This episode is brought to you by Unstoppable. Discover the inspiring true story about Anthony Roebliss, who defined every expectation to become a national wrestling champion, and Unstoppable, a new original movie from Amazon MGM Studios and director William Goldenberg, evoking the excitement and camaraderie of classic sports dramas and thrilling wrestling matches. Unstoppable features an all star ensemble cast including Jirel Jerome, Jennifer Lopez, Don Cheatle, Michael Pania, and
Bobby Canavali. Watch Unstoppable now exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
Welcome in What Driving the Great? Episode two eighty eight. Fresh off a little Christmas break, when I actually Demanse was here in New York, Demonse gave me one of the pardon me, greatest gifts I've ever received from anyone. I can't do it justice by describing it, because when I describe it, it'll sound ridiculous. But when I tell you it's a matching Monopoly sweatsuit and it is awesome, you're just gonna have to take my word for it.
I'll wear it on the show at one point in time, Demons, you've really run the gamut on presence the last two occasions for me Christmas one hundred out of one hundred all time. My birthday, I'm pretty sure Demanse sent me a vape and that's what it was. And even he wrote a card. He was like, this might be a dumb present. I was like, I might use it. Who knows. All right, here's what missed the oh speaking of presents, well,
here's what missed the cut. Baker Mayfield playing great. There's too many bad clock management things these coaches that it used the problem with coaches used to be they burn their timeouts too early. There is now a scourge of coaches who have timeouts and are afraid to use them. I never seen anything like it. Raem Morris might have cost em a chance of the playoffs and Sin and Roll pop Tart gets toasted. I and totally understand what
that's songbo, But that's fine. Also, speaking of Christmas, we are one Tampa Bay victory over the New Orleans Saints away from having given the audience a great Christmas gift a few weeks ago when we gave you this division winner exact run the clip from four weeks ago.
Please would you parlay LA and Tampa Bay to win their divisions at seven to twenty plus seven twenty.
Yeah, I would, I do think that's what's gonna happen. Wow, Okay, well that was very sure to the point clip. But yes, that is exactly what happened. And I thought maybe I gave more sparkling analysis there. I didn't quite remember, but that was great either way. And so there it is. LA has won the division, Tampa looks like they're going to and so Los Angeles has a meaningless Week eighteen game, so they'll of course rest their people, as responsible teams do.
That is not what the Lions did last night, and that's where we'll start the show.
Go ahead, Yeah, so, I mean they played all their guys, they got the win, but Brock Purdy got a little banged up there. So do you think with brock perty getting hurt and how the season has gone that it might have affected his ability to get paid next year?
So yes, definitively. Let me start with the Lions. The Lions side of things is, I know there is now there is probably some oh decision vindicated by Dan Campbell and the Lions. I totally disagree with that. I thought it was reckless in the moment, and I actually don't think yesterday's game went in a way. I don't think
that decision could have been vindicated. But I think the way yesterday's game played out, actually the opposite happened, because it's just sixty more minutes of football demonstrating that that defense can't get stops, sixty more minutes of football demonstrating that the Lions have one way and one way only
to beat you. And listen, that offense is awesome. But we knew that offense was awesome before last night's game, and I did not understand Dan Campbell's insistence that, of course we're playing our guys when let's just say, for the sake of argument, the Vikings had lost to the Packers and then the Lions game last night would have been meaningful, and the Lions win that game. In that scenario, then the Lions would have last night locked up the one seed.
Right.
Would Dan Campbell have played all his guys in Week eighteen? Of course not. I think it was a weird mental block of the meaningless game not being the final game of the year, and therefore he felt an obligation to play his people. But it is not hyperbolic to say Lions Vikings Week eighteen Sunday Night Football Game two seventy two, where the winner gets the buy the one seed home field advantage and the loser is going to be playing on the road starting in round one for the entirety
of the playoffs. It is not an exaggeration to say that is one of the biggest regular season games when it comes to who's going to win the championship or certainly who's going to be in the super Bowl. In NFL history, very very difficult to find many instances where it is as cut and dry as win the game, you are have the best possible path. Lose the game,
you drop all the way to the five line. Now people can say, oh, it's not We've had a lot of games where winner gets in the playoffs, losers eliminated. Those games when it comes to crowning a champion, are not as meaningful as this Lions Vikings game, because typically if you are in a situation where if you lose in Week eighteen, you miss the playoffs, you're not championship
caliber to begin with. Whoever wins this game is going to have the second best record in the entire NFL Hell, maybe tied for the best record because the Chiefs' backups might lose. Whoever loses this game is going to have the third best record, but one of the hardest paths.
