're not going to go for it on fourth down, then on third and one, you have to give it to Derrick Henry. Like, it's just, you got to pick up. It's a tie game. It's in the fourth quarter. You got to drive down and try to go score. The reason that you've got to go for that fourth down to Monza is because... As weird as it sounds, going for it and not getting it with eight minutes left in a tie game on your own 37 is not necessarily that bad of an outcome. And the reason I say that is, if you go for it and get it, obviously you're in total control. If you go for it and don't get it, you guarantee yourself you're getting the ball back. There's eight minutes left. The Saints are at the 37. They're either going to get stopped or score relatively quickly. By punting, the Ravens allowed to happen exactly what happened, which is you punt and now New Orleans wins. can go the length of the field slowly, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. And if they do end up scoring, as they did on fourth and goal, when I don't even know if he got in, but I think he got in the previous play on the one where he might not have gotten in. It was one of the worst face mask penalties I've ever seen in my life, and it wasn't called, so fine. Now, all of a sudden, you're getting the ball back. You have no timeouts, and there's a minute 25 left. And you're in, like, you know, you're up against it. So, I think not going for that fourth and one was egregious. Aside from that, kind of an unlucky game. Lamar was playing great until he wasn't. Like, he had a great first half. Kind of a weird game. So, I'm not, I wouldn't panic. With that said, the Bengals look really good and all these games do matter. And so, it's a bad loss. Um.
00:53:45
Speaker 2: I would have liked to see Lamar run a little bit more in that game. I know we're trying to get off of him running, but with a game with, say, Flowers missing, I would have liked to see him. Like, if he's going to end up running on the play, just have it be a designed run.
00:53:59
Speaker 1: You know what, that's fair. Only four carries for 34 yards. Not a disaster, but the Ravens always, you know, the way this schedule started, they needed to be 5-1 going into the stretch of Bengals, Bills, Jags. Their next four in Rio for the Cowboys game on a cow pasture down there. That makes me nervous turf-wise. Home for the Titans at the Falcons at the Browns. So here's the deal. Because of this Saints loss, you now have to beat the Cowboys. But as long as you do beat the Cowboys, you're totally fine. Beat the Titans, Falcons, Browns. You're 5-1. So, I'm actually not going to pile on.
00:54:45
Speaker 2: It's a nice test. Like what Minter said, it's a test to bounce back. Nice chance to bounce back. Yeah. You got to do something.
00:54:51
Speaker 1: The only thing I will say is this. Right or wrong, I think Lamar and a lot of the Ravens had left a lot of the bad vibes, collapses, all that at the feet of Harbaugh. It's like new coach, new regime. It's not going to be us this year. The fact that this early in the year, you blow an 8.4th quarter lead to the Saints, I think does maybe put somewhere in your brain like, oh shit, maybe it wasn't. Maybe it's us.
00:55:23
Speaker 2: It's our identity.
00:55:24
Speaker 1: Right, it's our identity. So that part is a mild concern, but overall, I think, weird game. Credit to the Saints. Shuck's playing great. He's averaging 330 yards a game.
00:55:38
Speaker 2: But, you know, There's also a chance are the Saints just a real team?
00:55:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe. I mean, they were a two-point conversion away from beating Detroit. They just beat Baltimore. Sure, possibly. All right, let's talk about a team that's not a real team, the Los Angeles Chargers.
00:55:53
Speaker 2: So, yeah, you were all over that Raiders-Chargers game, said they could lose that one outright. So their next seven is Buffalo, Seattle, Denver, Kansas City, the Rams, Houston, Baltimore. Or Herbert and the Chargers officially cooked.
