What's Wright - NFL Training Camp: Patrick Mahomes LOOKS GREAT, buying Bears hype? + NBA Schedule reaction

Summary

The Herd with Colin Cowherd: What's Wright - NFL Training Camp: Patrick Mahomes LOOKS GREAT, buying Bears hype? + NBA Schedule Reaction

Date: August 12, 2026
Hosted by: Nick Wright with Damonte (Damanze)

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Episode Overview

This episode, hosted by Nick Wright (with co-host Damonte), dives deep into three main themes:

• A lively reaction to the NBA’s just-released schedules for Opening Night and Christmas Day
• In-depth reporting and opinion on NFL Training Camp developments—especially Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs
• A critical look at the hype around the Chicago Bears and quarterback Caleb Williams Interwoven are debates about media narratives, player accountability, and what drives excitement (or skepticism) among top sports franchises.

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Key Discussion Points

I. NBA Schedule Reaction: Marquee Games, LeBron’s Reign, Surprise Inclusions (16:00–36:00)

Opening Night & Christmas Day Matchups

• Key games announced: Pistons@Celtics, Sixers@Knicks, Thunder@Spurs (Opening Night); Spurs@Knicks, Heat@Celtics, Sixers@Lakers, Thunder@Timberwolves, Nuggets@Warriors (Christmas Day).
• Five teams on both big days: Thunder, Spurs, Sixers, Knicks, Celtics.

Takeaways on the NBA's Programming Choices

• LeBron-centric scheduling:
  “Every single year the NBA tells us, yeah, it’s Braun. In fact, we can’t even do the schedule until LeBron signs. And then … we’re going to give his team the premier spot on Christmas Day.” – Nick Wright (17:20)
• Steph Curry and the Warriors: Despite being weaker, “the Warriors…they were never going to be left out. Steph Curry’s star power is real.” (19:00)
• Kevin Durant's absence: “Surprising to me… five games with no Durant.” (20:30)
• Team snubs and surprises: Noting the Pistons’ inclusion, “It is surprising…even that the Pistons got that slot over Cleveland or hell, over Houston…” (22:30)
  Damonte: “I’d rather see Detroit than Cleveland.” (22:42)

Broader Trends and Subtexts

• Emerging franchises:
  NBA seems to be betting on the Sixers, Spurs, and Knicks as the new power axis:
  “Their three biggest attractions…the Sixers, the Spurs and the Knicks. That’s the Medal Stand.” (25:54)
• Teams missing marquee slots:
  For the first time in years, no Lakers on Opening Night:
  “Bron signed there, Braun left, and the Lakers all of a sudden...sorry guys, we don’t have a spot for you.” (23:55)
• New NBA rivalries and curiosities:
  • Interest in Sixers/Celtics, Timberwolves/Thunder, Nuggets/Warriors, and matchups featuring former teammates turned rivals (especially with player moves).
  • Jalen Brown’s expected return to Boston and what the reception will be.

Notable Quotes

• “It’s very clear—the NBA universe still revolves around LeBron James, right or wrong, and they’re scheduling it accordingly.” – Nick Wright (18:30)
• “I also do think … they’re going to be more run-centric and I’m fine with that.” – Nick Wright, foreshadowing his Chiefs commentary but also echoing NBA’s shift to new storylines

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II. NFL Training Camp: Mahomes' Recovery and Chiefs Analysis (38:58–54:00)

Patrick Mahomes’ Health and Chiefs’ Prospects

• Mahomes’ recovery:
  “Patrick’s going to play as if he never got hurt … he’s going to have as fast of an ACL recovery as we’ve seen and that's what we're in the midst of seeing.” (39:25)
• Roster strengths/weaknesses:
  • Wide receiver uncertainty (“the entire wide receiver room is yeah, maybe…”)
  • Strong O-line and running game: “I believe they have right now the best offensive line Mahomes has had in four years, maybe five.” (44:48)
  • New faces with upside: Fifth-round rookie Cyrus Allen is “the breakout guy of camp” (42:30)
  • Defensive edge concerns but optimism for the secondary to gel over an easy early schedule (43:20–45:00)

Chiefs’ Schedule Prediction: Game-by-Game “Way Too Early”

(49:10–53:34; Nick and Damonte’s playful banter highlighted)

• Early prediction: Chiefs start strong, projected at 12–5 and a No. 2 seed in the AFC.
  • “12 and 5, which if Mahomes is healthy the whole year … the floor this year is 10 wins.” (54:09)
  • Damonte quips about “dumb losses” and upsets: “They might have a dumb loss in them, but 12 and 5.” (53:34)

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III. Around the League: Bills Stadium Vibes and Bears Hype (62:54–78:27)

Buffalo Bills’ Offseason Moves and Narrative

• Fans’ complaints: About new stadium sightlines, scoreboard (“too small”), jersey changes.
• Josh Allen scrutiny:
  Nick’s media criticism: “Josh Allen is more comfortable with Josh Allen taking accountability than so many people in the media are comfortable with Josh Allen taking accountability.” (63:50)
  • Allen’s playoff disappointments scrutinized with statistical detail.
  • “It is so difficult for many of my colleagues in the media to balance both of these objective truths. Josh Allen is one of the best players in the NFL… and he’s yet to get it done in the playoffs.” (66:00)
  • “I think he’s the second best player in the league and I think one day he likely gets through.” (72:53)

Chicago Bears: Buying the Hype?

• Caleb Williams’ development:

  • Recognizing regression likely on “lucky bounces” but “I believe he will [make another huge leap] … he is a superstar talent.” (75:33)
  • Needs to improve his short throws and completion percentage as a sophomore quarterback.
  • Discussion of his decision to lose 13 lbs—a topic of debate between Nick and Damonte. (78:15)

• Benchmarks for legitimate hype:

  • Is Bears’ year-one improvement real or just statistical noise? Nick expects some regression in close games/turnover luck, but sees Caleb’s improvement as a counterweight.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Seatbelt Rant:

  • Nick uses Bill Simmons’ confessed anti-seatbelt stance as a jumping off point on personal habits and media responsibilities.
  • “Bill, wear your seatbelt, bro… honest to God, it’s not much less reckless than if he just dropped, like, on the pod, yeah—first of every month, I do a little cocaine.” (10:27–11:58, tongue-in-cheek but pointed)

• Fantasy Football:
  Nick shares an anecdote about accidentally joining a higher-stakes fantasy league due to a drunken poker game.

  • “Smash cut to four days later… I’m in a WhatsApp group chat. I’ve now been sent the buy-in details. I would not consider it a mid-stakes league.” (54:57)

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Timestamps of Major Segments

| Segment | Start | |----------------------------------------------------------|---------| | NBA Schedule reaction and LeBron’s continued dominance | 16:00 | | Takeaways on NBA future stars and snubs | 25:51 | | Chiefs/NFL Training Camp, Mahomes health | 38:58 | | Projected Chiefs’ Win–Loss rundown | 49:14 | | Bills stadium and Allen debate | 62:54 | | Bears/Cowboys analysis, media narratives | 75:18 |

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Tone, Language, and Format

• Conversational, quick-witted, and opinionated, in Nick Wright’s characteristically analytical yet light-hearted style.
• Damonte balances as a playful “hype man,” pushing for more Celtics and Timberwolves air time while engaging in Chiefs banter.
• Candid media critique and self-deprecating humor permeate the show.

