What's Wright - NFL Week 8 Storylines: Chiefs-Broncos REMATCH, Bears MONSTER TRADE, Lamar Jackson vs. Josh Allen

0:03 Welcome in What's Right with Nick Wright episode 521. This episode of What's Right with Nick Wright is presented to you by Boost Mobile. Typically on the show, this is where we slide in Demanze. However, Demanze is going through something right now. Many a new or young parent has gone through, which is you have a baby. You and the baby's other parent both have jobs. You sign the baby up for daycare so you can go to your jobs.

0:36 Your otherwise healthy baby keeps getting sick because of the dirty other babies at the daycare. So the daycare then says, can't have a sick kid here. So now you got to take off from work. So now you're paying for the daycare, but the kid's not at daycare and the kid is only getting sick because of the daycare. Such is life, I suppose. I didn't mean to call those kids, those specific kids, dirty. I just, all little kids are just always sick. But they're sick because they're around other kids.

1:05 It's quite the paradox, they say. So Demanze had to take today off because his kid can't go to daycare because his kid got sick at daycare. So I am here just with you guys. Ah, the joys of being a fresh new parent. We also have fresh new NFL news as well. Jeffrey Simmons has been traded to the Bears.

1:26 We will get to that in a moment. But first, straight to voicemail brought to you by Boost Mobile. Anthony Edwards going to miss a couple months with arthroscopic knee surgery. He was playing at an MVP level. The Timberwolves seating is going to get crushed, I fear. Without him, that is a huge bummer. And You know, he dealt with the knee injuries last year during the playoffs. They decided to rest it in the offseason. And now there's DeMonte's empty chair. That's where he would be. And now they have decided that they need to shut him down for a bit. Also, the Brewers. My pick. Finally got a pick right. Win the World Series. They were the best team in baseball start to finish. They also play... A

2:12 somewhat old school style of baseball that people do tend to enjoy. And WNBA Finals Game 6. I think the Atlanta Dream are going to win. I think we are going to get a Game 7. And that game starts oddly in like 90 minutes. And if you're not watching it on the USA Network, it is being simulcast. This is not a joke on SyFy. All of that missed the cut. Where we will start today, however, is... With the Bears trading this year and next year's first round picks for star defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons, there is a growing history of teams trading multiple first round picks for defensive players. It is a very narrow... banned within that history of teams that if they could do it all over again, would. The most, I don't know if it's

3:17 the most famous. This is, I'm going to do this off the top of my head because the news just broke. The Seahawks famously traded two first round picks for Jamal Adams. 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, you know, 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. 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

4:07 time with the bears, they, you know, one, I know they, they want to play off 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.

4:31 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, 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.

4:58 He hasn't been back yet this year. The Cowboys then use 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.

5:34 It does signal that the Bears are trying to maximize Caleb's rookie contract, which makes sense. You understand why they would want to do that. I... 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. 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 this, with the

6:47 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 Super Bowl. The Seahawks in year two of Russell Wilson got won the Super Bowl, year three got to another one. I'm leaving some obvious ones out.

7:52 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. And the chat, 66% of the chat says the bears won the trade. I, I'm not a huge fan of those snap reactions only in that.

8:22 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...

9:01 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 number 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.

9:28 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 judge, but it just takes a longer timeline to judge whether or not this was a smart move. 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.

10:17 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 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 seven and one. 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.

11:14 I would put this in the aggressive, but I understand it bucket. 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 why 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

12:13 the exact same season they had last year, I think we all would have 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.

12:46 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, 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, I did a, 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.

13:47 I had them beating the Broncos in Week 1, 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.

14:23 I think that was the five. 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.

15:06 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, 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. That is very important.

15:38 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.

16:42 If the Chiefs win, they have 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, for the first time all year, they'll essentially be tied with Denver, but because they've had a bye and Denver hasn't, 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

17:43 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.

18:06 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 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.

18:36 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.

19:20 They are one of the teams that should make some type of trade, some type of acquisition, 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. Mansoor Delane's been spectacular.

