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Welcome in What Driving Nick Write Episode one eighty six. Fresh off an interesting, if not all that well played Monday night football game after a very intriguing Week six in the NFL were seemingly no quarterbacks except for Trevor, Laura and Jared Goff played well, We will discuss all of that. Demonse will be joining as shortly. He for his first time since moving to Los Angeles, is dealing with the devastation of Los Angeles traffic, but we'll give
him a pass. We'll see him shortly. Here is what missed the cut for today's show. Trevor Lawrence Day to day with a knee injury. They play on Thursday night. That is a story to monitor for Thursday. Justin Field's doubtful with a thumb injury. They're gonna be playing a guy from Shepherd College. Potentially that's a disaster for a team that's already had a bunch and Kansiony defeats Denver
for Chexnoes yet the one thousandth straight time. But where we're going to start today is with Monday Night Football. The producers tell me that I said the Cowboys were going to roll the Chargers. They obviously did not roll the Chargers. They did, however, beat the Chargers. They also said that I had mentioned that looked sensational and I took a shot at Herbert. The question I'm being asked is have people been too harsh on Dak and not
harsh enough on Herbert. So let's start with the Herbert part and then we will circle around to Dak And
also what frustrated me about last night's Cowboys game. So Justin Herbert came into the NFL top ten pick pressed into service in the game where the Chargers team doctor stabbed Tyrod Taylor trying to ge him a painkilling injection week two of his rookie season against my beloved Chiefs in a game, the defending champion Chiefs, no Less, in a game he did not think he was gonna have to play and threw for three hundred yards, one touchdown, one pick, a ninety four passer rating, and they lost.
But he was down right terrifying, And in that moment, I said, Oh, Jesus, this guy that the Chargers, a divisional opponent, got a great one and he's going to be a pain in the ass for years to come. And that is still kind of true. But where I'm at with Herbert is that it is not that he is the problem with the Chargers. As I said to Demanse a few weeks ago when we discussed him, It's not that he's the problem. It's that he is paid to be the solution, and you have some concern on that.
It is. Is Justin Herbert a good quarterback, no question. Is Justin Herbert a very good quarterback? I think so. But has Justin Herbert improved in any significant fashion since his rookie year. No. Justin Herbert's rookie year three to one touchdown interception ratio, A ninety eight passer rating yards per attempt of seven point six. So again three to one touchdown interception ratio, ninety eight passer rating yards per
attempt seven point six. Justin Herbert for his career a three to one touchdown interception ratio a ninety seven passer rating seven point two yards per attempt seven point I'm sorry he was seven point three as a rookie seven point two. Now, it's not like those are really good numbers, and they're the numbers of a really good quarterback. But when you put up those numbers as a rookie, we
expect you to consistently improve. That just hasn't happened. And Edwarder, I didn't know this stat So credit to Heaedwarder for tweeting it out an hour or so ago. Let me the let me find it real quick. I just had it. Stefan Gilmour's clinching I in Tino. Justin Herbert through his thirteenth career interception in the fourth quarter of a one score game tonight. That's five more so he has thirteen. No other quarterback has more than eight since he came
into the league. Now, Herbert plays a lot of one score games, there's been more opportunities for that. I understand that. But there are a lot of different thresholds of do I have a good quarterback? Do I have a very good quarterback? Do I have a great quarterback? Do I maybe have the best quarterback? And one of them is the indefinable situation Herbert was in last night, and it's the feeling that you have if you're rooting four or against that team, which is got the ball two twenty
left down three own twenty five yard line. I had a bet on the Cowboys. I was rooting for the Cowboys. I wasn't worried. That's a problem. And no Charger fan out there can argue. When he got the ball there you were like, well, definitely getting three, might get seven. You were actually watching saying, USh, this probably isn't gonna end great. And that doesn't mean he's bad. He obviously is not bad. But he came into the league and A or a B plus and right now he's an
AUS or a B plus. That's a problem now to the Cowboys. The good Dak Prescott was sensational last night, adverse circumstances, his coach seemingly working against him. Michael Gallup. Now, where Dak I thought made a mistake was targeting Gallup so often. But Gallup couldn't catch anything and made plays with his legs, which he must do more of. That's an important part of his game. He's gotta do more
of it. Made plays out of structure, made high level throws, completed some big time third, medium's, third and longs, and was excellent last night the Cowboys, and I tried to caution everyone of just anointing the Niners in the Eagles like oh Man, Cowboys lucky if they make the playoffs.