So the reason I'm focused on that is it's not only that you could have been as fresh as possible, it's that your game's Monday night, so you're on short rest now, and you opted into it for the Lions, and you just got more evidence that your team can't get stops. So I did not like that at all. Now on the brock Purty stuff, if I were to before the year have laid out a worst case scenario season, this would be really close to it, where the Avengers
are banged up, the Niners win six games. At the end of the year, they play their worst football of the season. Like keep in mind, this Niner season, we are looking at it as right now a season from hell, But it didn't start that way. It started rocky, but they were five and four. They were four and four going into the by and then got maybe their best win of the whole season at Tampa Bay to get to five and four and were in that moment a
game out of first place. Since then, they have lost six of seven and the last three they lost like this when it comes to brock Purty, worst case scenario, down three to the Rams, five minutes left infield goal range, interception and you lose. The next week, down five against the Dolphins, how much time is left? Two minutes left
past midfield interception and you lose. Last night, after playing a close to perfect first half of football, down six, fourth quarter, you've already thrown one interception to get the Lions back in it. Interception and you get banged up and you lose. You now have a player who is undersized, a legitimate injury concern, who is just had and he probably won't play against the Cardinals, so that's probably the
end of his season. Who just had a brutal year where they lost six of seven and three straight games. Ball in his hands, chanced to take the lead, chance to win the game, and through an interception and saw this from Josh Dubo or debau the associated press. Brock Purty win down one to eight points in the fourth quarter or overtime in regular season or the playoffs. Forty one for seventy two, five hundred yards, three touchdowns, seven
picks of fifty three passer rating. Party ranks won one hundred and fifty first out of one hundred and sixty quarterbacks with fifty plus attempts. In that scenario this century, you just can't pay that player, not right now. And I I am not saying the Niners are going to move off Brock Party in favor of Sam Darnold, but if the opportunity presents itself, they're going to have those discussions.
I'm not saying that brock Purty is going to all of a sudden show up to training camp next year and see there's another league minimum quarterback on the roster who just happens to be the apple of Kyle Shanahan's eye for the last ten years, Kirk Cousins. But it's on the board. And I'm not saying that the Niners are going to make the grievous error of bringing in
Aaron Rodgers, but they're gonna have meetings about it. And here's what they're not gonna do, if they have any sense to them whatsoever, pay Brock Party when they don't have to, and he's under contract next year for a million bucks. You then have the wildly unfair but incredibly useful franchise tag available to you. And that's the situation. And so I will ask you this de Monsey before we move on. Last year, I think it's fair to say that you thought I was a little unfair or
harsh on brock Party, having seen this season. If you were the Niners and you had options of giving him the franchise quarterback, tracked, making him play out his deal, or bringing in another quarterback, I think I know which option you would take. But what which of those three doors would you walk through?
I definitely would I wouldn't pay him, I mean and if I did pay him, yeah, I wouldn't pay him the franchise quarterback. You know standard them? Well, right, offer it, but is that just not a thing? Do they not accept that? Like twenty million bucks less?
Well? I mean yeah? So like would he take the Baker Mayfield deal three for one hundred million? I don't know. Maybe they'll offer him that, like maybe that they'll get they'll offer him that. I think his agent would say, you've got to be kidding me. Look at to his deal, look at Trevor's deal, look at Kyler's deal. And those guys had down years, but they just wasn't their last year. Yeah, and I mean Brocksman, he needs the guy, and so I just I think it's a very interesting offseason coming
in San Francisco. And all last year I took the slings and arrows for Flatley, saying I'm sorry. I know it's not popular, and I know that his resume of stats and wins and accomplishments measures up favorably to basically any quarterback in NFL history through twenty five games, but I didn't believe it, and I think this year's proven it out. All right, Now, let's get to something that is controversial because people are idiots.
Go ahead, Yeah, so Twitter did, Like, so you came on to Twitter and you said the New England should go and shop Shador, you know, despite the fact that they already have Drake May. Yeah, and you said that they should also go on and get Dion Sanders. This tandem just lost to byu inaliableble. So defend yourself. What's the logic there?
Okay, So that's a slight misrepresentation of what I said. Here's what I said. When you have which the Patriots do right now. Now, I don't know if they're gonna keep it because they might beat Buffalo's backups. But when you have pick one one, every single option must be on the table, every option. So one option is best player available, flatly, whether that's Travis Hunter, whether that's the tackle from Texas, whatever it is, what is the tackle
from Texas's name? I'm gonna find it real quick. My apologies, I should have already had it. The I doesn't matter. I guess whomever it is, the oh, Kevin Calvin Banks. But regardless, one option has to be just best player available. You have to look at that. Another thing you have to look at is every single trade offer you receive. If a team out there wants to give you a king's ransom because they love Chador or a cam Ward
and you can move down get extra picks. What the Bears did that ended up netting them, Caleb Williams, what we have seen other teams do. That's got to be on the board. Everyone agrees that those first two things are on the board. The third thing when you have pick one one that must be on the board is you do an honest evaluation of what you think about the best quarterback in this draft versus your own quarterback.
