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- [00:00]
Commercial Narrator
As you know, managing maintenance, repair and operations is never easy. But for the ones who always rise to the challenge, Grainger has your back. From professional grade products you can count on to fast, dependable delivery, they're there to help you keep things running smoothly. Plus, their technical product specialists are here to help answer your toughest questions. And because Grainger knows safety is always a priority, they're committed to being your partner in protecting both your people and your facilities. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click granger.com or just stop by.
- [00:33]
Mike Wilbon
Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Wilbon. It's our longtime substitute host Dan Lebatar's birthday. Tony, what makes Dan such a memorable fill in?
- [00:44]
Tony Kornheiser
I'm Tony Kornheiser. Dan is always heady, steady and sweaty.
- [00:49]
Jeff Saturday
Bam.
- [00:50]
Mike Wilbon
Oh yeah, yeah. You know, he's Dan, you know, he might not want to tell his age. I don't care. Exactly 10 years younger than me. So I. Where Levitar is, he can't fake it. He can't like shave years off. You know how big personalities like Levitard, they shave years off, you know, five years.
- [01:09]
Tony Kornheiser
Oh, I don't think Dan's that way.
- [01:11]
Mike Wilbon
He better not.
- [01:13]
Tony Kornheiser
I don't think so. Dan was telling me that, you know, because he just graduated high school about 15 years ago. Yeah, that's what he's telling me. I guess that's not really true. Welcome to pti boys and girls. In today's episode Cooper flag goes for 42. The spurs and the Knicks play for the NBA Cup. And Jeff Saturday joins us for five good minutes. But we begin today with the Pittsburgh Steelers dominating the Miami Dolphins in sub freezing weather in Pittsburgh. Winning 28 15. Last night, Aaron Rodgers led the Steelers to four straight touchdown drives in the second and third quarters, making the score 28 3. Rodgers completed 23 of 27 passes, his highest one game completion percentage since 2014. Just two weeks ago, Steelers fans were chanting fire Tomlinson Wilbourne. How do things look now for Mike Tomlin and Aaron Rodgers?
- [02:01]
Mike Wilbon
Tony? They always look better after a win in the NFL, not like any other sport. You know, baseball is 1 162. Hockey and basketball is 1 of 81. No football, you win a game, everybody feels good for a little bit.
- [02:15]
Tony Kornheiser
Yep.
- [02:16]
Mike Wilbon
Until the next week, until the next game, the next Thursday, Sunday or Monday. And I'm, I'm, I watched that entire game last night. I hadn't planned on it but I'm like, okay, you know, Miami's got this rushing attack. They've won five out of six or whatever. You know they've gotten themselves together. They may have saved their coach's job. Let's see what they do in Pittsburgh. And the answer was nothing. They didn't want to be out there. Like Miami and Tampa, whenever they go to somewhere and it's under 40, they got these records. That's oh and 5700. And then they look like they were scared and didn't want to be there. So I don't know what it means. I mean, other folks can assign it some great meaning. I'm not. Pittsburgh's got tough games to end the season with. His last three games. I'll wait for those.
- [03:04]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, I'm going to just talk about Aaron Rodgers for a second because it's easy to hate Aaron Rodgers lately, but he is a Hall of Fame quarterback. I mean, he's. Look, he was with the jets, the jets stink. Now he's with the Steelers. The Steelers do not stink. This is reflected in Aaron Rodgers play. He didn't lose his skills. They didn't erode overnight. Aaron Rodgers at this point, his passer rating this year, Mike, 98.8. That's 11th in the league. 11 out of 32 is pretty good. And let's get to the Tomlin thing. It was silly to say fire Tomlinson, but to Mike Tomlin's credit, he took it very well. He said he understood it. He did not lash out at the fans. We understand. We understand the Steelers are not going to fire Mike Tomlin. Like, we get that. But we spent a lot of time on this show, Mike, talking about whether Tomlin maybe would think about moving somewhere else and leaving, that his time was done, which is what Ben Roethlisberger advocated. And Roethlisberger turned that around last night when before the game, he said, if Mike Tomlin wants to coach 10 more years in Pittsburgh, I'm good with that. And that, kids, is what we call a backpedal for Ben Roethlisberger. Absolutely back.
- [04:18]
Commercial Narrator
Yeah.