Now game back, game back of both of those teams. Now, the Niners obviously have the tiebreaker with Dallas, but Dallas gets Philly twice, and while Philly has the toughest eight game stretch in the league coming up, Dallas has a buye then their home for the Rams, then one of those Eagles games, then the Giants, the Panthers, the Commanders before their schedule gets far tougher with Seahawks, Eagles, Bills, Dolphins, Lions,
and then finish the year against the Commanders. So do not be surprised in the least if we leave Thanksgiving Day with the Cowboys in first place in the NFC East. Don't be surprised by that. In fact, that's what I think is gonna happen. And so there is there that is the good for the Cowboys. Here is the not good for the Cowboys. What we saw from Mike McCarthy at halftime of the game, or right before halftime of
the game is just absolutely unforgivable. And by the way, guys, I think, yeah, I think a MIC's opening there, so I'm hearing a lot of background noise. If you guys can kill that for the moment, I don't know if the audience is hearing it as well, but yeah, so if you guys can fix that, that'd be great. Uh. The the so, what happened at halftime of the game, right before halftime was and I know this term can be overused, but was coaching malpractice. Guys. What I'm hearing it,
just so you guys know, is Demanse's Mike. If you guys can kill that for the moment, that would be great. What happened last night is coaching malpractice and it can't happen. And so I'll give you the play by play of it, but it is a stinging indictment of McCarthy's faith in Dak and McCarthy's situational awareness. The Dallas Cowboys had two timeouts and completed a short pass to Michael Gallup on the sideline for eleven yards to get the ball to
the chargers thirty seven yard line. Gallup was ruled that his forward progress was stopped in bounds. Okay, So McCarthy had a choice there to call timeout or not. He, in my opinion, didn't realize the clock was running, and then once he realized it, decided, screw it, I'll hold onto the timeout. So they run a play they again, they have at the thirty seven with fifty seconds left, five zero, and they don't get their next playoff till there's twenty seven seconds left. On that play, there is
a penalty. The next play there's another penalty, and all of a sudden, we're in this situation fourteen seconds left. Dallas has both timeouts, they have the ball at the seventeen. The clock has been mismanaged to this point, but it's just kind of run of the mill mismanagement, being a little too protective of your timeouts. Okay. Dak then throws over the middle with eight seconds left. There are the play ins with eight seconds left, they're at the fourteen.
They have two timeouts. This is the key piece of it, and Mike McCarthy doesn't use it until there's three seconds left. Instead of trusting your decade long veteran franchise quarterback to take a shot to the end zone, he lets it go down to three seconds and kicks the field goal. You can't do that. The margins are too thin. And it is such an indictment of what McCarthy thinks of Dak. But the problem is, Mike McCarthy, you guys ain't winning a damn thing if you don't trust Dak Prescott flatly.
And so I thought the end of the half was unforgivable. And it for a guy who picked the Cowboys to go to the Super Bowl. It made me while last night's game, the defense looked excellent, Dak looked great. The coaching was so abysmal it concerned me massively. So there's our Monday night football reaction. Demonse, got here, little la traffic issues. Demonse, how are you doing this morning? No listen. I told the guys, you've been doing the show for
eighteen months. This is the first time the traffic got you, So I'm not gonna hold it against you. They had a whole photoshop ready to kill you on it. I can see right now you're very upset with yourself. I'm not worried about it. The next the reason, I was gonna wait till the B block to bring you in, but you got here just in time to talk about your new guy, the guy that Daniel Jones was replaced by in brock Purty. So why don't you go right ahead?
Yeah, so brock Prity finally lost his first game. He threw his first pick, but he didn't have his key weapons. I think that any quarterback would have struggled without their key weapons in situation like that, best defense in football, the whole nine. So he's not Patrick Mahomes, obviously. Is there anybody else besides Patrick Mahomes on a on an NFL team that you'd be comfortable having as your quarterback?
Yeah, of course there's there's there's, of course there are. I'd rather have Mahomes than anyone, but the guys, we gotta we gotta be fair here, we I mean, I see the producers wrote, yes, perty isn't the MVP. Congrats on winning an argument no one was actually making. That's both this is the this is what is just maddening. It was being made on TV shows everywhere, everywhere. He
was fourth in the Vegas odds. But and this is where I get to just kind of be a jerk and say, yeah, this is one of those those eventually right takes I told you about, because everyone now is grading Purdy on a curve that is tacitly admitting they agree with me about his skill level. Oh, no one can move the ball on the Browns defense, Lamar Jackson. Did you know why? Because he's awesome? And I had to listen for a month that I was a hater for not admitting party was awesome. What more do you
want to see from Brock Purdy? I was asked, and I said, well, a couple things. One is, I'd like to see how he looks in a situation where he doesn't have the Avengers around him as skill position guys, and all of a sudden he loses Christian McCaffrey and he's terrible. He's not mediocre, he's not okay, he's terrible. I asked to see that didn't pass that test. Hold
On the other the other other question. The other thing I said I wanted to see was let's see them in a tight second half and see how he does. And the answer was a fifteen passer rating and fifty yards in the second half. And everyone's like, oh, Nick, you're being too harsh. I I'm only being too harsh if everyone is now with me that he should be graded on the young We're not sure how good he is, give him time to grow curve. But I that's where I've been putting him, And folks said, I'm being mean.