That has to be part of the equation. And what I said was, if they do an evaluation where they think should Or is better than Drake May, then the next thing you must do is see what the market for Drake May is and in a two quarterback draft,
that market would be incredibly high. And so the somewhat farcical but not impossible scenario is if you like should Or more than Drake May, but the Titans like Drake May more than cam Ward and you say, hey, we took Drake May three overall, We'll trade him to you for two overall, And then you do have the opportunity to go Shadoor one Travis Hunter two. And if you did that, I bet Dion Sanders would be willing to
coach your team if you wanted him to. And I don't know if Dion Sanders would be a good NFL head coach, but I do know that girod Mayo is not. So you could get the best player available in the draft, a quarterback that, again, if you evaluate him as better than Drake May is an upgraded quarterback and a transformative head coach. That's not controversial. Every team in the draft should be having the similar discussions. You know what I'll
turn it on. It's had a bit. Now. I don't even think they can get the number one pick, and because of the contract, it might be implausible. But if the Jacksonville Jaguars had the number one pick and they did the evaluation we like Shador more than we liked Trevor, then you shop Trevor and you draft the quarterback you The Patriots did not take Drake May first overall, and if they had the opportunity to draft first overall, they
wouldn't have taken Drake May. Now maybe the answer is there were three quarterbacks in last year's draft that we evaluate better as better prospects than any quarterback in this year's draft, So be it. But you have to do that evaluation. And the real pushback is from Patriot fans who are adamant that Drake May's a superstar. And I'm listen. I like Drake May because I like young quarterbacks. I like athletic quarterbacks, and I don't think Drake May's had
any talent around him. So going into last year's draft, I said I would have taken Drake over Jaden because of the frame, the size, the age and the size and all of that. I like Drake Moore. But Drake May has not covered himself in glory this year. Drake May hasn't had a single A plus game, And a lot of the Pat fans that are most adamant Drake May is the guy are the exact same people who swore Mac Jones was awesome and I people will listen to this and the thing, I'm just talking about Kevin Wilds.
I'm not just talking about Kevin Wilds, who I adore. I listened to. I've listened all year long to Bill Simmons talk about how awesome Drake May is up to an including yesterday him saying cam Ward because cam Ward, who could be quarterback one Overshito or those are the top two quarterbacks. Cam Ward played the first half of the Pop Tarts ball and then sat out the second half, and Simmons just kind of said, flippantly, tell you this much,
Drake May wouldn't have done that. And it's like, hey man, you're absolutely right. Drake May wouldn't have done that because he sat out the entirety of his bowl game last year to get ready for the draft, and the whole world people Pats fans tried to convince me throughout the year. Oh, you're not watching Drake May as closely as we are. And I was like, you know what, that's kind of
that's somewhat fair. I think I watched the NFL as closely as anybody, but I am not watching every single snap of every single game live, and Pat's games are rarely on the handful of games I rewind watch during the week, So maybe I was under selling him, but the whole world got to watch him Saturday. How'd that look? And again, I think I think Drake May is going to be a really good player. I do, But the idea that he is sacred cow where you wouldn't do
an evaluation of do we think Shador is better? And does the league the type of bounty we're talking about getting for the number one pick, could we get that same bounty for Drake May. It's just not responsible if you're not having those discussions. So honestly, I could give ah if all the NFL aggregator accounts, you know, retweet the take and then say make fun of me. This is one of those things where my confidence in my convictions, no what you say.
You just know what you're talking about, you just know better.
Well, exactly. I just here's the thing. If you actually listen to what I'm saying, there is not a single argument against it. What I am saying is it is their job to evaluate all of the players in the draft. Because they have the first pick of the draft at the quarterback position, there's only two guys they really got to evaluate. If after they evaluate those two guys, they determine they think one of them is better than the guy they have, it is their responsibility to evaluate the
trade market for the guy they have. If as an added bonus, the guy they evaluate is better than the guy they have, you could then draft his best and teammate and have his dad be the head coach. That's something you'd think about. So of course it makes sense and it would be This is the last point I'm gonna make on this. Pat Fans acting like Drake Maje's had the year Jaden Daniels had is insane. Let me tell you this, Nobody likes Caleb Williams more than me.
If the Bears had the number one overall pick, they should be doing exactly what I'm saying. The Patriots should do evaluate all of their options and determine what the best path forward is closing off a door of options because you finally have a quarterback that can run around,
and you add Stockholm syndrome from mac Jones. So any quarterback that can throw the ball more than thirty five yards in the air, you think is the next John Elway, Which is another thing I've heard these Pats fans tell me, Oh, he's not Josh Allen, He's John Elway. Okay, maybe maybe he is, but it's just I'm just right, and so I don't like, do I think the Pats are gonna do this?
No?
Do I even think they're going to do the full evaluation. No, But that's one of the reasons they're not a well run team since Brady left and Belichick left. Sorry all right, speaking of the opposite of the New England Patriots to Kansas City Chiefs.
Chiefs locked up that one seat over Christmas. We saw that, so can see. He's in an interesting situation right now. If they lose to Denver, Burrow and the Bengals to get bounced out of the playoffs. But if Kansas City beats Tenver Cincinnati, if Cincinnati wins the Miami loses, it'd be Cincinnati versus Buffalo in round one. So do you better for the Chiefs to let Cincinnati, you know, into the playoffs or keep him out?
