What's Wright - Jaguars STUN Chiefs, NFL Week 5 REACTION, LeBron’s “Second Decision” & Lakers future | Nick Wright

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Herd with Colin Cowherd – "What's Wright: Jaguars STUN Chiefs, NFL Week 5 REACTION, LeBron’s 'Second Decision' & Lakers future" with Nick Wright

Date: October 8, 2025
Host: Nick Wright (with contributions from Damanze)

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Episode Overview

This episode of "What's Wright with Nick Wright" unpacks a dramatic NFL Week 5, focusing on the Jacksonville Jaguars' upset victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, broader NFL storylines, and LeBron James' much-hyped “Second Decision.” Nick, reeling from the Chiefs' loss, delivers analysis with his trademark candor and humor, balancing personal disappointment with in-depth football insight.

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Key Topics & Insights

Personal Turbulence: Setting the Stage

[00:39]–[07:29]

• Nick opens up about an emotionally taxing 24 hours due to the Chiefs’ loss, technical glitches, and family dynamics (“Your mom can attest… I didn't really sleep last night”).
• The context: It was Trevor Lawrence’s 26th birthday and the Jaguars delivered what Nick calls Lawrence’s best performance in years.

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Jaguars vs. Chiefs: Dissecting the Stunner

[07:29]–[20:59]

Chiefs’ Perspective

• Nick’s Emotional Investment: Chiefs’ regular-season losses of this nature are nearly unheard of.
• Key Mistakes:
  • Special teams failures—multiple penalties, Jack Cochran’s holds, Harrison Butker kicking out of bounds.
  • Mahomes’ “99 yard pick-six,” described as a rare but least concerning error.
  • “Yesterday they beat themselves.” – Nick Wright [14:28]
• Penalties: Chiefs called for far more penalties than Jaguars, key missed calls discussed (“Chiefs were penalized I think 10 times more or 9 times more than Jacksonville. That was not... the Chiefs got all the calls”).
• Biggest Worries:
  • Ineffective running game (Mahomes leading in rushing deemed “unacceptable”).
  • Pass rush lacking when not blitzing, “just has to get better.”
• Silver Lining: Offense is near-500 yards and could return to explosiveness when fully healthy.

Jaguars’ Perspective

• Trevor Lawrence: Dual-threat brilliance (“a perfect Trevor Lawrence game. Some horrible mistakes, some great throws, used his legs...” [14:17])
• Defense: Nick deems Jacksonville’s D “legit.”
• Game Significance: win parity in AFC, adds pressure for the Chiefs’ looming matchup with the Lions.

“Yesterday is the first game in four years the Chiefs have won the turnover battle and lost the game.” – Nick Wright [14:28]

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LeBron’s “Second Decision” Hype

[22:02]–[26:07]

• Anticipation & Reveal: LeBron teased a major announcement, but Nick accurately predicted it to be “an ad.”
• Reactions:
  • “If LeBron is going to announce his retirement, it’s not going to be noon on a Tuesday.” – Nick Wright [24:06]
• The Actual Decision: LeBron re-enacts his original “Decision,” but announces, “I’m taking my talents to Hennessy.”
• Marketing Genius: Nick praises the ad execution and the resulting media blitz.

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NFL Week 5 Rapid Fire Analysis

(AFC & NFC teams, game by game breakdowns)

[38:09]–[86:11]

Broncos Snap Drought, Eagles Concerns

• Broncos’ Huge Win: Snapped a year-long losing streak vs. playoff-caliber team.
  • Defense is “spectacular,” Nick Benito as possible DPOY, but questions remain on Bo Nix (“can Sean Payton coach him up?”).
  • Upcoming “must-win” games: Jets, Giants.
• Eagles’ Woes:
  • Offense undergoing “vast, drastic overcorrections”
  • Saquon Barkley’s effectiveness waning; “he is averaging 3.2 yards per carry.”
  • Concern over “team angst” reminiscent of past collapses.

“You can't be talking for a couple hours. Couple’s therapy is 55 minutes… that’s too long.” – Nick Wright [43:41], on Eagles’ reported player meetings

Baker Mayfield MVP?

• Buccaneers: Overcoming injuries, “vibes-wise” feel better than 4-1 Eagles.
• Remaining schedule broken down optimistically; “Baker Mayfield’s the league MVP.” [57:38]

Chargers’ Slide & Herbert Critique

• Chargers: Three-game swoon, offense stagnates, Herbert “fallen back down to earth,” mounting injuries make blame-deflection tough (“You just want a little bit more.” – Nick Wright [73:45]).

AFC Playoff Race & Notable Team Outlooks

• Ravens: “Bad team right now… only path is to win the division.” (“It is shakier. No, you guys have just been a bad team.” – Nick Wright [66:58])
• Patriots/Bills: Bills no longer seem juggernaut-level, defense suspect; Patriots wild card “very plausible” if they take care of next three games.
• Lions: Now poised as possible Super Bowl favorites if they beat the Chiefs; “NFC quarterback field is way deeper than the AFC.” [87:07]

College Football Segment

• Walk-On Mount Rushmore: Adds J.J. Watt (story of walking on at Wisconsin, Hall of Fame NFL peak).

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Funniest & Most Memorable Quotes

• “My biggest concern… after week one… was their total inability to generate a pass rush without sending a blitz.” – Nick Wright [16:55]
• “If LeBron is going to announce his retirement, it’s not going to be noon on a Tuesday.” – Nick Wright [24:06]
• “That’s too long to talk. Couples therapy is 55 minutes… that’s too long.” – Nick Wright [43:41], on Eagles’ internal meetings
• “Right now, Baker Mayfield’s the league MVP.” – Nick Wright [57:38]
• “I think the AFC wild card teams are going to have a real good chance of beating the AFC south and AFC north division winners on the road in the playoffs.” – Nick Wright [83:41]
• “Broncos Giants is better than Broncos Jets.” – Damanze [41:43]
• “You just want a little bit more.” – Nick Wright [73:45], on Justin Herbert

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Chiefs-Jaguars Game Breakdown: [07:29]–[20:59]
• LeBron’s "Second Decision" Ad: [22:02]–[26:07]
• Broncos/Eagles Discussion: [38:09]–[53:07]
• Baker Mayfield & Buccaneers: [54:11]–[58:50]
• Chargers/Hebrtber Fallout: [73:24]–[77:44]
• Ravens’ Troubles, AFC Playoff Race: [63:37]–[66:58], [87:07]
• Listener Questions & Closing: [86:22]–[89:28]

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Conclusion: Episode in a Nutshell

Nick balances raw, fan-like emotion from his Chiefs’ heartbreak with objective football analysis, drilling into turnovers, coaching, and player execution. He’s bullish on the Bucs, skeptical of the Chargers, and worried about the Eagles’ “vibes.” Add in LeBron’s clever ad and Nick’s “Walk-On Mount Rushmore,” and this episode delivers analysis, laughs, and a full NFL Week 5 reset—essential for anyone who missed the games or needs the bigger-picture context, straight from Nick’s unfiltered perspective.

Transcript

[Nick Wright]

This is an I Heart podcast.

[Dr. J]

I love that you created this system that revolves around you, creating pockets of peace. World Mental Health Day is around the corner and on my podcast, just heal with Dr. J, I dive into what it really means to care for your mind, body and spirit. From breaking generational patterns to building emotional.

[Nick Wright]

Capacity, I'm going to walk away feeling like, yes, I'm going to continue my healing journey.