So now people want to be able to argue that he is unquestionably a top ten quarterback and arguably the most valuable player in the league, and then also be able to argue you can't hold the fact that he got out played by PJ Walker against him. Pick a lane, Pick a lane. Folks like that, that's the the and let's the Browns defense is awesome. But what's also true is this. They've played five quarterbacks this year. The first game was against Joe Burrow on one leg. Now, they
were great and Burrow was terrible. But I think we also then saw over the next few weeks that Burrow was gonna look really bad. Against most teams. The second game was against Ryan Tannehill, who stinks every week. They played Kenny Pickett, who had a decidedly mediocre game, not great, not awful, which is exactly who Kenny Pickett is. They played Lamar Jackson, who was awesome, which is exactly who Lamar Jackson is. And they played Brock Purty and he
was terrible. And so take from it what you want, guys. Uh, but we saw for the first time a team not have to worry about Christian McCaffrey, A team dare Brock Party to beat him. And he could have thrown four interceptions in that game. He just could have. And anyone who is being honest will admit the Niners' biggest question mark, the Niners' weakest link, and the thing that makes if you're a big Niners fan you the most afraid is that Brock Party doesn't have it. That is just a
fair reading of the season. Now, DEMONSA, you tried to jump in, but I was fired up, so I wouldn't I stopped you, So go ahead.
Well, I guess the last couple of minutes of that game was probably the biggest spot up until his NFL career yet he did get them in the field goal range without his two biggest weapons.
There was a hands to win the game. Was it a forty three yarder?
I think forty one yarder? All right, so let's talk about that. The first play of that drive, he throws the ball right to the Browns and he drops it, and people are like, oh, nick, nick, that's not fair. You're gonna count dropped interceptions against him. Well, folks now want to give him credit for missed field goals, right. He can't play it both ways. You can't be like, if the guy makes the field goal, he's a hero. Fine. If Newsom catches the ball thrown to him, he's he
in that exact spot. First play of the drive, throws a pick, And yes, I did want to see Brock Purdy in that moment, and after trying to throw the game away, he moved them down the field. That is true. What is also true, and this is where people would have gotten angry with me, But at least I am consistent if that guy makes that field goal, you know what.
My feelings on Brock Perdy's game are twelve for twenty seven, one hundred and twenty five yards, one pick and a ball that just slipped right out of his tiny hands. You know what my feelings are on his performance that game, that field goal made or missed. He was bad because he was That's why the fallacy of the quarterback wins stuff. But this is the double standard that I just I can't get over with some of my colleagues in the media.
When objectively speaking, Purdy would have a mediocre game, particularly last year, where McCaffrey would be unbelievable and carry them and they would win. Folks would say, got nick quarterbacks jobs to win the game. His job is to win the game. You're gonna criticize him, and now he's awful and they lose, and you know what, those same people are saying, what more do you want him to do?
I don't know, be better in the first fifty nine minutes so the game doesn't come down to your rookie kicker outdoors in Cleveland in the rain making a kick to beat p J. Walker. Is that too much? No, it's not too much.
Situation.
So just now, what'd you say?
Situation sounds super similar to some other team that didn't have one other team and lost to a lesser team, the Chiefs. Do you what do you mean that team, the Chiefs the first game of the year they lost the Lions. Well, I will say the lines are looking pretty good, looking pretty good.
They did use that game. They're supposed to be like this. You put them up here in Holmes Mountain. They got that one guy the top of the mountain. See.
But this is where people, this is and I don't know if you're being serious or just trying to get a rise out of me. I'm not sure. This is where people make fools of themselves. We want to what are we comparing right now? We're comparing Patrick Mahomes to Brock Party. If people are trying to argue I give Patrick Mahomes more benefited out than Brock Party, yeah, of course yes I do. And there's a reason for it.
Are people trying to argue that the Chiefs looked as as out of sorts against the Lions as the Niners did against the Browns. I don't think that's what the tape shows. I don't think that's the case.
This is this is.
Any quarterback would struggle without their two main I guess Patrick Mahomes only had Kelsey that was missing. But you'd argue, yet some other things missing. Anybody would struggle at quarterback without two of their main weapons.
Sorry, no, not MVPs. Not great quarterbacks, Yes they are not. They are not necessarily putting up three hundred yards. But the reason you get discussed as the most valuable player of the NFL is because your team can function without other guys. It's because you are clearly the most valuable player on your own team. These are this is what I'm talking about. This is the again, where do we want to discuss brock perty Do we want to hold him to the standard we hold Geno Smith to? I'm
okay with that. Do we want to hold him to the standard we hold Derek Carr to? I'm okay with that, And that is a compliment to him. Those are veteran, established quarterbacks. The hold on honest question. Do you think the San Francisco forty nine ers would be worse with Derek Carr? Do you think they'd be worse with Geno Smith?
Definitely not Joe Smith?
