PTI - MLB Playoffs Are HERE + MNF Recap

Episode Date: September 29, 2026

Michael Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser discuss the Braves 8th inning thriller win vs the Phillies, preview game one of the Phillies/Braves series and dive into the Bears/Case Keenum's unbelievable performance! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pardon the interruption, but I'm Mike Welbon, and I can't wait to crow the whole world about how good my bears looked last night. I'm Tony Cornhizer. The whole world? More like a couple dozen people. We are on ESPN, too, big boy. You know, at one point in our lives, the Deuce had more subscribers back in the cable era

than the mothership. I know you remember that. Not now. Well, I'm unburdened by memory. All I remember is the, there is. to 60s rock and roll too. Welcome to PTI, boys and girls. In today's episode, The Bears Clopper of the Eagles,

the Yankees leave Aaron Judge off their wild card roster, and Jeff Saturday joins us for five good minutes. But we begin today with this afternoon's game one between the Phillies and the Braves. The Braves had a two-to-one lead in the seventh when they yanked starter Chris Sale and it backfired. J.T. Real Muto tripled in two runs giving the Phillies a three-to-two lead.

To protect it, Philly manager Don Mattingly inserted closer, Joanne Duran in the bottom of the seventh, and that backfired. Austin Riley hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, and the Braves won five to three. Wilbon, what do you make of what we saw? Tony, I can't get past that point where Chris Sale is out there, and he's being Chris Sale, right? He's looking like Chris Sale on a crisp October, perfectly blue day, and I know he gets up to 95, well, it's October baseball. You know what I mean. So Chris Sale is up to 95 pitches,

but he can go comfortably up to 105, 107, 108. He's Chris Sale, and he's not going to be begging, Skip, come get me. So I keep thinking, all right, this is going to be the way this goes, 2-1, and the Braves going to get it out. I said, no, Chris Sale winds up with two more runs against him, you know, because he gives up three earned ultimately, and the Phillies have the lead, and you know I'm sort of rooting against the Phillies.

and boom, boom, boom, these games turn so quickly in October. They turn so quickly, Tony, and one game changes everything. And so now Atlanta, where they actually seem to fill up a ballpark, which they couldn't do for decades, wow, they seem to have a real upper hand on the Phillies after game one. You only made two mistakes because it's actually still September. It's October. And it was a reliever who gave up the triple.

charged to Chris Sale. Charge to. They're not really Chris sales. Yeah, charged to Chris Sale. Look, I agree with you on a lot of these things. That's the, you think that's the ball game, because the Phillies have to get six outs, and they get five. They get five. They don't get six. Austin Riley hits a first pitch fastball out and the Braves win the game. They have

played each other these two teams 500 times in the last five years. The essence of the teams are the same. They were in the same division. They know each other well. What this means, Mike, for all intense and purposes is that the series is over because since they have gone to this series about four years ago, the team that wins game one is 15 and one on winning the entire series. It looks like this is the most important game.

And the Phillies came in here limping. They had not been doing well. So when they take the lead late, you say to yourself, wow. But don't bring in a closer. You can't bring in a got to go three innings to close. You can't. Come on now. Clearly it did not work.

Did not work. Clearly it did not work. Let's move to the wild card. Sanchez will pitch game two, though. That's what they got. They got Sanchez, who's their best pitcher all year. That's their hope. He's in game two now.

No doubt, tone. Right. Let's move to the wild card series between the socks and yanks, which begins tonight in New York. Aaron Judge took swings yesterday, but the team left its star slugger off the series roster tone while giving the slot to Giancarlo Stanton, who's been out since April 24th?

Are you serious? And the Sox added lefty-Ace Garret Crochet to their roster, even though he hasn't pitched since April 26th. 25th. Right. Tom, what do you make of who is available for this series and who ain't? I'm happy for the people that are available. Giancarlo Stanton can't possibly have his timing down

because he's been out for so long. and Crochet, who started out as a relief pitcher, maybe he gives him an inning or two, but he hasn't pitched in anything but a simulated game. He hasn't had, like, real baseball action. Both these guys since April. The big story here is Aaron Judge, being left off the roster at this point.