20:06 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.

21:14 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.

21:39 And then you're in a position where you're 9-1 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 and So if they lose this game, I would still expect them to be 8-2 going into that stretch and okay.

22:08 But you would like to have as big of a margin for error as 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 same emotions and thoughts that I shared about the Chiefs potentially adding Tyreek Hill 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

22:58 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 to stop rooting for the Chiefs.

23:22 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...

23:55 I'm not trying to cop out. It is what it is. It's kind of gross. It's uncomfortable. I don't like it. And 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. Uh, and if, and if your line is, if he plays for the team, I'm not a fan. That's I, I don't, I don't think that's a crazy position to take the way folks that win Deshaun, when the Browns trade for Deshaun, 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 honest part of it.

24:55 My guess is, just my guess, is Justin Tucker never plays a snap for the Kansas City Chiefs, but we'll see. All right, we have massive, massive games coming this weekend. We just talked about one of them. We'll get to the others in a second. But first, basketball season's here, and the best way to trade on it is with the prediction market polymarket in the past if you wanted action on the game put some money in and if your team was doing well and you wanted to cash out lock the trade take a fee or you just couldn't do it polymarket's different it's a prediction market which is akin to it being like a stock exchange for sports where you buy in and sell out on your timeline on your terms i have tried all of the

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26:39 One of the other huge games this week, and we already kind of alluded to it, in discussing the huge trade for Jeffrey Simmons is Bears in Seattle Monday night. Now I am going to make this very clear. I do not expect Seattle to make the Bears look as bad as they made the Chiefs look last Sunday night.

27:11 I think the Bears offense for a litany of reasons, is going to have a level of success greater than the Chiefs offense was able to have. But I don't think it's going to be... Almost any performance would be more successful than the Chiefs were able to have. The Chiefs never got the ball in the red zone. They scored three points. So I don't think the Bears will look like that. But I also don't think the Bears are going to get to 20. I think Seattle had a dumb loss to Washington and then an either-or game loss, as Simmons would say, to the Niners, who are excellent, and a truly indefensible loss to Denver, where Darnold just couldn't get out of his own way. Despite those losses, I think Seattle is potentially If Darnold starts playing a

28:12 little better, the best team in the league again, I think that they are unequivocally a top two defense. And even though all the numbers suggest the Vikings are the best defense, I think the Seahawks are actually the scariest defense, particularly now that Nicky Minwari seems fully healthy. And I expect Seattle will talk about it more in Nick's picks.

28:41 But I think Seattle is about to rip off a nice little stretch here. Back-to-back games against elite competition to remind everybody that they are the defending champs for a reason. And even with the Bears adding Jeffrey Simmons, one would imagine his least impact would be in his first game there. The Seahawks just added Quentin Nelson, so those two guys being matched up against each other. I think Seattle wins this game. And I think Seattle's defense is up for the challenge. With that said, in all these great things I'm saying about the Seahawks, if they lose the game, you do start to get a little anxious about where they will fall in the NFC playoff picture. They fall to four and four. Again, the way to look at

29:44 the NFC playoff picture is very simple. There are going to be five spots available for the four NFC North teams. and the three NFC West teams. The South is going to be a one-playoff team division. The East is going to be a one-playoff team division. So you've got Niners, Seahawks, Rams, plus all four NFC North teams. Five of those seven are going to make it. And if Seattle loses to Chicago, they could find themselves at the midway point of the season, standings-wise, in seventh place there. And I, again, I don't think I would still expect them to be fine, especially because their next couple of games are against relatively soft opponents.

30:42 You think they're going to get to six and four and be okay, but this is Seattle put themselves a bit behind the eight ball, particularly with that dumb loss to the commanders. And because of that, Their margin for error is shrinking just a bit. And if they lose, you do start to say, okay, well, what if the Rams at some point start to look like the Rams again?