Okay, so the chief strategy on Sunday, I can guarantee you will have nothing to do with the playoff picture. It will flatly be getting. Here's my guest for the Chiefs on Sunday. I would be shocked if the following players play a single snap. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelcey, Chris Jones, DeAndre Hopkins. Those four guys are basically oh Isaiah pacheck Ols certainly yeah is out. Andy has banged up ribs,
It's definitely out. I would be very surprised if Joe Tooney, Xavier Worthy, or Trent McDuffie play a snap either, and I think most likely Juwan Taylor, the other tackle, won't play either. That's nine guys that would be my guess. After that, they are going to try to win because they win, and while they don't care about getting to
sixteen and one, I do a little bit. I really like the idea that the year the Chiefs three P. If they get to sixteen and one, a three P would also mean they are the first ever nineteen win team in NFL history to obviously never happen before. There's never, there's only the only prior to the seventeen game season, the only way you could do it was be to go undefeated. And the only undefeated team happened during a
fourteen game season. So I like that idea. Now to this nonsense about being scared of the Bengals, all right, there's just the data, which is they haven't lost the Bengals in two years. They've played them three times since then, they're three and zero in those three games. But set that aside, and this is where the NFL media drives me bleeping crazy. A fair question to ask on Sports TV is should the Buffalo Bills be worried that Cincinnati
will make the playoffs? You know why because the last time Cincinnati made the playoffs, they went to Buffalo and kicked their ass. The last three times Cincinnati has played Buffalo, Cincinnati either beat them. One of the games they were beating him, but it was the Tamorrow Hambling game, so the game was stopped. But they beat him in the
playoffs two years ago. Last year, when Cincinnati wasn't very good, they beat the Bills in the regular season they didn't play this year, and of course that would be the matchup if Cincinnati makes the playoffs, they are one hundred percent playing Buffalo. But weirdly people have feel like the Bills are owed more respect than the Chiefs. So they're not asking that question, they're just asking should the Chiefs
be worried about it? Also, by the way, Demonse, that is a odd matchup for Buffalo because Buffalo's back end, is it the weakness of its team? You have the best pair of receivers in the league. And for Josh Allen individually, he would go into that game probably as the guy that you know it was about to win league MVP. It's round one and here's Josh Allen's playoffs
the last four years. AFC Championship game lost to Patrick Mahomes, Divisional round lost to Patrick Mahomes, Divisional round home lost to Joe Burrow, Divisional round home loss to Patrick Mahomes. That's twenty twenty one, twenty two, twenty three. If all of a sudden, he's staring at weight, I might lose to one of these other two guys for the fifth straight year, third straight year in my building and in you know, kind of de escalating rounds of the playoffs.
That's a scary spot for Buffalo or not really. Again, I think Buffalo is way better than Cincinnati, but just from a pressure and nervousness standpoint. But to get back to your question, and this is the part of it that no one seems willing to acknowledge. The only scenario in which the Chiefs play the Bengals would mean the Bengals just beat Buffalo, and that is objectively an awesome outcome.
For the Chiefs.
Yes, there is one team that has beaten the Chiefs this year. It's Buffalo. There's one team that's been the Chiefs in the last three hundred and seventy five days. It's three hundred and seventy days. It's Buffalo. They so I don't think the Chiefs are gonna game it to try to help Cincinnati to get in. And by the way, the only way to gain that is to beat Denver with your backups from your ten point dogs or nine
and a half point dogs, whatever it is. But it is really idiotic media commentary to act like the Bengals making the playoffs is bad for the Chiefs because there's only two possible outcomes of the Bengals making the playoffs. One is they lose in Round one. The other is they knock out the second best team in football. I personally would happily sign up for either one of those. So it's just it's just stupid. What's your following, Prescinnati in there?
The Chiefs are fifteen to one. If I had one of the best seasons of all time. Obviously, nobody's calling for Andy Reid to be Coach of the Year. Mahomes there for MVP. Why is that?
Well, so that's an interesting thing, Demons where.
You also aren't doing that?
By the way, No, well, though, while we don't talk coach of the year, I do think Andy should be coach of the Year because somebody's here's the thing, the media has got to decide. Somebody on the Chiefs is awesome. I don't know who it is exactly, but somebody's doing great. So it's either Mahomes for the clutch stuff, Chris Jones for the number one Devens in football, or Andy Reid, who evidently doesn't have great players and they're fifteen and one.
Somebody deserves some award. But here's my there's not an award for it is there even Assistant Coach of the Year. I'm not sure.
Oh yeah, that's yeah.
I don't even know if there. I think that award does exist. Actually so maybe that. So here's here's my prediction. Right before either Conference Championship week or Super Bowl Week, I'm not sure, the NFL announces the finalists for all the awards, and just like last year, the Chiefs are going to be shut out. Nobody invited, not MVP, not Offensive Rookie of the Year, not Defensive Rookie of the Year, not Defensive Player of the Year, not Coach of the Year.
