C (2:58)

Yeah, I'm going to probably be a little more down the middle than you are because I don't want everybody to shut up and I don't want to call everybody stupid. Not everybody, but this is indeed a head scratcher to me. Mike. His record as a starting quarterback in Philadelphia is, hello, 54 and 22 in the last two seasons. It's 20 and 5. And as you mentioned, one of those 20 is a Super Bowl. Look, there are a lot of quarterbacks who maybe, maybe would have more wins with Philadelphia than he has. Maybe would fit it into tight windows. Hello, A.J. brown. But as you say, it's 16 to 1 touchdowns, interceptions this year. And. And let's look at really good quarterbacks. Let's look at Jordan Love and Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen. They don't have wins like this guy.

B (3:42)

No, they don't.

C (3:43)

This guy wins big games. He manages big games. I'm going to give you two names that you'll appreciate and everybody else will say, who are they? Bart Starr and Bob Griesy. And they didn't fit it into tight windows either. And all they did was win. So, I mean, you know, enough of this soap opera every day. Appreciate the fact that he seems like a great leader. Please go ahead.

B (4:07)

We play to win the game. Do we not do that?

D (4:09)

No.

B (4:10)

We play to have tight windows thrown into. People are stupid.

C (4:13)

He wins.

B (4:14)

Increasingly stupid. Let's move to a quarterback conundrum for the Bengals. Joe Burrow is back to being a full participant in practice for the first time since suffering that turf toe injury more than two months ago. Meanwhile, current starter Joe Flacco has put up some pretty big numbers but is battling a sprained shoulder. So, Tony, should the 3 and 7 Bengals risk playing Burrow against the Patriots Sunday or stick with old man Joe?

C (4:45)

Okay, so the problem with the Bengals is not their quarterback. It's not their offense. Joe Flacco has played five games. They've scored 148 points. That should be enough to win all five games. He has 12 touchdown passes and three interceptions. And the team is one in four in the time he's played. And that's because the defense stinks. It's not about the quarterback. Let me get to the issue of the risk with Joe Burrow. I don't really understand what that means. The risk. If he's 100% healthy, you put him in the game.

B (5:18)

Yeah.

C (5:19)

Joe Flacco is still a good Quarterback Joe Burrow is substantially better. As you said, they are three and seven. They're not going to make the wild card. They have no chance at that. They have to win the division. They're. They're two and one in the division. They have two games with Baltimore. They have one with Cleveland. Put this guy in and see what he can do. They also have a game with Miami and a game with Arizona that are winnable. Give him the ball. Right.

B (5:43)

They pay him $55 million a year on average. This is not hard. This is not a dilemma. If Joe Flacco was being paid $55 million a year, then you'd have a dilemma. You don't have a dilemma. Joe Burrow is your franchise quarterback. You have gone to great. He talked you into paying his starting two receivers about $150 million. It seems a piece. So put him in there.

C (6:12)

One of whom is out. Leave him in there for a game. He's out.

B (6:15)

Oh, you know what? He's got. Still got one of them. And he's got an offense that's supposed to light it up. Mike, Play. Play.

C (6:22)

Might interest you to know. It might interest you to know that Joe Flacco. Not Joe Flacco. That Joe Burrow has the highest completion percentage in the History of the NFL, 68.5. If I were the Bengals and he was healthy, I'm putting them in the game. I'm not thinking twice about it. Let's move to the NBA and everybody's favorite soap opera team there. Not the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Mavericks. They lost again last night. Their record is 4 and 12. That's third from the bottom in the West. Now we have former majority owner and apparently current advisor Mark Cuban and telling the Athletic in an email that Anthony Davis won't be traded despite all the recent stories suggesting the Mavericks have been trying to trade him. Wilbaughn. Is Cuban making the right call here?

B (7:04)

You know, I don't know whether he's making the call. I wouldn't trade Anthony Davis if I'm the Mavericks. Not given what I've got and given what I gave up. Hello, Luka Doncic. To get Anthony Davis. And then my team, the Bulls, are a team that is regularly rumored to be in the Anthony Davis sweepstakes. I would not allow for any Anthony Davis sweepstakes. Let me just mention why, Tony. The Dallas Mavericks have what seems to be all the elements you would need to be a serious contender right now if they get Kyrie back healthy relatively soon. You got Lively and P.J. washington. I mentioned Anthony Davis, the overall number one pick, Cooper Flack. You got D' Angelo Russell, who's a stand in until Kyrie gets back. You got Klay Thompson, who I know is not doing Klay Thompson things, but I'm not ready to give up on. You got Daniel Gafford, more size and defense, inside rim protection. The Mavericks have all the elements. I know they have to have Anthony Davis out there. I know that doesn't happen nearly enough, but trade him for what? Draft assets. If you're bad enough this year, you're going to pick in the lottery. Keep Anthony Davis. Keep him.