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Useful for Listeners Who Missed the Episode

This summary captures the episode’s wide-ranging yet focused approach to the NFL and NBA. Listeners get a clear breakdown of the logic and drama behind scheduling—how media narratives shape (and are shaped by) stars and teams in both leagues—and hear sharp, informed football analysis ahead of the season.

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Memorable Quote:
“It’s very clear—the NBA universe still revolves around LeBron James, right or wrong, and they’re scheduling it accordingly.”
— Nick Wright (18:30)

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Next up: Expect fill-in episodes with Ty Butler & Damon Bruce while Nick travels, and more preseason hype as football kicks off.

Transcript

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[Damonte]

Ooh.

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Or the McCrispy strips. Delicious. Which by the way, the crispy strips are even crispier now and that combination is perfect for McDonald's and for a drink. I'll probably have a nice cold sprite to go along with that perfectly and I will be a happy girl. Don't take my word for it. Try it out for yourself for a limited time while supplies last at participating McDonald's.

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Like what?

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You can keep your phone and your

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[Nick Wright]

Welcome in what driving the grid episode 489 this episode of what's Right with Nick Ride, as always, is presented to you by our dear friends at Boost Mobile. We also, for the first time in a while, get to welcome Back To Monze fresh from the final days of paternity leave. And you really did time this paternity leave perfectly as your final. Your first day back at work was also your newly nine month old daughter's first day trying out a little daycare with other little babies as that milestone was hit yesterday. Great to see you. How are you?

[Damonte]

Good to see you, Pops. I'm amazing. I'm amazing. Ready to talk some basketball. Football season's here, but yeah, I'm ready.

[Nick Wright]

Football. Yeah. So it is. This is kind of perfect timing as a few scheduling notes for you guys. So we're going to have the shows this week. Then I made a quick pivot instead of going dark for two weeks while I'm out of town before football gets going and I instead of reracking old episodes and we still might do some end of week like best of, you know, from the summer, maybe bring back a couple of the 50 greatest players the last 50 years. Have some of those episodes drop in your feed, Something like that. I kind of made it a bit of an executive decision and hit up Ty Butler and Damon Bruce. One guy on the east coast, one guy on the West coast, two great radio hosts, one from San Francisco, one from New York, who both have their own YouTube shows. And for the first time ever in the five years ish this show has run, we're going to have live episodes of what's right with Nick Wright that Nick Wright is not a part of. So we will have next week in your Feed and on YouTube and on Spotify and itunes, anywhere you get your podcast. As always, like, rate, subscribe, review. We will have live episodes, but I won't be on them. It'll be Ty Butler and Damon Bruce. So those will be coming your way at the end of August and then I will come back refreshed from Europe with my wife to get us rolling in football season. And the timing of today is also quite, well, quite good because we there are some football stories and we're ramping up as we're four weeks in a day away from opening kick. But the only real big stories this time of year are usually injury related to Laramie Tunsil went down in training camp or this, you know, Micah Parsons rehab. I'm not saying it's behind schedule, but he's targeting like week six to come back. They're kind of bummer stories usually. And so the NBA gave us a bit of a gift by announcing their opening night and Christmas Day games, which is where we will start the show. But before we do that straight to voicemail. Brought to you by Boost Mobile. Quinn. And Williams gets a very nice extension with the Cowboys. Three years, up to $106 million. Panthenia goes in Greece. The owner seems to really believe that he might be able to get Nikola Jokic next off season. With any other NBA superstar, I would say that is an impossibility. With Joker and the fact that he is yet to sign an extension. Daniel Earmuff's buddy. I'm not putting it at zero percent. I think it's.

[Damonte]

I think it is in his character

[Nick Wright]

too, on the board. Wow, Daniel. What an evolved take by Daniel. Daniel puts in the dock. As long as he doesn't change NBA teams. Dude deserves to be happy. He's given me everything. So Joker's like, you know what, America, it's been cool Deuces. I'm going to Greece to play basketball. Daniel's going to wish him well. Good for you, Daniel. I. I respect that. I appreciate that. Also, Ben Simmons allegedly eyeing a comeback and Bill Simmons. Listen, Bill Simmons is my friend. I consider him my friend. He. He did a podcast with my dear friend and co host Kevin Wilds where Bill just casually dropped the take that he's not a seat belt guy, that he just drives his car, waits for the car, the thing to stop beeping after a minute minute, and just doesn't wear a seatbelt. It was one of the more wild takes I've ever heard. Also just a total missed opportunity by KW on that demons. I don't. You might not get this reference, but that listeners will. KW should have just, just, absolutely just slid in there when Bill is just being like, yeah, I know it's bad, but I don't wear a seatbelt. All it was sitting right there for him for KW to be like, Khan didn't make you buckle up. It would have been great. It would. He really missed. He really missed the opportunity. So if I'll explain the joke now to people who aren't in the Bill Simmons lore. Bill Simmons did a podcast with Con Knippel, who is, you know, just finished his rookie season in the NBA and was a longtime Bill Simmons fan and is, you know, 19 years old. Bill's studio, like, my studio is at his house. And Bill and Bill, it was actually on. I was on the pod with him when he said kind of in passing, and then when I was driving Khan home, blah, blah, blah. And then people picked up on it. It's like, wait a minute, you drove him home? He didn't like send a car and, and, and so they asked him. Bill's like, yeah, I drove him home. He's 19 years old. I didn't want to put him in an Uber. It was very adorable. But so Wilds missed an easy joke there. But more importantly, Bill, you got to wear your seat belt, man. This isn't 1965. Like, you just got to wear your seat belt now. I, I, I, I. This podcast from Bill made me do some introspection on my own seatbelt wearing because I realized something that makes no sense whatsoever. I wear a seatbelt 100% of the time that I am driving. I wear a seatbelt 100% of the time that I am riding in the front seat. And my wife is driving, which is really only. Danielle's only driving. If I've been drinking, like, she's a passenger princess all the way. I wear a seat. But then I thought about it. I was like, but in Ubers, I'm at like 80%. And in taxis.

[Damonte]

Oh, 80% you are.

[Nick Wright]

I might be at like, yeah, 80%. I maybe 75, I don't know. And in taxis, I, I might be at like 25%, which makes no sense because those are like, they're far and away the most aggressive, reckless drivers of the cab drivers. And so I, you know, I'm using Bill Simmons pod as a turning point for me. I'm just going to be 100% seatbelt guy all the time, whether I'm driving or not. I already was while I was driving, but it was a wild take, hearing someone just be like, yeah, I don't. I was. And I even. And the producer saying, do you sit in the front of an Uber? No, I sit in the back seat of an Uber. But I'm saying that, that's what I'm saying. If I'm in the front seat of a car, driving or passenger, I always wear it. But for some. And I only ever sit in the back seat of ride shares or cabs. For some reason. It doesn't like, I don't know why. It's not like it's safer. I just don't think maybe it's because

[Damonte]

the seat belt noise isn't going off.

