What's Wright - NBA Opening Night REACTION, Caleb Williams vs. Drake Maye, Chiefs-Seahawks MASSIVE game

0:03 Welcome in What's Right with Nick Wright episode 518. This episode of What's Right with Nick Wright is presented to you by Boost Mobile. Demanze, good morning. This is officially the time of year where I walk in. It used to be walk into the first things first meeting at 4 a.m. Just bleary eyed back when we were on in the mornings. and I mumble too many sports. This is the time of year where the sports can get a little overwhelming. We are in the thick of the NFL season. The WNBA finals are going on, which eight years ago was not really a huge part of my sports diet, but right now it is. The World Series is starting, and oh yeah, by the way, we've got, I didn't even mention college football, The NBA tipped off

0:59 Tuesday night, where I find myself last night watching Lakers-Warriors at 1230 in the morning. Just, you know, even though, like, so. It's a good problem to have, but it's a lot of sports, a lot going on from now through really January when the NFL season ends, but I'm thrilled about it. We did not do an NBA preview on the show because we weren't going to give it the time it deserved.

1:30 I will today do snap reactions off the top of the show to... The first couple nights of NBA basketball as I will be going tonight to my first game of the season as I'll be going to see the Sixers play the Cavs in Philly tonight with a 7 p.m. tip that I'm kind of hoping is like closer to a 7 12 p.m. tip. Uh, in Philadelphia, uh, I would imagine, but I'm not sure. I'm not sure how, you know, how tight they're running the games, uh, to start the season. So we'll see. Um, but first demands a straight to voicemail brought to you by boost mobile.

2:11 I do need to give you guys an update on the survivor competition. I've tweeted about it. We'll do that in a moment. Not shockingly, the NFL player association calls for investigation into the Eagles and And maybe also not shockingly, Angel Reese continues to write a story in these WNBA finals where she is trying to add to her trophy case that already has multiple first-team All-Americans, a college national championship, a college tournament most outstanding player, and a WNBA trophy.

2:42 defensive player of the year. She is trying to add a WNBA finals MVP. She had a 30 and 15 in game two. She had another 20 and 10 last night or, you know, minimum thresholds, 20 and 10 as the dream blew out the Valkyries. And now I have a question for you because I sent a tweet that said Angel Reese is one game from doing all of that, meaning a game from winning finals MVP and winning a championship.

3:12 Do you want, but the fact of the matter is the WNBA, it's best four out of seven and they're up to one. So she's up, you know, she's two games away. Should I tell the truth about that tweet or should I lie about it? You, you call it the Monza or should I do both?

3:27 I think you should do both.

3:29 Okay. The lie would have been, obviously I remembered they changed last year, the WNBA finals from best of five to a best of seven. My point was, if she does it one more night and they go up 3-1, the Valkyries are dead and she will have locked up finals MVP. That would be the lie that I could have told. The truth is, as I said... too many sports, a little bleary eyed. And I had forgotten that we had moved to a best of seven. That's the truth.

4:05 But you know what? The lie could have worked. Um, last year was the first year they ever did a best of seven and it was a sweep. So it didn't even feel like a seven game series, but the Valkyries got no answers for the dream. Um, so, okay, let's talk survivor just for a second. And then we still, we, cause bears Patriots is tonight. Um, Chief Seahawks is Sunday night.

4:26 We have an awesome week seven and we got to do the NBA. But I do want to update you guys on where we're at in the survivor competition. So there are two huge survivor competitions. There's the one that Circa does that you have to be in person in Vegas to register for. And you need someone, a proxy in Vegas to submit your picks for you. You know, that's 1K a person entry like the Splash one is.

4:56 And I think their first place is like 25 million or thereabouts. They also demand a, the Circa one has what they call the Grandissimo, which is a survivor competition that costs $ 100, 000 to enter. They had, I think, like 70 entries or something this year. But people, you know, it's like professional gamblers or consortiums or whatever it is, but it's the same process. Where if you're not in Las Vegas, you need a proxy, somebody to submit your pick for you. And last week, somebody's proxy didn't get the pick in in time.

5:33 Oh, Jesus.

5:34 Well, yeah. Just stone out.

5:37 No picks.

5:37 You're out.

5:38 You don't depend on them to just put the money in for you to enter the contest.

5:41 It's week by week.

5:42 It's every single week they have to put it in for you.

5:45 So you pay them a service. Yeah, there are these services that do it. They didn't let them in. The guy was very upset tweeting like, no, my proxy screwed up. Not me. Let me in. I want. And this is the only saving grace. He was like, I would have picked the Rams. And the Rams ended up losing. So like in that regard, it is salvaged a bit, but that's a catastrophe. Total catastrophe.

6:11 I don't know.

6:12 We haven't gotten the real story on what happened. You know, why, what happened. But the guy's injury had an implied value of because 80% of the field had been whacked of over half a million bucks and didn't get submitted.

6:28 Okay.

6:30 The only reason I even bring that up is Some of you guys listening might be in the Circa one and not the Splash one. I'm in the Splash one. But the team availabilities, meaning in Survivor you can only pick a team once all year, are pretty consistent. Like if 30% of the field in Splash last week took the Rams, around 30% took the Rams in Circa, like the contests are similar in that regard. Where they differ is Circa has different double pick weeks than Splash, but whatever.

