C (2:34)

So I will start with Buffalo. Buffalo cannot stop the run. Cannot stop the run at all. Buffalo has no wide receivers that are particularly threatening. Buffalo at the moment has Josh Allen and James Cook and essentially nothing else. I think it's possible. I don't think it will happen. I think it's possible they can miss the playoffs. And can you imagine a year in which Buffalo and Kansas City both missed the playoffs? Houston has surprised me. I understand that CJ Stroud is a better quarterback than Davis mills. But when C.J. stroud was in there, Houston was 3 and 5. And with Mills, they are 3, 0. He's got five touchdown passes, only one interception in those three games. He's gotten the team to 75 points, which is a lot of points. He has been everything you could want of a backup. Everything you could want of a backup. Of a backup. I'm not saying it's a starter.

B (3:24)

That can mean holding the fort for three days.

C (3:27)

Exactly right. So on this high quality program, yesterday Booger McFarlane extolled the Washington defense, not the Washington, Houston defense. And it turns out he's 100% right.

B (3:38)

He is 100%.

C (3:39)

Okay. They held Buffalo to three points in the second half. On 40% of the snaps that Buffalo had in the second half, they gained either no yards or, or negative yards. They have only allowed more than 20 points once all year. And statistically they have the best defense in the entire league. I agree with you about the offense. Do they have enough offense? But what is interesting to me now.

B (4:01)

Last night, on night you sacked Josh Allen eight times.

C (4:03)

The AFC has completely turned upside down. It's upside down. You have Houston, you have Indianapolis.

B (4:11)

Those teams were supposed to be better even a year ago.

C (4:14)

You have Denver, you have New England. You don't.

B (4:16)

I mean, but. But that's Tony. There's upcoming draft, there's free agency. The leagues, all of them are built to reward. I know being bad for a while and you rise to the top. It's not going to last forever for Kansas City. And Buffalo hadn't even got there yet. Once, yet not all the way there. Houston going to make the playoffs, yes or no?

C (4:37)

I think they will. I think they will. I think that division that they're in, which used to be a lousy division, Indianapolis and Jacksonville, they Are all three playoff candidates.

B (4:47)

So you get rid of their all red uniforms. The Thursday night thing with the whole color. Stop with that.

C (4:53)

I didn't like it.

B (4:53)

It's just dumb.

C (4:54)

I didn't like it.

B (4:55)

Let's move to the biggest NFL game of the weekend. Colts at Chiefs. The Colts are one of the biggest surprises in the league at 8 and 2. So are the Chiefs at 5 and 5. But Kansas City would appear to need this win to stay alive for the playoffs. Tone, do you expect the Chiefs to get it?

C (5:13)

Okay, so let me just state first, this is a one o' clock game. This is the biggest game of the weekend. It's on at 1 o'.

B (5:20)

Clock.

C (5:21)

Here are some 4 o' clock games, right? Browns, Raiders, Jaguars, Cardinals, Falcon, Saints at 4.

B (5:28)

What shows you the television executive could screw it up too.

C (5:32)

Do I expect the Chiefs to win? I do expect the Chiefs to win, but I expected the Chiefs to win at Denver after a buy and they did not. I expected Buffalo to win last night and they did not. I think that my expectations are based on a muscle memory of the six to eight preceding years in which Buffalo and Kansas City always made the playoffs. So that, that's sort of what I expect. The fact is that these are not the Chiefs of last year even. No, they were 11 and oh, in one score games last year they're 05. I believe in one score games this year. Patrick Mahomes is not the Patrick Mahomes of last year. He is not as effective close and late. And I'll give you a statistic here in 11 snaps in close and late. Okay, in close and late is defined as a one score game and starting a drive in the last five minutes of the game. He's like, I don't know, 2 for 10 on 29 yards and he had that bad sack last week. So I mean. And the Chiefs defense gives up first downs late.

B (6:33)

So it's not the same.

C (6:35)

Not the same.