- [04:18]
Mike Wilbon
And Pittsburgh was center stage because the game turned out to be. Eh, eh. That's what it was. Let's turn to the NBA, where Cooper Flag last night became the youngest player to score at least 40 points in a game. Flag, who turns 19 Sunday, finished with 42 in Dallas's overtime loss at Utah. LeBron previously held a mark for most points as an 18 year old at 37. Tone was flags feet last night. A big deal. Little deal or no deal at all.
- [04:51]
Tony Kornheiser
I think to accurately answer that question, you almost have to give it a little time to be fair about it. If he Turns out to be a great player like LeBron, we're going to be able to say this is when it started. If he doesn't, maybe it becomes a curiosity at some point. And you have to. You have to consider there are very, very few players in the NBA ever who are 18 years old most of the time. Even the young, the young ones enter. They enter at 19 or 20. And Cooper Flagg skipped a year in high school just so he could get to college. So with all of these caveats, I will say that it is at least a little deal. Again, with a swirl around him. Maybe it's a big deal. You know, I mean, I'll give you that. That maybe it's a big deal. The way, the way I would deal with this question is to ask it this way. How many other Rookies have had 42 points this year, regardless of their age?
- [05:47]
Mike Wilbon
None.
- [05:48]
Tony Kornheiser
And the answer is no one. So you have to give Cooper Flagg a lot of credit. Here he is a kid playing against grown men, and he went for 42. He's averaged almost 26 points his last seven games. This is why he was the overall number one pick. This.
- [06:06]
Mike Wilbon
Yeah, this is not a surprise. Maybe the number 42 is. I'm gonna admit I didn't watch any of this game because I was watching a much better game between Houston and Denver, which had some drama to it.
- [06:17]
Tony Kornheiser
But you were watching the football. You said you watched the football.
- [06:21]
Mike Wilbon
You're the last person in America left with one tv, a nine inch like Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton. You're the only guy doing that Captain Video.
- [06:30]
Tony Kornheiser
So.
- [06:31]
Mike Wilbon
But, but, but, you know, Tony, I just. So Kobe could have done it, right? Maybe Moses Malone. Although Moses might have been 19. I mean, for 100 years, you came in the league older. So I just don't see it as a big deal. I see Cooper Flag as a big deal. I see his maturation as a big deal. I see him getting out of that stupid point guard thing as a big deal. And I will watch Cooper flag excitedly. But 42 in and of itself, eh, not doing much for me.
- [07:00]
Tony Kornheiser
All right, let's stay with the NBA and discuss tonight's championship game in the NBA cup that in season tournament that was invented three years ago. Tonight in Las Vegas, of all places, San Antonio will play the Knicks to see who takes home $530,000 per man. The loser gets 212,000. Wilbon. Which team would this phony baloney tournament mean more to? The spurs or the Knicks?
- [07:21]
Mike Wilbon
The spurs, no doubt the Spurs. Tony, and you know what? Listen, you and I feel the same way about this whole thing, but younger players don't. And I covered the first one. I was there for it two years ago. I know exactly what younger players. I remember talking to Halliburton that night when the Pacers played. And no, it means a lot to.
- [07:42]
Jeff Saturday
To. To.
- [07:42]
Mike Wilbon
To the stars of those teams. And to win by. And it's a steal from soccer. But when Banyama grew up in Europe, he's French and it means everything. And so the cup does. The competition does. It does. And if the Knicks were to win this and hang a banner, I would make fun of you and everybody in New York who ever cheered for the Knicks for the rest of time. They better not hang a banner in the world's most famous arena for this. The spurs is different. They're a kiddie team and they're hellacious. They are stalking everybody in the league. It would mean a lot to them. And I'm gonna try to watch as much of this as I can.
- [08:23]
Tony Kornheiser
Yeah, good. You can watch from me. I'm not gonna be watching because I don't even think it's on real tv. I think it's on streaming TV and I'm not getting streaming just to watch this game. Look, it's an invented tournament. It is meaningless to me. It may be meaningful to other people. Not to me. People sat around in the NBA offices and they said, let's have an in season tournament. And because this is what soccer does and the NBA looks at soccer's global draw and says, this is what we want. Let's put this tournament at the beginning of the season. Maybe create a buzz because we're going to get crushed by the NFL. Let's see if we can focus on us. We'll put it out there. This is who we are. Will you watch us? And that's fine. It's fine. If you want to watch it. The winner will be forgotten by Friday. I'll take exception what you're saying about the Knicks. And they haven't won anything, anything in 52 years. They got a lot of rafter space. And if they win this, they ought to hang up a gigantic. You won a banner and just say 20, 25 NBA Cup. Remember where you were when we won it and we ruled as a Knicks guy.
