What's Wright - Best Of - Chiefs BLOWN OUT vs. Seahawks, Nick CALLS OUT Lamar Jackson's bizarre injury situation, Bears TRADE for Jeffery Simmons

0:00 Welcome to the best of the week for What's Right with Nick Wright. The best takes and moments from this week on the show. Enjoy. Week seven in the NFL. Let's go to Sunday night football and an absolute beatdown.

0:14 So you kind of had this loss circled on the calendar, but probably didn't think it would have been this bad. They held Mahomes down and they definitely held Kenneth Walker down. And they honestly might have held the Chiefs to the lowest amount of points that Patrick Mahomes ever had in his career. How are you feeling after this one?

0:30 Listen, this is a game Kansas City, I said all week, it's a game Kansas City was supposed to lose. Now, I did have the Chiefs plus two and a half as part of Nick's picks, but we explained that that's just Mahomes as an underdog was 13-1-1 against the spread. It was an auto fire. But there were a lot of reasons to believe the Chiefs would lose that game and a lot of ways they could have lost the game that would not have been concerning. getting annihilated like that, losing 20-3, and it wasn't actually that close because the Darnold pick in the end zone right before halftime allowed the Chiefs to stay in it longer than they actually probably deserved to, that's always concerning. There have been five

1:23 games in Patrick Mahomes' career where they got blown out. Five, where they have lost by more than two scores. Two Super Bowls and then two games in the middle of the 2021 season. So in the last five years, playoffs and regular season combined, the Chiefs have been blown out once. The Super Bowl against Philadelphia. That's it. They got blown out in the Super Bowl in February of 2021. They got blown out in week five against the Titans in 2021.

2:08 They got blown out in week seven against the Bills in 2021. They got blown out in the Super Bowl in February of, gosh, so this is in 25. And they got blown out against Seattle in Sunday night. So let's talk about how and why, what's fixable, what's not. Because that was an old school ass whooping. And Seattle looked like a different caliber of team. Now before I even get into that, I do want to address what I said off the top. I think some of the reaction to this loss has been histrionic and ridiculous. I do not... Going into the game, I don't think a team should ever, unless they suffer catastrophic injury within the game, be in a position where if they win this game, they are clearly the best team in the NFL. And

3:18 if they lose the game, they are clearly... or have major issues across the board. I think that is a little too reactionary, and some of the Chiefs fans freaking out and panicking about this loss I think is a touch too much. With that said, some red flags that we were seeing throughout the year that were exacerbated in this game that I think are worth discussing. The first one is obviously the wide receiver room. There were questions at wide receiver going into the season. You then lose Tyquan Thornton for the year with an ankle injury. Rasheed Rice is out temporarily. And Xavier Worthy, after a couple positive steps in the right direction, took a bunch of steps back in this game. So it was a concern

4:19 going into the year. One of your key components is out for the year. Another one of your key components in Worthy has been one of the least productive, high-volume receivers in the league. And you saw the very rare moment of Mahomes getting very upset on the field with him, which you just never see. And that is... And then you have Rice, who is coming back. And I think will be back this week. So what does that mean for Kansas City? Probably got to trade for a receiver.

5:03 The receivers that people are bringing up, I'm not... Some are realistic, some are not. The one that I keep seeing people connect to the Chiefs to Monzae is Brian Thomas Jr. I also love the idea of that. It would be... stunning to me if the Jags help the Chiefs. The Jags are trying to win the AFC. The Jags are, some would consider, right now, I think most people's power rankings in the AFC probably have the Bills 1, Chiefs 2, Jags 3, or Bills 1, Jags 2, Chiefs 3. It would be very odd if the Jags helped the Chiefs address their biggest issue. So while I like the idea of Brian Thomas Jr., I don't think he's realistic.

5:59 So non-continuing AFC or NFC?

6:03 Well, I think that is correct. So people have brought up, and I've brought up, George Pickens because the Cowboys are likely not re-signing him after this season. Because the Cowboys won last night and because they're the favorites in that division, because nobody actually believes in the Giants, it would appear, I don't think George Pickens is actually going to be available.

6:31 So then you go, so I think those guys you can almost cross off. I brought up yesterday, and to me it's worth a phone call to inquire about, Garrett Wilson, who seems frustrated with the Jets. The Jets are obviously in a rebuild. They're a rookie receiver. who had a big play in his first game, then missed a bunch of games, and then came back last week and was good for them, and then was outstanding in the loss to the Dolphins, Omar Cooper Jr., they have him. Would they be willing to move off Garrett Wilson? If so...

7:22 That is the caliber of player I would trade a first round pick for. And probably a little bit more. Now the Jets just signed him to an extension. So is he actually available? And then after that, after those three names, Brian Thomas, George Pickens, who I don't think are available, and Garrett Wilson, who I think it's unlikely he's available, you then are talking about a totally different tier of player. You're talking about Jerry Judy. You're talking about Devon Vele. You're talking about Dontavion Wicks. Those types of guys. You're talking about Stefan Diggs. That level of player.

8:14 And while they would help, I don't know that those are life changers or world changers for the Chiefs. Change the vibes. Yeah, maybe. And maybe Mahomes just needs someone that can get open against man coverage. And again... This looked worse than it actually was because Rice wasn't there and because of the team you were playing. But they obviously need one additional receiver. We thought going into the year it was going to be Tyree Kill. Tyree Kill because of his never-ending off-field alleged criminal acts, and I only call them alleged because I think I almost have to, but It's pretty clear Tyreek Hill off the field is a menace, to say the least. I think people are worried that if a team signs him, he snap gets suspended.