[Dr. J]

Listen to just heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Nick Wright]

Welcome in what's Right with Nick Right, episode 375. This episode of what's Right With Nick Right is brought to you by our friends at Boost Mobile. We're a little delayed today because, you know, there have been a lot of forces that have been trying to tell me I maybe shouldn't do this show today, but it, it felt feels like it'd be a cop out Force 1 Daman I today's actually a the rare October day off from work because there's no TV show today. So I could and you Tuesdays, which is today, are the day of the really big card game in Philly that I sometimes in the summer like to go play in, but can never during the football regular season. So that was reason one that I could just been like not doing the show. Reason 2 I got a phone call yesterday from Spectrum saying they're redoing the Internet on this block and there's going to be like an eight hour period where the TV and Internet and everything doesn't work. And I put in a very pleading request. Granted. This was before the chiefs lost if they could somehow delay that start of work a bit. I don't know if they listen to me or not, but we're on the Internet right now, so it's fine. Reason three, the reason we are late to the show is because for the last 20 minutes my camera was just showing an old still image not from the pod. And it was kind of creepy because it was showing an image of when I wasn't in the room when the lights weren't on. Which one would make you think how did the camera even capture that image if the computer was closed and the camera's supposed to be off? We troubleshot that for 20 minutes. Poor Paul was about to drive over here. We were figuring out if we could do an audio only thing and then the solution was unplug it and plug it back in. So despite all of that, I'm here. Your mom can attest to this I've been for the last 10 hours a little restless. That loss yesterday, for reasons I will explain, hit differently than any non playoff Chiefs loss in recent memory. And it also feels a little, I'll be honest, I've lived a blessed life so I can't really complain too much. But it felt a little unfair that I am not able to fully bask in the glory of the greatest day Trevor has had in three years. The greatest day he's had in the NFL since you were sitting next to me on the couch and he was down 27 points to Justin Herbert and the Chargers and came back and certainly the best moment he's had since he got injured on Monday Night Football when his team was playing for the one seed. I, I couldn't even enjoy that. And so we will explain that we will get into all of that. I am, for reasons I don't again, when I agreed to do these things, I anticipated the Chiefs were going to win the game. But I am doing Collins show, my regular Tuesday spot from here. Now I'll be honest, if Spectrum cuts out the Internet sometime between when this show ends and Colin Shows begins, there's nothing I can do about that. That's that I'm not complaining about it. That I will take issue with. But we must, we must forge on and first we gotta go straight to voicemail. Thanks. Brought to you by our friends at Boost Mobile. The Yankees are down 20 to the Jays. They've been outscored 23 to 8. And I do not think it is an unfair statement to say the series has not been as close as 23 to 8. It has been an utter, thorough, total domination by the Toronto Blue Jays. Hockey starts tonight. I didn't know that. So I'm finding it out right now. And LeBron teases the second decision, which is coming up in about an hour and 10 minutes. And you should be able to use the context clues of whether or not I think that is going to be a major basketball career related decision or whether or not I think that is going to be an advertisement based on the fact that we did not delay this pod by 90 minutes to react to it. However, we must get to the news at hand reminder like Rate Subscribe Review. I do this show for you guys even on days like today. So please subscribe on itunes and Spotify and all of it. Oh I referenced Amanza. I I didn't really sleep last night. I didn't got up this morning, took your sister to school, picked your mom up from the gym. I Don't know If I said 10 words to either one of them. I then just laid on the couch, which I never do in the mornings, and tried to like, take a nap. That didn't work. Now you know how I can tell your mom knows I'm in a teetering emotional place.

[Damanze]

I could probably. What is it?

[Nick Wright]

Well, here's how. Here's how I know that she knows and that she's empathetic because there were. She's doing like a whole giant house cleaning thing prior to her birthday.

[Damanze]

I knew it.

[Nick Wright]

Well, no, hold on there. Within the 90 seconds when I came downstairs, there were three things I saw her do that she had asked me to do previously. And she wasn't even mad at me.

[Damanze]

Yep.

[Nick Wright]

I was like, oh, she legit feels bad for me right now. She's like, she, she. She is really showing a real amount of empathy because I was supposed to put those coffee cups away. I was supposed to throw that backpack away. I. And she's doing all of it. And she's doing with a smile on her face, which means she has correctly clocked that I'm not doing great. Hopefully this will be my catharsis. Let's get to Monday Night Football.

[Damanze]

Shout out to Madre. So we saw what Trevor Lawrence did to the Chiefs yesterday. It was also his 26th birthday and he walked out of there with a dub. What do you want to talk about first? Your prince's success or your chief's downfall in this game?

[Nick Wright]

Okay. As much as I'd like to start with Trevor, we have start with the Chiefs. And here's the reason. That game is so, so much more upsetting than the Charger game or the Eagle game. And so much more upsetting than any recent memory regular season loss. One thing about the Chiefs being the Chiefs is they simply do not lose games like that now. They get outplayed sometimes. The offense we've seen over the last couple years get stuck in the mud. They, you know, there are ways that they can lose a game and other people panic or you know, talk about in what bad shape the team is in. And I do not because of the. The full confidence that by the end of the year Patrick will have figured stuff out or the team will get healthier or whatever it is. Losing a game like that last night. They don't blow two touchdown leads. Every other team in the league might. They don't. They did last night. Countless, countless special teams mistakes. The. The multiple. The. The same player, Jack Cochran, who held on a big kick return earlier in the game does the only thing he can't do on the final kickoff of the game, which is hold again because in that moment I thought while I didn't like what had happened, 23 seconds, three timeouts, the chief's gonna have the ball around the 2530 yard line. I fully trusted that we were at least going to get a kick to tie the game. But that hold has the double whammy of they returned it. So you burned six of the 23 seconds and you started on the 15 also with the special teams Bucker kicking it out of bounds when he has been shaky. Buck. We are now 5 for 5 in games this year where Butker makes a mistake, either misses an extra point, misses, yes, misses an extra point, misses a kick or kicks it out of bounds. And then, and I'm not this oddly is the part of the game that was least bothersome to me but was the most damaging was, you know, Patrick made a mistake he simply doesn't make which is the 99 yard pick six that flipped the entire game. Now that you can fairly say that cost them the game. I mean that was a basically a true 14 point swing. But I, I know this is might sound odd to the audience. That is the least of my concerns. The, the committing that many penalties that that consistently. And now what does make me feel like the Chiefs are very close to being the Chiefs again is there is a direct correlation to how scary the Chiefs are to the rest of the world and how quickly and loudly we get the idiotic conspiracy theories once again when yes, they missed a DPI on an interception, but this game would have been. Well, I don't know. I don't know that it was worse than when the jags are down 14 nothing and it's third and 15 and there is a Phantom DPI that kept them in the game. Like calls get missed in both directions. The people got mad because Patrick correctly pointed out to the ref we get one yard on the rub route on Kelsey's touchdown and I don't know what the hell Russell Yurik was looking at. He says the play was snapped at the 2. Juju is setting the pick at the 1. That is the definition. You literally had the little hash mark showing you it was a yard. And so that I unders. Listen, they missed the refs missed a really bad call. There's no question about it. And the Chiefs got a pick out of it. The Chiefs were penalized I think 10 times more or 9 times more than Jacksonville. That was not a. Oh, the Chiefs got all the calls but also those weren't bad. Except for the DPI on third and 15. Those weren't bad calls against the Chiefs. They were making mistakes. And here's the other piece of it and this is what is so. And Patrick kind of said it without saying it when he said we've already lost too many games. They. They had a nightmare, nightmare opening two weeks of the season and they had the opportunity to make it all back by week five, go from zero and two to tied for first in the division, one game out of first place in the entire conference and two and I. You guys notice I didn't have Kansas City minus three and a half in Knicks picks. I actually think Jacksonville is better than people gave them credit for. And I was saying all week Jacksonville was 3 and 1 despite Trevor and that if Trevor played well, they're a very dangerous team. And we'll get to Trevor later because that was just a perfect Trevor Lawrence game. Some horrible mistakes, some great throws, used his legs, you know, better than he usually does, even though he's great with that. The. So I didn't. It's not that I think losing to.

[Damanze]

The Jags, it's just that was a game that I feel like they, they needed. They really wanted that game and they didn't get it. And it was also like. And it was the Jaguars at the same time. Like that's not.