7:02 Doesn't matter. My point is, if you're in a survivor competition, all of this will be relevant, even if you're not in the one I'm in. The one I'm in, it's a, you know, if there's only one winner, it's 21 million bucks. The contest started with 20,839 people in it. And there are currently 1,019 left. So about, you know, just under 20,000 of the just under 21,000 who entered have been whacked.

7:33 Of those 1,019 entries, the entry I have is either, depending on which service you listen to, the third, fourth, or fifth most valuable entry left in the contest because of the teams I've picked. I have picked the Raiders in week one, the Panthers in week two, the Giants in week three, the Vikings in week four, the Texans in week five, and the Patriots in week six. This week all along was a potentially treacherous week for Survivor because there is only one big favorite, and that favorite is the Houston Texans at home against J.J. McCarthy and the New York Giants. They're 10-plus point favorites. The thing is this, DeMonte, only 60% of the field has the Texans left. You had a huge number of the field

8:43 use the Texans the week I did a couple weeks ago against the Titans. So I would imagine that the majority of people who have the Texans left are going to use the Texans this week In part because they're huge favorites and in part because their other huge favorite spot is Week 18. And Week 18 is a weird week where you don't know who's playing who. You don't really want to save a team for Week 18. So I would imagine 50% of the 1,000 will be on the Texans. I won't be on the Texans because I can't be on the Texans. The next biggest favorite is the Minnesota Vikings. at home against the Indianapolis Colts. 50% of the field has the Vikings available. I do not.

9:38 So that then, and so I would imagine, for my purposes, the Giants and the Colts winning this weekend, either one, but particularly the Giants, would be unbelievable. And I can say to everyone, I'm not taking those two teams because I don't have.

9:55 Them.

9:57 So here's what's intriguing. The Nets there are only five other teams that are bigger than three-point favorites this week. And you tell me if you would feel good about any of these options. The Denver Broncos and Bo Nicks in Arizona. The Dallas Cowboys... in Philadelphia on Monday Night Football, the New York Jets at home for the Dolphins with the Dolphins off a bye, the Los Angeles Rams in Vegas against the Raiders, and the Pittsburgh Steelers playing the Saints in France. They all have like a little wrinkle too. Yeah, not a single one of those. Do you feel like, well, I'll be shocked if I get clipped here. And the next biggest favorite is Carolina at home against Tampa. But as of this moment, we're not sure that could change

10:59 significantly if Baker's playing in that game or not. And my guess is he does. So there are arguments for any of those five teams because I want to win the competition. I am not going to share right here which team I am leaning towards picking. I will tweet it out Sunday at 1 o'clock when the contest locks.

11:25 But I am here to tell you this, Demanze. If I get through this week, I'm winning the competition. Now, maybe there'll be multiple winners. Maybe it'll be split. But this has been... I have pinpointed this week for the last month as the pivot point. This is the pivot point. I have a very solid plan and path the rest of the way. If I can get through this week, I'm going to win the competition. So there's the survivor update. I, I, you know, I hope it's not, you know, I make fun of shows that talk about their fantasy football teams.

12:05 You guys might look at this as similar to me. It's not quite the same because a lot of people are in survivor contests. Um, People are, the producers are asking, did it make it to the end last year? I think last year, I believe so. Last year was a six-way chop. But I don't know if they all got clipped the nose. Six-way chop and poker player Galen Hall had two of the six. Six people won it last year, but five people won it. One guy had two of the six. And he, by the way, has like 20-some entries left. in the splash competition. Galen does, but none of them as valuable as my beloved entry.

12:46 21 million.

12:49 Well, we'll see. We got to get through a tough week and all of a sudden I'll be rooting hard for JJ McCarthy and Daniel Jones as I'm fading everyone else. All right, Demonte, let's get to the first couple nights of the NBA before we get to the NFL for the week.

13:04 NBA is back.

13:05 First couple nights are finished and in the books and we got a lot of new tandems, a lot of new landscape, people with new teams. Um, so you got to see LeBron with his new squad. You got to see OKC and Chet get a little bit of revenge against Wimby. Um, Giannis with Miami, LaMelo and Ant. Uh, what'd you see that stood out the most to you and, uh, what did you like?

13:24 So, okay. Let's just go in chronological order of the nationally televised games. Um, And so your Celtics in a game that started at 3 p.m. It started at noon for you.

13:39 It was a very early game.

13:42 Weird spot. Had a huge lead and blew it to the Pistons. 23-0 run for the Pistons. Did not see that coming. Paul George was playing great and then, you know, cooled off. And listen, your guy, who I like a lot, Tatum, just had a really, really rough night. There's no way around it.

14:03 The team was very similar to the team that it was.

14:05 Last year and what our flaws usually are, but game one.

14:09 Yeah, and so I'm not overreacting to that. Tatum shot six of 23. That's not going to happen very often. Anyone like me that is a Bill Simmons fan and listens to Simmons' podcast, I'm sure got a little wry smile out of his beloved Hugo He gets mad when people say this, but untouchable Hugo in trade talks, playing 10 minutes and scoring zero points. And it is hard for me to watch the Celtics and not think, yeah, I wonder if they'd look a little better with Giannis on that team. Maybe a little better. But again, it's game one, and it was good for the Pistons, for Durin to look like Durin, not play off Durin, especially after the postseason drama. But then for me, the main event of the evening, was ring night in New York City.