[Nick Wright]

I don't know. I don't know. I also did try to think of, like, the circumstances under which I was like, I, I suppose if you had like a classic convertible, like from the 60s, and we're driving down like an oceanfront highway, maybe you would, like, maybe under that specific picture in my brain, you want to just feel, like, totally unrestricted. But other than that, I feel like just Bill, for me, all, you know, longtime listeners and readers, friends, people that grew up watching you, listening to you. Wear your seat belt, bro. Like, and I. You know what? We can put this out on social, and I think it will get momentum. This is. I want to lead the charge of folks in media that Bill Simmons has done something for us, either by writing columns when we were in high school or college or. Or by paving the way in a lot of ways, because KW did not push back nearly enough. That was a moment. I would be. I, honest to God think it's. If we do the math on it, like, not much less reckless than if he just dropped, like, on the pod. Like, yeah, the first of every month, I do a little cocaine.

[Damonte]

Like, that's just my thing.

[Nick Wright]

That's my thing. Like, I. And I feel like had he said that, KW would have been like, whoa, don't do that. So, like, Bill, wear your seat belt, bro. You're driving a lot. You're in California. Wear your seatbelt. He's going to these clipper games and into it. Dome. That's a far.

[Damonte]

I was gonna say

[Nick Wright]

go ahead.

[Damonte]

The amount of driving. Does that matter?

[Angie Martinez]

No.

[Damonte]

If it's a short trip down the street to the grocery store, do you need to have a seatbelt on?

[Nick Wright]

Yeah. I mean, the thing is, like, it's.

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[Nick Wright]

I'm a gambler, right? And so there's a lot of. There's risk versus reward that we have to always incorporate. And I would say there is literally zero reward from not wearing your seatbelt. Just none. Like, there's just. You get the. That's why I tried to create the scenario. I'm like, all right, maybe you're in, like, a 1962 Stingray convertible, the winds in your hair, driving, like, maybe. But no, in general, guys, just driving an Escalade down the pch. Like, throw a throw seat. Just go ahead and buckle up, man. Let's go ahead and buckle up. You know what? Let's buckle up, guys. That's the. That's the lesson of today's show. Let's go ahead and buckle up.

[Angie Martinez]

Foodies unite. This is Andrew Martinez from IRL Podcast here. Here to tell you about something new and delicious from McDonald's. So they just released an all new Caesar sauce that is a creamy blend of rich parmesan, zesty lemon, and bold garlic flavors. The sauce on a chicken Caesar snack wrap.

[Damonte]

Ooh.

[Angie Martinez]

Or the McCrispy strips. Delicious. Which, by the way, the crispy strips are even crispier now. And that combination is perfect for McDonald's and for a drink. I'll probably have a nice cold Sprite to go along with that perfectly and I will be a happy girl. Don't take my word for it. Try it out for yourself for a limited time while supplies last at participating

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[Nick Wright]

All right, let's talk NBA opening night. Go ahead.

[Damonte]

So the full NBA schedule releases Thursday, but they've already announced some big days. So opening day we've got Pistons at Celtics, Sixers at Knicks, Thunders at Spurs. And then Christmas Day we've got spurs at Knicks, Heats at Celtics, Sixers at Lakers, Thunders at Timberwolves, Nuggets at Warriors. Which of these games are you eyeing or looking forward to?

[Nick Wright]

Well, so a massive takeaways all over the spot. First of all, I'm going to Jump right to. You know what, we'll get to the snubs later. Let's talk about the positives. Five teams got both marquee days. Thunder, Spurs, Sixers, Knicks, Celtics. Those are the five teams that are playing opening day and Christmas. The only, I guess, somewhat surprise there is the Celtics brand equity being that strong. I mean, again, like I said, I wouldn't think the Celtics would be left out. And the Celtics are one of the greatest franchises in the history, not just of the NBA, of sports. And they've got a superstar and Jason Tatum, and they're supposed to be good, really good.

[Angie Martinez]

But

[Nick Wright]

surprised me a little bit that the Celtics were, let me put it like this. Of the five teams that got double dips, the Celtics were the most surprising, even if it's not that surprising at all. So that, you know, that jumped out to me. The five other teams that got a single game were the Pistons more on them in a moment. The Heat, more on them as well than Timberwolves, Nuggets, Warriors. Okay, so in no particular order, my immediate first takeaway is we have a bunch for years face of the league conversations, and then every single year the NBA tells us, yeah, it's Braun. Yeah, it's just Braun. In fact, we can't even do the schedule until LeBron signs. And then when he does sign, we're going to give his team the premier spot on Christmas Day. The 3:00pm Chris, or 5:00pm What? The. The third game on Christmas. The mid. The, the marquee Christmas Day game. Hey, are we going to do rematch of the finals? No, we'll. We'll put that in the morning. All right, Are we going to do. What are other options here? We're going to. How about, how about LeBron with, you know, with his one game back in Los Angeles? How about. That's the marquee game.

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Okay.

[Nick Wright]

That's Christmas.

[Damonte]

All right.

[Nick Wright]

What about opening night? Opening night? What are we doing. Are we doing the rematch of the finals there? No, we're not going to do that there. Oh, okay. Are we going to do Jalen Brown, Jason Tatum, that. You know that? No, we'll find another spot for that. How about LeBron against the defending champs? How about the defending champs, when they get to open their. Drop their banner, LeBron's there. So sound good for everyone. Think people will watch. Good for ratings, good for business. Cool. What are we doing with Wimy? We'll put them on after. What about, what about, what about on Christmas Day? We'll put them on in the morning when people are still opening their presents. We gotta make like I again, I'm not even saying this is not an evaluation of whether or not this is what they should do. This is an evaluation of what they will do. And what they are telling you is the NBA universe still revolves around LeBron James, right or wrong. And they're scheduling it accordingly. So that's first takeaway. Second takeaway. Steph Curry's star power is real because of the 15 teams, not 15, 10 teams, pardon me, that have games opening day or Christmas. The worst team by a mile is Golden State. And they're, you know, they're there. They were never going to be left out like every other team listed. There should be somewhere from really good to excellent. And then there's the warriors in a game that nobody even thinks Jimmy Butler will be back for. And they are the final game on Christmas Day. So shout out to them on that to to step on that front. Couple other small takeaways. Surprising to me Daman that we're going to have a Christmas day and opening day by the way, but focus on Christmas for there's five games with no Durant. Like it's fair. I can't the I can't remember the last time Durant's I with the Suns. Maybe I don't think so though, because those teams were like and Durant's on a good team. The Rockets are Rockets are a good team. To have no Durant on Christmas Day is noteworthy to me. I'm not I and again, they're the the only I don't know that there were snubs. I'm sure the Cavs are a little annoyed and I bet the Rockets are a little annoyed, but that's really all that jumps out to me. Let me ask you. I am also sur I'm a little surprised that the Pistons got invited to the party even though it's the 3pm middle of the day, opening day game. That and maybe they didn't. It's a little surprising the Pistons are there. I would have thought maybe the Heat with Giannis would have gotten both, you know, opening day and Christmas day. But I guess if Heat at Celtics is Christmas, you're not going to have Celtics heat opening night. So that's where they mix in the Pistons. But it is surprising to me even that the Pistons got that slot over Cleveland or hell, over Houston like that is.

[Damonte]

I'd rather see Detroit than Cleveland.

[Nick Wright]

No, I the NBA clearly agrees with you. Like the the NBA clearly agrees with you. So here are my other, you know, general takeaways I do think for opening night, Sixers, Knicks, Thunder, spurs is awesome strategically by the league because for most people and by the Vegas odds, those are the projected conference finals. So an opportunity for the NBA season to start with those four teams basically, and end with those four teams. I like that. I also would be remiss if I didn't recognize who wasn't playing on opening day that we haven't mentioned. So to Monze, go ahead because you have a fun little fact here and stat here.