00:56:08
Speaker 1: Their season's over, and they're not interesting, but Justin Herbert as a vehicle to do media criticism is interesting. So this is what I want to say to all the sycophants and apologists, of which there are many. Do you guys not ever take stock or even you know, I'll be very almost, I don't even know what the word would be, cut and dry with a way to look at this. These Herbert truthers in the media, I'd love to play any of them in a high dollar game of risk because they have no to what they say. They have no game plan. They have no blueprint. And here's what I mean. If you know that every fucking year If the team is underwhelming, you're going to find excuses for the quarterback. Then don't, in the lead up to the year, tell the whole world nonstop how much you love the roster, how much you love the coaching staff, how poised you think they are to be a Super Bowl threat. If you know that if it goes bad, it can't be your golden-armed quarterback's fault, then geez louise, guys, build in some doubt. Really be like, oh man, nobody's talking about that Tyler Biotis injury enough. Be like, you know, I like Vlad McConkie, but your number one option being an undersized slot receiver. Instead, this is what happens. Five years ago, this Charger team, one of the most talented teams on both sides of the ball, all these playmakers on defense, and a head coach in Brandon Staley that's a defensive mastermind and understands the analytics and the aggressiveness that it takes to win in the modern NFL. And then Herbert and Staley are part of a Four touchdown collapse in a playoff game. And it's like, team's not that good and the coach is a rube. Got it. Bring in Jim Harbaugh. Oh my God. Jim Harbaugh is going to unlock the best of Justin Herbert we've ever seen. They're going to take more off his plate. They're going to be able to have a legitimate... running game. He wins everywhere he goes. The Chiefs are looking shaky in the AFC West. This is their time to take over the division. And then Herbert throws more picks in the playoff game than he threw in the whole regular season. And it's like, You know, I don't like Greg Roman. I don't like the attack. Last year, last year, their star left tackle went out before the season started. And all these folks were like, nah, they'll be okay. Year two with Jim Harbaugh, won 11 games last year. Herbert played efficiently. It's going to be great. And then he plays somehow an even worse playoff game. And we're blaming Greg Roman and being like, well, what could you expect without his tackles?
01:00:12
Speaker 2: Fine.
01:00:13
Speaker 1: This offseason, Mike McDaniel is Bill Walsh with a nicer watch and cooler glasses. Oh my God, like the Chiefs are in trouble. The Broncos are, you know, kind of fraudulent 14-win team. The best roster Justin Herbert's ever had around him. The tackles are back. They've addressed everything out. Look out! And then the first two weeks of the year, he is, by any metric, one of the worst quarterbacks in the league. has the exact same stat line as Aaron Rodgers, who is decomposing in real time on the field. And all of a sudden, it's like, you know, maybe Mike McDaniel without Tyree Kill isn't that good. Jim Harbaugh, you know, when you really look at it, what's he won? Yeah, at Michigan, but they had to cheat for that. Yeah.
01:01:15
Speaker 2: So would you say this is just like Justin Herbert fans or is this Charger fans?
01:01:20
Speaker 1: There are no Charger fans.
01:01:21
Speaker 2: It's Justin Herbert fans.
01:01:27
Speaker 1: No, and so listen. I, on the other hand, tell these people every year, here's what we know. Like this year, what was my analysis on the Chargers? The roster's not that good. Yes, they got their tackles back. Their guard center guard is one of the worst in the league. They don't have a single receiver that threatens you. Lad's a nice piece. He can't be your number one option. They've got one super impactful defensive player in Derwin James. And he's getting older and injured a lot. I don't know. And I said before the year. Listen, I... I think Mike McDaniel will be good, but I do wonder, all this stuff that worked with fastest player in history of the league, Tyreek Hill, one of the fastest players currently in the league, Jalen Waddell, fastest running back in the league, Devin Achan, is that going to work with Trey Harris and Quentin Johnston and Amarian Hampton? I don't know. Folks are like, oh, you're so scared. These clowns. We're ranking Mike McDaniel as a play caller ahead of Andy Reid all offseason and telling me how great this roster was all offseason. And then through two weeks, the roster ends up being not that good and the quarterback is playing the worst he's played in his career. And people are like, not his fault. Not his fault. I mean, I guess... It's just a... It is... It's just embarrassing for people at this point.