15:01 I did not go to the game. And it was the Philadelphia 76ers announcing to anybody that wanted to listen, they are real contenders. They play, if they are able to, have a hierarchy of, offensively, Maxie is the man. Maxie is going to have the highest usage. Maxie is going to average the most points. Most nights, the number two is Jalen Brown. He will be in that secondary score role, and that will be his job. With LeBron being Swiss Army Knife orchestrator, along with Embiid, and Embiid said it, and obviously Embiid's health is... you know, the biggest question of the season, but that goes without saying it just like Embiid's health is what it is. You would be shocked if he's healthy for the majority of the season.

16:08 Can they make do when he's not? Will he be healthy in the playoffs? That is the sort of Domicles hanging over the season, but you have to evaluate the team as it is. Embiid saying his goal is to make an all defensive team for the first time in a couple of years or in a few years. Is super positive. Because Embiid's, for that team, Demondse, Embiid's defense is more important than his offense. And LeBron was dialed defensively. And, you know, I know people get, you know, roll their eyes and, you know, are just waiting for me to do the, let's spend a moment talking about LeBron James.

16:49 But let's spend a fucking moment talking about LeBron James.

16:52 Let's do it.

16:55 We are just numb to the fact that this dude is in his 24th season. Do you know how absurd that sounds? It's his 24th season. Do you know how many all-time greats didn't play 14 seasons? This guy, Bill, again, you know, different era, obviously. Bill Russell didn't make it to 14. Bird Magic didn't make it to 14. Jordan didn't play 14 with the Bulls. Like, he's in his 24th year. The guys who are in, like, he's in his 24th year and with 90 seconds left in a tight game, getting to the top of the box to block a layup. Just never, it's just incomprehensible. And folks are so grasping for what we're going to whine about with LeBron that we've moved to means of transportation. We've gotten to... Let's talk about the carbon footprint and whether

18:04 or not Fanatics is getting their money's worth in the endorsement deal. Get the fuck out of here. I mean, just be happy, guys, that this guy loves basketball this much and he's still playing.

18:17 And.

18:19 is going to be a wildly important piece of a contender. And so, Knicks, there's no concern at all about the Knicks, but I do feel this way. I think in the Eastern Conference, and I felt this going into the game, it's the Knicks and the Sixers here, and then everyone else a grade and a half below. Those are the two best teams in the conference. I feel like, I think the Celtics are a transaction cycle away. I think that, you know, I think that they are take a small step back. I will talk about Miami in a minute. Well, the Pacers are an interesting, don't forget about us. And they played last night at the smoothie King center. Halliburton looked good. They looked good. Um, the Pistons are fine.

19:12 The Cavs are fine.

19:13 I'll see.

19:13 We'll see the Cavs tonight. Um, But I think it's the Knicks and the Sixers. Go ahead.

19:18 Am I leaving somebody out? No, you're just talking East right now.

19:23 We haven't gotten to the West yet.

19:24 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I'm only talking East.

19:27 I'm saying those are the two. It would surprise me a lot if someone comes out of the East other than Knicks, Sixers. I think those are the two best teams. The producers are saying I'm forgetting about Toronto. I. I do not feel as strongly about Toronto as my friends. in the media who every single Sixers conversation is littered with, well, Embiid, well, Embiid, well, Embiid, well, Embiid, Embiid's health, when he's probably their third or fourth most important guy And the Raptors, I'm supposed to feel like, oh, they'll be fine, even though their far and away most important guy has not given us a healthy regular season in playoffs this decade.

20:20 So, like, I'm just.

20:23 I'm just.

20:23 Again, like, I....

20:27 The reason you can be optimistic about Philly despite Embiid's health and be pessimistic about Toronto because of Kawhi's health is because Philly's whole thing is not built around Embiid anymore. Philly flipped Paul George for LeBron James and Jalen Brown. They're no longer... Like, that's what happened. I know it's crazy.

20:49 You can't even believe it when you say it. Like.

20:52 It's ridiculous.

20:53 I think both.

20:54 Like.

20:56 I think LeBron is still better than Paul George. Jalen Brown's obviously better than Paul George. And there's no disrespect to Paul George. But, so I think that in the East. But then out West, Demanze, I was happy for Chet.

21:14 Yeah.

21:15 Chet.

21:15 No, he got embarrassed last year. And that was like almost like a, like you deal with that after the game.

21:21 Like in your head. Like that's not just in the basketball game. And yeah, that is a really, that's nice for him.

21:28 And so I don't want to glaze over what you said. That could have been a career changer for him in a negative way. It could have been, it could have been whenever we play this team, I'm going to be timid and like, and instead he won the matchup with Wimby. He outplayed Wimby. They, the, I forget who was it? Fox.

21:50 Somebody threw him on the ground.

21:52 Yeah. During the game.

21:54 But whatever.

21:54 That's going to happen.

21:57 And Chet probably threw himself as well.

