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Nope, that's not it.

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Nick Wright (2:48)

Welcome in what Drive with nick. Right. Episode 405. As we are officially one week out from Christmas, this episode is always of what's Right with Nick Wright is presented to you by our friends at Boost Mobile. And I should have asked to find out whether or not I'm supposed to be Talking about this or not? And since I didn't ask, I'm just going to, you know, wink and nod and hint at something. But our friends at Boost Mobile, who have been amazing partners for 2025, I think they're going to be even better friends with us in 2026. Some really good news for the pod, and we greatly appreciate it. We greatly appreciate them and everything they've done for the pod and continue to do. And so the show, as always, is brought to you by Boost Mobile and today and Damante. Great to see you. How are you, pal?

Damani (3:44)

Good to see you, Pops. I'm doing amazing. I'm feeling good.

Nick Wright (3:47)

Listen, for the father of, you know, a newborn, I think newborn is the classification until we get to three months, I think. I think three months, infant. Yeah. And then around one becomes toddler. For father of a newborn, you seem like you're doing just fine. Yeah. So, yeah, chugging along. I. I got it. I got to say something and then I'll get back to the show. And I'm not going to reveal details on this, but there's sneaky, proud parenting moments, and I have a lot of them. I have a lot of proud parenting moments that aren't, like, sneaky, that it's just like, oh, that's when you're supposed to be proud.

Damani (4:28)

Yeah.

Nick Wright (4:29)

But the other day, Damanze hit me up because there had been. I'm just going to. I'll be as vague as possible, an issue with his bank account. And money wasn't missing, but money was not where it was supposed to be. And the fact that you were so. I don't want to say nonchalant, but that it was not like, man, if this money doesn't show up, like, I can't pay my car payment was really a great thing. That's. And that's like, really the building block for real. That's like a real starter 20s having enough of a buffer that if, you know, if Citibank or whomever screws something up, that it doesn't cause a catastrophe in your life is like a real. It's like a real moment.

Damani (5:27)

And it's a nice feeling. Nice feeling, absolutely.

Nick Wright (5:30)

And it wasn't an. It wasn't a, you know, a nothing sum of money. It was a real amount of money. But it was like, I mean, you know, I'm not. I'm not paycheck to paycheck, which, by the way, no judgment on that. For folks who are like, it's hard out there. I was. Shoot. I think I was paycheck to paycheck the whole time we lived in Houston. But that was really more of a spending issue than a money making issue. Regardless, so it was that. That was really cool. It made me very happy and I'm very happy. You're gonna get your first Christmas here in a week with your daughter. I was saying our friends at Boost Mobile, they not only sponsor the show, they sponsor our straight to voicemail segment which typically, and we can throw it up there typically are the stories that we're not going to spend much time on because we have too many other things to do today. Because I like at least two of these stories. And as a little hat tip to our friends at Boost Mobile, a little extra time on those. So the Knicks win the NBA cup, they won't hang a banner. I have two. I have three NBA cup takes. First one is this. It was nice to see someone could beat the Thunder. Shout out to the spurs for doing that and maybe giving, even if it's false hope, some hope to the rest of the league. My other spurs take is, and I guess I'm going to be a man on an island on this. It seems like me and the great writer Jay Caspian Kang are the only people that feel this way. But I don't need to be talked down to or lectures about ethical basketball or which teams have sophisticated offenses from a 20 year old French kid who's never won anything. And, and so like I, Wimby has shown more than flashes of greatness. He is, you know, bordering on just being a great player already, full stop. He obviously has seemingly limitless potential, but I'd love to see the guy, you know, accomplish literally anything before he's telling us about which teams have a sophisticated offense and which teams play ethical basketball. Well, he was asked about the Knicks and he was like, well, listen, they don't have, you know, the sophisticated offense like the Heat or the Thunder, but they play really hard and it was like a nice hat on the head.

Damani (8:01)

He's a savant.

Nick Wright (8:03)

And then he was asked about the Thunder, he was asked about the spurs and he talked about how they play an ethical brand of basketball and that it's the spurs way and he thinks tactically correct. Listen, call me a Neanderthal, I think a slightly more tactically correct thing for the spurs to do might be get Wimby the ball more so he can at 76 dunk on people a bit more. That's just my take. He also had some spicy takes about the best player in the league and whether or not it could be Jokic because the defensive end, like he said.

Damani (8:38)

Once I get back, it's me.

Nick Wright (8:40)

Yeah, a lot of talking.

Damani (8:43)

I mean the world loves him. Can you blame the guy? I mean it's probably. I don't want to say it's gotten to his head because I don't think Wimy's that type of guy. But it's like he's.