B (6:35)

It doesn't last forever for anybody. You and I covered a lot of the 49ers, Montana to Young under Walsh, with of course Rice and at some point, you know, the Giants caught him. I remember Joe Montana laying out on the turf having been knocked out late in that run that the 49ers had. We've seen you all the great teams.

C (6:56)

But do you think Kansas City will win this game?

B (6:59)

You know, yeah, and so do I because I thought the 49ers would win all those games too. And they didn't. And then you thought the Giants, you thought the Bears or the 85. You think they'll win all the games? Until they don't. And because the other teams, the other teams are working hard to catch them. There are teams that have been chasing Kansas City unsuccessfully for a dozen years.

C (7:23)

Not a dozen, but close 10.

B (7:26)

And now, so Denver looks like it is going to say, aha, we gotcha. So let's see how this plays out. Yes, I expect Kansas City to win this game, but you know what? Colts are pretty good.

C (7:37)

Would you agree that Indianapolis and New England are the biggest surprises this year? Indianapolis and New England, there's no doubt about that. Here is why Indianapolis has to win this game. Here is their schedule coming up. Listen to this. At Kansas City, this game. Home Houston. At Jacksonville, at Seattle. Home 49ers home. Jacksonville at Houston. There's not a cupcake lose four of them. Oh, they could lose more than that. Not a cupcake in it. Let's move. Let's move to the NBA. And LaMelo Ball, do you remember him?

B (8:04)

Yeah.

C (8:04)

He was rookie of the year for Charlotte in 2021. Since then he's been hurt a lot and has disappeared before our eyes. Well, according to Yahoo, Ball has grown increasingly frustrated and is open to a trade. Ball said after practice today, quote, I love being here. So it's just false info, unquote. Wilbon do you consider Ball to be a trade target of consequence?

B (8:24)

Depending on who's doing the targeting. We talked about this in a different context with John Moran, where you've got just an otherworldly talent. Ball is a talented kid with the ball. He's something of a wizard with the ball in his hand. Doesn't make any difference because he's not playing for a team that's been any good. But he also hasn't been good enough to lead, to inspire, to make other players better. He's not been that guy.

C (8:52)

But.

B (8:52)

But perhaps if he's somewhere else. I'm going to mention the team you and I mentioned with John Morant, the Celtics. A place where you've got structure, you've got history, both recent and long term. You've got the kind of discipline starting at the top of the pyramid that affects everybody. So maybe if he's targeted by that kind of franchise, Ball will be worthy. Right now he's not. Even though Charlotte's got better players. Caniple this kid from Duke can shoot it. He can play. If I'm Charlotte, I'm saying, you know what, we're going to move you on, kid. We're going to try to find somebody that can come in here and make the most of our current situation.

C (9:29)

Here's the good news about Ball. What the good news is he's averaging 9.6 assists a game. And he had two full years in a league where he averaged more than eight. And that's good. The bad news about Ball is he's shooting 38 and a half percent from the floor, 29.8% from three lowest. Right. So it's a small sample size nine, but that's. Those are not great numbers. Here's my problem with this story. I don't have any real sense of Charlotte anymore. I know that Charlotte is 4 and 7. They have not been in the playoffs in 10 years. They have not advanced in the playoffs since, hello, 2002. Before they were the Bobcats, you know, when they were 4 and 11. Now, by the way, 4 and 11. Okay, so I got that wrong. And so I don't know if his skills translate to a better team. And this is what I'm getting at. Sometimes there's a guy who's a good player on a bad team and he's not a good player on a good team. Bradley Beal comes to mind. To me, good player on a bad team. Would I take a chance on Lamelo Ball? Yeah, but you know, Mike, doesn't it seem to you that Lamelo Ball and Lonzo Ball are from an era in the distant past? Doesn't it seem to you that that is so far gone when they were.

