Ravens’ season is ‘over’ if they lose to Vikings, Luka dominates, Patriots or Bucs contenders? | FTF

Ravens’ season is ‘over’ if they lose to Vikings, Luka dominates, Patriots or Bucs contenders? | FTF

Live from New York. It’s a tt’s not wearing dockers, OK. First of all, there’s nothing wrong with Dockers, but I’m not wearing docs. Well, I mean, listen, casual, you, I mean, you’re, you’re sure, but you’re certainly not wearing suit pants like the rest of us adults. He always looks good. He’s wildly handsome, and our wardrobe department does a great job, but for some reason, Wild especially requests non-shiny pants. Yeah, I don’t like them. I’m just also, the news today. Uh, Chris Broussard not here on a family reunion in New Orleans, so shout out to, but he’s back tomorrow. But he’s back tomorrow. Yes, quick, uh, so Greg and Danny in for the whole 3 hours. Wow, buckle up. It’s like the Titanic. It’s a full movie, yeah, with Titanic maybe we wouldn’t have gone just no, as far as commercial success. Oh, OK, great, but we should be fine. Uh, we start with Luke out playing Wendy. Lakers win their fifth in a row. Luca dropped 35, 9, 13, had 5 steals all of a sudden. Mr. Defense. Uh, get the win over the Spurs. Wemby only had 19. He fouled out, kind of lame. Also 5-0 against him in head to head matchups. Uh, last night, Wemy had 19, Luca 35. Kind of Luca owned the night. What was your number one takeaway from this game N? Luca is in the process of reminding every single person associated with the NBA who the hell he is. He is the guy. That by year 6 had more first-team all NBAs than Steph Curry has had in his career. He is the guy that today, if you go to basketball reference and check, hey, playoff points per game leaders, it reads Michael Jordan 1, Luke Adoncic 2. He is the guy who at 25 years old, averaged. Average for the season, 34, 9 and 9 while leading a team no one thought would be in the finals all the way to the finals. He is a guy who from the moment he came into the league, has profiled as someone that, is that going to be one of the five greatest offensive players in the history of the sport. And right now, he, and because of that, His team has a chance to win a championship. Every year, you have a historically great player in his prime and you just have a competent roster around him and credit to Palinka because right now the roster looks more than competent. You’re in the mix. And so that to me is what the story of last night and the 5 games Lucas played this season is that he’s reminding everyone who he is. So, so to me, I didn’t fully ever agree with you that people had gotten off the Luca bandwagon as much as they did. No, he was traded. I mean, his, his team, his team got off it. Nic, Nico Harrison certainly got off it, but like, he couldn’t touch the rim for a while. Yeah, KW called him fat. His team traded him scale. I mean he. He is a top 5 offensive player in the game. He is an all-time playoff performer, and he is off to a great start this year, motivated and in shape, and a motivated, healthy, in shape Luca. If anyone doubts what that guy is, then I’m with Nick. You haven’t been watching basketball for the last 5 years. But to me, the story of last night. Happened kind of during the game but more after the game. We all had a conversation after the first game of the year if he was the best player in the world, and 6 games later he’s saying the game is fast and I’ve never seen defenses like this. It’s just a, it’s a reminder that Wemy’s 21 years old and he can’t do it all by himself yet. De’Aaron Fox hasn’t played. In a game this year, Dylan Harper got hurt. He’s out there without a point guard. And in the 1st 4 games of the year, Wemby had 0 offensive fouls. And now teams are like, oh, let’s change how we guard him a little bit. And he had 3 offensive fouls last night. So I think just compared to Giannis and Jokic and SGA and Luca. We gotta remember he’s 5689 years younger than all of those guys. He still is a little bit ways away from being that night in and night out dominating force. Yeah, I think Luke or Wemby could have been more aggressive and asserting himself a little earlier in the game, but my takeaway was Luca, Luca, and more Luca. Like it, it, this is all I’m with you, Nick. It’s not that we’ve forgotten who he was, but when you play with a guy like LeBron James, you tend to just defer a little bit, and we saw that obviously once he got traded to the Lakers, but. Last night, Luca in every action on the offensive side of the ball, whether it’s pick and roll, whether it’s pop, whether it’s off the dribble, and then watching the way that they’re able to play, they’re able to play with an actual 5, an actual big, not, not a stretch 5. This is Peyton’s been good. This is what Luca