Nick Wright (8:50)

No, he is. He is espousing wisdom like the Shaolin monks he spent time with. The thing is those guys are 60 and so that's. All right. So that's first. That's first from straight to voicemail. Second one is Dolphins benching Tua Tongue of Iloa and here is. So obviously this is a move that had to be made. Obviously folks, the old Tua non folks and the folks that were really in no, actually do you guys remember some of the TUA arguments? It was stuff like no, you don't understand how he moves defenses with his eyes. There were so many now in retrospect ridiculous to it offenses folks were really convinced if he were right handed you'd respect him more. They showed us those flipped videos and they're like no. When in reality it was always that he was an undersized, not very strong armed player who tragically because of the injury history became totally immobile and that drastically limited his effectiveness. You then added to it that he might be the worst quarterback I've ever seen behind a podium at press conferences. And what you had was a $54 million a year albatross. And here would be. Here's where I think people haven't. Gotten there on what's next for Tua because Miami's going to have to either cut him and eat $99 million of a dead cap hit, they can Split that up 67 and 32 for next year and the year after or De mon, when he has a $54 million guaranteed salary next year they can trade him. But in order to trade him, in order to get someone to pay $54 million for a backup quarterback, you probably have to attach multiple second round picks like I and so I don't know if my I think Miami rather eat the dead cap hit than lose the draft capital. So if they're just. If no one's going to trade for him and they're just going to cut him, I think it's on the board that he's done and here's why I the quarterback reclamation projects for the most part damanze those guys had never been paid so they still had something to go. Chase Baker hadn't been paid. Gino obviously hadn't been paid. Don't. Darnold hadn't really been paid. And more Daniel Jones had been paid. But he also, you know, maybe correctly felt like I, you know, I, I just got hurt a bunch. I'm good. I just got hurt a bunch. Tua got paid top of market. So will he be interested in playing for $4 million you the win?

Damani (12:11)

Yeah, I mean if that's what it takes if he wants to play.

Nick Wright (12:14)

I don't but I, so that's the thing, I don't. When he's been paid like that and been a starter interested in making the least money you've ever made and there might even be an offset in it where he makes the same amount of money no matter what. Like if someone pays him 4 million, then the 54 million Miami owes him just drops to 50. So I'm not even sure if he makes an extra dollar. Be a backup. And here's the other thing for other teams there's a reason and for, you know, simplistic I'll use this example like Tyler Huntley is Lamar's backup because you usually want your backup quarterback to be a poor man's version of your starting quarterback. There's no starting quarterback in the league like to like he doesn't seamlessly step in. First of all he's left handed which does hurt him as far as being a backup. Pinnock is a lefty. Yeah, right Pinnocks is a lefty. But the, so the, the left handed thing already is going to work against him a bit as far as being a backup just in that the way your play action works, the way your runs were like everything is reversed. The other one is because of his size and the limitations on his mobility and all that, there is a very specific style of offense he must run that nobody else is really running. So like could he be the backup in San Francisco? Sure. Like that's where Mike McDaniel came from. Except for this part of it. The one trait you really need a backup quarter quarterbacks is durability.

Damani (14:00)

Yeah.

Nick Wright (14:00)

Because if you're like you, you nobody wants to go to third string, you have to go to third string. All of a sudden you're pulling Philip Rivers out of retirement. So I just, I don't know what's next for Tua, but I think this is, this is a tough one. And then the last thing from the straight to voicemail brought to you by our friends at Boost Mobile. I didn't tweet about this, but I appreciate the show putting it in there. Awful announcing, which last year gave First Things first their annual award for best debate show, gave me the award for best debate personality. And here's. Thank you to the people all for announcing. It's very nice. Here is what I will say. Do you want to say something to Monse? It looked like.

Damani (14:49)

No, I was going to say it's pretty freaking cool. I mean, I read through the thing. I thought it was, you know, it.

Nick Wright (14:54)