No, So, so, hold on, are are we are? We have elevated this guy? That's been the discussion all last week. It was is he the MVP of the league? That was the discussion. And yet and yes, of course it is maddening because I had this same argument with people in a different form about Jimmy Garoppolo and and now folks want to have it again with Brock Purty, and so I'm I'm just asking, how did Kirk demonse Kirk Cousins elite good, average, below average, awful. Pick a category
you'd put him in. I know where I.
Think average and kind of breaks out into elite every once in a while.
I YEA, well, yeah, I said elite good average. So it's like in the in between good and average, in between good an average. Right, Okay, Kirk Cousins this week didn't have Justin Jefferson and you could tell he missed him, you know, didn't even throw for two hundred yards. Found a way to be functional. Now they're to be fair, they're playing the Bears defense versus the Browns defense, right, So that's a massive, massive difference. I totally recognize that.
But the idea if you have to have the league's best running back, the league's best left tackle, the second best tight end, and a top three wide receiver duo in the league in order along with the second best play caller in order to be functional, you're not a difference maker at the quarterback position. Here's not. And I asked to see something. He was given an opportunity to make me look like a fool, and instead he got out played by PJ. Walker. So I just I don't
The jury is still out. But I was reading articles and this is where and this is the other wildly frustrating thing. Folks then say, these arguments are made, and then people say, no, it's a straw man. It's not
a goddamn straw man. Mike Sando, I think it was, wrote an article in The Athletic talking to NFL executives about is Brock Purdy the next Joe Montana the next Tom Brady or and that's not even the problem part it was or is he just the next deck acting The conversation had been set exactly right, exactly right, that his ceiling is two of the greatest ever and his floor is, oh, he's just going to be a guy who makes hundreds of millions of multiple playoff appearances, multiple
twelve thirteen win seasons, and as a long time starter, that's not his floor. Flatly, Matt Shaub might be his floor. That and that might like the the that's the conversation we were having. And my I have not moved the goalposts.
And and this is the last thing I'll say. The whole idea of Nick even You've got to admit you would have never thought the Niners would be this good with Brock perty Guys, I picked the Niners to go to the Super Bowl last year with a quarterback who had thrown forty career passes as their starter in Trey Lance forty if that maybe is forty or fifty career passes. I and that was before they added Christian mc caffrey. Okay,
I am a strong believer in that roster. I also let me ask one other question, because this this just irritates me right now this moment. How many are you I'll ask you this, Demanse, right now this moment. Do you think the Niners are the favorites to win the Super Bowl?
The favorites, favorites to win the Super Bowl? Yeah, I'd say, yeah, just about to go Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't.
I think I think it is, though.
No, no, no, they literally are. But it's the I mean, they are the Vegas favorites right now Okay, but you're but it seems like from your reaction, you're it's.
Exactly.
It could be the Chiefs, could be the Eagles, and then there's the Lions lurking or whatever. Okay, let's play a game. Replace brock Purty with Spin the Wheel Lamar Jackson. Are the Niners the far and away favorites, head and shoulders better than everyone? Okay, Let's replace him with Trevor Are they the massive favorites? Let's replace him with Jared Goff. Are they the massive favorites? Let's replace him Dak Prescott, yep, Jalen Hurts yep, of course, Josh Allen, of course. Patrick Mahomes,
here's a better one. Replace brock Purty with C. J. Stroud. Are the Niners in a better or worse position than they're in right now? Better position, of course, which is why us talking about him like he's the NFL's MVP is maddening. Let's move on next. Replace him, Matt Stafford. They might not lose a game, go ahead.
Said, the Eagles are coming off of an embarrassing loss to the Jets. I don't know how embarrassing it is, honestly, but.
I agree bouncing back.
Bouncing back won't be easy either, as they hosted Dolphins on Sunday night. With how Philia has looked the past few games, should we be hammering Dolphins plus two and a half?
All right, I'm not in a position to give gambling advice right now. I have to recalibrate all of that. But I don't think that was an embarrassing loss to the Jets. Here's what I do think, Demonse. I do think that Nick Sirianni should have gotten way more criticism. Listen, Jalen played a bad game, and Jalen's pick at the end was terrible, no denying it. But here is what is also true. The New York Jets were out of timeouts.