C (8:18)

I could not disagree with you more. The depth of destruction to that franchise that was done by Nico Harrison is almost incalculable. They went from less than two years from an NBA finalist to a laughing stock because he traded Luka Doncic, who, by the way, is going to be the MVP this year, who is averaging at the moment 34.6 points per game and who has already gone over 40 points four different times. The Anthony Davis thing, to me, I don't know. I mean, he doesn't actually play. They call him street clothes. He is not available. When he is available, he's still going to be 32 years old and beginning the process of aging out. I actually would consider trading him for future assets when I was ready for a rebuild. I don't know if Kyrie Irving is going to come back and be Kyrie Irving. I tend to doubt that when. What is interesting to me is the relationship with Cuban and Nico Harrison. I'll just take 15 seconds here with all the things I've read. It appears to be reported that they were once close. In fact, Cuban hired Nico Harrison and then that dissolved completely. Nico Harrison tried to keep Cuban out of the building and Cuban tried to fire him and did advantage Cuban, but I don't know what his relationship is with the owner. I'm a little surprised that he's out there out front. I'm a little surprised at that. Let's take a break. Coming up, what should we watch for in tonight's game between the Bills and the Texans? We will ask Booger McFarlane.

B (9:42)

Don't watch the Houston starting quarterback. We'll also ask him about Southern Cal's chances of knocking off Oregon Saturday. All that has nothing to do with whether you should trade Anthony Davis. If Anthony Davis is as damaged as you say, why the hell would I trade for him?

C (9:55)

Why? Well, maybe they could get Luka Doncic for him. Oh.

A (10:02)

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D (11:52)

You are watching Part of the interruption.

C (11:55)

Presented by Crown Royal Part of Happy hour. This just in. Week 12 of the NFL season kicks off tonight, which makes it a perfect time to welcome back our great friend ESPN NFL and college football analyst Booker McFarlane, wearing a shirt from Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina. Let's start with the Thursday night game. Tonight, it's the Bills at the Texans. What will you be watching for in this game? Booger?

D (12:30)

I'm going to be looking at that Houston Texans defense. Like, if you haven't watched this Texans defense, it could be the best defense in football. We know what they have from an edge rusher standpoint, Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. But think about Derek Stingley on the back end. It's a defense that doesn't have a ton of household names outside of those three, but they are playing like the best defense in football and so can Josh Allen. The Buffalo Bills deal with this defense. Josh scores six touchdowns, three rushing, three throwing against Tampa and they needed all of those like too many times. The Buffalo Bills are asking Josh Allen to be Superman and he's the mvp. And I get it and a lot of times he is Superman. But what's going to happen when he doesn't get the help? Can he still be Superman time and time again going against this Texans defense? I think that's going to be must see tv. The reigning MVP against the best defense in football. I'm going to have my popcorn ready. Tony.

B (13:22)

Well, speaking of Superman, Booger, let's talk about Miles Garrett, who has four sacks, I mean four sacks in the loss to the Ravens and 15 in 10 games. And for a Browns team that is just awful. One, can I invoke the name Reggie White or is that far too far away? And regardless, when you look at Myles Garrett as a guy who knows a little bit about defensive line play and rushing to passer, you see what.

C (13:54)

Well.

D (13:55)

Number one, I don't think it's too soon to start throwing around the name Reggie White. When you look at the numbers he's putting up, he's got 15 sacks already this year. He's won a defensive player of the year award. He's on pace to have 24 and a half sacks this season, which would break the record. So no, you can definitely throw around that name. What's going on with Myles Garrett is this. He's six five, 270, 75 pounds. He, he's in peak physical condition and he continues to get better and better athletically. Now you couple that with his craftsmanship is starting to come along more and more. So his technique is getting better. So when you marry the technique of one of the greatest athletes in our game with the physical athletic ability of someone like we've never seen and you put those together, that's why he's getting better and better and better and he's taking care of his body every offseason. You see some of the training that he does. He, it's unbelievable how, how gifted he is. But more importantly, the thing I respect the most, how hungry he is to go out and get better and get more knowledge. He's the best defensive player in our game and I honestly don't think it's close. Mike.