[Nick Wright]

They needed it demonte. They wanted it and they had it right. Like they. The while the Chiefs don't blow teams out the way the other excellent teams in football do over the last few years, they just simply never beat themselves. And yesterday they beat themselves. Yesterday is the first game in four years the Chiefs have won the turnover battle and lost the game. There have only been three games in the last four years where they have won or tied the turnover battle and lost the game. Week one against Detroit a couple years ago, the pick six. Week one against the Chargers. This year, neither team turned it over. And then this week with a pick six. And so all of that just. It. It's just a horrible loss. Let me add another thing before I get to the other side of it. My biggest concern with Kansas City after week one, when every there have been. Let me rephrase it. There have been two concerns that I have had about the Chiefs basically from week one on that while everyone else was focused on Mahomes in the passing game, I was simply not worried. One was the lack of any type of burst or explosion in the running game. Now I thought that was Pacheco and Hunt's Both of them, you know, one of their better, if not their. Each of their best games of the year. My hair's a mess. I apologize. But it still feels like that's a spot they need to upgrade. And Patrick leading the team in rushing is unacceptable and makes me nervous. But the other thing that was greatly concerning to me about week one was their total inability to generate a pass rush without sending a blitz. And I felt like you saw that again last night. So those. The running back position I think can be. Of all the weaknesses you can have that to me is the simplest to attempt to remedy because they should be able to relatively cheaply trade for an upgrade at running back. The pass rush just has to get better. And Chris obviously has a brutal film on the play. When Trevor fell down. Now, I don't actually think him standing there or if he would have been going 100 miles an hour it would have changed the impact of the play. But that is brutal. Brutal tape.

[Damanze]

I think he could have absolutely made a play on it. He could have stopped him from scoring a touchdown.

[Nick Wright]

You think So?

[Damanze]

I think 100%. I feel like he's watching the action from there. If he starts running off to the right, might be able to intercept Trevor Lawrence.

[Nick Wright]

Oh, I right. I agree right there. He starts running off to the right. My point is by the. I think he would have been going full bore. If he would have been going full bore, he wouldn't have. He wouldn't have beelined to the right. He would have gone up field and then. But it doesn't matter. Yeah, I want to make this clear. It doesn't matter that he wouldn't have made. I don't think he would have made the play. What matters is how the hell are you doing that in that spot. Like, you know what I mean? Like what is the. He played it almost as if the chief's coaching point there was let them score so we get the ball back with a chance to tie it. But no one else on the defense was, you know, had that was feeling that way. And so all of those things demand say are truly greatly real like issues and why this has been so such a troubling 12 hours. Now the flip side. Patrick looks great and he looks great and the offense is. I mean they would. They have 500 yards of offense yesterday almost like now again that's not. Andy said it and he's right. The. The goal of the game is not to put up a ton of yards, put up points and our red zone issues. The. You know, he didn't say this, I'll say this. Patrick's bad mistake. The. The penalties, those things are how you lose football games. But Kansas City, particularly when Rashid gets back, I think is going to be back to being a very explosive offense again. So that part is great. But two and three is not. And you just, you had the opportunity, had you taken care of going into last night's game, you were like, there were. There's the 4 and 1 Bills who you play later this year, the 4 in 1 Colts who you play later this year. And the Jags were sitting there with one loss, and you were playing them that night. And so it also puts a lot of pressure on next week. And next week is the Detroit Lions, who post week one have looked like the best team in the league.

[Dr. J]

But the humility in knowing that life is this classroom that we should never graduate from is what is going to keep you growing. And that's all that matters. World Mental Health Day is around the corner. And on my podcast, just heal with Dr. J, I dive into what it really means to care for your mind, body and spirit. From breaking generational patterns to building emotional capacity, healing is a journey, and wholeness is the destination.

[Nick Wright]

I'm going to walk away feeling very healed and feeling like, yes, I'm going to continue my healing journey and I'm going to get some keys from you.

[Dr. J]

Listen to just heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Nick Wright]

By the way, LeBron just posted. I guess. Did Hennessy front run him on this? That's so funny. Real quick.

[Damanze]

Is that the announcement or.

[Nick Wright]

Hold on, I'm just gonna let you guys hear it. I. I hope. Hold on, let me see if I can do this. Taking my talent. Hold on. Well, here it is. No, I got it. I'm just going to do it like this. We'll do it old school. Well, everyone's on pens and needles across the country. You ready to go, LeBron? Where's the powder?

[Dr. J]

Left it at home.

[Nick Wright]

LeBron fans, want to know where you're taking your talents this year. What's your decision in this fall?

[Dr. J]

Man, this is tough.

[Nick Wright]

In this fall, I'm gonna be taking.

[Dr. J]

My talents to Hennessy.

[Nick Wright]

Vsop. Vsop. And this was the conclusion you woke up with this morning?

[Dr. J]

That was the conclusion I woke up with this morning.

[Nick Wright]

Why?

[Dr. J]

I feel like it's gonna give me the best opportunity to win more at hosting. And not only that, we in that signature cocktails win at having a good time we ain't at guests. We ain't at making memories.

[Damanze]

We in that, making it look easy.

[Dr. J]

We ain't at leaving people wanting more.

[Nick Wright]

Le. Appreciate it. Okay, so real quick, quick sidebar.

[Damanze]

What a guy.

[Nick Wright]

Of course. Like, now listen, I would have been wrong. I thought it had something to do with Amazon Prime Day because he. He works with Amazon. But, Danny, yesterday, when LeBron sent that tweet, he came, he's like, you saw LeBron's thing? I'm like, yeah. And he asked, he said, do you think it's anything? I was like, I would bet anything. It's an ad. And he asked me why, and he thought my answer was kind of ridiculous, but it's why. I knew it was an ad. I said, because it's at noon. It's what he said it was going to be. And he's like, that's the reason. And I was like, yeah, it's like.

[Damanze]

More of like a night thing.

[Nick Wright]

Yes, it's prime time. Like, if LeBron is going to announce his retirement, it's not going to be noon on a Tuesday. I'm just telling you right now. It's just so I. There, there was real, like, questions. I got texts from people or whatever about what we, like this show or the TV show or whatever, what are. What we want to do? And I don't want to say I ignored them, but I. In my head, I ignored them. I'm like, guys, I promise this is not like intel. I didn't talk to. I didn't. I was so non plussed by this. Like, I obviously am real close with some of LeBron's closest people. Maverick's a dear friend. I see Rich a few times a year. You know, Rich works with my agent. I didn't even send any of them a text, like, with a question mark. Like, it was obvious to me. To me, it was just like if. If he had sent the exact same tweet and it said Monday, 7pm My heart would have skipped a beat. I'd have been like, oh, man.

[Damanze]

Run down. Change it up a little bit.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, like, may, like there might be a. There might be something here. But Tuesday at noon. The guy is not announcing his retirement Tuesday at noon. Now, he was. If you didn't get the. And I didn't show you the. He's wearing the same shirt he wore to the original decision. Like, kind of. Right? And the. The script is the ex. The questions he was asked, like the no powder. That it's all the exact same beats of the original decision.

[Damanze]

But it was a good idea. Nice ad.

[Nick Wright]

Yes. Listen, shout out.

[Damanze]

Retiring.

[Nick Wright]

I retired also, by the way, I don't know what Hennessy, you know, paid Bron, but I do know that they are now going to get a lot of free media out of it by simply LeBron sending one tweet like so I don't know what his tweets are worth but that, you know, I would consider that likely Money well spent. All right, back to the discussion we were having. What were we talking about? Oh, the Lions game now is massive. Oh, that's why I saw it because I was going to Hard Rock Bet to see going into last night. Here's a fun one. Damant. Wait. No, going into last night it was Casey minus a point and a half. Now, typically, oddly, when a good team loses, if they don't suffer real injury, they become bigger favorites by a tiny bit the next week. I don't anticipate that's what will happen here. So what. What do you think? Do you think the line moved or stayed the same and if it moved.

[Damanze]

In what direction you said yesterday was minus one and a half.

[Nick Wright]

Kansas City favored by a point and a half.

[Damanze]

Point and a half. Yeah, I think it probably. What is it, minus two now? Minus two now?

[Nick Wright]

It's. It stay. It stayed the same. I thought there was a chance it would have gone the other way, but I think the reason it didn't was because the Chiefs offense did look really good and that Jags defense is legit. It's just so frustrating. And this is all I said going into it was if they don't turn the ball over, they can't lose and they may. Listen, it was the worst type of turnover you can make with that defense.