It was at the two minute warning. It was third and nine, and the Eagles were up by two points, fourteen to twelve. It's not as if the Jets had moved the ball up and down the field any of that. Zach Wilson's still the quarterback and on third and nine, right around midfield with no timeout remaining for the Jets. If you run, and if you're Sirianni, you know Hurtz doesn't have it today. He's already thrown two picks. If you run the football, maybe you pick it up, probably
you don't. If you pick up eight yards, you're gonna run your stupid little brotherly shove play and you're gonna win. The game's gonna be over. But let's just say you run and you get zero yards. What's the situation. There's then a minute fifteen left and you're punting from midfield and you are saying, we have the best pass rush in the NFL, the best d line in the NFL, Zach Wilson, you need to go sixty five yards with no timeouts and a minute five left to beat us,
and instead you gave the game away. Now Jalen shouldn't have made that throw, but it is Sirianni's job to protect his team. And if you have a pass rush the way you do and you are playing Zach Wilson and you have the opportunity to run the ball again,
the no timeouts thing is critical. You are leaving the Jets about sixty five seconds to go the length not the length of the field, but to go two thirds of the field to get into field goal range with no timeouts, and instead you throw it and you lose. So I think The Eagles are fine ish. I don't think they're a dominant team. I didn't think they were dominant when they were five and zero. I also think Demontay, have you looked at their next eight games? It's yeah,
I'm gonna read it to you real quick. Home for the Dolphins at the Commanders, who again a divisional game on the road. They did beat them last year, but that's not that tough. You should win that game. So home for the Dolphins at the Commanders. Then home for Dallas at the Chiefs, Home for the Bills, Home for the Niners at Dallas at Seattle. That's the next day. That is that. That is a you are thrilled if you go four and four stretch, if you go five
and three, you feel unbelievable. And so it's not that I'm overly worried about Philly, but they are they That was a game they gave away. All Right, what are the follow ups here? I had a tweet about the brotherly show they want me to do?
You did have a tweet? I think we're going to show it for those on YouTube? Was the time?
Yeah? Go ahead, yeah, here it is. This is what I wrote. I can't quite explain it. But not only have the Eagles hacked the quarterback sneak, turning an eighty percent successful play into a ninety eight percent successful play, They've also tricked the rest of the league into turning an eighty percent successful play into a forty percent successful play by failing and imitating them. So this is what
is wild about what the Eagles have done. The quarterback sneak four years was one of the most reliable plays in the league. If you need a yard or less, you'd run the quarterback sneak and cross teams four out of five times. It would work cross teams across years. The only team that really had it way way better was the Patriots with Brady he was like ninety Okay, the Eagles turned that four out of five play into a ninety five out of one hundred play with the
brotherly Shop. The rest of the league must recognize, we can't do it. We don't have Jason Kelsey at center, we don't have Jalen Hurts at quarterback, we don't practice it enough, and now the rest of the league has turned there. If you just did the old quarterback sneak, you'd be fine most of the time. Instead, they're trying to do this other thing, and I watched four teams fail at it this weekend. Four teams stop it. Stop trying to do something you can't do rest of the league.
Now folks are asking, have asked me, does this make me change my opinion on whether or not the NFL is going to outlaw it?
No.
My argument on the NFL outlawing it is purely an esthetic one. I think it is too ugly of a play. I know Philly fans get mad when I say that, I think and I but now maybe it's a They don't have the outlaw it because it solves itself if Jason Kelsey retires and if Jalen hurts at some point, says guys, I, I, you know, enough of a major part of our offense being twenty guys hitting me from different sides. I, you know, I think I'm over that
piece of it. But it is clear that it is unique to Philadelphia right now, and it has had downstream effects hurting the rest of the league trying to imitate them. All right, next, last one?
All Right?
The Bills have only had seven points going into the final five minutes of the last two weeks. They needed the rest to bail them out, just to beat the Giants with Tara Taylor. But there's still four and two when they get to go a place face the New England Patriots. Why are the Buffalo Bills trying their asses off? But the Chiefs are just practicing when this type of stuff happens.
Okay, So again, so a couple things. One is, as soon as the Chiefs lose one of these practices that I've talked about, people will be able to crow. But not only have they not lost, they have not trailed for one second in the second half in any game since Week one. They have not been in jeopardy of losing any of these games. That's first of all. Second of all, the Bills only having seven points at the five minute marking back to back weeks is concerning flatly.
And the Bills also don't have games to give away. They easily could have lost to the Giants. Now, I'm not gonna win about the refereeing. They were whining about. Refereeing is just so tired. What people are going to realize is it's not that they're oh my god, the refs always bail out the Chiefs. What they're going to realize is every single standalone, nationally televised game that is close is going to have a play at the end.
People can bitch about wait for it this morning, get on Twitter later today, and you know what, people are going to all of a sudden be realizing, Holy crap, did Micah Parsons rough Justin Herbert on that damn near game clinching sack? What demanse? Did you see it? Yeah? Yeah, the And so the reason people think the Chiefs are benefiting disproportionately is because the Chiefs are on national TV every single week, and they win every team that wins
a nationally televised close game. If the way you want to consume pro football is find a way to discuss the refs, you're gonna be able to find a play. I would argue what the Bills did at the end of that game was actually super smart because they recognize there's a little hack to end of game officiating. They almost ever call the exact same penalty twice two times
in a row. So once you get called for pass interference on the final play of the game, you know what you should do on the untimedown pass interfere Because refs don't want to call the same penalty two times in a row to end a game. They just don't. And so I got no problem what the Bills did where I now what I will say is and I tweeted this as well, and this is another one of those things that I just know I'm right on. So
I don't care. I like sometimes I send out these tweets and I'm like, oh my god, like I'm gonna get ratio. People are gonna, you know, say I'm a hater or whatever it is. But I know I'm right. So that Josh Allen touchdown pass was one of the single most impressive throws anyone has made all year, and a terrible decision. And why I don't trust the Bills. So Demonse's laughing, and I understand people are like, Nick, what are you talking about? Here's what I'm talking about.