Was very nice write up. It was a very nice write up. And I, and I don't want to, I don't want to act like it. It's nothing. It's not nothing. I also don't. I also felt like tweeting it out would be. I'd look like a dork, like, hey, look at this thing. And so I didn't want to do that. But I, what I do want to say is this very. I have, I have been very honest with you guys and with anybody when they talk about like career goals and that when I got into this field, I had a very. It wasn't nebulous, but it wasn't. It was going to be very difficult to ever prove I achieved it, which was for there to be a moment in time where if you asked Family Feud style, and this is what I've always said, a hundred sports fans, who's the biggest sports talk guy in the country, that I get the most votes, you know, that I, I'm the plurality, if not the majority. I want to be very clear, not only have I not achieved that, it's undeniable that I have not achieved that. That question, if it was asked right now, Stephen A. Would win it and win it rightfully. But I do think maybe that if that were asked right now, I might come in second. I certainly would be one of the handful of people that would get, you know, that I'd show up on that board and that maybe that's shallow, maybe that's vapid, maybe that shouldn't matter, but it's a career goal and so awful. Announcing stamping me as you know, the best was very nice and it was touching and it was like, it was kind of the culmination of last week ended up being a pretty random but very cool week for me. Oh, I, you know, I, I mentioned it on Tuesday. I was on Bill's pod for the first time ever, which was a career goal. I had the little moment on Levitard show that people seemed to really like. And so all I started the week in a hospital bed on the show. So it was all really cool. So I appreciate that. So a fun kind of end of 2025 and you know the only thing that can make it better de Monte if people subscribe to our YouTube channel and subscribe to us on itunes and spot only thing we would great. It's the only thing we would greatly appreciate that. So thank you guys so very much. And then I might at some point in today's show or maybe it'll be better for next week. Oh, I'm glad I'm doing that as well. Next week's schedule, the next two weeks because we usually do shows on Thursday this year Christmas Day is Thursday and New Year's Day is of course a Thursday. So each of the next two weeks we're going to do our regular Tuesday show and then Wednesday we will drop our weekly gambling show. And so there will be two episodes a week instead of three episodes a week each of the next two weeks. But this week we have this show obviously and then tomorrow's gambling show. With all that said, let's get into one of the games of the year tonight in the NFL.

Damani (18:12)

Massive game tonight. Rams Seahawks with the one seat on the line. Rams are potentially playing without Devonte Adams. I think they should be playing without Devonte Adams. But with the stakes.

Nick Wright (18:22)

Pulled his hamstring three days ago. Exactly. Ask him to play on a Thursday. It'd be insane with the stakes being.

Damani (18:28)

Clear who would make a bigger statement in a win here.

Nick Wright (18:32)

So whoever wins this game will become the favorite in the NFC whether they should or not. They they because what it will mean for the one seed and if the Rams win it, Seattle is basically eliminated from anything but a wild card. And they obviously would get a wild card. If Seattle wins it. It's a little trickier because then they they'd have a split. The they would have the same divisional record and so we wouldn't know, you know what would happen except the Seattle would have the upper hand record wise. Here to me is the story of tonight's game. The story of tonight's game is Sam Darnold must play well because Seattle's a really good team. I think they have an excellent coach. I know they have an excellent defense. Jackson Smith and Jigba has been the best receiver in football all year long and Darnold to his credit has been for the majority of the season excellent like he he was excellent last year. He's been excellent this year. With that said, if Darnold plays poorly tonight, absolutely no one will believe in the Seahawks. And I wonder if even internally there will be some doubt because and it's not fair entirely. It's not entirely unfair, but it's also not entirely fair that for Darnold because Week 18 last year with the division on the line, you know all of that on the line for Minnesota. He played poorly and then had the disastrous playoff game. And then this year their first game against the Rams, which is who the playoff game was against, he threw four picks. People are just ready for him to go pumpkin. And if he plays poorly again, no one's going to believe in Seattle. But the flip side to that coin is this. If he tonight at home in a standalone window can bounce back and play not just fine, but really good, then you have to start looking at Seattle and saying hold on a second. They're in the driver's seat for the one seed they Darnold just kind of slayed the one team he has had so much struggle with in the Rams. That defense at home in the playoffs with that crowd is going to be a monster for teams to deal with in one of the only stadiums left that has a real home field advantage. And that defense has been since they lost to the Bucks. 3835 they allowed 12 to the Jags, 19 to the Texans, 14 to the Commanders, 22 to the Cardinals. But that's a misleading 22 because that game they were up 38 to 7 at half and so you know they were in coast mode the rest of the way, 24 to the Titans. But another game that's a little misleading because they were up 17 three at the half, zero to the Vikings, nine to the Falcons, 16 to the Colts and the one loss in that stretch they allowed 21 to the Rams in a game the defense was awesome to only allow 21 because Darnold was so bad with the four picks. So that to me demands a is the flashing red light story for tonight. Can Darnold play a high level game in a high leverage spot and really stamp Seattle as legitimate a list super bowl contender?

Damani (23:12)

It's the biggest question on the field, no doubt 100%.

Nick Wright (23:17)

So I know we got some follow ups here so go ahead.

Damani (23:19)

So we've got the gambling show tomorrow but in this game where would you lean with the line being Rams at Seahawks? Seahawks is 1 1/2 point favorites.

Nick Wright (23:27)

With all that said, I'd take the Rams because I don't trust Arnold. But like I the and no Devonte matters but the and the Rams had some travel issues which I I don't love especially on a short week. They had some issue with their plane but I would I wouldn't I'm not going to bet this game tonight. I I don't feel strong just going for the better quarterback here but that yeah and I do think the Rams are the better team. I think Seattle's excellent but I think the Rams are the best team all year. Keep going on this could do you.

Damani (24:02)

Think Stafford could lock up MVP before he even gets to the Sunday of week 15 or 16?