There is also demands a decent chance that when the NFL announces the three AFC Pro Bowl quarterbacks, Mahomes gets left out. There's a real shot that three AFC Pro Bowl quarterbacks are Lamar, Josh, and Burrow. And I am here to tell you while all of that is wildly disrespectful and ludicrous, nothing helps the three peat chances.
More.
Of course, then the Chiefs all of a sudden, despite being fifteen and one, well I guess at that point they'd either be fifteen and two or sixteen to one, being able to invent a wait, we got disrespected card and so is specially Patrick. So I'm here telling you, like Andy Reid not being Yeah, I don't I don't want any of it. I don't want any of it. You guys can have your fun ceremony while the Chiefs are having their you know, their annual Super Bowl practice.
I don't want any of the awards, all right.
Next, So the NFC North, the one seed comes down to the Sunday night showdown between the Vikings and the Lions. Vikings have answered a lot of questions with Sam Darnold. Obviously, the Lions are stacked up with with all those injuries, but yeat, everybody still loves the Lions. What do the Vikings have to do to be favorites.
That win that game? The Vikings win that game? Uh, you know what? I actually I take that back. Let me look at the odds. Right now, I think that the Vikings win that game, the Eagles become the NFC favorites. So I don't think there's anything they can do because right right now, no, never mind, they would become inc
because it's close enough already. Right now, Detroit is plus two hundred for the NFC, Philly's plus three thirty, and the Vikings are plus three fifty, so if the Vikings beat the Lions in Week eighteen, they will become the NFC favorites. By the way, the Rams, oh, let me see what they're offering me on that. I haven't even thought about it. The Rams ten to one. Now, the Rams haven't looked great lately, but they're about to have a home playoff game, either the three or the four
seed ten to one again to win the conference. What are they to win the super Bowl? Twenty five to one? Okay, hold on, and I obviously would never cash out a bet in my life, but I am curious if they've cried uncle yet. The so thirty Rams are thirty five to one on DraftKings, twenty five to one in some other spots. But I'm looking the so my bets click here? Okay,
right now they're offering me double my bet back. But I will never cash out ever, so I wouldn't do it because I have the Rams to win the super Bowl at seventy five to one. Now again, I obviously think the Chiefs are gonna win the Super Bowl, but I ainng a Rams Chief Super Bowl is more likely than the Vegas odds makers think it is right now, and that was just a high you know, as Danny Parkins would say, probably gonna go down as a good
value loser. But that's what what Minnesota has to do is win that game against Detroit, get the one seed, and then they'll be the favorites. All right, let's move on to Eagles in Saquon.
Yeah, so the Eagles still got it done without Hurts. Saquon is now over two thousand yards. They're locked into the two seed, by the way, but Saquon is over two thousand yards and one hundred and one shy away from breaking the record. But it's there's a meaningless game this week. I've do you think that they should let Saquon go for it?
I don't, but it's not for the reasons I think most people are arguing. First of all, I I see that Saquon's minus two thirty to break the record. My so that means Vegas thinks he's gonna break it or does it. My guess is the places that are offering that bet that is a must play bet, meaning he's minus two thirty to break it if he plays, but if he doesn't play, they just refund the wager. So that's I'm not certain on that, but that's what I'm guessing.
I don't think that it would be smart for any of these books to act like, you know what I mean, it's a guarantee that he's playing. So let's say I'm right that that is how that wager is set up. Minus two already implies he is, you know, around a seventy percent chance of breaking the record. And that's why I wouldn't. There's really there's three reasons why I wouldn't let him try. The one is the obvious one, he could get hurt. Set that aside, let's say you just
know he's not gonna get hurt. The other one is the less obvious one, which is this guy's at three hundred and forty five carries carries not touch his carries. Only Derrick Henry has had more carries in a season in the last decade than three forty five. Saquan has never had more than two hundred and ninety five. And now we're about to ask him go. They hope go play four playoff games, So just the freshness level of it, they're not gonna have a bye. You give him a buye.
That's the second reason. Some people have brought that up. The third reason that no one has brought up, but I think is super relevant is this everyone is looking at this as a binary thing. Rest and don't get the record. Play don't be as rested, but go get the record. There is a third option, which is the only thing I think demands that could really hurt the morale of the team. Play go for the record and not get it. One hundred and one yards is still
one hundred and one yards. I know you're playing the Giants, but the Giants game plan for that might literally be don't care get that record. Fifty to nothing, Yes, for real, we're gonna play no forget single high safety, zero high safety, one on one on the outside, nine guys in the box, anything but the record. And there have been five games this year Saquon didn't get one hundred yards. One hundred yards is still one hundred yards. If he were forty
yards away, you could basically guarantee it a hunt. So that would be it is not a disaster for him to run, go play, break the record and just be you know, a little more less fresh for the playoffs. It's not a disaster to have him rest and just feel like, ah, I didn't quite get the record. There are only two disaster scenarios for Philly. One is he gets hurt. The other is he goes for it and they don't get it and that kind of invincibility gets pierced.