22:00 Yeah. I mean, but Chet's also, you know, I think they said this offseason that, like, he put on weight and it was two pounds. Like, Chet's going to be, you know, this is going to be a problem for him. But he played great. And the Thunder looked awesome. I thought the Spurs were going to clobber him. Thunder looked awesome.

22:19 And one of the reasons the Spurs didn't clobber him is because Victor Wimbinyama refuses to accept that he's 7'6.

22:25 He's trying to play out on the perimeter.

22:32 I've discussed this before, but I will discuss it again. Victor Wimbinyama has never been a good three-point shooter. Ever. Okay? Victor Wimbinyama, his second to last year playing pro ball in France, shot 26% from three. His last year playing pro ball in France, shot 27% from three. Victor Wimbinyama in the U.S. has never, shot better than 35% from three.

23:19 Last year, he shot threes at the same rate and the same efficiency as Lou Dort and Scoot Henderson, who are all fine three-point shooters, but none of them were like, man... Knocked down.

23:37 Lou Dort can get hot.

23:39 Lou Dort can have some nights for sure.

23:41 And listen, I think Dort last year actually, his three-point percentage dipped. And Dort's maybe the wrong example because that's actually the only thing offensively Dort does because he's a three and D guy. But last year, Wimby shot five and a half threes a game and made 34.9% of them. And in the playoffs, he shot five and a half threes a game and shot 34.2% of them. made 34.2 percent of them and the year before he shot nine threes a game and made 35.2 percent of them and his rookie year he shot five and a half a game and he made 32.5 percent of them it is cool he is a legendary shooter of the people who are seven one and above that's no one denies that.

24:30 He's a bad shooter that's where my mind goes i'm like dude.

24:32 He's He's 7'6. No, he is.

24:36 He's the greatest shooter ever of guys taller than 7'3.

24:43 Fine.

24:44 But that just, that can't. Demanze, he started this game 0 for 12. Yeah. He, he didn't. 10 of his 13 shots were outside of the paint.

25:01 Yeah.

25:02 It needs to be a fourth pitch that he has, not his go-to. And it is, he will not be a consistently great offensive player until he accepts, I am not Kevin Durant. I should not be modeling my game after Kevin Durant. I should be modeling my game after Kareem. All this time I'm spending working on my handle, which is, again, he is the greatest ball handler ever of guys 7'4 and above. But amongst just, if we're taking away the curve of the height, he's just a fine ball handler.

25:55 He's not unbelievable compared to the guards in the league. He just plays the offensive game strategically incorrect right now.

26:07 With him being more of a defensive player, he did play good defense in the game.

26:11 So with his offense, you can kind of deal with it. It's not as....

26:16 Oh, of course.

26:17 If Wimby scored, if Wimby averaged 10 points a game, he'd still be a top 10 player in the league because he's so great defensively.

26:29 Even in that game against the Thunder, he was one for 13 and was a net. Yeah, it was like it still had an impact on the game. But you just can't play that way at seven. It defeats the purpose of being 7'6. I don't understand it. Like, it would be... Let me... Again, I'll use a LeBron comp for a second here. And let me... LeBron, once he got to... Well, in Miami, he shot 40% from three one year. So that's probably a bad example. LeBron back in Cleveland. LeBron's four years back in Cleveland before he went to the Lakers and after Miami. Those four years, he shot exactly 35% from three. Okay? It was on four a game. It was one of the things he did.

27:41 But LeBron in that moment, and certainly young LeBron earlier than Cleveland, the second time around, his version of being 7'6 was, I'm the fastest player in the league. I can jump the highest of any player in the league. I'm the strongest player in the league. I'm the best raw athlete the league's ever seen. And if he just decided, ah, There's going to be games I drive to the basket one time. It would be absurd. And that's Wimby not, hey, give me the ball. I'm taller than everybody by a lot. Like, I just don't get it. I don't understand not trying to use the thing that gives you a chance to be one of the greatest players ever. And then after the game, he was like, I got to get back to having fun and playing with joy. Buddy, it's game

28:42 one of year four. Why are you so melancholy?

28:49 No, for real.

28:50 He was like, I got to get back to playing the game the way I love it. Like, it's the first game of the season.

28:56 You're 23.

28:56 I think he just went one for 13.

29:00 So that was weird. All right. And then last night, quickly here, Ant was unbelievable. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. And LaMelo, they seem to be having a ton of fun. You want me to say something, Demase?

29:15 Go ahead.

29:16 I can tell the look in your face.

29:17 Go ahead. They're looking good. They're looking good. I told you. I host for this team. It's just bro ball.

29:24 And I think it's going to succeed. I think it's going to succeed.

29:27 Just good vibes.

29:30 Did you hear what?

29:31 Yeah, in Miami. Probably need a little bit more offense.

29:34 Well, yeah.

29:34 I mean, so my, I mean, Giannis scores 35 on 19 shots and they get annihilated.

29:42 Yeah.

29:42 Because they're eight of 33 from three. Like that is my, that game was concerning for Miami and not like panic, but Giannis was unbelievable. And it, It went exactly the way people were worried it would go. Which is, you play teams that can hit threes, you can't hit threes. And what are you going to do? But back to the LaMelo-Ant thing. Did you hear what Chris Finch said about the mood of the team? I think you'll like it a lot. He talked about your guy LaMelo. And he's like, last year we were a moody bunch. But this, and I'm paraphrasing. He's like, this kid is always in such a great mood and always is so joyful that we traded out moodiness for happiness. It's basically like Julius Randall was a pain in the.