[Damonte]

So the Lakers have played on opening night every year since 2019. How do you think that they missed the cut this year?

[Nick Wright]

So what happened in 2019? This kind of goes back to my original point. Bron signed there, Braun left, and the Lakers all of a sudden, like, sorry guys, we don't have a spot for you. Like Lakers at Celtics is sitting right there for anybody that wants it instead of Pistons at Celtics. And you guys know how much I, the, oh yeah, LeBron got there in 2018, signed in 2018. Pardon me. You guys know how much I, how much I like Luca. But the fact that the, the, the Lakers have been supplanted in the Western Conference by the two small market juggernauts, Thunder, spurs, and that they just for the first time in eight years or seven years, they're not on opening night is I guess, somewhat noteworthy to me. Oh, well, listen, I, I think it is. I'm really interested in what Luca can do this year. I, they also, you know, they, they looked at the team that Luca took to the NBA Finals with Dallas a few years ago and said, how can we best remake that? And that's what they tried to do. I, you know, it's been, I spent a lot of time while you were on paternity leave talking about how I thought the Lakers could have handled the final year of LeBron better to where maybe he would have signed with them for the minimum rather than signing with the Sixers for the minimum. But that, that's water under the bridge at this point. But the, the league is making very, very clear to you through this schedule, at least in my eyes, that they view right now their three biggest attractions

[Damonte]

as

[Nick Wright]

the Sixers, the Spurs and the Knicks. That's the metal stand with also receiving votes being the Thunder and the Celtics. And they. I'm, I'm very, I'm in. I, I am very interested in how the Thunder, what the Thunders coverage is like and national TV games and all those things are like this year because they were never an overwhelmingly popular team outside of their own fan base to begin with. But when it's like, yeah, but they're the champs, they're the best, they're the juggernaut that, you know, gives you a cachet that gets removed a bit when you don't win the title again, when you don't make the finals again. And now it feels like the spurs having beaten them and being a team on the upswing while the Thunder, it feels like lost some, you know, semi valuable parts and some pieces are a team that is potentially at least not on the downswing, but just not quite as good as they were the last couple years. So that's interesting. And then, you know, the teams we haven't really discussed here, I mentioned the Heat that I thought maybe they could have gotten the double dip opening day and Christmas Ant Lamelo and the Timberwolves, they host the Thunder on Christmas night. And then Joker against Steph as the nightcap with two teams that I don't think either one really thinks they have a real shot at winning the championship despite having in Joker's case, maybe the best player in the world and in the warriors case with Steph, one of the greatest players ever. Before we get to these other questions, did you Damonte, did you have anything that jumped out to you or that or you want about your Celtics or anything about the opening few nights?

[Damonte]

No. I was surprised that they got added to both. To both of those days considering how the last couple years has went. But I am really looking forward to seeing how the Timberwolves look this year. I'm very high on them. But. But yeah. No, I mean.

[Nick Wright]

Oh yeah. Because you. So I mean that'll be that. Seeing Aunt LaMelo is going to be a show, that's for sure. Do we not have any details on the first six or Celtics games? That's the other thing that to me is interesting.

[Damonte]

Yeah. The fact that Jaylen Brown's going to be able to guard Jason Tatum all year over there.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, back and forth. Exactly. And so now listen, they're going to play each other four times. But if they it that is the other. So that you know what I just stumbled upon my other big takeaway that the league decided instead of having if they wanted to have Braun and the Sixers as the premier Christmas game, the the third Christmas game, the 5pm slot that they didn't make that six or Celtics that they in they they prioritized LeBron's one game back in LA over what could have been Jalen Brown's first game back in Boston.

[Damonte]

Yeah. I mean, like, Jalen Brown is all that is.

[Nick Wright]

Well, I mean, yeah, I mean, that's definitely true, but it is. But it also feels like there's more. I don't think. I don't think it's fair to call it bad blood between the Lakers and LeBron. It might not be great blood, but I don't think it's bad. Like it. What. You know, they didn't.

[Damonte]

You don't think that's pretty even. There hasn't been the Jalen Brown situation with the Celtics. What do you mean? And LeBron with the Lakers, like, just feeling like the team has not done well by you. You know, like, I feel like they both didn't have like, crazy bad.

[Nick Wright]

I think Jalen Brown feel. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I think Jaylen Brown feels done dirty and has, like. And there's been little, you know, semi public sniping between the sides. Lakers and LeBron and Luke and all that publicly has all been super positive. You know, thank you for a great run. We appreciate it there. He did they. He didn't get traded away. So, you know, it just. Even if below the surface there is, you know, carping about the other side. Two people. It's not as obvious as, I think the Celtics Jalen Brown thing. And I'm really interested. So that's the game that isn't listed here that I am most interested in seeing. Jalen Brown's first game, not against Boston necessarily, first game in Boston. Like, he obviously should get a standing ovation from the crowd. I imagine he will. But seeing him and Tatum go head to head, I think will be, you know, really fun and really interesting. And so, yeah, I think the, you know, shout out to the NBA also the. What are the other opening week games that we know about? Demons.

[Damonte]

A. So we got LeBron vs. Cleveland, Denver at OKC and Knicks at Celtics. Do you think that any of those should have made opening night?

[Nick Wright]

No, I think these are all exactly. You know, we've. Listen, we. LeBron's been playing against the Cavs without being on the Cavs for almost a decade now. So, like, we don't need that one. Denver at okc, I mean, that was. I mean, that is a good matchup and a good series. It historically has been a good series potentially. But no, so. Oh, you know what? The game that. So this one does jump out to me, now that I think about it. We have Thunder at Timberwolves and Nuggets at Warriors. Nuggets at Timberwolves. Seems like, you know, the. One of the prime rivalries right now. And you know, they played in the playoffs a bunch of times. So I think that one you maybe could have done Thunder against the warriors, but they probably wanted to give the Thunder up, make that more likely to be a good game. And they think the Timberwolves will be better than the warriors, but it does feel like Nuggets. Timberwolves is the more heated rivalry and we're not. I don't know when we're getting that. And oh, one other note, the only team with top 10 title odds to not be in one of these games is the Raptors. Now I think that's twofold. One is, I think it is because the way television ratings work, anytime you do a Canadian team, it kind of, it's not great for the rating because you get such a boost from the home market. But the home market when you do a Canadian team is not measured because it's not the US So I think that's a small piece of it. But the other piece of it is whatever's going on with Kawhi, I think that if they put the Raptors on opening night or if they featured the Raptors in any of this, Adam Silver would be accused of either putting his finger on the scale or tipping his hand like about what penalty is or isn't coming. So I think they felt it was easier just leave the Raptors out of it. Plus, again, like the, the Raptors aren't great for television ratings purely because they're a Canadian market. All right, I think we covered NBA opening night really well. I still, we've been on the show for a half hour. I think probably the best thing we did was the Bill Simmons seatbelt stuff. We'll see if we can top with our football discussion. But first, support for today's episode comes from Square. The system powering around half the places I go. If you've ever tapped to pay and thought, whoa, that was fast, fast, it was probably square. Whether you're selling lattes, cutting hair, running a packed game day spot, or managing a design studio, Square helps you run your business without running yourself into the ground. And right now listeners can get up to 200 off Square hardware. When you sign up at square.com go/, right? That's sq u a r e.com/geo/wrig h t visit Square to get started because the right tools make all the difference. There's just something about businesses that use square. They feel a little more put together. Quick checkout, easy receipts. Sometimes you can get loyalty points. People love that Square is the platform behind the scenes of so many businesses you already love and gives them one connected system to take payments, manage inventory, run payroll, send invoices, and track it all from one place. Square isn't just fast. It's smart, transparent and built for the way people actually run their businesses. No contracts, no hidden fees, no complicated installs. Just tools that accept every major payment method. Tap chip, Apple pay and online let you see sales and inventory in real time across every channel and help you access your earnings immediately with Square Banking. Want some real proof? Business Businesses using Square Online earn 36% more revenue on average. If you're starting a business or running one that deserves better tools, Square helps you sell, managing, grow without slowing down. Right now you can get up to $200 off square hardware at square.com go that's sq u a r e dot com go w r I g dash t run your business smarter with Square. Get started today.