01:03:25
Speaker 2: We'll just get too happy in football offseason. Football's gone for so long. Just get all these ideas.
01:03:30
Speaker 1: Yeah, but why do people just step on the same rake every year? I don't... And there... And here's the thing. Like, there is a real... You know... a poisonous, not poisonous in a bad way, but there's a real polluting effect of the Chargers being overrated. Like you saw it this week in the Cardinal Seahawks line, which we took advantage of. People watched the Cardinals beat the Chargers. They're like, holy shit, this team that we all said might be the worst team in the league. Maybe they're actually good because they couldn't even conceptualize or maybe the Chargers are just not good. Maybe that's the answer. So they're like, Cardinals, Seahawks, boy, that's a three and a half point line. Okay. Sure it is. No problem, buddy. And now even when people are like, oh man, the Chargers. I mean, we did it right here. Look at how tough their next seven games are. They're 0-2 and all they've played is home games against the Cardinals and Raiders. It doesn't matter how tough the schedule is. The Chargers are the easy game. It's not like Seahawks-Chargers. That's not some great game. That is an awesome team playing currently one of the league's worst. Whatever. Listen, maybe one day Justin Herbert will go to a different franchise and it'll all click for him. but we have a name for that. It's called the Sam Darnold, not the Peyton Manning. And if we want to talk about Justin Herbert as this super toolsy, high draft pick, talented prospect, they never put it all together, fine. But instead, every single year, we got to have these quarterback rankings and all of it. And people are like, Yeah, I mean, don't get me wrong. These players that consistently win, and by the way, consistently put up better numbers than Justin Herbert, they're nice players. But they're no Justin Herbert. Because I saw him, you know, nobody throws a 60-yard rope. Whole shot. Or splits the safeties, bang, for a touchdown with seven minutes left in the second quarter down 17-7 like Justin Herbert. I get it.
01:06:11
Speaker 2: It's like, where is he going?
01:06:13
Speaker 1: I get it. But give me a break, man. And so, yeah, Chargers are done. Bigger picture, just real quick. I know this sounds crazy to Monzae. We are... If we want to be as liberal as possible, I think we're down to eight potential AFC. No, you know what? Nine potential AFC playoff teams. They are in no particular order. Let's go by divisions. Bills, Pats, Bengals, Ravens, Jags, Texans, Chiefs, Broncos, Raiders. And the Raiders are, again, they're 2-0. They're 2-0, so I'll give them credit. But with that said, their 2-0 came against the Dolphins and the Chargers, which are also known as two of the worst teams in the league. And so it just seems like we've really cut the field in half almost already. All right, let's get to some of these quarterback injuries.
01:07:20
Speaker 2: Yeah, so Jaden Daniels went down with that elbow again. Same elbow that had him missing seven games last year. Missed ten totals with other injuries. You've been skeptical of his durability. Can Washington trust him through here on out? That sounds bad.
01:07:35
Speaker 1: Okay, so a couple of things on Jaden. The team should tell him he has to have surgery. I know that will knock him out for the year. You have to try to get this fixed. He did it last year, didn't have the surgery, came back, immediately re-injured it, didn't have the surgery in the offseason. I don't know why. And this year lasted less than six quarters, didn't have the injury or didn't have the surgery. So I think you've got it. And what you need to do is tell him, because I would imagine one of the reasons he doesn't want to have the surgery is if he has the surgery, he's out the rest of this year. And if that's the case, they're not paying him this offseason. I would tell him, buddy, we're not paying you this offseason. Listen, it sucks. He's a dynamic player. I think he's a nice kid. I didn't care so much about the trademark thing as other people. I'm not sure if he necessarily always gets the best advice from everyone around him. But it's professional tackle football. And he has my frame. Like I, I was, you, Demondsey, he, his elbow popped out.
01:08:57
Speaker 2: He just, he just caught himself.