C (14:58)

Wow.

B (14:59)

Wow. And he seems sort of wasted away with the Cleveland Browns, who aren't going to be anywhere near postseason. Let's move to college football for a second booger. The big game seems to be number 15, Southern California at number 7, Oregon. I am not all that impressed with Southern Cal, but tell me if you sense upset, do you feel that Southern Cal is up to the task of knocking Oregon off that perch in a playoff spot?

D (15:28)

Yeah, to me, this is going to be a tough task. You know, you know how it is. The people in USC, they all, they're out there in LA. They get branded as SoCal, they Hollywood, they don't want to get tough in physical. Well, finally, finally Lincoln Riley has a team that's built the right way up front, maybe the best offensive line. He says he's been there. He's got a really good quarterback, a dual threat guy and Jordan Mahava. I love what they do between the combination of him and Makai Lemon, one of the best receivers in the country. And if they're going to upset Oregon, because I do believe it will be an upset, they're going to have to hit some big plays in the passing game. Defensively, I don't know if they'll slow the Ducks down because I love what the Ducks are doing with Dante Moore and on high powered offense. But Makai Lemon and Jordan Maivor that 12 connection from quarterback to, to receiver. I think they can make enough big plays and I think Lincoln Riley feels good about this team. This is the best team that he's had since he's been there. At least that's what he tells everybody. So it's going to be must see TV between the Trojans and the Ducks.

C (16:26)

All right, we will get you out of here on this. And I'm just going to say before I ask the question, Wilmot doesn't care about the college football ranking show and I watch it religiously. He's completely bagged it and I am into it all the time. So the most recent one. Was there anything about the most recent rankings that stands out to you other than the fact that LSU is not in it? And that's a jab at you and a joke. Go ahead.

D (16:50)

Well, yeah, you talk about a jab. I mean, try to hit me when I'm down. You know, all of our fans are tracking planes around America. You just going to keep jugging old Boog? I hear you. The one thing that keeps kind of just digging at me and it's because I saw the two teams play on the field, Notre Dame being ranked over Miami. And I get it. The resume is not complete. I understand there's still a couple of games left. But I watch Miami and Notre Dame play. I watch Miami beat Notre Dame. I don't care if it was back on August 31 or December. It doesn't matter to me. I watched the two teams play. And the fact that week after week they continue to have Notre Dame ranked above Miami. And I get it. It's a resume. And the resume is not complete. At least that's what both committee chairs are going to tell us. But at some point, if we end this season and Notre Dame and Miami are battling for one last playoff spot, guys, and Notre Dame gets in, they're going to call you two because they know you're the only two guys that probably can calm Book down. Because we talk every week. Because I may blow a gasket. Because football should be decided on the field. When you have teams that are equal, and if both of these teams win out, Both would be 10 and 2, it should be decided you should take the team that won the game on the field. I don't care about strength of record, strength of schedule. I don't care what your mascot is. It doesn't matter to me. I saw Miami beat Notre Dame. So that's the one thing. Tony, that week after week, while Wilbon is asleep cuddled up in his robe, I'm on tv. You're watching me. I keep just. I keep going back and forth with that and. And I can't figure it out.

B (18:24)

Book, I'm with you. Tony's the one who's gonna argue for Notre Dame, the university of football in America. He's totally snowed. He thinks Notre Dame is a New York school. You can't trust him on Notre Dame can trust me.

C (18:38)

This is ridiculous. This is fake news. Yesterday on this show, I told you that Miami has a case against Notre Dame and they're not just ranked above Notre Dame, just not ranked above him. Like one spot. And it's four spots. It's four spots. Thank you, Booger.

B (18:54)

Thanks, Booger. Appreciate you, dude.

D (18:58)

Anytime, fellas, have a good one.

C (19:00)

Let's take one last break. Still to come, Wilbon's Bulls beat the Blazers on a buzzer beater. Is that a big deal? Yeah. Yeah, I was sleeping through it.