[Angie Martinez]

Foodies Unite. This is Angie Martinez from IRL Podcast here to tell you about something new and delicious from McDonald's. So they just released an all new Caesar sauce that is a creamy blend of rich Parmesan, zesty lemon and bold garlic flavors. The sauce on a Chicken Caesar snack wrap.

[Damonte]

Ooh.

[Angie Martinez]

Or the McCrispy strips. Delicious. Which by the way the crispy strips are even crispier now and that combination is perfect for McDonald's. And for a drink. I'll probably have a nice cold sprite to go along with that perfectly and I will be a happy girl. Don't take my word for it. Try it out for yourself for a limited time. While supplies last at participating McDonald's this

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[Nick Wright]

Damonte, let's talk a little NFL Training

[Damonte]

Camp we are a couple weeks in the Chiefs training camp and seen some pretty good things. Patrick Mahomes is a full participant. Says that he sometimes forgets about his knee injury and just plays football. He seems to be connecting very well with Cyrus Allen, the rookie wide receiver. There's also been a couple fights out of training camp. Kenneth Walker shot a takedown apparently. So what's been catching your eye and Chief's training camp?

[Nick Wright]

All right, so a few things. One is, listen, Patrick's going to play as if he never got hurt.

[Angie Martinez]

And

[Nick Wright]

there is, I think, because Patrick doesn't have he doesn't have the speed of Lamar or the size of Josh Allen or just the obvious crazy athleticism that we see from certain NFL and NBA guys, people have underrated in their head what just a sick, raw athletic specimen he is because the dad bought or whatever. But this is a player who, his second year as a starter got his kneecap dislocated on the field and missed two games in a year. They went on to win their first Super Bowl. And then a player who in his fifth year as a starter suffered a brutal high ankle sprain during the first during his first playoff game, the divisional round that usually would keep guys out a month, he not only missed zero games, but in the AFC Championship game and in the super bowl, you could argue the two biggest plays of the game were Mahomes scrambles and it's a player who blew out his knee in December. And I I feel like I can say this. I don't think he'd be upset with me. By March was texting me videos of him working out and making throws on the practice field or on the training field, whatever it is. His the combination of the fact that he got the surgery the day after the injury, his insane work ethic and his wild natural athleticism is going to lend itself to as fast of an ACL recovery as we've seen and that's what we're in the midst of seeing. And so I my concerns for the Chiefs are not about Patrick. Now that is not to say the Chiefs doesn't the Chiefs do not have concerns. Obviously for the fourth consecutive year the entire wide receiver room is yeah, maybe, yeah, maybe Rasheed Rice can play himself into shape after having an offseason that was slightly derailed by having a knee cleanup procedure and then a couple days later being sent to jail for 30 days. That wasn't ideal. A first round pick in Xavier Worthy who got hurt the first game, one of the first plays of the first game last year and then this year in camp already re aggravated that shoulder a little bit. Again, I don't know, you know if it's the same shoulder reactivated a shoulder that's not ideal. This as Demanze said, the breakout guy of camp is fifth round rookie Cyrus Allen. Listen, maybe he's Puka Nakua. We'll see. There's, you know, there's a mid round wide receiver almost every year. They don't always turn into Puka, but that is a legitimate contributor immediately. Maybe that's him. The Chiefs think it can be him. The Ravens think it can be Jacoby Lane. Like, you know, the mid round wide receiver that looks great in training camp is not an unprecedented thing. Seeing that player turn into a real contributor as a rookie, that's a bit different. So the receiving room's a question mark. They spent the sixth overall pick and traded up to get Mansour Delane. He has been, you know, not in full contact ever since a shoulder blade injury back in OTAs. I'm not as worried about him as others. I think he'll be back in the next couple of weeks. He should be there for week one. But the secondary as a whole is new and will be a work in progress. What I think the Chiefs have going for them on that front as far as the secondary because it's young guys, it's guys who haven't played together is they don't play what I would consider to be a top flight quarterback until mid October. Their first five weeks of the season are Bo Nicks, Daniel Jones, Malik Willis and then whoever's starting for the Raiders at that point, Mendoza Cousins. Then they have a buy. The good quarterbacks on their schedule are after that and so I and again, Bo Nix has proven to be a gamer in his clutch and is beating the Chiefs, but I just don't think he's going to be whipping the ball all over the field so the secondary will have time to gel the question. The only other major question I have then I'll talk about the things I have confidence in is what is the pass rush going to look like. They did not address edge in the offseason much at all. They did draft our Mason Thomas so they hope he can be good there. They just signed Emmanuel Agba who's been in the league 10 years. He's a journeyman at this point. He did win a Super bowl with the Chiefs, but where they are hoping they are going to generate the pass rush is Chris Jones alongside him Peter woods, who 16 months ago people thought could be the number one overall pick of last year's draft after a pretty lackadaisical year at Clemson. He fell all the way to the end of round one. The Chiefs grabbed him and he has looked sensational, sensational in camp. So they hope they can get the pass rush there and then on the other side of the ball. Where my confidence for the Chiefs this year really comes from is I believe they have right now the best offensive line Mahomes has had in four years, maybe five. You add that to the fact that for the first time since Mahomes his first 10 games as a starter, they have a legitimate plus player at running back in Kenneth Walker. I think they are going to teams are going to have to respect the run, they're going to be able to stay ahead of the chains and they're not going to be asking Mahomes to do everything. The most important thing for any Patrick Mahomes team is having a solid offensive line and the second most important thing is having a defense that can get off the field on third down. We'll see if they have that defense if they have enough pass rush. I truly believe they have that offensive line and I think Mahomes is going to be a man on fire this year even if he doesn't have the receivers necessary to be able to put up crazy numbers. But we saw him win a league MVP with his number one receiver being Marquez Valdez, scantling number two being McCall or Juju, number three being McColl and number four being Justin Watson. So I wouldn't put it past him. But I think they're going to be more of a run centric team and I'm fine with that. And Then Eric B. And Ami, after the true family tragedy that he had a few weeks ago, is back with the team. And he makes a real difference with this team. So for all those reasons I am, plus the fact that I don't believe in the Chargers, and even though I have grown to begrudgingly respect what Sean Payton has built in Denver, I don't, I don't think Denver is going to repeat 14 wins. You know, I'm bullish for Kansas City, but you win six games, you miss the playoffs, you lose, obviously, the air of invincibility and you lose some of the bravado. You got to go back out and earn it again.