B (10:36)

Important and they've still got chances because they're still pretty young? Yes, but with Mellow Tony, he doesn't play. He's only played in more than 51 games once in his career. Why do you. Alonzo had that serious injury, which was too bad because the Bulls were the number one seed when he got hurt and he was sort of the star. He was the glue of it, not the star of it. So I don't know what it means for both of them. Lamelo Ball's got so much talent. You just got to. You want to think that somebody like your old coach, Larry Brown would say, son, come over here, we're going to squeeze this out of you. Yeah, maybe they're still there.

C (11:14)

I agree with the whole concept. That takes a strong coach and a strong organization. It really does. Let's take a break. Coming up, what would it mean for the Bucks to beat the Rams this weekend?

B (11:24)

An old man Ovechkin scored a hat trick last night. What's the word for that?

C (11:28)

I just remember when their dad was on television all the time. Too much. And everything about them was overstated. Overstated? Yeah. And it just seems like 50 years ago and it's only five or eight. Or whatever it is.

B (11:41)

Who was this?

C (11:42)

Pardon the Interruption is presented by Crown Royal. Please drink responsibly. Part of happy hour.

D (11:50)

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C (12:53)

Welcome back to Pardon the Interruption presented by Crown Royal. Part of happy hour. Time for Wilbon to get buried by my vocabulary. I left the doctor coat.

B (13:10)

Where's your coat?

C (13:11)

I left at home. What's first?

B (13:14)

It would be blank if the Buccaneers.

C (13:16)

Were to beat the Rams. It would be surprising. It would not be shocking because Tampa Bay is a good team, but it would be surprising. The game is in Los Angeles. Right. The Rams are hot. They've won five games in a row at this point. And the Bucs are coming out of an incredibly brutal schedule. Here is the games they've had to play. Eagles, Seattle 49ers. Lions, Saints. That's the cupcake. New England, Buffalo. And now the Rams collective record of those teams is 54 and 29. Take the Saints out because they're no good. It's 52 and 21. That is really a gauntlet. The thing is, Tampa Bay has been competitive. Baker Mayfield's having a great year. 17 touchdown passes.

B (13:55)

And despite half his weapons being hurt.

C (13:57)

Yeah. And everybody's hurt all the time. Yeah. I think the Buccaneers are going to be very elated when this game is over, because here's what they've got coming up. Arizona, the Saints, the Falcons, Carolina, Miami, Carolina again. And they could, in a word, you like to say, run.

B (14:13)

Table. I'm going the other way totally from you on this. I'm going predictable that they could win this game. That's why we know they have won at the Falcons. And they, by the way, they helped set the the table for the Falcons disappointing season because the Falcons thought they were going to win the division right out the gates, lose at home at the Texans, who we just got through slurping. Forget the jets at Seattle, who, you know, I've got being the best team in the NFC, the 49ers, okay. And forget the Saints. But then the losses. Eagles at Lions, New England, Buffalo at Buffalo. These are you. Your argument leads to my conclusion, too, which is predictable. I think Tampa Bay will go on and do this. I think there's another moment to be had for Baker Mayfield, even though he seems to be playing shorthanded every week, every single week.

C (15:06)

But the Rams, if I'm not mistaken.

B (15:08)

The Rams have no home field advantage.

C (15:09)

I understand, but wasn't one of the Rams losses on a blocked field goal attempt that was run back for a touchdown?

B (15:14)

Yes.

C (15:15)

I mean, the Rams could be like, I don't know, 40 and one at this point.

B (15:18)

So I'm being told that Chris Godwin could play.

C (15:21)

Okay, good. He's a great receiver. What's next? What's next?

B (15:24)

It's blank that Alexandro Ovechkin had a.

C (15:26)

Hat trick last night. It's terrific. Come on. He's 40 years old and he had a hat trick. Here is the list of everybody else in the history of the NHL who's had hat tricks over the age of 40. Lidstrom, Howe, Johnny Busick, Solani Jar, Amir, Jagr. They're all hall of Famers, right? Jagr would be in the hall of.

B (15:42)

Fame when he starts playing.