It is second and six, there are four minutes left. You are playing the New York Giants, who prior to this game had not led in a game all year, had not led for a single play all year. Prior to this game. They're playing their backup quarterback, and they hadn't scored a touchdown in a month, had not scored a touchdown a month, you're down two points, you're in the red zone. It is second and six. The own only thing you can't do is throw a pick. A field goal wins you the game. Now, Josh made a
throw that I don't even know Mahomes can make. Getting that velocity on that ball, hitting that tight of a window, it was unbelievable. But that is absolutely the reason they are He is such a hard player to trust. You can be wowed by him, but it's hard to trust him because that was a bad decision. It worked out, and it's one of the best plays I've most impressive plays I've ever seen. It also could have cost them
a game they had no business losing. And so if you're going to and this is the nuance to it, if you're going to take those types of risk, have that type of boom bust quarterback, then I need you to not for back to back weeks, have seven points at the five minute mark of the fourth quarter. If the whole idea behind your team is yeah, we're gonna make some mistakes, but man, the upside's so great, then you need to not be sitting on seven as the game hits the three hour mark. In back to back weeks.
That's not unfair, Bruce said to me the other day. Well, yeah, you know, he's the modern day Brett Farv. Brett Farv by this point of his career had won multiple MVPs and been to multiple Super Bowls and won a championship. Not quite the modern day Brett Farv. Like, Yes, the modern day Brett Farv minus the championships, the Super Bowl appearances, and the league MVPs. So I the and as far as why are the Chiefs allowed to practice and other
teams aren't because they're the defending champions. Because in the last five years, the Bill's best year was worse than the Chiefs worst year. Okay, in the last since Mahomes has been there. Take the chief single worst season losing in overtime in the conference championship game. Take the Bill's best season getting blown out in the conference championship game
by Kansas City. Yes, I hold the teams to different standards. Yes, a team that has lost once in the last eleven months and it was by one point without their second and third best player that team, I am going to give more of a benefit of the doubt too. I am you can call me crazy. I say that is the most logical thing ever. And so and also, by the way, here's the other margin of error factor the
Chiefs if they win Sunday. And I'm worried about Sunday because the Chargers play the Chiefs tough that they never beat the Chiefs, but they play them in three point games every single year, and at some point the Chargers win those will win one of those games. But if the Chiefs win on Sunday, they will have essentially locked up the division. By mid October, they'll be six and one.
The Chargers will be two and four, having already lost, you know, one of the head to heads, and the Raiders are in second place at three and three, and Jimmy Garoppolo is going to the hospital. Old Luggiddon's back looked at. So the Bills, on the other hand, if you know, needed to escape against Tyrod Taylor to not fall behind the Jets in the standings. These two things are not the same. Take a quick break, come back, what's right.
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All right, welcome back in What's Right with Nick? Right, that was a forty five minute blocks, So we'll try to go fast here, and then I forgot to tell you guys, we can get to your chat questions in the C blocks. You guys can drop those questions here in a moment, but Demans, let's get right to it before we get to our game. Tear it down or turn it around. There's one more topic you guys want to ask me about.
Yeah, so this weekend, your golden boy Kleb Williams had the worst game of his college career. Meanwhile, Wimby's looking very solid in preseason. You've been super heavy on Caleb Williams. But if telling them that, have been warning everybody about jumping on the Wimby boat. Are you sure that you jumped on the wrong generational talent or are you worried that you jumped on the wrong.
No, so listen, if people were talking about Wimby the way I'm talking about Caleb, I'd be fine with it. I've said, now, it's a little tough in the NFL because we break it down by position, not by like overall players in the league. But when I've said that Caleb is one of the five most valuable football players in the world right now moving forward, if you said, hey, Jannis Jokic, who else would you rather have for the next decade than Wimby, I'd listen to that. That's not
the conversation that's been had around Victor Winbinyama. The conversation has been that by year three, this was what Woje said on the night of the draft lottery, by year three, he will be head and shoulders, no pun intended, the best player in the league, the best offensive player and the best defensive player, something only a handful of guys have ever been at any point in their careers, the best offensive and defensive player in the entire sport. That
the X Men. That's where what was said about Wimby was if he does not end up as one of the ten greatest football basketball players ever ever, he's a disappointment. What I've said about Caleb is I'd rather have him than Justin Herbert. These are not the same things. Now, what I will tell you is about both these guys. One is I don't know what Wimby is going to look like in real games on offense in the beginning, but on defense, he absolutely is going to be an
a defender immediately. And what we're seeing on the hesitation people have on even putting shots up in his vicinity is true, unbelievable, and so I'm excited to watch it. Listen, once the games count, somebody is going to try to just go through him. Somebody is gonna see if, okay, how much does the wingspan matter? If I push you under the basket, And I want to see how he reacts to it. But Wimby's preseason could not be going better as far as Caleb goes. Find me the college
player that never has a single bad game. I mean, give me a break. The amount of oh, Nick, what do you think about Caleb Williams Now the exact same thing I thought about him before Notre Dame. Listen, guys, I'm sorry that because Caleb Williams has set the standard so incredibly high that seeing him play a bad game feels it generates an allergic reaction. I'm sorry that going into the Notre Dame game, this guy had, let me get it exactly right, eighty five ive touchdowns to ten picks.