[Damonte]

You get a light schedule, too.

[Nick Wright]

Well, the schedule is light early and gets tough late.

[Damonte]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

So starting in week. So I'll just go through the schedule quickly here. I told you the first four weeks. Home, Denver, home, Indy at Miami, at Vegas, then the buy, then a tough three game stretch and then a little break. Home for the Chargers, at Seattle, at Denver, home for the jets, at Atlanta, home for Arizona. Okay, so that's their first 10 games and then the final seven games. At Buffalo, at the Rams, at the Bengals, home for New England, home for San Francisco, at the Chargers, home for the Raiders. Should we do a little win loss, Chiefs way too early. Win loss, go through the schedule. Yeah, you like that?

[Damonte]

Yeah, 100%.

[Nick Wright]

All right, I'll do. We can both do it and we'll see what record we come up with. All right. Home for Denver. Week one, Monday Night Football. Arrowhead on fire, Mahomes back, Chiefs. Remind Denver the division still goes through them. I'll take the chiefs there. They're one and oh, you're with me.

[Damonte]

No, 100%.

[Nick Wright]

Okay.

[Damonte]

One and oh.

[Nick Wright]

Week two against your guy, Daniel Jones. Home against the Colts. Sunday Night Football. We're two and oh, chalk it up.

[Damonte]

Yeah, two and oh.

[Nick Wright]

Week three at Miami, week four at Vegas. Holy. The Chiefs are four and oh, going into the buy. Okay, Week five, out of the buy home. Andy Reid off a buy against the Chargers. We're five and oh, I'll give him that. Weeks. That's week six, actually, not week five. Game, game. Game five, though. Five. Zero. Going into Seattle, Sunday Night Football, super bowl champs, first loss of the year. Yeah, we're five and one. We're five and one following Sunday afternoon with Jim Nance and maybe Tony Romo on the call in Denver after having beaten Denver in week one. We lose. We're five and two. We're five and two. Home for the Jets. Week nine Easy work at Atlanta. They're trailing in the fourth quarter. It looks stupid. Find a way to win. Get that win. Home for Arizona. Win through 10 games. We're 8 and 2. Short week in Buffalo. Thursday Night Football on Thanksgiving. That is a loss.

[Damonte]

Yeah, that is always a loss.

[Nick Wright]

That is an absolute lock stock loss.

[Damonte]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

Loss at Buffalo. The following Thursday at Los Angeles. That's the Rams. That's a loss too. That's a loss too. We're now. Yeah, we're eight and four. Little extra rest at Cincinnati. The Bengals at that point, who knows what their team looks like, who their coach is. That's a win. We haven't lost to Cincinnati since they claimed it was burrowhead. We're nine and four home New England, maybe with some seating on the line. Monday Night Football. That's a win.

[Damonte]

Take the chiefs there.

[Nick Wright]

We're 10 and 4. The home San Francisco. The Chiefs have not lost to the Niners in Mahomes career. It's also now it's late December. God knows how many players the substation is eaten by then. That's a win. They're 11 and 4. Week 17 at the Chargers. The Chiefs are 11 and 4. The Chargers probably need the game to keep their wild card hopes alive.

[Damonte]

Gritty win.

[Nick Wright]

The Chargers win. Oh, geez. Chiefs go to 11 and 5 and then the final game of the year against the Raiders at home. The Chiefs win. They're 12 and 5. 12 and 5, 4 and 2 in the division. They are undefeated at home. They are four and five. Or they have five. Yeah, I think four and five. Do they have. Is this the year they have the extra. Yeah, four and five on the road. 12 and five season. The two seed in the AFC.

[Damonte]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

Again, it's in pencil, not pen. That doesn't sound unreasonable, right? That's not like a crazy Chiefs homer. Take those.

[Damonte]

I could see them. I could see them winning one of those tough ones in there. Like that Chargers game there at the end. And sneaky like losing to the Raiders and the last.

[Nick Wright]

Absolutely right. I was going to say they could certainly. I don't have any shock, shocking wins and I don't have any stupid losses. Yeah, you know what I mean? Like they, they, they. They might have a dumb loss in them, but 12 and 5, which if

[Damonte]

Mahomes is healthy the whole year, what's the floor?

[Nick Wright]

Mahomes is healthy the whole year. The floor this year is 10 wins. I again, I get it. Last year they won six games. They. Even before Mahomes got hurt, they were in big trouble. I get that there was a. They went from, you know, the year before last. They were probably too lucky on those close games last year. They lost every single close game they played. They, they were beat up from the three straight super bowl trips like it was, it was too much. All right, there's a fantasy football question here to Monte that I do want to address real quick.

[Damonte]

So you're not a fantasy football guy, but would you draft, would you draft Josh Allen?

[Nick Wright]

I. Are they. Is this about Josh Allen or Cyrus Allen? I think this is Cyrus Allen.

[Damonte]

My bad.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, potentially. But here's. I've got some intriguing news. I, as you guys know, I'm known to play in a few high stakes poker games every now and again. Most of them I tell you guys about. Some of them I don't, because it's with, I don't know, it's with a group that I. No, it's not loan sharks. It's just, it's just, it's just, just people that, I don't know if they're, you know, publicly playing in these games always. I was in one of those games about a month ago and somebody at the game just casually was like, and again, I know this might surprise you guys a bit as well. Sometimes at these games people drink. So we have, you know, a few cocktails and one of the guys at the game's like, hey, Nick, you play fantasy football, don't you? And I'm like, well, not, you know, believe it or not, not really. I bet the games I root for the Chiefs. Like it's, I haven't played in a while. And he's like, he's like, oh, well, we have like a high stakes league, but we also have like a more fun, you know, mid stakes league. Somebody dropped out. You want in? And I just kind of in passing, I was like, sure, yeah, no problem. Smash cut to four days later. I vaguely remember the conversation. I'm in a WhatsApp group chat. I'm. I've now been sent the buy in details. I don't know what their high stakes league is, but what they're considering a mid stakes league, I would not consider a mid stakes league. And I'm. And I'm in. They've already run the draft order and so I'm going to, for the first time in a decade, have to study up on fantasy. I'm going to, I'm not going to talk about it on the pod because I don't think it's good. Content. Content. Yeah. Blue Duck brain trust is here. I Don't know what the man. So I, so I am going to be. I have to be in on fantasy, at least to a degree this year, so keep that in mind. Speaking of fantasy stuff, by the way, just a little note because Damanti doesn't know this because he wasn't here. I'm back on Cameo and the number one thing people are requesting on Cameo is for, like, me to announce their draft order. I also was so bad on Cameo when I signed up for eight years ago that the platform only allows, like, I can only have three requests in the queue before they turn me off like before because they're worried I'm going to disappoint people the way I did last time. Because last time I. Yeah, well, last time I signed up for it. And like, the second person who asked for a cameo was a young lady who's like, my boyfriend's in like a high school or college student and he wants to do what you do. Can you send him some inspiration? And it was so. No, it's going the other way that you think. I just, I just messaged the lady back. I'm like, just give me the kid's number. And instead of doing a 45 second cameo, I did a 45 minute phone call with him. And I was like this, I don't, I don't have the bandwidth for this. I. But I forgot to deactivate. So then requests just kept, you know, coming in over the years and I never responded to them. So but I'm back on there.