9:17 So he might be off the board. So they need to address it. They have time, but they need to address it. That is something that can't be addressed in-house. The other stuff... Well, one other thing that we need to... Maybe it's addressed in-house and maybe it's a problem this year like it was last year. Are they going to be able to get a pass rush? They had four sacks in week one against Denver. They had four sacks mostly in garbage time against the Chargers. They have zero sacks in their other four games. And Sam Darnold had all the time in the world on third and and long third and seven third and nine third and ten on sunday night to carve up what is an excellent chief secondary because no one could get home now the

10:13 hope there is that your two young top 40 defensive linemen, R. Mason Thomas and Peter Woods, as rookies that they continue to ascend throughout the year. Your hope also is your aging future Hall of Famer Chris Jones starts to have more of an impact later in the year. But I don't think there is help on the way for the D-line.

10:43 I think that they are going to have to manufacture pressure via Spag's blitzes, and they're going to have to hope the young players improve, and their $ 40 million a year D-tackle Chris Jones plays better. So that's going to have to be done in-house. And then the offensive line is what it is. You happen to be in this game without Jalen Moore because he had a concussion, and You've been without your starting left tackle all year. And you're playing this Seahawks front. So it's going to look ugly.

11:20 But Jalen Moore will be back. And then we'll see on Josh Simmons. So do you want to get into that, Demonte? And then we'll talk more about the game.

11:31 Word out there is he's been coming into team meetings. Sorry, not coming into team meetings, but causing problems at team meetings. What's going on there?

11:39 So this is... So listen, here is the Josh Simmons timeline, best as I understand it. He had an issue with his back pop up in August. It seemed like the team thought it was a very short-term issue. That's why they didn't put him on IR. It was, for Josh, a longer-term issue. I think it is absolutely fair to say that caused some major frustration within the team. Because if they thought he was going to be out a month, they would have put him on IR. They did not.

12:24 And then he was out a month. Andy, as he always does, publicly supported him. Said he's dealing with a bulging disc in his back. He's working to get back. Going into the Chiefs' first game after the bye, the Chargers game, for the first time all year, Josh Simmons practiced. It was in a limited capacity. He was ramping up, was the idea. And he wasn't going to play that Chargers game, but they were hoping, I think, that he was going to be ready to play in the Seattle game. Then, On Wednesday of the Seattle... Last Wednesday, in the team meeting before practice, he had his feet up on the desk.

13:13 And the fact that this got leaked means I think this is a shot across the bow from the Chiefs to Josh and his camp. He had his feet up on the desk before the meeting. Andy told him not to. His response was... I need to because my back hurts. Patrick then evidently got quite upset, which is noteworthy. And Patrick and Andy kicked him out of the team meeting.

13:47 He then went home. And then after that, the Chiefs put him on IR. Which means we'll see you in a month. Get that back better. This has been. A confusing and ugly situation for a player that I called going into the year to Monza, the second most important player on the team. Behind Patrick.

14:14 Problem after problem after problem.

14:17 Yeah, so he fell in the draft because of concerns about health. He then... was healthy last year, but then left the team for three weeks somewhat mysteriously. They protected him on it. He then came back, played great when he was out there, then got very unlucky, got his wrist broken by a teammate trying to chip block, help him, hit him in the wrist. I think it was Kareem Hunt.

14:40 That's just unlucky. That's not on him. And then this mysterious back issue... that has not healed the way they had hoped, and he clearly has not conducted himself the way they would have hoped. I am, and Khalil Benson, an undrafted free agent, has stepped in for him and been better than you would expect an undrafted free agent left tackle to be, but by every metric has been one of the worst pass-blocking left tackles in the league.

15:11 It has been a huge deficit for the team that they have been overcoming since And now he's out a month, and we'll see. My guess would be if he does not, when he's off IR after week 11, come back and play, that his time with Kansas City could just be a waste. I'm not writing him off yet, and his talent is so undeniable at such an important position. But that is ugly. Now, I'm also not, in that regard, going to make excuses.

15:54 When Jalen Moore comes back, the Chiefs will be in a situation where they have a good left guard, a great center, a very good right guard, a fine right tackle, and a left tackle that they've got to work around. That happens. That's the NFL. That's not a reason to... for a season to not go the way you wanted it to go. But it is a huge loss because they were relying on it. So they're not going to address the offensive line via the trade market like, Jalen Moore will be back from concussion and then we'll see.

16:26 So there is the situation of the team. I still feel like they're the best team top to bottom in the AFC. I think that even though the Bills right now have a better offense, the Bills' defense is so much worse than Kansas City's, and I don't trust Jacksonville or Denver more than I trust the Chiefs. The Bengals are an interesting one that we got to keep our eye on. So I think the panic is overrated, and I think the revisionist history on how Patrick had been playing prior to this game has been ludicrous and embarrassing. Patrick, prior to the Seahawks game, was having, by any metric, an outstanding season. Fresh off an ACL tear with a, let's call it, beleaguered receiver room. He was averaging 270

17:24 yards per game, had 10 touchdowns, 3 turnovers, a 103 rating, more than 8 yards per attempt. completing 67% of his passes. He then had one of, if not the worst game of his career against Seattle, and everybody is trying to recreate the season he'd been having up to this point. That's ridiculous. And then, so I am not panicked about Kansas City. I'm not even that worried about Kansas City.