C (15:43)

Yeah. And they will welcome Ovechkin into the hall of Fame. Ovechkin now has 907 goals, the most ever. He's the best goal scorer in history. He's not the best player. We both agree on that. He's the best goal scorer in history. But he started out this year. He only had two goals in his first 12 games. And so you could say, well, maybe he's done. Maybe it's over. He now has seven goals in his last six games and three assists. And right now he's in 10th place all time in total points. And he doesn't have nearly the assists that most of those other guys have. So I'm happy for him. I will just say this, it's thrilling to watch him because you never know when it's going to be over. He is worth the price of the ticket. That guy's worth it.

B (16:22)

And you know what? The ultimate comparison, I guess there's two comparisons. One would be Gretzky, but the other one's Gordie Howe. You mentioned Howe. It's housing. That's my word. Like Ruthie and Howsian. And Gordie Howe did it three times beyond 40. Buchek did it twice. Gordie Howe three times. I know that nothing has a shelf life now. And Gordie Howe was a long, long time ago. And the kids, 6 and 7, they don't know anything about Gordie Howe. But they ought to learn about Gordie Howe. Cause Gordie Howe was the greatest goal scorer. I mean, until Gretzky came out. Until Gretzky. And it's Gretzky and a tough guy because he would fight you, all right, and win the game. And Gordie Howe was out there into his 50s, playing with his kids, son.

C (17:09)

With his son Marty and Mark, right. Playing with his sons.

B (17:11)

So how's he gotta give some love to Gordie Howe?

C (17:14)

And I'm just saying that Alexander Ovechkin has spent his whole career in Washington D.C. he's won one Stanley cup, he's totally dependable. And he's worth. He's worth the price. That's the final word. Let's take one last break. Still to come, we saw two big time buzzer beaters in college hoops last night. One nearer to my heart than the other.

B (17:33)

And Dak hasn't lost a home division game since 2017. Does that streak end Sunday against the Eagles?

C (17:41)

Was that Binghamton? Did Binghamton win that way in the green unies? Somebody get in my ear. Was that Binghamton?

D (17:48)

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C (20:01)

Pardon the Interruption is presented by Crown Royal. Please drink responsibly. Part of happy hour. Happy time, people. Happy 59th birthday, Troy Aikman. People under 30 now know Troy from the television booth. Troy has been on TV talking about football with Joe Buck since 2002, first for Fox, now for ESPN on Monday Night Football. What young people may not know is what a great quarterback Troy was for the Dallas Cowboys. When the Dallas Cowboys were meaningful, Troy quarterbacked three super bowl winners. Flanked by fellow hall of Famers Emmett Smith and Michael Irvin. Troy was the number one pick in the 1989 draft out of UCLA, where he had transferred from Oklahoma. At Oklahoma, he played for Barry Switzer, who he later played for in Dallas after Jimmie Johnson. Troy has been a frequent guest on the show, often wearing a T shirt, which amuses me.

B (20:52)

If you don't know how great Troy Aikman was or you've forgotten, Google him, okay? Because when people start talking about Aaron Rodgers, certain shows, and they want to make Aaron Rodgers better than John Elway and Troy Aikman, I want to slap somebody because that would be dumb. How many Super Bowls did Aikman and Elway take their teams to?

C (21:15)

Elway took it to five.

B (21:16)

Eight.

C (21:17)

Eight.

B (21:18)

Eight.

C (21:18)

Oh. Total. Total. Yeah.

B (21:19)

Aaron Rodgers?

C (21:21)

One at the moment. Happy anniversary. Matthew Stafford. Around this day, 16 years ago, in his rookie season with the Lions, Stafford became the youngest NFL player to throw five touchdown passes in one game. Over a year younger than Dan Marino, Stafford's five TDs led Detroit to a thrilling comeback win over the Browns. Stafford ascended to instant legend status in Detroit when he stepped back onto the field after suffering a separated left shoulder on the next to last play of the game. He left the game due to that injury, but he got back in because the Browns called a timeout, allowing it. Stafford then threw the game tying touchdown pass with no time left. The extra point made it 38, 37.

B (22:01)

Detroit.