provides and when you add LeBron on the court, he doesn’t necessarily like that, that traditional 5. He wants that stretch 5 because he wants more space. And when you watch Luca play. I just feel like with this team, the way that they’re currently constructed, and I know LeBron’s gonna come back and work himself in, but everyone seems to enjoy their, their role that they’re playing, and Luca gets everyone involved. Jackson Hayes is great for him because if he, if you, if you stay on top, if you don’t drop, he’s gonna throw the lob like you just said. DeAndre Ayden has been great for him, but this is all about Luca and what he provides. You put the ball in his hand, good things happen and listen. Lucas only played 5 of the 9 games. LeBron hasn’t played yet, just got fully cleared today, should be back in a couple of weeks. Uh, Austin Reeves didn’t play last night, and they’re 7 and 2. And if you look at their next 7 games, because I think LeBron’s gonna miss the next 76 of the 7 are on the road, then they have a long home stand. What this has. 4 and 3 at worst, 5 and 2 written all over. And so the Lakers should find themselves at 11 and 5 or 12 and 4 when LeBron comes back, which for a team that was considered fringe-ish contender, I think. That is way ahead of schedule from where they were, and I know you can get a little annoyed with me because I get hung up on trades that happened before, whether it be Quinnin Williams and Micah Parsons or the Luca trade. Right now, there was a very brief but very loud, oh, was Nico that crazy after all once they got Cooper Flagg. Once they got, they were like, oh, well, if you knew you were getting Cooper Flagg. If Nico Harrison today called up Polinka and said, hey, I’ll give you Anthony Davis and Cooper Flagg for Luca, Rob Polinka would say no. That’s, that, that is, that, that, that is where it is right now. If he said, hey, let’s undo the trade and Throw in Cooper Flagg. The Lakers would say no to that because Luke is 40, 11 and 9 so far this year, and he’s not even shooting the ball from 3 well at all. Last night he didn’t shoot the ball well anywhere, and he put up 35. He, he, he scored 35 points and to your point yesterday, Wilds didn’t hit his, uh, player prop points over. He scored 35 points and the under points prop was 35.5. It didn’t hit his over. We’re 2 years removed from him carrying the Mavericks to the NBA Finals. Like I cannot believe that that many people are just like, yeah, Luca isn’t awesome. Of course he’s awesome. He got more, he’s, he’s more awesome now. This is not the same, this is not the same Luca. I mean, JJ challenged him to come back. He came back looking more athletic. I don’t think he’s the same guy. I’d. You don’t, he’s, but he might be the same guy that took him to the finals. Yeah, that and so like that’s the, I think last year he got hurt, then got traded, and there was a lot that went into it, but I don’t think he is demonstrably better right now than he was his second to last year in Dallas. He just reminded everyone how good he is. Uh, heading to the gridiron. Ravens head into Minnesota in a battle of teams that wear purple. Interesting note from Jeff Zerbiak of the Athletic. Last time Lamar faced a Brian Flores defense, Ravens Dolphins a few years ago. Ravens only scored 10 points and Flores blitzed Lamar 30 times. Now, the Ravens viewed that as kind of a turning point in Lamar’s development because now he has literally the best passer rating against the Blitz. Uh, Danny, can Lamar, no, sorry, can the Vikings slow down Lamar? And not just because I’m in bruised seat, no, they, they, they can’t. The, that game against Brian Flores a few years ago, Lamar since then has basically been the most dominant regular season player in the league. You talk about Luke is a different guy. Lamar is a different guy as a passer, and for all the questions that everyone’s had about Baltimore this year. None of them have been about Lamar, if you’re being fair. It’s been about injuries. Did Derrick Henry lose a step? Did they just lose too many games early that they weren’t gonna be able to come back and overtake the Steelers? But in games this year that Lamar has started. And finished. He is once again the best offensive player in football. Certainly in the conversation, all of those rankings, explosive plays, passer rating to your point, points scored, it’s a big one. They’d be top 3 in the NFL. The Vikings are coming off a nice game against Detroit, a weird game against Detroit where JJ McCarthy had less than 200 yards but had 4 touchdowns, but I don’t think Minnesota’s got it to slow down this Lamar. I disagree. I definitely believe that they got enough to slow down Lamar Jackson and, and, and this doesn’t take away anything of what you said