17:58 But I do think if they're going to win the Super Bowl, They need to add another weapon. We'll see if they do. Um, Oh, that one I'm worried about. So that one I'm worried about, but, and I took a little bit of a shot at him yesterday. They got aggregated. I didn't expect it to, but it was a throwaway line. I said, his kicking production has declined since his activism's increased. Um, it's, It's factually true. And folks wondering, Nick, would you have made that comment if you agreed with his activism? I don't know. Was it a bit of a cheap shot? Maybe. Do I find his activism and some of his non-football opinions to be repugnant? Sure, I do. We did a whole thing live from Trenton.

18:57 when he gave that first speech, I don't even know if you were like, the, um, right. When he did that whole thing, I've been on the record about my feelings. Like that's the, that shouldn't be news to anybody. Um, you swallowed and dealt with it when he was the, one of the best kickers in the league. It's a little more annoying when the guy's just missing all these kicks.

19:19 Like it just flatly is, um, he won't call me a hypocrite for it. I don't really give a shit. Like it's how I feel. Um, But you can't cut him. You just can't. You can't cut him. There's not high-quality kickers unemployed. There's only like 20 good kickers. You just hope he can get back to being one of them.

19:48 Go ahead. Do you think it would be worth it for.

19:50 me after work to go to a field with a buddy and just have like a little place kick and just practice kicks for 30 minutes a day and just try to hit field goals?

20:01 You can do that until you're like 50, I feel like. Yeah, but I think you've missed the window. No, I just think you need to have been doing it since you were like seven. Listen, that would be an interesting test. I want to at least get some kicks up. Because you didn't even play soccer is the thing. I played peewee.

20:28 Football for like two years.

20:30 As easy as you make it sound, there would be a lot of people doing that. You are a... Truly, I'm not just saying this for the audience. I mean, DiManzi is a truly brilliant natural athlete. That's right. Yeah, but there are a lot of excellent natural athletes that are working. I'm not saying this applies to you. Working jobs they hate. And if it was as simple as half hour a day in the field and I can go play in the NFL, I think they would have done it. And so, no, I don't. And especially because you don't have a background in soccer or in anything like that. So, no, I don't think you could do it.

21:18 I am interested in what the test would look like. I think it would be a fun YouTube series, the progression of having never kicked a field goal to... can you consistently make 40 yarders or something? But point is this, I wouldn't cut Harrison Butker. I just don't think you want to get on the hamster wheel of bringing in this kicker that just got cut. And so now his first kick with you, he knows if I miss my career might be over. Like what I do know about Butker is he, he's not going to be nervous. like in a big spot in the playoffs, if he misses, it's just going to be because he stinks, not because the moment got to him. And so, but it is a concern like they're, they are no longer automatic, you know,

22:04 automatic for us as, Once you get inside 50. And so that is what is odd is in the preseason. I think he had a 69 yarder. And then in this game, he was short from 59, 58. So that, that I didn't love, but it just is what it is. Um, the, is it a dome or is it like retractable roof? I don't remember. What was that? Daniel, say it again. Um, Okay, that's what I thought. It's like some open air. Listen, that is a real concern, but I wouldn't cut it.

22:49 I just think you just roll with them at this point. There's not great kickers available. If they wanted to, this would be very aggressive and an interesting use of resources, and I don't think they would do it. If they wanted to trade... Like the Colts kicker, Spencer Schrader. No, like a team that's out of it. I would be open to that. But I'm not trying to get in the bringing in this kicker off waivers type of thing.

23:17 That I'm not into. Too long didn't read version is this. Then we'll move on to the other games. I think the Chiefs are absolutely fine. I think they get their tackle back. They get Rasheed Rice back. You're not playing the best defense in the entire NFL. The panic, it was so unbelievable. The Chiefs went into that Seahawks game the number one offense in football from a yards perspective.

23:41 They have one game where, admittedly, again, Chiefs fans aren't used to getting blown out. We haven't been blown out in the regular season in five years. And the sky's falling. It was a bad game against a desperate Seattle team. I'm not panicked about it. But they're obviously not a... Yeah, well, that's the other thing. We thought we were talking about Kenneth Walker being motivated. Seattle's defense was pretty damn motivated to not let Kenneth Walker beat them. And good for them, man.

24:10 They had to have that game. I said all week they had to have that game. Now, with that said, DeMonte, I'll be singing a different tune come Monday if they lose to Denver. the Denver game is the pivot point of the season. If they beat Denver, they essentially lock the division before we get to Halloween, or I guess that's not accurate. That would be the day after Halloween. Um, and you, sorry, I don't know. It sounds like there's somebody on a motorcycle right outside here. I got to soundproof this room at some point. I got to do a better job.

24:52 You're on the street.

24:53 Um, I mean, I'm right off the street. This is where we used to make Demanze sleep. So there's... Listen, that's just going to be there for a minute. My apologies. That is very annoying. I apologize to the listeners. Is that guy really going to keep doing that? He's revving it. I don't know. What is going on? Maybe he's done. Hopefully.

25:22 Yeah.