- [09:30]
Mike Wilbon
You want. You want this a thing you won't even watch. You want that hanging from the Raptors?
- [09:36]
Tony Kornheiser
I don't put. I don't. But I could see the Knicks wanting it until enough people stood up and said, get that out of here.
- [09:44]
Mike Wilbon
That'll be tomorrow.
- [09:44]
Tony Kornheiser
We won two real titles. Let's take a break. Coming up, what could Philip Rivers face against the Niners that he did not against the Seahawks? We will ask Jeff Saturn better not hang that.
- [09:55]
Mike Wilbon
We'll also ask him how deeply felt for the Packers Michael Parson's loss is.
- [10:02]
Tony Kornheiser
The Lakers who hung the banner.
- [10:04]
Mike Wilbon
They shouldn't have one either, and they don't play in the world's most famous arena.
- [10:09]
Commercial Narrator
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- [11:46]
Tony Kornheiser
You are watching Pardon the Interruption, presented.
- [11:49]
Commercial Narrator
By Grey Goose, part of Happy hour.
- [11:58]
Tony Kornheiser
We've got NFL questions for our great friend, ESPN NFL analyst Jeff Saturday. We got to start. We got to start with Philip Rivers. And I'll just add, parenthetically, I was amazed at Philip Rivers. I really was. If you were blocking for Philip Rivers, are there things you'd be concerned about that the 49ers could do this week that maybe the Seahawks did not do after a week of watching film on this guy?
- [12:26]
Jeff Saturday
Yeah, great, great question. I would say press the line of SCRIMMAGE right. Get tighter understanding. When you looked at it, really, most of the passes he threw were coming out pretty quick and they're pretty short from a, you know, a catch and go run. And so to get him to hold the ball longer, you know, how do you change your coverages up so that he has to sit in the pocket? You adjust his timing, like his footwork, because patience is probably the hardest thing for a guy who hadn't been hit in a long time to, you know, kind of. He gets that itch of wanting to let the ball go. And I would say that would be kind of thing. Once, once teams zone in on how far they think you're willing to push the ball down the field, they will creep up and make it very difficult. At some point, Rivers will have to take kind of the, the belt off, right? The training, the training wheels off of him coming back and let that thing rip a few times because you, you're going to have to back those guys off and not let pressure get to you because as an offensive lineman, you know, he's a sitting duck. You're going to protect like crazy. But at some point they know where he is and the ball has got to come out. So that would be the only thing that I would say teams will begin to adjust on.
- [13:38]
Mike Wilbon
Let's go to a quarterback who's 14 years younger, Patrick Mahomes and Jeff, ask you, if you were one of Mahomes teammates, how uncertain would the future feel right now?
- [13:51]
Jeff Saturday
Not at all. Listen, I'm going to tell you, Patrick Mahomes, this is just a retooling in my opinion, right? Like where the Chiefs are. The Chiefs have rested on Patrick Mahomes and in all due respect, it worked, right? I mean, how many Super Bowls has the guy gone to, right? You won three. Like, it's worked like you can't blame them. But you saw this year there was way too much reliance on, you know, Mahomes, save us type thing. And unfortunately they had, they had drops, whether it was Rice or Worthy or Kelsey. At times they didn't run it very well. Their offensive line got banged up. There are a lot of pieces of. They need to kind of have. If you remember a few years ago when they brought in like Humphrey and Smith and Bolton and they, they got McDuffie, right? And they got juiced up a little bit, right? Young, energetic, all made impacts. They need another one of those kind of draft classes where they're developing guys for, for Mahomes can carry it, but it can't only be One guy and they just kind of got caught. And even Andy Reid and Nagy, it was a little stale. Like, if you look at all, you know, you look at Ben Johnson and Liam Cohen and. And McVay, like their offenses are a little more, you know, they're doing a little more than Andy Reid, which you would have never thought. So I think this invigorates that Chiefs team. I think they start a new phase and no real worry once he gets past, obviously, the rehab portion of the surgery. What's nine months or whatever that is, I think I would feel completely comfortable with. Al Mahomes will attack the next part of his career.