31:13 Are we only going to have two NFC North playoff teams or are the Seahawks and the Rams going to be battling for that final spot playoff spot in the NFC. I don't know. So I don't want to do too many playoff scenarios. Point is this, I expect Seattle to win, but if they lose, it is fair to at least start to question whether or not the math is going to get hard on them as far as basically having to be in playoff mode the final month of the season where, for whatever it's worth, two of the final three weeks of the season, we get Seahawks-Rams against each other, and those could be two teams fighting for one playoff spot. Amazingly, with Chiefs-Broncos and with Seahawks-Bears, neither of which, some would

32:13 argue neither of which is even the biggest game of the weekend. Biggest game of the weekend is Ravens-Bills. We will get to that, or at least for some, We will get to that in a moment. But first, guys, it's already here. The Emirates NBA Cup on Prime. Every Friday, Prime's bringing you the best matchups of the tournament from group play all the way through the knockout rounds and championship.

32:39 And each week, we've got you covered with everything you need to know before tip-off. So let's get into this week's Cup Friday preview. You guys already know what the NBA Cup is, I would hope. But if not, here's a quick refresher. Prime is where you watch it for all the action. It's the fourth season of the tournament.

32:57 The first one ever was won by the Lakers. The Knicks won last year. Who won year two? Was it the Thunder won year two? I don't even remember. It doesn't matter. This is the second year it's on Prime. It's group play. All 30 teams split into six groups of five. Three groups per conference based on last season's standings.

33:17 which gives you an idea of how much each of these games matters. Each team plays four group play games, one against each other, the other four teams in their group with two at home and two on the road. Group play then determines which eight teams advance to the knockout round. It's very simple. The winners of each group plus the best placing non-winners give you your eight teams.

33:42 The knockout rounds, it's a best of eight tournament. It's a single elimination tournament. quarterfinals, semifinals, and championships. Oh, the Bucs won two years ago. That's right, I forgot. Eight teams battle back-to-back nights of quarterfinal doubleheaders. Then four teams advance to the semis. The semis, we've seen them in Vegas.

34:03 This year, it's different. Last two teams stand and compete for the cup championship, which is heading to campus. This year, it's being played at Brad Stevens' old stomping ground, Gordon Hayward's old stomping ground, Butler University's historical Hinkle Fieldhouse, Indiana's basketball cathedral. Week one of the Emirates NBA Cup on Prime, Friday, Knicks-Sixers, a game in Philadelphia that I should be in attendance for as I am now a proud Sixers season ticket holder.

34:37 that Sixers already beat the Knicks to start the season. The Sixers, as we sit here today, are in first place in the Eastern Conference. This is sneaky, even if it wasn't a cup game, a sneaky big game for the Knicks. And it really gives the Sixers an opportunity to stamp themselves as, dare I say it, the favorites already in the East. And then out West, Lakers-Warriors. The Warriors, after a really rough start of the year, all of a sudden precocious rookie Axel Lindenborg playing out of his mind.

35:11 Steph was awesome last night. We're recording this on a Thursday. Obviously, we're doing it live on a Thursday. Steph was awesome on Wednesday night. Lakers, Luka playing at an MVP level, and the Lakers also able to just win a game without Luka, looking like he's gunning for his first MVP, a scoring championship, all that. So a huge week one Emirates NBA Cup on prime Friday night. Knicks, Sixers, Lakers, Warriors.

35:36 That's it. For this week's Emirates NBA Cup Friday preview on Prime. Back next week with another. As the tournament continues. Don't forget tomorrow. Knicks Sixers. Lakers Warriors. Starting at 7 Eastern. Only on Prime.

35:50 Alright.