So I would not have him do it. All right, go ahead?
Yes, do you think the Jamar jay should be in the running. He's going for the triple crown? Should he get any love for that?
For Offensive Player of the Year?
Yeah, So.
I think Offensive Player of the Year this year is gonna be really tough because I think Joe Burrow might get it. So typically the way it has worked is we've looked at Offensive Player of the Year as the best non quarterback, but that's not in the rules. So I think some people might say, I'm not voting Burrow MVP because the team wasn't good enough, but I will vote him Offensive Player of the Year. Look, but Jamar Jace triple crown is a great option. Saquon obviously, two
thousand yards is a great option. All right, let's do Jaden.
So last year c J. Stroud took that Texans team to the playoffs. They had no expectations and everybody was saying c J Strouds should get MVP. Jayden Dale was doing very similar things this year, and we do not hear those same types of talks. Why is that so?
It's flatly because last year there wasn't a as many good or great candidates for MVP as there were this year. That's all Like, if Jaden was having this season last year, he'd be right in the mix. I think people look at Jayden's year this year as fondly as they look at CJS. But last year was a weird MVP year where Dak was a candidate then had a brutal game.
At the end of the year, Purty was the favorite, then it threw the four picks against the Ravens, and then Lamar kind of won it by default, and so like it was like, hey, the team's really good. Because his numbers last year, de Monse were not spectacular in any direction, which is why a lot of the Ravens fans this year that are trying to nag Josh Allen's
MVP case. The problem is Josh Allen's MVP case this year is Lamar's MVP case last year, and Lamar didn't have the statistical profile for the MVP last year, but his team had the best record and he was awesome for the Josh Allen doesn't have the statistics go profile for the MVP this year, but it seem as the
second best record in the conference. They beat the Chiefs and Lions are twenty nine and three in the season, but they're twenty nine and one against the whole NFL and zero to two against the Bills, So that helps Josh and so, and they're kind of overachieving or whatever. So the there are. But Josh is a great candidate. Lamar is a great candidate. Sam Darnold is a great candidate that no one will accept. Golf's a good candidate, and Joe Burrow's a decent candidate. Those are all. They're
all having better seasons than anybody last year. So that's why Jaden's not in the mix in my opinion. All Right, that was a nice forty five minute a block, take a quick break. Come back, We'll do our New Year's resolutions before we get out of here. What's right? Welcome back in What's right?
With Nick?
Great? It is New Year's Eve. We will be on Thursday. Uh, we took last week off. We're not gonna take this week off, but since New Year's Eve, we'll do some I guess rights resolutions. So this is one of these things. Oh that's a great photoshop. I love that. Uh. I don't quite remember us doing last year, but I'm sure we did them. So Demont's take us through this year's Yes.
So the NBA has had declining ratings this year and people were killing the current state of the game. There's nothing like a lofty New Year's resolution to turn it all around fix all those problems. The NBA's twenty twenty five resolution should.
Be for honestly, got it.
Oh, let him fight, let him fight. Go on, docky. They do it in baseball. Tired of the tough guy. You guys just run up to each other. It's like, oh, we're gonna fight. We're gonna fight. The refs go and break it up. Swing a guy to the ground, actually hit somebody. You know, don't kill anybody. You don't fight any of the fans. But yeah, I mean my guys pointed each other in the face every.
Once in a while. Wow, I didn't I didn't see that take coming. That would be uh, at least short term fix. I will tell you this, Madam Silver is like, you know what fighting's allowed now, people would tune in more. Uh. I don't hate it. I don't hate the idea. I'm curious how many uh international players Draymond would fight before he fought an actual American player. It's a long list. But uh so that's an interesting uh my. My response to that is a little more I guess serious, But
demonsic is probably better. Need the next crop of superstars to take it as seriously as the previous crow it. That'll help, like to take it really seriously regular season round and I think that would help a lot. We've spent a lot of time talking about the three pointer and load management and I don't want to do that right now. But I also just think a level of maturity from this next this group of guys that you
know you have. You still have a Lebron, you still have Steph, you still have Durant that have given you the blueprint for how to be a pro in this league and last for a decade and a half to two decades, and you can follow it or you can't.
Next a few weeks back, you attack the NFL playoff format for ruining late season intrigue. Assuming there's no chance the NFL gives up the extra game, what's the next the next big thing the NFL's twenty twenty five resolution should be.
Oh, I don't think they've listen. I don't. I don't like the seven teams in the playoffs. I think it's unnecessary and I think it would be way more exciting if I'd rather have a good team left out than a bad team in. And I know that. I just think it makes the regular season feel more meaningful. I think it'd be really interesting if as good as Green Bay and Washington have been this year, if neither one of them knew, like if both of them are like, man,
we might miss the playoffs. I think it'd be interesting if I guess in the AFC now it would it's set. But I think that would have meant that Denver blew their playoffs spot this past week, like that stuff. So I'm saying it's set if they were only six teams. But the NFL probably doesn't need to change much. Man, they're kind of rolling. I mean, it's it's working for them. Next.