We had seen him play thirty two games he had ten picks, and then in the Notre Dame game he was bad. He had three picks and the Notre Dame kicked his ass. People are like, uh, what are you ready to say about him? Now? What am I ready to say about the guy who, on the season has twenty nine touchdowns four interceptions and is now even with the Notre Dame game, just having the third best season by a passer rating perspective in the history of college football.
I think he's still pretty phenomenal. So no, I'm not worried at all about Caleb. I have been impressed by Wimby all right, next, all.
Right and bringing back an whole game today and tear it down and turn it around. I'll give you a team and you will say whether they should tear it down before the trade deadline, or if they should make a move for a late season turnaround. First off, we've got the Jets. The jets amazing defense has them in the playoff conversation, and Rodgers was even seen throwing past his pregame Sunday, I know you have doubts, but are you really betting.
Against the sky Er and Rogers? Should the Jets tear it down or turn it around?
Well? Yeah, I mean I don't think they should tear it down. I think they should try to, you know, make a playoff push. Obviously, Aaron, Aaron, This idea that Aaron Rodgers is gonna play this year is one of the most ludicrous things I've ever heard in my life. I like it, though flatly not gonna happen. You like it? How come?
I like?
I do?
Think? Uh, I don't.
I think he is giving hope to his teammates and like kind of keeping them in the game. I think he's doing it. I think he's doing it for his team. He's no, okay fair. I think that, like, his team was obviously really let down when that happened, and I feel like he was also let down. He probably felt like he let the team down. I think that he's trying to keep them in the picture and keep spirits up, you know, keep the morale up in the locker room.
You know what. That is an incredibly generous reading of it. You might be correct. I think he wants the attention. Personally, I think he wants the attention, and I think there is no chance he is back this year. But we'll see how it plays out. But in the meantime, that Jet where I will admit I was wrong is the Jets defense is better than I thought it was gonna be good, very good. It's been great. Garrett Wilson I thought was, you know, like the tenth, eleventh, twelfth best
receiver in football. He's been better than that. Breeze Hall's been excellent. The offensive line is a problem, and obviously Zach Wilson's a problem, but credit to the Jets in that regard. And what's unbelievable to Monsey is had they just not lost to the damn Patriots, they'd really be cooking right now, and the Patriots might be the worst team in the whole AFC all right now.
A crazy take like is saying that the Jets would be undefeated if they had Aaron Rodgers. Is that like a is that a horrible take? I mean they've had one, They've had one game that wasn't close, and I think it was against the Cowboys.
The Cowboys. Yeah, I don't think they'd have beaten the here's the thing about the about the about them being undefeated. I don't think they'd have beaten the Chiefs the Cowboys. But but here's the thing. I know you're saying, like, oh, that's ridiculous if they had Aaron Rodgers in that specific game, Zach Wilson like put up Aaron Rodgers type numbers. It's not like they played the Chiefs close with terrible quarterback play.
Does that make sense? Like the Patriots game? They you know they they definitely beat the Patriots with Aaron Rodgers. The Patriots, it was a five point game. Go ahead.
Sorry, would you say he's worth three points in general?
In general? Yes, but I guess two points. One is I ain't the Chiefs got up seven team nothing and winning cruise control mode because they're playing Zach Wilson and the Jets. And secondarily, Zach in that game completed seventy five percent of his passes at two hundred and fifty yards at a one to five rating, two touchdowns, snow picks like Aaron I don't think would have done in that specific game far better. So I don't know about undefeated.
The Cowboys game, they got blown out, but they also got blown out because of how bad the quarterback play was, like a kind of ball started rolling downhill. I do think this, and Sala tried to walk it back this morning. But if you actually think you're a playoff contender, talking on Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes probably a bad idea because he said, we've played great quarterbacks and we've.
Been embarrassed him right, all right, So.
Let's let's talk about that for a second. You definitely have to play the Bills again this year, and you hope, against hope to have the opportuno to play the Chiefs again this year. Maybe don't say you embarrassed those quarterbacks. Patrick, he's not scared.
Maybe don't say it. I don't say what he wants.
Okay, Yeah, tell that to the folks who were screaming about Borrowhead Invitational, about the Boroughhead, about Burrowhead Stadium. I mean, that's that's fine, all right.
