First Things First - USA advances to Round of 32, Giannis trade rumors, A.J. Dybantsa to the Wizards?

Episode Date: June 22, 2026

(0:00) USA beats Australia, Can the Bucks trade Giannis to the Celtics for Jaylen Brown? (26:45) Do the Chiefs need another WR? (37:36) A.J. Dybansa has top odds to go 1st overall (43:59) Tim Howard: It’s impossible for USMNT to win the World Cup (01:03:57) Hype around A.J. Brown too low or too high? (01:15:24) Mbappe, Messi, or Haaland to have a repeat performance? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 26 Chevrolet Tracks is the stylish SUV for those on the move. And with the standard Chevy safety assist package, you have the backup to handle every turn with confidence. The 26 Tracks. Start your build at Chevrolet.ca. Risa knows a thing or two about great combinations. Chocolate and peanut butter, obviously, but there's more than one way to Reese's. From indulgent Reese's big cups with caramel to crunchy Reese's pieces and Reese's miniatures, There's a delicious Rees for every mood.

It's the same combo you love, just with more ways to enjoy it. So, whether you're snacking, sharing, or just treating yourself, nothing else is Rees's. It is a picture perfect day in the Pacific Northwest. If you think you've got daylight, they converge on it very quickly. Baligan has a step on Chircani, Baligan to the byline. You've got numbers in the box, and then the ball's just put in the back of the net by Cameron Burgess. It's an own goal, but Pepe is there waiting for it. Destin made the run to the near post.

Can't quite clear it, trying to get his feet set. But it's a great ball in from Flo Balligan and into this set piece. Robinson, phasing it back. Serginio Dennis blocked. Still in. The flag could have goal. An offside position. It's a show that has an unbelievable amount of belief in Team USA.

Almost to the point where when I tweet something, I get a little bit hesitant to put it out there. We just straight up look like the best team in the entire World Cup. I said it. Wow. And I meant it. Okay. Maybe.

I want to be in the conversation. The same thing I did with Drake Mae. He's the best. Well, let's have a better ending than Drake had it. Big silver medal. You don't think that would be a good ending? What would the equivalent be? Losing the.

We came. Yeah, losing the World Cup final in a blowout. Seven to one. So what? That would be a huge win for the red white boy. But we came to win. First hour of first things first. Today, Team USA wins yet again.

How far can we go? Some very important people, knowledgeable people, are saying maybe we can go the whole way. Meanwhile. And some very knowledgeable are saying we got no shot. They're very fair. Meanwhile, why one Patriots legend is comparing A.J. Brown to Randy Moss. The stat that will make you think, hmm, fair point. Brandon Moss was also off a down year.

Very true. Yeah, that's what it was. That's the stat. And finally, Shom says Yonis is going to be traded before the draft. Drafts is a hour night. We must have a huge show tomorrow. Yonis gets traded maybe to wild Celtics. It's going to be unbelievable.

Today's going to be great. The Yonis goes to the Celtics. We'll find maybe it will happen. Before noon. I would hope so. But if not, tomorrow's going to be huge. Tomorrow will be a huge day if Janus gets traded. But we'll see.

You never know. I'm excited. Brew, I'm excited to talk tomorrow. Nick Wright, Kevin Wilde is Chris Brousard. We start in Seattle where Team USA rolled Australia 2-0 in a win that eventually clinched the group for us. Defense was stellar. The offense was creative.

Team was unified. No Christian Polisic. So the question, why not us? Here's Latton and Henri. Whatever happened before the World Cup is important what happens now. Now is the momentum they have. If you didn't believe before, I will repeat. Start believing they have the country behind them.

And when you have this support, it's difficult to beat you. Slaten said it since the beginning of the tournament. I said it after the draw. Because I could see and I know I've been in there. Arms Seoul, World Cup, although we didn't do and participate in 90 and 94, we did 98, suddenly when everybody starts to believe that you can, things can be done. Slatana, I want one word from you. Can the U.S. win this World Cup? Yes or no? Yes.

Starting to believe. Here was Chris Richards. I don't think it's ridiculous to say that we want to win it. Obviously, we have a lot more gains before we get to that moment. But, you know, we take it one game at a time. We want to lift a trophy by the end of this. This used to seem farcical. And now? Possible while not wanting people to get ahead of themselves only because I don't want the most likely outcome, which right now is a massive success to feel like it isn't. Sure.

And so bask in the moment that we just had to start with. It's the greatest 10-day stretch in U.S. men's national team history by a mile. prior to the start of this World Cup, the United States in the last 75 years had won six games of the World Cup. We had never won back-to-back games. We've now won two in a row. In the last 75 years,

we had never scored more than three goals in a game. We did that in the first game. We had never won a game by three or more goals, and we only had one win by two or three or three. more goals. We've now done that in back-to-back games, okay? So all of that

is awesome and legitimate and earned. Going into the tournament, it was like must-dos, want-to-dos, hope-to-dos. The must was get out of the group. They accomplished that immediately.

Somewhere between must and hope was win the group. Okay? That's they did that immediately already as well. Then it was like to do when at least one knockout round game.

They're going to be positioned well to do that. And to me, the goal always had been, match what they did in 08 in 02, pardon me, and make the quarters. It is set up quite well for them to do all of that. Now, I thought going into the tournament that was their ceiling, Brew.

I no longer think that's their ceiling, but I am not going to sit here and say if they make the quarter finals for just the second time in real history. Technically, they did it in 1930, but that was the first tournament. It was weird. So really the second time ever. That is a rousing success.

And I think now I do think that should be the expectation to get there. And anything after that's gravy. So I'm not trying to hedge, but I'm also not trying to make it. They are not Fwick Tub. I'd love if they were. People World Cup title or boss. I'd love if they were foot top. Sadly, they're not, but it's on the board.

Yeah, I believe it is possible now. I'm not predicting it, but they are now a legitimate contender, I believe. No question about it. And for all the reasons you said, we are talking about something that we've never done. And you pointed out, Nick, we've already accomplished things we've never done or essentially never done. Now, 1930, I'm sad we failed to build on 1930. Because in 1930, we did something.

We had back-to-back wins, so this is the first time since then. And you mentioned the four goals in our game. That's the most we've ever scored. Flo Balligan became the first U.S. player to score multiple goals since 1930. So we have done things that people really didn't think we were capable of doing already. I'm going to throw in a little, I don't know if this is fit. This is a cousin of vibes. Okay.

2026, Nick, is the year of making sports history. Didn't we in the Winter Olympics are men's and women's hockey teams one goal, shockingly, all right? Like that. And of course, the New York Knicks first time in 53 years win the NBA championship. Why not us? All right. We talked like this.

Going in, we expect this to be our best team ever. It looks very much like that. We know the players, you know, from their international experience are more talented than we had before. You can see it on the field that the speed and just the execution, everything looks at a higher level than we've had before. And I got to give Pocetino some credit. Look, I think he has brought a confidence to this team.

He's been a feeling of why not us. I mean, that's literally what they've talked about. The execution, the technical play, all that you can see. But I think the toughness as well. And look, he's a guy that's coached Namar, Messi, Mboppe in the past. When a guy who has that type of resume tells you, and you're, not supposed to be anything special. When he tells you, you can

win, he's coached the best, and he's telling you you have the potential to win and play at that level, that breeds a confidence in you that I think is what we're seeing on the field. So I got to give Pocetino all types of credit for this. So I love that. Sometimes I like to reverse engineer a take

and say if you had... I love this when you do this. The USA going to the finals. What would the first two games look like? What would it have to look like? Yeah. And I think you would say, all right, just as a thought exercise before the World Cup started, they would need to come into the group stage and dominate. Yes. And that's what they did. So here's against Paraguay and Australia. And remember, Turkey A, it was the second highest ranked, had that second highest FIFA ranking. We were 17. Turkey A was 22nd. So it's not

a foregone conclusion that we were going to just go on a cakewalk against Paraguay and Australia. We're 2 and 0. Turkey is 0 and 2. We've scored six goals. Turkey is goalless. We've only allowed one. We've controlled the games. Again, when we talk about dominating, this is a bridge too far. I said, Josh, I love you for it. Let's do it anyways. First two group stage games from USA and the previous five champions. We are putting the ball in the back of the net. It's all I'm saying, just take it for what it is. It's also indicative that winning your first two group stage games does not always lead like it's not a prerequisite. Argentina lost, but it's certainly heading the right direction.