25:23 You beat Denver. You have the tiebreaker. You're 6-1. They're 5-3. They are de facto three games back. So that is in as strong a position as you can possibly be in. You lose to Denver. The tiebreaker is now neutral. You'll have split with them. And it'll probably come down to, assuming both Denver and Kansas City win their other divisional games, will come down to AFC record. It gets quite messy.

26:02 And you're going to be in a fight all season long to win the division. And so that is, to me, the real, like, next week is the biggest game of the year for Kansas City. You win it. And you are talking about fighting with the Bills, the Bengals, the Jags for the one seed, you know, path in the playoffs, all of it. You lose it, and you're talking about fighting with Denver all year long to win the division when you have a much, much more difficult schedule than them the rest of the way. That's the deal for Kansas City. That's where we're at. We will now get to the rest of... the NFL, including the curious case once again of Lamar Jackson and his injuries. However, before we do that, let me talk to you guys about

26:59 my friends at Polymarket. Basketball season is here, and the best way to trade on it is the new prediction market, Polymarket. 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. Polymarket's different, though. It's a prediction market. It's similar to a stock exchange for sports where you buy in and sell out on your own terms. I've tried all the prediction markets, and PolyMarket is truly the best one out there. They're so confident you'll never go back to the other guys. They're giving you a free $ 25 on your first trade when you deposit just $ 10. Every bucket, every block, every scintillating matchup in basketball trades on PolyMarket.

27:42 So download the PolyMarket app today. Use code THREADS. Nick Wright, when you sign up, that's code Nick Wright to get $ 25 free after you deposit just $ 10. $ 18 plus only.

27:55 Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Not available in all jurisdictions. Trading is risky. 100% loss can occur. See polymarket.com slash TOS for more information. The Polymarket US app serves as an independent software provider and affiliate of Polymarket US and Polymarket Clearing, the CFTC regulated exchange and clearing organization.

28:20 All right, Demanze, now let's talk about your Ravens.

28:23 This game was like night and day. The beginning was looking very beautiful. Tyler Huntley was going to do a divisional. And the second half, they just came in and pulled out the belt. Jamar Chase, I guess, told the guys to take the game seriously, and they came out and destroyed us.

28:36 Yeah, it's just a rough look.

28:39 It's our same problems.

28:42 So, listen, the Ravens blow double-digit leads unlike any other team I've seen. That is what it is. And evidently it's not a hardball problem. It can't even say it's a Lamar problem because he hasn't been there the last two weeks. It was the offense and the defense. Like the defense is good. The defense just fell apart entirely.

29:05 It absolutely fell apart entirely. Allowing 35 second half points is, you know, that's 50% of the game. So that means they were on pace to allow 70. You know how I know that? Because 50% is half of 100. There you go. How much did they allow in a quarter? Because that's 25% of the game. Do you guys think that is, those are correlated? That 25 cents is called a quarter because it's a quarter of a dollar? I gotta think about it. I've got a niece who just started pre-K. Maybe I should ask her class if they can crack that Rubik's Cube for me.

29:54 Dan Orlovsky, you're over here at the end of this one.

29:58 I hadn't even mentioned his name yet. The audience didn't know that's who I was talking about. No, I'm just kidding. That's DeMonday's beef now. All announcing that's DeMonday's media beef. Not mine. I just want everyone to know it. I'm not a vet, you guys. No, I'm just kidding. You're fine. I'm just kidding. Listen, he's a good guy. Everybody loves him.

30:22 And amazingly, that might not have been, I haven't followed this other piece of it, but that might not have been the most embarrassing moment on that show yesterday, but that's neither here nor there. Let's talk about the Ravens. Yes, the defense fell apart at the end. And Derrick Henry has not looked quite as good without Lamar give Derrick Henry a big, wide berth to believe he's going to get back to being Derrick Henry because he's Derrick Henry.

30:55 My watch ended on doubting Derrick Henry a couple years ago. The Lamar injury stuff is bizarre and people have to not be afraid to talk about it. I said it on the show yesterday. That it feels awkward and uncomfortable because I didn't play any sports at any high level past high school. And even in high school, I didn't play at a very high level. I wear makeup on television.

31:26 I'm not in the business of questioning anyone's toughness, particularly NFL players. But I am in the business of saying what is on everyone's mind. which is why is Lamar the only player in the league whose injuries are a mystery to his own team? Why, in 2021, when Lamar Jackson sprained his ankle, did the coach say he might be back this week without missing a game? And then Lamar missed the remainder of the season, and then after the year, the coach said, Lamar told me, I think I'll be back this week, if not definitely the next week, but then missed a month. And then the next year, when Lamar Jackson hurt his knee, did the coach... the week he heard it come out and say, the good thing is it's not a season-ending type of knee. And

32:37 then it ended Lamar's season. And then last year, when Lamar hurt his ankle, And they were coming out of the bye. And the coach said, was asked why he has optimism. They'll turn things around. And he said, well, our quarterback will be back. And then the quarterback was not back. And then this year when Lamar hurt his ankle and the reporting is it was not a high ankle sprain. Again, maybe the reporting is wrong, but that's what the reporting was. And the team called him not week to week. They didn't do what, you know what happened when A.J. Brown got a high ankle sprain to Monza?

33:21 They put him on IR. Out a month. Hopefully you're back after four weeks. No questions. The Ravens didn't even rule Lamar out for the first game after the injury. They called him day to day. And then he missed the first game. Then he missed the second game. Then he practiced going into the third game. And then Tracy Wolfson, and then Lamar tells us it's a high ankle at the podium, says it's about a pain tolerance issue, but luckily he has until Sunday to see if it gets better.