[Damanze]

Being how good it is. Like Jacksonville's defense is. It's legit. They even came in, they got a pick six against Patrick Mahomes. Like with the Travis Hunter thing, I think it's so unfortunate that he wants to play on both sides of the ball because I think he would make the defense that much more dominant or if he wanted to be 100% offense, he would just give Trevor Lawrence even that better of a hand. But I think because it doesn't seem like he's being super effective on either side. He's. I guess he's maxed out his long right now.

[Nick Wright]

No, right now it's kind of the worst of both worlds. Right. And listen, I know he made one really big play in this game.

[Damanze]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

But the Jags aren't at a shortage of weapons and right now the, the. They. They trade. The only way you can justify trading what they traded for a non quarterback is because you thought you were getting two players. But right now he's having less of an impact than all the guys drafted around him who are just one way players.

[Damanze]

Right.

[Nick Wright]

And so that's the really disappointing part if you're Jacksonville like let me go to real quick because Mason Graham who was the fifth pick who was part of essentially the Travis Hunter trade has been great. Abdul Carter is making a real impact. Will Campbell's the everyday left tackle. Mason Graham has been excellent. Genty. I know that there have been some questions about Genti. Genti's great. He's just that how often is he getting the ball and how often are they blocking for him. But you've seen more from him already and you've seen Travis Mimbo has been excellent at at tackle for the jets even though they've been terrible and T. McMillan has made a bigger impact. The wide receiver for Carolina. For Carolina. No, the Tampa Bay receivers. Auka who's been unbelievable. But he was, you know he was a mid first round pick. He was 19. And so yeah, I do think that they, they haven't yet figured out how to use Travis. Now listen on the Prince this is why he's such a tough player to quit because he can make that throw to Brian Thomas Jr. Down the sideline and he is he at Clemson he ran a lot and he is big and strong and all those things and fast. He also loves that leap over the goal line QB sneak. That's not the first time it's been knocked out of his hands. He also will, as Aikman pointed out, miss some layups and he, it fair is fair, he should be better at this point than he is. But he is now positioning himself where he is going to have a real opportunity to have you know, another postseason. And the best moment of his career came in the postseason. And so now like it's starting to take shape a little bit. Right. It feels to me Demanza, like, like the playoff teams we can say with confidence are Buffalo, Indy, Jacksonville, the, the four and one teams. Like we just got to give them credit. One team out of the AFC North. I can't write off Baltimore yet but that's the only way Baltimore does it is if Pittsburgh. The reason I'm not saying two teams out of the north is if Pittsburgh just continues winning, Baltimore's cooked like Baltimore. Baltimore's path is going to be that nine wins can win you the division. So there's four and then I obviously believe the Chiefs are going to be in the. I can't. I. It would be unfair for me to say pencil the cheat. Like to put the Chiefs. In pen. In pen. Because they're two and three. So if we have Buffalo, Indy, Jacksonville, and an AFC north team in, then it would be Damon's. A. Three spots for Chiefs, Broncos, Chargers, Patriots. Three spots for those four teams. And right now, the team that probably. Of those four teams this moment, which team do you think is most anxious? Because to me, I think it's pretty clear out of. Of Chiefs, Chargers, Broncos, Patriots. If one of them's gonna be.

[Damanze]

Oh, Chargers, probably.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah.

[Damanze]

The most anxious.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, it's the Chargers.

[Damanze]

I mean, both.

[Nick Wright]

To me, it's definitely the char.

[Damanze]

Jay Daniels is more respectable, but coming off an injury.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, yeah, Jaden. And only scoring 10 points. And we'll get to that game later. Wow. The producers don't always nail it on this show. They always try with their humor, but sometimes they. They miss the catchy. This one's pretty good.

[Damanze]

Yeah, I.

[Nick Wright]

Because, you know, I obviously coined the tackle that turned the tide. And by the way, I. Given how Patrick has played since that moment, I think it's still. Even though they lost and he threw the pick six, I think it still applies. I thought Patrick was for 75 out of 76 plays. Excellent yesterday. Now, the one mistake he made, like, fair is fair, it flipped the game. And so I'm not g. I'm not giving him a pass. But if I were. If. If I were saying. Was that encouraging? Yeah. Yeah. They said. Was that the pick that made Nick sick. And you know who suggested that? Vic.

[Damanze]

Vic.

[Nick Wright]

All right, all right. Well done. Well done, guys. But they said is Trevor's td. The stumble that started the succession. That's pretty good. I think that's pretty good. I think it's pretty good. I like it, guys. All right. You guys made me feel a little bit better. God, I'm. I was upset. I'm gonna have to deal with. It's one thing that I'm gonna have to deal with Colin in a couple hours. But you know who is privately, I'm sure take Damante off camera. Reveling in this. In my pain. J. Mac. Oh, man. And I'll end the Chiefs. And the Chiefs loss. Oh, boy. That's not going to be fun. All right. Today's show is brought to you by our presenting sponsor, hard rock bet. New customers can place a $5 bet. And if it hits, you not only get your winnings, but also $150 in bonus bets. October baseball is here. Pressure's higher. Moments are bigger. One swing can flip the entire postseason. Hard Rock Bet lets you get in on every pitch. New customers can place a $5 bet and if it hits, you get not only your winnings but also $150 in bonus bets. Plus, every day this week on Hard Rock Bet, you can get a profit boost for a postseason baseball parlay. There's new promos every day. Boost your same game parlay or SGP Max so your bet pays extra winnings. Want to see what everyone else is betting on tonight? Who's going to homer top picks or parlage across any other sport? Hard Rock Bet app literally shows you it's a shows you it's another reason Download the app just for the info tap discover and you can see trending picks and parlays at any time. Download the Hard Rock Bet app and make your first deposit payable and bonus bets. Not a cash offer offered by the Seminole Tribe of Florida in Florida Offered by Seminole hard Rock Digital LLC in all other states. Must be 21 plus and physically present in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee or Virginia to play. Terms and conditions apply. Concern about gambling in Florida co call 1-888- admit it. In Indiana, if you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1809 with it gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee or Virginia.

[Dr. J]

But the humility in knowing that life is this classroom that we should never graduate from is what is going to keep you growing. And that's all that matters. World Mental Health Day is around the corner corner and on my podcast, just heal with Dr. J, I dive into what it really means to care for your mind, body and spirit. From breaking generational patterns to building emotional capacity, healing is a journey and wholeness is the destination.

[Nick Wright]

I'm going to walk away feeling very healed and feeling like, yes, I'm going to continue my healing journey and I'm going to get some keys from you.

[Dr. J]

Listen to just heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Nick Wright]

All right, let's get to the rest of week five in the NFL, pal.

[Damanze]

So the Eagles were up two touchdowns going into the fourth of the Broncos and ended up blowing that game. So the Broncos ended up winning and they haven't won an important game in over a year. How differently are you thinking about these two teams after that one?

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, your Your point about the Broncos is because I know Broncos fans will be like, what do you mean? One, an important game made the playoffs. They haven't beaten a quality opponent since week three of last season or whenever they played. Tampa might have been week two. That was the first great win of the Sean Payton era and of b Knicks's career. Now, I know I, you know, my pal Schrager I think overstated it a bit when he said that was a career defining and regime defining moment for Sean Payton. That's a bit much. But Schrager is, you know, Schrager's my guy and he's very open and honest about the fact that he loves Sean Payton and he's rooting for Sean Payton. So that's fine. I think that was, you know, a touch, a touch more touch too much. I want to do the Broncos, then I'll do the Eagles because I think it'll be. We'll spend more time on the Eagles. Yeah. So the last time they beat a playoff team was September 22nd of last year. So more than a year before they had what I would call, you know, a high quality win. That defense is spectacular. Okay. There is no getting around that. And we knew coming into the year that the defense could be really, really good. And Nick Benito has a legit case for defensive player of the year. He's been that caliber of player. And in that fourth quarter, Bo Nix was excellent. After starting the game off terribly and kind of getting lucky that they let it. I thought it was a pretty clear strip sack that somehow they called an incomplete pass. He then was 12 of 14, some big conversions, touchdown. Like he was really good in the fourth quarter of that game. So here is what is true for the Broncos. If they get anywhere close to the bo Knicks, they got late in that game, then they are a legit dangerous team. The defense is excellent. Sean Payton, why might think he's a touch overrated by some of his friends in the media, is obviously a good coach, very good coach. And they just need to have an above average offense to be a really good team. I am still skeptical of that. They will get an above average offense from Bo Nix. We'll see. And we'll see how much Sean Payton can coach him up. Now Demons A they have back to back absolute must win games to get to 5 and 2. They get the best thing you can ask for in the NFL this century, which is back to back New York games. The jets and the Giants. Now the, by the way, neither is in New York. One's in London and then one's in Denver. But that's what they have and if you remember, really suck. Oh, yeah, Broncos Giants.