[Damonte]

The.

[Nick Wright]

Announcing the fancy football drafts is a big thing. I also do think that I'm at. Let me just look real quick. I'm opening it up. Oh, all right. Yeah, we're, we're. I have three open requests and one of them expires tomorrow. So I need to get, I need

[Damonte]

to do one right now and do,

[Nick Wright]

I'll do one right now. Do you think they would like that? I don't know. Some of these are private. I. Let me just see what this is.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

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[Nick Wright]

No, the, the customers request, don't share them publicly. I'm not gonna. Oh, wait, hold on a second. No, I'm gonna do the, I'm gonna do them on the air. I, I, that kind of ruined. Then, then the person might be like, why'd I even pay for it? I could have just gotten it right. But people, the, the big thing on there is like, announcing fantasy draft orders. That's why I was thinking of it. All right, before we get to the bills, Boost Mobile is proving that you don't have to overpay for great wireless unlock the savings with 25amonth Forever Unlimited plan. It's a permanent price with no contracts and no price hikes. You can keep your phone and your number, but you save up to $600 a year compared to the major carriers. Stop overpaying and switch to a fair price@boost mobile.com today based on average annual single line payment of AT&T Verizon and T Mobile customers compared to 12 months on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan as of January 2026. For full offer details, visit boost mobile.com

[Angie Martinez]

Foodies Unite this is Andrew Martinez from IRL podcast here to tell you about something new and delicious from McDonald's. So they just released an all new Caesar sauce that is a creamy blend of rich Parmesan, zesty lemon and bold garlic flavors. The sauce on a Chicken Caesar snack wrap.

[Damonte]

Ooh.

[Angie Martinez]

Or the McCrispy strips. Delicious. Which by the way the crispy strips are even crispier now and that combination is perfect for McDonald's and for a drink. I'll probably have a nice cold sprite to go along with that perfectly and I will be a happy girl. Don't take my word for it. Try it out for yourself for a limited time while supplies last at participating

[T-Mobile Promo Voice]

McDonald's this summer there are 250 reasons to join T Mobile Girls.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

Trip booked and switching to T Mobile help make it happen with experience beyond

[T-Mobile Promo Voice]

switch and get $100 back plus $650 in value in built in plan benefits. That's $750 in your first year guaranteed.

[T-Mobile Advertiser]

And honestly that hundred dollars back? I'm putting it towards the zipline now.

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savings based on the value of benefits included with experience beyond like entertainment and one year of AAA Classic and DashPass on us. Benefits may require activation. C Plan for details get $100 via virtual prepaid MasterCard with eligible ported, no cash access and expires in six months. Issued by Sunrise Banks and any member FDIC. Allow eight weeks.

[ChatGPT Advertiser]

ChatGPT can do more than answer questions. It can help you get real work done. ChatGPT work is built for bigger projects with multiple steps. You bring the goal along with the information it needs like briefs, notes, files, feedback, calendars, data sets or project plans. Then ChatGPT can help turn all of that into something useful. An analysis, a tracker, a deck outline, a prototype or a workflow you can keep shaping. It can also use approved apps, connected tools, files, and browser context to help move the work forward. And you stay in control. You give direction, review drafts, approve actions, redirect the work, and choose the final output so you spend less time sorting through busy work and more time making progress on the work that matters. Put ChatGPT to work on your most ambitious ideas and projects. Get started at ChatGPT by selecting work mode available on plus and Pro plans.

[Nick Wright]

All right, Demonte, let's talk bills.

[Damonte]

So the Bills opened their new stadium and got new jerseys and it seems that the fans are not fans saying that the scoreboard is too small and the view is obstructed. Josh Allen also threw four picks in front of all the fans at training camp. Are the, are the vibes already off to a bad start in Buffalo?

[Nick Wright]

No, I think, listen, I think the new stadium's fine. I, you know, I think the huge video boards can be overrated at times. And now granted, I've never been to Jerry World, so I've never seen the inverse of that of what like the huge video board is. But it's a Western New York stadium. Also, on the obstructed views thing, sometimes they don't actually even though there's a seat there, sometimes the teams don't actually sell that seat.

[Damonte]

I saw that.

[Nick Wright]

So I do before I kill them for it. Like I'm not sure if that's like a seat people actually are buying. I can't imagine that you're going to charge, you know, a PSL and the season ticket price for an obstructed view seat. But people are also, some people are complaining about the, you know, that it's not that covered. Listen, they wanted an open air stadium and they should, they're in Buffalo. That should be a part of their home field advantage is that they are used to playing in the elements and other teams aren't. So I will support them on that. It's. You guys know how I feel about the Chiefs are no longer going to be in an open air stadium. And so that part to me is, I don't want to say a non story, but I actually think it is a story and I think it's good that it's an open air stadium. I, I'm not as much of a jersey zealot as other people are. I don't get super excited about alternate jerseys or the color rush jerseys or so I didn't actually have as big of a problem as some people did with these Bill's gray uniforms. But I'm also not really a Jersey guy. My and I talked about this on the TV show yesterday, so I don't have to spend a ton of time on it here. But Josh Allen, when he says, you know, he still hasn't fully gotten over basically his role in McDermott being fired, once again was evidence that Josh Allen is more comfortable with Josh Allen taking accountability than so many people in the media are comfortable with Josh Allen taking accountability. It is so difficult for many of my colleagues in the media to balance both of these objective truths. Josh Allen is one of the best players in the NFL right now. Josh Allen at his best, at his best is about as dangerous and about as good as any quarterback who's ever played. Josh Allen is building, not has built, but is building a Hall of Fame resume. Josh Allen will likely, likely one day get to and win a Super bowl balancing all of those objective truths with this objective truth. Every single playoff loss he's had since the 13 seconds game, he played beneath his standard. And every single one of those playoff losses, he had ample opportunity. And many people thought going into those games a better team than his opponent and he was not good enough. Both of those facts are true. 13 seconds game, he played close to perfect football. It was just a bummer for him that the quarterback on the other side actually did play perfect football. Or you can say they both played perfect football and somebody had to lose. Just got unlucky. Fine. The next year he was a home favorite in the snow against Joe Burrow in the Bengals and they got blown out and he didn't play well. The next year he was a home favorite against what was supposed to be the weakest, most vulnerable Chiefs team of any, you know, of the Mahomes era. Got the ball back down three points in a game that he did not light up the stat sheet prior to it, but that's okay. Have an opportunity to go ball in your hands. End Patrick Mahomes in the Chiefs or beat them in a game where Again, he had 180 yards passing in an 86 passer rating. Gets the Bills, you know, right around decent field goal range, not in the end zone. Doesn't put a stake in the Chief's heart, even if they had. If Bass had made that field goal for the record, what would have happened in that spot? Would have been Patrick would have gotten the ball back with a minute 40 left in a tie game. But he misses the kick and they lose the next year. And that's in his building the next year in A game that he actually played pretty well in to his credit, once again have the ball in his hands. Three and a half minutes left down, three points, field goal forces overtime, touchdown wins it, they get 17 total yards and they lose. And then last year after having three turnovers in regulation to go along with one of the worst turnovers anyone's ever seen, at the end of the first half, your defense in overtime gets a stop ball in your hand, go get three points and win. And he throws a pick and they lose the game. First, fourth turnover of the game. So yes, it's true, the defenses could have been better in these playoff losses. It is also true that Aside from the 13 seconds game, Josh Allen's in his playoff losses since the 13 second game. I should say Josh has a passer rating in his four playoff losses of 85. In one of the games he was at home, they scored 10 points and got blown out. In the next game he was at home with the ball in his hands for a chance to go keep Mahomes off the field, win the game. They got zero points. The next game he had the ball in his hands with a chance to send Mahomes home, he got zero points. And the next game he had the ball in his hands in Denver with a chance to move on to the AFC championship game, he got zero points. So all of those things can be true. Josh is way more comfortable accepting that the latter is true along with the former. The media as a whole is not. And I get a little vexed at the, the, some of the commentary where they take Josh's overall playoff numbers, which are exceptional and conflate them with the fact that he is 6 and 1 with 16 touchdowns and two picks with a 114 passer rating in the wild card round and 2 and 6 with a 90 passer rating in the divisional and conference championship round. And again, one of those games he was, was the 13 second game where he was out of this world. So I, I think he's second best player in the league and I think one day he likely gets through. But some of the stuff, and this is where a lot of the Josh Allen criticism is actually a media criticism. It has to do with like, and I had a long back and forth with Bill about this over the weekend with like, Bill Barnwell saying he, that if the all decade team were released today, he'd be the quarterback on the all decade team. What, What