33:55 He told us that on Friday, but then Saturday he gets ruled out, and Sunday Tracy Wolfson reports it came as a shock to the Ravens. It's bizarre. And I understand it is... An uncomfortable topic. But it is bizarre. And that is not me being a hater. That is not me being unfair. That is not me being a Mahomes guy. I got no problem with Lamar. The guy. None.

34:33 I have no reason to have a problem with him. I've been critical of, I've been very critical of two things about Lamar Jackson, and I'm just stone right on both of them.

34:44 One, he.

34:46 Has been up to this point an unreliable, to say the least, playoff performer. Put that in a separate bucket. Peyton Manning was the same way. It happens. And he is. It's not only that injury prone is now a fair label, but cloudy, bizarre communication or total lack of communication with the team about his own status. And here's the thing that's so crazy to Monze. In the last six years, two years, Lamar's been fully healthy. He's been the first team All-Pro quarterback both years. He won an MVP one of the years, could have won it the other year.

35:40 But that's in the last six. And in the other four, three of those years were full-on derailed by his injuries, all of which seemed to surprise the team, the seriousness of them. And then this year, we'll see. It's a really weird situation that nobody seems to be able to get their arms around. At your guy, do you think I'm being unfair? If you do, you can tell me.

36:11 Well, I would like to say, like, he needs to, like, I don't know if it's, he's saying it's a high uncle spring. Sounds like there's conflicting reports. I would say that he needs to play in this next game. It's like, where are we at at this point? But I can't say that he needs to play in it because it's not for sure. what it is exactly what's going on with him. I know A.J.

36:33 Brown is back. I mean, he obviously got hurt a couple weeks after, but... But I... Listen, every injury is different. But it is really weird. It is incredibly odd to suffer an injury that the team does not instantly rule you out for the next game on That ends up making you miss three games. And we're not sure about the fourth. And here's the other thing. Your guys game this week is against Buffalo. It's a huge game. But then you play Thursday. Against Jacksonville. You don't. So I don't know if he's playing. I know that I think it's fair. To expect him to try to give it a go. Yeah. I think he'll play.

37:24 Hey.

37:26 I would hope so, but it seemed like they thought and the bookmakers thought and the team thought he was going to play this past week. I don't want to totally ignore, and we're short on time now, the winning team, but the Bengals are now officially in take them seriously category. Burrow has put up identical stats to the numbers he put up two years ago. when he came in fourth in MVP voting, even though they missed the playoffs, if he is playing at that level, because the first few weeks of the year, Burrow was just mediocre. The last two weeks, he has eight touchdown passes, no turnovers. If Burrow's back to playing at that level with their obviously improved defense, they are, for the first time in five years,

38:15 an actual AFC contender. And I will take Cincinnati seriously. Like they have my attention. Boost Mobile's proving you don't have to overpay for great wireless. Unlock the savings with the $ 25 a month forever unlimited plan. It's a 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.

38:48 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. With the Bears trading, this year and next year's first-round picks for star defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons, there is...

39:17 a growing history of teams trading multiple first round picks for defensive players. It is a very narrow band within that history of teams that if they could do it all over again would the most i don't know if it's the most famous this is i'm gonna do this off the top of my head because the news just broke The Seahawks famously traded two first-round picks for Jamal Adams.

39:51 That was another catastrophe. That didn't work out at all. Jamal Adams was hurt, was not all that effective. That didn't work out. The Rams traded two first-round picks for Jalen Ramsey. That did work out. They won a Super Bowl. He was outstanding. And even though he has since then moved around the league a bit, Given the success that they had, I think they would do that all over again.

40:18 The Bears traded multiple first-round picks for Khalil Mack. That's a tricky one. Khalil Mack was a Hall of Fame caliber player during his time with the Bears. They, you know, won... I know they won a playoff game. I know they, you know, they had... I think a 12-win season with Mitch Trubisky at quarterback, thanks to that great defense. However, they never obviously got over the hump. I don't think they regret it, but I think it's more kind of net neutral. The Colts just traded last year two first round picks for Sauce Gardner. That looks like it's going to go down in the Jamal Adams side of the ledger.

41:04 Ones that instantly people were questioning and did not work out, has not worked out. And obviously the Packers traded multiple first round picks for Micah Parsons. That one is trickier because that team was dominant with Micah. However, he got hurt. He hasn't been back yet this year. The Cowboys then used some of that draft capital they got for Micah and traded a first and a second, so not quite two first round picks for Quentin Williams. That has not worked out at all. So, quite a mixed bag in the history of trading multiple first round picks for a defensive player in recent NFL history. Now, It does signal the Bears think they are in win-right-now mode. It does signal that the Bears are trying to maximize Caleb's rookie contract,

42:05 which makes sense. You understand why they would want to do that. I am not certain that This is the way I personally would choose to deploy those resources. I do wonder if being in, you know, for this compensation, you could have over the summer gotten Max Crosby. I wonder if right now you could get Max Crosby. Now, Jeffrey Simmons, they might say, better fit or fills a bigger need or has more impact than Max Crosby. It is a hyper aggressive move. And the headline is this.