30:43 Ass and moping. We brought in the vibes guy.

30:45 And LaMelo, right. And LaMelo seems like he's, you know.

30:48 Vibes in buckets. Like he's not.

30:51 And so that, you know, credit where it's due. People love the kid. They love him. They like playing with him. And, you know, he creates offense in a very unique way. Last night was obviously about Ant. I mean, LaMelo and Ant last night, between the two of them, shot 33s. A lot.

31:16 Yeah.

31:18 33s, bro. I mean, that's, but they made 14 of them. So you'll take that every single night. Ant was phenomenal. And they are, you know, they're very interesting. My concerns about LaMelo are well-documented. My maturity concerns, his, we haven't seen him in the playoffs, but his play-in resume of how he's performing in those games, not good, obviously, but that's down the road. Right now, they, you know, the first game they couldn't feel better about. Jaden McDaniels, fresh off his contract extension, played great. Kamingo was solid. Gobert was great defensively. Great defensively in that game. And they won by 25. So, you know, and then there was one other nationally televised game. Luka and the Lakers against

32:16 what is going to be, I fear, a very sad season in Golden State for... the Warriors, Steph and Draymond, uh, you know, but the story of that game, Walker Kessler was 12 for 12. It's pretty good. Um, and you know, Luke is doing his thing. The story of that game, however, is the rookie Yaxel and Lindenborg and Luke, uh, you go ahead to Monzae.

32:47 So, yeah, Axel got his taste of the NBA, played Luka for the first time last night, and said that he didn't like his whining. He said he complained, but he had a lot of respect for Luka before this game and didn't like his complaining. He complained the whole game. What do you think of that?

33:00 And he said he lost all the respect he had for him.

33:03 Yeah.

33:06 All right, I am now going to sound more like a grandfather than I've ever sounded on this show. I am going to sound like such an old man over these next 45 seconds. Who the hell does Yaxel think he is? It is your first game of your career, Rook. And you are talking about your levels of respect for a future first ballot Hall of Famer? Chill out, man. Like, there is.

33:46 An amount of, I'm not talking about on the court, on the court, back and forth, everything. Oh, you know, Luke is talking trash. You talk trash back. All of that, all of that is fair game. And I like a rookie that won't back down. But after the game, holding court at the press conference, talking trash. about one of the five best players in the sport after the first game of your career.

34:15 You're going to see him later, too.

34:17 On the heels of the weird offseason between him and Draymond, I don't like that at all. I'm just telling you right now. I thought that was a terrible look.

34:31 Draymond kind of vindicated on the way that he talked to him?

34:34 Except I think Draymond kind of liked what Yoxel was doing. I did not like it. I don't love rookie first game. I don't know if I've ever seen it, DeMonte. First game ever by a rookie afterwards talking trash about a legend.

34:58 A.J.

34:58 DeBansa dropped 45 on us, I think, in his first game and didn't say.

35:02 Anything like that in his rookie year last year.

35:04 No, not DeBansa. V.J.

35:07 Edgecumbe. Oh, V.J.

35:10 Edgecumbe.

35:11 Yeah, V.J.

35:11 Edgecumbe. Oh, yeah, no. Yeah, I think he had 36 or something crazy. Yeah, of course. Can you imagine? Like, I just, I mean, you just can't.

35:21 Yeah.

35:21 I just, you just.

35:23 That's probably Draymond rubbing off on him, though. I don't know.

35:26 Draymond doesn't seem to mess with him. It seems like that's who Yonsel is, like whatever. I just didn't like it at all. But the Warriors, I think, are going to be bad. I just think they've got a rough season ahead of them. All right, I want to talk football now. But first, let me tell you guys about my friends at Polymarket. It's a new prediction market. It's the best new way to trade in sports. In the past, if you wanted action on the game, put some money in.

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36:39 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. All right, Demanze, let's talk Sunday night football and then Thursday night football, then Lamar's weird health stuff. We've got a lot to get to.

37:12 Kansas City, the Chiefs probably have their toughest test of the season with Seattle, but they have Kenneth Walker. But the unfortunate part is Seattle has not allowed a rusher to run for over 100 yards for a 100-yard rusher in the last two years. Do you think that Kenneth Walker could break that streak? Apparently there was never any offer for Kenneth Walker from the Seahawks before he joined the Chiefs.

37:33 Do you think you could use a little bit of that as revenge?

37:36 Well, listen, this is a game the Chiefs should lose. Seattle is on extra rest. Seattle is desperate. Seattle is at home. The Chiefs, there's no chance Josh Simmons is back this week. And sidebar, Josh Simmons, who I said last week on this show, If he's not back by the Seattle game, I will start to be a little more concerned than I've been. It's not only that he's not going to be back, after being a limited participant in practice last week, yesterday, he didn't, he was a DNP as far as did not participate in practice, and they listed it as back slash personal, which there's always been this weird uncertainty surrounding this back injury for Josh Simmons.