[Damanze]

It's like a bad game.

[Nick Wright]

Broncos Giants is better than Broncos Jets. Yeah, Broncos, Jets.

[Damanze]

Those defenses probably just go, oh, so I.

[Nick Wright]

But Broncos Jets Damanze is going to be on is a London game. So that's a 6am That'll be a zero watch from you this. But after, if you remember, with my Broncos preseason skepticism, I said, I think they'll get off to an early start. People will start chirping at me, and then we'll see what they're really made of late. And after that, Broncos, after that Jets Giant stretch. It's not that it's an impossible stretch of football, but it's not easy. Aside from the Raiders games, because again, when I was talking about it being, you know, a brutal stretch, I didn't think the Raiders were going to be as bad as they are. But they go Cowboys, Texans, Raiders, Chiefs, Commanders, Raiders, Packers, Jags, Chiefs, Chargers. That's how they end the year. So they need to be 5 and 2 and then hope that they can go what would 5 and 5 in their final 10. And that gets you in the playoffs. 10 wins will get you in. And so this was a great win for them in a game they had no signs of life for the first three quarters. Which then takes us to Philadelphia Demons. A and I don't know if you saw the report yesterday that A.J. sirianni and Jalen talked for Saquon 2 or 3. Oh, no, no. You know what? You're right. I don't think it was Sirianni. I think it was A.J. jalen and Saquon. Yeah, that's right.

[Damanze]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

That they talked for, quote, a few hours, end quote. This is going to be one of those things I say that I know I'm right, but if it gets captioned or aggregated, it I'm going to get killed for it. And it's going to seem unfair. But I know I'm right and all the listeners know I'm right. That's too long to talk. You can't be. You can't. You can't be talking for a quote, a couple hours. Couples therapy is 55 minutes. Like, that's too long. That is too long to have a conversation about the first five weeks of your season. It's just too long. And it. If it couldn't, whatever you couldn't come to a resolution on after 45 minutes to an hour. You weren't going to have this Massive breakthrough in the in, out, in minute 98. I know I'm right. You know I'm right. Everyone knows I'm right. That's too long. All right, to the more serious piece of it. Why can Damanze? They not just have a normal game.

[Damanze]

They're a weird football team. Their team is super strange.

[Nick Wright]

I give them credit for, listen, I know they lost this week, but they obviously know how to win games and they have a bunch of different ways to beat you. They blocked a punt to flip a game. They blocked a kick to win a game. Jalen's run to win. Jalen's throne to win. Like they've, I give them credit for that. But in the last three weeks, they played a half a football with negative passing yards. They then played a half a football with zero completions. They then played a half a football demon that they led for almost the entirety of and they called two running plays. They called two running plays. I, I, it feels to me like the offensive coordinator is, is on a little bit of tilt here because I don't.

[Damanze]

Do you think that he gets like flustered with like how his wide receivers are complaining and just doesn't know how to, how to go about it? Like it seems like they might, I.

[Nick Wright]

Don'T know, like we all saying try to work on the passing game some, but it didn't mean that in the game you're winning, Saquon should have six carries. Like it just doesn't make sense. They are it, it's these vast drastic over corrections. And here is the other the under discussed but maybe more important story for the Eagles. De Monze is this and I think it's a fair question. But out of respect to the player and what he's accomplished, I want to ask it quietly, what's going on with Saquon like Seyquan has last year. So let me just give a little context for this. Okay. Last year in he played 20 games for Philly. Last year he had 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6 where he did not have 100 yards and he had 4 where he did not have at least 80 yards. His real quiet games were a win against the Browns in Week 5, 18 for 47. The Steelers game was which was right after A.J. brown said we need to, you know, work on the passing game. And Jaylen had a big game. They won by two touchdowns. He had 19 for 65. The Cowboys game where one of them where he was 14 for 66, but they won by 28. And the Super bowl where he 25 for 57. So here's what's noteworthy. His his four quietest games last year. One of them was a nip and tuck game with the Browns. The other ones were a blowout against the Cowboys, a blowout against the Steelers, and a blowout against the Chiefs. But he had six games where he didn't have 100 and only four games where he didn't have 80. This year he has had 1000 times. He has had 80 one time and he is averaging 3.2 yards per carry. He was 18 for 60 in the opener, 22 for 88 against the Chiefs, 18 for 46 against the Rams, 19 for 43 against Tampa, and 6 for 30 against against Denver. And one of the things that comes to mind on that is for a guy who has been banged up throughout his career when so his rookie year he had 350 regular season touches and then the next year his production dipped a bit and the following year he suffered a serious injury. In 2022 he had 350 regular season touches and the next year his production dipped a bit and he missed a little bit of time. Last year he had 350 regular. I'm sorry 385 regular season touches plus another 70. He had like 450 touches last year and now his production is dipped massively. If Saquon is just not going to have it this year, then they do need to work on the offense significantly and I think that's a fair concern. And so I I think the Eagles are an excellent team and the I was most worried about the past defense after Week 1, but Dallas has now thrown the ball on everybody and the young players in their secondary have gotten better. But the angst and here's the other concern and by the way reminder everybody watching like Rate Subscribe Review and if you're just tuning in when the show ends, you can go back and listen to my, you know, crisis about the Chiefs loss yesterday. But subscribe on YouTube like Rate Review do all that. Subscribe on itunes Spotify 2 years ago Damanz they were winning games but they were angsty like this. It was always like yeah, we're winning but we're not playing the way we want to play. They started 10 and one that season and then they had a historic collapse. They were winning a lot of ugly games, nip and tuck and there was a lot of chatter and then it all unraveled on. They lost five of their final six and then basically flat quit in the playoff game against Tampa. And so that to me is because there is a little bit of history as to this team having a good record but not trusting it fully and then falling apart. It's noteworthy and so that I'm not. It's no reason to panic about Philadelphia but things are not totally copacetic there. And now they also get a nice little gift before their bye week where their next three games are Giants, Vikings, Giants. So that's nice. And the fact that they have played, they've played a brutal schedule. I think they're the only team in the league that has played nothing but good teams. Cowboys, Chiefs, Rams, Bucks, Denver. And so you give them a lot of credit but it does feel a little off.

[Damanze]

Does the Broncos win there make you nervous at all though for your Chiefs?

[Nick Wright]

I'm not worried about the Broncos. I do listen the Chiefs losing yesterday, they, they had become briefly the favorites to win the AFC west again and now I would imagine, in fact I'm going to look at that too with our friends at Hard Rock Bet. I'm pulling it up right now. The Futures division winner the says they're currently locked.

[Damanze]

I think Vegas might be.

[Nick Wright]

No, I'll find it. It's basically a three way tie. 175 for the Chargers, 175 for the Broncos, 190 for the Chiefs. So you know they're calling it a three way coin flip right now and honestly like a fair is fair, that Chiefs loss yesterday is real damaging in a lot of different ways. All right, let's go to the next game.

[Damanze]

The comeback story continues for Bake Show. He was down seven with three minutes left, led a game tying touchdown drive and his defense came over and forced a turnover. You said that this team is the best team in the NFC but they just lost to Philly. How are you feeling about the Baker?

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, no listen I think that their ability to they have dealt with a ton of injuries and they're 4 and 1 and I know they lost to Philly. However they even with a head to head loss to Philly, doesn't their 4 and 1 vibes wise feel so much better than Phillies 4 and 1?

[Damanze]

Yes.