Final one. Are we getting late goals? Are we coming out of the gate slow like France? Yesterday, Germany had two late goals from a sub. We are ending these games quickly. Best first half goal differential this year. We're up five. Brazil's three.

Spain's three. And Spain and Brazil. by the way, two of their games had, no, but also two of their games, they had zero first half goals. Oh, yeah. They did all, both of that is they had one monster. So we're not just adding on sort of garbage time goals late. We're out. If you wanted to have the take that we were going to go to the finals, this is the start.

And by the way, three halves without our best player. Yes. And so you, and you've, well, maybe. Whoa. You're taking the best player. One of our best player. He's not the best, which I think he is. And you, I think, I'm just going to add to your time.

Sure. The other thing you would also then start to ask yourself, hey, how's the bracket falling? Yes. Right. And so that's what I want to get to in a second. Don't go to it yet, dust. Because I do everything. It was winning against Australia plus what happened late, late Friday night, with Paraguay getting the result against Turkey A, is more.

I think it's more ideal than people totally recognized in the moment. Having the group locked up now means, A, Policic can rest more. He doesn't have played until July 1st. We have four guys on yellows. I want people to understand because they'll hear the yellow card accumulation resets. It does reset after the group stage, but if you get a second yellow in the group stage, you are suspended for the first game of the knockout round.

So they'll sit all the guys with yellows. Be only because they won it. And good fortune on how it looks like the bracket is going to fall, which is, according to the odds, here is the U.S.'s path to the quarterfinals. Bosnia or Herzegovina, who by the FIFA World rankings, will be one of the lowest ranked teams in the knockout round. And if it's not them, it's likely because it's Qatar, who will be the lowest ranked team that advantage.

I didn't know Qatar was advancing. Well, no, it's the winner of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Qatar, is who we likely play in the round of 32. And the round of 16, and now, again, the odds are it's Egypt instead of Belgium. I just want to show, and this is, you don't earn this piece of it, this is good fortune. Here are some potential round of 32 games that we're looking at. Netherlands and Morocco, Brazil and Japan, Portugal, Ghana. Like, those are, certainly for Netherlands, Morocco, Brazil, and Portugal, and probably a little bit Japan as well. Teams that really think they're on deep runs, again, if the odds are, those are a round of 32 games.

Let me show you some round of 16 games. Germany, France, is going to be a round of 16 game. That could be the final. That could be the final. And Mexico, the other host countries are staring at potentially playing in. England or Portugal. I know everybody thinks Portugal stinks now because of the one bad game, but Portugal is very highly ranked.

So that's good fortune. You've got to take advantage of, you know, how, and again, that could change, but that's just where it's going right now. Right now, if the, you know, given where they think the bracket's going to be, here is what the final, the most likely final eight. France, Netherlands, Spain, the US, Brazil, England, Argentina. This looks a little intimidating. So that brings me to where we started.

Again, and there's a lot of projection here doing our best because the bracket's not fully set. If this were an 18 tournament, the U.S. would have the worst odds. And that's, I think, and we're going to talk about it later about having to play your best game again and again and again. But the goal for me all along has been get to this spot and see what the hell has happened. happens. Sure. And so like we are, it's, they're playing great. They, they took care of business. And I really like that they're going to be able to sit their guys with yellows and be able to be a hundred percent full strength going into the round of 30. And let some of those subs get some action too. I think there's a benefit to that too. All right. Our next game is Thursday against Turkey A in LA. Moving on to the NBA. We're on Janus Trade Watch. Shav's reporting that Janus will be traded before the draft tomorrow. night. The question is where Sam Amick and the athletic saying that Jalen Brown isn't enough

from Milwaukee. Boston could add up to three future first round picks in the deal. And the fact that Anta Dacompo is known to be comfortable signing extension with the Celtics should compel them to go all in. Should Boston go all in? Yes. Now, I don't know if that'll mean three

first round picks, you know, along with Jalen. If Boston has some leverage in this thing, too, I get it that Miami is giving and everything they can. But the fact of the matter is, and I'm sure Boston will do a good job negotiating, Jalen Brown versus anything that Miami will give you,

mainly Tyler Hero, a package build around him, Jalen Brown is way better. With all due respect to Hero, who's a good player, he is not close to Jalen Brown. Jalen Brown was an MVP candidate this year, is a first or second team potentially type player, and he's 29 years old. He plays with a chip on his shoulder

that will only get bigger if he's traded to Milwaukee. Super durable. Yeah, he said this year, he enjoyed it. It was his favorite season because he led a bunch of young players somewhere nobody thought they could go.

That's what he'll have that chance in Milwaukee because nobody's going to expect much. I think he would go there and be a great player to build around. and much better than anything Miami is giving them. So Boston has some leverage in that regard. Do they throw in a couple more players or another young player maybe? But, you know, the bottom line is they should go get Yonis.

I do think as good as Brown and Tatum have been, I think they probably have reached their ceiling. They will be a contender next year with those two. No question about it. But are they better than the Knicks? We know what the Knicks did to them last. year in the playoffs. If the Knicks continue to play like they did at the end of the playoffs,

they're going to be right there. And even if Boston is the best of these, I don't think, I wouldn't totally write them off, but I don't think they're as good as OKC and San Antonio. You bring Janus in there, and now not only do you become the favorite in the east, I believe, but you also are right there with the spurs and the thunder in the West.

And so, yeah, I think they should make the deal. And again, Nick, I think they've got leverage. You talk about the age of Yannis versus Brown. You talk about his injury history versus Brown. And Milwaukee is not enamored with Miami's package. So that's- Or it'd be done. So I think both sides feel like they have the leverage here, which is interesting. If I'm Boston, I'm like, hey, you know how I know you don't like Miami's offer?

Because it's been there for weeks. Right. And you won't take it. And there's no. And so Miami now reportedly is trying to get an extra team. involved. Miami's offer is what it is. It was going to be mediocre from the beginning. It's mediocre now.

If I'm Milwaukee, I think I have a little bit of leverage of, okay, if we don't trade you, Janice, you think Jalen Browns is going to be a happy camper? His name got floated. It's been out there for years. Right, no, but again coming off that year, all of this.

So I think there's a little bit of a game of chicken there. We have been talking on this show a lot about Janus going to the Celtics, Jalen Brown being the centerpiece of the trade, but Brown, it being a three-team trade, where Brown goes to Atlanta or to Portland. I thought Brian Windhorst, our friend, made a great point that I was annoyed I didn't make first,

to be totally honest, because we cover the NFL, and he doesn't. Jimmy Haslam owns the Browns. Jimmy Haslam also is now one of the owners of the Bucks. And when Miles Garrett got traded, it was very clear that the Browns were only doing that trade if they got a young blue chip talent back. So does that make it

does Jimmy Haslam's influence make it more likely that if they are trading Janus, it's not to funnel Jalen Brown elsewhere. It's to keep Jalen Brown in Milwaukee. I would think it would be to keep Jalen Brown. For a long time, I thought a team closer to

contending would want Jalen and they send Milwaukee a bunch of picks, but that seems now less likely, I think. Unless you get a younger player than Jalen Brown who's potentially on his level. Sure. And so I've said when all along that I think Janus is going to end up a Celtic, I feel even stronger that Janus is going to end up a Celtic. And I think they absolutely, I don't want to say have to do it, but really need to do it.

Because Tatum and Brown worked obviously. They went to a finals. They won a title. When they won the title, though, they had a team. that they are not going to be able to recreate anytime soon. Drew Holiday was there and was awesome. You got, you know, Chris Stapps was super productive for you over the course of the playoff run,

even if he was knocked out for a lot of the finals. You had a better... Horford was... Right, Horford. I knew I was forgetting someone. And so they now have Derek White, who I think is excellent, Peyton Bridget's good in his role, but you have nice pieces, but not. not as dominant of a roster.