He had lobbied to be on. I think the only interpretation is that the general manager and the manager saying sit tight, big boy, because not right now. He can't move. I sort of agree with this, Mike. When he came back a couple of weeks ago, I think he had 13 strikeouts in 23,

bats. He had four hits. He had a home run, but he was batting 174, so he was no great shakes. And he got another injury. He started out with a rib injury, then he got a calf injury. I will say this to you, though. I'm a little surprised they left him off the entire roster. For the psychological purposes, when you're Boston, you look over into the Yankee dugout, you see Judge sitting there in uniform holding a bat in his hand, and maybe you get worried. Maybe you don't want to bring in a lefty because Judge comes up and pinch hits against a crochet. So I'm a little surprised, but they didn't want the dog and pony show. If he's just sitting there, I understand sitting him down. If he's sitting there holding a bat, he can sit there and hold the bat. From all reports,

Tony, he can't move. Whether it's in the outfield or from home to first base, he can't move. Stanton, Stanton is Anthony Davis at this point. Stand doesn't play. Street close. What is the last time Stanton played and did anything meaningful, even though I know one swing he could hit at 500 feet? No, this is the right, seems the right way to go. They'll get judged back. Yes. I agree with it because you don't want to risk another injury and a bunch of bad at bats. It's the right move. We move now to the Chicago Bears, minus their starting quarterback, Taylor Williams, giving the car keys to Case Keenham, who had not started an NFL game in over 1,000 days, and getting two touchdowns passing and a touchdown running out of the 38-year-old and dominating the Philadelphia Eagles 27-7.

Well, but I do not think you believed your Bears would win this game. You did not. used the word terrified yesterday. So what do you think of what the bears did and how they did it and what does it say about the Eagles? Tony, I'm looking big picture much more than you would. The Bears beat the Eagles twice now. Crush them in Philadelphia on Black Friday last year, beat him last night with a third string quarterback.

Yes, I was terrified. I said so on camera. But Tony, this is about a bigger picture. This is about a team in that room, Bears locker room, believing in their coach. And he does some crazy things sometimes, but you've got to let Genius have a long. long leash. And Ben Johnson, everything he has said, he's walked in there and said LaFloor, LaFleur, what, we'll wipe LaFleur. Packers, get out of here. We hate them. We don't have time for the Eagles. Let's go. We're going to run the ball. If I say we're going to throw it with a 47-year-old third swing. We're going to do that. And right now, Tony, that room believes in him, whether it's Caleb

Williams or Case Keenum. So that is what I'm looking at with the Bears. They went in there last night and said, okay, let's flex. They got the Jets next. They got a couple of winnable games of Falcons after that. Even with Caleb out, watch out for the monsters. I think that there is a serious and significant issue here, and it is the role of older backup quarterbacks, good quarterbacks who are backup quarterbacks,

not kids, not rookies, older quarterbacks. Yesterday, you mentioned the name Earl Moral. Yeah. The people that don't know one of the greatest backup quarterbacks of all time helped the Miami Dolphins and the Baltimore Colts win Super Bowls by going out there to play when something happened. In the last week, this last week, three teams, the Bears, the commanders, and the Giants had to go.

They lost young promising quarterbacks. They had to go to backups. They went to old heads. Each one of them won, okay? I mean, Case Keatom has been in the league 14 years. In Washington, Marcus Marriota has been in league 12 years. In New York, James Winston, 12 years. They understand how to do this.

They give them a week of practice. They're not going to lose the game. They've been starters. They're not shaky. It's different than with Andy Dalton having to come in last night when the quarterback Hertz got dinged and through an interception. Real quickly. If he practiced with the team for a week,

Philly in trouble or is it just one game? Oh, yeah. No, no, no, no, all year long. They're 31st in having three out. Three and outs. At the beginning of the second half, When they needed momentum, they went punt, punt, punt. Let's go to hockey.