Nick Wright (24:07)

Sorry a monster Stafford game tonight in a win and I think MVP's his okay the I mean his numbers this year are stunning in the Overall I mean 37 touchdowns, five picks. He should hit 5,000 or 4,000 yards tonight. A 112 rating for a team that if they win to Monze is going to have the best record in the entire NFC by themselves. That to me I mean they came.

Damani (24:49)

In, they were saying the guy's shoulder is messed up.

Nick Wright (24:51)

Yeah, no, it's back.

Damani (24:53)

There's back. Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Wright (24:54)

Shoulder, but mostly his back.

Damani (24:56)

Yeah.

Nick Wright (24:56)

Huge win for the ammortal Chamber. Want to know where I bet on sports during the holiday season? It's Hard Rock Bet. Not just because it's the presenting sponsor of our show, but because they make it easy to bet on my favorite teams, players and leagues in just a few simple taps, especially with the brand new for you page that recommends picks based on my favorites and who I like to bet on. I open the app, go to my for you page, find a bet I like, and then, bam. My bets place. Just in time for me to get back to wrapping presents and enjoying my favorite Christmas movie. Sign up today and bet $5 on any game if it wins. You also score with $150 in bonus bets, a winning bet plus an extra $150 to bet with that is spreading holiday cheer. Plus, Hard Rock bet fills your stockings with new promos daily. So whenever you're listening is open the app and check out what you've got. Any day of the week, download the Hard Rock Bet app and make your first deposit today. 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, call 1-888- admit it in Indiana. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-9 with it gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee or Virginia.

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Nick Wright (30:03)

All right, Daman, let's get to Pat's Ravens.

Damani (30:06)

Yeah. So Lamar Jackson's missing practice. I think he's sick again. It's, it's that time of year. The Patriots are super relevant. Denver and Jacksonville are in the top teams of the afc. You tie that in with Kansas City and Cincinnati missing the playoffs. Is there a new class of the afc?

Nick Wright (30:24)

So I listen, I don't. I think this is a weird year. Yeah. And the in a lot of different ways because it's not just the Chiefs and we've talked to and, and every year there's big turnover but there's not typically this level of turnover year to year where the, the best teams in the NFL last year the teams and we've talked about this a bit. The, the 12 plus win teams last year. Detroit won 15. They're on the outside looking in on the playoffs. Kansas City 1:15. They're eliminated from the playoffs. Minnesota 100:14. They've been terrible. Baltimore 100:12. They're on the outside looking in on the playoffs. The Commanders won 12. They've had season from hell. The two 12 plus win teams that have maintained to some level is Philly, which I think it's fair to say is not the caliber of team they were last year and Buffalo which might be, you know, Buffalo surging at the end of the year. So that part is odd. I have talked a lot about how this year reminds me a lot of oh eight sadly in that that the Patriots coming off the undefeated season. Brady blows out his knee. They missed the playoffs. Peyton Manning the With the Colts they're a wild card team because the Tennessee Titans. God, I think that was the Kerry was that Kerry Collins. Tennessee Titans, they end up being the 1 seed overall. The. And it feels like there's a lot of upheaval which then led to one of the weirdest Super Bowls ever where the Steelers make it which isn't that weird. But they were pretty clear going into the season third choice if that in the AFC behind the Patriots and the Steel and the Colts with really the Ravens being right there in that conversation. And then in the NFC a nine win Arizona Cardinals team made it and that was that Super Bowl. So I say that because then the next year things kind of went back to normal. The Patriots won their division again. The Colts won 14 games and won their division again. The Steelers ended up missing the playoffs.

Damani (33:04)

The.

Nick Wright (33:04)

The. In the NFC it drew Brees and the Saints were dominant. The. So it was. Things got back to normal to a degree. So this is a weird year and there are now you do have to take more seriously the young gun quarterback led teams in the afc but I don't think it's a full blown changing of the guard. So that's first of all now let's talk about this game specifically. I. I'm gonna start with Lamar and I do not care if people think I'm a hater. I just don't. This is gonna sound bad. Whatever. Gotta grow up, man. Can't get sick every year and miss work. Just can't. What other quarterbacks to Monza. What other quarterback. Since we've been doing the show can you remember us talking about oh critical playoff push time and he's sick again. I can't. It's. It's every year.

Damani (34:22)

It's honestly year I'm thinking yeah, I'm thinking something else is going on. But. But yeah. I mean every year as soon as.