And because of that, I think they have played this Missoula math ball more than they should. Janus will force a change there. Even if Missoula believes this is the right way to play, you will play differently because you will have to, because you will have a player who does not play that way and who forces you to play at least slightly differently. So I, this is one of, you know, our old things, you know, what does your opponent want you to do, not want you to do? If the news comes out today that the Celtics have traded Jalen Brown and two first round picks for Janus. Yeah, Leon Rose is not. Are the Knicks like sweet. Lost those picks. No, the Knicks are like that, all right, you know what I mean? Like the, it just

got a little bit tougher. And as a basketball fan, Milwaukee, if the, if the, you know, the next thing, If the trade packages are tied in your eyes, send them to Boston. What a take. If the trade packages are tied, don't send them to Miami, please. I just want to see Janus playing in big, relevant games. And it's going to happen in Boston and not in Miami. This is the most New England take you've ever had. Even if it's, you know.

I said if it's five. Six or one. Go to. Let's put some in a Celtics uniform. Yannis, if I'm looking at Miami and Boston, if I'm Yonis, and both offers, let's say Milwaukee feels like both are good, Janus can solve it. He can settle it and say, send me to Boston.

I won't resign with Miami. He can do that. And he should maybe call Kevin Garnett. Because Garnett didn't want to go to the Celtics, was loyal to Minnesota. All right, went there and eventually ended up saying, I wish I had been there early. in my career. And so if Yannis goes to Boston, Nick, and

wins, which is very possible, it's, I mean, his legacy is already great, but it just takes you to another level period. Doing it for the Celtics, it's like the Lakers. You guys are just, you guys got new keeping it real. Since I won't be here tomorrow. That's the, yeah, that's what

we were alluding to earlier. KW. has a prior. Big graduation. No, it's important. It's important. Yes. It's important graduation. If Janus does go to the Celtics, can you put a banner for the Celtics have it early? I don't know about that. Just for me.

Like from me. No, you could do it. You're not going to be here. What I would say is this. They'd be the faves, though. It's my way to get in and say they would be the favorites. You think they'd be championship favorites? I think they would win the title.

I mean, they literally, I almost can promise you. They literally wouldn't be the favorites. But it doesn't, I'm just the vaguest favorites, whatever for whatever that's worth. I was trying to, there are two different things that, came to my mind. One is we've talked a lot about in this kind of parody era, nobody yet having two rings. Right.

And, you know, Janus and Tatum could kind of double, you know, they're both of the guys looking for one. But the other one is, like, the best duos in the league, it's, Janice and Tatum would far in a way be number one. Like, number two, I think is Brunson and Kat. Yeah, it has to be. I don't think there is a clear number two on the Spurs yet, Brew. I don't, the number two on the, OKC is like Yokin's and Murray.

A lot of times it's just one huge star and his, you know, Batman Robin thing versus two. No, I mean, these are two legitimate bona fide first team all NBA guys. Like Jalen Brown, I know, flirted with first team all NBA this year. he is to me a perennial third team maybe pop to a second team all NBA caliber player like I don't think Jalen Brown is going to be a perennial top five player No I agree. Yonis has been and Tatum's been right there

you know, Tatum is right there and so it's just the best And look they would change styles of play but you still could put counting Tatum as a shooter you could put four shooters around on it He can pass he can handle the ball he obviously drives and can kick. Like, they would, it would be a welcome change because they do rely too much on the three. But all those three-point shooters they have, like Missoula could figure something out.

Love it. And if I'm thinking that the spurs are going to be a team that if we get to the finals we're going to have to deal with, if I'm the Celtics. I desperately want Yon. New York had a guy that could guard him, Wimby, and now they would have one. You guys did a great job that second. That was just like Celtic City. Do the Chiefs need to make a move at Wiley and C-Rae. Yeah, Brandon I.

I don't want Brandon Ayu. They don't want Brandon Ayu. Does he still play football? Or what? And we're counting down to Dallas where the defending champs, Messi and Argentina take on Austria at one on Fox. The Argentine fans the other day getting ready for the game. Messi has a goal in five straight World Cup games.

That is in two hours and 30. minutes on Fox. The excitement of the FIFA World Cup is now streaming live on Fox One, the official English streaming platform to catch every unforgettable moment. Fox One brings the action straight to your screen so you never miss a goal. Download Fox One and experience the FIFA World Cup live. Welcome back to First things first. Mboppe in Philadelphia today, France, Iraq, at 5 on Fox right after Messia and Argentina.

This could be over early. France unbeaten in 27 straight matches if they scored first. Here's the thing. If I'm France, I'm thinking about throwing one of these games. What? If France wins their group, they get Germany in the round of 16. I want literally any other draw. I don't think that's how you go with you.

Okay, I'm just telling you, Germany's already locked up. Germany's locked there. I don't even know, first of all, I don't think they could lose to Iraq. They drive. But I'm just telling you, it's very interesting. It goes back to your draft. I don't like the mentality, though. Well, of course not.

How can we see Spain? That, I got to look. I got a lot of permutation. That could be a lot of permutation. Guys, a lot of permutations. Headed to Kansas City where Nate Taylor. I was in the lab. I try to make this Spain money back somehow.

I am really dialed. Does the Chiefs believe in their trio of wide receivers? Instead of making a significant acquisition this offseason to bolster the position, Taylor writes. The Chiefs have placed much of their faith in the trio of Riceworthy and Thornton, all improving with the help of returning O.C., Eric B. Enemy, and new receivers coach,

Chad O'Shea, who was formerly with the Patriots for a long time. Nick, do you share the Chief's faith in this trio of wide receivers? We could have included. There was other important notes in that article that we could have included as well. Like what? Andy Reed being thrilled that Jackson County Detention Center let Rishie Rice leave a couple times to go get his knee checked out. That was important. It was nice of them.

He said it was nice. I just don't know if that's an update you want to hear. It's better than the alternative. It's better than the alternative. So listen, here's the on the Chiefs' wide receivers. Okay. It's twofold. One is they believe internally that last year's lack of production

was a combination of injuries and being unavailable. The suspension plus Xavier Worthy, getting hurt immediately and not being 100%. Coaching, which is they replaced wide receiver coach and offensive coordinator, and a total lack of any running game threat that allowed teams to only play the pass. That is one bucket of this. They think all of those things, you hope the injuries are not as bad this year, you change coaches, and you spent money on the running back.

That's one piece. The other piece of it is the Chiefs, philosophy, and I agree with this, is the only way to continue to try to keep a 5, 10, 15-year run with a quarterback that's going to be making Mahomes money the whole way is to give your top draft picks every single chance to succeed before you abandon the plan. Rishi was a second round pick. Xavier Worthy was a first round pick. A couple years ago, they drafted Kingsley-Sulamatai.

He's the second round pick to play tackle. He could not play tackle at all. They kept giving him chances now. He's a really quality left guard and, like, part of their, you know, I think one of their strengths on the offensive line. They are, they were never going to, in my opinion, you know, overspend at wide receiver because they feel like they have spent at wide receiver and they are going, they have to have those guys pan out.

And so I'm not, it is a lot of ifs they are relying on. Yeah. But that is the philosophy. And that is why I think they don't, they don't make what I consider some of the panic move, some of the other AFC contenders I've seen them make to try to, oh, this didn't work out. We'll trade a couple picks to try to fill in there. That's not how they're going to do business. Yeah.

To the next point, they had to look at this holistically. And they had to address the secondary, huge holes in the secondary. So they did that. They had to address the past rushers. So they did that. So both through free agency and the draft, they had to address the running game. There were 25th last year in terms of rushing attack. So they do that with Kenneth Walker.

So they addressed their three big needs. They had the least amount of salary cap of anybody in the NFL. So it's not like there's unlimited money. And then when you look at it in terms of what they expect from their players, the quarterback's got to produce at a much higher level. So he was sacked at the highest rate he's been sacked at in his career, 6.83 percent. Coming off, the highest year he had been sacked the year before, I think it was like 5'8. So that went up a percentage.

His lowest completion percentage, his lowest quarterback rating. So he needs to play better. And I think them running the ball will help them play better. To Nick's point about the group in general, Rashid Rice had 54 receptions in, what, eight games? Right. I mean, he was on pace for a mega year and things happened. Worthy has the potential to be that big play receiver if he can play consistently. And then with Thornton, for a guy, he had the highest per catch number of any receiver with over seven receptions last year.