about Lamar. Like he’s great, we know he’s great, but just like the Detroit Lions who they just played, this is a similar style offense, albeit Lamar is a completely different player at the quarterback position. Run first offense, you stop the run, you force Lamar to throw the ball, he somehow will allow you to stop him because. Lamar has turned into a, a passer versus a threat in the running game as a passer that can extend plays with his legs, and when you watch the Detroit game that they played against the Baltimore Ravens, we saw that on full display, extending plays, allowing them to because he wants to get the ball down the field, he’s holding on to the ball a little bit longer, so you’re gonna have chances to get home if you’re Brian Flores. He’s going to give you those exotic looks, but he’s not gonna make it easy and and Lamar Jackson because he wants to stay in the pocket and for whatever reason doesn’t want to get outside the pocket and use his legs, and it sounds crazy, but the, the numbers don’t lie. His numbers have gone down year after year after year and his ability, not his ability, his desire, his desire to want to get out and use his legs and so the, so I. The stats you showed, Danny, are accurate. I, I feel like it’s a little misleading in this regard. They did not lose the Chiefs game because Lamar left the game, and that game was a game that Lamar was neutralized, where in, in that game. Like I understand he left late in the 3rd quarter, and so, And the reason I bring that up here is because what the Chiefs had a very, had a very kind of bespoke, interesting defensive game plan with Spaggs versus Lamar that I imagine Brian Flores is gonna bring something similar to the table too. I, I would be surprised if the Vikings stymie Lamar, but I wouldn’t be as shocked as I, as I think you would be. And I also, Passer rating is an interesting and important metric, but I think there is, this applies a little bit to your guy, Drake May and a little bit to Lamar. Quarterbacks that will simply take sacks rather than throw the ball away, they get rewarded in passer rating because passer rating doesn’t give you any negative whatsoever for a sack. And I think that’s one of the reasons Drake, like Drake’s. Passer rating is, as you’ve been showing, it’s right. Well, second best to Lamar, but also on a historic run. And Lamar, when we see, you know, his passer rating over the last two years, like 125, and so I do think that the holding on to the ball, taking some sacks in RedZone are one of the few regular season weaknesses for him. But I think the bigger point of this weekend’s game or the more important part of this weekend’s game is. Just because the Ravens won the must-win against the Bears does not change the fact at all that the must-wins just keep coming. If they lose this weekend, which they’re 4.5 point favorites, they’re not supposed to, but as you talk about all the time, you have 4.5 point favorites. Lose all the time. I believe their season’s over. I think that if you look at their schedule moving forward, what the the Ravens absolutely must be 6 and 5 going into that right-hand column on the screen. Because the Steelers getting that win that we didn’t expect, some didn’t expect them to get last week have put Baltimore in a position where if they fall to 3 and 6, I just think they’re finished. And so it is just immense pressure on them each and every week not to have a hiccup. And you disagree. You think they could lose this game and, and make the postseason because I do not. I, I think they could. I’m with you that it’s obviously massive and that middle column is more winnable, so to speak, to go on a run in the right-hand column of the schedule. I’m just smirking at the idea that this Vikings team is up to the task against Baltimore. Baltimore’s defense looks awesome. Like, like the, the Baltimore on both sides of the ball looks great to me right now based on, based on what? Based on what? I just want to know, are we basing this? On Chicago, the Bears game, are we basing this on the Miami game against, uh, that Dolphins offense that has struggled against almost everyone? What are we basing this on? Well, I mean, the Dolphins the week before they played Baltimore did have a good game. The Bears’ offense has been good except for when they played Baltimore, inconsistent, but they had been on a better run since their bye week. Kyle Hamilton seems to solve a lot of problems on that defense. Wiggins has been back. They’ve been getting healthier on the defensive side. Of the ball they’ve gotten Lamar back and Lamar all of last year basically didn’t get slowed down against anybody. Like Lamar’s on a multi-year run of being a great offensive player. So him getting slowed down is an extreme outlier. Yeah, but