Nick Wright (34:31)

It gets cold outside, every year when it gets cold out, if you're a pro athlete, you just can't. It's every year the guy is sick and we could. You can't be like ah well what does it matter he plays on Sunday. Like missing practice this year has hurt him. He missed four weeks of practice with different injuries or four weeks of. In four weeks in a row he missed a practice. He didn't. Was. You know, then last week he missed a practice because of a rest day yesterday. Flu like symptoms like I. I'm sorry. Yeah. The. And I know that this is. This is me being an old man. And I understand. I say this walking into it knowing that Ravens and Lamar fans are going to clip this and see it and say, this guy, he's the only quarterback in the league that would get criticized for getting sick. And it's like, you know what? That's true. Because it's every year the guy got Covid a dozen times and then. And since then, every year has the seasonal flu, can't have it. So that's like the I know I'm right. I don't care if it sounds bad. I know I'm right. So that's first of all. Second of all, I'm not sure whether or not Lamar, healthy or not is back. I this past week was such a weird game because he's 8 of 12, but it's for 150 yards. But he threw one pick. But that wasn't really his fault. But he also took four sacks and four sacks when you throw 12 passes means sacked on a quarter of your drop backs. So that part's a little concerning. Also, Pittsburgh winning all these games these last couple games has really put the Ravens behind the eight ball. So none of that makes me feel good about Baltimore, which leads me to the Patriots. So go ahead and ask you me the Patriots question because these two tie into each other.

Damani (36:51)

Should Patriots fans be concerned if they drop a second game in a row?

Nick Wright (36:56)

Yes, because Baltimore's not that good. That's the I think that the Patriots were crushing these bad teams and the one knock on them was you haven't played anybody. And they're like, but we played the Bills and we beat them. And then you're up 21, nothing on the Bills and they walk you down and beat you. You then respond, respond to that by Sunday Night Football, national tv, a Ravens team that has been shaky. You lose that game, then to me I am putting you in the category of awesome season. Something to build on, not real contender. Does that. You seem like you think I'm being unfair.

Damani (37:44)

Yeah, I think the same thing with the Bills, how the Bills just came back and beat them just because I just think they're older guys. I think they're more experienced. Same thing with the Ravens. I think Patriot fans should be disappointed if they lose the Ravens. It's a the good squad. You've seen how Lamar Jackson can play and if Lamar Jackson comes back and he's good in this game, I think that it'd be pretty understandable.

Nick Wright (38:03)

But so here's the thing. Here's. Here's would be my counter to that. You're right. There's no shame in losing to Baltimore. It doesn't mean you're a bad team.

Damani (38:16)

Right.

Nick Wright (38:17)

But even your two playoff dress rehearsals, you play playoff caliber teams and you lose them both. Do I then think you're going to win three straight playoff games to make the Super Bowl? I don't.

Damani (38:33)

Yeah.

Nick Wright (38:34)

If the Patriots, you know, fall to one in three on the year against teams above.500, which is what it would be. That's.

Damani (38:48)

Well, because at first, because at first I felt like you were saying like all the Ravens are cheeks. Like, you know, if you, you can't. If you lose to them, that's a bad look.

Nick Wright (38:56)

It's. Listen, it's a bit of. It's not that the RA And I won't call them that. I was born in the 80s. It's not that I think the Ravens are terrible. It's that the Ravens we have seen over the course of the season. I think it's fair to say they're not a great team. You know what I mean? Like they're. Ravens are a high upside team, but we just haven't seen that upside. And even last week the defense was awesome last week.

Damani (39:29)

Yeah.

Nick Wright (39:29)

But they scored 17 offensive points against Cincinnati. Like that's not a game that afterwards you're like, man, we are rolling. And so I, I'm very interested to see it. This game will be featured in Nick's picks in tomorrow's show. All right. What. What other follow up you got before we move on?

Damani (39:50)

I mean, do you think that the Ravens are likely to get a head coach, a new head coach next year for Lamar, if they crap out this.

Nick Wright (39:57)

Season, if they miss the playoffs. I think Harbaugh's out.

Damani (40:00)

Right.

Nick Wright (40:01)

I just think that you can have you a new team doctor.

Damani (40:06)

Yeah. New team doctor as well.

Nick Wright (40:08)

Yeah, maybe. Or maybe have Lamar put a coat on. I don't know.

Damani (40:13)

Coat on.

Nick Wright (40:13)

He's.

Damani (40:14)

He's playing football outside. What do you mean?

Nick Wright (40:17)

No, I'm talking about. I don't. I have a theory as to why Lamar gets sick so often, but I'm not sharing it.

Damani (40:25)

You don't think he dresses appropriately for the weather?

Nick Wright (40:30)

I don't know. I. I have a theory, but I'm not the. I'm. This is. Okay, it's too hot of a take. I. So I'm saving it. Let's go. Speaking of cold weather, let's go to Green Bay, Chicago.

Damani (40:48)

So a few weeks ago, Caleb threw a game ending interception in Green Bay. He gets his chance to get revenge back on Green Bay. This weekend Jordan Love has look been looking pretty shaky. He's thrown three interceptions and he only has six this whole year. In the last two over the last.

Nick Wright (41:03)

Two games, two weeks.