So he's got the potential to be a big play player if he can play more consistently. And you hope the addition of Eric B. Enemy is going to do that. But the starting point is Patrick Mahomes needs to play like Patrick Mahomes. Yeah, no, I agree with all that. All those needs were more pressing than receiver. Now, if you could have made it work financially and got an A.J. Brown or something like that, that would have been great. But I do.

The three receivers we're talking about, I do like. Rishi is clearly, I think, a number one if he's available. Like, my only issue with him is, will he be available? And if he is, he's great underneath. He's great yards after catch. And then Worthy and Thornton are great deep ball threats. So you have that combination with Walker. Your running game should open things up.

Kelsey's still there. He'll be productive. We don't expect prime, Kelsey, but he'll be productive. So look, what I might think about, I certainly have internal conversations about do we want to go after Stefan Diggs? You know, he's been a good soldier. in the locker room at least where he's been.

Yeah, I talk about it and maybe do that. But if these guys are all available, then that's not a bad trio. Why don't you think so? I thought Stefan Diggs was coming back to the Patriots. It turns out the Patriots are happy with their wide receiver room. There's seven guys there right now. And last year, when I was trying to sing the Patriots praises and new regime and Vrable and Drake May, I think the biggest knock was the wide receivers were

Stefan, who was coming off of an injury and nobody really wanted him. Mack Hollins was like kind of a Buffalo didn't want him, so they were willing to let him go within the division. Pop Douglas was a late pick, and Bouté was like the speedster, but a late round pick, and he had some issues, and it didn't pop. So I would feel like I would be, you know, hypocritical if I'd say, well, this doesn't work for the Chiefs when I just saw a group of wide receivers that didn't light up the marquee go to the Super Bowl.

that being said a lot of reasons that happened was because Stefan turned into a guy who had a thousand yards so why not just go listen I think they may get him I think they might maybe they will sign Stefan Diggs the reason that they wouldn't have is because I think he plays the exact role Rishi Rice plays at this point in his career

Stefan Diggs is not a deep threat he is more reliable third down target possession receiver yards after catch yeah I just think they are I think Rishi is their best receiver. He has a ton of off-field concerns, injury concerns, and just general knucklehead decision-making concerns. But when he plays, he's been productive dating back. The playoff run, when he was a rookie, he was spectacular.

And he is kind of like in the mold of late stage Stefan Diggs. Now, maybe they bring him in anyway. But I, maybe I'll be wrong. I think the one thing that the general public has underrated in evaluating the Chiefs last year and going into this year is how much things changed for them and for Patrick's numbers. Because all those numbers are true. And it's also true that at the midway point of the season, they had scored 30 points in four or five games. he was the favorite to win league MVP. And then he had a terrible six-game stretch

and blew out his knee. And to me, the turning point was when teams were like, there is nothing you can do that's going to make us respect the running game. We are going to, you can have two tight ends and a running back, and we are still going to be a nickel or dime

and dare you to run because you simply can't run the ball. I think it's going to be a lot cleaner picture for Patrick with Ken, who I think they are going to lean on massively, especially early in the year, coming off the knee injury. I think if you add a guy like Diggs that puts some pressure on rice and it gives you a

security blank in case things do go south. And then with a guy like Thornton or worthy, you can spot those guys in for big plays or those flash type plays if their development isn't what you hope it would be. Now the salary cap is an issue. When you're at the number they're at, when you're 32nd, maybe Diggs, you're out of that market. But for Diggs, it's a place where you have a real live chance to go win a ring, and that's attractive, especially at this point in your career. All right. More on that.

Later. No, we're not going to do that again today. What do you mean? Lots of weeks later. Much later. We're counting down to Argentina, Austria on Fox two hours. Question will Messi be able to solve? Austria's stout defense only allowed six goals in 12 matches

and never more than one goal fans getting ready for Argentina, Austria, Fox. Any doubts? And then more in the Chiefs as well coming up. NBA draft tomorrow. Wizards are drafted in first, jazz draft and second. AJ DeBanza played at BYU, which I Google mapped,

is 40 miles away from the Delta Center in Utah. Oh, okay. So there's some speculation that we could see some movement between the Wizards and the Jazz, but nothing yet. So who would you take at number one? Well, before I get to who I would take, all of a sudden, DeBonza was seen as the number one pick, and now people are talking about Darren Peterson.

You wonder, Nick, Utah really DeBonce is a natural fit there. Do they, does Washington take Peterson but in like a trade with Utah? You know what I mean? Where it gets something else from Utah and then allow them to get DeBonson. If they like Peterson just as much, they might as well do that if they can. But I, barring a trade like that, just player, pure player, I would go DeBonson. I love Peterson. But DeBanza obviously has, I mean, 6-9 long,

potentially a great two-way player, scores in the mid-range, which if it's not back in style, it should be. Because you look at Brunson, you look at Shay, all these guys that do damage in the mid-range, has the athleticism, gets to the rim, a dynamic player, I believe will definitely improve his three-point shooting. Like, I think he has it all.

and Peterson seems to have it all as well, but when you look at what the strange, odd, and disappointing college season he had with... And the draft process has been a little odd. Yeah, it's, you know, and it seems like some people have questions about the, you know, he gave the Creaton explanation for why he missed so many games,

and some people are questioning that. Whatever the case just brings up some questions. I love him. I'm not saying he won't be. be an awesome pro. But if both players in my eyes are equal, that's going to weigh in and I'm going to go with DeBonson. So I would take DeBonson. I think Darren Peterson is so smooth. Oh, he's phenomenal. Two reasons. One, I just think that he looks to me as just, I don't know, he just looks smooth. He's like Kauai-esque. So you would take him? I like him for Washington,

but I would do your deal. I feel like if the jazz are dying again, I think that could. The other thing that has thrown me for a loop that I just have to mention, after Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper were on Rutgers and Rutgers has a disappointing season after one year, I don't know how to judge college hoops anymore. It looked like Dylan Harper had an easier time in the NBA than he did at Rutgers, and it didn't make it. I don't know if he got that much better or if it was just coaching or what,

but his game looked like it was got three times as good in the heart of the way. Listen, I, here's my general take on that. I will give you extra credit for lack of better term for being a part of winning, but at the college level, but I will not. I rarely am going to hold losing against you at the college level. Does that make sense? Like, so like, I think there are degrees of it. I don't know.

Like sometimes Ben Simmons, like, well, why wasn't LSU any good? Yeah, but then also Anthony Edwards at Georgia. Georgia wasn't that good. And Anthony Edwards, you know what I mean? And so... And so I just... I think there is more to, like, the Villanova guys, Jalen Brunson knows how to win, like those...

Then it is... Well, BYU wasn't that good when he's the only guy there. Now, I do... I thought Peterson was a little disappointing in the game they got knocked out in the tournament. Here's where I land. I would take DeBanza because... I think it is on.

on the board that Peterson does not pan out. It's not what I'm predicting. Really? Yeah, I... Just because of the off the, I mean... It's been a lot of odd stuff. And I don't think he... I'm not even certain I believe his upsides higher than DeVances. It might be.

They both have... Right, the both have, to me, they both clearly have higher upside than Boozer. I think Boozer has a higher floor than just about anybody in the draft. The analytics love it. solid immediately. Right. I think Bozer is going to be a really good long-time player, but never an MVP candidate.

And again, I hope all these kids prove me wrong. I think Caleb Wilson, who's probably going to go forth, might have the highest upside of anybody, but it's the biggest variance. There has been just enough because if you want to fall in love with Aaron Peterson, you turn on his pre-college tape. Right. The stuff from the All-Star competitions and AAU ball, all of it,

that's where his ceiling looks the highest. DeBanza had great prep tape, obviously, and then dominated in his role at BYU. So I would take DeBanza. I think there is a good chance that Peterson is the best player in this draft, but I was thinking there's not a good chance, but a chance that we're like, yeah, should have seen this coming. It was kind of weird for him post-high school.

through his year at college, through the draft process. I don't love that he only worked out for Washington. Like, I don't, I'm not going to kill him for it, but I don't love that either. I kind of like his quiet confidence. He's a little bit of a loner. I don't know. It feels Kauai-esque. Again, I feel, I'm not great of the pre-draft stuff because I want all the kids to do great.

Like, and it's the biggest day of their life. But I'd be nervous. But once you get drafted, he's got crushing people. Absolutely. You're a pro. You're a pro. Fair game. Once you're a pro, then it's all fair.