35:52 Back to the NFL. Ravens Bills. And the story all. Last couple weeks has been. Willy Wonty with Lamar Jackson. As dangerous of. as business as this can be, I will go ahead and be in the business of saying I fully expect Lamar to play this week. And because it's Lamar in the regular season in particular, I fully expect Lamar to play great. Last year when Lamar missed three straight games when he first came back, he had an awesome game. I think four touchdowns, no turnovers granted against the Dolphins, but he didn't look rusty. Also, given the reporting that Lamar could have played last week, they were surprised he didn't play last week, makes you feel like he is going to be closer to 100% than

36:56 most quarterbacks coming back from their first game off injury. So I don't think Lamar is going to be a problem here. I am, however, worried about the Ravens defense, which quietly has been problematic for them all year long. And last week it wasn't quiet when they allowed 35 second half points, but it got a little overshadowed by the fact that Lamar didn't play, and then the Tracy Wolfson report, the team was shocked they didn't play. But that defense under Jesse Minter has not turned a corner.

37:41 And you have a Bills team coming off a bye, recognizing everything's out in front of them. Chiefs just lost, so the one seed's out in front of them. Purdy just lost and didn't play great, so another MVP is right in front of Josh, whether His numbers this year indicate that that would be a good choice or not.

38:06 Doesn't matter. He's the Vegas favorite. The voters love voting Josh Allen MVP. And to be fair, he's been largely excellent for the majority of the season. And an opportunity not to put a nail in the Ravens, but to start measuring out the coffins. A third straight loss, they would enter next week still in last place in the wildly competitive AFC North. The math on the AFC playoffs is not that dissimilar from the math on the NFC playoffs, except there's only one division in the AFC that we know is a single playoff team division. That's the AFC South.

38:58 It's going to be the Jags. So you then have six spots for the entirety of the AFC North, Bills, Pats, Chiefs, Broncos. So that's eight teams for six spots, just like the five teams for seven spots in the NFC. There's going to be two teams that end up without a chair. I think most people right now expect the first place Cleveland Browns with their negative point differential to come back down to earth. And I think the next most popular...

39:30 pick is probably would be a toss up between the Steelers and the Patriots as most likely to miss the playoffs. But if Baltimore falls to four and four, when Baltimore still has So many of these divisions, they're 0-2 in the division already. They haven't played the Steelers yet, and they have won more against the Bengals and Browns. With a Thursday game against Jacksonville coming up, a loss for the Ravens here would be, again, not catastrophic, but incredibly damaging.

40:15 And I think that's what we're going to get. This Bills offense has been, as the kids say, an absolute wagon all year. I don't think the Ravens have the defensive personnel to slow it down. And while the Bills defense has been actually worse than the Ravens defense this year, the Bills have been winning these shootouts for years. The last year and a half, the defense has not been that good. And Josh, to his credit, and Deion Dawkins and James Cook have consistently found a way. And so this feels like, to me, a lot of the Bills games that we're so used to seeing where they allow high 20s, if not 30s, but find a way to win.

41:08 They've already done that four times this year, by the way. Four times this season, they've allowed 30 plus and won the game. The last game they played against the Raiders, obviously the Rams game, 37-34, which was just wild. The way that game went when Josh got his first ever career overtime victory. And then the first couple of weeks of the year, Texans-Lions, both those teams scored. 31 on Buffalo.

41:36 It didn't matter. This feels like a 31, 28, 30 to 27, uh, type of bills victory. And if that happens right or wrong, Josh will be the, become the overwhelming MVP favorite and the bills will, we'll see how chiefs Broncos go goes, but the Bills could find themselves all of a sudden a game clear of the field if the Chiefs lose for the one seed in the AFC.

42:11 I hate for Baltimore that this game is coming for them while they're on a losing streak. First game with Lamar back and the Bills coming off a bye with Baltimore also having to know in the back of their head and we have another huge game later, you know, a week from today against Jacksonville, but that's how the schedule fell. I say all that as the actual game preview.

42:39 I then add this addendum. If somehow Lamar doesn't play in this game, it is a five alarm fire in Baltimore. Again, I think he is overwhelmingly likely to play, and I have spent a ton of time on this show and on the TV show discussing the curious case of Lamar Jackson's injury reporting, injury recovery, and injury timelines. We don't have to spend time on it here. But I would ask the audience this. Assuming Lamar plays this week, the Ravens have 10 games left this year, nine after this week.