01:08:59
Speaker 1: Yeah. He just fell. He just fell down. Yeah. It's how the first time he was catching himself and his elbow popped out. Take it from a guy who, you know, depending on which story you like to believe either once tripped down the stairs or once got tossed on his ass by a bouncer. My arm just snapped in half. Just stone snapped in half. I didn't even know what happened. Didn't even hurt that much. I just look and my arm's hanging. It's got a 90 degree angle. I've broken both of my collarbones multiple times. I'm here to tell you, I'm no doctor. But the skinnier you are, the more shit can hurt you. And Devontae Smith is the exception that proves the rule. Devontae Smith has been this tiny, small, slight guy forever, takes huge hits, pops up, wins Heisman's, dominates. All the other super skinny guys, we're worried about. It's pro football. And nobody can convince me that his frame's got nothing to do with it. Be like, oh, it's a freak injury. You're telling me you think If Lamar planted with his left hand when he's falling down, his arms go in the other way. Give me a break. So he's got to... Listen, he has to get it fixed. And, and, DeMondse, he has to put on weight. I don't care if it makes him slower. Being a fast guy in a hat on the sideline is not as useful as a slightly slower guy in a helmet on the field. And so, I.
01:10:40
Speaker 2: Before he even hit the NFL, they were showing his combine video. I don't know if he had dislocated up to that point, but he has a stranger elbow. His bone kind of already pops off. Okay, you didn't see that.
01:10:54
Speaker 1: No, I have seen it. No, no, no. I have seen it, but I don't know what the history of that is. I don't know. But I do remember that picture. Listen, we were talking about take strategy earlier. There is nothing that pays fewer dividends Than the take strategy. Than the honest take of. Like the player. Like the talent. Like the prospect. Wouldn't draft him. Because I think he's going to get hurt. And the reason. That take is so bad strategically. Is because. A. Everyone hates it. B. People get mad at you. And C. If you're proven right. You can't be like. Bang. Told you so. I was right. And so. From a take perspective. A professional takesman perspective. It's always been, you know, it's bad business to have the opinion I have on Jaden.
01:11:47
Speaker 2: Yeah.
01:11:48
Speaker 1: But it's always been the opinion. Yeah, but that's his other elbow, Demase. It is. That's his right arm. I mean, that looks insane. In that famous picture where it looks weird.
01:11:56
Speaker 2: It's like an iron man or something.
01:11:59
Speaker 1: Listen, I hope he gets the surgery. I hope he gets right. I hope he proves me wrong. But if you're a Washington fan and you saw... a transcendent number two overall pick, dual threat quarterback come into your life 20 years ago and leave your life essentially on a stretcher. Only to, you know, now go to the media and just have a must-follow Twitter account asking the tough questions, not farming for engagement. I don't know how you... don't have a little quarterback injury PTSD here. Cowboys, on the other hand, Jerry Jones saying, quote, there's nothing more dangerous than an old man with money. Jerry, yeah, hell of a quote there. Offense looks great. Defense doesn't look good. We'll see if they can trade for Max Crosby. The show's going on way too long, and we haven't talked about Caleb Williams going from, I think I might lose the leg, to I might start next week. So let's go ahead and get to it.
01:13:10
Speaker 2: So yeah, Caleb went down. It was the fourth quarter there with a pulled hamstring. Looked like he tore his ACL or might have pulled something. Ben Johnson said his MRI was somewhat encouraging. The quarterback is weak to weak, but he's not ruling out Monday Night Football versus Philly.
01:13:26
Speaker 1: All right, I have text messages to back this up. I want to take you guys through my reaction to this because I was texting Danny watching this game. Danny is beside himself as it's happening. And I text him. I said, that's a hamstring, not an Achilles. You're fine. He doesn't believe me. And again, I'm guessing, obviously. I'm just watching. But I was like, bro, it's a hamstring. And again, I'll publish these texts if people think I'm lying to you. I text. I included in it, again, this is before the cart. I was like, I think it's on the board. It was just an awful cramp. And we have seen cramps. Listen, cramps once knocked LeBron James out of a finals game. He's never missed a playoff game in his life. People will be like, it could never be a cramp. Sometimes cramps truly, you see these marathon runners, their body seizes up. Cramps can be incredibly painful. So I was somewhat optimistic, even when Caleb was writhing around on the ground. I'm like, it's definitely not his knee. It didn't look at all like an Achilles. And Achilles, Demonza, you tell me if I'm wrong. The thing about an Achilles is they're not that painful. You tore yours. Is that correct?