38:35 So that was not a positive sign. I, you know, I am not as fatalistic about his future as some chiefs fans are, but it certainly has been a weird tenure so far, and he's not going to be back for this game. And now all of a sudden you're worried, is he back for the Broncos game when you're going to definitely need him back? They have Benito and Cooper, and that is a massively, important game as the Chiefs, by some metrics, have the hardest remaining schedule in the NFL this year, while the Broncos, only two games back in the division, have the fourth easiest schedule in the NFL this year. So all of that is, you know, so Simmons, but that's more long-term for this game. Simmons is not going to play. Right tackle, Jalen Moore, got

39:27 a concussion this past week. So, you might be on both backup tackles. Rasheed Rice, who I thought would be back from the hamstring, we'll see what the practice status looks like as the week goes on, but he did not practice Wednesday, which makes me think Rice is likely out this week. All of that, is very concerning. You add to it that I, I projected the chiefs this year to Monza to go 12 and five. I, I now, if I were to do it all over again, I'd probably have them going 13 and four. If I were to like repick the repick it, but if they win this game, a desperate Seattle team on the road, you're missing both your tackles, your number one receiver, then all of a sudden you're like, wait, is this team a

40:26 15-win team? And I think the Chiefs have the highest upside of any team in the league because the defense is young and going to be getting better because Patrick is only going to get better because I think they will add another receiver. There's a lot of reasons to believe that If they're 12-5 in the two seed, they're the most dangerous team in the playoffs. But if they beat Seattle, then it basically means going into the Bills game on Thanksgiving, they are at worst 9-1 and maybe 10-0.

41:05 And I don't, as much as I like this Chiefs team, I don't think they're a 10-0 team. I don't think they're the last remaining undefeated. Maybe they are.

41:15 You don't think they're better than the Niners? I mean, well, I shouldn't say the Niners. What, the Vikings?

41:20 No.

41:21 And the Niners?

41:21 No, I do think they're better than the Vikings. I don't think this moment they're better than the Niners, but I think they will be when they play them. And so, like, that's... But this is just a game Kansas City is supposed to lose. And it will not... It's not... you know, like a crisis if they do lose. With that said, there are some paths to victory here. And that is, what is going on with Sam Darnold? And can Spagnola heat him up enough to where he plays the way he's been playing the last few weeks? There is, it's very rare. Bo Nix was so awful. on Thursday Night Football, that Sam Darnold threw multiple game-losing interceptions, one at the end of regulation, one at the end of overtime, and

42:26 his team lost. And the other quarterback was the one who caught all the heat all week in Bo Nix. That's how bad Bo Nix was in that game. But Darnold has not been good. And the Kenneth Walker factor is really interesting. Um, in that, and there's weird now reporting. It's like, Oh no, the, the, the Seahawks didn't choose, uh, Rashid Shahid over Kenneth Walker. They never made Kenneth Walker an offer. Well, that's dumb. Like that, however you want to parse it. They had money to spend. They ended up spending it on Shahid. They didn't make Kenneth Walker an offer. And, I mean, he has, you could argue, and I said it last week, he might have flipped both conferences. Seattle's offense, now Zach Charbonnet should be back,

43:27 his first game since the torn ACL, but I can't imagine he goes back to a full workload. They'd probably ease him in. So here's, I guess, my real takeaway on this game to Monse. I think Chiefs wins are low scoring. I think if the Chiefs win this game, it's a 20-17 type of win. And I think that if the Chiefs win this game, they make a statement that they are clearly and unequivocally the favorites in the AFC.

44:09 Right now, it's kind of them and Buffalo. You know what I mean? Batting it back and forth. If they win this game in Seattle, and I care a lot about Seattle coming off the extra rest. Seattle playing on a Thursday before this game, I think is very... Them being at home and on a Thursday is very beneficial to them in this spot. With all that said, Nick's picks tomorrow. Mahomes as an underdog in his career is.

44:38 Has.

44:39 historically been an auto fire. And so I'll see if I'm able to stay away from it. All right, let's go to tonight's game, which is one of the better Thursday night football games of the year.

44:53 Caleb Williams going up against Drake May. Two top quarterbacks in that 2024 class. They've both had a lot of success. Drake May's made a Super Bowl. Your thoughts on the game and what chances do you give these two quarterbacks at finishing.

45:07 The top two or the best quarterbacks?

45:09 Of their class.

45:12 Well, listen, I would be stunned if they're not the top two in their class. DeJong, Jaden, Bo Nix, Penix, JJ. It will be these two guys with respect to Jaden. Of the two, listen, I think Caleb's got... The argument going into this year that I would have made is... Caleb has a higher ceiling. Drake has a higher floor.