Damani (41:04)

Yep. Which quarterback do you trust more at this point in the season?

Nick Wright (41:08)

Listen, I trust Jordan Love more and I don't think Jordan Love's all that trustworthy but I do think that he went the first dozen games of the year and only threw three picks so I'm not going to kill him for the last couple weeks like and you know one of them was an unbelievable play by Pat Surtan. Just an unbelievable play. Another one got popped up in the middle of the field. So I, I, I think Caleb has higher upside than Jordan Love. I think Caleb has showed you, you know that he is starting to put it together because the second half of that game against Green Bay he was awful in the first half and then in the second half of that game two weeks ago he was sensational and then he threw a game losing pick. So you know it's weird I like.

Damani (42:00)

Better over there in green in Chicago. It just seems like they're meshing mission more. What do you say?

Nick Wright (42:05)

And also I think that's the Ben and Caleb getting on the same page. They're winning the run game, rolling defense, forcing these turnovers and Green Bay Micah's down down for the year and it's just devastating.

Damani (42:22)

Yeah and is it surprising to you that they're favored in this game with Micah going down.

Nick Wright (42:29)

Vegas still really likes Green Bay and doesn't really like the Bears and I understand it to like the Bears. Caleb has not been steady enough this year to where you fully trust him in a big spot yet with that said finished the game against Green Bay as I mentioned playing great made the one mistake played awesome the whole game against Cleveland and I know Cleveland's weird because Cleveland's a bad team but the defense isn't bad and Caleb was excellent. If he then follows that up with a great game against the packers then you do feel like oh man he is peaking at the exact right time as we head into the postseason. And by the way the Bears. The Bears right now everything feels all good. You lose this game and things start to get very you start to get.

Damani (43:34)

Very like there's a ceiling on you.

Nick Wright (43:37)

Well it's not just ceiling. It is 10 and 4 going to become 10 and 7 and miss the playoffs. So here's why. I know that sounds crazy but demons A here's their again if they lose this game. Here's their next two. At the Niners, home for the Lions in week 18. Alliance team that fighting for their lives could.

Damani (44:08)

Right.

Nick Wright (44:08)

Well, definitely is going to be fighting for their lives. I mean. Well, let me rephrase it. The Lions best case scenario is they're fighting for their lives.

Damani (44:16)

Yeah.

Nick Wright (44:17)

In. But so the Lions have home Steelers this week, then at the Vikings on Christmas. Do we think the Lions are going to win those two games? They're favored in both of them. So that puts him at 10 and 6. The Lions annihilated the Bears earlier this year, 52 to 21. So if you're. If you're Chicago, you. If you lose this game, you run the very real possibility of running into the Lions when you're both 10 and 6 and the final playoff spot is on the line. And so that would be my. That would be my concern. And I'm trying to see what the playoff. Who do they think? Oh, it's the Packers. That's what it was. Because I was trying to see even if the. Because even if the Bears win, this game demands a. And you feel like, oh, then they're 11 and 4. They're golden. Yeah, but they play the Niners and then the Lions. If they were to lose both of those games and fall to 11 and 6, the Lions can get to 11 wins. The Niners would be at at least 11 wins. And those seem to have the tiebreakers over them.

Damani (45:53)

So.

Nick Wright (45:53)

So you feel like, oh, man, would they be in trouble there? But I think the answer to that question is, as I'm doing it kind of in real time right now, is if the team, if the Lions, you know, rally down the stretch, the team that would be at risk of being on the outside looking in would actually be Green Bay, and that would be a devastating spot. So like this, the NFC playoff picture is tight, really unsettled. As far as the nf, the three NFC north teams, all three of them could still in theory win the division. The lion shot of winning the division is very slim, but like, I think it's like 20% and all three of them could miss the playoffs. And so Packers, Bears becomes just one of the biggest games of the year. And it obviously shame Mike is not going to be there. And I'm very curious to see what Caleb looks like. Excuse me. In that game. All right, guys, I told you guys about this the other day, but on Sunday, Nick's Heat, my wife's store Trentage is having a little Trintage Christmas party for the employees. And we got tickets to that game through our friends at SeatGeek, sponsor of today's video. I am a longtime user of SeatGeek. When we went to Lakers who they play Lakers Mavs. The day after Thanksgiving, SeatGeek hooked us up. Whenever I go to the US Open, SeatGeek hooks us up and with over 35 million downloads, SeatGeek is the number one rated ticketing app. There are more than 70,000 events listed on SeatGeek, including concerts, sports festivals and more. And right now, sports out of control. NFL get into the stretch run College Football playoff starting this weekend, NBA of course back and you can even get World cup tickets on SeatGeek. You guys, I've shown it to you before. There's the app you pull up. So like Knicks games, how many tickets you need? Big green dots mean those are good deals. Little red dots means find a different ticket. Every ticket is backed by their buyer guarantee. And of course I've got a code for you guys you can use code write 10 for 10% off your next set of tickets at SeatGeek. That's 10% off any tickets with promo code right 10. Make sure you click the link in the description to download the app and have the code automatically added to your account so you can use it later. Thank you to our great friends at SeatGeek.