01:14:53
Speaker 2: No, it's not that painful.
01:14:56
Speaker 1: Right.
01:14:58
Speaker 2: But it does. I do feel like you go down. It's like, who shot me? right you know it happened.
01:15:04
Speaker 1: Yeah right but it's not like excruciating pain no it's one of the reasons like so when jason tatum and again we'll get back to caleb jason tatum tore his achilles and appeared to be in excruciating pain i to this day and i've never asked jason about this i to this day believe his reaction was not about pain it was about I can't believe I just tore my Achilles. I think he knew he tore his Achilles and was devastated at what that meant.
01:15:40
Speaker 2: Time and place too.
01:15:42
Speaker 1: They're in the playoffs trying to defend a title. All of the things that what it meant for him. I think it was emotionally overwhelming more than the physical pain, like everybody, you know, so it's like one of the reasons Kobe was able to shoot the free throw is again, it's not Achilles is not devastating pain. It's just devastated. So Caleb appeared to be in huge pain on the field. So I was like, all right, listen, I think it's a hamstring. And if it's a rip, if it's a torn hamstring, torn off the bone hamstring, like when I'm Dak Prescott a couple of years ago, that's surgery done for the year. If it's a pulled hamstring, it's four to six weeks. If it's a tweaked hamstring, it's week to week. So that's what is going through my head. And then like everyone else, I saw him on the cart with the towel over his head and then remove the towel and seem to have you know been emotional and then gave the thumbs up to the crowd which is you know typically like tyreek hill last year well yeah or it's like it's you know it's like all walk again type of thing like it's like when you like you know the thumbs up very often is like for like people their families at home seeing them loaded onto the ambulance or whatever like Because it's a dangerous, violent, scary sport. So when I saw all that, I'm like, oh man. I guess it is, if it is a hamstring and I'm right, it's the worst version of it. And he is, you know, he's thinking my season's over. Which is why The reporting that he might play Monday... Makes this a.
01:17:57
Speaker 1: Unique moment. Dude. It doesn't. It... I think there is an... Like, it's a unique moment. Now, there is... There are ways to... Parse this. Okay? One option, and I would have never thought of this option, is to do what Kyle Brandt did and make up a total straw man about media talking about the Madden curse and saying you hope the AI robots kill them while Scott Van Pelt looks there like, what is happening on SportsCenter right now? That's an option. It's not the option I would have taken. Another way to parse this. I really hope the audience laughed at that because that's gonna that's gonna cost such a social tax for me that 20 seconds there guys um another option is to question caleb's toughness or masculinity i think that's bullshit the guy got sacked a thousand times as a rookie popped up, didn't miss time. He's clearly tough. Okay? That's not... And listen, you can... I guess everyone has different versions of masculinity. I think some people are like, well, on one hand, Caleb Williams is the starting quarterback for an NFL team, and best I can tell, dates supermodels. But on the other hand, he gets emotional and paints his fingernails.
01:19:32
Speaker 3: So.
01:19:33
Speaker 1: He's not an alpha like me. Like, okay. I think, I think those people are clowns. Like, I don't know, man. I feel like there are certain things that if like you have on your resume, your masculinity, just, you just, it's just the boxes checked. It's like, Hey, what'd you do before you worked here? It's like, Oh, I was a Navy SEAL.
01:19:54
Speaker 2: So I go, okay.