45:44 We had to reevaluate what Drake's floor looked like after those first three weeks. We found out Drake's floor was he'd be the worst quarterback or one of the worst quarterbacks in the league for a few weeks. So that changes that math. Listen, it's hard. On first things first, I've got Danny as the ultimate Caleb guy and Wilds as the ultimate Drake guy. So I'm, you know, at times I could maybe seem overly critical of either of them, but I think Drake is a going to be a perennial star and no doubt franchise quarterback. I still think Caleb's going to end up being the better player. And I think Caleb, I, you know, the way the outside noise can seem to at least, you know, infiltrate his psyche i i don't love but every year you know

46:42 after year one we've talked about this a ton but let's do it quickly year one he got sacked 68 times they couldn't get plays in that was his big issue last year he totally fixed it got sacked 24 times and they didn't have any operational problems after year two the issue was he's completing 58 percent of his passes Now all of a sudden, he leads the league in completion percentage. He has shown an unbelievable ability to fix what his biggest weakness is, and he does not turn the ball over. Like his whole career, that has been one of his calling cards. He doesn't turn the ball over. On top of all of that, given the injuries the Patriots are currently dealing with, that it's a short week, that it's in Chicago... I like the Bears

47:33 a lot tonight. And so, I think the Bears win tonight. I think the Bears, you know, are right now looking at the NFC and saying, we're in a brutal... It's our division and San Francisco. And let's see what, you know, let's see how high we can climb on this thing. I think the Bears. The Bears' defense has shown flashes of enough credibility that I don't put them, DeMonte, right now in the same bucket that I put the Lions' defense in, which is you can't get to a Super Bowl with a defense that bad. The Bears' defense has shown moments where they can stop people, and so I am.

48:25 I.

48:27 Like the Bears tonight, and... I also think on the New England side of things, the thing I am most interested in watching tonight is A.J. Brown. Was that just a weird, rust-laden first game where he couldn't catch the ball? Or is he not going to be the level of player that we thought he was going to be for the Pats this year? Go ahead.

48:55 For my fantasy team, I would hope it's the first one.

48:58 Well, I mean, yeah, I mean, a lot of people were relying on when AJ comes back, he's going to be their number one target. But so again, let me just pull up the Pat's injury report real quick, because this was at Romeo Dobbs is obviously on IR. So that's concerning. Ruled out for the game center, Ben Brown.

49:20 Corner Carlton Davis. Guard Elijah Veritaker. Two other corners. Channing Canada, who I think was a reserve player. Karen Prenti. Those guys are all already ruled out. Questionable for the game tonight is tackle Morgan Moses. Safety, Kevin Byard. Linebacker, Christian Ellis. And safety, Craig Woodson. So two of your starting offensive linemen are out. One of your other tackles is questionable.

49:52 Will Campbell, you know, was dealing with a knee, but he practiced all week. The only bears of note that we know are out are Jack Sanborn, linebacker, and Kyle Menungai, running back. Now, with that said, they also have another linebacker, TJ Edwards, who's doubtful. So missing a couple linebackers could open up the middle of the field for New England.

50:15 But I just think those injuries for New England could be the deciding factor in tonight's game. And then you add to it. But what I'm interested in watching is what does A.J. look like? I am really curious what A.J. looks like in... You know, he's yet played... Week one got hurt early. Week two could not catch the ball, including the onside kick. Just something to watch. All right, before we get to Lamar Jackson, you ever notice how everything keeps going up? Rents going up. Streaming services are going up. Your favorite burrito spot's charging you extra for stalls.

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51:14 After 30 gigs, customers may experience lower speeds. Customers will pay $ 25 per month as long as they remain active on the Boost Unlimited plan. All right, Demondze, let's talk Lamar Jackson.

51:28 Jesse Minter is calling Lamar Jackson's injury a day-to-day thing. He was at practice a little bit yesterday. The line has shifted from minus three to plus one and a half. Now, obviously, we dropped the game without him last week, and we're going to need him this week.

51:43 We're in a rough spot.

51:46 Yeah.

51:48 I don't. You got the Bengals.

51:52 I don't. Lamar was limited in practice, so that's better than do not practice. But the line, Vegas thinks he's not playing. That's to me what the Ravens being underdogs says. I don't know what to make of the following things. I don't know what to make of how hurt Lamar is. I don't know what to make of the fact that Four of the last six years, he has suffered an injury that his coaches, and now it's a different set of coaches, seem to have one prognosis on when he would be back, and it ended up being a different prognosis.

52:45 I don't know what to make of the... very opaque reporting from the very beginning that, ah, this is an odd ankle injury. I don't know what that means. I don't know what to make of the fact that Schefter last week said, I don't know, Schefter or Rappaport, he had a realistic chance to play and now we're a week later and it doesn't look like he's going to play.

53:12 I do know that he's now over the last, what is it? Six years played fewer games than Joe Burrow. I do know that he now, I think has taken the mantle of star quarterback, most likely to miss a game with injury. And I, I don't consider Jaden with respect to star. So like that's, but of the guys who are, you know, the, And I don't just mean the big four like Jared Goff or Stafford or pick a guy like Lamar just misses time. And I, it's a weird thing because I've defended Lamar in because they didn't give him a contract. I also would want to make sure I'm fully healthy before I go out there.

54:12 But I do wonder if the injury stuff and his lack of what I think is very fair to call now a lack of communication to the team by him, if that factors into whether or not they want to give him a contract. And so I, so I just, I don't, I honestly, I am getting very weird vibes, and I don't want this year to be deja vu of last year for your Ravens. Now, luckily, the difference is last year when Lamar was healthy and playing great, they were losing. Like, they started the year poorly, so they dug themselves a big hole. But falling to 4-3 would not be great.

55:03 With the Browns cooking on top of that.