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Nick Wright (52:34)

A very magical holiday all right, Damanze, let's talk. A sneaky, huge game in the afc.

Damani (52:42)

Yeah. So my Jags have been humming. Offense is looking great, defense is holding up.

Nick Wright (52:47)

Yeah, he's gonna call them your Jacks.

Damani (52:49)

Solid team. Yeah, they're not. They're not my Jacks. They're not my Jacks. You're your Jags. They've been humming, but they got Denver this week, who obviously has that excellent defense. How high would your confidence be if Trevor came out of this game and dealt with that defense with a whim?

Nick Wright (53:03)

Well, here's the thing. It's not just that my confidence would be high. They win this game. They are super alive to Monze to be the 1 seed.

Damani (53:18)

Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Wright (53:20)

Their next two Colts, Titans. So let's just go ahead and ship them dubs those wins. Then all you need is for Denver to slip up one once in the final two weeks. Now, that's going to be hard to do because Denver faces what's less left of the Chiefs on Christmas and then the Chargers in a game the Chargers might not need. So in that regard that you. You know that it's unlikely that Denver falls, you know, loses one of those two games, but it's possible. The other thing for the Jags is this, and I do think for Trevor in particular, that matters. If they win this game, they have a great chance of not necessarily getting the buy, but being the 2 seed. So why does that matter? I don't think Trevor and this Jags offense, which all of a sudden is super potent, wants to go to New England or I guess in theory Buffalo in round two like they want it in Florida. Like that is where for this team, I think staying out of the cold as long as possible is a real benefit. And Denver, it just came off its best game of the year and Denver is playing its best football of the year. And I've talked about this enough, no one can say I'm running from it. I am staring in the face potentially being as wrong about Denver as I've been about any team going from where I was on them going into the year to the end of the year. You can say, you know, it's kind of Denver and the Raiders right now are. The Raiders, though. I was just stone wrong on.

Damani (55:22)

But.

Nick Wright (55:22)

But. And maybe the audience agrees with me on this. I don't know. I feel like a team that everyone expects to be bad, that you think can be good, and then they end up being bad is not as embarrassing a type of wrong as a team that a lot of people think can be really good. Everyone thinks will be kind of good and you're like, they're going to stink. And then that team ends up being awesome.

Damani (55:49)

That.

Nick Wright (55:50)

That's like the most embarrassing type of wrong. And that's what I'm staring at with Denver. I. But if the Jags go to Denver and win that game, you have to start opening up the possibility that don't know why.

Damani (56:08)

Coming out the AFC for the Super Bowl.

Nick Wright (56:10)

Yes. Yeah. That don't know why it took Trevor this long for it to click in for him. But post Thanksgiving, he's got 10 touchdowns, no picks, they're scoring 35 a game. He's been awesome. And they. Liam Cohen has just done an awesome job. And so. And Trevor, by the way, was not playing very well earlier in the year. They were winning earlier in the year despite him. And so this would be obviously just a massive, massive win. Now the flip side is this. They lose this game to Monze and it becomes on the board that the Texans run them down for the division. So like, that's the. That's the other. So this is a huge. We're talking about. Could the playoffs go through Jacksonville? Could they be the 2 seed? The flip side to all of that is if they lose this game, the Texans path to winning the division opens.

Damani (57:26)

Up quite a bit because they split one and one.

Nick Wright (57:29)

They did split and it's a bad split because the Jags beat them early and then when they played again, that was the game. The Jags were up 26 nothing entering the fourth quarter against Davis Mills and they lost that game.

Damani (57:46)

So, you know, that is heavily, heavily of note.

Nick Wright (57:51)

Yes. Oh yeah. That's a huge spot. I mean, it's just an absolutely huge spot that because had they just held on to that game to Monze, then they would be playing this weekend to be the 1 seed.

Damani (58:05)

Right.

Nick Wright (58:06)

They would be 11 and 3, Denver sitting at 12 and 2. And then you beat Denver and get the tiebreaker and basically lock up the one seed. So yeah, that loss is brutal for them. But aside from that game, the Jags have been what they. Here's what they've done since that game. They beat the Chargers by 29. A pretty lucky, ugly overtime win against Arizona annihilated the Titans, annihilated the Colts, annihilated the Jets. Now if you're looking at that, I mean, like, that's a lot of bad teams. Agreed. But early in the year, they beat Houston, they beat San Francisco, they beat Kansas City. They're. They have the best, if such A thing exists in the NFL. They have the best losses this year as far as who they played. They lost to Cincinnati in week two when Burrow was still there. They. But, but I guess Browning, you know, Burrow got hurt in that game. They lost to Seattle. They lost to the Rams. They lost to the Texans. So they don't have. They haven't lost to any awful Cincinnati.