But the day leading up to it. They're getting paid, though. Cutting down to Argentina, Austria on Fox, two hours, two minutes, and 30 seconds. Messi can break the all-time goal scoring record tied right now with close with 16. We'll see if he gets it done. Why this might be the single biggest game of Argentina's time. I'll explain it. That's an actual first thing's first.

Live from New York, it's the show that's got the Legos on the table. Oh, yeah. Second hour, first thing. first. We got World Cup fever. You do them. They're always in the same order, too. Yeah, I try to keep some continuity and consistency. They like it. Yet you had Ronaldo in front. Well, yeah, I mean, no, I mean, yeah, but we keep a nice little. Quick question. What Legos did you get for Father's Day? Oh, oh, delightful little Father's Day. Wife and daughter, like, what do you want to do? I was like, I want to go to the Met. I like going to the

museum. Nobody likes to go with me. And at the Met, they have very, very, you know, expensive big, like the Van Gogh Sunflowers one. Sure. I've already done that one. And then they also had Claude Monet, I think it's called Waterlilies. Yeah, Water Lilies. So I got that. They have that in Legos? Yeah. You went to the Met or MoMA? You bought it from the Met? No, at the Met. Okay. Because water lilies is at the moment. Did you know that? I didn't. Moma's interesting. I'll just leave it at that. Wow. I'll just leave it at that.

What is that? Sold. I went to MoMA. Yeah, it's fun. I felt like, you know, You know what? I could be an artist. I mean, I'm just keeping it real. I don't know if you heard. And some great stuff and some stuff that was... Literally, water lilies is there, so give it a shot. Jackson Pollock is there.

Is that what you're talking about? Put together. I'm just going to leave it at that. AJ Brown. Is he ready for a Randy Moss-esque season in New England? One person says, perhaps. And meanwhile, Superstar Monday, Mbaphe, Messi, Erling Holland, The race for the Golden Boot is on all day on Fox.

Who's going to have another multi-goal game? Dax McCarty is here to discuss. But right now, we're headed to Seattle Talk Team USA over Australia. USA clinch Group D with a convincing win over the Aussies. Chris Richards broached the idea of the US winning the whole thing, Max. Former US goalie Tim Howard poured cold water on the idea. Take a listen.

The U.S. cannot unequivocally win the World Cup. The U.S. will have to play the greatest game they've ever played three times in a row. They're going to have to be three world soccer powerhouses in a row in the round of 16. Oh, no. Yeah, sorry, four games in a row. Lennie said round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals. Yeah. It is literally impossible.

for the U.S. to win the World Cup. That's going to come across crazy. People are going to say them, whatever. That's just the reality. Tough being Ronnie realism. But here's the thing. And respected Tim Howard, who prior, you know, as of 96 hours ago, had the record for saves in a game, one of the greatest world.

Still does. Still does. Still die. No, I thought he was at 14 in the, but regardless. Okay. I'm talking about for the whole, not just for the U.S., for the whole world. Oh, got that. But I disagree with him, and I think he had a bit of a factor there.

I don't think the U.S. would have to play the best game they've ever played four games in a row. I do think they'd have to do three games in a row. But because of what I've talked about throughout the day, because they won the group, because of the draw, looks like they're going to get, they are likely in the round of 16. Right now, the team they are most likely to face is Egypt, which is on par with teams that they have already beaten in this tournament. Now, after that, it gets very difficult. The most likely opponent

in the round of eight would be Spain. The most likely opponent in the semifinals would be France, and the most likely opponent in the finals would be Argentina. Yes, you're going to have play the game of your life to beat any of those teams. But weird things can happen, particularly in a sport where there are so few

scoring opportunities. You have more surprising one-off results. So are they my pick up? They are not my pick. But do I think right now coming off those two performances and the fact that they're going to get to rest everyone, they're not going to have any suspensions going in to the round of 32, because you can sit the guys on the yellow cards, all of that? Do I think that it is literally impossible? I do not think it is literally impossible. And that's the pushback that I would have

to Tim Howard is just the phrasing of it, literally impossible. No, it is possible. It is highly improbable. Even after the U.S.'s performances in these first two games, which has absolutely excited America, electrified the U.S. men's national team support for this World Cup, and by the way, absolutely deserving of all the praise they are receiving. But to say that it is literally impossible now for them to win the World Cup, I push back on that. It is still highly improbable, but why can't they believe? And this is what Chris Richards, to To Pochitino and Chris Richards' point, they have to believe. They should believe.

Internally, in that locker room, you should be saying, let's not talk about making the World Cup final. Let's not even talk about making the semifinal or the quarter final. Let's get through the group stage. Check. Could not have gone any better. Almost a perfect storm of circumstances other than maybe the Christian Pulisic injury, which to Nick's point that he made earlier,

now because you won the group in two games, it gives you the opportunity to rest him and to get the guys on yellow cards through the Turkey A game with no pressure, no stress, go into the knockout rounds full of confidence and theoretically with your best team available. And so, yes, is it still highly unlikely and highly improbable that they are going to go on this miraculous run to win the World Cup? Yes, it is. But it's not impossible. You guys aren't big soccer guys, but Leicester City won the Premier League in 2016. That is the most unlikely sporting champion of all time. You can make the argument pretty easily. And so Greece won Euro 2004. You know how many people have them winning the Euros?

Zero, maybe unless you were on the beach. Both of those were less likely than this would. Leicester City, because they had to do it for 38 games. And Greece was a bigger underdog in Euros when they won it than the U.S. is right now. Maybe not when the U.S. was at the beginning of the turn. turn of when the U.S. is right now. I want to ask you, Dax, because we're talking about them

maybe getting to the final eight, the round of eight. And some people might say that makes you a contender. But we think about the NBA. The Cavaliers got to the final four. And neither of us thought there, I did never thought they could win the championship. So is that, do you,

of course, it's not literally impossible, right? But do you think the U.S. is a legit, contender. Just because they get to the final eight, maybe even the final four, doesn't necessarily mean you're a team people think really could win it. Yeah, I think they are a legitimate contender based on the performances of these first two games. But again, to Nick's point that he made earlier, once you get to that final eight, you will be the underdog against pretty much any team you will play,

barring an unlikely run from a smaller country or big upsets that surely will happen, maybe one or two. But generally speaking, you are going to see Spain, you're going to see Argentina, you're going to see France, you're going to see England, you are going to see traditional world powers that are going to be in the final eight. And the U.S. men's national team, no matter how well they play, even in the round of 32, they will be underdogs. And they should be underdogs because there is a nuance to this, historical context to this, that quite frankly, we just haven't proven enough that we can do it at the highest level consistently. We've just won back-to-back games in the World Cup for the first time since, what, 1930? So in the modern era, and so we have to, while we can get excited, and I am excited, the entire country is excited, there has to be a small dose of humility and reality when we frame this conversation around the U.S. men's national team.

It is not out of the realm of possibility that they go on a historic run and make us all proud and make a semifinal. But do I think they're actually contenders to go on? and win the World Cup, I would say it is highly, highly improbable and highly unlikely. I can I, I actually, and maybe this is a bad job by us, we decide the topics, but this is what everybody's talking about. I don't think that is fair to these guys that that to make it that type of focus the way we do like with an NFL team, like, you know, trying to win a Super Bowl. I think that there is a, there are so many ways this World Cup can go over these next few weeks

where this is a resounding, resounding success where they do not make the final or the semifinal, where you feel like where they don't even sniff the final four and you feel amazing about what they have accomplished. And I don't think that's being patronizing at all. I would disagree. If I'm one of those players, you said you don't think it's fair. You're right. You're right.

They might reach a round that is a rousing success, and it wasn't the semifinals. However, they clearly believe they can win. Sure. And I think it would be, it is patronizing to talk about them as if just getting to the final eight it is a success, but in the moment,

they're not looking at it. And I think that's where Pochitino, I think that is what he's erased. I think he has erased this whole thinking of, let's just make a good run. I think he's come with, let's win this thing. And that's what they're riding off of them. I think that's right,

but I also think it has to be contextualized like this. Like if we just throw up what the U.S. has done in this tournament since 1950. So just so you know, it goes wins, draws, losses, okay? So prior to this year, they had won a total of six World Cup games in the last 75 years. Their record was six wins, eight draws, and 16 losses. All right? They have already now won twice.