43:25 How many of those 10 Do you expect Lamar to play? If I set the over-under at nine and a half, the only bet there is the under, right? It is more likely than not that he misses time again this year. I feel like that's obvious while also alarming. We'll see. I also think, just real quick on Lamar, not injury related, I am sure he feels like, guys, I'm better than Josh Allen. When I'm healthy, I'm first team all pro.

44:11 He hasn't been. Neither one of us have beaten the Chiefs in the playoffs. He's had four shots at it. I've only had one. At this point in our careers, amazingly, I have the far better passing numbers. You guys have And by the way, Lamar, before he got hurt, was having another phenomenal season. So maybe a little chip on his shoulder for Lamar, which could be good for them.

44:37 I just don't know. I think you need to have, if you don't have a top eight defense, the Bills are just going to score 30 on you, which is a testament to Josh and that offensive infrastructure. And the Ravens don't have a top 18 defense. So I like the Bills in this spot. All right, there's another huge game this weekend that I want to get to involving the only undefeated team left. But first, we have a new sponsor. And this is, you know, I don't want to say heavier, but maybe more important than most of our sponsors. So I'm going to talk to you guys about real life stuff for a second. If your anxiety, depression, or ADHD, or anything like that are more than just a rough patch, maybe you need more than talk therapy

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47:16 Right.

47:17 All right. Now we get to, you know, this brand of team exists most years, much to, I'm going to try to give the other examples of it, much to the chagrin of our guy, Paul, who is a diehard Minnesota Vikings fan. which is the team that's undefeated, or as the best record, and yet they are still, there is a healthy level of skepticism about them. So I'm going to, week 620, let me see if I can find this website that always is good for me on this, where NFL standings, yeah, by week, by day, here we go.

48:13 Last year, that team was the Indianapolis Colts. A couple years before that, that team was the Miami Dolphins with Tua that had just scored 70 points, and I think were 5-1 through six weeks. There was an 11-0 Steelers team in the waning days of Big Ben. And people were like, yeah, we don't believe in you. There was a...

48:42 Kyler Murray-led Arizona Cardinals team that had J.J. Watt and I think started 9-0. And people were like, yeah, we don't believe in you. This year, that team is the Kyler Murray-led Minnesota Vikings. People were like, yeah, you have an unbelievable defense. Sorry, we don't believe in you. And that's not just like the media. It's also the, you know, the folks that set lines as Minnesota finds themselves as three and a half point dogs at a good, but far from flawless Lions team. On the TV show, and now I wouldn't, I didn't go this far. Danny went out on a limb and said six and O Vikings about to be the six and four Vikings. as they go at Lions, home for Bills, at Packers, home for the Niners. That, to me, is a touch too disrespectful

49:46 on how dominant the defense has been. However, here is the case against Minnesota and why this weekend's game is so instructive. Week one, they played an. Good to very good quarterback in Jordan Love. The Packers moved the ball. The Packers scored 22 points. Jordan Love threw for 387 yards. The Packers then, in the second half, could not stop turning the ball over, forced by Minnesota, and Minnesota ends up routing them 39-22. The next week, they play the dominant offense that is the Chicago Bears, hold them to three points. It's like, holy moly. And I understand the weather was awful in that game, but still, that was a great performance. Since then, the quarterbacks are Baker in the game, he got hurt, Malik Willis, Tyler Shuck,

50:50 Daniel Jones. Which is why, since the next four quarterbacks are Jared Goff, Josh Allen, Jordan Love, who already threw for 380 on him, and Brock Purdy, there is some level of skepticism of, Are you going to keep holding these teams to one touchdown per game? And the fair answer to that is probably this Vikings team is not, even though the numbers line up with it, of the caliber of the 2000 Ravens, the O2 Bucks. However, it is.