I, the, the, to, to be fair, I know how highly you think of Detroit. The the, the Vikings just annihilated Detroit. Like if they can do that to Detroit. Why can they not do something similar to Baltimore? Like I, the, I, the Detroit has earned, Detroit, golf has not earned the faith Lamar has, but Detroit’s offense has earned as much faith as any offense in the regular season, uh, in the league over the last couple of years. Detroit’s defense is better than Baltimore’s, uh, at least has been this season. And if, so, again, I’m not, I am too anxious. About what trick bag we’re going to get from JJ McCarthy to go and say, oh, I think the Vikings are going to upset the Ravens. I think that and Lamar’s historic record against non-conference opponents that don’t see him often, all of that concerns me, but I think it would be, it’s a little unfair to Minnesota to act like what they just did 4 days ago is, it’s a lot unfair. And when you, it’s not just about what this defense can do. Against Lamar, because when you, when you play against a team, uh offensive unit like the Baltimore Ravens, you’re not just thinking, oh, we have to stop Lamar. It’s offensively, we need to possess the ball as well, and when they’ve had success, the Minnesota Vikings, they’ve been able to run the ball, limit their opponent’s opportunities just like against Detroit, they stopped the run against Detroit, they were able to run the ball against Detroit, taking pressure off their young quarterback. Alleviating all this desire for him to need to make plays and have to make plays versus we’re gonna turn around and hand the ball off, we’re gonna ease up our offense, and then defensively, we’re gonna do what we’ve always done. We’re gonna lean heavily on turnovers, we’re gonna lean heavily on getting pressure on your guys and see if you can make plays. Lamar, yes, has he proven he can do all those things? Of, of course. Has this Ravens defense. This year Rav been, been, been so good to where we’re like, yeah, they’re gonna shut down that Vikings offense no matter what they do. No. Sounds like an upset alert preview possibly, I like that. Uh, tonight’s game, a first versus worst battle in the AFC West. Broncos almost 10 points favorites when they host the Raiders. Here’s the current odds in the AFC West. Uh, Broncos 7-2. They’re in first. Chargers, uh, actually have worse odds than the Chiefs, and then the Raiders way far back. Uh, a Broncos win would mean what to you, Nick? I. A Broncos win would be mandatory. They lose in a week from now, they’re gonna be in, they’re not gonna be leading the division anymore. Like the, so it would, but I don’t want to say they can’t, they have nothing to gain in this game. I, the Broncos this year have twice. have looked good for 60 minutes. Against the Cincinnati Bengals and the Dallas Cowboys. The two teams that when every, anybody else lights up either one of those defenses, we’re like, yeah, but it’s the Cowboys or it’s the Bengals. Every other game they’ve played, they have either lost or trailed in the 4th quarter. Against the, so they, it was a 1-point game against Tennessee in the 4th quarter. It was a 1-point game in the Jets that they were trailing in the 4th quarter. We know what the 4th quarter was against the Giants. They were trailing Davis Mills by a touchdown 3 days ago. I, People should not conflate my Broncos skepticism with an old Broncos-C Chiefs rivalry that’s been long dead. What they should recognize it as, I’ve watched this team every week, and there has not been, there have been two times all year where it’s like, wow, the Broncos imposed their will and controlled that football game. The defense has been awesome all year. And the offense has been pulling teeth all year and then has had these magical 4th quarters, which against Philadelphia means a lot to me. Against the Jets and the Texans with Davis Mills, and the Giants means a lot less to me. And so, when you, the Bo Nix stuff is, he has been brilliant in 4th quarters, brilliant. We can show it to you. And they have been brutal in quarters 1 through 3. So tonight, what they should do on a short week in their building against the Raiders is control the game from start to finish. Do I think they will? No, because they have not done that against any team that has a defensive pulse. And so no, I, I mean, that’s, I guess that’s my answer. Yeah, we’re pretty aligned on the Broncos, and this is a tough spot just in. Your best defensive player, Certan, is out. The best player on the Raiders other than Max Crosby, Brock Bowers, finally looked 100% healthy last week. He looked amazing. Weird things happen in division games on Thursday night. Like, I’m not expecting a Denver blowout, but because of. A 3-point win against Houston, a 