They, their goal differential was over the, and by, By the way, one of those years, they missed the tournament in its entirety. They have never finished a World Cup with a positive goal differential. Or actually, in the last 75 years, dating back to 1950. They had never scored more than three goals in a game. They had never won a game by more than two goals. They had never won back-to-back games. They've now done all of that in the last 10 days.

And so I just, I think that it is. I don't want to say foolish, but treating it already, if we get, let me put it like this, if we are in the quarterfinal, then I think we should be saying, hey, how can we win this? I think right now skipping over the fact that if they were to win, the Turkey A game's irrelevant, their first two knockout round games, it will be far and away the greater, World Cup in this country's history, again, outside of the first one, which was an invitational and weird. I think that is skipping steps to a degree, Cable.

I think that is very fair. I think everybody would be happy. I think people would be upset if we lost our first knockout round game. And at this point... You have to frame the conversation around the expectation now of their first two performances. Their first two performances have shown that they are able to dominate teams that they should play better against and get the results required. And the expanded World Cup has helped the notion that they will be the favorite going into the next round of 32 opponent because of how well they did in the group stage, but also because of the fact that you're going to see some third place teams that are traditionally weaker teams advance.

So if they, again, if the bracket holds, so to speak, the round of 32 would be against Bosnia. It would be a big favorite in that. If they were to get Egypt, which is where it is projecting in the round of 16, do you agree with me that the U.S. would be the favorite? They would be the favorite in that game. But again, this, now we're getting into, you know, Egypt, good performance last night, good victory last night against a difficult New Zealand team. You're also going on margins, right? They would be the favorite.

I don't think they would be a heavy favorite. I think that the odds makers would call this, listen, the U.S. men's national team should win this game. But Egypt, these are when you get into the nuances of Mosala, a couple of players on Egypt, that can really hurt you. And so we're kind of getting ahead of ourselves. We have to see how the bracket shakes out. But to your point, the U.S. side of the bracket looks much more favorable than the other side of the bracket where you have these traditional power. As Wilde said earlier, we've done this for the most part without our best player, too.

Yep. But listen. Our next game Thursday, Turkey, Ye, in L.A. We're going to look at some of the other teams. Brazil and Spain both bounced back from mediocre opening games. Brazil jumped out to a 3-0 lead on Haiti. Vinnie Jr. on the board again. And Yamal's back. Spain wins 4-0 over the Saudi Arabia.

Which powerhouse country has the most impressive performance? I'm going to go with Spain just because they faced a tougher opponent and obviously we're up 3-0 at halftime. Yamal didn't even play the second half. You saw the impact that he had in the first half. And so I think that they were the more impressive to you. Yeah, it is. It is Spain. And let's make sure we realize that Spain and Brazil against Saudi Arabia and against Haiti, this is the expectation. And I told Nick this last week, I don't just want to see Brazil win the game. I want to see them win the game in convincing fashion. So did they? That first half, yes, it was convincing and I was happy with it. But you can also take the side of it if we're comparing Spain and Brazil. Spain had a very good performance, a convincing first half. And they got their best.

player back. They got him on the score sheet. Lumina Mall scoring after 10 minutes, generally looking like the best most dangerous player on the field, which is exactly what we expect. You get him rest in the second half. And then Brazil looking really good in the first half, actually losing one of their best,

most effective, dangerous players to injury in Rafinia. Hamstring, team hamstring. I know. Not good. You're the hamstring. It is. But have we gotten any news on that? They have not ruled him out for the rest of the World Cup, but He's absolutely ruled out for their game against Scotland and then in the knockout rounds.

I think they're going to have some intensive treatment plans. I being team hamstring is a difficult thing to recover from depending on the severity. I'd be shocked if he was available for them. So you think he's done? I don't. This is a pool of six types of situation. You'd be surprised if he came back at full strength. I'd be surprised if he was at full strength.

And so this is a problem for Brazil. That's not good. This is a problem for Brazil because if you look at those performances, you had, Carlo Ancelotti had to make a tactical decision. He had to take out Igor Tiago, who had an ineffective performance against Morocco, and put in Mateas Cunia, who is not, he scored twice, but he is not a traditional striker. As a long-suffering Man United fan for the last couple of years, Coonier is a very good player.

He is not an out-and-out number nine. He's not an out-and-out goal scorer, so he's more of a pseudo. Pretty good to scoring those two goals. He did, he did, correct. Against Haiti, I would expect them to get chances and score goals. But now you're looking at a situation where, I'm looking at Vinnie Jr. and Laminia Mall, two elite wingerers that are going to get their chances and create. Ojarzabal, the striker for Spain, is just flat out a better goal score than Mateus Cunia.

And so I trust Spain to be a little bit more dangerous when they play against these better opponents than I do Brazil, who, listen, Spain is getting stronger with their best players getting fitter. Brazil just got weaker. Even though they both did what they had to do, I still think Spain is in a better position. Listen, I obviously don't like the injury for Rafina. I also think Brazil has been unfairly maligned for its performance in this World Cup. It played arguably. Brazil, Morocco is arguably the single toughest group stage game.

That's right. We all think Morocco could be one of the teams outside of the traditional powers that goes on a deep run again. They drew them. They didn't lose to Morocco. they drew against a team that we think's excellent. And then against Haiti, they put up three goals in the first half and kicked it into cruise control. I thought they were, but Landon on the broadcast was saying it would come down a goal

differential and they were supposed to... I did not think Brazil played very well in the second half. So that's what I was... I said this on Friday that you... When we were previewing the game, I said, the odds are if you believe Brazil and Morocco are both going to beat Scotland and both going to beat Haiti. but they both now did, you know, the first piece of that,

then it will come down to goal differential, and one of these teams are going to try to hang a real big number on Haiti is the most likely victim of this, sadly, for them. At halftime, I thought it was going to be 5-0-0, and it ended up being 3-0. So it's not ideal, and the Rafinia injury, obviously, is something we'll monitor. But Brazil has not had a moment in this World Cup

where they looked as bad as Spain did for 90 minutes. like that's just flatly true they have not had a more like we are giving a benefit of the doubt to a Spain team that because going into the World Cup we had massive belief in it and I think some questions about a Brazil team in part I think

it's for you because Ilya Kestroneva said he didn't believe and you're like he's Brazil like he was all with us with Indy the last half of that's I was tuned in it's three nothing I'm like okay it's now it's gold differential time it's time to light it up and Haiti played hard

Haiti had already basically been eliminated. This is Cape Verde Eurasia, and I won't stand for it. They've looked great for two games. All right. Counting down to Argentina, Austria, Lionel Messi is getting ready. I think we have video of Messi. Here he is. Getting on the bus.

Headed to Dallas. That game is in one hour and 39 minutes. This game could determine the winner of the World Cup. Goodness, great team. I'll explain why. But first, here's James Gordon. Stop doing that. I will say one thing that's been really impressive during this World Cup is the national anthems.

I think they've been done absolutely brilliant. They have the enormous flags on the pitch. It's a truly spectacular thing. It really is whilst the anthems are being sung. Now, this is great when it goes well. But during this weekend South Africa Czechia game, it didn't go quite to plan. Take a look at this. Now, watch the person here on the right.

Look, oh no. So look, he's under the flag, can't get out, and you think it's okay. Someone's going to go and help him. And they don't. They just keep going. Yeah, he's still in there. Still in there. Still in that flag.

Five hours, 34 minutes. France Iraq. Patriots legend Troy Brown compared the acquisition of A.J. Brown. Oh, sure. To one of the best trades ever. Randy Moss to the Patriots coach. Mike Reese writing that Troy Brown sees AJ as, quote, having a chance to play a similar role as Moss that year,

fueled by playing in McDaniel's past-friendly offense, although with a top quarterback in Drake May, basically Tom Brady. That's my words, none. And being energized by the challenge, caveat. Randy Moss had 23 touchdowns with it, 16 and 0. But in his first year, in New England, he had 1493 yards.

A.J. Brown's first year in Philly, 1496 yards. So basically exactly the same when AJ Brown goes to a new location. It's a hype around A.J. Brown, too high, too low, or just right? Well, first of all, I love Troy Brown. And I still have PTSD from the Randy Maulstra. So the first game that he played as New England Patriots was against my New York Jets. And he's coming off that 43 reception season, 553 yards. three touchdowns.