- [15:24]
Mike Wilbon
All right, that's enough quarterback talk. We got to get to some. Some defense talk here, particularly for those of us who will be in Soldier Field watching Bears packers on Saturday night. I was fascinated when you compared Micah Parsons this morning on get up to a Quarterback and his importance to a quarterback. Jeff, can you elaborate on that?
- [15:46]
Jeff Saturday
No, absolutely. You. You think about. Okay, so let me put this in perspective. He's had 64 quarterback pressures this year, or that was kind of the running total. The next highest on his team right now has 28. Rashawn Gary. Okay, so just think about that discrepancy. And now think about every player on your defense plays and has predictions based on him getting that pressure. Right? Like, defensive backs can see when there's no chip help or there's no tight end on his side or they don't feel like they're going to slide his way. They know balls coming out quick. I'm going to climb up a little bit and play this tighter or I'm going to play inside leverage, right? Like defenses work together. And he was the quarterback of it. Everything came off of what can Micah Parsons do for the defense that everybody else can kind of take note? He. He multiplies, right? It's a force multiplier. He understood that by him playing well, everybody else could play well around him. That's. That is a massive loss, and it is. Is equal to losing a quarterback on offense. This was a massive loss for the Packers.
- [16:54]
Mike Wilbon
And.
- [16:54]
Jeff Saturday
And listen, I. People are bashing me because I said it's going to affect their super bowl chances. It will. They brought him in for a reason, Mike. Like you and I both, they had this defense before that was close to being a top five or top ten, whatever it was, that wasn't good enough. You want to win the super bowl, you need a closer. He is the closer. Unfortunately, they lose a man for all of us because I Wanted to see it in the playoffs and, and unfortunately we're not going to be able to see it for at least another year.
- [17:19]
Tony Kornheiser
This is very interesting that you would say that was a massive loss. You've said that all year. You've said that only one other time about Lane Johnson. You said that was a massive loss. This is only the second time we will get you out of here on this. It's easy to see how the cold affects receivers and quarterbacks. It's harder to catch the ball, it's harder to throw the ball, it's harder to grip the ball in the cold. The position you play, offensive lineman, does the cold affect offensive lineman and defensive linemen at all?
- [17:47]
Jeff Saturday
Oh, yeah, especially the ends. They get a little worried about their hands. You know, your face mask hits the hand or you, you know, you, you trap them down and slap them down. Their head hits that dirt. It's a lot harder when it's cold than when it's warm. But nobody, nobody likes to get beat around when it's 17 degrees out there, right? So as an offensive lineman, I always thought it was our advantage, you know, because we know where we're going. We're hopefully we get there a split second ahead and oftentimes we're double teaming a guy, right? So you're trying to finish and make sure you're laying the hat on of a little extra. Making sure if you could, if you see his fingers near a pile, maybe slide your cleat over it a little bit, you know, just make him think about that cold and that pain because that's the, that's the joy and the beauty of that. O line, D line battle, man, ain't nothing. And listen, they do the same. Don't let them church it up. I ain't going to let them. They would do it to me.
- [18:38]
Tony Kornheiser
I'm sitting down.
- [18:39]
Jeff Saturday
I took a lot of shots underneath those piles. So I don't feel bad for them either. It's just all part of it.
- [18:45]
Tony Kornheiser
Jeff, Great to have you. Jeff, as always. Thank you so much. Thank you.
- [18:49]
Jeff Saturday
Love you fellas. Have a great one.
- [18:52]
Tony Kornheiser
Let's take one last break. Still to come, Arch Manning appears to have made a decision about his future.
- [18:58]
Mike Wilbon
And the Clippers. Oh, the Clippers continue their swoon season long. Can't get up.
- [19:06]
Tony Kornheiser
They stink.
- [19:07]
Mike Wilbon
Fallen and they stink. They get up, by the way.
- [19:10]
Tony Kornheiser
How about that expression, Jeff? Just used to church it up, actually.
- [19:14]
Mike Wilbon
The weight is so great. That's awful.
- [19:17]
Commercial Narrator
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- [20:44]
Tony Kornheiser
Pardon the Interruption is presented by Great Goose Make Time. Wait.
- [20:49]
Jeff Saturday
Please enjoy responsibly. Part of happy hour.