Damani (59:22)

Yeah, Cincinnati.

Nick Wright (59:24)

But Cincinnati was with Burrow at least Burrow started that game for the most part. And they. So this is massive spot for them. And on the Broncos side of things, I mean, they've just been excellent all year. I just. I gotta call it like it is and they've just been excellent all year. Hey, guys, are you thinking about upgrading to the allnew 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, 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 Boost mobile.com to get started. Delivery available for select devices purchased at Boost Mobile. Terms do apply. All right, Damani, let's go to the listener questions because we're gonna get to these other. The other games we didn't talk about today in the gambling show. All right, let's get the listener questions.

Damani (60:34)

So the producers ask what happened. These are producers. What happen. What happens If Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua this weekend? What do you have to say?

Nick Wright (60:42)

So here's the thing right now, and maybe the producers can put in there what this is on Hard Rock at the moment last I saw it. It's like Jake Paul's like around 8 to 1, I think, and Josh was like minus 12. If this is a. Oh, hold on. And so Paul is. I mean, this is crazy. So Jake Paul's five and so it moved Jake Paul's five and a half to one and Anthony Joshua's only minus 800. I. I don't want to tell people to bet this because the fact that there is a line and the fact that it's not Joshua minus 40,000 makes me worried that this is a work and not a real boxing match. If this is a real boxing match, I would put every dollar I have available to me on Anthony Joshua -800. I would. I. If this is. If you were to, if, if someone were to con, like, tell me beyond a shadow of a doubt that this, there isn't this isn't, you know, just made for tv. There isn't something worked out behind the scenes that this fight is on the level. I, honest to God would feel comfortable. I, I would bet if I could get, if I could get the bet down, I would put $80,000 on Anthony Joshua and just take the free 10 and be annoyed I didn't put more down. Like I, I'm going to reach out, I'm going to tower boxing expert Nick Schulman because I've got to imagine like he, I, if he has bet this game, I could see, I bet this fight, I could see Nick putting considerably more down than what I just said. Like just all the cash he has access to if he thinks it's real. Like this feels like a once in a lifetime gambling opportunity.

Damani (63:19)

Yeah.

Nick Wright (63:20)

And I, more than likely 800. Right. And I said minus 800. It's a lot of juice, but that's still a 12 and a half percent return on your money. 12 and a half percent. People kill for that in the stock market over a year. Just get it in a night. With that said, I don't trust it. Yeah, I would trust it more if it was Joshua. Minus 50,000. Minus 800. I, I don't know man. That feels, that feels something feels weird. And so I, I, but, but if.

Damani (63:57)

It'S a real, maybe put a little taste on Paul. Plus 550.

Nick Wright (64:01)

No, see, no, no way.

Damani (64:03)

Okay.

Nick Wright (64:04)

No way. I'm not betting a fight that I can, I'm not making a bet that I can only win if it's rigged. I'm just, I'm just not doing that. Paladine says Duvall welcomes you on the wagon for the playoffs. Let's get the. You know what? Great take. Dusty's watching. I'm sure Dusty hubs. He says we should get the Prince or Liam Cohen on the show. Absolutely. Get him on the show.

Damani (64:30)

100%.

Nick Wright (64:32)

And Daytona's asked, does Herbert finally get a playoff win? I mean if they, if they draw the Steelers maybe against anyone else. I don't believe in them. Reminder everybody like rate subscribe review to the show. Gambling show coming up tomorrow. So check that out there. Huge thanks to Volume and the Blue Duck. And of course our wonderful sponsors, Hard Rock Bet, our friends at Boost, our friends at SeatGeek and the great people at Zen. See you guys tomorrow.

Commercial Voice (65:02)

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Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work it. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like EFTs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures what.

Nick Wright (66:44)

A matchup we got y'.

Damani (66:45)

All.

Nick Wright (66:45)

This is that classic HBCU vibe. Non stop action. The band is rocking and the crowd lit. Chance echo drum beatin everybody showing that school pride. A game like this. Yeah, yeah it calls for an ice cold Coca Cola. Ah, crisp and refreshing. That's a game changer right there. Yeah, that taste always hits the right note. Just like the band at halftime. And just like that we're back at it. Passionate fans, school colors everywhere and an ice cold Coca Cola. That's a winning combo. No matter the sport, no matter the yard. Everybody knows fan work is thirsty work. So grab a Coca Cola and keep that HBCU pride going. Only one movie answers the call. Hello, it's me, SpongeBob. For the biggest comedy event of the holiday season. Do you know what the best part is? What is it, Patrick? No, I'm asking. The SpongeBob movie rated PG Friday.

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