1 or 2-point win against the Jets and the Giants. They have built themselves a little cushion here, where if we throw up the Broncos’ schedule, and if they just beat the teams they are supposed to beat, if you beat the Raiders twice, you beat the Commanders with their injury situation. And you beat the Jaguars at home, they’re an 11-win team that’s going back to the playoffs. Oh yeah, I mean, I, at, at this point it’d be shocking if they missed the playoffs. I think the question is, are they gonna win the division? And it’s on the board. Oh, it’s, it’s, it’s on the board and a win tonight. Just allows them, they’re already in the driver’s seat. Right now they’re in the driver’s seat. We can, we can almost scratch off and I, I, Chargers fans can hate it to listen to this. We can almost discard the Chargers because I believe that we all are in unison to believe that they’re gonna fall off. But the team that they’re gonna have to continue to separate themselves for if they can is the Chiefs. They win tonight, that puts them at 8 and 2. That’s, that’s. That’s a nice little cushion being that you play this team next week. You play them next week and you talk as if it is absolutely impossible that they can beat the Chiefs. I think the Chiefs coming off a, I, I, I, I, I think I, I’m not gonna say it’s impossible. I would be absolutely stunned. I think if coming off a bye, the Chiefs lose to Bo Nixon. Say that you’ve been stunned almost every week watching the Denver Broncos and how they’ve, no, it’s not. It, it absolutely, I, I said on this show before the season, I think they’re gonna start 6 and I’m not miss the playoffs. I’m not talking about I’m gonna start. They said they’re gonna start 2 watch, having watched them play in these games. No, so, so based on what we see when we’re watching these games through quarters 1 through 3, and then are we shocked when they come. Back, yeah, OK. So to answer your question, I, when I watch the Broncos every week for the 1st 3 quarters, I’m not stunned at all. I’m like this is exactly what I expected. And then in the 4th quarter I’m surprised. Exactly. Yes, no, that’s all true. So we’ve been getting surprised by this team every week. So, but, but, but what is it? So you’re saying if they win tonight, you’re gonna say you believe they’re gonna win the AFC West? Absolutely. So right now you think they’re gonna win the AFC. I do. I do. Their defense is that good. The defense is great and it seemingly has been all that what they needed because Bo Nix for the entirety of the season thus far has been good when it matters most, and it’s all that we praise with anybody else but Bo Nix. No, no, no, hold on a second. It is, it is absolutely not all that we played with anybody else. Praise guys where if they’re mediocre or just fine and then hit another gear when it matters most. It is very rare what we’ve seen here, which is the Texans game, the Jets game, the, the Titans game, where the whole reason the game is close is the quarterback’s been terrible, and then he’s excellent late. That a unique, and I’m not, he’s not this player, and I’m not making the, I’m not making the comp, but the closest example to it is a different Broncos quarterback drafted around the same place Bo Nix was in Tim Tebow, where he’s bad for three quarters and then spectacular at the end. Uh, first-place Patriots in Tampa Bay to play the 1st-place Bucks in a battle of we found our post-Tom Brady franchise quarterback. Are the Patriots or the Bucks more likely to prove they’re real contenders? After this game. Listen, I believe in your Patriots, KW. I picked them before the year to make the playoffs. I said, I think during tears, they have a real, they could be the number one seed. It’s, it’s certainly on the board. But The Bucks schedule. Best is Super Bowl contention this year. The Patriots, that’s a year or two, call it 1 year ahead of schedule. And I am not, I’m, I am not, you play who you play. I do think the Patriots 7-2 record isn’t quite as. Hefty as the Bucks’ 6-2 record, even though the Bucks have been close victories. And I think there is something very real and important about a veteran established quarterback with real postseason experience that and played really well in the postseason. So, I think the Bucks are better than the Pats. I think the Bucks at home, even banged up, will beat the Pats, and I think the Bucks are better positioned to be. Real, they can win the Super Bowl this season contenders with no disrespect to the Pats who I think are having an excellent year. So, I don’t think either of these teams is a contender to really win the Super Bowl, but they’re both very impressive. Gotta love where they’re at with quarterback play. The Patriots do seem a year ahead of schedule. The Bucks