And we didn't double them. He had nine receptions for 183 yards with a 51 yard long and a touchdown. And they hung 38 points on us. Tough on coach. Oh, frugal. Should have made a half time adjustment there. Did you think he was going into that game? Oh, we did.

We doubled him later. Went up over everybody's head and took the ball away. Was that your feeling that he was, you know, he was just done? Well, he also didn't play it all in the preseason. And it wasn't, it wasn't that he was done. done, but he was coming off a down year, didn't play in the preseason. We had accounted for him, but not accounted for the Randy Moss that showed up in New England. And, you know, his numbers were 23 touchdowns from three is a pretty good jump. Yeah.

Yeah. So there's that. And then with, there's a pretty big difference too. A.J. is walking into a young quarterback situation who's emerging where Randy Moss was walking in a situation with an established, incredibly well-respected, incredibly accomplished quarterback. And I'm not saying Drake can't become that, but it's different. And Randy at that point had had some sourness in terms of the experience he had. And you could say the same thing for AJ in Philadelphia, but a little bit different in terms of how it's all transpired.

And there can be some problems with a guy like AJ. And as strong a personality as he has, this point in his career, going into a situation of a young quarterback, that to me is going to merit looking after. And if you look at the production from Stefan Diggs to A.J. Brown, we can bring this up. I mean, Stefan had a pretty amazing year last year, and statistically, they were very similar in terms of overall production.

So it's not like you're bringing a guy that knocked it out of the park. And I guess, again, we could look at it as his down year was a function more of dysfunction in Philadelphia, as opposed to him not being able to get to the 1,400-yard mark. Yeah, I think I would be surprised, stunned if he caused problems in New England, like the same types he did in Philadelphia. Like, if he's complaining about not getting the ball, reading a book on the sideline, just because, one, he's going to clearly be beyond the number one, target. Like they're going to go to him often. Obviously, he's got a better passing quarterback than he had in Philadelphia with Hertz.

And then with his relationship with Rabel, like, if he acted up, I wouldn't know what to say. I would just be like, like, he's just going to be a problem wherever he's at. I get it in Tennessee when he was with Rable. He wasn't this A.J. Brown. He wasn't the A.J. Brown, the superstar. He was a guy that a lot of people didn't know of it. He was building himself. into a star. So I get that that's a difference. But I think it's going to be a great duo. I think A.J. Brown is going to have a phenomenal individual season. And I think the Patriots passing game is going to be great with him and Drake. But the only step team wise, like, the only step is to win the Super Bowl. I don't think they're going to get as far as they got last

year, they may be a better team, but not get as far as they did last year. So I looked at it and I'll ask you, Nick, through three different lenses. Is the hype or is this story a Drake May story, an A.J. Brown story or Josh McDaniel story? If it's a Drake May story, I think the hype is too low considering that there was a guy who was second in MVP, went to the Super Bowl, will be smarter and then just got his best weapon that he's had in his entire career, right? First in pass rating, first in completion percentage, which I know that people is out of fashion now.

No one told me that. He's also first in yards per attempt. I care about the first and the third stat, much more than the second. You should use that graphic for attempt. You should use that graphic every chance. It's impressive. The first, first, first, first, first.

Yes. If it's an AJ Brown story, when he was in Philadelphia, he popped. He had 1,500 yards, 11 touchdowns. Last year, 1,000 yards, 7 touchdowns. Odd part about this when I looked at it. He had only 10 fewer catches and 500 short of yards, or fewer yards. So that's where it's like, oh, weird. So is that a function of him losing a step or not being the same wide receiver? Or is that an issue with play calling? The third part, and this is a shout out to get up, because when I see a good graphic,

you know, good graphics don't have any owners. And I don't have any fans. I'm not territorial about awesome graphics. If you've got a great graphic, this is the best graphic I maybe I've ever seen in my life. But I didn't make it because it's Get Up's graphic. Okay. Notable wide receivers in their first season with Josh McDaniels courtesy of Get Up. Devante Adams had 1,500 yards and 14 touchdowns. Brandon Marshall had 1100 yards and 10 touchdowns.

2007, Randy Moss, obviously, 1523 touchdowns. Yeah. Are we going to see a Josh McDaniel? Niels-esque bump with A.J. Brown, who is now having a combination of better, better offensive coordinator, one of the best, better quarterback, maybe one of the best. And I know AJ Brown's in this perfect spot. So, all right. So let me, I, so I don't know that, because when you tell, I didn't see that graphic and I don't know if I was as, I, yeah, you're not enamored by this? No, because Devant, that's, guess, guess what DeVante's numbers look like there?

Prime Devante Adams with any offensive coordinator. Guess what Brandon Marshall's numbers look like there? Prime Brandon Marshall with any offensive coordinator. Randy, to me, as much credit as I'd love to give Josh McDaniels for that year, that was Perfect Storm Everything Patriots. Josh McDaniels is a big part of that. Okay, if I were power-ranking credit for the 07 Pats and the Brady-Moss connection, he's probably fourth or fifth name I'm going to mention him.

That's fine. Remember, Devante didn't have a quarterback when he put up those numbers. No, I understand. But Devante had, but Devante is a future Hall of Famer super productive player. Brandon, I think, is kind of forgotten how dominant some of his numbers are across the board. Randy's year is the greatest wide receiver year, arguably ever. Jerry Rice, and I think 88 or 89 has something to say about it. And Wes Welker was, who you didn't mention, but was a thousand plus yards for a long time with the Pats and with

the Broncos. It was not with the dolphins. With the pats, he was amazing with the Broncos. So to me, the question is twofold. One is why was last year the second least

productive year of A.J. Brown's career? The second lowest yards, second lowest touchdowns, and the lowest yards per carry. Was that dysfunction, didn't want to be there? Or was that a slightly declining player, and usually a slightly declining player continues to

decline. Because he's only 29, my, I lean towards, didn't want to be there, bad offensive system, he'll bounce back. Yeah. But I don't think that's, heavy there. Obviously. I mean, I think the patriots are as well. I think, I think there is a right now outright dismissal of the idea that he is, that the, you know, his first two years in Philadelphia, he was here, two years ago he was here, last year he was here, nobody thinks that now this year he'll be here. I'm not dismissing it as a possibility.

So that's one question I have. The other one is by virtue of sitting next to you all football season, it is hard for me to imagine that they are going to have a more successful quarterback wide receiver

relationship than him and Diggs. It's shocking, even to me. It's one of the reasons that I am not giving the Patriots as much of a overall bump as I think most are going from Diggs to A.J. Brown, even though I think A.J. Brown's the far better player because you hit me over the head all year with perfect passerating when targeting Diggs. 90% completion from Diggs. Dix would catch the ball. All those things. So how much better is, it's not like Diggs is still there. You understand what I'm saying, Brew? Like, how much better is the Drake May wide receiver one

combo going to be than it was last year. I do think it's going to be much better, though. Don't you think AJ Brown at this point is significantly better than James? I do think he is significantly better than Diggs. But Wild's point all year was divorce yourself from how good you think Stefan Diggs

is and just say this connection, this quarterback wide receiver connection. The passer rating between the two was like out of this world. Like 140 something. And the completion percentage was like in the 80s. It was and so how much better, you know. Wilder was overstated.

No, it's true. The guy caught every wall. You expect A.J. Brown and Drake to be much. To be better, yes, I do. Significantly better. But it's hard because they're so great. Because what did Diggs average? 11 yards of catch last year?

11.9 to 12.9 for AJ. And A.J. had 8.1 targets a game. And Diggs had six targets a game. I mean, it's not like he wasn't getting targeted in Philadelphia. Yeah, it's weird. It was a lot of boomer. bust. It's like, they, AJ is going to have 11 targets and tomorrow's going to have two.

It's like why he buys playing back-to-back games? One hour, 23 minutes and seven seconds, Argentina, Austria, in Dallas. Messi can break the goals record. Do you think he gets it done this? I love the idea of Messi and Mbapé going back and forth with the all-time goals record this whole tournament. Because Mboppe is two off the record. Messi has the record with a top. He's tied for the record.