01:19:55
Speaker 1: It's like, you know what I mean? What, what, what line of work have you, what line of work were you in? Oh, I, um, You know, I was a backyard boxer. $ 50 a round. Fight till you drop. I go, okay. You're pretty masculine. Professional starting quarterback in the NFL. Pretty high on that list. So I don't even question the guy's masculinity. I think it's outrageous. I think it's stupid. I also think this is a fair reading of it. Caleb is one of the more emotional quarterbacks in the league. We saw him in college take a loss so poorly he climbed into the stands and appeared to cry with his mother. I don't think being emotional is a negative necessarily, but I do think these events are correlated. I think Caleb suffered what we now know is a relatively minor injury, and the emotion was overwhelming for him. That's fine. It also demands, in my opinion, speaks to and is instructive on why he can be such a streaky player. I think when he's feeling great and the emotions are upward trending... It's a ball rolling downhill positively. And I think when he's not feeling great and the emotions are going in the wrong direction, you get that clip from training camp last year where he's stone misses the little target thing entirely. Like doesn't miss the net, misses the whole frame of it and then freaks out. Yeah, exactly. I think that's who he is. I do think there is value in being able to moderate those emotions.
01:22:01
Speaker 3: Yep.
01:22:03
Speaker 1: Which is to say, and I hope we put this out in full. You can include the Kyle Brandt stuff. Don't publicize it. Which is to say, you just heard, and I probably should have done it earlier in the pod, the only correct Caleb Williams take. Everyone else is wrong. People that are trying to make it some indictment on folks making jokes on the internet are pearl clutching and being disingenuous, just trying to garner internet applause. And by the way, might be reading from a script. Maybe. Folks that are like basically questioning his masculinity, some even his sexuality and all of this and making this into a referendum indictment on him as a tough guy or a player are being disingenuous or they're just idiots. Folks, however, on the all the way flip side, that's like, Nothing about that was weird to me at all. You're lying. Like, come on now. We can't be, like, totally normal. Guy carted off in tears, gives the thumbs up to the crowd of, like, I'll walk again. And it's like, might play Monday. It's weird. Like, all of these things can be true at once, and we can live in the nuance. Okay? It's the only correct Caleb Williams take. I know I'm right. I should have started the pod with it. Thank you for you guys for sticking with us for an hour and a half. I promise we get to every, I don't want to say anything else about the game, except for Brian, Brian Flores is Ben Johnson, but on defense. I don't know if people get that yet. A super brilliant mind on one side of the ball with a, rubs people the wrong way at times, overly prickly, arrogant personality. The difference is there's some racial dynamics at play. Also Brian Flores sued the league. So he's probably capped it. Defensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, you know, everybody's new golden boy. That's fine. They, and again, one of the reasons I'm not one of the people that like goes to the mattresses, like Brian Flores has to have a head coaching job is it, would appear people around the league, even people that want to advocate for Flores and do feel like the suing the league part has worked against him. Also know he doesn't have exactly the greatest, like it's not the easiest guy to work with. And so I, you know, him being the head coach of a team, even had he not sued the league could be tough, but he absolutely annihilated Ben Johnson and the bears and Caleb. Um, All right, Demondsey, let's quickly get to these other games because this has gone way too long. We both have to get to work.
01:25:09
Speaker 2: So it would appear that the Texans are now struggling on offense and defense. And after the two-plus-hour weather delay, Baker could not get the two-minute drill done. Sixteen percent of 0-2 teams have gone on to make the postseason three in each of the last two seasons. You were high on Houston and Tampa Bay coming into the season. Will either of these teams make the playoffs?
01:25:29
Speaker 1: Listen, I'm not giving up on either one of them. But in Tampa, and listen, Baker, he had it to Ted Hurst for the win to escape. But Tampa's now lost, what, like nine of ten games dating back to last year. They haven't been able to pull themselves out of this spiral. Baker's my guy, but I don't know if a contract has ever aged more poorly, more quickly than the one Baker got 12 days ago. Is there an asterisk?
01:26:04
Speaker 2: On the rain delay, like, I get that he can come in, but that's an unfortunate situation.