C (22:02)

The full sound version of this is 4 minutes and 17 seconds of high drama. It's on the Internet. Go find it. Go watch it.

B (22:09)

Anybody tell stories better than the Sables? NFL films? Anybody? No, no, nobody does. By the way, Stafford, you know how talented Stafford was, is. You know, he played baseball with a certain pitcher on his staff, Clayton Kershaw.

C (22:24)

Is that right?

B (22:24)

Yeah.

C (22:25)

I didn't know that.

B (22:25)

That's how great.

C (22:26)

I didn't know that. I will say that I think he's a Hall of Fame guy. Matthew Stafford.

B (22:30)

I think he's a Hall of Fame.

C (22:31)

He got hurt because Detroit was a bad team when he started. They were.

B (22:34)

Shows what he's done since.

C (22:35)

Happy trails to last night's game for Troy. Troy took USC to triple overtime in a battle of two sets of Trojans. In fact, Troy was up two with possession with under 10 seconds left in the third ottoman. But the outlet pass got swiped by Rodney Rice who passed ahead to backup Jordan Marsh who flung a twisting three at the buzzer to win the game for usc. That wasn't the only buzzer beater worth watching. Bella Pucci of my Binghamton Bearcats. Not Bobcats. Bearcats hit a similar shot at the end of regulation to push Akron to OT. Pucci then added the game winner in double OT. Take that, 05 zips. I'm holding this up. If a camera ever comes here, I'm holding up the Bearcats.

B (23:17)

There's a famous.

C (23:18)

There you go.

B (23:19)

Calls them the Bobcats, huh? Famous coach that calls them the Bobcats.

C (23:23)

Bayheim. Yeah, yeah, no, I understand.

B (23:25)

He does that just to irritate you.

C (23:26)

Bobcats are technically something called a binturon. They're not a. They're not a cat. They're something called a binturon. I learned this the other day. Okay, one omission. Ole Miss AD Keith Carter said a decision on Lane Kiffin's future is expected next Saturday after the Egg Bowl. What do you think he's going to do?

B (23:43)

Keep him. Try to pay him enough money. I have an omission, too. Northwestern field hockey beats North Carolina 43 in overtime. We now get Princeton in the national championship game. Sunday, 1 o' clock Eastern.

C (23:55)

Are you going? Are you going?

B (23:58)

Maybe.

C (23:59)

Oh, well, that's a recent question. Let's go to the big finish. Tyrese Maxey scored 54 as the Sixers beat the Bucs in OT. You impressed.

B (24:07)

60 seconds. And Luca with 33 points a game. This kid's having a hell of a year. Demonta Sabonis of the Kings is out at least three weeks with a partially torn left meniscus. That's a big loss.

C (24:19)

Okay. Sacramento is totally lost with.

B (24:21)

They are.

C (24:22)

They are more lost without him. Again, much like Charlotte. Why is there a franchise there? Lions tight end Sam laporte are likely out for the season after back surgery. That's a big deal.

B (24:32)

That's a huge, huge deal for Detroit. I hope they don't have that spate of injuries again, like the beam. There should be a franchise in Sacramento. Eagles, Cowboys. And Jerry World Purple.

C (24:42)

Okay. On Sunday.

B (24:43)

Eagles. Cowboys. You smelling upset.

C (24:45)

No, no, the Eagles. No, I'm not. The Eagles are a competent team. All the last one. College football tomorrow, number 15, USC at number 7, Oregon. Who you got, Mr. Big Ten?

B (24:56)

I got Oregon by a lot. Really?

C (24:58)

Yeah. Do they feel like Big Ten teams to you?

B (25:00)

No, they don't. And I've watched them in person. I went to the Oregon Northwestern game. I've seen them and I'm like, no, this is. The PAC 12 have invaded the Midwest.

C (25:10)

Or the PAC 8. We're out of time. We'll try to do better the next time. Let me get this right. Bob Jorstadt, shout out for the Apples. Thank you.

B (25:18)

I'm Mike Wilbon. Have a great weekend, knuckleheads.