55:05 Yeah, and the Steelers. The Steelers are 4-2.

55:10 Like, if you lose this.

55:13 Week, you're in last place in the division. And I don't think you're beating the Bengals with Huntley. Like, I.

55:20 It'd be tough.

55:23 I mean, obviously, it's a point-and-a-half spread, so obviously you could, but it would not be my pick. And it's just.

55:32 It's like, we started this year off with, I just feel like, so much different vibes.

55:36 Lamar seemed to be much more into it. He's giving speeches and all that stuff. And he's in my head.

55:44 It's just, he's hurt. He's not. Yeah. I mean, he is hurt, but it is still, it is still weird.

55:52 Just would like to have a definitive answer on what the exact injury is.

55:55 What's going on.

55:57 I mean, we know it's an ankle injury, but we, it doesn't. And I just, and this is the point I made on the TV show and I'll make it again. And I, And I don't think this is unfair. If the spectrum of quarterbacks willing... Like, what injury is a quarterback willing to play through? If on the far end of the spectrum sits Brett Favre, who started, like, almost 300 consecutive games, was, you know, would have... torn muscle or hairline frack. Like he was never, ever missing games.

56:40 The saints did a whole bounty gate thing to try to end his season. Didn't matter. Like the, the far views, his threshold of, am I 20%? Yeah, I'm good to go. He's like the, he is one end of the spectrum. Lamar appears to be pretty close to the other end, where he needs to be the closest to 100% to play of any franchise quarterback. And I'm not even saying that's wrong or it's bad.

57:18 All back on his play style. Like, it's hard.

57:21 Yeah.

57:21 Brett Favre is relying on a bunch of people to probably protect him because he's more of a, you know, in-pocket type of passer.

57:27 Lamar Jackson's getting out of there.

57:28 Yes.

57:29 Yeah. Yeah.

57:30 And he might think I can't be as effective and all of it. But it is, as a Ravens fan, I just feel like all of a sudden there's some ominous vibes, if you will. Now, maybe he's back and they win. And when he's played, he's been awesome. He was having an awesome year. Even though that Saints loss was dumb, he was having an awesome year. All right, let's talk America's Game of the Week, Green Bay and Detroit.

57:55 So you've been impressed with Green Bay's all-around performance recently. They've got Detroit, who has not been able to stop anything. Yet Detroit is three-and-a-half home favorites. Do you think Vegas has this right?

58:08 Listen, I think this is a tricky one. And Green Bay is getting Brian Branch back, and the defense post-bye should be a little bit healthier. And I've said that I don't think Detroit can– win any game this year without scoring 30. I'm just going to be totally honest with you guys. I was leaning that I was going to have Green Bay as one of my picks. And then he's going to get mad at me on this, but I don't care. I saw Danny yesterday. on First Things First Overtime, we put out a clip where he said, everybody eats on Detroit. They might lose in a shootout, but I will be floored if with Matthew Golden, Christian Watson, and Tucker Craft in a dome, Jordan Love doesn't have a good game in this spot. And I was like,

59:03 you know what? Sorry, Danny, but every square in America is going to be all over Green Bay plus the three and a half. So I'm staying away from it. Detroit off a bye. Something to prove. Green Bay probably looked a little bit better than they actually are the last couple weeks. I still, I don't feel comfortable enough to lay the three and a half with Detroit, but I'm not grabbing the three and a half with Green Bay.

59:33 And I think Detroit, listen, Detroit has the number one offense in the entire NFL and they're off a bye. So they will be able to score. If Green Bay wins this game, if the defense can even somewhat stymie the Lions offense, I will upgrade Green Bay in my head significantly. Right now, I've already been upgrading them the last few weeks, but right now they are in that good but not great team. If the defense without Micah can slow down a Lions team no one's been able to slow down, that'll change my opinion. By the way, as I take a shot at Danny, happy birthday, Danny.

1:00:22 It's Danny Parkin's birthday today. It's his 40th birthday actually today. Big birthday for my buddy Parco. Happy birthday. All right, next one.

1:00:32 So, 49ers are undefeated and at the top of your tiers. So, they've got Atlanta coming up next. And if you remember the last game against the Commanders, after Mike Evans went out, they had about 72 yards of total offense. Do you think that will be enough to hang with the Falcons?

1:00:49 So, this game is making an appearance in Knicks picks tomorrow. Because this game... has a fishy line written all over it. The Niners are only two and a half point favorites. Everyone is going to be all over San Francisco. So it is... I'm going to table my commentary on this game for tomorrow's pick show. And, you know, the other, just quickly... You know what? The other quick games that we were going to do here, we'll do in the pick show tomorrow. And so, because last week the Thursday show went way too long, so we made the pick show shorter. I don't want to do that. Today was a good show. Demaze, you were great. Thank you to Polymarket.

1:01:41 Thank you to Boost. Apologies for the little abrupt ending. This is almost exactly an hour, which is what we want this show to be. We'll be back here in a few minutes, but you'll see it tomorrow. Um, with our coming off a red hot four in one weekend, that boy, oh boy, did we ever need, uh, our week seven NFL pick show in your feed tomorrow, subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, and iTunes for that. Thank you to blue duck. Thank you to volume. See you guys tomorrow.