51:32 At the very least, one of the three best defenses in football this year, and probably, I don't know if I should say probably, might be the best defense. I think it's them and Seattle. Maybe I'm scarred from what I just saw Seattle do to my Chiefs, but they're certainly a top two defense. The numbers back up as number one, which gets us to the real take for the Vikings, which is if you do have a top two defense in the NFL, which the Vikings obviously do, all you need is average quarterback play and you can get to a conference championship game or a Super Bowl.

52:18 We have seen that repeatedly throughout history. Dominant defense, decent quarterback play, and you are a true legitimate contender. The question for Minnesota is, can they have decent quarterback play? Up to this point in the season, they have not. Kyler is thrown for three touchdowns. I know that sounds impossible.

52:48 It's true. And it's not because he's killing people with his legs. He's run for, oh, I thought he had one touchdown. He doesn't. He's run for zero touchdowns. Now they've gotten Jordan Mason back, which should help their running game. Obviously, Justin Jefferson's a superstar. I still don't understand why Jordan Addison hasn't popped the way I thought he would after his rookie year. But the problem right now is you're getting 160 yards and 85 quarterback rating out of Kyler.

53:20 And the reason I did that whole setup and put it like that is even with the Lions getting Brian Branch is back. Kirby Joseph returned from practice. If you can't cook against the Lions defense, then you're simply not going to have a capable enough offense for us to look at you as a. With the respect that your record demands. And this is where, if you're a Vikings fan, and I understand, and Paul, you can put in the doc if I'm making you mad, I understand, and maybe what I'm about to say here is sacrilege. I don't think so, though. If Kyler struggles this week, if I'm Minnesota, I'm calling the Raiders about Kirk.

54:18 Because the way Kirk is playing this year, with that Vikings defense, I think you're a legit contender. I just worry... Like, Kyler typically... Kyler typically plays his best ball early in the year and struggles later. Now, maybe this year it's going to go in reverse. You can hope it's going to go in reverse. But Kirk is playing at a level that I... I would feel like if he could play at that level with Minnesota, and he's doing it with no receivers with the Raiders. Now, they obviously have Brock Bowers. Then I would look at the Lions as on par with the best teams in the NFC who right now I think are the Seahawks, the Niners, and the Bears. You have two games until the trade deadline.

55:20 They are both against bad defenses, the Lions and the Bills. If you are running the Vikings, if Kyler can't put up at least 24 on average in these next two weeks, then I do think you should call about Kirk Cousins. I personally would maybe be calling about Kirk Cousins already, but a two-week audition... Seems fair. And then the other thing that's going on with the Vikings is you just have to feel like, man, please can JJ McCarthy just put up a dud? Can we please just have him not be this? Because that would be a whole different type of catastrophe. All right, a few other things I want to get to quickly. But first, Boost Mobile proving you don't have to overpay for great wireless. Unlock the savings with a $ 25 a month forever unlimited plan. Permanent price,

56:19 no contracts, no price hikes. You can keep your phone and your number, but you save up to $ 600 a year compared to the major carrier. Stop overpaying and switch to a fair price at BoostMobile.com today. Based on average annual single line payment of AT & T, Verizon, and T-Mobile customers compared to 12 months on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan as of January, 2026. For full offer details, visit BoostMobile.com. All right. The trade deadline is not upon us.

56:59 It is a week from Tuesday. We started today's show with the massive Titans trade of Jeffrey Simmons to the Chicago Bears. Most interesting players who I think teams... should listen on. And I'm just going to go team by team. If I'm a Jets fan, if someone wants to give me a first round pick and a mid-round pick for Garrett Wilson, I'm listening. Aside from that, if you're the Jets, most of your impact guys are guys on rookie contracts.