[Angie Martinez]

like?

[Nick Wright]

I, I think he has a very strong argument. I think he has a strong argument that he would be second team all

[Damonte]

Decade, but you take the achievements out. I think it's the physicals. If you, if you take out like, all right, he hasn't won a Super bowl, his playoff success hasn't been great, but he is.

[Nick Wright]

No, but it's just. But that's not what all decade is. But, but I mean the thing is like again, if I were doing an all decade quarterback, an all decade team right now, Mahomes is obviously the all decade quarterback. And then second team because they have first team, second team. There's an argument, in fact, I would argue Josh over Lamar for the second team. I would. But there is certainly a strong argument for Lamar for second team. And some could argue if there were a third team, there's an argument for Stafford there or Stafford for second team. Lamar there is. It is easier, far easier to make the argument that Josh Allen of the 2000s has been the fourth best quarterback than the best again, I think he's been the second best probably. But the, for the all decade thing again, Mahomes doesn't even get his first MVP or his first super bowl or his first time beating Josh in the playoffs, but just in the 2000s. Mahomes has one MVP, four trips to the Super bowl, two Super bowl wins, two Super Bowl MVPs, one First Team All Pro. Stafford has one MVP, one First Team All Pro, one trip to the Super bowl, no Super Bowl MVPs. Lamar has one MVP, two First Team All Pros, no trips to the Super Bowl. Josh has one mvp, zero first team all pros, zero trips to the super bowl, just very hard to like. And his, he doesn't have far like of the decade. Lamar actually has the best passing stats, believe it or not. So I just, I don't, some of that stuff I just don't totally follow. To be honest. I don't understand the logic for some people on it. All right, let's do Caleb and the Bears for a moment.

[Damonte]

Caleb and Ben are entering year two coming off a very promising year, but you could say that that took some lucky bounces for them to get there. Do you think that Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson are legit or is that, or is there luck involved?

[Nick Wright]

Well, listen, there's a lot of, you know, the reasons people thought Daman the Commanders might regress last year because of the way they won games in year one. Certainly can apply to the Bears where there were so many games, including their playoff win against the packers where they just pulled it out of the fire or Caleb made some magic and then you saw the Commanders, they did regress. Now part of that was the commanders dealt with brutal injury stuff with Jaden only playing seven games and an older team got hurt. Excuse me, Sorry. So I do think that the Bears won't be quite as good at the end of games and I do think that the defense won't force quite as many turnovers. I totally anticipate that to be offset by the fact that I think Caleb is going to make another huge leap. Like when you saw Caleb go from being one of the most sacked players in history to being one of, you know, having lack of sacks be one of the better spots on his resume from last year. That level of improvement after year one of Ben Johnson, it just feels to me like, okay, what does he need to. What's his biggest thing he needs to improve on now? Not missing the layups, you know, improving his completion percentage from. It was 62 as a rookie. It was 58 last year. Getting that up to 63, 64, which is a tenable number. That's the number one thing he's got to work on. I just believe, I believe he will. I think he is a superstar talent. I think he now has a head coach who could be elite and I think that the Bears, I think that improvement will be enough to offset the obvious regression that's coming on the turnover side and the end of game stuff. But I also think some of that end of game stuff demons A is the guy is dynamic, clutch and a playmaker. Like he's going to be better in two minute and end of game situations than just your average good quarterback because of his athleticism and escapability and creativity. He just needs to be in fewer of those situations by playing better. Earlier in the games he lost £13. He did?

[Damonte]

Yeah. Colin actually reported that he lost some. He lost some weight. Do you think that's good or bad for him? I think it's great for him. I don't see him getting injured. He's that much faster. But that is a lot of weight.

[Nick Wright]

I gotta see how he looks. £13 is a lot. But we've seen, remember Lamar weight fluctuated. Like he lost weight intentionally one year, then gained it back. Yeah, I don't, I didn't. £13, a lot of weight to lose. I didn't think like I, I don't mind my quarterbacks having a little extra. I will, yeah, I mean I will trade a fraction of a second of speed for more durability. Now maybe, you know, the. Losing the weight can make you more durable in a different way. But I don't always look at NFL guys losing weight as a good thing. And so I, that I. That was. I didn't see that in the rundown. I hadn't seen that news. So that actually was noteworthy to me, so to speak. All right, I think. I think that covers it for today. I've got to go do Colin. You've got to go do Colin. We've got work to do again, few scheduling notes. We'll be back on Thursday as always. And then the next couple weeks when Daman and I are off, Ty Butler and Damon Bruce are going to be in hosting live shows. So the Blue Duck and the Volume team are going to be taking care of you guys. Um, they're going to do great. I have no idea what they're going to talk about. The only pointer I gave them was that pointing out things they think I'm dead wrong about is always good content. So I would imagine if you've been waiting for some real chief skepticism on the show, you know those. The last couple of weeks of August should be good. Subscribe to the channel. Helps us out on itunes and Spotify. Damanze, you look great. It's great to have you back. Enjoy the everybody enjoy the rest of their day. I'll see you guys on Colin in a little over an hour. Thank you to boost. Thank you to square. Thank you to volume. Thank you to Blue Duck. Talk to you guys soon. What's right?

[Angie Martinez]

Foodies unite. This is Andrew Martinez from IRL podcast here to tell you about something new and delicious from McDonald's. So they just released an all new stuff Caesar sauce that is a creamy blend of rich parmesan, zesty lemon and bold garlic flavors. The sauce on a chicken Caesar snack wrap.

[Damonte]

Ooh.

[Angie Martinez]

Or the McCrispy strips. Delicious. Which, by the way, the crispy strips are even crispier now. And that combination is perfect from McDonald's. And for a drink, I'll probably have a nice cold sprite to go along with that perfectly. And I will be a happy girl. Don't take my word for it. Try it out for yourself for a limited time while supplies last at participating McDonald's.

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[Nick Wright]

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[Damonte]

How? With T Mobile, of course.

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[Nick Wright]

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[Damonte]

We did.

[Nick Wright]

They're so pretty.

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