[Nick Wright]

Like they feel they're get, they're going to get some of their offensive linemen back. They're going to get Mike Evans back. Chris Godwin is only going to get better coming off the injury. They didn't have Bucky Irving. Abuka's awesome. The Seahawks are legit and Baker walked their asses down too. Like and this is I, I know sometimes I can do this too much but where I talk schedule and stuff, and it might be a better visual thing, but one of the reasons I believed in Tampa was I said I thought they could start, demand a 6 and 5 and potentially still get the 1 seed at 12 and 5. They're now 4 and 1. Here's the reason I'm pointing this out. Their final six games, six games more than a third of the season, are Cardinals, Saints, Falcons. On a Thursday at home, Panthers, Dolphins, Panthers, bro. So if they are like, they're four and one right now. So if you just look at the bucks put their season in little buckets. This first bucket's done with. They're 4 and 1 now. The lead up to that stretch of football is very tough. Niners, Lions, Saints, Patriots, Bills, Rams. If they can just. Niners, Lions, Saints, Patriots, Bills, Rams. Honest to God, if they go 2 and 4 in that stretch, that would put them at 6 and 5 and still, I think, be on pace for 11 or 12 wins if they can go. But right now, 2 and 4, right. They're home for the Niners. They're the better team. The Saints are not good. They're home for the Patriots. And while the Patriots are good, they're the better team. And then you have very tough road games at the Lions, at the Bills, at the Rams. I really think this team can win 13 games and they're only going to get healthier. So, yeah, I mean, I think that right now, Baker Mayfield's the league mvp.

[Damanze]

Oh, he's doing all this with all these injuries?

[Nick Wright]

Yeah.

[Damanze]

Seems like a very good candidate.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, he started the year at 35 to 1. He's now, I think, 12 to 1. I think that. I think people are. The reason he's not higher is people haven't caught on to the fact that Tampa has a very decent shot of being the 1 seed. And Baker, with these comebacks, plus if they're the one of the two seed, I just think he absolutely could win league mvp. And they also right now, a buca is even money to win offensive rookie of the year. And so, yeah, I really believe in Tampa. A Chiefs buck super bowl was my pick before. It would be very painful for me to Monze because I've gotten. I've never quite hit the super bowl exacta since we've been doing this show. I came very close one year, one game away. Chiefs ners.

[Damanze]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

I then had Chiefs Cowboys. The Cowboys won 12 games but lost to Jordan Love. I then had Chiefs Bears, and it was a disaster. Yeah, that if I hit the long shot piece of it in the Bucks, but the Chiefs are the side that lets me down. It'd be devastating.

[Damanze]

That would be hard.

[Nick Wright]

Just devastating. All right, before we get to some of the other games, now it's time for our new segment, College Football's Walk On Mount Rushmore presented by Chad Powers, now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney plus for bundle subscribers. For the next few weeks, I'll be revealing my Mount Rushmore College Football Walk Ons, paying tribute to the legends who started with no scholarship, no spotlight and still carved out unforgettable careers. Last week we started off with a no doubter, Baker Mayfield. Perfect segue. Now we're talking about him winning league mvp. Had to be on there. This next guy is just as much of a no doubter and that is a guy who has an argument that he has the greatest four year stretch of defensive football in NFL history. And I was able to cover that in person. And that is one JJ Watt JJ Watt was a scholarship player at Central Michigan as a tight end. They then wanted to move him to tackle. He gave up his scholarship to go to Wisconsin and walk on as a defensive end. He switched to the end and after a year redshirting his first year playing he had 16 tackles for loss and four and a half sacks and the next year was an all American with seven sacks, a pick and 21 tackles for loss and turning himself into a no doubt first round pick. He followed that up with again, what I think is and we talk about Aaron Donald and I understand Aaron Donald. His career is absolutely unbelievable. What J.J. watt did from 2012 to 2015 in the NFL, hard to find a higher peak on bad Texans teams. One of them was good that didn't have the lead that often. In 2012 he forced four fumbles, had 20 and a half sacks and had 39 tackles for loss. Again playing 34 defensive end. The next year, 10 and a half sacks and 22 tackles for loss. The next year 20 and a half sacks, 29 tackles for loss and then 17 and a half sacks and 29 tackles for loss. In that four year stretch, JJ won three Defensive Player of the Year awards, had played 64 games in those games, forced 15 fumbles, recovered 10, had 69 sacks and 119 TFLs. So he averaged over a four year stretch, three tackles for a loss or sack per game. And one of those years he added, I think I'm going to try to find it. Yeah, one of those years. He also had three touchdown catches. 2014 he was a walk on at Wisconsin he and Baker are no doubters on the college football walk on Mount Rushmore. Make sure you check out Chad Powers, a new episode streaming every Tuesday on Hulu and Hulu on Disney plus for Bundle subscribers.

[Dr. J]

But the humility in knowing that life is this classroom that we should never graduate from is what is going to keep you growing. And that's all that matters. World Mental Health Day is around the corner.

[Nick Wright]

Corner.

[Dr. J]

And on my podcast, just heal with Dr. J, I dive into what it really means to care for your mind, body and spirit. From breaking generational patterns to building emotional capacity. Healing is a journey, and wholeness is the destination.

[Nick Wright]

I'm going to walk away feeling very healed and feeling like, yes, I'm going to continue my healing journey and I'm going to get some keys from you.

[Dr. J]

Listen to just heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Nick Wright]

All right, Damonte, let's get to your sad team.

[Damanze]

Yeah. So my Ravens got abused this weekend. We obviously had a backup quarterback in. We couldn't get anything going. Our defense had C.J. stroud out there thinking he was young again, man. But you're saying that we can still win the division. I don't see it. I gotta say, I don't know how much the Steelers are going to slip.

[Nick Wright]

So I got.

[Damanze]

Hopefully they're making the playoffs, but.

[Nick Wright]

Well, I think the only way they can make the playoffs is winning, is getting the division. Yeah. Because I think that the. So they're one and four and they're bad. They're just a bad team right now. And Lamar is going to. And listen, I thought they could win that game. Yeah. With Cooper, that I certainly didn't think they were just gonna quit and get annihilated.

[Damanze]

I wonder what the way they got it was for that game.

[Nick Wright]

I mean, I can check. That was really disheartening performance and I. That's probably. It was 36 to 20. It was 37 to 23. Right, Derrick? Well, Derrick Henry is another guy I'm worried about this year. Derrick Henry was unbelievable in week one. Has not done much since then. So you guys would need, obviously the Steelers to slip up. What you have going for you demand, say, is you. Let's just assume you lose to the Rams. You then have a bye week. Lamar will be back. You then face an absolute bunch of must wins in a row, but they're very winnable. Must wins home for the Bears off a buy at Miami on a Thursday at the Vikings with extra rest at the Browns. Home for the jets, home for the Bengals. Before you face the Steelers at home, then at the Bengals, and then a very tough final three games of the year. Home for the Patriots, at the packers, at the Steelers. The defense is awful, just awful. And listen, it's going to take a Herculean Lamar performance once he comes back, but I can't because I don't yet fully believe in Pittsburgh. I can't write off Baltimore entirely, but they look terrible. And we said going into the year, every year there's a team that everyone expects to be excellent as the year from hell. Last year it was the Niners. The year before that it was the Bengals. The year before that it was the Rams. The Rams were coming off a Super Bowl. They missed the playoffs. The Bengals were coming off back to back AFC championship game appearances. They missed the playoffs. The Niners were coming off a Super bowl appearance. They missed the playoffs. This year. The five teams that would have qualified for. Everyone thinks they're going to be good. Eagles, Lions, Chiefs, Bills, Ravens. I understand the Chiefs have been shaky, but there it's the Ravens right now.

[Damanze]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

And it is shakier. No, you guys have just been a bad team.

[Damanze]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

You've just been bad.

[Damanze]

And everyone's back injured right now.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah.

[Damanze]

But we'll turn it around.

[Nick Wright]

But the defense was pretty bad even before the injury started piling up, which is what concerns me. All right, let's go to Pat's Bills.

[Damanze]

Yeah. So maybe roller coaster. Josh Allen is back. They had a few turnovers in that game. Drake May looked amazing, but looking back on things, Buffalo came close to Baltimore, my Ravens, in that one game and won by a point. Like, if you look at the teams these guys have played, they haven't really beaten the best teams. What's going on with the Bills?