- [20:54]
Tony Kornheiser
Happy time people. Happy 43rd birthday. Antrell Roll, the NFL DB is one of those infrequent players to have won an NCAA Championship in college and a Super bowl in the pros. Roll won in college at the U in 2001, then was on the Giants. Super bowl winners in 2011. Rolle played 11 seasons in the NFL, five with the Giants, five with the Cardinals, one with your Bears. Mike he made three Pro Bowls. Pro Football Reference says Roll is a cousin to Chad Ochocinko Johnson and to Myron and Samari Rolle. Myron Rolle is best known for being a Rhodes Scholar after playing at Florida State and is now a neurosurgeon. Samari Rowe once made the Pro bowl as a DB with the Titans.
- [21:35]
Mike Wilbon
Don't you remember Myron visiting us here when he was a rising Road Scholar? We gotta keep an eye on this kid. He and Chad Ochocinko.
- [21:45]
Jeff Saturday
What?
- [21:45]
Mike Wilbon
That must be really cool at like Thanksgiving if you get to sit between the two of them.
- [21:50]
Tony Kornheiser
Happy Anniversary. Drew Brees on this day six years ago, the Saints quarterback had arguably the best game of his 2020 year career, Brees completed 28 of 29 pass attempts, setting a single game record for quarterbacks with over 20 attempts, percentage of 96.7. In Brees's 20th straight completion, he threw his 540th career touchdown pass to break Peyton Manning's NFL record. Tom Brady has since surpassed them both. Brees finished the game with 304 yards, four touchdowns, 34. Seven win over the Colts despite this past Sunday, the Saints rookie quarterback Tyler Schuck set a franchise record for most passing yards in a season by a rookie. And Schuck did this in only the sixth game he has started.
- [22:32]
Mike Wilbon
I know how much you like seeing Drew Brees play in New Orleans. I did too. Is it possible he's still underrated? As great as the hall of Fame career that he had isn't impossible. People talk about all these other folks with more flowery language. Don't do that with Drew Brees.
- [22:49]
Tony Kornheiser
He's a great quarterback. Yes, he's great. Happy trails to the NFL draft for Arch Manning. Manning's father Cooper told ESPN that Arch will return for his fourth season at Texas in 2026. Peyton and Eli's nephew has had a down and up year. The redshirt sophomore threw five interceptions in his first five games, two of which were losses at Ohio State and Florida. But he's only thrown two points picks over his last seven games on the season. He's thrown for 24 touchdowns and run for another eight. The Longhorns also lost at Georgia this year, but ended the regular season on a high note, upsetting undefeated rival Texas A and M Woban. What do you make of this decision?
- [23:29]
Mike Wilbon
Senior year could and should be the high note. I hope he has a great senior year. I'm gonna root like hell for him.
- [23:35]
Tony Kornheiser
Me too. Let's go to the big finish.
- [23:37]
Mike Wilbon
Let's do it.
- [23:37]
Tony Kornheiser
Rockets coach Ime Udoka criticized the refs after Houston's overtime loss to Denver. With good, good reason.
- [23:43]
Mike Wilbon
I noticed Jokic's singum going for triple doubles, but I didn't notice the refs, which is usually a good sign. I did. Unseated Washington won the NCAA soccer championship in overtime. I know you're impressed.
- [23:56]
Tony Kornheiser
Very impressed. They did it five miles. They beat NC State five miles from the NC State campus. Very impressed. Blackhawks say Connor Bedard is out with a shoulder injury until at least the new year. Your thoughts?
- [24:08]
Mike Wilbon
Points fifth in goals. The kid's starting to become great and now he's going to be out for a bit. Sidney Crosby and the Penguins host Connor McDavid and the Oilers tonight. You're intrigued?
- [24:20]
Tony Kornheiser
Yes. Cuz I found out it's on Real TV. Not this streaming stuff. Real TV. Last one. The Clippers have lost 18 of 21. Can you defend them?
- [24:29]
Jeff Saturday
I can't. I can't defend him.
- [24:31]
Mike Wilbon
What are you talking about? He's such a fraud.
- [24:33]
Tony Kornheiser
You have.
- [24:34]
Mike Wilbon
You have streaming in your home already. You watch the Thursday night.
- [24:38]
Tony Kornheiser
Not like you have it.
- [24:39]
Mike Wilbon
It's the same channel.
- [24:40]
Tony Kornheiser
Not like you have it. You got three TVs all streamed. I have one small stream. We're out of time. Try and do better the next time. I'm Tony Cornheart.
- [24:48]
Mike Wilbon
I'm Mike Wilbon. Same time tomorrow.
- [24:52]
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