57:53 You're not trading them anyway, but I'm listening. The Browns might trade Jerry Judy. I don't know that he's a difference maker. They're also 5-2, but they're not really using him. No one else in the AFC North is going to be sellers on anything in the Browns. I'm not saying they're sellers, but Jerry Judy's a name that have come up. Obviously, everyone on the Colts should be available. Jonathan Taylor, if some, I don't know if anyone's giving up. In fact, I do know no one's giving up a first round pick for Jonathan Taylor. But if I am Cincinnati or Denver, I am strongly considering offering a two that I maybe say can turn into a one if we make the Super Bowl or something for Jonathan Taylor. And I think

58:47 the Colts, should be in a position of, because they have to recoup some of the draft capital they lost in the disastrous sauce trade, of listening for everybody. Obviously, it looks like Josh Downs is going to be traded, maybe to the Chiefs. I think Josh Downs is, if you can get a four for him, you send it in immediately. My guess is you get a conditional five for Josh Downs. The Texans are in a very interesting spot where they just added players or player in Marvin Harrison Jr. But that loss to... The Giants was so damning that I do think they've got to at least consider whether or not they're going to switch from being buyers to sellers. They have a buy this week. If somehow they were to lose out of the buy to

59:52 the Chargers, then. While I would love, I would love, and we talked about it on the TV show yesterday, for the Chiefs to be able to trade for Nico Collins, I don't think they're trading Nico Collins. I wonder if Danell Hunter, however, could be available if the Texans season truly goes to hell. Chargers, everyone on the roster should be available. The problem is there are not a lot of guys on that roster.

1:00:27 people want to trade for, just flatly. The Raiders should reopen the conversations about Max Crosby, given the fact that they've lost four games in a row, and we just talked about Kirk Cousins. Everyone on the Eagles, Zach Vaughn, Saquon, Dallas Goddard, Reek Woolen, all of those guys, you can make an argument. You should just take the best available offer for it. because you're going with the salary cap situation.

1:01:00 You're about to find yourself in adding more and more picks is very smart. And if you're the commanders, I I'm sure Dan Quinn doesn't want to do it because his job's on the line. With that said, he's not the GM. If you're the commanders, obviously step on digs should be available. And again, You know, he is a lifer with the team and arguably the best player on the team. But Deron Payne, when you see Jeff Simmons go for two firsts, I'd be curious what Deron Payne could.

1:01:43 Get.

1:01:44 No one in the NFC North are going to be sellers. Oddly, I don't think anyone in the NFC South is going to be a seller flatly because they don't, Like they're all still alive. And then the NFC West, obviously the only potential seller is the Cardinals. And for the Cardinals, I don't, again, I don't want to be rude. I don't know that any of their guys, obviously Jeremiah Love, even though he hasn't played great, has immense value. He just went in top five in the draft. They're not trading him. Trey McBride's the best tight end in football right now. They're not trading him. Aside from that, maybe Josh Sweat. Maybe you pivot and Josh Sweat's available. But those are the guys. Oh, the producers remind me, and

1:02:39 they are correct, that when I said in the AFC South, Brian Thomas Jr., I do think's available. I would be thrilled if I'm wrong about this. I would love for the Chiefs to buy low on Brian Thomas Jr. I think he's a good player who has fallen out of favor there. And he would fit with the Chiefs, I think, perfectly.

1:03:04 I would be absolutely stunned if the Jags make a trade that makes the Chiefs more dangerous. So if they were to trade Brian Thomas Jr., I would have to think that would be cross-conference rather than two... an AFC contender. I would love if that happens. I don't think that's realistic. But I do think over the next 10 days, we're going to have a flurry of trades. And I'm curious how many of the guys I just listed there are a part of it. All right, we have our pick show coming to you for tomorrow. We had a decidedly mediocre week seven. We're a game under 500 for the season.

1:03:52 which is oddly much better than I'm doing on the TV show where I pick my three favorite of my five picks that I do on the, I do five picks on the pod. I pick my three favorite from those for the TV show. And my lesson in that is my favorite, my, my favorite picks are my worst picks. I'm a game under 500 on the pod and like five games under on the TV show. Cause I keep winning with the games. I don't pick doesn't matter. We'll try to do better this week. A huge thank you to all our sponsors, Boost Mobile, Polymarket, Talkiatry, and Amazon and the Emirates NBA Cup. Huge thank you to Blue Duck and to Volume. See you guys tomorrow with our Week 8 NFL Pick Show.