[Nick Wright]

Well, listen, I do think the Bills were a little over inflated. Right. They, they played Baltimore and had that stirring comeback and people looked at that as a huge badge of honor. I think you now look at it and you're like, man, why'd you like everybody's scoring on Baltimore. The. And so that's a little different. They then blew out the jets and that was, you know, you play a bad team, you're supposed to blow them out. They did blow them out. They get credit, a ton of credit for. Not a ton, but credit for that. Then the Dolphins game, they're tied midway through the fourth. The Saints game, it's a two point game midway through the fourth. And then they get. Just get Stone beat by the Pats. He I have two slight concerns for the Bills. One is more than slight actually. I don't think the defense is very good and I think the defense is, you know, slightly below average and I think that's concerning. The other thing isn't so much a concern is is an observation. They have changed what they're asking Josh to do the last couple of years. They have asked him not to put the cape on as often, just take care of the ball and he's done a great job of doing that until the last couple weeks. Eds if you are going to remove the explosives then it's a prerequisite. You don't turn the ball over like the the Bills have become kind of a ball control methodical offense and it's worked great for them. Back when Josh used to turn the ball over a lot, they also had to play 80 yard touchdown drives and so you could offset it a bit with this style of offense. To Monze, you just can't turn the ball over and that's what got him in this game. And so again I think the Bills are going to be fine. And the Bills, well, one of them.

[Damanze]

Was, I feel like, I don't want to say dumb luck. The Keon Coleman one can't really blame on Josh. That's kind of, I mean obviously the pick is on him.

[Nick Wright]

But the fumble, what was the Keon Coleman one?

[Damanze]

You passed Keon Coleman. They ended up getting a fumble.

[Nick Wright]

Oh no, that one's not on Josh at all. Yeah, no, no, no.

[Damanze]

I'm just talking about like the mistakes.

[Nick Wright]

No, they had three turnovers. Keon Coleman fumbles on Keon Coleman. The interception was bad and then they had a missed pitch. I'm really just talking about the interception. And so listen at the Falcons is their game Monday night and then they have a buy and then they play. They're at the Panthers before their big Chiefs game. So I think they're fine. But I did not view them before this game as a juggernaut and I don't view them currently as a juggernaut. You want to talk about the Patriots real quick before we move on.

[Damanze]

So The Patriots are minus 200 to make the playoffs. Can you name seven better AFC teams?

[Nick Wright]

No, I don't. And that was, that was the best win they've had since Bill Belichick was coaching the team. And so the and Drake May played great. And so like I, I said this on the show yesterday and I think it's fair if you're a Patriot fan I think a realistic ceiling of your season now is you get, you're the highest seated wild card team, so you're the five seed and you go on the road to Pittsburgh in round one and beat them. Like that would be that Pittsburgh's the lowest ranked, the lowest seated divisional winner. The Patriots are the highest seated, you know, wild card team and you go get a playoff win, that would be awesome. And I think they could do that like I do. I think that's in play for them. I picked them to make the playoffs before the year partly was because the schedule is so soft and they now and again started to do so much schedule stuff today that it is now absolutely incumbent upon them. They, they are three and two. They must get to six and two. Their next three to Monze at Saints at Titans home for Browns. Like if you are a real team, which you supposed to be right now, you've got to go take care of business like that flatly. And I think they can do it. I think they can get to 6 and 2 and be a pain in Buffalo side all year. Hey, are you thinking about upgrading to the all new iPhone 17 Pro, designed to be the most powerful iPhone ever. But you're also thinking about the traffic on your way to the store and the headache of transferring all your data. Good news, when you order a new phone online with Boost Mobile, they'll send an expert to your home or work to deliver your brand new iPhone 17 Pro and get you all set up on Boost Mobile within minutes. No hassle. Visit boostmobile.com to get started. Delivery available for select devices [e-mail] terms do apply. All right, let's get to the last game we're to spend real time on before we get to the quick hitters.

[Damanze]

So the Chargers have dropped two straight now what? First to the Giants, now it's the commanders. Those MVP chants for Herbert have gotten a little quiet. He's now seventh place. They've obviously got injuries, but you know, as Justin Herbert, you got to throw for at least 200 yards while being down big. Is any other quarterback had more excuses?

[Nick Wright]

Listen, I don't. Yeah, Herbert's not making the excuses, but his defenders are. And again, he's obviously a good player. He's obviously a good player and he's obviously more than good when it comes to how talented he is. But and I know that they. He's had some bad luck. But he's in year six, man. He's in year six and this is the third straight game and this is what is really concerning to me, the Broncos game, okay, they're up 10 nothing. Moments into the second quarter. They. Then they are sitting on 13 with three minutes left in the game. They now he made that unbelievable play to that touchdown pass, one of the best plays of the year to tie that game. Then they end up winning at the gun. But the Broncos game, they score 10 immediately. Then the offense goes quiet until the very end of the game. The, the Giants game, they just lose. You know, they, they have 10 at halftime. They finish the game with 18 points. They, they have multiple possessions in the fourth quarter, down three, chance to tire win. They can't take advantage. And the commander's game, they have 10 points with three minutes left in the first, and they finish with 10 points. Like, they have really quieted down and that like, if they were in such a great position being 3 and oh in the division, and now all of a sudden they're in a real dog fight with. And we've known this all year about them, that they have arguably the toughest December of any team in the league. December they do. They go Eagles, Chiefs, Cowboys, Texans, Broncos. With Chiefs, Cowboys and Broncos being on the road, so they need a margin of error built in. And losing to the Giants and losing to the commanders at home the first game, Jaden's back. When you're up 10, nothing is not great. And so listen, they looked awesome against the Chiefs, and I give them a ton of credit for that. And they. But now all of a sudden, you look back and you're like, that the Raiders have been terrible. So, you know, that's what it is. You know, that was just a whiff by me up to this point. And the Broncos game, that's a real, you know, that's a really good win. But the Giants loss is awful, and the commander's loss was ugly. And Herbert, after starting the year with those amazing numbers, has fallen right back down to earth. And the injuries are piling up. Alt is injured. Mack is still injured. Their rookie running back, Hampton, he just got put on the ir. So Najee Harris, obviously done for the year. Like, the injuries are really mounting. And so I, I think that there is real concern with the Chargers, and I think that you're not going to be able to blame the coach on this one. Like Harbaugh, everybody thinks he's great. And again, I don't think Herbert's played terribly or anything. I just. You just want a little more. You just want a little bit more. All right, what's the follow up here?

[Damanze]

So Jayn Daniels obviously Just came back beat the Chargers coming off that injury. We were just talking about Drake May, do you think that Jayden Daniels has some competition and best quarterback in the class?

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, listen, I still think it's a three way race. I And by the way, Jaden against Caleb Monday night, who's the third and Jaden? Caleb Drake.

[Damanze]

Oh, Caleb. Okay.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Damanze]

That's what that guy was.

[Nick Wright]

No, I think Caleb's still in it. He hasn't. Again, Caleb's had at this point as good of if not a better career than Drake May like the. But Drake may just got a signature win. You know what I mean? We just saw Drake made with a signature win in a standalone game. Caleb might get that this weekend. I mean Monday night against Jaden. Like I just think I. The. It wasn't too early to say CJ was better than Bryce because Bryce was so bad and CJ was so good. But with. And Jaden was so good. No doubt about it. But Drake and Caleb weren't terrible. They just weren't elite. Like Jaden was immediately super. Yeah, Jaden was. Jaden had an amazing start to his career. But the, the injuries with. I think he's going to be more of an injury risk than the other two as well, which is a real concern. All right, let's do the real quick. All the other games Thursday Night Football.

[Damanze]

We had Niners defeating the Rams 26, 23 going to overtime.

[Nick Wright]

Unbelievable job by Kyle Shanahan and by Mac Jones and a brutal loss for the Rams. Just a painful. You can't lose that game. Yeah.

[Damanze]

I mean, listen, they're paying him too much.