01:26:09
Speaker 1: I mean, no, it is brutal.
01:26:10
Speaker 2: It was like, what was it, like an hour?
01:26:12
Speaker 1: Two hours. Yeah. At the two-minute warning. It is, don't get me wrong, it is brutal, but that's why you shouldn't be trailing the Cleveland Browns and Deshaun Watson at the two-minute warning. Give me a break. So, like, listen, Todd Bowles and Dan Quinn are texting each other, like, So you got October plans? Because I don't know if I do. And so, I mean, those seats are as hot as they get. Tampa, because of the division, depending on how much you believe in the Saints and the Panthers, maybe there's a path. I thought Houston's defense bounced back in a big way this weekend. Thought they played really well defensively. They would have held Cincinnati at 13 points if not for Jamar Chase making quite simply one of the greatest plays I've ever seen in sports. Jamar Chase being... Yeah, exactly. And listen, Jamar Chase being matched up with Derek Stingley, stumbling, keeping his balance, finding the ball, and keeping his feet in bounds is more impressive than 98% of the one-handed catches we see. So I'm not ready to, you know, Houston last year started 0-3 and then got red hot. And CJ's played okay, even though they only scored six points, like CJ played okay. So I'm not giving up on either of these teams, but I think Tampa's in way more trouble than Houston. Flip side, Cincinnati, Burrow got hit a bunch in this game, including telling Will Anderson, you guys popped my rib back into place. But that defense through two weeks looks like money well spent, and a team that I was very skeptical of, they've looked great. Like, just credit where it's due. All right, let's do the quick hitters, Demonse.
01:27:57
Speaker 2: Denver defeats Jacksonville 20-13. God dang it.
01:28:02
Speaker 1: Denied me a perfect weekend. The Jags blew this game in criminal fashion, and Denver maybe feels like they have the magic back from last year.
01:28:16
Speaker 3: Like, what?
01:28:17
Speaker 1: Get thoroughly outplayed for three quarters, look bad on offense, and then turn it around? You're playing our music. Davis Webb, you know, saves his job for the time being. Bo Nix gets some mojo back. That's a huge win for Denver and a terrible loss for Jacksonville. The other, and listen, Trevor hadn't had a bad game in months, like, you know, 12 games or whatever dating back to last year. Trevor wasn't great the pick he threw was brutal the Travis Hunter's situation is nearing crisis level they traded up to get a player that they said was the equivalent of having two players and And he now has not been the equivalent of one full player. He's their number three corner. And he plays a half dozen snaps a game on offense. This has been a catastrophe. He's not their number one corner. He comes off the field on defense all the time. So they got to figure that out. They got to figure that out. All right, next.
01:29:22
Speaker 2: Philly defeats Tennessee 24-20.
01:29:26
Speaker 1: Man, it's so funny. Jeffrey Simmons says we're going to make Jalen Hurts play quarterback. And credit to Jeffrey Simmons for after the game finding Jalen, you know what I mean, and shaking his hand. And credit to Jalen for, you know, talking a little shit back to him, saying you started it, I had to finish it. Here's what's crazy. For 58 minutes, Jeffrey Simmons was exactly right. It felt like Philly played into that, was like, all right, we'll show you. And Jalen was awful. Threw a goal line pick, threw a bad underthrow in the fourth quarter, and Tennessee was going to win. And then Jalen Hurts, as he often has in his career, got the last laugh. He was playing really, really bad until the final drive of the game when he played perfect. It was six of eight. The two misses, one was a throwaway, one was a drop, throws the game-winning touchdown, like gets it done. So credit to Philly and credit to Jalen Hurts. It looked weird, and for Tennessee, like, geez, Louise, so close to getting a win. It's 200 degrees out here.
01:30:34
Speaker 2: Where are we at if Tennessee gets that win?
01:30:38
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. How many times has Philly been like, oh, my God. It would have been a full-blown crisis if they lose. They should have lost, but they didn't lose. They know how to win. They've been doing it too long. All right, next.