The Dallas Boys underwhelm this year, yet it seems like there's a real chance that they run it back with Mike McCarthy if they ever want to get back to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys twenty twenty five resolution should be.
Well. In the long term, it's to not have Jerry running everything, but that's not gonna happen. Short terms, it's bite the bullet fire McCarthy, hire Mike Vrabel and try to install a culture. I mean, that's his obvious because you're not gonna be able to change the quarterback. You're not changing the GM. You know, Mike is gonna be their CD is gonna be there. Those are excellent players.
You need a guy, an established head coach, and I just don't I think people have maybe forgotten what Mike Vrabel did with a team with a way worse quarterback than Dak Prescott. His first year in Tennessee, they won nine games. His second year in Tennessee, they won nine games and made the af Championship Game. His third year in Tennessee, they won eleven games. His fourth year in Tennessee, they won twelve games and were the number one seed
in the conference. Then they traded aj Brown won seven games the next year, six games last year, and they fired him. That guy's an excellent coach, and that's what I would do next.
The Jets also underwhelm, but that was expected. The teams of dumpster Fire and Rodgers has washed to finally turn things around. The Jets twenty twenty five resolution should.
Be, I mean, obviously, get out of the Aaron Rodgers business is far away from Aaron Rodgers possible go ahead.
How likely do you think it is that they run it back with him as of now?
Very unlikely. Coach Manginie has been pretty plugged in on this stuff, and he said when Rogers started poking fun at the owner's teenage son Brick, that that was Rogers basically because the heat Rogers went on there was a report that the Woody Johnson's kids are like deeply involved, and Rogers then went on McAfee and said, yeah, you know, I've never been cut by a teenager before, so that would be a first, like poking fun at that, and Mangini said that to him trying to shoot his way
out of town. But Wild's had a rare great tweet during the Jets game this weekend on that third and one play when Rogers could have run for a first, could have then had a wide open throw to the tight end and it didn't run, made the pass, threw it five yards short and then yelled at the tight end and he was like, this is perfect Darreon Rodgers twenty twenty four. Not mobile enough to run for it, not accurate enough to throw for it, not humble enough
to admit that was my mistake, not yours. So I would just get out of the Aaron Rodgers business and let me say something here that we won't clip and post. But if somebody, if we've one of the aggregators or blogs or whatever has happens to be watching live and
clips it all on it, but we won't publicize it. Uh. There is a rich irony to Pat McAfee correctly calling out the Indianapolis Colts for toxic culture and no leadership within the franchise while guffawing and hosting Aaron Rodgers every Tuesday. He was like, this is what's wrong with the Colts. This what let me tell you, the Colts will never win like this, this is what's wrong. Just goes scorched earth on them, and then every Tuesday has Aaron on as Aaron has lit the Jets franchise on fire from
the inside out and has no problem with it. Like that. Irony is not lost on me.
Pat McAfee's the friend that keeps the friend around just because he's embarrassed, embarrasses himself and makes himself look better.
So I don't think that's I mean, I so I don't.
Every time Aaron Rodgers goes up there, it's bad.
It's like, and you think he looks better in comparison.
Yeah, I think I think it's just for everybody's amusement. But that's me.
Maybe, I mean, listen, maybe he's playing forty chess that I'm not seeing. I think there's a much simpler explanation. All right, let's go to the next one.
This year, we both took a big step forward on the Gambling Show with your picks and my teasers. Uh, but there's always room for growth. Obviously. Our twenty twenty five gambling resolution should be.
I mean, keep it going the I'm trying to see what was this my seventh straight no? Because I went three and two again this week. So this is my sixth straight winning week and my eighth of my last nine weeks have been winning weeks on the year, now forty seven thirty seven and one and over the last six weeks. Let me do this math real quick, over the last six weeks, four, eight, twelve, and then twenty one and fourteen. No, that's wrong. Give myself more credit.
Twenty one and nine over the last six weeks, which is awesome. And so yeah, I mean, I think, in all seriousness, I think that early in the year I probably should just favor dogs way more, because what hurts me is I don't really have a feel early in the year kind of be hard and I get a little too. I don't want to say fancy, but I may be ambitious with the picks. And you know that early in season on underdogs historically are the right play.
So that's probably the first few weeks while I get my footing, you know, things that are just historical plays, like you know, divisional underdogs, things like that. And then once I, as Danny would say, see the NFL really clearly as I have been lately, that is that's where that's where I think I can make my money. All right, last one, demanse.
Every year sports media does stuff that makes you angry. Let's fix that. Let's fix that. Sports Media's twenty twenty five resolutions should be.
Well listen, you know what, I just did something that I said I don't do, which is I don't really get in the you know, inner media beef stuff, even though it was very clear that that's like a successful lane for podcasts and YouTube shows people like that. I gotta tell you that little mcfeeeron Rodgers segment, I gave me a little little jolt. I kind of enjoyed it.