Next, Oh, we got Patriots, Come on, and you're seriously coming counting out the best coach of all time, the Jets. If the Jets can resurrect Zach Wilson, can Belichick resurrect Mac Jones?
Should they tear it down? You got to tear it down. Here's a question I asked on the TV show yesterday. If the Patriots released every single player on their offense, just cut them all, would any one of them start start for another team? I don't know, maybe like Trent Brown for a team of the bad offensive line, Romandre Stevenson for a few teams they have no talent.
They even tear it down if you don't have any Jesus.
No, you got it? I mean yeah, I mean you can hope to get Caleb you can. You just got to tear it all down. And this is going to be an ignominious end for Belichick. Car so fast next, Yeah, the whole thing.
Vikings Kirk Cousins said he wouldn't wave his no trade clause, But do we really believe that with no justin Jefferson, maybe it's time to rebuild.
Should the Vikings tear it down and turn it around?
Yes, I absolutely believe it that he wouldn't wave his no trade clause. He's trying to get another Giant payday and going to another team in a new system doesn't help him with that. He's comfortable in Minnesota, he likes it there. It's indoors. They but they should tear it down. I mean they've got to start over. You build around justin Jefferson and not much else. That's what you do there next. I like Addison too.
You've been teasing that Russell Wilson's time has already done, even if the Broncos are dragging their feet. But Denver has a lot of pieces they could trade now for a kickstart to rebuild. Should the Bronco tear it down or turn it around?
No, they obviously have to tear it down, and I mean they also have a chance at Caleb if not another quarterback. They're gonna tear it down. They're gonna cut Russell Wilson this offseason, and I think he's gonna get benched after the Chiefs game. They have two more games then they have a bye week. The Chiefs game is the second one, the one leading into the bye week. I think they're gonna bench him there. Put your questions in the chat now and we'll answer him. Next quick
break right back, what's right? All right, we'll go through a few quick questions. By the way, a programming note today, today the TV show is only thirty minutes long two to two thirty because we have live programming on FS one. We'll be back to our regular schedule tomorrow. But that means we got jam back TV show because it's Tuesday, which means it's Mahomes Mountain Day. And spoiler alert, Caleb tripped on the mountain but did not fall off the mountain.
I'm not that crazy, all right, demanse, what are some of the questions that we have from the audience.
Joshua Harbin said, people are actually forgetting their party still had Kittle and Ayuk San Francisco fans are so funny.
Well yeah, I mean, listen, he was down his two best weapons, so all he had left was a one really good receiver and the second best tight end in football. I mean, it's just an impossible situation.
Next, Mohammed musa question. If NBA players started shooting granny style free throws at ninety percent, would Nick won it banned for esthetic reasons?
Great question?
No, they yeah, it's a fine question. But we never have to worry about that because guys have too much pride to try to gain the system like that. Like give me a break. You're like, oh, yeah, that's what they should do. No, it's not what they should do. This is the entertainment business, and there is a professional pride in doing things the way they're supposed to be done. So I know people give me a hard time about that. The entire goal is to win kind of.
But it's also history with the touch plus thing.
Well, and the more team that fail on it, the more respect Philly gets for it. That it's not like that that it is they have gained the system in a way that is unique to their personnel, which is I think more impressive than otherwise.
Next toush Bush is like a button on your back. Clark Nebras or nebres Is Nick. Is Ion still a top young player or has the hype sailed?
No, he's still a top young player in theory, and when he's played he's been unbelievable. But you have to be worried about him on court and off court. So like there is the I wouldn't sell my Zion stock, but I wouldn't be buying more.
Of it, all right.
Next Ember, Lindo Garzan asks, should the Jaguars sit Trevor this Thursday?
Well, yeah, I'd probably not. You got to see how his knee feels. You gotta be careful with him, but you also got to win games all of a sudden with the with the Texans being a legit frisk team, you can't give games away, and so you try to protect Trevor. But if he can go, he goes. All right, ask CF Candy's question and then we'll.
Yeah, we see Nick. Do you think Caleb goes back to us? See if the Bears have the first round pick.
The first No, this is such a ridiculous idea. First of all, guess what, guys, Every team ever that gets the first overall pick stinks. There's not a lot of instances like, oh, going to this great franchise with the first overall pick. No, you're not. Second of all, the Bears have their pick and the Panthers pick. So if Caleb goes to Chicago, it's an incredible It's a division. The Packers are in rebuild, the Vikings are in rebuild.
You also probably can draft Marvin Harrison junior and they're gonna hire it an awesome I said it a month ago. Draft Caleb at one, Marvin Harrison Junior at two or three, and then hire Ben Johnson from Detroit and get rolling Demont's great work. Today, everybody, I'm on with Colin in ninety minutes. I'm then doing the TV show at two. I'm then on Ethan Sherwood Strauss's podcast later today. I'll see you guys for all that stuff. Have a wonderful day.
See you guys on TV today at two o'clock for first things First,