01:30:51
Speaker 2: Green Bay defeats the Jets 20-17 in overtime.
01:30:56
Speaker 1: Listen, Green Bay is not fixed, but they got their first win without Micah Parsons. It was an ugly one. And I.
01:31:07
Speaker 1: I don't want to pile on too much. But....
01:31:15
Speaker 2: You're in trouble.
01:31:16
Speaker 1: Aaron Glenn and his clock management. When I was growing up, Demondze, in the 90s and the early 2000s, we had a bunch of coaches who were like this on clock management. Just stone... Do you not know the rules sometimes, like when you're watching them? The league doesn't have many of them anymore. They do in Aaron Glenn. If you're a Jets fan, you had that game. You blew the game. Your coach didn't understand afterwards about it. Jets fans were so close being 2-0. Like, oh, we're legit. That is a triple stomach punch game.
01:32:02
Speaker 2: Next. Next, we've got Seattle defeats Arizona 31-7.
01:32:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, Darnold's going to practice this week, and I think Darnold, you know, he's rooting for Seattle. He's not a huge fan of all this great tape. Yeah, exactly. But Drew Locke might be getting himself a contract somewhere. Seattle's defense is unbelievable. JSN is spectacular. The Cardinals, just because they beat the Chargers, the Cardinals are not good. All right, next.
01:32:31
Speaker 2: New England defeats Pittsburgh 20-3. The game was terrible.
01:32:35
Speaker 1: Scorpion and the Frogs. Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy. Rodgers' quote after the game of, listen, it's on me. I need to do a better job of telling the coaches when they're really fucking this up. It was so good. That's not an exact quote, but it's close. You didn't see it, DeMonte?
01:32:52
Speaker 2: No.
01:32:53
Speaker 1: At the podium, he's like, listen, it starts with me. Like, I need to do a better job of letting the coaches know when what they're calling isn't working.
01:33:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's Aaron Rodgers, man. And here's, listen, man.
01:33:08
Speaker 1: Aaron's one of the greatest players of all time. He looks like a 42-year-old quarterback. And it would be stunning to me if he plays more than 12 games this year. He's not finished. It would be stunning if he finished this season. Meanwhile, New England's defense for the second straight week looked good. And New England's offense for the sixth straight week looked shaky. Drake May, concern time. Not panic time. Concern time. For Drake May. Did you have something you wanted to say there?
01:33:39
Speaker 2: Did you see Rodgers retiring?
01:33:41
Speaker 1: Like, week seven?
01:33:43
Speaker 2: Like, I could... I feel like he could just leave. Yeah.
01:33:47
Speaker 1: Absolutely. You think Aaron's a go-down-with-the-ship type of guy?
01:33:52
Speaker 2: Yeah.
01:33:54
Speaker 1: Give me a break. Plus, it'd give him way more time to spend with his wife. Alright, last one.
01:34:00
Speaker 2: San Francisco defeats Miami 35-13.
01:34:02
Speaker 1: Brock Purdy played great, and.
01:34:08
Speaker 1: I just have to take other people's word for it because I didn't watch this game. I just being honest with you guys. I, the Niners look awesome. They just keep, again, Mike Evans goes down in this game. Uh, was it DeMarcus Robinson? Another receiver went down in this game. Uh, Purdy, Purdy has played phenomenal football the first two weeks of the year. Miami's in real, real trouble. And the Niners are, for the time being, very... They have a claim. I wouldn't put them there. They have a claim as the best team in the NFL. We'll see. But they certainly have a claim for it right now. All right, this was a great show. Thank you to Boost Mobile. Thank you to Polymarket. Thank you to Blue Duck. Thank you to Volume. One of you guys can be our 250,000th subscriber if you check it out on YouTube, Spotify, and iTunes. See you guys on Thursday. I'm going on... Oh, I'm going on with Colin in less than an hour. And my goal is to... Make him apologize to me for all his Chargers and Chiefs takes. We'll see how it works. See you guys then. What's right.