That's done a lot. Pretty great. More first things first after the break. Welcome back to first things first. We're counting down to Argentina, Austria, on Fox, one hour, 19 minutes. We're down to 18 minutes. I have a confession to make everyone. I'm rooting for Team USA, and I've cast my lot with France.

However, I also personally look good in like baby blue, like North Carolina blue, Argentina blue. And I love sport and I love superstars. Is anyone upset if I also get a messy jersey? You're a, you're a huge frontrunner, and you always just believe in the defending champ. So I'm surprised we knew this was coming. I would be surprised if you didn't get a Harry Kane jersey

and a Armenian mall jersey. Wow, he's just saying. I'm not going to get a, because I don't look great in yellow and red. You want Nick to buy you the shirt. Oh, that is what he's trying to get to. He wants Nick to get to me going to buy him the shirt. When Nick gets you something, size smeedium,

I got him a large. He's giving you an assignment. Now you go take this back. Every time we got like, okay, an hour of my day. Superstar Monday in action today. France at Rec from Philly at 5. And Boppe following up on his two goal game hopes to.

Norway, Senegal tonight. Holland has two goals. Honestly, that one impressive. One of them more of a goalie gaff, I would say. And finally, Messi's hat trick, Argentina, Austria at one. Odds, Nick, if you want to make some of that money back. Gosh, darn it.

You need to. We're getting there quickly. Go ahead. Do we have two goals odds? Stand by from Dusty. I'm not betting. I'm not betting. No, we don't have it.

He said if we put it up, you would bet. So here's the deal. I don't know. I'm going to let you guys talk about the goals. I want to talk about why this is, this game that's on Fox in an hour and 18 minutes might be the sliding doors moment of the entire world. Good, Gwenith Paltrow reference. And it is also why I have spent all morning not debating if, but debating how much. money I'm going to put on Argentina.

Oh, man. And I had a rough week of World Cup betting. Really? Another rough week? Well, no, last week. It started with Spain and it continued. When does the week start fresh? Because then you can.

Today, it starts fresh today. Certainly not yesterday with that Belgium performance. Thanks, Lecacou. My God. So here's the deal. If Argentina wins today, they win the group. And if they win the group, they, in the round of 32, probably play Cape Verde. In the round of 16, they probably play either.

Australia, Paraguay, or Belgium. And it is all relatively smooth sailing. If they lose today, Austria will win the group. We'll be in position to win the group. And then guess who Argentina gets in the first knockout game? Spain. Let's go. Spain, Argentina, in the round of 32, if Argentina loses today.

Now, if they draw, then Argentina is probably okay. they can run a goal difference, all that stuff. But I'm certain they know that. I'm certain they know we win today. We lock up the group being the same position the U.S. is in where you can rest guys in the third game and you're in such a good position.

So, which is to say, I expect Argentina to look awesome. And that usually means Messi is going to score. So long and short of it is, my answer is messy because this game is so wildly important to Argentina. And if they lose, it's them in Spain in round one of the next. knockout stage, which I don't think anybody actually wants to have happen, even though it would be

awesome in the moment. Sure. So I think my answer is messy because Argentina has to have the game. And then at the end, once everybody gives their answers, also tell me how much I should but Arnold's into it. Austria has a better defense deck, so you think they'll be able to contain Messi. Oh, oh boy. It's not possible to contain Messi, as we have seen throughout this tournament, throughout his entire

career. But you can try your best to slow him down. but he's so effective in so many different ways. And I think we have the first and third goals that he scored against Algeria. Algeria in this moment right now is thrilled. Leonel Messi is getting the ball in his own half. Tries to make a little bit of a play right here. Argentina loses the ball, but this is actually where you're at your most vulnerable with Leonel Messi.

He's just casual. He's walking around. This is one of the passes of the tournament from Rodrigo de Paul. But look at how compact that Algeria team is. Now you're dead. This is a perfect area where Messi wants to pick up the ball. And it's not just the finish. He can choose to make the pass.

If an Algeria centerback steps out, he will be able to slip a pass. He will be able to find a teammate. That is the beauty of Leonel Messi is that he can get whatever the game requires, he is able to dictate it. And this is where he finds his positions so many different areas on the field. He wants to get to that central part of the field. He wants to be able to camp out right there behind your midfield and in, front of your back line because it puts pressure and stress on your centerbacks.

Your centerbacks don't want to step in that gap. They don't want to be there because they know he's good enough to find a pass. And the third goal is even more impressive because now the game is open. Now Algeria has to actually chase the game. They have to commit numbers forward. And Leonel Messi gets on the ball. Same situation. They finally get pressure to the ball.

But instead of going towards the ball, he comes away from the ball. He wants to come away from the ball. It creates that little five yards of separation. where in soccer terms, that's essentially a free throw for Lino Messi, and he's shooting 90, 95% from the top of the box. So if you are Austria, some unsolicited advice, pick a lane. You either have to step up and press Argentina extremely high right from the beginning, so you deny him service, or you've got to sit back.

You've got to be able to come back and sit in a low, compact block so you close off those spaces that he likes to operate in. But again, if you find him in those areas, he gets on the ball with time and space, can score, he can pick a pass, you are dead. That was his second goal or the third goal? That was his third goal. That was his third goal. First and third.

To me, we see this in sports all the time. Look, we might lose this game, but Wembe is not going to beat us. Correct. But, you know, Otani is not going to beat us. Yeah. Whatever. Could a game plan of Austria be like, look, Brew, you've got Messi. I don't want to see your back turn, watch the ball.

Oh, my gosh. She's there. He's got the ball. Is that something? Austria could utilize, or is he just... Or is Argentina too talented? They are too talented. Argentina can hurt you in a bunch of different ways, but to your point, it would behoove every team that plays against Argentina to have a special emphasis on Lionel Messi. And guess what? Every team usually has a special emphasis on him, but that is his greatness.

The fact that going into the game, the game plan is, these are the areas he likes to pick up, make sure you deny it. He is so tactically at another level. We talk about soccer IQ. He has the highest soccer IQ of any player that has ever lived, which makes him doubly dangerous because he's an elite finisher. He can score goals, which he has throughout his entire career, but he is also an elite playmaker. There has never been another player in the history of the game that is able to have a more devastating effect in the final third because of how he reads the game. And so, yeah, you can try to manmark him, but then you have to also account for Julian Alvarez. You have to account for Lataro Martinez, two of the best goals scores currently playing in the world right now. Now, Argentina is a very difficult proposition to stop.

Austria is going to be the biggest test for Argentina, to your point, going into the knockout rounds. I don't think there's any way that Austria can win this game. Argentina, I do believe they will continue to roll. Well, that kind of makes me want to change my answer to Mexico. I'm saying all that. But I'm going with Inbape. I thought about Holland. They're playing Senegal, though, which is a top 20 team in the world.

a Senegal could very easily win this game. And in Boppe, they're playing, France is playing Iraq. Iraq. So they should, they gave up four goals to Norway earlier, two to Holland. I think in Boppa, and I think he's enjoying, he said he knew Messi was going to keep scoring. Obviously, a player at that level enjoys kind of the competition.

They're both going for this World Cup record of goals. He's two off. Messi's tied with it all time. I think Mbapapé is going to get a few goals. And Boppe has scored multiple goals in five of his 15 games. Yeah. I almost expect Olese to get on the board. Dumbali had a moderately quiet game.

I kind of lean towards Holland just because Holland feels like the show. Yeah, but they're also, I mean, they're not even expected to end. Yeah, Senegal is a very good team. I think Senegal in the first half against France, if they take advantage of their opportunities, you would have seen a different outcome. And Senegal physically is able to match up with Erling Holland. That is the, Erling Holland is a physical specimen. When you come up with centerbacks who are able to run with him and who are able to physically

ruffle him and kind of put him off his game, I do think it gets a little frustrating for him. He'll get chances, but Senegal won't be as foolish enough to give him opportunities like this. Totally that one goal I'm not going on. So your answer for a player most likely to have a multi-goal game is who? Mbapé. Oh, he's not convinced. Good thing you didn't change it. There hasn't been a back-to-back hat trick in World Cup history since 1970.

Gerd Mueller, Messies amazing, but. I can get two. You see a couple, but it was equal. But he can be a playmaker. That's the other point. And Boppe, goal score. I bet on her.