have been winning their division each and every year, and they are overcoming injuries at this point, even if they are winning really close games. But to Nick’s point, If I had to pick one to go on a run, it would be the Bucks. You don’t believe in Tampa at all. I know, but I’m shocked. I, I know why you’re gonna say this is a confusing take. I, I, I like the Patriots in this game, but the Bucks are gonna have a home playoff game. The Patriots, I do not think will. I think the Bills will end up winning the AFC East, but in this game in this spot, I expect the Patriots to win. I think the Patriots are going to win this game. Bucks coming off a bye, but I do think the injuries right now are too much for Tampa to overcome in this moment against the real team. I think they’ve been. Kind of doing a Houdini act with all of these 1 score wins, 4th quarter comebacks, and all of that stuff, but at the end of the season, the team that’s going to be better positioned to make a playoff run is the team that I think is more likely to play a game at home in the playoffs, which is Tampa. OK, so I, I think the Pats here. And both in my opinion are contenders, but I think if the Patriots win this game, it just builds to that resume that you feel like they lack. Beating the Bucks, a, a team in the NFC that we all believe that’s going to be in the postseason, that’s gonna have a shot. They’ve had a shot every year the last couple of years, but when you look at what they’re doing. The young quarterback that’s unproven, I, I don’t buy that you have to have this proven veteran guy that’s kinda had a playoff win, that’s had experience. It’s something to having a guy that just has a belief and a confidence that he moves with, that he obviously plays with, that then when he comes into the playoffs, you don’t know what you’re gonna. To get you’re hoping that you get a young guy that’s gonna be rattled, but he seemingly hasn’t been there. Then you, you look at who he’s already played. The, the biggest threat to him, albeit the Chiefs, because they’re the biggest threat to every, but the, the Bills in their division and playing them on the road already and having gone in there and beat them, why do you Believe that all of a sudden, they have to have a home playoff game in order to be, they believe that they can beat them. They’ve done it. Drake May has outperformed, outplayed Josh Allen in that game. So, this is, this will be a resume builder for me, for, for the Patriots, and that, in my opinion, is, is why this team needs this win to kind of build that because like you said, Their resume isn’t, isn’t great obviously with winning against the Bills, but this will be, this will be in the first place, uh, Greg, I, I told you upstairs I wanted to show you something, a tweet that, that I saw because I can show you Drake May. Stats still I’m blue in the face. We’ve got a great defense. Drake Mays way ahead of schedule. Boutte’s playing great. Stefon Diggs is playing great. I can go on and on and on, but I’m looking for around the edges, you know what I’m saying? I’m looking something beyond the empirical to show you how good the Patriots are. So that’s why I brought up like, oh. Everyone giving Vrabel high fives. Vrabel asking, uh, Will Campbell if he wants his jersey. This type of stuff is what I’m looking for. So I saw this tweet, Greg, and I want your reaction to it. I cannot wait. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel says 41 players came in and lifted yesterday on their day off, players buying in. Something or nothing, Greg. Uh, be honest. You can be honest. So this is actually, this is something, and I’m gonna be honest, it’s something because it tells you what they feel about just being in that facility. It’s not even about the fact that they worked out but just being around each other and probably not having a lot to do in Foxborough, they’re gonna just go to the facility, so I, I don’t, I don’t say that oh this lets me believe that they’re extremely focused, they’re extremely locked in. They just, they enjoy being around each other. Can I, can I, uh, and tell me if you think this is wrong. I am, listen, I do, you’re the king of vibes, obviously. So I don’t wanna encroach on that. I do think though, when the teams are really good. Vibes are typically pretty good. And when teams are bad, vibes are bad, and it’s really only noteworthy to me when it’s not that. When last year’s Eagles are on a run and AJ Brown’s like, something’s wrong and he’s reading the book. They ended up overcoming it, but that, you know, makes you concerned. When Dan Campbell’s Lions his first year were 08 and 1 or whatever they were, but they seemed to vibes were good. I’m like, oh, that signals something. So. I’m, so I think a really good team