42:53 The bears don't go all in as far as mortgaging the full future, but the bears shove quite a bit of their chips into the middle of the table for this season and for the With the belief that they can win the Super Bowl this year. And Jeffrey said, I also think that they are saying they think there is a good chance that the game they're playing on Monday night against the Seahawks is a potential NFC championship game preview. That the Bears are not, as they shouldn't, giving up hope that they could be the number one seed in the NFC and that they have a real shot here of doing what the Chiefs did with Patrick Mahomes, which is in year three win the Super Bowl. The Bengals in year two of Joe Burrow got to the

44:04 Super Bowl. The Seahawks in year two of Russell Wilson won. won the Super Bowl, year three got to another one. I'm leaving some obvious ones out. I mean, the Ravens in year two of Lamar had the one seed and he was the MVP. Maximizing your team during the quarterback's rookie window is rookie contract window. is almost cliche, it gets discussed so much, but that's what the Bears are doing.

44:35 And the chat, 66% of the chat, says the Bears won the trade. I'm not a huge fan of those snap reactions, only in that, of course the Bears got much, much better right now. They traded for an All-Pro, and what they gave up were guys who are not on their team yet. What we have seen historically in this is if those teams don't capitalize with getting to or winning a Super Bowl, you pay the knock-on tax down the road of having two high-quality, cost-controlled guys. Jeff Reed reminds us Dexter Lawrence cost only one first-round pick. Yes, but it was the 10th pick. So that might be about the equivalent of two bad first-round picks, the No.

45:34 10 pick of the draft, and that seems to right now be working out swimmingly for the Bengals. These almost always, Jamal Adams and Sauce Gardner, because of injuries and because the teams weren't as close as people thought, were almost instantly bad. But most of these trades in the short term... look really good for the team that is acquiring the star player. It is very difficult to judge, and not very difficult to judge, but it just takes a longer timeline to judge whether or not this was a smart move.

46:15 But we now have, in my opinion, with respect to Paul's beloved Minnesota Vikings, the three best teams in the NFC, The Seahawks, the Niners, and the Bears all making moves for former All-Pros, some of which are still at an All-Pro level. The Seahawks trade for Quentin Nelson, one of the best guards in football. The Niners bring DeForest Buckner back from the Colts after he left the Niners to sign with the Colts years ago. He is not the player he once was, still a good player. And the Bears make the biggest splash of them all, trading two first-round picks for 29-year-old Jeff Simmons. And they are just signaling, we're ready to roll. And I.

47:09 It is not a move I would have made. But it doesn't mean it's... I don't think it's... I thought the sauce trade was instantly catastrophic, even though the Colts were 7-1. That's not Monday morning quarterbacking that was in the moment. I thought insane. I thought the Packers trading for Micah was aggressive, but I understood it. I would put this in the aggressive, but I understand it bucket.

47:41 It's also something I probably wouldn't have done because I tend to be more conservative than most, if I think I have a true super-duper star at quarterback long-term, I want to have as wide open of a long-term window as possible. It's one of the reasons that I have been less critical than some about the Chiefs not being more aggressive is because they're trying to compete every single year over a 15, 20-year timeline while Patrick's there. I think the Bears are trying to do the same. This doesn't mean they won't be able to do that by no means, but it is a very aggressive move. And it also changes the math for them on this year, meaning this year, if they had... the exact same season they had last year, I think we all would have

48:42 considered that a pretty successful year. Win the division, win a playoff game, lose in round two, that's a good year for the Bears, is how I felt 90 minutes ago. Not saying that's what I thought their ceiling was, but that would have been a good year. Now, if that happens, it is a pretty significant disappointment. So a lot more pressure on Ben Johnson and on Caleb. They also probably feel like we're maybe a little closer than we thought we'd be because our defense actually has been better than we expected it to be up to this point in the season. And now we're adding a superstar. So there's the breaking news. We already had a handful of monster games for this weekend. One of them, obviously Seahawks Bears,

49:37 which we'll get to in a bit. But now we will get to the show as we had it regularly scheduled, which is the Chiefs in Denver against the Broncos. Going into the year, when I picked every game of the season for the Chiefs, I had them going 12-5. And I actually had them at this, I would have gotten every single game right up to this point. I had them beating the Broncos in week one, then going undefeated into the bye against the Colts, Dolphins, Raiders, beating the Chargers, losing to the Seahawks, and then losing in Denver on Monday, or this coming Sunday. The five losses I had for them were at Seattle, at Denver, at Buffalo, at the Rams, and I think the other one was week 17 in Los Angeles against the Chargers. I think that was the five.

50:47 But I know I had them going 12-5, and I know I had them losing at Seattle and at Denver. I no longer have them losing at Denver, and I think you are going to see a very different Chiefs team than you saw last week. So last week, there was a reason I was so anxious about that game. Seattle being on extra rest, Rasheed Rice and Jalen Moore being out to go along with obviously Tyquan Thornton, who's been out for the year or is out for the year, and Josh Simmons, who hasn't played yet. So without your top two tackles, your top two receivers, The Seahawks have to have the game. They've been hearing all about Kenneth Walker and what a disaster of a trade that was for them all year. I thought the Chiefs could win,

51:36 and I did not think they would look as awful as they looked, but that was going to always be the toughest game on their schedule, and it turned out it was. I feel very differently about this game. First of all, Jalen Moore and Rasheed Rice should... Jalen Moore definitely going to be back. and Rasheed Rice should be back.