Hockey's the reason we are on ESPN2. The regular hockey season starts today. The NHL has added two more games for a total of 84 this season, pushed up the start time until September. Last season ended with the Carolina Hurricanes winning the Stanley Cup and going through the playoff 16 and 3. Wilburne what storyline for this upcoming season most intrigues you? I'm going to bore you to death here.

I start this every year, it seems, talking about Edmonton. and Connor McDavid and winning a championship and so I'm going to do it again and Tony this time it still carries you know the desire for Connor McDavid to win a championship

because he hadn't done it but this time he and Drysidal went out there and they involved themselves in what has created controversy in the industry because then when they got Mike Babcock to come and coached him

now backpock a hundred years ago won a championship in Detroit but Tony he's been accused of a lot of stuff even by former players you know a big being abusive and being abrasive. And so you have this situation where those guys,

if your two best players say we want this guy to coach us. Got to have them. You got to have them, but you got to produce for him. And Tony, it is, you serve some other storylines like Hellebuck and whether he's going to play after being suspended. The Cichuk brothers in Florida, Macklin Celebrini, who could be a breakout star. I'm still going with Connor McDavid.

Yeah, I'm not Mr. Hockey, as you know. I sat here a couple of weeks ago on this show, and I had watched some hockey on TV in the morning, and I didn't understand what's going on. I thought it was archival footage, and it turned out that it was actual exhibition games. It's a night footage. The fact that they are starting in September, look, it's going to be 90 degrees in Washington, D.C. on Friday, and they're playing hockey. A guy said to me today, you know, they moved up the start date because they have two extra games,

and I said, come on, it's September. Pools are still open. you ask me things that are important, I'm going to pick up on the Kachuk brothers as well. This is a great quote I'm going to give you. The Kachuk brothers are rough and tumble guys, and there's apparently a wild man on the team named Sam Bennett. And the coach Paul Maurice was asked, the Florida coach was asked, would you put them together on the same line? And the exact quote is, they'd be in jail before the puck drops. That's a good quote. I'm going to pay attention to that. Let's take a break.

Coming up are Justin Herbert, Drake May, and Jordan Love taking heat that should go to their offensive lines. We're going to ask Jeff Saturday. We'll also ask him whether this leg pull of Dixon Lawrence should have been a penalty. Tony, it's October. Stop. Nobody cares about the temperature in D.C. It's not October. Nasty, muggy mosquitoes in D.C.

It'll be in the 60s in Chicago. That's where I'll be. So get out of D.C. Get out. We had the mosquito people come over today. Time to dig into the NFL trenches with our great friend ESPN NFL analyst, Jeff Saturday. Let's start with this. Voice of Reason.

Justin. Herbert, Drake May, Jordan Love, they have all struggled so far this season. Are they getting too much heat when it's possible that their offensive lines are to blame? Oh, that's a great question. I would say this. Jordan Love probably of all of them has probably got the largest case for his own line. It's decimated with injury, but also he's been getting hit a ton. And LaFlorra has tried to max protect. They ran the highest rate of max protection in the NFL and still like their pass win rate was like below 20%. So it was bad. But I think everybody plays a role, right? Whether it's Drake May and the way the offense is being run right now, it feels rushed. He feels rushed. He can't

find flow. Herbert's had some drops. Some things happened to him. But here's the thing. Quarterbacks want to make $60 million a year, $75 million. They want every franchise to be hoisted on their back. At some point, you've got to be a force multiplier. So you're going to catch. You're going to catch all the grief when you're bad, and you're going to get all the celebration when you're good. So, you know, it's hard for me to go, oh, you know, woe is me. If you're the quarterback, because you get a ton of credit when that receiver takes it, you know, 65 yards and a five yard out.