B (19:09)

Should UConn actually feel okay about last night's loss to Arizona? You know, ultimately, 99.9% of the time, you side with Notre Dame.

C (19:18)

You.

B (19:19)

I'm not making this up.

C (19:21)

No, you're not. But did you listen to the show yesterday when I was three feet from you and I said the team that has a complaint is Miami.

B (19:28)

I said that you were too close. I was looking in the basement for you.

A (19:32)

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C (20:36)

Pardon the interruption is presented by Crown Royal.

A (20:40)

Please drink responsibly Part of Happy Hour.

C (20:46)

Happy time people. Happy 44th birthday, Carlos Boozer Boozer played on Duke's NCAA championship team in 2001, then played 13 seasons in the NBA with Cleveland, Utah, Chicago and the Lakers, averaging 16.2 points and 9.5 rebounds a game. He was on the gold medal of United States Olympic basketball team in Beijing in 2008 after playing on the broadcast bronze medal team four years earlier in Athens. Now Boozer gets a happy birthday because his two sons, Cameron and Caden, are freshman basketball players at Duke, following their father's footsteps, though they play for John Shire and Carlos and Shire played for Mike Krzyzewski. Cameron Boozer is averaging 21.6 points and 10.4 rebounds, Kaden Boozer averaging 7.4 points and 3.8 rebounds for the Blue Devils.

B (21:33)

You're going to hear Cameron's name when it comes to people talking about who's going to be chosen number one overall. And by the way, Carlos Boozer was on a team with Derrick Rose without that injury. That awful injury to Derrick Rose might have changed altered modern NBA history a little bit because they were damn good.

C (21:52)

Happy Anniversary. Ladanian Tomlinson on this day 26 years ago while playing at TCU, Tomlinson rushed for a then D1 record 406 yards on 43 carries, not to mention six touchdowns in a win over UTEP. Amazingly, that record has now been broken three times and belongs to Samaj Pirain, who ran for 427 yards for Oklahoma against Kansas in 2014. Tomlinson went on to a Hall of Fame career as a running back for the Chargers and won the NFL MVP award in 2006. He retired after the 2011 season, went directly into broadcasting, spending a decade with the NFL Network. Now Tomlinson is helping coach Oak Ridge High School in Texas. He said he didn't miss playing, but missed the camaraderie and relationships of football.

B (22:39)

Tony, you know, after all of those great, great backs of the 60s, 70s, 80s, even into the 90s, all those great backs, when you, when you leave them, that bunch Tomlinson and Marshall Falk are my two favorites, who I think could have played at any time in any era. Handling it 35 times a game, catching it out of the backfield. Those two guys seem to stand out to me the last 25 years.

C (23:07)

Happy trails to last night's game for number three, UConn. The Huskies fell by four at home to fourth ranked Arizona. The Wildcats dominated the Huskies on the glass 43 to 23. Though UConn was playing without two starters, including starting senior center Terrace Reed Jr. Who's been averaging 20 and 9. Arizona is now 50 with wins over two opponents ranked in the top three. First Florida, now UConn. And UConn. Coach Danny Hurley called Arizona, quote, legit contenders like we are.

B (23:35)

He also said his team got punked, so I'm not understanding that. But it's early. It's early. Let's just take a chill pill for now.

C (23:42)

Quick to the big finish. Thunder beat the Kings. They're now 15 1. Are you impressed? Yes.

B (23:47)

But they've got the easiest schedule so far in the NBA, so let's, you know, chill there, too. Wizards have lost 12 straight. Defend your squad.

C (23:57)

They're not trying to win, they're cheating the public. Nikola Vukovich of the Bulls hit a buzzer, beating three to beat the Blazers. Big deal.

B (24:04)

Vooch, it's his second buzzer beater. Winner of the season so far. Nice win out in Portland by my Bulls. Alex Ovechkin scored. Caps beat the Oilers 7 4. Your thoughts?

C (24:16)

He's worth the ticket. He's over 900 goals. He's a wow. Last one. Top four NHL scorers. Nathan McKinnon, Conor McDavid, Macklin Celebrini, Connor Begard all playing tonight. You excited?

B (24:28)

Connor Bedard in action. Tony, against the Kraken.

C (24:32)

No, I'm the guy from Chicago. We're out of time trying to do better the next time. Cindy Wenslow Shout out.

D (24:38)

I'm Mike Wilbond.

B (24:39)

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