So maybe my resolution is gonna be I'm gonna I'm gonna go uh do the opposite of the Michelle Obama when they go low, I'll go low too, Like, maybe that's what I'll do. I don't know, it could be fun. There's a lot of dopes in the field, a lot and uh and I am not as worried about my kind of universal popularity as maybe others are. So maybe that's what I'll do. No promises, but there's a few that are ripe for the picking here and uh and so we'll you know, we'll see uh the so we've
got you. Oh, by the way, Well, maybe I mean there might makes yeah, yeah, I mean there might be. I mean, there's there's a few people in particular that it feels like, you know, their comeuppance is due, so that could be maybe that's maybe that'll be a new feature of the pod in the new year. We'll see quick break right back, what's right?
All right?
Welcome back in demand. Let's run through some listener questions quick before I got to get out.
Of here, WX says. Each year we see how valuable quarterback rushing is, and it seems the mobile quarterbacks, for example, Stafford, are too limited as has the mobile QB become the NFL's version of a sinner that can't shoot in today's NBA.
No, there is a limitation associated with it. But Burrow's not mobile, Donald's not mobile, Golf's not mobile, Stafford's not mobile. Three of those guys having the best years of their career, and Stafford's always dangerous. So it is. It is because the traditional pocket passer is becoming, you know, less the standard, but Golf, Donald and Burrow are having some of the best years any players in the league. So no, I don't I don't think that, but I do think I,
you know, shocker to no one. The best version of it is Mahomes Stylistically, forget the talent, a guy that has the ability to run, but truly only does it in emergency scenarios. That's the best version.
Next, Tyler question for Nick, do you like Donald to the forty nine ers and letting Perty go?
I depends on the price. And I you know Donald was there last year and they loved him, and so I I also want to get the results of this late Perty elbow injury. And if it's nothing, it's nothing. If it's significant, that that's a very big problem for them.
Next, Curtis ranked the rookie quarterbacks from best season to worse. Now that the season is wrapping.
Up, well, Jaden's clearly number one. As far as the individual seasons they've had. It would go Jaden one, Bow Knicks two, Caleb three, Drake May four. That's what it would be as far as my stock in guys moving forward. Of those four, I'm not gonna include Pennis because he hasn't played enough and McCarthy hasn't played at all for me, and I know this is not what America believes. That's fine. I would go Caleb one. I would go exact order
they were drafted. Actually, Caleb, Jaden, Drake bo Bow's been way better than Drake this year, but I think Drake has more upside and Jaden, I worry about the injury stuff, but he's been so electric. My god, he's been electric.
Next, Bradley Nick, I think your ravens Lamar take is mostly correct. The one thing I would change is is it's not big games, it's emotional games. Oughts. I think it's like how Andy's time ended in Philly.
So that's interesting. Maybe it is emotional games and he gets in his own head. Maybe it's so Maybe it's a that. I gotta think more on that, but that seems like a plausible idea. All right, last one, uh Toamas.
If Lebron retires after this year, do you think the NBA loses even more eyes or do you think it a right or sorry? Or do you think it revitalizes the league?
Oh? I think it'd be really bad for the league. I don't think they're ready for Lebron to retire, but he's not going to listen. I'm not claiming to be Lebron's closest confidant, but what I will tell you is this, Lebron James ain't leaving the NBA without a farewell tour. I feel very confident in that Lebron's not gonna be like, all right, guys, that's it. I think he's gonna give
us fair warning on it. I also think that he wants to play twenty three years as a like, to really wrestle that twenty three number away from Michael Jordan entirely. He wore it played twenty three years like it feels fitting now. Yesterday he was like, I could play five to seven more at this level. And I think he's probably telling the truth amazingly, but he's he's gonna get bored. I'd love him to play a nice round twenty five years,
but that's not gonna happen. And so that we'll talk more Lebron and and be listen, there's been some I don't know if it's complaints, but you know, noticing that we have not done nearly as much NBA this year as we have a year past. We obviously will once football is over, and we probably will in this coming month when there's less football news. But I've just been so dialed into what I think has been a dynamic NFL season that I haven't really had as much interest
in talking NBA as of yet. All Right, see you guys on Thursday for another winning gambling show. Great job to all my friends at Blue Duck. Great job Demand. Talk to you guys later. What's right? Hey, thanks for watching. If you're still here, do me a favor. Hit the subscribe button, then hit the bell so you can be notified when we have new episodes. After you've done that, one more favor, go to your favorite audio platform of
choice and subscribe there as well. Don't forget. We're live every Tuesday and Thursday ten thirty am Eastern Ish ten thirty five, ten forty. It sometimes changes, but that's why you hit the bell. You hit the bell so you're notified. You subscribe so we can get to two hundred thousand followers. We're right around one hundred and fifty thousand. We'd love to get to two hundred thousand. Get Demand another plaque, so like subscribe rate, send a rating to do all that cool stuff. Thanks guys,