So there's a lot of things to go around, a lot of blame to go around for a number of different people, not just the QBs. All right, if we're going to talk quarterbacks, we're going to last night, damn it. We're going to go to Soldier Field. Jalen Hurts. Let's go straight to that last second sneak play. Jeff, you played center for a million years. You know what's going on there.

What are you thinking when the clock is running down? And there doesn't seem to be enough time to spike it and run another play. I loved it. I can't tell you execution to its highest level. And for those who don't know what Mike's talking about, the last play of the first half, they get stuck on the half-yard line. Milana had just dumped the dude basically in the end zone. He jumps up.

They all run over, and everybody's expecting a quick, you know, a quick, you know, a spike to stop the clock for field going. No, no. Instead, Hertz converts it. They go QB sneak for the touchdown. I absolutely loved it because they would have run out of time with a spike or an attempted spike. So, and I heard Siri, I didn't talk about, they practiced that. These end game or end of half situations executed to perfection. And that means everybody, all 11 guys have a role the way they executed and Jalen Hertz finishing that to get the Q's. B, Center Exchange, everybody going forward to score, man, I was fired up. All right, so what's more unlikely? That play successfully being run, or Case Keenham with this sucker sneak where the guards both pull, he's sort of naked, and he makes it work perfectly with his dive into the end zone at 394 years old. Jeff, what's happening there? What do you see as that's unfolding?

It's such a great play. So what you're basically saying is you know the defensive tackles. They hat read on the goal line. So if the offensive linemen are going low, they'll meet that leverage and try to, you know, undercut your kind of go at you. So he knew they were going to hat read. So as both those guards pull, the defensive tackle step forward and then track the puller, right?

Their eyes kind of naturally go to whichever way because they're either expected somebody to come, you know, fill it like a back block or somebody to kind of wham them. So their heads on a swivel. Meanwhile, Case Keenham, who nobody in the stadium thinks is going to keep the ball, just dives through everybody's legs, and gets in the end. So what a great play. I absolutely love it. Executed to perfection.

Mike Martz, you know, they had this play. This thing is absolute beauty. I love to see it run, and especially for an old QB like Keenham, man. Congrats. Tip of the hat. Thing of beauty. All right, this video that's going around now is fascinating. Of Steelers Guard, Mason McCormick, grabbing Dexie.

to Lawrence's leg and lifting it. And it wasn't some one-time thing. No flag is thrown. First of all, Jeff, is it holding? Is it not? Is it legal? Is it not? Yeah.

Listen, it'll get called. You can't, I mean, the restriction is what they're going to call. So if Lawrence is trying to pull away, spin, get away. But the reality is, offensive linemen as a whole, like when we're going to double team when we step in, a lot of times we're trying to. bump the hip or check the hips with our hand. He's going low. And as he's, as he's, it looks like to the referee, you know, to the referees, it looks like he's kind of winding up and hitting and going through and just kind of catching the leg. Well, meanwhile, when you see it, and now it looks like

he's taking his leg and hoisting it up, getting him on one leg and the other guy. So it'll be a point of emphasis. He got away with it, right? Like, it won't continue. I ain't going to lie, though. It didn't get called. So it ain't a penalty. I get, I got held by a lot of, a lot of defensive tackles and nose guards, yanking me down, holding me on twist and stunts. Ain't no love loss for you, clowns. I ain't feeling sorry for no D-Lyman. I ain't ever going to do it. Tip, hey, the offensive lineman, you keep doing what you're doing until that yellow flag is thrown.

We ain't mad at you, baby. We are all for the hate. This is great. You're really excited today. This is really good. Thank you so much. Thank you, Matt. Thank you, Jeff.

Appreciate your fellas. All right. We'll take one last break still to come to pod days. surprise addition to their postseason roster. Oh, the Padres, they just won't stop. The top-seeded links and Caitlin Clarks, the Caitlin Clarks, they could go out of the playoffs tonight, will they? Man, Tony, I was not ready.