51:59 That is very important. Second of all, I don't think Denver has, even though they have played a brutal schedule, even though they beat Seattle when they played them, I don't think Denver is quite the caliber of team of the Seahawks, even though I do believe Denver is an excellent team. Excellent might be strong. Very good team. However, the issues that go up until the Cardinals game had been bedeviling Denver, which is the inability to get explosive plays and the downright bad quarterback play they had been getting, I do not feel were magically solved simply by playing the Cardinals. You also add to it that this game, the Chiefs understand that this is a hinge game for them on the schedule. If the Chiefs win, they have

53:09 a de facto three-game lead in the AFC West. They will be, my guess on polymarket, like 90% to win the division. And the rest of the year, they are playing for seeding and to figure out whether or not they can maintain the number one seed in the AFC or whether they're going to be a divisional winner as the two or the three seed in the AFC. That's if they win. If they lose this game, they, for the first time all year, they'll essentially be tied with Denver, but because they haven't they've had a buy and Denver hasn't.

53:51 They will not be in first place in the division. The tiebreaker will be essentially set in stone that it's going to come down to conference record because we would assume that the Broncos and the Chiefs are going to handle their other remaining divisional games and they would have split with each other. And it's going to be a year-long dogfight to see whether or not They are going to be on the road the entire playoffs, something they've never had to do in the Mahomes era. Now, they have won road playoff games. The last time they won a Super Bowl, they went to Buffalo, then went to Baltimore, but that playoff started with them being at home against the Miami Dolphins in the negative 20-degree game. So they

54:45 lose this game, and... All year, it's going to be back and forth for the AFC West. They win this game, the division's locked, essentially. You add to it that while everyone has been the sky is falling in Kansas City because of what happened against Seattle, I think there is, even if you are concerned about the passing game Because whether it is you're just wrong and you think Patrick Mahomes isn't still a hyper elite quarterback, or you're worried about Andy's scheme, or you're worried about the really shoddy tackle play from a pass protection standpoint, or where most people stand, which is, and I'm one of them, they do need another weapon. They are one of the teams that should make some type of trade, some type of acquisition,

55:50 even if that's how you feel going into this game. Given what Kenneth Walker did to the Broncos in week one, and given the added motivation of Kenneth Walker finally being stymied last week in Seattle, I think this will be a big Kenneth Walker game. And I think the Chiefs defense... which the secondary has instantly been excellent again, LeJarius Sneed notwithstanding, despite losing McDuffie and Jalen Watson. Man, Sorda Lane's been spectacular.

56:30 Noel Williams has been great. But they haven't been able to get to the quarterback. But they did in week one. And even though Bo Nix was able to finally do something with his legs last week, He hasn't seemed quite as prone to run the ball this year as he was last year. I think this is a game the Chiefs can control sounds too strong. Just be up three or four points throughout. And I look at Kansas City as an A-list contender, and I look at Denver as a B-list contender, and I think that this is a spot where an A-list contender coming off a loss, knowing they need the game in a weird way, shows everyone that the 31-10 week one game was not a fluke.

57:37 even if it is not going to be that type of domination. And I don't think it's going to be that type of domination. I do think that this feels to me like a 24-20 Chiefs victory. Everything gets calm back in Kansas City after a few days of panic. You then have Jets, Falcons, Cardinals as your next three.

58:02 And then you're in a position where you're 9-1 behind going into a truly brutal five-game stretch of at Buffalo, at the Rams, at the Bengals, home for the Pats, home for the Niners. That is a five-game stretch where you play five of the eight best teams in football. So if they lose this game, I would still expect them to be eight and two going into that stretch and okay, but you would like to have as big of a Margin for error is possible. I think they'll have it. Also, the other Chiefs news this week is they added Justin Tucker to the practice squad. I tweeted about this. I did a long-form thing a couple weeks ago about the Chiefs potentially adding Tyree Kill. That's on the What's Right YouTube page. A lot of the exact

58:56 same emotions and thoughts that I shared about the Chiefs potentially adding Tyree Kill apply to the Chiefs, potentially adding, or I guess they have added, but he's not on the official roster yet. Justin Tucker, I obviously don't like. it. I obviously wish that they hadn't added him even to the practice squad, even though I do think it was good to add some insurance policy, given how Butker has played this year and dating back to last year. And I'm not going to, again, the too long didn't read version of my 20 minutes on this last week. People can judge me however they want. If Justin Tucker ends up being the kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, I'm not going to sit here and act like I'm going

59:44 to stop rooting for the Chiefs. You can call me a bad person. You can say what you can judge me for it. Maybe it's fair to judge me for it. Just is what it is. But I wish they didn't put me in that or put their fans, forget me, their fans in that position, they have a different way of evaluating whether or not someone should have the right to play for the team than a lot of folks wish they did. And I just... I'm not trying to cop out. It is what it is. It's kind of gross.

1:00:23 It's uncomfortable. I don't like it.

1:00:27 And....

1:00:29 If you're a. I totally understand in particular why Chiefs fans who are women got to be like, that's your kicker room? That's your kicker room? I get it. And if your line is, if he plays for the team, I'm not a fan, that's... I don't think that's a crazy position to take. The way... folks that win Deshaun, win the Browns trade for Deshaun.