on a long winning streak, you know, guys come in to put in a little extra work is maybe not all that rare. I, I, I is what, what I would say there. I mean, again, maybe I’m wrong. I don’t think just my vibe meter has been going crazy. It’s like an alien movie where like the little kid is like, what’s going on? It, it’s a real thing barking. It’s a real thing. And this is a team that, to your point, they haven’t faced adversity. I would love to see them up against some adverse situation. Well, this is, this is a huge, here’s the thing, because the, the Bucks have 3 straight tough games and then as soft of a final 6 or I don’t know, it’s 5 or 6. They got the Rams and the Bills after this. This is a bigger spot. They, they go the Bucks go Patriots, Rams, Bills, and then the most cupcakey, sorry, Panthers, I guess not quite as cupcakey as we thought, but a really awesome right-hand column. So, and Danny thinks the Bucks are gonna go 0 and 3 in this spot. I think. They’re more likely to go 2 and 1, but we’ll see. Uh, either way, they have already been tested. They’ve played really good teams, and they’re definitely going to be able to recover at the end of the year. For the Patriots, what is great for them if we throw up their schedule is, man, you win this game, and it’s like, we’ve played two A-listers. I think the Bucks are an A-lister. Maybe they’re a B+ lister, but I think they’re an A-lister and my pick to go to the Super Bowl, and we beat them both. And the, the one other good team we played, the Steelers game, we feel like we gave that one away. So I just feel like it gives you a ton of momentum, if you will, through your buy when you find out who you really are in, in that two-week stretch. I would just be surprised if the Patriots went. Controversial take always those are what you’re known for. I wouldn’t hate it if we lost this game. What a, no, no, I mean 100% honest, like we have, we, we lost to the Raiders week one. It was like a weird week one game. No Christian Gonzalez, so it’s like week one weird stuff happens. And we lost to the Steelers where we turned the ball over 5 times. We have yet to play like a good game and lose. So, and I think it would be kind of helpful to be like, you know what, our, we can play better than that because every time we’ve played a good game, we’ve won, and I kind of wouldn’t mind a loss. I know it sounds crazy, but it sounds crazy because I think you have to adjust, and I think Danny will agree with me on this. You have to adjust your eye as to what’s on the line here. You guys can be the one seed as long as you have winning the division and the one seed as a realistic possibility. No loss is good. It’s so valuable for you guys to get this win. It’s so valuable. Why? Because we’re not good on the road, undefeated. No, K, no, because you, you wanna win. I’m not saying you can win the division. You can be the one seed. You can have the MVP. I wanna win as a fan of a team, I think it, it’s. It’s also odd. It’s like this is one of like the, the friction of being on sports television. If you don’t pick the Chiefs to go undefeated, like were the Chiefs going unfeated, like, no. It’s like every week, like, what do you think about the Chiefs? Like, they’re gonna win this year. You know, it’s, it’s very tricky. So look, I, I, I think, I think it would be better for them to win this game and drop one of the, the next to a bad team. Yeah, I think you’d be better off losing to a bad team. Get the confidence up that we can lose to a bad team, but it’s not, right? You, yeah, you lose to a bad team, the idea is. You know what, we, we have, we have room to grow. We, we gotta learn to play at Eagles Giants, we gotta learn to play at our level and standard of expectation week in and week out despite our opponent. They’re a young team. This should be a great win for you guys. It would be defeat. I’ll be honest, we’ll probably go undefeated now, you guys probably.

Luka Doncic scored 35 in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 118-116 win over the San Antonio Spurs. Nick Wright, Kevin Wildes, Greg Jennings, and Danny Parkins discuss the biggest takeaways from the game, if the Denver Broncos can win the AFC West, and what’s on the line for the Baltimore Ravens against the Minnesota Vikings. Plus, they preview the matchup between the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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Nick Wright, Chris Broussard, and Kevin Wildes team up on First Things First. The trio offers their take on a bevy of sports stories alongside special guests from across the sports world.

Ravens’ season is ‘over’ if they lose to Vikings, Luka dominates, Patriots or Bucs contenders? | FTF
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