Jeff was so excited. I knew he would be. I knew he wouldn't be some of that line play. No, well, again, yesterday you used the word terrified. So, you know, I know you didn't think you could win that game. You know I was not. Happy time, people. Happy 60.

birthday, Ken Norton Jr. His father, of course, Ken Norton Sr. was heavyweight champion of the world after beating Muhammad Ali in 1973, but then lost his next two bouts with Ali. But this is his son's birthday. Ken Norton Jr. was a football player, not a boxer. He had 13 seasons in the NFL with Dallas and San Francisco, and at one point, won two Super Bowls with the Cowboys and one with the 49ers, all in succession. Norton Jr. became a coach, was linebacker's coach on a Super Bowl winning team in Seattle. He was later defensive coordinator for the Raiders and the Seahawks. He's now linebackers coach in Washington where he works for his old Seattle pal Dan Quinn. Would you rather have three Super Bowls consecutively or walk into the ring hearing the

following sentence, the heavyweight champion of the world? Which one? I mean at our age, at our age it's both. The heavyweight champion. Of course it is. Sports it is. Happy anniversary, Hollywood Henderson. Around this day, 51 years of the then Cowboys rookie linebacker, took a handoff on a reverse during a kickoff return, and went 97 yards for a touchdown against the Cardinals. Charismatic Henderson was one of teenage Lawrence Taylor's favorite players. Taylor chose to wear number 56 as an inspiration from Henderson. Like Taylor, Henderson had a drug problem that ultimately derailed his career.

Henderson has now spent decades sober and advocating for drug and alcohol awareness. In the walk-up to the 1979 Super Bowl with the Steelers, Henderson famously told the media, that Pittsburgh quarterback Terry Bradshaw, quote, couldn't spell cat if you spotted him the C and the A, unquote. An all-time quote. It is an all-time quote. Tony Henderson, just to remind people of what a guy like that was like as an athlete then, he ran a 4-6.

He's 6-2-21, playing linebacker at 221 pounds. Come on, you got receivers now going 221. Happy trails to Joe Musgrove's absence. He's right, he made San Diego's wildcard roster, despite being shelved for nearly two years after Tommy John's surgery. Musgrove last pitch in October of 2024, a wild card start against Atlanta, that he was forced to leave with elbow tightness. He made four minor league starts this season, but the team stopped his rehab in August due

to arm fatigue. Musgrove said then that he was running out of answers, but apparently he's found one in coming out of the pen against your Cubs, Wilbon, in a series that starts tonight. You think I was worried last night? I'm positively brimming with confidence last night compared to what I think is going to happen in San Diego the next two. Okay? Just let me be on record with that.

So you're more than terrified. Yeah. Yeah, you've just said it's over. No chance. Yeah. All right. Let's go to the big finish. Let's do it.

The Giants are releasing Odell Beckham Jr. Does that make sense to you? It does. I didn't see a way for him as a veteran guy with all those kitties to be on that roster. Maybe somebody can use him. Ben Simmons of the Kings says his goal is to dominate when he's on the floor. What? Your reaction?

Ten years ago when he was a rookie, I thought he could do that. But he opted out. You know, he didn't shoot anymore. Simone Biles hasn't ruled out competing towards the 2008 Olympics in L.A. Your thoughts? She's the goat. I ain't going around. I ain't going around doubting Simone Biles.

The U.S. men's soccer team faces cheating. in St. Louis tonight. Are you intrigued? I wonder if they'll start Sullivan and those other teenagers. The lynx and fever could be eliminated tonight. You have predictions? They won't be eliminated. They'll both win comfortably.

Really? Yes. Let's see if you're on a hot street. We're out of time. We'll try to do better the next time, and happy birthday, Ryan Gumman. How about that? I'm Mike Wilbon back on the mothership tomorrow.

Knuckleheads.