1:01:02 A lot of folks were like, I'm not going to be a fan. I get it. It's not that that's not how I feel. And if folks feel like that makes me a bad guy, so be it. As I say, you know, a hundred times a year, what I owe the audience is honesty. That's the honesty. That's the honest part of it. My guess is just my guess is Justin Tucker never plays a snap for the Kansas City Chiefs, but we'll see. It is time now for Nick's Picks, brought to you by Polymarket for Week 8. I am going against the trend I told you guys earlier of, big underdogs covering with my beloved Jags against the fire sale Colts. Josh Downs has asked for a trade. Jonathan Taylor knows he might be traded. The head coach knows he might be getting fired. The Jags, on the other hand,

1:01:57 understand the number one seed is there for the taking, potentially. I will lay the 9.5 with what I consider a very good Jags team against an Indy team that whatever spirit they had left had to be sapped a bit when you saw your best offensive and defensive linemen traded in. In the same week, all the trends are on my side. Jacksonville, their last 22 is 18, three and one against Indy against the spread against Indy. They've won 10 straight at home against Indy. They've covered nine of them. The last Colts quarterback to win in Jacksonville was Andrew Luck. I think the Jags are a legitimately really good team. The Colts fired their GM and are trading their players. I will swallow hard and lay the nine and a half

1:02:48 with Jacksonville. Here's a game that I really like the pick. I do not intend on watching. Raiders getting a point and a half at the Jets. Now, is part of this me being just utterly disgusted by the Jets last week? Yes. Am I a little worried about how public the Raiders are? Yes. With that said, the way the Dolphins... effortlessly moved the ball on this Jets team that for years now just can't force turnovers. Felt to me like the Raiders with the, I think he still leads the league in touchdown passes, Kirk Cousins. They're going to be able to move the ball.

1:03:36 I know it's a West Coast team going east for an early start. You don't love that. But Aaron Glenn is just a brutal coach. I think Clint Kubiak's probably going to be a solid coach. The Raiders' offense is the unit I trust the most in this game. I'll take the Raiders plus a point and a half. Next, one of those big dogs I was talking about. Arizona getting six and a half at Dallas. We said it before, I'll say it again. Big dogs this year are 21-8-3 against the spread. Dogs of six plus points. So that is helpful. has not been able to string together consecutive impressive performances. Dallas also, on the short week, having played Monday night. Arizona. Jacoby is going to throw for a bunch of yards. I don't think they're going to be

1:04:35 able to cover Trey McBride. I do think Dallas will win the game. I think Arizona covers the 6.5. I'll take Arizona. Dallas' defense just has not earned the right to be a touchdown favorite over anybody, particularly when it's going to be in good conditions playing inside in Dallas. I'll take Arizona plus 6.5. I bet this when it was at minus 1. I will take it and pick it with our friends at Polymarket at minus one and a half. The Chiefs laying one and a half at Denver.

1:05:10 Patrick Mahomes is 19-2 in his career in the division on the road. The Chiefs, we saw this game week one when Patrick was not as healthy as he is now, and the Chiefs utterly dominated him for a lot of the reasons that I felt bad about Situationally, Kansas City against Seattle, you feel good about Kansas City in this spot.

1:05:36 They're the team coming off a loss. Denver's the team that just had the nice, easy victory. Now, the Chiefs don't have the rest edge here, but they are the team getting healthier, while Denver likely going to be without Jalen Waddell for this game. The Chiefs' defensive issues are about getting to the opposing quarterback, so that concerns you when they're playing a team with an elite passer. That does not concern you as much when they're playing Bo Nix.

1:06:04 Denver's running game, to me, is unreliable. The Chiefs' running game is as reliable last week notwithstanding as any team in the league. It's not panic time in Kansas City if they lose, but it is, okay, reevaluate where they are in the NFL hierarchy if they lose. They're a good but not great team. They win this game. They reassert themselves as, in my opinion, the AFC favorites. Certainly, at the very least, right alongside Buffalo. We'll see how Buffalo looks against Baltimore. And they lock up the division.

1:06:40 They lose this game. You're fighting for your life in the division the rest of the way. I think there's been way too much made of the Chiefs losing in Seattle. I still think the Chiefs are one of the five best teams in the league. I think Denver is right outside of that group. Kansas City, minus one and a half at Denver. And last but not least, Seattle at home against Chicago. Yes, Chicago did just add Jeffrey Simmons.

1:07:08 That should help. I think Chicago is a B-list contender, and I think Seattle is an A-list contender. I think Seattle also recognizes their margin of error has shrunk considerably. We talked about this game a lot on Thursday's show. I think Seattle, back-to-back games with an absolutely raucous home crowd, back-to-back games on national TV at night where they get to show out to a degree. I think Seattle, actually it'll be three straight night games games for Seattle because they played Thursday night football in Denver, then Sunday night football at home against the Chiefs, now Monday night football at home against the Bears. I think Seattle is going to have one of the more impressive two-week stretches anyone

1:08:03 will have in the NFL all year with what they did last week to Kansas City and what I expect to be a 24-17 victory for over the Chicago Bears, reminding everyone how dominant that defense is. So our five picks this week are as follows. Laying a huge number with Jacksonville, minus 9.5 at home against Indy. Getting a point and a half with the Raiders in the Meadowlands against the Jets. Getting 6.5 with the Cardinals at Dallas.

1:08:34 Laying 1.5 with Kansas City at Denver. And laying 3.5 with Seattle at home against Chicago.