[Nick Wright]

But they're paying him. Yeah, had they not paid him, there would be a real quarterback controversy. But they've paid. And I think Pie's better than Mack by the way. But this is one of those things.

[Damanze]

The fans, they probably beg to disagree.

[Nick Wright]

Right. But all. But also I, I think people expect me to take like I told you so victory lap on Purdy and the Shanahan system and all this stuff. I don't really need to because it was so clear all along for anyone without an agenda that I was right. And it's not that Purdy's not good, it's that Kyle Shanahan system, particularly once you had Christian McCaffrey, particularly once you had Christian McCaffrey and all these other weapons is a great inflation system for whatever quarterbacks in it as long as they have just baseline starting ability. And he can make Jimmy Garoppolo look really good, can make Mac Jones look really good and can make Purdy who's better than both of those guys look great. Even though Garoppolo is flatly bad. Mac Jones prior to his time with the Niners had been flatly bad. And Purdy we don't you know, I think is fine but he can like that. It's a Shanahan thing. And credit to the Niners. They've dealt with all these injuries and they're fine and they're four and one and now play a huge game this weekend against Tampa.

[Damanze]

Next our London game this week. Vikings defeating the Browns 21:17.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah that I watched this whole game. I also made just a as as square of a bet as one can make. I I the Browns were getting four before kickoff. At halftime I bet the Browns laying two and a half because I thought Carson Wentz was out for the game and then he wasn't and then the Vikings won and so that was a painful one. We don't need to Dylan, listen Dylan Gabriel was fine. Dylan Gabriel was not great. He was fine and he'll be the starter there for the foreseeable future.

[Damanze]

Next we got the Cowboys defeating the Jets 37 to 22.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah we said before the year that Dak was going to and the Cowboys were going to have to do their best Joe Burrow and the Bengals impersonation from last year and it's exactly what they're doing right around 500. They are actually exactly 5022 and 1 defense and and they and Dak is putting up an MVP caliber season. If we don't care about the team's record just like Joe did last year.

[Damanze]

Next we got the Saints defeating the giants 26 to 14.

[Nick Wright]

I I have no interest in discussing this game. I guess Rattler's been fine. Good for him for avoiding going 0 and 11 as a starter. That's a horrible loss for the Giants. And if you remember we said that that line was fishy that who in the world was betting the Saints laying points against the Giants team coming off that win. And the Saints control the whole game.

[Damanze]

Colts defeat the Raiders 40 to 6.

[Nick Wright]

All right, I might have been wrong about the Raiders. I just have to accept it. Geno's been brutal. The team's been awful and here's here is something else that I was saying Damanze that the Colts after two weeks they reminded me of last year's Saints. I want to amend that because I found a way better comp they are last year's Vikings. The team out of nowhere with the retread reserve quarterback yeah. That puts up these crazy numbers, gets off to a gaudy record in the regular season, and then gets clocked in their first playoff game.

[Dr. J]

Why are you putting that deal?

[Damanze]

You seen smoking his first playoff game?

[Nick Wright]

Well, I. Listen, it won't be the first of his career because he's. One playoff game, but. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. I think the AFC wild card. I think whatever the AFC wild card teams are to Maze are going to have a real good chance of beating the AFC south and AFC north division winners on the road in the playoffs. So. But, I mean, listen, the Colts, the Colts have played two legitimate teams and played them both to the wire. The Broncos, who they won, and the Rams, who they lost. And they've played three bad teams and just smoked them all. So credit to them.

[Damanze]

Next Panthers Defeat the dolphins, 27 to 24.

[Nick Wright]

Man, Mike McDaniel seems so sad.

[Damanze]

Yeah, I saw a presser that he did. It seemed like he said Nothing for like 30 seconds.

[Nick Wright]

I don't know, man.

[Damanze]

He's trying to get fired.

[Nick Wright]

I don't think he's trying to get fired, but he's. He. He's. He's on till and it's not great.

[Damanze]

Sad to see.

[Nick Wright]

And, and by the way, like, Bryce has some of the worst plays you've ever seen in your life. Yeah. And then late in these games, rallies a bit, but, like, that fumble was just unbelievable. All right, let's go to the next.

[Damanze]

Same thing with it. It was like the Jackson dart fumble. Titans defeat the Cardinals 22 to 21.

[Nick Wright]

I. I turned this game off and went full screen that Baker Seahawks. And I couldn't believe what. When I saw.

[Damanze]

That was the wildest touchdown I've ever seen in my life. I don't think I've ever seen a touchdown scored in that type of fashion.

[Nick Wright]

Well, I literally had the fumble and then that and then all of it. Also, Jonathan Gannon getting a bit of a pass for seemingly punching his a couple times. That was crazy. That was crazy. Also, let me say one other thing. I think he scored.

[Damanze]

I thought that one was really close, too.

[Nick Wright]

I thought it was way too close to overturn. It felt like they were. That they overturned it, like, on principle. Like, you shouldn't have been screwing around.

[Damanze]

Right. Making an example.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, I thought that was. Listen, obviously the guy made a big mistake, but I think he. I thought he scored.

[Damanze]

All right, Last Lions Defeat the Bengals, 37 to 24.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, Lions look excellent. The Bengals are cooked. The bank. I mean, the Bengals are just flat cooked. All right, let's get To a few listener questions.

[Damanze]

If waffle says Nick, Nick's hair will never be as nice as Trevor's and we're gonna throw away.

[Nick Wright]

Well, no, that's obviously true. That. I mean, that's. Listen, the guy's got, the guy's got glorious hair. There's no, there's no question. My hairs. I'm not going for it. Oh, the producers are trying to do a bit here graphically. They figured out how to do it. They're trying to put, they need me to like, I think rotate in my chair. Guys, we're gonna have to save this for another time. Let's go on to the Curtis question.

[Damanze]

Curtis asked if the Lions beat the Chiefs next week. Are they the super bowl favorites? I feel like it's Lions year due to the lack of any serious threats in the nfc.

[Nick Wright]

I. They might be the super bowl favorites already. But here's the thing. No, the Bills are still the favorites. The. I don't think right now the NFC looks harder than the AFC right now. It looks like. So here's the part if you're. Let me real quick. Josh and Patrick are going to make the playoffs and look around at the other quarterbacks and they are going to see old man Aaron Rodgers, Daniel Jones, Drake may maybe Bo Nix, my guy Trevor. Right. That's what they're going to be looking at in the nfc. It's going to be super bowl champion. Jalen Hurts playoff stud. Baker Mayfield, Matt Stafford, Jared Goff, who's been to a Super Bowl, Jaden Daniels, who's been to NFC champion. You know what I mean? It's. I, this has not been how it's been the last decade. But the projected quarterback field in the NFC is way deeper than the projected quarterback field in the afc.

[Damanze]

It's like new school in the afc. Younger guy or new. Yeah, new. New school. Afc older guys in fc.

[Nick Wright]

Right. Which is not how it's been. It's very interesting.

[Damanze]

All right, next Danny asks is Chris, is Chris Jones having a save my best effort for the playoff season or is he washed?

[Nick Wright]

He's definitely not washed. But he's got to play better. Listen, Chris has to play better and I'm not, you know, last week was special when he went to that funeral, flew back day of. And you know, played in that Ravens game. But. And he's getting double teamed or triple teamed every play. I get that. But he's got to play better and he's got to, you know, give better effort on the final plays. Like that's all fair. But I believe in Chris Jones, future first ballot hall of Famer. I believe in him. All right. Reminder Like Rate subscribe review to the pod, Shout out to our great sponsors Hard Rock, bet, Boost Mobile, Chad Bowers on Hulu and of course our friends at Zen. Thank you to Blue Duck and thank you to the volume. I will be on with Colin in about 45 minutes. I will see you there. Watch right.

[Dr. J]

I love that you created this system that revolves around you, creating pockets of people. Peace World Mental Health Day is around the corner and on my podcast just heal with Dr. J, I dive into what it really means to care for your mind, body and spirit. From breaking generational patterns to building emotional.

[Nick Wright]

Capacity, I'm going to walk away feeling like, yes, I'm going to continue my healing journey.

[Dr. J]

Listen to just heal with Dr. J from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Nick Wright]

This is an iHeart podcast.